Bromley Gloss - London Borough of Bromley - Current, Upcoming, Historic

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Debz: facebook.com/dzadewalsh
Page Founder/Manager/Editor/Narrator, Researcher - Historical/Topical, Post Creator, Administrator, Videographer/Photographer. Bjorn: Page Researcher, Videographer, Photographer
Dave: Page Researcher; Historical Detail, Current Affairs. Lucas: Page Researcher; Historical Detail, Current Affairs.

24/10/2026

LOST PUBS: REMEMBERING THE ROBIN HOOD PENGE (CIRCA 1910). It’s hard to believe it’s been over twenty years since The Robin Hood closed its doors for good back in 2002. It stood empty and derelict for a long time until that mysterious roof fire hit it in 2006, which pretty much sealed its fate for the demolition crew. Today, the local Aldi stands on that exact spot at the crossroads.

Even though that grand old building is deeply missed, you have to give them credit—they actually made a decent job of the Aldi. Some thought went into the design so it didn't just end up looking like a soulless metal warehouse. It stands well on that corner, with its curved design.

I went into the pub shortly before it shut down for the final time, and I’ll never forget the massive, roaring fire going in the grate. The place was a bit lackluster and faded by then, but it was still cozy and friendly. The other side of the bar was the snug, which seemed to be the designated territory where your proper manly man and his manly mates settled in for a pint or three after a hard day's graft😊.

Pub might be long gone but everyone still calls that crossroads "The Robin Hood".

23/10/2026

🏫 ARCHITECTURAL MAJESTY IN CATFORD: THE BROADWAY THEATRE IN 1968. Captured looking across the junction in 1968, this view displays the grand, curved stone facade of what many locals knew as the Lewisham Concert Hall. Originally opened in 1932 as the "Town Hall Extension," the imposing venue suffered a bit of an identity crisis over the decades. During the early 1930s, municipal architects frequently designed large-scale civic developments to serve multiple structural purposes at once. It was built as a civic concert hall, became a variety music space by the 1960s, changed its name to the Lewisham Theatre in 1984, and was finally rebranded as the Broadway Theatre in 2001.

ARCHITECTURAL MASHUP. The building’s eccentric exterior is a deliberate architectural mashup featuring a blend of Art Deco, French Renaissance, and Gothic Revival elements. The council requested the Gothic features so the structure would blend in with the old 1875 Victorian Town Hall that stood immediately to its left. While that old town hall was demolished and replaced with a 1960s brutalist office block expansion😣, the theatre's and it's striking, copper-domed green steeple survived the decades fully intact.

TRAD JAZZ & TRAFFIC. The snapshot perfectly captures a typical 1968 South London street scene. A classic red London double-decker bus, a white Triumph Spitfire, and a black Ford Cortina navigating the junction. Throughout the 1960s at weekends that beautiful building belonged to the local youth crowd, when it's deep basement transformed into a packed, smokey underground venue hosting legendary Saturday night Trad Jazz dances.

BROADWAY THEATRE TODAY. Following a £7 million restoration, the Grade II* listed landmark stands fully modernised as a vibrant community arts hub. Go on.. step inside today🙂... you will find an 800-seat main auditorium and an 80-seat studio theatre hosting a diverse mix of comedy, music, and seasonal pantomimes. It remains home to the acclaimed Nouveau Riche theatre company as associate artists, an updated community bar, and its crown jewel—a beautifully functioning, rare 1932 John Compton pipe organ🎼.

23/10/2026

⚡️BROMLEY’S PSYCHEDELIC SUMMER⚡️WHEN BOWIE ROCKED CHURCH HOUSE GARDENS. On 13 September 1969, Bromley Town Centre hosted its first open-air rock festival in Church House Gardens. While the grounds long before then were officially named Church House Gardens, many residents knew the spot as Library Gardens, which is why the organisers used that familiar title on their flyer. Inspired by the massive success of the Beckenham Free Festival earlier that summer, the four-hour gig attracted roughly 1,000 local youths. The event notoriously ruffled the feathers of a local newspaper journalist, who called the gathering "strung-out hippies and curious squares".

