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BROMLEAGE

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BOROUGH LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

No. 6/94 DECEMBER 1994

JOINT MEETING

There is to be a joint meeting our Society and the Society on Tuesday 21st February 1995 at 8.00 p.m. The venue is the Methodic Church Half Prince imperial Road. Chislehurst. The subject for the evening will be and there will be three speakers, Roy Hopper, Eric Inman, and Chris Manning Perry. This should be a most interesting evening and we hope that as many as possible will come along to make this joint effort a great success.

ITS WHERE YOU SLEEP THAT COUNTS

Our November speaker Dr Ron Cox gave a most detailed and interesting talk on the care of the poor, the homeless and the illegitimate in 19th century. Whilst most of his history was based on the Beddington area of Surrey it naturally referred to all other parts of the country. The local authority responsible for you if you became destitute depended on where you were bom. Thus if a vagrant came into the village and couldn't prove that was where he was bom he was very quickly escorted on his way over the border so that some other authority would be 'landed' with him Sometimes a poor person, or even poor family would be sent to then place of origin only to find that wasn't where they had come from and were consequently sent back to Beddington before being put on their way again elsewhere. A sorry case of 'over to you mate'! These poor unfortunates were expected to walk from Beddington to whichever authority to which they were being sent - and walk back again if it was the wrong location. This could be many miles and take several days. Certainly no Welfare State in those days.

The December meeting saw Geoffrey Doel entertaining us with his history of Mummers and related rituals. His talk was very well illustrated with slides covering Mummers from many villages in Kent, Sussex and Surrey. His enthusiasm and knowledge came over loud and strong and we found it a fascinating talk. Afterwards instead of our usual coffee and biscuits there was the traditional mince pies and fruit juice (we are not able to have wine as our meetings are held on church property)

THE VICTORIAN MILITARY SOCIETY

The Victorian Military Society is a non-commercial organisation whose aim is to promote the study of military history in the period 1837 - 1914. They will be holding their annual Victorian Military Fair on SATURDAY 4th MARCH 1995 at the New Connaught Rooms. W.C.2. The Fair runs from 10.30 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. Adm. £2.50 adults: 50p children. The Society offers a FREE identification service for military photos, medals, badges etc. If you have an item which you cannot identify or a photo of a soldier and you need to know his

69 regiment, take it along and they will do their best to help you. Although their principal interest is between 1837 and 1914. they may be able to help with items from outside that period. For more details contact: Dan Ailen. Hon. Publicity Officer, Victorian Military Society, 20 Priory Road, Newbury, Berks, RG 14 7 QN

AERONAUTICS AT THE PALACE

On Thursday 19th January 1995 at Museum. Hill, SE19 John King, chairman of the Lewisham Historical Society, will give an illustrated talk about the history of the many forms of aviation at Crystal Palace. The talk starts at 7.30 p.m. Adm: £1.00 CPF members. £2.00 non-members. Advance tickets can be obtained from the Crystal Palace Museum Shop.

BLUE PLAQUES

Last month Bromley put up another Blue Plaque. This one was for the internationally celebrated naval architect Sir Victor Shepheard. It was erected at his former home in Manor Park, Chislehurst by Bromley,s Environment Group. Sir Victor designed the Royal Yacht Britannia and was professor of naval architecture at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, before the start of the second world war. There are a further 12 plaques in the Borough:- 1. RG.Wells Allders, High Street, Bromley 2. W.G. Grace 'Fairmount', Motringham Lane, 3. Prince Peter Kropotkin 6 Crescent Road, Bromley 4. Alexander Muirhead 20 Church Road, 5. Richmal Crompton 'The Glebe', Oakley Road, 6. Harry Relph "Little Tich" Blacksmith's Arms, Lane South, Cudham 7. Enid Blyton 83 Shortlands Road, Bromley 8. Walter de la Mare 195 MacKenzie Road, 9. Thomas Crapper 12 Thomsett Road, London S.E.20 10. William Willett 'The Cedars'. 82 Camden Park Road, Chislehurst 11. Lord Ted Willis 5 Shepherds Green, Chislehurst 12. Sir Geraint Evans 34 Birchwood Road,

N. W. ¡C F. H. S.

On Friday January 20th the North West Kent Family History Society have a talk entitled 'History of the Cinema in Kent'. This will be given by Tony Moss who really knows his subject and should be most interesting. The meeting starts at 7.15 p.m. in The Great HalL Bromley Civic Centre.

