Reminices – Weeks Ironmongery by Peter

Posted on 27 October 2020 by campaignr

An extract from Peter’s contribution to the memories on the Havelock Rec, he writes:

“I had a regular delivery (of broken coke) to the lady next door at No 109 Homesdale Road, called Mrs Stokes. Her husband was the manager of a large Ironmongers in the High Street called Weeks. Manager or not, he still had to come in the house through the back door AFTER HE HAD CHANGED INTO HIS SLIPPERS AND CLEANED HIS SHOES FOR THE FOLLOWING MORNING. But she was very kind to me. I still remember her giving me a lovely shiny Half a Crown for my birthday in 1943  I dropped it between the floor boards when we were hiding in the cupboard under the stairs. My parents continued to live there until my mother died. Then I moved my father to live near me in Crawley, and he sold the house to a Mr Hennesey in 1986 – I often wondered if he found my half Crown.”

There’s more about Weeks ironmongery, on the north part of the High Street, in our page High Street No. 206 Diners Inn formerly George Weeks ironmongery

gable-topped mid-3-storey terrace, civic pride era shop with green tiles.
Diners Inn at 106 High Street, originally Weeks & Sons, by Paul Ylaes

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High Street No. 111 – Heritage Building

Posted on 27 October 2020 by campaignr

Number 111 is Tweed cottage. This modest 2-storey building marked the southern most end of the High street until the railway came, in 1858.

Since then, this Georgian building has been Barclays Bank, before becoming Tiger shop, selling arts and crafts materials.

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Comments on the Supplementary Planning Document consultation

Posted on 2 October 2020 by campaignr
oval of proposed high-rises compared with oval of nicer ones
comparison of proposed overbearing designs with nicer modern developments (as built in Kent this year)

This summer the council has run a consultation to decide whether to issue supplementary planning guidance for Bromley and Orpington town centres.

The consultation was run by Commonplace and closed 5th October 2020. You can view the comments people made by clicking the [View Comments] button at the bottom of each theme’s page: overview.

Continue reading →
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Supplementary Planning Document consultation: ‘The Future of Bromley Town Centre’

Posted on 29 September 2020 by campaignr
oval of proposed high-rises compared with oval of nicer ones
comparison of proposed overbearing designs with nicer modern developments (all those developments are in Kent, selling houses in 2020)

This summer the council had a consultation for drawing up a supplementary planning documents for Bromley (and Orpington) town centres.

These guidelines could determine the appearance and height of future developments.

The documents add to, but not change, the policies in the Bromley Local Plan (Local Plans are enforceable 10-year building programmes) .

The responses can be looked at, at the consultation website by Commonplace, here. Under each theme, you press the [Comments] button to see what people said. The consultation closed on the 5th October 2020.

We would like to see it result in appealing good quality, locality-specific proposals in future rather than the androgynous high rises already put forward.

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Bromley Town Centre consultation: Bulletin No.2 –‘Have your say on your Local Area’

Posted on 3 September 2020 by campaignr
oval of proposed high-rises compared with oval of nicer ones
comparison of proposed overbearing designs with nicer modern developments

At Bromley Civic Society, we think it is important that we all take part in this Consultation.  To assist you in making your contribution we are producing a series of Bulletins on each of the Themes in the Consultation to meet the deadline of 5th October 2020.

The purpose of the new Planning Guidance is to add to but not change the policies and proposals in the Bromley Local Plan that was adopted in 2019 (Local Plans are enforceable ten-year building programmes) .

On our website here: http://bit.ly/howtomakecomments there is a detailed explanation of how to use the ‘Commenting’ and the ‘Thumbs up’ procedure.  For a simple way in, follow the steps below.

When you Save your comments, you will be asked to confirm your email address.  You can make further comments later. Remember to find those emails and click on their links!

Have your say on your local area 

‘Have your say on your local area’ enables you to place a pin on a Bromley Town Centre map and make a comment about a specific site or place and say what you would like to see there.

