Bromley Borough Local History No. 9 Quebec House Talks About Wolfe's Association with the Town
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PUBLICATION OF THE BROMLEY BOROUGH LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY MAY 1991 PRICE 20p (Free to members) A . G . M . TUBEICATION No.9 On Thursday 4 April our President, the Mayor of Bromley, Councillor Mrs. J. Hillier kindly presided over the Annual General Meeting. It was with great regret that the resignation of our Chairman, Patricia Knowlden, was received. A founder member of the Society, she was coopted onto the committee in May 1977 and in March 1983 was elected Chairman. She is only the second person to hold the post, which she has held with great distinction. During this the society has flourished and become involved in numerous exhibitions, most notably perhaps our regular involvement with EnBro in Environment Week. Fortunately she has only retired as Chairman and intends to remain an active member. Our new Chairman is Dr. Eric Inman, a retired scientist with a life-long interest in local history. A comparative newcomer to the area, he has been a member of the committee since March 1989. His main interests are in the history of the domestic use of electricity, of garden equipment, and of the area covered by the former Borough of Beckenham where he now lives. His ambition is to see local history in general, and the Society in particular, play a much greater role in the life of the London Borough of Bromley. We were also sorry to lose Leslie Stevens f : the Committee but welcome John Clarke aridr'Derek Ford. FUTURE MEETINGS Thursday Wolfe at Westerham 6 June Arthur Pratt, Custodian of Bromley Borough Local History No. 9 Quebec House talks about Wolfe's association with the town. INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE will be available Small Hall, Bromley Central in the shops in June covering a wide range Library of topics. The St Mary Cray Paper Mills, Fox's Brewery, F. Medhurst Ltd., Western Sunday A look at Quebec House, Motor Works and The Farnborough Aviation 9 June Westerham and a walk around Works are included as well as individuals 2 pm the town. like Alexander Muirhead, Gustav Mellin, Meet 2pm by Churchill's Thomas Graham Farish and James Staats statue. Forbes. 'Percy Cox's Steam Bicycle' makes interesting reading as does the history of Thursday Walk around Chislehurst 'The Orpington Car'. There are articles on 11 July led by Roy Hopper & early craftsmen such as the glassmaker 7.30pm Vincent Dunleavy. Jacob Verzilini and bell founder Meet in front of Chislehurst Christopher Hodson and 'The people who made Library 7.30pm Penge' in the 19th century. FIFTY YEARS AGO About midnight there was a terrific explosion which seemed very close, making everything shake. We had no idea what or BROMLEY'S BIG RAID - 16 APRIL 1941 where it was until later, when we heard that a land mine had hit a block of flats a Fifty years ago Bromley suffered its most quarter of a mile away. Six people were ferocious air raid of the war. The Market killed and there were grisly stories about Square was a mass of flames, eight churches the rescue of others. After this, things were more or less demolished, including began to quieten down a bit in our corner, Bromley's ancient parish church, 74 people and we only learnt next day about the were killed and many injured damage to the rest of Bromley. Patricia Knowlden My memories of Bromley's "Big Raid" are still crystal clear; I was 17 years old then and living at Amesbury Road, Bickley. It soon became apparent as darkness fell that this air raid was going to be a "blitz" and we were invited to share our neighbour's Anderson Shelter. There we sat all night, huddled together and then in the early hours there was an almighty explosion - very close. As dawn broke my father and I ventured out to find a land mine ■ L / exploded behind the houses opposj^.