Bromleag Volume 2: Issue 39 September 2016

The ‘missing’ railways of Artistic and musical Famous beginnings in residents remembered and forgotten

A summer of history Cover Picture: Royal Parade, Chislehurst in the 19th century, hand coloured postcard. Below: William Willet’s house on Camden Park Road. See Page 15

Contents — September 2016 News and Events 3, 5 — 8 Society news Commemorating Bromley’s famous 6 — 7 Bromley Record DVD 10 — 11 Letters 11 — 14 Society Meetings Chislehurst talk and visits 15 — 16 Street furniture 16 — 17 Crystal Palace High Level station 17 — 18 Features Alfred Deller 9 Sir Arthur Bliss and the Beckenham Salon 19 — 20 Early days of Bromley Railways 21 — 31

Registered Charity No 273963

2 Bromleag September 2016 Bromleag The journal of the Bromley Borough Local History Society

Notes from the Chairman

The British Association for Local History (BALH) held their Annual Event and AGM at St Andrew’s Church, Holborn, in June. The venue is the largest parish church built by Christopher Wren in the 17th century. Excavations have revealed Roman remains and its name appears in a charter of 951 AD. The day began with a presentation by the Business Archivist of the National Archives at Kew, where they have a “crisis management team” to locate and rescue archives, if they can be found. This year he was supported by the Senior Archivist from the Metropolitan Archive, which holds the archives of many thousands of London-based businesses, including what is thought to be the oldest written business record anywhere in Britain — an account of fleeces sold by a wool merchant in the 14th century. Both archives hold records of nationwide businesses that are relevant to local historians. After a buffet lunch came the AGM, which I am pleased to say was conducted as speedily and efficiently as we manage at BBLHS. There followed the presentation of BALH Awards recognising the achievements of local historians across the country: personal achievement in a published work, personal contribution to disseminating local history and promoting local history through a Newsletter. The day closed with an entertaining and absorbing lecture given by Tom Williamson, Professor of Landscape History at the University of East Anglia. His subject was Launcelot Brown and the Capability Men, a group whose work influenced the landscape of the majority of English country estates, of which Bromley has a number — Langley Park, Kelsey Park, Sundridge Park and Holwood Park, among others. Next year’s Event and AGM will be on 3 June at Resources for London in North London. Details will be published later in the year. This is an opportunity to meet local historians from across the country while being introduced to current interpretations of history from leading professionals. For further information on St Andrew’s, visit www.standrewsholborn.org.uk Tudor Davies

3 Bromleag September 2016 Who’s Who on the BBLHS committee www.bblhs.org.uk

Chairman Tudor Davies Springhall, Leafy Grove, , BR2 6AH 01689 855744 [email protected] Treasurer Pam Robinson 68 Rolleston Ave, , BR5 1AL 020 8467 6385 [email protected] Secretary Elaine Baker 27 Commonside, Keston, BR2 6BP 01689 854408 [email protected] Membership Secretary Tony Allnutt Woodside, Old Perry Street, Chislehurst, BR7 6PP 020 8467 3842 [email protected] Programme co-ordinator Mike Marriott 2 The Drive, , BR6 9AP 01689 820794 or 07917 101520 [email protected] Publications John Barnes 38 Sandilands Crescent, Hayes, BR2 7DR 020 8462 2603 [email protected] Minutes Secretary VACANT Publicity and website Max Batten 5 South View, Bromley, BR13DR 020 8460 1284 [email protected] Bromleag Editor Christine Hellicar 150 Worlds End Lane, , BR6 6AS 01689 857214 [email protected] Bromleag is published four times a year. The editor welcomes articles along with illustrations and photographs. These can be emailed, on disc or a paper copy. Items remain the copyright of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Society views. Each contributor is responsible for the content of their article. Articles may be edited to meet the constraints of the journal. Articles are not always used immediately as we try to maintain a balance between research, reminiscences and news and features about different subjects and parts of the borough. A full INDEX of articles in Bromleag 1974—2015 can be found at www.bblhs.org.uk

Next journal deadline — 15 October 2016

4 Bromleag September 2016 Meetings and events

Meetings are held at 7.45pm on the first Tuesday of the month (unless otherwise stated), from September to July, at Trinity United Reformed Church, Freelands Road, Bromley. The hall has free on and off-street parking, good public transport links and facilities for the disabled. Non-members are welcome at meetings for a nominal charge of £1.

Meetings 4 October The work of Coles Child in Greenwich — Mary Mills The story of a leading Bromley resident of the C19th Find out a bit more about Coles Child, the villain of the piece, in our railway article on Page 21

1 November A Beckenham family’s WWI archive — Aura Hargreaves

6 December A history of some famous London shops — Susan Jenkinson

Visits

20 October 2.30pm Visit to Bromley Archives Meet in the archives on the second floor of Bromley Central Library

25 September 11am—4pm Keston Roman Tombs Open Day A rare opportunity to visit Keston Roman Tombs at Brambletye, Westerham Road, Keston. There will be graphic displays and finds on show and guided walks by the Council for Kent Archaeology. Pedestrian access only, parking at Keston Ponds and Heathfield Road car park. Entry is free but funds raised will go to Age UK Bromley.

5 Bromleag September 2016 Society news The famous, infamous and worthy of Bromley As one of its austerity measures, the London Borough of Bromley no longer commemorates people thought worthy of recognition by means of a , but other organisations and individuals in the borough continue to record local people in this way. BBLHS is planning to place the Borough’s list of those already commemorated on our website and then update it as new individuals considered appropriate for inclusion are identified. In this way we can create and maintain a central database for the entire Borough by regularly updating it. When adding names to the database our plan is to provide a synopsis of the life and contribution made by the person selected for listing. As a starting point we will compile a list of 50 candidates for the website. The Society hopes all our members and the wider community of Bromley will participate by proposing the names of people suitable for inclusion. Currently we are discussing the criteria we should apply when considering who to select. If a name immediately springs to mind that you wish to propose for our list, do first visit the English Heritage website at www.english-heritage.org.uk where their criteria for selecting candidates are published. If you are convinced of the merits of your candidate why not compose a thumbnail summary recording the contribution they made to local and/or national life and thus enhance their chances of inclusion. Some possible candidates One man already commemorated is Thomas Dewey (see Page 8). Alfred Deller could be a possible new candidate — see Page 9. Who else is in the running? We have had a lot of interesting suggestions and some have featured in past issues of Bromleag. These include: William Cook (1886-1903)— an internet search for Orpington gives countless pictures of the Buff Orpington chicken, pictured on the back page. The world famous chicken was bred by William Cook but where is he commemorated in Orpington? Gustav Mellin — chemist, and inventor of powdered baby food who lived at Wickham Hall 1885-1902. He also sponsored the first English airship flight over London. Wickham Hall has long since disappeared but the stables, now a Marks & Spencer store, remain. (Bromleag June 2008) William Willis (1841-1923) — Bromley’s forgotten millionaire lived off Cromwell Avenue. He invented the Platinotype process to coat photographic paper. It was so successful that it became used around the world until the start of the 20th century. He assisted the Cottage Hospital and the Phillips Memorial Hospital to buy their first X-ray equipment.

