Roads

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Blackfen in 1962

Today would’ve been my dad’s birthday so I was thinking about 1962 – the year he moved to Blackfen from Wandsworth. With his job as an overseas telegraph operator he had saved enough money to get a mortgage on a house in the tree-lined East Rochester Way.

What did Blackfen look like in 1962? Although my dad was a keen photographer he took virtually no photographs of Blackfen which is rather annoying!

Wally Racher, shoe repairer was still in his cabin near the Jolly Fenman, from which he would regularly emerge to see school children across the road. There was a grocery store at 10 Blackfen Road (now converted back to a house), and a newsagent/Post Office at the corner of Fen Grove. In the centre of Blackfen you could find Jackson’s greengrocers, Lintorn Butchers, the Corn Shop, Homepride, Woolworths, Lipton and Sylvia’s Cafe as well as the still familiar names J. Ayre bakers and Copelands the newsagent. One of my dad’s favourite shops was Corbett’s timber merchant and his favourite pub was The Jolly Fenman.

The library was in an austere building in Cedar Avenue. The Odeon Cinema in Westwood Lane had been closed for years but the derelict building still stood in 1962. (Shortly afterwards it was demolished and replaced by Safeway). The A2 flyover had not yet been built and there was just a crossroads with a set of traffic lights. It was in 1969 that the Rochester Way was widened and the grass verges were lost.

There are quite a few photographs from this era in my book ‘Woodmen and Fenmen: Blackfen’s Story’ which you can borrow or purchase from Blackfen Library. It was because of my dad that I wrote the book – I wanted to know why he (and all the other people who came here) chose Blackfen as the place to make a new life.

A rather stern-looking publican, behind the bar of the ‘Jolly Fenman’ pub, Sidcup, Kent, England. Date: 1965
Saturday morning suburban shoppers and lots of prams at Blackfen shopping parade, near Sidcup, Kent, England. Date: early 1960s
Blackfen Library, Cedar Avenue, 1950
Wally Racher, boot and shoe repairer, Blackfen Road in 1966
M. A. Lipscombe, grocer, Blackfen Road in1966
F. J. Reynolds, grocer, newsagent and Post Office, Blackfen Road in 1966
William Duggan, my dad
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Remember the burst water pipe in 2004?

In March 2004 a burst water pipe in Blackfen Road caused the flooding
of one hundred homes. Water levels rose to more than four feet and
people were forced to retreat upstairs, trying to lift their valuables above
the water. The most serious flooding was in Penshurst Avenue and Maple Crescent. Stranded residents were rescued by police dinghy and the Salvation Army dispensed hot drinks while Thames Water dealt with the emergency. Local schools were shut and Blackfen Road was closed for resurfacing, affecting business for shops. Some families had to be housed in hotels while their homes were repaired.

The incident was reported in the Evening Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/sidcup-runneth-over-6946186.html

and BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3505588.stm

Penshurst_burst water main_2004

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Bankruptcy in 1819

On 16 March 1819 the London Gazette announced the bankruptcy of Richard and Robert Day. Their father, Richard Day, had purchased Blackfen Farm in the 1790s and rented it to the farmer, John Solomon, for £200 per year. But in 1819 the brothers, who were also co-partners in a seed-crusher and oil-broker business, got into financial trouble and the farm was put up for auction. The four-bedroom farmhouse was in 134 acres of land which was ‘abundant with game’. The farm was located to the west of Days Lane. However, ‘Dayes Lane’ is referred to in the records as early as 1681, long before the Day family’s association with Blackfen.

Days Lane c1900, looking towards Blackfen
Days Lane 1930
Days Lane 1933
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Thomas Walter Gwillim

‘Gwillim Close’ is named after Thomas Walter Gwillim. He had been a newsagent in Woolwich but when his father died he had money to buy some land in Blackfen. In 1927 he wanted to build a huge development of houses on the north side of Blackfen Road but planning permission was denied because of access and drainage issues.

Instead he built a row of just seven houses in Blackfen Road approximately where the east part of Wellington Parade is now. He moved into one which he called Gwenlliant (after his sister), and this is the only one which survives, incorporated into the 1930s Wellington Parade. Its roof can be seen above the shop roof line.

For some years a dilapidated ‘haunted house’ remained where children would explore and scare each other! Gwillim’s land was later sold off but he is remembered in the road name ‘Gwillim Close’.

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Smartening up nicely

At 10am on Saturday 22 April a group of volunteers met to paint the railings and weed the pavement along Woodman Parade in Westwood Lane, Blackfen. We were joined by Rt Hon. James Brokenshire, MP and Councillors Louie French, Cafer Munur and Lynn Smith. Despite the rain (how unlucky!) we carried on and it has made such a difference in just a couple of hours.