First click on 
https://bromleytowncentre.commonplace.is/ then ‘
Have Your Say’, then 
‘Have your say on your local area’ then 
‘Have your say‘ again (top right) 
‘
Place the pin‘ in the location (on the map) you’re commenting on. Click ‘Ok got it‘ and drag the pin to the place on the map where you wish to make a comment.
When the pin has been placed, fill in boxes on the left to say where it is and what it is. 
There are further boxes to click and finally a box for ‘Do you have further comments’
Remember to Save when you’ve finished 

BCS suggests that the places listed below are among those that may merit some comment.  The list is by no means comprehensive and you will probably want to add further places.
Church House Gardens – any development to the south (Churchill Qtr, Site 10 in Local Plan) should be limited in height to reduce impact on the open space and the Conservation Area
Bromley North Station – any development to the north of the station (Site 2 in the Local Plan) should be limited in height to reduce impact on the Conservation Area
High Street – more greenery and planting possible green walls to soften the impact of unsightly buildings
Picturehouse Cinema, High Street north – cinema should be protected from development and excluded from Site 3 Hill Car Park, in the Local Plan (which plans to replace it with housing)  
former Maplins building (cnr of High Street and Ethelbert Road) – this building contributes to the character of the High Street and should be protected from development 
former Gaumont cinema building (now Dreams and Wilko in the High Street on the corner of Ravensourne Road) – this building contributes to the character of the High Street and should be protected from development
Laura Ashley building, cnr of High Street and Ringers Road) and adjoining neo-Georgian terrace (54-60 High Street) – these buildings contribute to the attractiveness and character of the High Street and should be protected from development 
Bromley North Station – plant trees in forecourt in front of the listed station building
Market Square (and elsewhere) – Heritage Interpretation Panels to provide a public heritage information display about nearby historic buildings  
Bromley North Village – improve tree planting throughout the area.

Editor’s Note: This consultation is about what future development of the town centre will look like. It cannot be used to change the amount of future housing that will be built. It can change what it looks like and how high it is.

We would like to see it result in appealing good quality, locality-specific proposals in future rather than the androgynous high rises already put forward.

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Bromley Town Centre consultation: Bulletin No.1 – ‘Quick Feedback’

Posted on 3 September 2020 by campaignr
oval of proposed high-rises compared with oval of nicer ones
comparison of proposed overbearing designs with nicer modern developments

At Bromley Civic Society, we think it is important that we all take part in this Consultation.  To assist you in making your contribution we are producing a series of Bulletins on each of the Themes in the Consultation to meet the deadline of 5th October 2020.

The purpose of the new Planning Guidance is to add to but not change the policies and proposals in the Bromley Local Plan (adopted in 2019).

Continue reading →
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New Town Centre Planning consultation – How to work the commenting and thumbs up

Posted on 16 August 2020 by campaignr

A quick guide to commenting, or giving a comment a thumbs up:

The consultation is divided into 12 categories, so to prevent the old blank-page scare, compose what you want to say, and work out which ‘theme’ it fits in, first.

The procedure involves quite a lot of clicks, being redirected, losing your place in whichever page you’re on, and confirming by email.  I recommend not doing it by mobile, nor in a rush.

The procedure to comment, or thumbs-up a comment:

Go to the category, or 'Theme' page that you wish to engage with. There's 12 of these, so it's not quick and no suitable for a mobile.
Go to the category, or ‘Theme’ page that you wish to engage with. There’s 12 of these, so it’s not quick and no suitable for a mobile.
Step 2: empty your junk mail folder so you can find your email confirmations easily
Step 2: empty your junk mail folder so you can find your email confirmations easily
Step 3: Either fill in your comment, or click the Show Comments button
Step 3: Either fill in your comment, or click the Show Comments button
Step 4: Click the ‘Agree’ button next to a comment you like - it's a good idea to work from the bottom up doing this
Step 4: Click the ‘Agree’ button next to a comment you like – it’s a good idea to work from the bottom up doing this
Step 5: Type in your email address, then press the ‘Back’, or <- arrow, until you return to the page, to carry on down the comments
Step 5: Type in your email address, then press the ‘Back’, or <- arrow, until you return to the page, to carry on down the comments
Step 6: Find the Commonplace email in your junk box
Step 6: Find the Commonplace email in your junk box
Step 7: Open the email and click the confirmation button
Step 7: Open the email and click the confirmation button
Step 8: Close the thank -you page and return to the tab with the consultation on
Step 8. Close the thank -you page and return to the tab with the consultation on
Continue reading →
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2020 Online ‘Easter’ Hunt!

