Woolwich
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Woolwich books (6 available)
Woolwich memories
Read and share memories of Woolwich and London inspired by Frith photos
Progress ?
From 1958-61 our family was the only one living on Mill Lane, just off the parade grounds near here. My stepfather was 'stationed' with the RAEC at Eltham Palace and I attended Shooter's Hill GS and Westminster Hotel School, subsequently. Our army officer's quarters housing was a quite 'luxurious' rambling one storey structure surrounded by about 4 acres of gardens, a greenhouse and woods where I would first try my hand at gardening, use my air rifle and be subjected to painful, enforced soccer practice !
Now, I can see from 'bird's eye' aerial photographs that the house and adjoining military buildings no longer exist and have been replaced by about 20+ condo type houses. Progress, I suppose !! ...read more here
Contributed by DYLAN RIVIS
Woolwich, Shooters Hill
From Chris Johnson,
This photograph is of Woolwich Common near General Gordon's House looking towards the Royal Military Accademy on the road towards Eltham. These houses are not there anymore and the 1960's Woolwich Common Estate now stands there and the blue plaque that was on General Gordon's house is now in the Heritage Centre in the old Arsenal.
Contributed by Chris Johnson
Shopping at 'Woolies'
I never got down Powys Street that often but loved to spend ages in 'Woolies' or the F.W. Woolworth Co. shop where they had row upon row of bunks full of all this marvelous stuff !!
Contributed by DYLAN RIVIS
Grab a bargain!
In the 1950s to the 1970s I can remember Woolwich Market well. It sold fruit, veg and clothes. There were also the market traders who held auctions with everything from tea sets to toys for sale. Were they a bargain? Who knows, but we had great fun listening to the Cockney patter and taking home our prizes!
Contributed by Gaynor Wingham
Never seen Aunt Fanny by Gaslight !!
Woolwich Market ..what a hoot ! I can hear the stallkeeper at the far left there now back in 1959...
'ere y'are luv..step right up...step right up..see these 'ere brand new silk bloomers ...never seen dayloit, never seen moonloit and never seen Aunt Fanny by gasloit 'aven't these 'ere bloomers...wot'lyer give me then...three pairs a shilling then...come on nah....
I lived on Mill Lane up by the barracks...used to love wandering around the market on a Saturday, I did.
Contributed by DYLAN RIVIS
Over the water !
The Woolwich Ferry was the only way I can remember in the 1950s and 60s that we could go 'over the water ' from South to North London. I can remember trips with my Nannie as a child , catching a bus from Eltham to Woolwich and then on the Ferry when she went to visit a Methodist Church on the other side of the Thames. The Thames at that time was so smelly she used to give me a hankie with lavender water to hold to my nose! I loved going on the ferry and can remember the noise and smell of the engine room and the excitement of landing on the other side. To me it was a journey ...read more here
Contributed by Gaynor Wingham
There and Back
I remember staying at my Nan and Grandpa's house in Woolwich, we could actually look out of our bedroom window and see the ferries going back and forth. Most times we stayed we were allowed to ride the ferries back and forth sometimes up to 4 or 5 times. It was an experience I will always remember. No-one woried about you then, there was virtually no violence and cases of children going missing and the like were unheard of.
Seeing these pictures again brought back wonderful memories of days gone by that we will never have again, what a shame!
Contributed by Mark Lovell
Extracts From Woolwich & London books
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".
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".
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".
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".
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".