6 Bromleag September 2016 Society news Sophie and Margaret Harris — sisters who lived at The White House, Hayes, from which they ran their famous theatrical design company Motley until they needed a larger space in London, in mid 1930s. (Bromleag September 2015) Eric Lubbock (later Lord Avebury) — Liberal MP for Orpington, 1962-70, whose election was a major national political event and seen as a revival of the Liberal Party. The family grave is in the woods at High Elms, Farnborough, but as a Buddist Eric did not want his grave marked and the landscape has already reverted to its natural state, so there is no lasting memorial. (Bromleag March 2012) Elsy Borders — led a mortgage strike in , in the 1930s, because of building defects in her home. The strike spread nationwide and resulted in a change in the law giving protection to buyers from builders and building societies. Rev Thomas and Mrs Anna Maria Hussey — lived from 1831-1856 at Hayes Rectory, now the library. Thomas was an astronomer, the first to suggest the existence of the planet Neptune. Anna Hussey carried out important work on Mycology, the study of fungi. John Lascoe — the Lascoe family ran a saddlery in Bromley High Street from 1706 to 1852, and various members held posts in the town, including Constable, Church Warden and Workhouse Overseer. The last members of the family (John, Thomas and Elizabeth) set up a trust fund for indigent tradesmen in the name of John Lascoe in 1854. These are just a handful of the names proposed. Keep sending your suggestions to myself or Tudor, contact details on Page 4 Vacancy – BBLHS Committee Minutes Secretary Val Stealey and her husband John are leaving the leafy suburbs of Bromley for the wide open spaces of Essex to be nearer their family so we are looking for someone to step into her shoes as Minutes Secretary. The committee meets four times a year and the Minutes Secretary’s notes ensure we have a clear and open record of our meetings. We do not expect, or want, a verbatim report of the meetings — just a simple recording of the topics covered and, most importantly, the issues that individual members of the committee promise to follow up. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to discussions and become involved with projects. To find out more contact our Chairman, Tudor Davies, on: 01689 855744 or email [email protected]

7 Bromleag September 2016 News WW1 casualties and Thomas Dewey commemorated

Bromley Council has taken a further significant step in commemorating Sir Thomas Dewey, who can justly be described as the town’s greatest benefactor. In 2013 a Blue Plaque was erected at his home, today called No.1 South Hill Road, , and now an “interpretation panel” describing Dewey’s achievements and huge contribution to life in the borough has been installed close to his modest grave at St Luke’s cemetery in Magpie Hall Lane. Part of a Bromley Local Studies project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund recalling the efforts of Voluntary Aid Detachment hospitals across the borough in the First World War, it was unveiled by Bromley’s Mayor, Councillor Ian Payne, on 11 July – two days before the 90th anniversary of Dewey’s death in 1926 at the age of 86. Among those present were members of the Dewey family, pictured left with the Mayor At his own expense, Thomas Dewey converted the music pavilion in the grounds of his home at South Hill Wood into a VAD hospital at the outbreak of the war and Local Studies has used that connection to celebrate the man who rose from humble clerk to become President of the Prudential insurance giant. He acquired great wealth and for decades he generously funded and supported numerous organisations and causes in the town, became Bromley’s Charter Mayor in 1904 and was created a Baronet in 1917. Patrick Hellicar *An article on Dewey by Patrick, who contributed to the panel’s content, appeared in Bromleag March 2013

Restricted opening at Bromley Local Studies Library The Local Studies Library which has been operating a restricted service for the last few weeks will be back to normal by early October. The second floor, where Local Studies is located, is being re-configured to make space for the Lubbock display which will be one of the Bromley Museum exhibitions. Until October access is by advance appointment only in a temporary area on the first floor of the Central Library, Bromley. Phone 020 8461 7170 to arrange your visit.

8 Bromleag September 2016 Feature ’s Alfred Deller, a musical standard-setter

Val Stealey Alfred George Deller was the first renowned countertenor and set the standard for countertenors for many years. He was singing between 1940 and 1979, and for nine of these years, from 1949 to 1958, he lived at Mayfield House, 9 Mayfield Road in Bickley. Born on 31 May 1912 in Margate, he married Kathleen Margaret Lowe in Hastings and their sons Mark (1938) and Simon (1942) were born there. He moved to Wimbledon and then to Bromley, where his daughter, Jane, was born on 27 July 1949, the same day that he took possession of 9 Mayfield Road. Her birth certificate records his occupation as Vicar Choral, St Paul’s Cathedral. The house was bought from Ernest John Brown, a retired bank clerk, for £4,200 with a mortgage of £3,200. In 1957, Deller gave his wife Kathleen Power of Attorney over his affairs as he was about to “travel to foreign parts”. The following year he left Bromley, selling Mayfield House for £4,000. Deller was a member of the choirs of Canterbury (1940-47) and St Paul’s (1947-62) Cathedrals and in 1940 he impressed Michael Tippett, who invited him to London to make his debut. In 1950, he formed the Deller Consort, a group that dedicated itself to performing early music using authentic performance practice. For many years, the group toured Europe and the Americas, bringing the music of this period to a new public. In 1964 Deller’s son Mark joined the Deller Consort, also as a countertenor. Deller had works written for him by Fricker, Mellers, Ridout, and Rubbra. He was made a CBE in 1970. In July 1979 he died from a heart attack while on holiday in Bologna, Italy, and is buried with his wife “Peggy” (1913-2006) at All Saints’ Church, Boughton Aluph, Kent. In May 2012, All Saints' Church held a concert to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Deller’s birth, during which a tree was planted in his memory in the churchyard. A tablet in the south quire aisle of Canterbury Cathedral commemorates Deller and his work. Sources Abstract of the Title and Power of Attorney http://www.freebmd.org.uk Free BMD, and birth certificate of Jane Delle Artist Biography by Richard LeSueur [accessed 3 April 2016] http://www.allmusic.com/artist/MN0002192669/biography Artist Biography by Anne Feeney [accessed 3 April 2016] http://www.allmusic.com/artist/deller-consort-mn0002185056

