The Francis Frith Collection.
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Beckenham

Beckenham photos (19 available)

Old photo of Beckenham

Beckenham maps (2 available)

Old map of Beckenham

Beckenham books (8 available)

Beckenham memories

Walking up Beckenham High Street

Beckenham, High Street c1960

I remember there was a shop that sold all kinds of coffee beans. You could smell the coffee a few doors before you reached it. It's in the centre of the photo.

Kent memories

Walking up Beckenham High Street

Beckenham, High Street c1960

I remember there was a shop that sold all kinds of coffee beans. You could smell the coffee a few doors before you reached it. It's in the centre of the photo.

Penge high street

Penge, High Street c1955

I used to work in the florist across the road from the police station. Did a lot of window shopping on the way home.
A memory of Penge contributed by Brenda Shanks

Upper Norwood

Penge, the Recreation Ground 1899

I was born in 1957 at East Dulwich Hospital. Lived on Central Hill, Upper Norwood until 1966. I went to Rockmount Infants and Junior's School. I remember living in a large Victorian house until the council bought the land to build a council estate, poor Mum and Dad were moved to West Norwood to live in an old prefab until 1969, when we moved again. The best years of my young life were in Upper Norwood. I remember my sister used to work in a cafe in Crystal Palace and we use to go there to see her.
A memory of Penge contributed by christina Green

Extracts From Beckenham & Kent books

Woodmansterne, the Village c1955

Nestled in the rear slopes of the North Downs, the village derives its ancient name from the Saxon word ‘wudmeresthorn’, meaning ‘thornbush by the boundary of the wood’, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. This 1930s mock-Tudor shopping parade still stands on Rectory Lane as it winds its way south to the junction with the Chipstead Valley Road, where the buildings of the Woodmansterne Treatment Works, belonging to the Sutton and East Surrey Water Company, are just visible.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".

Banstead, High Street c1955

Much of Banstead High Street was rebuilt during the 1920s with a series of shopping parades. The leafless lime tree in the middle distance occupies the spot where the village pond once existed, while All Saints’ churchyard is concealed behind the trees on the extreme right.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".

Banstead, the Station c1965

The station, on the branch line from Sutton to Epsom Downs, opened in 1865, and the white stuccoed house, now a builder’s offices, dates from around the same time. The small confectionery kiosk was one of a trio servicing the requirements of commuters, with other branches at Sutton and Epsom. The roof of the station no longer bears the white lettering, and the building is almost a mile from the town centre itself. The road almost immediately makes another sharp bend over the railway line below, before passing the Cuddington Golf Clubhouse and continuing on to East Ewell.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".

Cheam, Banstead Downs Golf Club c1955

Originally founded for ladies in the autumn of 1890, the club admitted gentlemen to membership within a year, and from a tin hut close to Banstead Railway Station it moved to this site in Burdon Lane nine years later. A putting green was added in 1923, and further major development took place in the years after this photograph was taken.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".

Cheam, Tennis Court, Meadowside Road 1925

Situated on the corner of Sandy Lane, these courts, flanked by suburban houses, now form part of Cheam Fields Club. The pavilion in the background, although substantially altered, has also survived to the present day.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".