‘Then & Now’ photography is a good way to look at Blackfen and see how much it has (or hasn’t) changed over the years.
Chester Road in the mid 1930s and in 2010
Blackfen Road near Fen Grove, 1930s and 2010
Blackfen Road near Curran Ave, 1930s and 2010
Blackfen Road at Westwood Lane junction, towards The Woodman, mid 1930s and 2010
Westwood Lane, 1954 and 2010
RACS Stores 1931; now Katie’s Playpen, Browne’s Chemist and Blackfen Off-licence, 2010
Days Lane towards Blackfen, 1900 and 2010
Copelands in Days Lane, 1930s and 2010
Blackfen Parade 1960s and 2010
Plaza Cinema 1937, Safeway supermarket 1960s, Co-op supermarket 2010
Chapel House in Blackfen Road c1900 (Penhill Road is on the left) and in 2010, now at a busy roundabout.
Blackfen Library in Cedar Avenue in 1949, and the same view in 2010, now housing.
An accident at junction of Westwood Lane and Rochester Way, late 1930s (note the pedestrian crossing). The view today (2015) is mostly obscured by the widened A2 but the top of the crescent-shaped Woodman Parade can still be seen.
Blackfen Past and Present 