9 Bromleag September 2016 Society news Get your own copies of the Bromley Record

The Bromley Record was our first regular local newspaper and it covered the whole borough at a period from the coming of the first railway almost to the start of the First World War. Until now it has only been available at libraries and it was unlikely to be part of the major newspaper digitisation project of the British Library. However, for local and family historians it is an important and oft-consulted source. BBLHS wanted to make it more easily available so, with some seed funding from the Jean Tresize bequest, we have, with the permission of Bromley Local Studies Library, scanned the whole series and the four DVD box-set is going on sale this autumn. It is available to members at a discounted price of £9.99 when ordered direct from Max Batten (see contact details on Page 4) or £8.99 at meetings Edward Strong and the Bromley Record The paper was first produced, price one penny, on 1 June 1858 by Edward Strong, a local printer who sought to take advantage of the new railway whose schedules featured prominently in his monthly publication. The newspaper also relied heavily on advertisements, which are in themselves of great interest. They reflect the changes in the town just as much as the reports from the various organisations that gradually arose, both to manage the town’s expansion and to meet increasing aspirations for improvement and leisure. The range of topics was eclectic, covering local, national and even international events as well as philosophical musings, natural history and varied reflective pieces probably culled from other publications. Reports of political, administrative and social meetings, court cases, the weather and sporting activity all added to the mix. Because the paper was set up over the month, some news is reported on one page, only to be updated or even contradicted on another! Not the least attraction of the

10 Bromleag September 2016 Society news/ letters fascinating and entertaining reports and stories is the random way they are assembled, life and death following each other without pause. Strong started his printing business in 1857 in Bromley High Street on the northern corner of the White Hart coaching inn, now the site of modern shops, the location remembered today by the nearby White Hart Slip, leading into the shopping centre. In 1865 the business moved to 14 Market Square, on the east side. In addition to the Bromley Record, Edward Strong began publishing local street directories of Bromley and surrounding areas from 1866 and these continued into the 20th century. From 1867 they included a two-inches-to-the-mile map of the area. He authored A History of Bromley in 1858, price three shillings (15p), although it was largely based on previous histories with a little updating of recent events. He died, aged 66, on 20 September 1875 knowing that his paper, with a circulation approaching 4,000 a month, had been a great success. This was bequeathed to his widow Elizabeth and their two sons. She died, aged 75, on 12 December 1879 at 37 Freelands Road and their eldest son, Thomas, became sole proprietor until his death on 7 March 1886, aged 51. Edward and Thomas Strong were both buried in the same grave at Bromley Parish Church. The picture on the front cover of our DVD shows Edward Strong with Elizabeth and their children. Publication of the Bromley Record by E Strong and Sons continued until 1902 when the rights were sold to a printworks in Sherman Road. It was eventually taken over by a larger publishing group and the final issue appeared in December 1913. Max Batten

Charles Babbage and Bromley’s other scientists I was interested to see the article on Henry Babbage in the June Bromleag. You probably recall from Hayes, a history of a Kentish Village that the correspondence between and Rev Thomas John Hussey may be found in the British Library. I have notes from these letters relevant to Hayes, which Charles Babbage visited when Rev Hussey was Rector (1831-56) and had set up an Observatory attached to the Rectory. Prior to that date there is correspondence from the time he was with Rev Francis Dawson in Chislehurst. The attraction of Chislehurst was the existence of a telescope set up in an upper room by Rev Francis Wollaston by 1772. Hussey bought a few books from Charles Babbage and also, at Babbage’s request, investigated and provided him with details of errors he asserted were in the work of Edward Sabine. Jean Wilson

11 Bromleag September 2016 Letters and queries Statues — from the sublime to the ridiculous

I asked In June’s Bromleag if anyone could help locate any statues in Bromley. Arthur Holden at Bromley Local Studies sent this picture, right, of the Virgin and Child by Jacob Epstein on the front of St Edmund’s Catholic Church in Beckenham. And Mike Marriott says the statue of Guy the Gorilla at the Bromley end of has been listed as part of English Heritage’s push on “modern” works of public sculpture. If we look a bit wider than statues, Peter Leigh has suggested the Willett Memorial in Petts Wood and points out that in West Wickham an obelisk in the playing fields commemorates the gift of the fields from glebe lands by Bertie Roberts, Rector for 40 years Another obelisk by the war memorial commemorates the gift of the land by John Lennard, Lord of the Manor. Peter says. In addition, there’s a drinking fountain in Spring Park Woods opposite the top of The Grove which commemorates the McAndrew family, who were prominent residents at the end of the 19th century. Christine Hellicar Musical memories of Crabb’s Croft In Bromleag March 2016, there was a query concerning Crabb’s Croft, West Wickham. When I was a child (c1929), the north end of Kent Road, West Wickham, was a cul-de-sac. Beyond the last of the Victorian cottages was a wide metal gate leading into a meadow (probably part of the Gustav Mellin’s Wickham Hall estate). I remember it because one hot summer’s day the grass caught fire. Shortly after that, Kent Road was extended and a line of council houses (called Crabb’s Croft) was built on the west side. It may be that the land was bought for the purpose by Orpington Urban District Council or much more probably by the new Beckenham Borough Council when the Mellin estate was broken up. The houses were certainly there by the summer of 1936 because Beckenham County School at that time had school on Saturday mornings. I recall trudging past them from West Wickham Station at immediately after 1pm and hearing on the wireless from the open windows of various Crabb's Croft houses, the signature tune,

