Mr Battle, The Baker....

A Memory of Chislehurst.

I lived in Camden Park Road back in the 1990's and I read Mr Arthur Battle's book, Edwardian Chislehurst, when I was living there. He was 90 when he wrote it, and it was published in 1988. It was fascinating to read his memories of his childhood in the years before World War 1 in the book. In 1994 I attended a local studies evening in the Church Hall by the common and Mr Battle was there, he was 96 years old at the time. I met him afterwards, shook his hand, and we chatted. He was signing copies of his book and he was very friendly. He was full of life and enthusiasm - you wouldn't have thought he was nearly 100 years old. I remember him saying to me he had many stories to tell about Chislehurst. His daughter was also there and I recall when the slide show got to a picture of Battles Bakers (taken many years earlier), many people in the hall cheered. It proved just how much the Battle's were part of the fabric of the area. I heard Mr Battle died the following year, aged 97 or 98.

---

---