THE LEGENDARY LINEUP. While the park had hosted traditional brass bands and grand orchestra recitals since its grand opening in 1927, this particular afternoon shattered the traditional municipal peace with a brand-new sound. The screen-printed flyer served as a loud call to action, showcasing some of the underground scene’s distinctive acts. Heavy rock outfits Gun Hill and Appendix shared the bill with prog-rockers Aslan, the elusive Puckles Blend, and the acid-folk group Comus. But the true historic focal point sat right at the very bottom of the flyer. A fresh-faced 22-year-old David Bowie was to appear, who served as both the festival's official compere and its acoustic solo headliner.

FESTIVAL BROMLEY. The historic afternoon wasn't a standalone moment of musical rebellion for the district. Just the following summer, on 4 July 1970, a similar free festival took over the slopes of nearby Martins Hill, cementing Bromley’s reputation as a hotbed of early 1970s artistic freedom. There is a fascinating collection of first-hand newspaper clippings and nostalgic recollections of the 1970 gig by local attendee Andrew Weeks on the Beckenham Bowie Archive.

23/10/2026

EDWARDIAN PENGE EAST RAILWAY STATION AND A CHIRPY LITTLE FELLA. This historic view captures the exterior of Penge East Railway Station during the turn of the 20th century. The brickwork, Victorian-engineered gables, and original station canopy showcase the design that served commuters traveling between Kent and London. Advertisements are posted along the station walls, including a prominent sign for the London department store 'Maple & Co' a major retailer during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

THE SMILING BOY. Standing on the quiet street corner is a young boy dressed in a traditional heavy wool suit and flat cap. A slice of everyday local life from a bygone era. At a time when photography was still uncommon, curious he would have paused to pose outside the neighbourhood station, no doubt entranced by the camera.

HEADLINES OF THE DAY. If this young man picked up a local broadsheet like the Penge & Anerley Press, he would first have had to wade through a lot of ordinary local bureaucracy. The town council columns at the time were filled with debates over the cost of laying new water mains down residential roads, updating school plumbing, and whether to switch the streetlights from gas to electric. Flipping past the local council minutes, the news turned grittier, reporting on the bankruptcy of regional brick merchants, shunting accidents on the Chatham line, platform pickpockets, frequent Friday night brawls outside the neighbourhood pubs, and hostile columns stoking a harsh middle-class panic regarding the local "tramp" population.

23/10/2026

MACABRE ORIGIN OF THE LIVING ROOM: VICTORIAN DEATH ROOM (GALLERY). During the 1800s, the formal front parlour of a home served a grim and heavy purpose as the designated "Death Room". Because mortality rates were staggering across the UK, Europe, and the USA, this space was routinely transformed into a somber sanctuary for funeral rituals, hosting wakes, and staging corpses. The room stood locked and quiet for much of the year, sitting in a state of permanent readiness to receive the family's next deceased loved one.

GRIM REALITY. Death was an unavoidable, constant presence in Victorian household life rather than something kept to hospitals and funeral homes. In 1840s England, the average life expectancy was under 41 years old. The statistics for children were even more heartbreaking, with one in six babies dying before their first birthday, and a third of all children passing away before the age of five. This relentless loss made the mourning rituals inside the home a frequent and ordinary part of British domestic existence.

THE FINAL PORTRAIT. Because passing away at home was the norm, the parlour became the central place for post-mortem photography. Grieving families would carefully dress their deceased loved ones—especially infants and children who had never been photographed alive—and stage them in this room. The parlour provided the formal backdrop for these final, haunting memento mori portraits captured before the body was taken to the tomb.

TRANSFORMATION. The transformation into a lively space was engineered in 1910 by Ladies' Home Journal editor Edward William Bok. While the editorial push originated in an American publication, the concept spread rapidly across the Atlantic. As modern medicine improved and professional funeral homes took over the handling of the deceased on both sides of the ocean, the heavy shadow of mourning was banished from the household. Families in both the US and the UK ditched the sombor parlour tradition and officially renamed the space the "living room" to celebrate life, hobbies, and social energy.

23/10/2026

BROMLEY NORTH 1972: AN UNVARNISHED LOOK BACK. This is the junction of the High Street and Beckenham Lane back in 1972, right where Bromley Magistrates Court sits today. The shot captures a quiet moment with just a lone car heading down the empty road. On the right is the old Bromley College wall and overhanging trees, having survived on this corner since around 1670. But the left side of the street tells a different story of twentieth-century town planning.