12 Bromleag September 2016 Letters and queries

Sons of the Sea, being played by the Hammersmith Commodore Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Muscant. I remember this last detail because it was already my ambition (and still is) to conduct a theatre orchestra. Presumably the croft (ie the meadow) had been rented at some time by a tenant named Crabb. I doubt whether such an inelegant name would have been bestowed on a private housing development. I may have known your correspondent’s dad and if he lived there in 1936 I probably heard his wireless set. Ron Cox (Dr) School for the blind in Southborough I was interested in the enquiry about the school for the blind (Bromleag March 2016). After the war there was a home for blind people in Southlands Road. One lady was blind and deaf and you had to speak to her with your hand on hers. My father made me learn this and talk to her. Her name was Lilian. She and her friend Ethel knitted my father’s socks. My mother invited them to tea. After a year or two they moved the home, I think to somewhere in Essex. Sheila Pritchard The fate of Bickley’s Boughton Hotel We received an enquiry, via the website, from Liz in Gloucestershire about a Bickley hotel, pictured below, once owned by her grandparents, Eva and Sydney Clutterbuck. Never having heard of the Boughton Hotel, my first enquiry was to our vice-chair, Michael Rawcliffe, who was able to locate it in Bickley Park Road. Liz’s belief that it had been bombed in WW2 led me to contact our local expert on

13 Bromleag September 2016 Letters and queries such matters, Gordon Dennington, who was able to tell me that it had indeed been badly damaged by a V1 flying bomb during the evening of 17 August 1944, towards the end of the three month campaign of terror. The main victim was Farrants Cottage just east of St George’s Church, which was also badly affected. The house, called Boughton, situated between Blackbrook Lane and Lauriston House, first appears in the 1891 street directory, inhabited by Frederick D Barnes JP. By 1898, he had been replaced by Henry Thomas Holdron, who remained there until 1926 when William Frederick Lomax moved in. However, he did not stay long and by 1929 Ernest Zoephal was in residence, he in turn moving on (to Elmstead Lane) in 1931. It seems that during 1932 the building, by now No.12, was being converted into the Boughton Hotel under the proprietorship of Vernon S Peat. It is possible he died in 1935, for the following year the hotel was being managed by Mrs AS Peat. She then sold it to Sydney Clutterbuck who ran the hotel in 1937/38 before selling it to JE Daw. He did not remain very long, however, as by 1940 RW Anderson was in charge. Whatever the damage caused by the bombing, he apparently remained throughout the war, his name last appearing in 1953 (the 1954 street directory is unavailable but it looks like he died in December, aged 78), after which the hotel was run by his widow, Mrs AC Anderson and a Miss S Taylor. Again, due to gaps in the records all I can say is that they had gone by 1960 and two years later it was once again called Boughton and owned by David Summers. It is clear the original house no longer exists, although a Boughton End in Bickley Park Road has left a reminder of this once large building. Max Batten

Coincidently, Sheila Pritchard has written asking about the Bickley Manor Hotel. “When was it built and who were the owners? Was Bickley ever a manor, or is it just a name?” she writes. “I am also interested in a few Victorian houses in Gosshill Road, Chislehurst. They look so interesting with the Quaggy behind them. “I do enjoy getting my Bromleag. I am no longer able to attend BBLHS meetings but feel I am still in touch. I have lived in Bickley for 81 years and am interested in its history.”

NWKFHS photos — Thanks to Sylvia Snipp for pointing out that the address given for the North West Kent Family History Society Flickr pages was incomplete. The substantial online archive of pictures and documents relating mainly to Kent is https://www.flickr.com/photos/nwkf/albums

14 Bromleag September 2016 Society meeting Delving into the history of Chislehurst

This summer Chislehurst took centre stage in our talks and walks calendar. First, members enjoyed a talk by Joanna Friel, who introduced us to people and places she described as “worthy of a story or two”. And indeed they were, as we discovered when she took us on a slideshow tour from St Nicholas’s Church, with its connections to the Walsinghams, to the birthplace of racing legend Sir Malcolm Campbell via the home of William Willett – of daylight saving fame – (pictured on the inside cover). Next there was a short stop at Scadbury, where we met the Walsinghams again and learnt how they entertained Queen Elizabeth 1, and then it was on to pictures and mini-histories of several grand houses. Most of these have now disappeared but lodge houses, of which “there are many in Chislehurst”, survive. Joanna is a mine of interesting and amusing information about her home area, drawing from the sales particulars of many of the lost houses to help add substance to the old black and white photos. In the last few years Joanna, and members of the history group within the Chislehurst Society, have been researching the First World War and she outlined the role that many of these houses played during the conflict, as hospitals or headquarters. The following day Joanna had arranged a walk for BBLHS that took in some of the properties she had talked about, including Camden Place, once home of the Emperor Napoleon III and now a golf club. Starting in Camden Park Road, which has some fine Arts & Crafts houses, our walk took us through woods to the High Street before a stop for refreshments at the new Chislehurst Society centre just off the High Street. Along the High Street we took time to look upwards, past the modern shop facades, to see that much of the old village High Street survives. We then wound our way around the golf course back to Camden Park Road. A few weeks later, many of those who went on the walk had the opportunity to see inside Camden Place – now the Chislehurst Golf Club – and to get a taste of the once-opulent lifestyle of its former inhabitants as we took “afternoon tea” and had an excellent guided tour of the house. Chislehurst, it has to be said, had and still has some of the finest private 19th century houses in the borough. It became fashionable when Napoleon III lived there in the 1870s — for just 18 months before his death. Once on the “place-to-be” map, it was soon evident that with the good railway links it was the place to stay. But Joanna believes that the area owes its continuing exclusivity to the wide open spaces of the commons which have been preserved thanks to the Commons Conservators. Most of the really big mansions that are still standing are no longer private

15 Bromleag September 2016 Society meeting residences. There is the golf club at Camden, and Coopers and Babbington have both been schools for many years. Joanna showed us some of the fine interiors that have survived thanks to the change of use. Others, such as , have had several non-residential uses over the years but are now once again private homes. Coopers neighbour Hawkwood did not fare so well. The property and land were bought by the National Trust but when scaffolding was put up on the house it almost crumbled beneath it because of rot. The house had to be demolished but the open land of Hawkshurst, adjoining Petts Wood, has been preserved. By the end of the talk it was clear just how popular Chislehurst had become during the 19th century and what a legacy the preservation of the commons, Napoleon III and the railway has given the area. If you would like to dip into the history of the area a bit more then check out the Chislehurst Society history web pages at http://www.chislehurst-society.org.uk/Pages/About/History.html CH A picture essay of our visit to Camden Place with some detailed interior shots is on our website at bblhs.org.uk

