history Archives - Page 5 of 13

Featured local business - Clubtek

Forest

SE23

Hill

I was already a regular visitor to Clubtek’s DJ shop when it was in Penge, but now they're even handier in Stanstead Road, just a few doors down from Shannon’s Garden Centre - another old favourite. It’s by no means just for DJs and bands...

Althea Gyles, poet and artist: ‘A Strange Red Haired Girl’

Oct

2015

Althea Gyles (right) with Irish revolutionist Constance MarkiewiczThe Irish poet and artist Althea Gyles (1868-1949) was born in County Waterford and moved to London in 1892. She knew Oscar Wilde, W B Yeats (who described her as "a strange red-haired girl, all whose thoughts were set upon painting and poetry"), Constance Markiewicz, Aleister Crowley (with ...

Lewisham Suffragette Banner

Oct

2015

The movement for women's suffrage a century ago is once more under discussion thanks to the new 'Suffragette' movie. The Museum of London holds the original c.1910 banner of the Lewisham Women's Social and Political Union 'The figure of Justice is represented to emphasise the justice of the Votes for Women cause. Prison arrows adorn ...

‘Mutiny at Woolwich Dockyard’ (1802) – attempted escape by hulk prisoners

Oct

2015

During the 18th and 19th centuries, many ships no longer fit to sail the seas were converted into floating prisons. In the London area these 'prison hulks' were located in the Thames by Woolwich and Deptford.This account of an 'Mutiny at Woolwich Dock Yard' (Morning Post, 2 August 1802) describes an attempted escape by prisoners ...

Ron blows the Brockley Thistle Whistle

Oct

2015

Thistle be interesting. Ron is trying to track a former resident down from the time when Scottish culture dominated Brockley, just as the Krankies ruled the airwaves and Runrig ran riot in the charts. He writes:My name is Ron Newman and I'm a volunteer at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London (the RHC). One of the ...

Suspected bomb find closes St Asaph Road

Oct

2015

Found a suspected unexploded bomb in the school in #brockley managed to grab a quick pic before being evacuated pic.twitter.com/CVzP0CkMut— Edward Burkin (@Ed_Eddie_Wardo) October 10, 2015 The discovery of a suspected WWII unexploded bomb at John Stainer Primary School forced the evacuation of homes on St Asaph Road this afternoon. The evacuation order has now ...

The Walter’s Way Open Weekend

Sep

2015

The Walter's Way Estate in Forest Hill is successful experiment in self-build anarchic social housing. This film tells the story of this project beautifully. With thanks to Joe for the link to this account in The Guardian, which notes:"The street has welcomed visitors as part of London Open House weekend since 1989, but this year’s event, from ...

Ladywell Baths ranked among England’s most endangered buildings

Sep

2015

Photo courtesy of Joe O'DonnellHeritage group The Victorian Society has included Ladywell Baths (the turreted red brick one, not to be confused with the more modern pool, which was recently demolished) on its list of the Top 10 Most Endangered Victorian and Edwardian Buildings in England and Wales.The Victorian Society says:We urge Lewisham Council to ...

New Cross’ abandoned Tube tunnel

Sep

2015

Here be drabness - the location of the secret tunnelLondon blog Ian Visits has a brilliant feature about a forgotten part of New Cross - an abandoned tube tunnel. Ian writes:Although South London has but a few tube lines, and they are as scarce as a black cab after midnight, there is still the odd ...

Other people’s blogging – New Cross Gate evolution

Aug

2015

New Cross Gate 1865A couple of other local sites to let you know about / crib stuff from. Firstly, "New Cross / Often Cross", which has collected historical photos showing the evolution of New Cross Gate from 1840 to a grey day in 2015. Author Chris writes:The 'gate' in New Cross Gate comes from the ...

Lewisham’s digital photo archive

Aug

2015

Joe sent us this link to Lewisham Council's photographic archive, which has more than 2,000 historic shots, covering every part of the borough. These images were taken from a collection of more than 50 Brockley photographs.What were they thinking? The 1968 demolition of Brockley Congregational Church on Lewisham Way, to make way for Rokeby House ...