^ r1 resulting in fatalities and severe damage. Our home had all the windows blown out and structural damage. I can vividly recall the sight that met our eyes when we ventured out - our green velvet curtains from the front room lying in the road pitted with thousands of fragments of glass and as we stood there a fine drizzle began to fall. Clearing everything up was a heartbreaking job. My father was able to 'shore up' the downstairs rooms with pitch props and we lived and slept under these conditions for the rest of the war. Mary Law ST MARY CRAY As a schoolboy in St. Paul's Cray during the war, I wrote in my diary about •>, destruction in St. Mary Cray - 'a 1ovt_/ old world village by the mill-stream when I first came to know it. ' On the night of the Big Raid we heard a 'jangling MEMORIES noise... .which appeared to stop over the old St. Mary Cray village, and there was a During the war we lived on the outskirts huge explosion and the village disappeared! of Bromley just off Burnt Ash Lane. There We were not allowed anywhere near the had been a partial lull in the raids but on village for months afterwards. Rumour had 16 April 1941 the sirens went soon after it that a secret bomber had exploded into dark, so down the garden we all went. the village. Another rumour said that two Usually the planes went over in waves, the ton land mines chained together had landed drone of engines accompanied by anti in the High Street.' Apparently two aircraft fire from various calibre guns. similar pairs fell in Mottingham and caused That night they seemed to be not passing enormous damage over a wide area. The St. over but going round and round overhead. Mary Cray device landed opposite the There was much more noise than usual, thuds Catholic church which was destroyed along and bangs and the whistle of falling bombs with half a dozen shops. Ten people died and shrapnel. It sounded really like a and more than 40 were injured in this one battle going on out there, and we worried incident. about my father and the others out in it. A copy of my Black War Book has been He popped in once to see we were alright, deposited in Bromley Library. looking very tired and strained. John Parsons Three wardens on duty were caught in the blast of one bomb and escaped with a shaking. Mrs. Theroux, a soldier's wife, had her home wrecked, but she was not in at the time. One of the sisters of the Snelling family was resting on a sofa as the raiders were arriving. She immediately got up and lay on the floor. Some time afterwards a huge piece of concrete was blown by blast on to the sofa....... WAR DAMAGE - ST. MARY CRAY HIGH STREET VILLAGE STREET SHATTERED Bill Morton has kindly provided the following newspaper account of the devastation at St Mary Cray. "In a village in a South-East district which sustained damage during the blitz of Wednesday night and Thursday morning last week, working class homes and the shops of small traders were the main sufferers. A church, a school and the Village Hall were People were sheltered in the village hall also shattered, and a Congregational Church, after being taken from their damaged a " 'hrary and some larger residences were homes. The hall was eventually shattered da_.ged. and many of the shelterers were injured." At daybreak on the Thursday morning in the main street there was broken glass and WEST WICKHAM bricks strewn all over the highway.... Standing out prominently in the ruins of At least twenty large bombs fell on West a Roman Catholic Church are the altar and Wickham on Wednesday 16 April when the also a cross on the western side of the Civil Defence was tested to its limits. building. Except for some slight damage H.E.s fell on Cherry Tree Walk, Chestnut from blast, the altar is in fair condition, Avenue, 17 & 19 Birch Tree Avenue the walls on each side of it being (destroyed), Queensway, Coney Hall shattered and blown down. The cross, which Recreation Ground, Coney Hill Road (where was near to the church, is perfect, but the six Canadian soldiers were killed), Gates foundations are cracked and crumbled. Green Road, Robins Grove, The Mead, Mrs Whittle who is just 90 years of age, Pickhurst Rise, Langley Way, Pickhurst and lives fifty yards away from the church Lane, Goodhart Way, 7 & 9 Hayes Chase, was found suffering from slight shock in Hartfield Crescent, a field at the rear of her home. Smith's Farm, Manor Road, Grosvenor Road, Mrs. Emary, a widow, was found buried in Manor Park Close, Wickham Chase and Langley debris with Mrs. John Cracknell under a Park Golf Club. Several fires were caused kitchen table. Both were alive when by incendiaries as well as H.E.s and some rescued. Next door Miss Cork was injured developed into serious fires at 4 The when at the telephone in her father's Avenue, Ravenswood Avenue, Wickham Court house. She was blown about like a Farm, 203 High Street, 165 Queensway, 18 shuttlecock.... Rodney Gardens and 95 Harvest Bank Road. the railway embankment near Tiepigs Lane. At Wickham Court Farm where farm buildings One of the bombs that fell in Pickhurst were set alight, a second H.E. cut the line Lane had a delayed action fuse which of fire hoses from Layhams Road. The farm exploded two days later killing a third was hit yet again while the fires were person.