LOCAL STUDIES LIBRARY

The 'Kentish Times' have passed over to Bromley Local Studies a vast collection of negatives which appeared in the 'Bromley Times'. These cover a wide variety of events from about the 1960's and will be valuable material to all local historian. Unfortunately this material has not yet been catalogued and so is not available to the public. The library is asking for help to get this important job done so if you have some spare time please go along and offer your

70 services. Anyone who regularly uses the Local Studies Library will appreciate how little time the staff get to settle down to good stint of indexing and cataloguing the vast amount of material in the archives. So much of their time is spent in answering queries, showing the public how to use the microfiche machines and where to find the necessary information. It is no good us moaning because we can't see much of the archival material if we don't do something to help with it, so please spare a little of your time on this important job.

Llinos Thomas has once again sent in an update of the latest additions to the Local Studies Library.

The Crystal Palace : the story of the world's first prehistoric sculptures by Steve McCarthy and Mick Gilbert. In rebuilding the Crystal Palace at Paxton also transformed the grounds. The new public park featured a maze, a working replica of a Derbyshire lead mine and of course 'life size' dinosaurs!. Although various articles and books have mentioned the dinosaurs, this is the first book devoted solely to the statues. The book has received critical acclaim from various experts and was described by a lecturer at Cambridge University, as "outstandingly well done ...... a very useful work to a wide range of readers".

Crystal Reflections: memories of the Crystal Palace (Video) Joan Warwick and Eric Spottiswoode provide colourful memories of the Crystal Palace and the entertainment's and activities which took place there. The Maxim's flying machine is remembered by Eric as "truly petrifying the first trip - you went round at a fair speed with no safety belt, only a little rail to hold on". The video is illustrated with original archive material.

Crystal Palace: and Charles Fox by John McKean This book is a superbly photographed study of the Crystal Palace with detailed manufacturing and assembly drawings. John McKean provides a detailed description o f the design and process of erection of the Crystal Palace. The book shows that 'in theory1 it could be re-built tomorrow with perfect precision.

The Gentleman at War: policing Britain 1939- 45 by Roy Ingleton This is a "very readable work of significant historical importance" as very little has been written about the work of the police in the 2nd World War. The book examines the changed role of the wartime police force and the effect the war had on the morals of the population.

British Propaganda and the State of the First World War by Gary Messinger This is the newest addition to the H.G.Wells collection, which is one of the largest collection of books by and about Wells in the country. During the war many of the techniques of modem propaganda were worked out. This book chronicles the process by which the techniques were established and how individuals, such as H.G.Wells were influencial in determining the nature of modem propaganda.

Maps for Family History: a guide to the records of the Tithe. Valuation Office and National farm Survevs of England and Wales 1836 - 1943 by William Foot. This is No. 9 in the 'Public Record Office Readers' Guide'. The book describes the historical background to each of the surveys, why and how the records were created, what information thev contained, and how to use them. It shows you how the various surveys can be used to

71 answer questions such as 'What type of house did my forebears live in'? How much and what did they own? Were they farmers? etc.'

All the Staff at Bromley Local Studies Library wish the members of the Local History Society the compliments of the season.

NEW PUBLICATIONS BY OUR MEMBERS

Two new local history books have recently been published by our members. Paul Rason reviews Muriel Searle's in Old Picture Postcards. With 75 photographs nearly all taken from postcards there is plenty to study for the casual observer or more serious researcher of Orpington's past. The reader is treated to scenes long since gone, whilst others show streets which can be easily recognised but the vehicles and dress indicate another time. Muriel gives credit to Kathleen and John Warner as the main supplier of the postcards for this book. They must have a truly interesting collection which no doubt took many years to gather. This book is particularly welcomed for allowing local people, not necessarily historians, to browse through this carefully accumulated collection. At £9.95 it is a useful book to give as a present or to have on the shelf to be taken down to start a conversation when the T/V becomes just too much of a bore!

