Barnehurst In The Late 40s/50s

A Memory of Barnehurst.

I still live in Barnehurst having moved back in 1947. The picture of Barnehurst Road, although the scenery hasn't changed much the shops have. The corner shop on the right was United Dairies and there was a butchers shop a coal shop, a cleaners, two grocers a post office. two newsagents. Nowadays it is mostly take away restaurants and estate agents.  If you turned right at the end of the road, went about 400 yards there was a little farm house with no electricity owned by a Mr Brazier whose land at the rear was an orchard. I then lived in a house that backed on to it. He used to patrol it at night with a lantern  in case someone scrumped his apples. He lived with his two sisters and was rarely seen.  The trees in the background are Bursted Woods which are still there. I must have climbed virtually every tree in those woods. The pub (Red Barn) is still there. Trolley buses were the mode of transport and the 698 ran from Bexleyheath to Woolwich,  about every ten minutes and if you got a tram in front of you at Plumstead you could not over take, and vice versa. Apart from that there were the Greenlines and from Bexleyheath you could travel to Windsor and Ascot, or Gravesend. My father bought a new house in Barnehurst in the 1930s and I believe it was about £250. The builder was a Mr Wedlock who came from the Lake District and I believe some of his workers bought houses because they were very well built. They are going now for something like £300,000 plus.  Ah the good old days. The tennis court photos are I believe Martens Grove and I have played on them in the 50s it also had a lido  where I learnt to swim on the hot summer days we used to have. I still live in a Wedlock house on a hill with a great view of the golf course and the QE2 (Dartford) Bridge


Added 05 February 2008

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