Historical oddities all around us

Little gems of history lurk everywhere but sometimes we just don’t spot them. So it was with “stink pipes” — the gas vents for sewers — which I had never heard of. I was totally unaware that I had been walking past an admittedly rather boring but nonetheless 80-year- old example nearly every day for 25 years. It was not until Sue Hayton of the Industrial Archaeological Society came to BBLHS as speaker at our June meeting that I learnt about them during her talk entitled Street Furniture in South London. Two days later, I spotted this not-so-small item of street furniture, pictured right, almost on my doorstep. Sue had shown us several more-interesting and older examples of these outlet pipes that survive in Beckenham, along with a variety of other furniture, some of which, sadly, is disappearing fast. — perhaps because it remained undeveloped until recent years — provides (or provided, as they may have disappeared by now) quite a lot of examples of very old street signs, both road names and trade signs, which Sue has recorded. But nearer home we can still boast an old-fashioned fingerpost road sign just over the border in Knockholt. Milestones can be found in Farnborough, Green

16 Bromleag September 2016 Society meeting Street Green, and Beckenham. Sometimes older milestones have been re-carved or had metal plates put on them when the carving began to wear out. Horse troughs and drinking fountains are favourite bits of “furniture”, but the horse trough that once stood in Bromley “seemed to disappear overnight”. Drinking fountains are now considered unhygienic but troughs have often found new uses as flower planters and Sue showed us some beautiful examples, such as a massive one at Smithfield, that still grace the streets of London. On the larger side — and again still surviving in London — are the Victorian shelters for Hansom cab drivers which not only provided shelter but also cooked meals for the cabbies working the nightshift. In her wide-ranging talk Sue included post boxes and telephone boxes, both of which have been made in a variety of shapes and sizes over the decades. The eccentric designs of some of the familiar red phone boxes are well known but there were equally weird late 20th century yellow and blue phone kiosks. There was even in the mid-20th century a phone box-cum-post office box with a stamp dispensing machine which, like the push-button A and B phone boxes, was “hackable” and so soon disappeared. In fact a lot of street furniture is disappearing fast. “Street furniture suffers in road- widening schemes and modernisation, getting knocked down and swept away”, said Sue. But luckily there are historians, like Sue, who are recording our built environment. CH Crystal Palace’s forgotten station Our final meeting of the 2015-16 season was a fascinating talk by Bernard Winchester on the almost forgotten High Level station at Crystal Palace. Bernard began with a short introduction about London’s first Underground railway, opened in 1863, and its visionary progenitor Charles Pearson, whose hope was that Farringdon station would become a central hub for travel to and from the City. Although it did not happen then, as Bernard pointed out, with forthcoming changes to Thameslink and Crossrail (now the Elizabeth Line) his hopes are being more nearly realised, albeit more than 160 years later. Following the railway line south east to Crystal Palace, Bernard then outlined how the move of the vast construction of exhibition centre from Hyde Park to a hill at the top of Common led to the need for a railway line to carry the numbers of people expected to enjoy its many facilities. This first line was built from the Low Level (and still remaining) station gradually to Victoria. However, the climb from the station to the Palace was not welcome and plans were drawn up for a

17 Bromleag September 2016 Society meeting new High Level station immediately adjacent to the Palace. Eventually a route from Nunhead was opened in August 1865 and a very grand station with towers at each corner and ornate glass roofs was built. Separate platforms and entrances were provided for first class and other passengers who then had only to walk across (or under) the road to the Palace entrance. Although the line was very busy on days when special events were held —for example, marking the coronation of King George V — outside of these times traffic was always low and during both World Wars the station was closed. Following the fire and destruction of the building in 1936, use of the line declined terminally and despite being an early candidate for electrification in 1926 was finally closed on 20 September 1954. The once-magnificent station (the interior is pictured below) which had gradually deteriorated, particularly during the war, was felt by locals to be a risk to adventurous children and a campaign to have it demolished finally succeeded in 1961. Had it survived a few more years, it is certain it would today be a highly-thought-of relic of the Victorian age. Although the station site is now occupied by housing, a few reminders remain, including the long buttress wall where the station was cut into the hillside and the ornate corridors under the road which are opened to the public on rare occasions. MB

18 Bromleag September 2016 Feature Sir Arthur Bliss: nurturing Beckenham talent Cliff Watkins

n 1933 the composer Elisabeth Lutyens, daughter of the architect Edward Lutyens, I organised a concert — a venture into a brave new world — in the small Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill. In her book A Goldfish Bowl published in 1972 she wrote: “In the audience was Arthur Bliss in scarlet-lined cape, always present in his support of the young or the new.” On 24 July 1953, shortly after his knighthood and his appointment as Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Arthur Bliss visited Beckenham at the invitation of the Beckenham Salon, who had asked him to become their President. The event took Sir Arthur Bliss place in the drawing room of 56 Oakwood Avenue the home of a Mrs Millman — across the road from the large house that had been ’s sixth Beckenham home — and was reported in full in the Beckenham Journal. The Journal reporter declared: “What a joy it was! These couple of dozen or so boys and girls, some young married couples — their average age is about 21 — form the core of an unusual little organisation called Beckenham Salon. “Its members deal in literature, and music mostly original. Much of it is their own and most performers are themselves ... they enjoy, criticise, and evaluate one another’s efforts.” Some of the founding members are pictured on the following page. The idea was to give a platform to local creative artists and to this end public concerts had been held in the Boys County School and the Old Council Offices. On an earlier visit to Beckenham, Sir Arthur had promoted informal discussion, shown enthusiasm for the Salon’s work and suggested they hold smaller gatherings more regularly and then aim at something more ambitious towards the end of each year. For example, this might be an original verse drama to be performed in a local venue, with local actors and instrumentalists. Responding to Sir Arthur’s ideas, the evening in Oakwood Avenue was most ambitious. Two guest artists were also present — Rene Soames (tenor) and Elizabeth Osborne (soprano), both known to radio listeners. Miss Osborne opened the recital with a

19 Bromleag September 2016 Feature setting by John Frost of Moriana, a poem by Arthur Letts. Bliss commented that her performance was “no less sensitive to the drama of the poem than was the composer’s imaginative setting”. Rene Soames sang with infectious vitality five further songs by John Frost: three settings of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and two poems from James Joyce’s Chamber Music. Rosalie Millman gave a spirited and confident performance of six piano studies in rhythm, La Delicatesse, and John Frost appeared again as a virile bass soloist in five miniatures entitled 3am, set by Carey Blyton to poems by David Munro. Munro read his own Radio Script a satirical piece which provoked laughter and well-deserved admiration. He also read three of Michael Hopkins’s poems, Progression. The Journal reporter concluded that more should be heard of these surprisingly youthful and competent artists; and that some of their work, the result of several months in collation, deserved a wider public soon.

