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 31 - 40 of 47 in total
We used to live above a shop in the market square. I went to Bromley parish primary school. I was a May Queen in 1969, I think, and my brother fell in the boating pond. These picture brought back lots of memorys of my childhood. I now live in Suffolk.
I live in San Diego (America). My birth certificate says that I was born at the Redhills Hospital. My parents were living in Camden, this was during the war in Feb. 1943. I can't find any place now with that name. I would very much like to know where I was born - can anyone help?
Hi, does anyone remember Staples, the fine art dealers located at 20 High Street, Bromley? If so, please leave information regarding approximate opening and closing dates? Many thanks.
My mother, at the tender age of 17, was taken to Bromley-by-Bow Hospital in the midst of the London blitz to have her first child. She never saw her baby girl, was told she had died and everyone was to be evacuated to Scotland right away. Mum would not leave London and when my Dad went back to the hospital for the remains, they said she had been cremated with spare body parts. Sending for records much ...see more
Such a familiar sight - the High Street with what looks like a number 47 RT AEC bus approaching. I actually lived in Coney Hall, but Bromley was only a 5d ride away (or 6d to the North if going to the Odeon or Pullman cinemas). My first ever visit to a cinema was in Bromley (The Gaumont) to see "A Shaggy Dog Story". There were visits to the New Theatre for the annual pantomime; there was the overpowering ...see more
Just off the High Street, somewhere opposite Medhurst's, there was a short cut near a fishmonger's which we called Fish Alley and this led to what was originally the Palace of the Bishops of but which, by 1952, was an established Teachers' Training College for young ladies, which was approached via a drive. To the front of the building was a garden, and beyond that a hockey pitch. There was a lake at the back, a ...see more
I lived at 42, Woodlea Drive from the age of 9 until 18 when we moved in 1963. My dad bought the plot and we used to visit it regularly until the house was completed, and we moved in. Our house was at the top of the hill on the right. Pete Frampton did live on the right hand side at the bottom of the hill and we often played guitar together as kids. Facing our house, the Medhursts lived to our right, ...see more
Yes I remember the Bromel Club at Bromley Court - saw all the best bands of the time there. I also remember 'Paul and the Playboys', I was in 'Dave and the Couriers', I think we probably shared the bill more than once. Does anyone remember the big open air gig in Blake Recreation Ground at West Wickham? We played at that, in 1964 I think. Happy days.
In the 1960s, in my late teens, Bromley was the hub of my universe. I played in a local group - Paul and the Playboys (later 'The Machine' - I had a 1958 Ford Popular with 'The Machine' crudely painted on one door and stripes to match my striped blazer on the other). We played regularly at Bromley Tech. Paul Goodman was our drummer - he knew Dave Bowie and Peter Frampton. ...see more
In the late 1950s I was an assistant cinema manager at the Odeon cinema, I learnt a lot from the very efficient staff there and have many fond memories, even down to the odd lunch hour watching the Rolls Royce workshop guys at work, and one particular day being honoured to sit in the front while the tech finished fitting the dashboard panel, he switched the engine on to prove the loudest noise in the passenger compartment WAS the clock ticking.