Category Archives: leisure

Autumn in South Norwood Country Park

Posted on November 4, 2015 by | Comments Off on Autumn in South Norwood Country Park

This was South Norwood Country Park on Halloween 2015.

Lovely autumn colours

why not make a visit?

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W G Grace Service to mark 100 years since his death

Posted on November 4, 2015 by | Comments Off on W G Grace Service to mark 100 years since his death

WG Grace

On 23 October, a memorial service was held at Beckenham Cemetery to mark 100 years since the death of WG Grace.

Service

Service

About 70 people, including the Lady Mayor of Bromley, Kim Botting and MP, Bob Stewart attended the grave side service led by Canon Derek Carpenter, with readings by Chris House and songs by Susannah Groome. In the evening a service was held in St George’s Church.

Wreath laid at the grave

Wreath laid at the grave

There are lots of other famous people buried in this cemetery including Frank Bourne of the Rorke’s Drift in the Anglo/ Zulu wars, Thomas Crapper, plumber who lived in Anerly, George Evans VC  Battle of the Somme July 1916, and Baron Josiah Stamp, a director of the Bank of England . For the history of the cemetery see our history page – famous people and places.

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Beckenham Place Park

Posted on October 30, 2015 by | Comments Off on Beckenham Place Park
If the small piece on BBC News  a few weeks ago is anything to go by, Lewisham are about to commence the consultation process regarding their plans for Beckenham Place Park.   The general consensus amongst people who visit the park is that it is a wonderful piece of countryside we are fortunate to have right on our doorsteps.
Lewisham want to increase the footfall in the park and presumably hope to thus increase income.
They have the first round approval of their plans by the Heritage Lottery Fund and now have to firm up their Stage 2 plans to obtain almost 5 million pounds.   They want to remove the only Inner London public golf course to clear an area for ‘events’ and take down some of the ancient woodland to reinstate the lake.   They want cycle paths and pedestrian paths to transverse the woods and cleared open spaces, plus a lot of other things to encourage visitors.   They wish to rebuild the burnt down stable block and turn it into a visitor centre and café but there is no talk about the deteriorating mansion in this bid.
Obviously some of their ideas are good but Friends of Beckenham Place Park have decided to do an unbiased survey amongst visitors to the park and have been very impressed with the interest and enthusiasm shown.   So far the general consensus seems to be that people visit the park for the unique peaceful country atmosphere which is fast being removed from us ‘urbanites’.
Whilst the autumn weather is still with us, why don’t you take a stroll up there? It is amazing how many people the Friends interview, even locals, for whom it is their first foray.   Sunday afternoon the Visitor Centre in the Mansion is open and there are survey forms you can fill in.
Visit www.beckenhamplaceparkfriends . The survey can be downloaded here Download Friends of BPP survey (Summer 2015) and emailed to bpp.friends@ntlworld.com

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WBRA visit to Bethlem Hospital Museum

Posted on October 7, 2015 by | Comments Off on WBRA visit to Bethlem Hospital Museum

Visit to the new Museum of the Mind at Bethlem Hospital

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WBRA were invited to a talk on the history of Bethlem Royal Hospital and its predecessors in London. Caroline Smith, Education and Outreach Officer, gave a talk to about 25 members and friends who attended on 16 September. Bethlem Royal Hospital was founded in 1247 and was the first institution in the UK to specialise in the care of the mentally ill. The hospital continues to provide in-patient care as part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and has been at its current location on Monks Orchard Road since 1930

The Museum of the Mind has been open to the public since February 2015 in the Hospital’s former administration building. Its displays offer unparalleled resources to support learning about the history of mental healthcare and treatment. There is no charge for entry.

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Bethlem Royal Hospital, the Maudsley Hospital and Warlingham Park Hospital, and a collection of historic objects and art, including works by former Bethlem patients such as Jonathan Martin, Richard Dadd and Louis Wain. Ms Smith gave a fascinating account of the development of mental health care in London and the south east. She told of how men and women were always separately housed but “visitors” were allowed, on payment of a donation, to see how the patients lived, which sadly but inevitably led to a voyeurism that we would frown on today.

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We also visited an exhibition on the Home Front in WWI, and the permanent museum.

There are also regular free events at the museum including:-

7 November, 2pm – archivist Colin Gale provides an introduction to Bethlem’s ‘Criminal Lunatic’ Department on which artist Richard Dadd ws a patient.

12 November, 7 pm – Mike Jay speaks on the life of James Tilly Matthews, and signs copies of his book The Influencing Machine

28 November, 2pm – Gill Smith discusses the after-life of Bethlem’s third building as the Imperial War Museum

5 December, 10am,- Come and create your own Louis Wain Christmas Cat tree decorations to take home, and help decorate the tree in the museum. This is a free drop-in event suitable for all ages.

See the full programme on http://museumofthemind.org.uk/about

 

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Remembering W G Grace

Posted on September 11, 2015 by | Comments Off on Remembering W G Grace

The Centenary Celebrations for W G Grace died age 67,  23rd October 1915

WG Grace

On Friday, 23rd October 2015 there will be two W.G. Centenary Events

At 4.30 pm Derek Carpenter will be conducting a Remembrance Service at W.G.’s grave in Beckenham Cemetery.

Celebrations will resume at 7.30 pm in St George’s Church, Beckenham when the guests will include notable cricketing names and the BBC Sports personality, Beckenham’s Rob Bonnet .

For Warlockians the highlight of the evening will be a repeat performance of Peter Warlock’s Cricketers of Hambledon.

The cricketing career of Dr William Gilbert Grace, W.G. as he was known, spanned 48 years from 1861 to 1908. During his 43 years as a first-class player he scored 54,896 runs, including 126 centuries, and took 2,876 wickets. He made his Test debut at the age of 32 in 1880.

Aged 52 in 1900, when his international career was over, he formed the London County Cricket Club based at Crystal Palace Park, Beckenham. He played first-class county matches with them until 1908.  During these years he often appeared during the annual cricket weeks at Beckenham Cricket Club when he drew huge crowds to Foxgrove Road.

WG continued to play minor cricket after his retirement from the first-class version. His final match was for Eltham Cricket Club at Grove Park on 25 July 1914, a week after his 66th birthday. He died in Eltham on 23rd October, 1915 and is buried in the Beckenham Cemetery in Elmers End.

“He swung his bat and turned his arm on the green and pleasant fields of Beckenham in his last years; his memory remains with us forever.”

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