Danson Park

A Memory of Bexleyheath.

I remember Danson Park from the 1950's. It is situated in between Welling and Bexleyheath in Kent, now an outer London Borough and is still worth a visit. There is a big house in the park which has now been restored by English Heritage, a nice rose garden and "The Stables" which is now a restaurant. There was also a Lido on the south side near the A2 road but this was closed many years ago. My father was a keen rower and he often hired a boat for a trip on the lake which also had a big blue motor launch "Miss Lingaid" but at 1/- (One Shilling, now 5p) a trip was too expensive for us and I don't think I ever had a ride in it. My main interest was a miniature railway on the south side of the lake. This was built to 9 1/4 inch gauge and ran for about 600 yards from a run round loop near Danson Road, where there is a dam at the end of the lake, to a point near where the lake was fenced off to stop the row boats going aground, and this was where the sheds were built. It was built by Ron Hammett in 1947 and he ran it until 1964 when he moved to Burmuda for the benefit of his health. It had two steam locomotives one of which is shown in a Francis Frith postcard but I can not find it on this website. (Try putting Danson Park Miniature Railway into your search engine and you will find it). Mr Hammett's house backed onto Danson Park and he had built a temporary railway from his back garden into the park towards the main gate at Crook Log for the "Holidays at Home" event during the war.
From Chris Johnson, Shooters Hill.


Added 28 March 2013

#240722

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