Nostalgic memories of Penge's local history
Share your own memories of Penge 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 31 - 40 of 48 in total
I worked in Curtess Shoe shop at the time this picture was taken.
My cousins had stalls in the market, the Prouds. I have so many lovely memories of my dad and mum taking me shopping, particularly around Christmas. With all the old gas lights spluttering and smelling and the smells of the stall with toffee apples, and the hot chestnut stand. Oooh! Yes and the Salvation Army Band playing and rattling their collection boxes. There was Mr and Mrs Cohen with their daughters and ...see more
As a small child, I lived in Beckenham, and we used visit my grandmother who lived in a flat in Queen Adelaide Court. From her lounge window we could see the Almshouses. At that age I did not have any real understanding of what they were, but they held a strange fascination for me because they were so different from the surrounding houses and blocks of flats. I have many memories of Penge, including the market ...see more
Old forgotten characters of Penge and Eden Park:
The Duke of Penge
Nell Horley the midwife
Winny of the Eden Park Trading Agency
The Lad who gave a prize-winning fighter a taste of what it felt like to be on the receiving end
William Younger was born in 1901 into an ordinary working-class family, his father being a coachman, a strict disciplinarian and authoritarian, ...see more
The local midwife, Nell Horley, delivered many a Penge child, but she also kept a boarding house, where she would keep a large pot of soup on the cooker all day for the boarders. Nell was my 1/2 Aunt's grandmother. Nell delivered both my mother and father.
Nell had a borther nicknamed 'Spider', whose occupation was collecting rags to sell to trade. He would place all the rags across the garden after he had washed them.
I lived with my parents and my brother at 15 Queen Adelaide Court. The official opening was in 1951, but we moved in in 1950. This block in the photo was one of the first to be finished and while the builders completed the other block the now playground areas were builders rubble.
When all the blocks were finished a residents association was formed and I think for two years we had a Queen Adelaide sports day held ...see more
I left school in Dec 1951 and started work with Olby's in Jan 1952. Opposite to the Police Station in Green Lane was a children's outfitters, then Macks Photography Shop, then Bryce Grants then Art Wallpapers then K&B Radio, then Edgingtons Furniture Shop, then across Cottingham Road, Edgingtons again then there were several other shops ending with a bank. Opposite was the Odeon Cinema then the Co-op ...see more
I still have the blanket for my pram that my grandmother had bought in Rogers. That was about 1955. I remember going into Woolworths on Saturday with my pocket money. I also worked in there on Saturdays when I was 15. I also worked in the Co-op on a Saturday in the furniture section upstairs . Also queuing up outside the Odeon on a Saturday. I remember going to see Cliff Richard"s Summer Holiday and one of Hayley ...see more
I remember the High Street quite well. This photograph is looking north. Just up past the Police Station there was a cake shop, then a chemist shop (A J Mack), then there was Olby's, then the large shop, Rogers. Next was Woolworths, then Maloney's cake shop with its cafeteria. Next to Maloney's was Kennedy's fish shop, then Curtess's Shoe shop, then Fosdick's. There had been a 'pub - The Waterman's Arms - and ...see more
During the war I used to go to Holy Trinity Church before it was bombed. The choirmaster was a Mr Choat, (not sure of the spelling), and he used to come and ask me to sing for the local gatherings in the hut where all the meetings took place and I used to go there for Church Parades when the Brownies and Guides went to the Church with the boys. Anybody remember Betty Crayford? would love to hear from you.
