West Wickham
West Wickham photos (5 available)
West Wickham maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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West Wickham books (18 available)
West Wickham memories
Read and share memories of West Wickham and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Coney Hall 1950/60s
This picture brings back many memories. I was born in 1953 and lived in Coney Hall until 1972, attending school at Wickham Common and then Hawes Down Secondary.
The view from where this picture was taken is not dramatically different today. The parade of shops that can be seen on the right included the newsagent and confectioners, Butts ( for whom I did a paper round for 2 years) and a pet supply store (Pearson's??). The Coney public house ( a place of exotic mystery when I was growing up) is just out of view. On the far left can be seen the rather stylish garage and petrol station. I remember using this facility to put a pounds worth of petrol ...read more here
Contributed by Peter Leach
Discos and Status Quo
A college full of young female teaching students on my doorstep - what more could an 18 year old ask for? Yes, Coloma College was , for a short while , a weekend hotspot for me and my friends. There were regular discos , and also, on occasions, live music. And, in 1971, none other than Status Quo played a gig there. It should be pointed out that they were, at this time, at something of low ebb in their career. Having left behind their poppy Pictures of Matchstick Men period, they were still far from Rocking All Over the World - just rocking all over West Wickham to about 50 unimpressed people.
A few years before this, I used ...read more here
Contributed by Peter Leach
Kent memories
Discos and Status Quo
A college full of young female teaching students on my doorstep - what more could an 18 year old ask for? Yes, Coloma College was , for a short while , a weekend hotspot for me and my friends. There were regular discos , and also, on occasions, live music. And, in 1971, none other than Status Quo played a gig there. It should be pointed out that they were, at this time, at something of low ebb in their career. Having left behind their poppy Pictures of Matchstick Men period, they were still far from Rocking All Over the World - just rocking all over West Wickham to about 50 unimpressed people.
A few years before this, I used ...read more here
A memory of West Wickham contributed by Peter Leach
Coney Hall 1950/60s
This picture brings back many memories. I was born in 1953 and lived in Coney Hall until 1972, attending school at Wickham Common and then Hawes Down Secondary.
The view from where this picture was taken is not dramatically different today. The parade of shops that can be seen on the right included the newsagent and confectioners, Butts ( for whom I did a paper round for 2 years) and a pet supply store (Pearson's??). The Coney public house ( a place of exotic mystery when I was growing up) is just out of view. On the far left can be seen the rather stylish garage and petrol station. I remember using this facility to put a pounds worth of petrol ...read more here
A memory of West Wickham contributed by Peter Leach
Extracts From West Wickham & Kent 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".