REPLACING HISTORY. While the buildings on the right of the junction have deep roots, the structure on the left that by the 70s housed the Britannic Assurance office seems quite bleak with its hollow, unfinished-looking upper level. It replaced a row of traditional weather-boarded cottages and an old 1880s greengrocer run by a man named Browning, which gave the corner its name. The original historical lot was torn down in 1925 to widen the road junction, leaving an open space that was subsequently developed into the block you see here.

FROM COZY COTTAGES TO A WARTIME BUREAU. The most wonderful wisteria tree once bloomed right where that heavy corner stood by the 70s. Decades after the cottages vanished, this replacement building became a focal point of local hardship during World War II, operating as Bromley’s Food Office where residents lined up for ration books and clothing coupons. The photographer questioned why the developers left that strange, empty void above the shop floor. This photo catches the space in limbo, long after its Victorian character was stripped away but before the modern Magistrates Court was built.

MODERN LIGHTING, LESS CHARACTER. The street’s historical texture was altered further when the council eventually removed the traditional ornate street lamps that once framed the intersection. In their place, they installed the towering, utilitarian pillars seen lining the road here.

21/10/2026

DUNNS OF BROMLEY. FURNISHERS OF THE LIVING & THE DEAD. H.G. Dunn & Sons staff outside their depository on Widmore Road, Bromley, in 1930. If you look closely at this photo, the signage lists 'furnishers' alongside 'undertakers'. You see historically, furniture makers and undertakers were the same people because of a shared raw material: high-quality wood.

LOGICAL PAIRING. Cabinet makers already possessed the specific skill set required to build strong, polished wooden boxes (coffins). Furthermore, large furniture depositories like H.G. Dunn & Sons owned the heavy horses, spacious carriages, and secure storage spaces needed to transport and hold large items.

OVERHEADS: DIRECTING THE DAY
While the workshop foundations overlapped, managing the actual funeral added huge operational demands. Dunn's wasn't just dropping off a box; they were orchestrating highly formal public rituals. The firm had to invest in mourning drapes, specialised processional gear, and formal uniforms for coffin-bearers. Staff had to shift from commercial sales to directing solemn, strictly timed public processions. They also had to navigate complex local parish burial schedules, coordinate orders of service, and manage intense emotional situations with grieving families.

DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH DEATH. The 1930s still carried the cultural weight of the Victorian era, where death was integrated into everyday life. Passing an undertakers sign while buying a kitchen table didn't shock people. Death was handled locally by familiar community tradesmen who saw it as an extension of their domestic manufacturing duties. Society maintained a highly visible, matter-of-fact approach to mortality. An all-in-one shop front wasn't viewed as morbid; it was respected as a practical, essential public service.

THE PREMISES TODAY. The historic brick depository building captured here still stands today at the corner of Widmore Road and Kentish Way. While the family-run business closed its doors many years ago, the premises themselves survived. If you look at the building today, it remains a highly recognisable local landmark, though an extra floor was added on top of the original brick structure seen in this 1930 photo.

21/10/2026

Memories. Thanks again to Lisa for sharing pictures of this classic carrier bag.

21/10/2026

"AMERICANISMS" OF BRITISH ORIGIN. Left is photo of Winton’s "Drug Store" in Bromley Market Square on 25 Dec 1930. Not an Americanism, rather a British phrase that by 1930 had found its way back across the pond. All the following words started off as British English, and ceased to be used here as trends evolved. Whilst American colonists preserved the original terms straight into the modern day. So before anyone gets on their high horse re "Americanisms😡" in the UK, check they aren't surviving examples of traditional British English😊.

BRITISH ROOTS BEHIND 13 "AMERICANISMS":

DRUG STORE: Used across Victorian and Edwardian Britain to denote shops selling prepared medicines, long before "chemist" took over.

DIAPER: Derived from Middle English diaper, originally describing a diamond-patterned white cloth woven in medieval England. Used by Shakespeare in The Taming of the Shrew and for centuries before Britain adopted the 1920s colloquialism "nappy".

SIDEWALK: Formed as a standard English word in the late 1500s to describe pedestrian paths before the UK shifted toward pavement in the 19th century.

SURE ("Yes, okay👍🏻"): Evolved from 16th-century English phrases like "for sure". Today, saying a standalone "Sure" or "Sure thing" feels American, but its roots are thoroughly British.