The Salon ceased in 1954. Some years later, when Carey Blyton was beginning his music career he worked for music publishers Mills Music in Denmark Street (Tin Pan Alley). There he was both a copyist (he was impeccably neat and accurate) and an editor of the music of, inter alia, another Beckenham Salon member, Geoffrey Russell-Smith, Ernest The Beckenham Salon: David Munro, seated, with, Tomlinson (who founded the from left to right, Carey Blyton, Mike Hopkins, British Light Music Society) and David Roberts and John Vosser Elisabeth Lutyens. Photo by David Roberts

20 Bromleag September 2016

Feature Railway connections — the lines that might have served Bromley Max Batten

ecause of its location, early attempts to connect London and Dover by rail routes passing through or near Bromley, which lay on a long-established coach route and the direct path between London and Tunbridge Wells, B were certainly considered. Between 1821 and 1831 the population of Bromley grew by more than 25% and although this eased off, by 1840 the population was over 4,300 and the town had gained a reputation as a thriving market town on the way to Tonbridge, Hastings and Rye as well as the cross-country route from Croydon to the old Dover Road to the east. It was also the location of several large and wealthy and, although not noble, influential estates. These included the Scotts at Sundridge Park and of course the lands of the Bishop of Rochester just to the east of the town centre. In fact, nearly 80% of the parish was owned by just eight people. However, it was almost entirely agricultural and service-oriented (servants, shops, hotels, schools etc.) and there were two significant blows to further expansion. First, the retirement, and later death, of Dr James Scott whose widely-respected surgical reputation had attracted many visitors to the town for treatment. This was followed by the departure of George Murray, the 96th Bishop of Rochester from his “Palace”, after reorganisation of the bishopric (Bromley actually became part of the diocese of Canterbury for some years), which perhaps led to the town being considered less favourably. Between 1841 and 1851, when the population of England and Wales increased by a million (12%), Bromley’s population actually fell. The Palace remained empty for a year, but in due course it was purchased by the wealthy industrialist and wharfinger Mr Coles William John Child, of whom we shall hear more. Although plans for a rail line south from London via the Ravensbourne valley, Farnborough and Pratts Bottom were first mooted in the 1830s, the existence of the Downs and Forest Ridges beyond on the way to Dover was not helpful. Kent did not have any major industrial centres to be obvious targets for railway entrepreneurs, although there were a number of towns, such as Maidstone, Tonbridge or Gravesend, for which a case could be made for a direct link to London or to be a branch from a main line, but none was overwhelming. There were also

21 Bromleag September 2016 Feature powerful landed interests who either, spotting a good thing, demanded exorbitant sums for travel across their land or more altruistically, or — unimaginatively — did not want the view from their country houses spoiled by steam and sparks (and the passing hoi polloi). Probably the best line for Bromley that reached Parliament, [new railway lines had to have parliamentary approval] would have been the 1845/6 proposal for a London, Hastings and St Leonards Direct Railway. This was planned to pass directly through the town as well as Sevenoaks but not Tonbridge or pretty much anywhere else, and failed to find the necessary backers, either political or financial. Then a scheme using the Mid Kent line (now the route via to Hayes but originally aiming to end in Tonbridge) with a branch to Bromley failed in 1845. In 1850 an over-ambitious plan to run a railway from (Gate) through Bromley, Otford and Snodland then on by various branches to Dover, Maidstone, Sevenoaks and Faversham made an appearance but disappeared as rapidly. Another scheme to link with Croydon and Bromley popped up in 1851, 1852 and 1853, making its last appearance in 1854. It has to be remembered just how few people lived in all these places – the total population of the country was less than a third of today’s and much more dispersed. Another proposal, also made public in 1854 and led by the SER, was part of a largely tunnel-free path to Tonbridge. This, after following what became the eventual route as far as Chislehurst 11 years later, then went to the east of Orpington and down the Darenth Valley to Otford before veering east again towards Ightham and then almost directly south to Tonbridge, but approaching the town from the east. Of course, by the time the SER got its act together, the LCDR had already built the lines via Swanley and Otford, so that option was closed off. From the local point of view, however, its greatest interest was the plan for a triangular junction near Bickley with the line looping back to Bromley and linking with the planned WEL&CPR at Shortlands, where it would join also with a branch from Farnborough. See map on opposite page

All those initials! Who’s who of railway companies LBSCR London Brighton & South Coast Railway LCDR London Chatham & Dover Railway MKR Mid Kent Railway SER South Eastern Railway WEL&CPR West End of London & Crystal Palace Railway

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Another MKR line scheme arose in 1855 to link Lewisham and Beckenham and had the SER Board been more adventurous it could have taken over the Crays Railway which included Shortlands to Bickley and retained its through service to London Bridge from Bromley South, which began in 1858. Before this happened, however, in 1852 the SER Board, discouraged by its Bromley based director Mr Coles Child, rejected a proposal for a line from Sydenham to Bromley and a year later a scheme for a line from Lewisham to Bromley, which seemed selfless acts given that, as a local landowner, he could benefit from such a line. However, shortly afterwards the Press began to draw attention to the greater benefits (suggested at £60,000) that he could obtain from the plans of the WEL&CPR proposal which had first surfaced in 1852, just at the time Child was strenuously objecting to these other schemes. Unfortunately, while the SER Board — which for historical reasons had many members from the Mersey area — was occupied with finally ousting its contentious chairman Mr MacGregor, along with its General Manager, Superintendent of the Line, Surveyor and (Chief) Engineer, the WEL&CPR plans were receiving Parliamentary approval. Child continued to cause controversy, objecting to plans for SER expansion in north- east Kent — perhaps because he owned a coal wharf in Greenwich — and also to plans to extend from London Bridge to Charing Cross ,which first came up in 1857. This required replacing the Hungerford footbridge (of which owning company he was also a director) as well as needing to take over the adjacent Belvedere Wharf, just to the north, which eventually cost the SER £12,000 to purchase!

