Nostalgic memories of Bromley's local history
Share your own memories of Bromley and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 21 - 30 of 47 in total
My family moved to Shortlands, between Bromley and Beckenham, in 1945 when I was a three-year-old. I lived in Shortlands, in Recreation Road, until 1968 when I moved abroad to work. Now, over 40 years later, back in the UK, it's wonderful to know that people still refer to Beckenham Lane as "Swan Hill". There has never been a Swan Hill in Bromley, but the upper section of Beckenham Lane has always ...see more
I remember sitting on this exact bench at the top of Martins Hill in the park in the 1980's, and the view was very similar. I grew up in Shortlands, Hillside Road, and spent most of my childhood in this park. We played cricket in the summer or got cardboard boxes to slide down the hill on the parched grass, then in the winter we got our sledges out to slide down the same hill in the snow. I was very adept at skiing ...see more
This photo takes me back to when I was 5 years old and used to go to the supermarket in the Westmoreland Centre at Bromley South with my mum. It always seemed to be windy there, although I expect this is just the only time I remember being there. There were a wide set of stairs which led from the centre down to Westmoreland Road from the supermarket and I remember (being a very slight child) having to hold on ...see more
Has anyone a memory of the above, did you work there or in a corset department of a store? If so I need you to share your memory with me, unless this important social trend is not documented it will be lost for ever.
What was your relationship with your customers - and if a customer, what was your relationship with your corsetiere - what age did you start to wear foundations?
We had a lot of single sex ...see more
My Mother returned from a visit with her Mother to the Odeon Cinema in Petts Wood at 11 pm on Wednesday 16th April 1941, to find my father extinguishing, with sand from a bucket, an incendiary bomb behind our semi-bungalow at 154 Pickhurst Lane, Hayes. They heard more bombs falling and lay down with buckets over their heads. A 500-kg landmine came down though the head of my bed upstairs (decapitating me if I had ...see more
I was at the concert in Blake's Recreation Ground and I was only 10 years old at the time! I went with my sister, who was a few years older. We were right near the front and I remember being so close to Paul Jones I could have touched him! David (my old class mate!) is right, there was some trouble about it at the time and the bloke who organised it (from the local record shop in the High ...see more
It is my Dad's 65th birthday soon and when he was younger he was in a band called The Burnettes with Brian Vickers, Colin Fisher and Trevor French. They played at The West Wickham festival in 1964 at Blake Recreation ground amoungst other places around the area. If you remember them or have any old programmes, posters or photos then please get in touch as I would like to make him something special for his birthday this July (2012). Thanks!
I remember the fire very well: I was about seven or eight and shopping in Bromley with my mother that day. For a little while, we stood and watched the fire engines arrive and the firemen rushing about. As we were heading back to the car park in Swan Hill, we heard two elderly ladies excitedly describing to some people what they'd seen and their experience of trying to get through the crowds in the the High ...see more
Re Malcolm's question 'does anyone remember the gig?'. I do. I was 10 and had no interest in music at that time and my parents hated pop music. Our house backed onto the tennis courts in Blakes Recreation Ground and I could hear and see proceediongs from the back bedroom. I remember that numerous people complained to the police about the noise and I was reminded recently that the ...see more
It was Harrison Gibson, circa 1965. Raised eyebrows. HG had lost their flagship store in Ilford only a year or two before.