CANDY: Rooted in the Old French and Middle English word candi (crystallised cane sugar), this was standard British English for centuries before the UK adopted "sweets".

TRASH: Dating back to 14th-century Middle English to refer to twigs and rubbish, Shakespeare prominently used it in Othello long before it became a standard American term for household waste.

FAUCET: A Middle English term describing the wooden peg or tap used to draw liquid from a barrel, common in British households before the simple "tap" grew in popularity.

FALL (Autumn): Short for "the fall of the leaf," this was widely used in 16th-century England before the UK favoured the Latinate "autumn" and the US kept the older Germanic phrase.

SOCCER: Late-19th-century Oxford slang. Shortened from Association Football (Asoc -> soccer) to tell it apart from Rugby Football (rugger).

GOTTEN: The traditional Middle English past participle of "get" was standard across Britain until the UK gradually dropped it for got, while American settlers kept it.

I GUESS (Meaning "to suppose"): Often mocked as a classic Americanism (e.g., "I guess so"), this usage is thoroughly British used for centuries and appears in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer including in The Canterbury Tales (c. 1387).

COOTIES: Commonly thought of as American playground slang, the word was coined by British soldiers during World War I, adapted from the Malaysian word kutu (body lice).

BANGS (Hair fringe): The root word comes squarely from the British equestrian phrase bang-tail (cutting a horse's tail straight across). Whilst the slang transition to human hair happened in 19th-century North America.

19/10/2026

🎄 CHRISTMAS DAY TRADITION, GREAT DEPRESSION, LINGUISTIC ORIGINS. This photo was taken on Thursday 25 December 1930 in Bromley Market Square, it captures a unique slice of local lore. At the time, Bromley’s historic weekly market was strictly a Thursday fixture. When Christmas Day happened to fall on a Thursday, local merchants kept an old custom alive: setting up a single "Charter Day Stall" to complete just one symbolic transaction. This token of commerce ensured the ancient market charter remained legally active and continuous, strictly fulfilling historic requirements without disrupting Christmas day celebrations.

📉 THE GREAT DEPRESSION GRINDING IMPACT ON BROMLEY This specific gathering on Christmas Day in 1930 took place against the grim backdrop of the Great Depression, triggered by the devastating Wall Street Crash just over a year prior. Instead of an immediate shock, the true tragedy of the Depression in Britain was a slow, grinding economic decline that crossed the Atlantic. While industrial hubs in northern Britain bore the heaviest brunt of mass unemployment, the effects felt by the people of Bromley were quieter but no less profound. As a prosperous suburban market town in Kent, Bromley saw local shopkeepers, independent traders, and working-class families facing tightened household budgets, falling income, and rising financial anxiety. Keeping the market charter alive during these bleak winters was more than just compliance with legal tradition; it stood as a defiant symbol of resilience, community solidarity, and economic continuity for local residents.

🏢 DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF THE WALL STREET LEAPERS. Popular lore often associates this global financial collapse with the dramatic image of ruined traders and panicked investors leaping en masse from high-rise office windows in New York. However, historical data reveals this was an urban myth popularised by dark jokes and sensationalised press reports at the time. While individual, tragic financial su***des did occur, New York's chief medical examiner reported that su***de rates during the autumn of 1929 remained normal, and that the window-jumping incidents were not carried out by high-flying bankers or stockbrokers.

🗣️ LINGUISTIC ORIGINS OF "DRUG STORE" ETC
💡 A visual highlight is the shopfront dominating the right-hand side of the image: 17 Winton’s Drug Stores. In modern times, the phrase "drug store" feels like an unmistakable Americanism, but history tells a much more nuanced story. Many terms deeply associated with the United States—including drug store, diaper, sidewalk, soccor, candy, trash, and faucet— originated as common phrases in the British lexicon. Over the centuries, the UK dropped them as local fashions evolved, while early American colonists froze them in time across the Atlantic. Alternatively, by December 1930, the overwhelming cultural and commercial influence of American cinema and retail trends was steadily creeping across the UK. Winton's may have adopted the snappy terminology to evoke a sense of modern, high-class convenience to the shoppers of Bromley, effectively bringing an old British phrase back home... 😁So next time you’re tempted to wag a finger at anyone for using "😡annoying Americanisms" check your history first! You might just find they are speaking pure, old-fashioned British English."

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