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Sidcup’s Great War: A Living Pageant

I am helping to organise an event which is taking place in Sidcup High Street on 18 June 10am-4pm. Its aim is to commemorate the anniversary of the First World War and explore what life was like in Sidcup at that time. Sidcup’s Great War: a Living Pageant will have street theatre, live music, school choirs, displays, stalls by a variety of local history/interest and military organisations, talks on aspects of the First World War and concluding with a service at the War Memorial. The event has brought together a large number of organsations, colleges, schools and churches and lots of the shops and pubs are getting involved. There will be plenty to keep the whole family interested, including a Family Poppy Trail which will invite you to walk around the town and discover the story of Sidcup’s Home Front 100 years ago. So please put the date in your diaries and come along! For more info and to keep up with news see www.lam-sid-lhs.co.uk

Facebook: Sidcup’s Great War Pageant. Twitter @Sidcup GWP

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New shops in Blackfen

Our newest shops in Blackfen, March 2016. We have Posh Paws dog grooming, Kent Meze and Grill coming soon, and The Beauty Lounge with ‘The Men’s Room’ in the former Homepride. There are still a few empty premises around, but at least we have new ones opening.

Posh Paws and Kent Meze & Grill opening soon (March 2016)
The Men’s Room about to open March 2016
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Danson House in 2016

Changes have been made to the management of Danson House. Bexley Council has taken over responsibility for Danson House from the Bexley Heritage Trust. According the Council website it will re-open spring/summer 2016 but it looks likely it won’t be open for as many days of the week as it used to be. Not sure where that leaves the tea room! It is proposed that the Borough’s civil ceremonies and registrations will be held at Danson House from September 2016 instead of at Sidcup Manor House.

Meanwhile here is Danson House in 1950.

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Danson House, 1950

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The Broken Drum: 1st anniversary

On 17 April 2015 a new micropub opened in Blackfen, The Broken Drum. One year on, and 16,000 pints later, the Broken Drum celebrates its first anniversary. The landlord has praised the sense of community from the regulars and hosted a weekend of celebrations.

The Broken Drum First Anniversary Cake
The Broken Drum First Anniversary Cupcakes
“The Broken Drum”! Containing Tombola tickets.
Blackfen Community Association Tombola at Broken Drum in aid of Alzheimer’s Society, April 2016

Andy Wheeler told the Bexley Times, “We’ve offered 200 different ales, I don’t have one constant beer, I’m always changing, looking for local and national beers.”

Mr Wheeler explained the appeal for micropub regulars. He said: “It’s a breakaway from the noise of pubs or the restaurant-type pubs that just have a bar to drink at. We don’t sell lager, we don’t sell spirits and we don’t play loud music. People come in, enjoy a chat with each other and talk to people they don’t know. People can come in, chat and make friends, we have run three quiz nights and raised around £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation. We also donate to the Alzheimer’s Society, as the pub is named after a pub in Terry Pratchet’s Discworld book series. The author died from the disease last year.

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Ward boundary changes for Blackfen

Draft recommendations have now been published regarding a change in ward boundaries in the Bexley Borough. This is good news for Blackfen which is currently split down the middle into three different wards, creating divisions in policing, local government and community identity. There is now a consultation period from 9 Feb. until 4th April 2016 so you can have your say on the proposals and your support would be helpful. Information on the proposals and how to comment are at https://www.lgbce.org.uk/current-reviews/greater-london/bexley
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Gypsies in Blackfen

James Turner, who lived in Sidcup (at Westburton, The Park – a rather large house near The Green) from 1909 to 1927, wrote an autobiography in which he describes the area around the time of the First World War. In contrast to Sidcup, “many gypsies lived in Blackfen. Their existence was recognised (when it could not be avoided) only in shocked whispers by the middle class who lived north of Sidcup High Street. It represented a threat to them. Gypsies did not conform to any known kind of society and certainly did not sit down to polite afternoon tea”.

Indeed, Blackfen had a reputation for gypsies; five families of gypsies were
listed on the 1881 census dwelling in Westwood Lane. Henry Lait, who lived in a cottage next to the old Woodman Inn, recalled “one part of the area was the home of vagabonds, tramps, beggars and thieves. Where houses now stand there was a gipsy encampment.”This refers to fields off Burnt Oak Lane.

During the 1930s, when rapid house-building brought lots of new home-owners to the area, gypsies from Foots Cray were regular traders, selling pegs and plants.