VANISHED by Joyce Walker This book is up to Joyce's usual high standard and is very readable, with each chapter being a separate story about an old building or the various families who lived there. The bibliography not only shows the reader how thoroughly Joyce researched her subject but also gives much valuable information on further material for the serious reader. With 66 illustrations and nine maps this 156 page hard backed book is an excellent buy at £11.95 and is a must for everyone interested in West Wickham

PENGE & BECKENHAM GROUP

The group held its annual Christmas party on November 9th when nearly 60 members came along in spite of the dreadful weather. There was a goodly array of festive fare and drinks (again unfortunately non-alcoholic) which nearly all disappeared fairly rapidly. Two quizzes occupied much o f the time but I am afraid that there was much blatant cheating from most of the members and yet in spite of that no one got either quiz completely correct. If the volume of noise was indicative of people enjoying themselves then it was certainly a very successful afternoon and I think everyone is looking forward to next years event. The next meeting will be at 2.30 p.m on Wednesday 11th January at the Beckenham Methodist Church Hall in Bevington Road. Our speaker then will be Mr John Barrett who will be talking about the Drinking Fountain Association. All members of the Society are welcome, not just the regulars to the and Beckenham Group. How many drinking fountains can you remember in the area? Try to make a list before the meeting. I can remember one at the Crooked Billet in Penge and another on the comer of Hayne Road and Beckenham Road, but I am sure there were many more.

CONSTITUTION

The Charities Commission have at last accept our new Constitution but it will need to be formally passed at the next Annual General Meeting in April before it can come into proper

72 use. It is a lengthy document and would be very costly to send out to ail members but a copy will be available at our monthly meetings for anyone who would like to read through it.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Once again subscription time has come around. You will find in with this newsletter a form to be completed and sent off- to the Subscription Secretary with your dues. It would be appreciated if this could be done as soon as possible.

BECKENHAM CIVIC SOCIETY

On Thursday 2nd February the Beckenham Civic Society will have an illustrated talk about the work of the National Trust by Mr Ray Garwood from , entitled 'The Future of the Past'. The following month on Thursday 2nd March there will be an interesting illustrated history of Penge by local archivist and archaeologist Mr Len Johnson. KBs talk is called 'Penge - Where the Pigs Lived!!' The Society meets in the Small Hall in the Public Hall, Bromley Road, Beckenham and the meetings start promptly at 8.00 p.m

ORPINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Society meets at the Baptist Church Hall, Station Road, Orpington at 8.00 p.m. and their next meetings are:- 2nd February - Re-paving of the Nave of Canterbury Cathedral - speaker Howes 2nd March - 'Green Chain Walk' - speaker Steve Cowell 16th March - Kentish Ports - speaker Joy Saynor

HORSE TROUGHS

At one time there were numerous horse troughs in the borough. How many are there now? Would members please let us know of any within their area so that we can list them. There is one in the Widmore area at the bottom of Plaistow Lane, another at White Horse Hill, Chislehurst. The one in Green Lane. Penge is used as a flower trough but there must be others still about. Also another little query - Why is Prospect Place, Bromley so called, and why is Prospect Place/Road/Close/Hill such a popular name in the country? Put on your thinking caps!

EMBRO

You will no doubt recall that we appealed in last month’s newsletter for your memories of the second world war and how you were affected by it. We have had one or two contributions submined but do need a lot more so please put on your thinking caps and write a few lines for us. Embro. in co-operation with our own Society would like to put some of these memories into print for the 50 years celebration of VE day in May so we haven't got a great deal of time left

73 100 NOTOUT

Bromley central library was a 100 not out on Thursday 8th December. A library was first established in the Science and Art buildings in Tweedy Road in 1894 and it was to remain there until the first purpose-built library, on the site of the present building, was opened in 1903. The occasion was marked on Saturday 10th December 1994 with a Victorian children's party in the morning, attended by about 40 youngsters some in period dress. In the afternoon the excellent Age Exchange Theatre from Blackheath Reminiscence Centre performed their three person 'Merry Little Christmas' show about memories of wartime Christmas. There was a Dickensian reading for the adults at lunch time with special guest Max Boyce and during the afternoon Lyulph Lubbock cut a special birthday cake to mark the opening of the original library by his ancestor Sir John Lubbock. Unfortunately there was no exhibition or leaflet produced showing the history of the library. If you wish to know more about the original library consult Horsburgh or The Bromley Record of January 1895, which is available in the Local Studies Library.