23 Bromleag September 2016 Feature The final straw came when the SER, having let a contract to the Rhymney Iron Company (Director, Mr C Child), had to cancel it when the supplied rails were found to be of poor quality. This, combined with his further opposition to the Cannon Street extension, finally led to him being ousted from the Board in 1862.¹ His replacement was a dynamic, ambitious and equally aggressive railway manager, Edward Watkin, originally from Salford, who had wisely married the daughter of an SER director and who was knighted in 1868.² The first Bromley Station So the two significant railway lines built up to 1850, one via Croydon, Redhill and Tonbridge to Dover by 1844 and the other along the south bank of the Thames to the Medway Towns (Strood 1849) left Bromley in something of a limbo. Another area overlooked was between Canterbury and Rochester, including the busy port of Faversham. With the SER Board in a constant state of war with itself, its shareholders and the law courts, the opportunity to come to an agreement with the small East Kent Railway as it built bits and pieces of line through this gap and up to London was missed, with both good and bad consequences for Bromley. Eventually, 25 years after the opening of one of the very first railways, between Canterbury and Whitstable, Bromley was finally connected, after a fashion, by a subsidiary of the LBSCR, the WEL&CPR. In 1854 WEL&CPR gained Parliamentary approval to extend its line from near Crystal Palace to Farnborough but it reached only to Shortlands in March 1858. In 1855 the SER-backed MKR gained approval for its line from Lewisham via Catford to join the WEL&CPR at Beckenham. A year later the Crays Company gained approval for an extension from Shortlands to Prospectus for one of the failed lines of Bromley and the first trains from London Bridge via Lewisham to Bickley started running on 5 July 1858. More-extensive plans were also in the pipeline, including a proposed Farnborough and Bromley Railways in 1859, which failed, however, to find support. By November that year the MKR weekday service to London via Beckenham and Catford was as shown in the top timetable opposite (on Sunday there were four trains each way):

24 Bromleag September 2016 Feature

Bickley 0740 0835 0914* 0959* 1144 1429 1634 1739 1959 2204

Bromley 0745 0839 0919 1004 1149 1434 1639 1744 2004 2209

Shortlands 0748 0842 0922 1007 1152 1437 1642 1747 2007 2212

London Bridge 0825 0919 0959 1044 1229 1514 1719 1824 2044 2249

Returning at:

London Bridge 0750 0910 1030 1330* 1530 1640* 1740* 1900 2115

* 1st and 2nd Class carriages only, ie no 3rd Class.

At the same time, the WEL&CPR was also running via Beckenham (on Sunday there were six Up and five Down trains):

Shortlands 0835 0940 1100 1350 1445 1650 1855 2045 Crystal Palace 0847 0952 1112 1402 1457 1702 1907 2057

Pimlico* 0912 1017 1137 1427 1522 1727 1832 2122

Returning at: Pimlico 0830 0930 1130 1330 1445 1650 1930 2035

*Victoria LCDR wasn’t opened until August 1862

Fares for the journey were (One shilling = 5p): MKR WEL&CPR

Single Return Single Return First 1/6 2/3 1/8 2/6

Second 1/3 1/9 1/3 1/10 Third 10d 1/3 10d 1/3

While this was going on, the chronically insolvent East Kent Railway³ was struggling on, gradually extending its line west from Strood and hoping to link up with the WEL&CPR to get to London. However, with the SER effectively controlling the section between Bickley and Shortlands, there was a problem and the MKR company was

25 Bromleag September 2016 Feature stuck in the middle. But while its directors, at their half-yearly general meeting on 16 August 1858, explained they wished to remain friendly with the SER, the prospect of being paid a minimum of £1,000 per annum, rising to £1,500 when the East Kent connected them to Dover, helped sweeten the pill. Since there was no likelihood of the two larger companies coming to a sensible compromise, it required further Bills in Parliament — which gave victory to the SER in the Commons but success to the LCDR in the Lords — to get the single line between Shortlands and Bickley doubled, the SER’s 10- year contract to run trains through Bromley to be abrogated and another Act authorising the construction of a parallel railway a short distance to the south (to bring pressure on the SER to give up the existing line) before, finally, the whole route (as far as Bromley Junction near Crystal Palace) came under the control and operation of the LCDR on 1 September 1863. This led to a decreasing number of through trains to London Bridge, the very last being on 30 September 1866, albeit a change could in many cases be made at Beckenham Junction. Early mutterings The line that passed Bromley making partial use of the valley of the was not, however, universally popular with local residents. As the town grew around and to the north east of Market Square, the stations (Bromley and Shortlands) at the bottom of a hill did not conveniently or reliably serve the City of London, to which many important citizens made their way on a regular basis. The unreliable connections at Beckenham led to proposals for something better and first surfaced as early as 1863, which the opening of the LCDR route to Blackfriars via Penge in June 1864 did little to reduce. When, in 1865 after dithering for 20 years, the SER eventually completed a direct route from Lewisham to Chislehurst (the only station between there and Orpington), finally completing the heavily engineered route to Tonbridge in 1868, there was at last an opportunity for an alternative link to the City and pressure started to grow for a line to the northern end of Bromley, nearer its commercial and residential hub. On 5 November 1863, at the Rising Sun inn at 35 Bromley High Street, (pictured on the opposite page) draper Samuel Porter, whose shop was at No.37, chaired a meeting led by Mr W Gurley Smith, secretary to the People’s Land Society in Greenwich, and local printer/publisher Edward Strong where it was decided to approach the SER with some proposals. Five days later, across the road at the White Hart, which ironically had been rebuilt in 1830 to handle increased coach traffic, an indignant meeting agreed unanimously that the “present railway accommodation to the City is very inefficient” and the proximity of the SER Tonbridge line would afford “the means of constructing a short