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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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Boundary changes: Proposals

Proposals have been submitted to change ward boundaries in the Bexley Borough. This is good news for Blackfen which is currently split down the middle into three different wards, creating divisions in policing, local government and community identity. Blackfen and Lamorbey ward covers the south western part of the area known as Blackfen; Falconwood and Welling covers the area to the north of Blackfen Road on the west side; and Blendon and Penhill covers the eastern part. Blackfen Road and Westwood Lane, the main routes through the community of Blackfen, are used as divisions.
According to the proposal for Blackfen and Lamorbey:
“This proposed ward is defined by the western boundary of the Borough, with the A2 as its northern boundary and the Sidcup loop line railway to the South. The Boundary to the east at the southern end skirts Lamorbey Park and Sidcup Golf Course (which is in Blendon and Penhill Ward), follows the River Shuttle to Willersley Park and then up to the A2.
In the main it is the present Blackfen & Lamorbey ward, with additions of the northern parts of the present Sidcup ward (most of SP1S & SP2S) where local residents regard themselves as being a different community from Sidcup (e.g.
Lamorbey and The Hollies); as well as small parts on the west of the present Blendon & Penhill ward (from BP1S). The latter changes are important to bring all the shops and facilities on Blackfen High Street within the same ward. There has been confusion as to which councillors represent which ward in this locality (e.g. recently a number of residents have been lobbying the councillors for Blackfen & Lamorbey about Blackfen Library when it is actually situated in Blendon & Penhill Ward).
[*It should be noted that councillors in Blendon and Penhill were contacted regarding Blackfen Library but never responded*].
In addition a few roads are gained from the present Falconwood & Welling Ward in Polling District FW4S that are south of the A2.
The proposed boundaries reflect the fact that there are no road crossings of the railway or A2 here and only one footbridge across the railway and one pedestrian subway under the A2. All housing in this area to the South of the A2 is now included in this ward including several roads on the western extremity which are in the present Falconwood and Welling Ward, but can only be accessed from the rest of that ward by an infrequently used subway.
The proposed ward brings together the communities in Blackfen and Lamorbey (including the Hollies), both of which are largely suburban areas with many residents commuting to London from Sidcup Station. There are several shopping areas serving the communities within the proposed ward, the largest of which is Blackfen, including a large supermarket and a library. Near Sidcup Station there is another large parade of shops including a Post Office and shops on Station Road. There are smaller shopping parades in Halfway Street and near Days Lane School. All of these act as focal points for the various communities that lie within this proposed ward.
The communities around here all run into each otherwith different housing styles reflecting the eras in which they were built. The roads of Days Lane (running North to South) and Halfway Street (running West-East) link the whole ward together.
The ward also includes a number of schools and churches on or around Days Lane and a specialist internationally renowned drama college (Rose Bruford College), the campus of which is based around Lamorbey House and its grounds.”
The changes can be seen in full at http://www.bexley.gov.uk/19654
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Mr Nejati Ali

I’m very sorry to have to report that Mr Nejati Ali has passed away. You may remember him as the owner of Golden Fish Bar, Blackfen Express Cleaners and Antalya Kebab House in Blackfen. Mr Ali was born in Turkish Cyprus and came to England as a refugee in 1959. He worked hard, always wearing a suit and tie, and he enjoyed talking to his customers.He will be driven through Blackfen between 9.30 and 10am on Tuesday 8th September. There will be a service at Peckham Mosque and then he will be taken to Cyprus to be buried there. 

  

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Pickpockets at the Club

The Morning Chronicle of 14 June 1854 reported on page 12 that George Gettins and William Stephens were charged with attempting to pick the pocket of Sir John Kirkland, of No. 10 Portman Square. Sir John Kirkland said he was near the Carlton Club yesterday afternoon when he felt a hand in his pocket. He turned round, and seeing his handkerchief nearly out of his pocket, and the prisoner Stephens close to him, he seized him by the collar, and held him till the police came up. The prisoner begged to be let off that time. The prisoner Gettins was close to the other prisoner.

Police Constable Keech, 102 C said he saw the prisoners and two other well-known thieves in company together in Charles Street. He saw Gettins try a gentleman’s pockets, and Stephens, who carried a bag, tried to rob a lady, who beat him off with her parasol.

Mr Bingham committed both prisoners as rogues and vagabonds to hard labour for two months.

[Sir John Kirkland bought the Blackfen Farm in 1861 and renamed it Queens Wood].