THE REMINISCENCE CENTRE

This centre at 11 Blackheath Village, SE3 9LA is a Hands-on Museum of 1930's and 1940's. It is open Mon - Sat 10.00 am . to 5.30 p.m. and has frequent changes of the exhibitions. For further information phone:- 081 318 9105.

CLARE HOUSE SCHOOL

Almost a hundred years ago a school was opened on the site of the present Clare House Primary School in Shortlands. This was a boys' preparatory boarding school closely associated with The Abbey School at Beckenham. It finally closed in 1970 and shortly afterwards the present school was built. One of the parents of a present day pupil is collecting material to write a history in celebration of the centenary of schools on this site. Can anyone help with pictures, old prospectuses, details of uniform etc. Do you know anyone who went to the original school who would be prepared to share his memories of those days. If you do please contact Mrs Jane Verrell. 48 Greenways, Beckenham. BR3 3NQ. 081 650 3117

Contribution from Joyce Walker

William Worsley Ashcroft 1878 - 1918

Just over eighty years ago, on 4 August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany. The war, that was later to be described as 'the war to end all wars' lasted four long bruising years. In St. John the Baptist church, West Wickham there is a memorial board in the western recess listing the names of the men of West Wickham who gave their lives during that Great War. Among the names is that of Major William Ashcroft who was killed in action on 11 April 1918.

William Ashcroft was bom at Layhams Farm (then in West Wickham) on 17 September 1878, the second child of William and Edith Ashcroft. There were to be six more Ashcroft babies bom at the farm - three girls and three boys one of whom died aged one month. Edith Ashcroft died in 1896 aged 45, after which time the Ashcroft family left Layhams Farm to live

74 in Croydon. Young William Ashcroft became a land agent whose job was to value large properties. In 1903 lie married Violet Bemheim who was part Danish, part German and a keen amateur actress. A son. Edward, was bom in 1904. and a daughter, Peggy, in 1907. In 1915 William jnr. enlisted in the Army and served in the Royal Irish Rifles, attached to the 25th Machine-Gun Company. He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1918. William's death in action was a terrible blow to the family especially as he had no known grave.

Edward Ashcroft went on to have a distinguished public career writing for The Times, and as head of the French section in the BBC's external services. Peggy Ashcroft had no less a distinguished career as an actress and was made a Dame for her services to the acting profession. She died in 1991.

William Ashcroft is named on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium, and is claimed by both Croydon and West Wickham as one of its sons. What a sadness it is that it ever had to be thus.

Contribution from Lawrie Mack

To Find the Day of the Week

It is surprising how often the date turns out to be wrong when you check back on a piece of local history; for example, the day that the Bloggs Brothers supposedly opened their gentlemen's outfitters turns out to have been a Sunday!

I am indebted to a railway historian friend for this formula which makes checking your sources just that little bit easier:

1. Take last two digits of the year (e.g. 94 of 1994)

2. Add quarter of that number (neglect remainder) i.e. one quarter of 94 becomes 23, so add 23 = 117)

3. Add date of the month (say for 1994, 31 March - so add 31 = 148)

4. Add according to month -

Jan 1 (in leap year, 0) May 2 Sep 6 Feb 4 (in leap year, 3) Jun 5 Oct I Mar 4 Jul 0 Nov 4 Apr 0 Aug J'y Dec 6

(hence for 31/3/94. add 4 = 152)

5. Add for - I8thCent 4 (but not before the calendar changes of 1752/3/4!) 19th Cent 2 20th Cent 0

75 21st Cent 6

(hence no addition in our example)

6 Divided total (i.e. 152) by 7; remainder (in our example, 5) gives the day of the week, as follows;-

1 Sun 3 Tues 5 Thurs 2 Mon 4 Wed 6 Fri 7 or 0 Sat

Most people know what day of the week they were bom on; try it with that - or if you don't, now you can discover it without trying to recreate the calendar in backwards form!