Thank you to Raw Hair Salon for the tea/coffee and biscuits! We will return soon to continue the job.

And happy 2nd birthday to The Broken Drum!

DSC08607

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Blackfen in 1822

While carrying out my New Year’s Resolution of having a bit of a tidy up/clear out, I was looking over my Blackfen research papers (I have boxes and boxes of them…), and I came across a copy of the Survey and Valuation of all the Rateable Property in the Borough of Bexley taken on 11 April 1822. It provides a fascinating snapshot of the Bexley area at that time.

Blackfen at that time was just a tiny hamlet. Its inhabitants consisted of:

BLACK FENN

James Townsend: house, garden and orchard (owned by James Townsend)

Edmund Newsted: house, garden and orchard (owned by James Townsend)

Thomas Tyler: farm house, barn, yard, stables, garden, orchard, arable and meadow land (owned by Lord Sidney)

Robert Ingram: farm house, yard, barns, stable, garden, arable and meadow land (owned by Messrs Day)

Thomas Warde: house and garden (owned by John Johnston, Esq.)

William Smith: house and garden (owned by John Johnston, Esq.)

Staples: house and garden (owned by John Johnston, Esq.)

Newsted: house and garden (owned by John Johnston, Esq.)

Foster: house and garden (owned by John Johnston, Esq.)

Near Black Fenn, on Danson land, were the Whale family living in a cottage with stable and garden. This fascinated me at the time because whale jaw bones had been discovered when Westwood Lane was made up in the 1930s. I had no idea what whale jaw bones were doing there and wondered if it was anything to do with this family named Whale!

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Parks and Open Spaces Sell-off

The Bexley Council ‘Strategy 2018′ budget public consultation which closed on 9 January 2015 proposed the sale of 27 sites in the borough to reduce maintenance costs, but the location of the sites were not identified. This lack of vital information prevented any real debate and meant that the public could not give any informed opinion. Campaigners feared that Danson Park could be one of the sites. A further consultation on parks and open spaces, ground maintenance, street-lighting and recycling closed on 20 February 2015. It was only after this closing date, on 20 February, that the 27 sites were named.

There are three sites affecting Blackfen:

1. Berwick Crescent (triangular site to east), Sidcup (Open Space)

2. Berwick Crescent (two corner plots to south west), Sidcup (Open Space)

3. Land fronting 65-69 Blackfen Road, Sidcup (Highway)

Open spaces sell-off: sites at Berwick Crescent

Open spaces sell-off: sites at Berwick Crescent at the junction with Fen Grove (right) and Norfolk Crescent (left)

Open spaces sell-off: sites at Blackfen Road

Open spaces sell-off: site at Blackfen Road at the junction with Chester Road

According to Bexley Wildlife, Mandy Stevens, a member of community group Friends of the Shuttle said:“We are very concerned about the sites for disposal near the Shuttle at Berwick Crescent and we have asked the Council if we can see the detailed plans.”

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Police Officer shot during arrest

From http://www.met.police.uk 4 October 2014

A man has been arrested after a police officer was shot in the hand in Welling.

Police were called at around 21.10hrs on Friday 3 October to reports of a car having collided with a number of cars and then a lamppost on Westwood Lane, Blackfen.

The suspected driver of the car was seen to walk off from the scene. A short time later, a man matching the description of the suspected driver was stopped by two Bexley officers in Wendover Way. This man then produced a revolver style handgun, pointed it at officers, and discharged it. One of the officers, a male PC, suffered a gunshot wound to the hand.

The second officer, also male, detained the suspect, aged 51, and he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and drink driving – he remains in custody. Both officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment and have both since been discharged. They are being provided with welfare support by the Metropolitan Police.

Borough Commander of Bexley Peter Ayling said:

“Last night’s incident highlights the dangers that police officers can face as they go about their job. My officers, knowing they were faced with a man in possession of a firearm, did not shirk from their duty to protect Londoners. They bravely confronted this man, disarmed him and arrested him – I cannot praise their courage enough.”

The weapon and ammunition was recovered at the scene. Officers from Trident investigate – enquiries continue.

Anyone who witnessed the incidents is asked to contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The incident was reported in the News Shopper and can be seen here. It was also reported on the front page of the News Shopper 8 Oct. 2014.

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Where The Shuttle Flows

Blackfen’s roads were notoriously muddy (it wasn’t called a ‘fen’ for nothing!) and when the district was transformed in the 1930s from woodland and fields  to housing and shops there were problems with flooding.

In the Kentish Times 14 January 1938 a columnist wrote, in a rather eccentric fashion, an account of a less than enjoyable night walk in the Blackfen area: Where the Shuttle Flows.

 

Shuttle at Hollyoak Park