Lower Kirkdale pics for sgh!

[Falkor]

Most of these are from Steve G's Flickr space or the JC/JS books...

[Falkor]

[nannyjacks]

I looked with interest at the photos especially the ones of the row of shops opposite the Greyhound Pub.The chemist shop A.B.Makepeace was owned by my Dad at towards the end of WW2 and I was born over the shop on 7th February 1945.I had two brothers John and David who attended St Barts School and also Haseltine school, and they were both choristers there.We moved from the shop in 1947 to Peak Hill Gardens and eventually moved away at the end of the 1940s to Oakcroft Road,on the borders of Blackheath.My mother missed Sydenham so much that we moved again back to Sydenham in1957 to lawrie Park garndens until her death in 1962. She wasn't a local girl ,nor my father as they were both from Scotland but there was something about Sydenham that my Mother just loved.My father lived on in Sydenham until his death in 1974 .I haven't been back for many years .One of my brothers owned a stereo car business in Kent house road for several years Knighton Stereo, but he too moved away and lives now in retirement in France.
Myself I too am retired and lived in the Medway a long way from my Sydenham roots ,but I have lots of memories of growing up during the 1950s and 60s in Sydenham.

[Paxton]

Nannyjacks, I moved out of 264, Kirkdale in October last year, having lived in the flat above the chemist (now called the Makepeace Pharmacy) for 4 years.

I think the flat has probably changed a lot since 1945, but the original fireplaces were still there as was the tiled floor in the entrance hall.

A nice flat, but quite small - so time to move on!

Funny to think you were born there - my little girl had a small room that overlooked the mess that is now the Greyhound...

[Annie]

Hiya Nannyjacks,

what number did your parents live at in Lawrie Park Gdns?

[Paxton]

Also, I remember reading somewhere that the crucifix motif found on those cottages was used again in the new buildings.

As can be seen, this is the case.

Finally, I've never seen a photo of those cottages - only a drawing, so thanks!

[Liam NSW]

I lived in the flat above the pharmacy from 1971 to 1991. My mum bought it from the McElhinney family who she was at University with back in Belfast, years before. At that time it was entered through a door towards the back of the shop as the separate door entrance was blocked with oxygen cylinders. Once upstairs, there was a kitchen level and living room, above that a bathroom and another huge living room, and above that 3rd floor with 3 bedrooms. When my mum sold it, the philistine who bought it ripped out the original interiors and converted the building to apartments. My main memory of living there was the sheer violence. People always assumed they could get into the pharmacy from the flat above and in my time there I was held at knifepoint once (12 years old at the time), robbed constantly, sometimes on the doorstep just coming home, and once we were burgled by a guy who went to jail subsequently for murder. Needless to say I couldn't wait to leave. The are went from being a nice quite piece of suburbia to a shit hole thanks to the housing policies of Lewisham Council who demolished awesome Victorian houses and put up estates which changed the demographics entirely. When the No.122 bus started running nights, scum would come over from Peckham on a weekend and cause no end of trouble too. The Greyhound was a great pub, went downhill fast when Gerry Crotty left and the O'Niell's came in. Their dog had more sense than them. Everyone migrated to the Dolphin or Golden Lion at that time, the Greyhound never recovered. Natwest closing their hostel also took a lot of big spenders out of the area. Overall, I have many fond memories of the place, and loved the flat, but still shudder to remember what the bad points were like.