I apologise for the newsletter being somewhat shorter than usual but time just doesn't allow me to spend longer on this issue and still cope will all the rush of Christmas. The next one in February will be longer to make up for it. May I take this opportunity to wish all members a Very Happy and Peaceful New Year. May it also be a year in which you leam about and take part in a lot of local history activities. There are a great many events listed in this letter so bring out those new diaries and enter in all the dates straight away.

Editorial contributions please to the Editor, Mrs Nancy Tonkin, 23 Bramley Way, West Wickham. Kent BR4 9NT. 081 777 8861. Closing date for inclusion in the next newsletter is February 25th.

76 CHAIRMAiYS NEWSLETTER May I start by wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year. I regard 1994 as being a very satisfactory one for our Society but here's hoping that with your continued support 1995 will be even more successful. Beckenham Place Park. There has been one further meeting of the Joint Working Party since my last report. To save the time of the main body a draft constitution has been passed to a sub committee for further consideration. Basically it provides for a nineteen member advisory body on which our Society, like other interested organisations, has one vote, Lewisham Council having three. There is almost unanimous enthusiasm for an independent 'Friends' organisation to be set up to advocate sensitive improvements and raise money for the same. All the income from the David Lloyd contract goes into a common Leisure Services pool and as none of the other parks in Lewisham generate appreciable income and with increasing Central Government pressure to reduce expenditure, this is regarded as the only way any improvements can be financed. I have already received a number of contributions for my park history project and hope to produce a first draft before the middle of next year. Beckenham Convent School. No further contributions have been received so I plan to hand over my document to the Editor early in the New Year. Chislehurst Caves. Material on the history of the caves is still flooding in almost to an embarrassing degree. Most exciting was a tour of the caves with the gentleman who ran the cinema down there during the war. I particularly liked his story of how the sales of the steak and kidney pie man fell dramatically after the showing of a film on Sweeny Todd.! Some of you may have noticed that the old gas decontamination unit and the entrance hut with its inscription about the sixpence entrance charge going to the caves sanitary fund have both been destroyed in the last week or so to make way for the inevitable housing development. I am sure you know what I am going to say. I didn't get a photograph before this unexpected disaster struck! Please has anyone got one from which I could take a copy? Also if you know of anyone who took refuge down there during the war I would welcome a note of their name and address so that they can be contacted about a possible reunion. Crystal Palace. I see there is a suggestion that Bromley Council and the Sports Council should get together to submit a proposal to the National Heritage Memorial Fund to improve the park and its contents. What a pity there is no proposal to re-build a Crystal Palace! Not the old structure of iron and glass, reminiscent of Sainsburys Homebase, but a modem building using the latest technology in place of the humdrum hotel complex now planned to disgrace the historic site. History is not just looking backwards, recording and preserving the past, it is also looking forwards, learning from the mistakes of the past and taking up the vision which inspired those great Victorians, the Queen, Prince Albert, Joseph Paxton, Fox and Henderson. It is often forgotten what chances they took, what novelties of construction were bravely adopted, what marvels of organisation took place. Imagine what a modem planning committee would say to a proposal to devastate a wooded hill, without doubt a site of special scientific interest, in order to build a massive structure of outlandish design spoiling the rural view for miles around. Such was the Crystal Palace. Now we have a site with all the expensive non revenue producing facilities in place, a good rail link to the centre of the city and a neighbourhood crying out for its heart to be restored. All that is lacking is vision of the sort shown by our Victorian forefathers. If the cry is where's the money. Take a look at Liverpool with its two cathedrals, one expensive which could have been built in the middle ages, the other cheaper and of modem design, an inspiring symphony of light and space. The only building for which I gladly put money in the box for its upkeep.