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The Rising Sun in the High Street, looking towards Market Square. The publican G Porter is standing at the entrance line into the very heart of the town … terminating close to the Market-place”. Among those present were Captain Satterthwaite, Robert Booth Latter and his younger brother Robinson Latter, William Pawley, George B Baxter and other local tradesmen. In the chair was City businessman Henry Constable, who professed, however, little knowledge of what was planned. Mr Gurley Smith quickly (or, more accurately, at great length) explained that following the takeover of the line from Bromley (South) by the LCDR, the service to the City was now very inconvenient. They had a direct service to Dover, but not to London Bridge! With the new line in “Burnt Ash-lane” a simple route to near the Market Square, with a station at Plaistow⁴ was available. Slightly surprisingly, the Chairman, who lived in Widmore House, said he would oppose the line coming so close to him (he was leasing Plot 52 on the map shown on the next page) and indeed objected to it coming so close to the town! In response, Mr Smith pointed out that the route could be extended and thereby joined with the present LCDR line. Local solicitor Robinson Latter said that they should concentrate on the current proposal, which he supported, but it was important to gain the co-operation of the SER, although he believed the traffic available from present users

27 Bromleag September 2016 Feature of Shortlands plus New Bromley, Widmore and Plaistow would justify an exclusive service. He had had an engineer examine the proposed route and prepare plans and felt it could be built for £40,000. The meeting should decide, therefore, whether they were happy with the current service or wanted to improve things, he said. Mr Smith expressed reservations about trusting the SER to assist them, based on a conversation he had had with Mr Coles Child who (for reasons mentioned above but which only became clear later) believed “that ’ere long the Brighton Company would come and compete for the Bromley traffic”. After further discussion, it was unanimously agreed that a “short line commencing near the Rifle Butt⁵ and terminating close to the market-place of Bromley” could take advantage of the new SER main line. As the map extract below shows, the line continues further into Bromley than was ultimately built, coming to an end in the middle of the site of Bromley Drill Hall (now O’Neill’s bar). It should also be noticed that, as with all these plans, a broad area about

The first plan for a railway to Bromley North terminating in Cage Field. The large building at the bottom is the National School, now the site of the Methodist Church

28 Bromleag September 2016 Feature 200 metres wide of what would now be called planning blight was included to allow for variation to the route during actual construction. A committee including Samuel and George Porter, Gurley Smith, Robinson Latter and George Baxter was appointed to negotiate with Samuel Scott ⁶ and others over access to the required land and to negotiate with the SER. Finally, thanks were given to George Porter, landlord of the Rising Sun, who “fathered the idea of a station in Cage Field”, the area now delineated by East, West and North Streets. A disappointing end In due course the committee met with the directors of the SER to discuss the options for the branch line and how services could be integrated. The result was a firm no! It has been suggested that the reason for the contrast between local enthusiasm to get another railway to Bromley and the lack of support elsewhere was due to the different proponents of the new route from the old. The earlier proposals had been of considerable benefit to local landowners, including Coles Child, who in some cases were both on the board of the railway concerned and selling the land under the very favourable terms of the 1845 Land Clauses Consolidation Act. The support was now coming only from actual travellers who had been attracted to Bromley by the existence of a railway connection in the first place. One bitter letter to The Times in January 1864 described at length the 70 minutes it had taken to travel on a Mid-Kent railway train from London Bridge to Beckenham, only to have then to spend an inordinate amount of time awaiting an LCDR train from Victoria to which their coaches could be attached for the rest of the journey to Bromley. Another 14 years of frustration, argument and shenanigans were to pass before Bromley got its direct railway to the City ... but that is another story!

Footnotes 1 In 1866 he became a director of the LBSCR, one of the SER’s most serious rivals. Born in 1812, he died suddenly at Bromley Palace on 16 January 1873, succeeded by his son, William John Coles Child (1862-1929), who became the first baronet in 1919. 2 He was also a director of, among others, the Great Eastern and Great Western railways 3 It became the LCDR in August 1859 and officially bankrupt from 12 July 1866 to 21 February 1871. 4 Note, an intermediate station was always planned and was not at the behest of the Scotts at Sundridge Park who were actually very un-co-operative. 5 From 1861, the local Rifle Corps established a firing range on land between Grove Park and Elmstead Woods. When the new line to Chislehurst was built it had to move to what later became Rangefield Road in Downham.

29 Bromleag September 2016 Feature 6 A nouveau riche family which got rich through slightly dubious grain trading during the French Revolutionary War. Samuel Scott (1807-1869) was the younger brother of Sir Claude Scott, the 3rd baronet, and lived at Sundridge Park. Sources A History of the SE&CR Vol I & II 1812-1855 – John Hilton Undated South Eastern Railway – Adrian Gray 1990 The Bromley Record – 1858 to 1865 The London Chatham and Dover Railway – Adrian Gray 1984 The Social and Economic Development of Bromley 1841-1881 — JM Rawcliffe. 1976 — an unpublished thesis.

Other missed transport opportunities ...  In 1898 an application was made to build an eight-mile light railway from Orpington to Tatsfield but the scheme lapsed in 1902 due to lack of finance.  A 15-mile Light Electric Railway linking Orpington and Sanderstead was proposed in 1925 but the Ministry of Transport Railway Order was withdrawn in 1933 after financial support was not forthcoming  The Bromley Record of May 1882 noted: “The channel tunnel has advanced considerably over a mile.” ... and some pre-railway improvements

 Bromley straddles the London to Tunbridge Wells road (A21) which was viewed and improved by the New Cross Turnpike Trust, set up in 1718. The road through Bromley was turnpiked sometime between 1760 and 1780  At least six milestones were put in place on the old coaching routes in the borough in the 1800s measuring the distance from London Bridge for the stagecoaches. How many are still in place?  Gravel Road came into being after the Enclosure Acts of the 1820s. It was from the gravel pit in this road that material was excavated to build many of the new roads in the area  In 1809 the Croydon canal was opened and passed through Penge. Remains are still visible in Betts Park

Extracts from the BBLHS 2000 facts for the Millennium

30 Bromleag September 2016 How Bromley’s rail network looked by 1908. Bartholomew’s Handy Reference Atlas of London Suburbs

31 Bromleag September 2016 Bromley Local History Society www.bblhs.org.uk

Commemorating Bromley’s famous — where does the chicken fit in? Find out on Page 6 and join the debate

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