Posted on 4 April 2020 by campaignr
broom stem
Broom, the flower Bromley is named after (see Broom Time)

To provide a bit of light hearted entertainment, we have compiled an online website ‘Easter’ hunt.

The competition is to look on our website, and find all the pages which have a picture, like the one above, of a sprig of Broom (the spring flower that Bromley is named after) at the bottom of the page.

When you’ve found the picture at the bottom of one of our pages, it will have a letter next to it. Write down the letters, they are an anagram for a word. When you’ve found them all, shuffle the letters to find the word!

The competition is really just for fun and kudos, but Survey Monkey will email us your answers, and the correct answers will be entered into a prize draw – though this will only be for Cadbury’s Easter Eggs! The competition is to show you our website, so explore and find those pages with the broom pictures!

For instance, with the Clue: “The vanished and haunted moated manor that gave Ringers Road its name” you could put ‘Haunted’ in the search box (top right) and see an entry for Simpsons Moat in the list, when you visit this page and scroll to the bottom, there’s a picture of a sprig of broom. Under this is an ‘M’, so enter ‘M’ in the box for this question! There’s one done for you already!

Use each of these clues to help you find a page with the picture of a sprig of broom at the bottom:

2)  An innovator of self-service shopping.
3)  Bromley’s toy town station.
4)  Our clickable map of the town’s heritage… look under ‘Heritage’.
5)  The future of the seat of our local government in the 2019 Local Plan.
6)  Famous former resident reputed to have used the term ‘So ******* Croydon’ when disgusted with something.
7)  A quarter of this parkland was sold off in November – including the listed folly.

And a final question (search for our page on Broom time): Which of our green spaces was the Broom Time festival held in?

Here’s a link to SurveyMonkey to enter your answers. Alternatively you can print this word document, and fill in the boxes – in this case, if you want to enter the prize draw, you will need to email it to us at bromley.civic.society@gmail.com

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Simpsons Moat

Posted on 3 April 2020 by campaignr

Simpsons Moat, or Palace, was a moated, crenellated manor house at the bottom of Ringers Road.

Most of the building had been of Tudor age, dominated by a large chimney. Henry VIII was reputed to have visited. It was later converted to a farm house, and the last tenant, Jeraimiah Ringer filled in two sides of the moat. Ringers Road is named after him. There is a page on wiki, though these details are challenged by the notable local historian E.L.Horsburgh.

It was demolished in the 1850s.

The area is haunted ,not just by one ghost, but by two ghosts! Often they’re seen together. One is a white lady, and her companion has old fashioned clothing and a black floppy hat. Join us on our Murder, Ghosts and Highwaymen walk next time it’s held (usually at Halloween, for more details!)

A drawing from 1850 in the British Museum
broom stem
Letter ‘M’ for our Easter Hunt game
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Answers to online Family Heritage Treasure Trail

Posted on 3 April 2020 by campaignr

Answers to online edition:

  1. Charles Darwin
  2. The author H.G. Wells
  3. The Old Town Pump
  4. Drapers shop (sold cloth by the yard)
  5. 1888 (the year Covell & Harris ‘s shop)
  6. 1866 (HG Wells was born)
  7. ‘Old English’ Arts and Crafts style, Queen Anne movement
  8. 1912
  9. There’s furniture suspended from the ceiling.
  10. Aberdeen Building.
  11. Ravensfell Parade.
  12. Bromley House Parade
  13. Bromleag was the old name for Bromley (also spelt Bromleage)
  14. David Bowie.
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