me old man used to play cricket there in the 70's ... i think that sports ground is where i first tasted bacon frazzly things and i always associate it with them
Jerry O'Donavan, was the head groundsman at Stones for many years, he lived with his family next door to me in Catford...lovely gentle highly inteligent Irishman...all four of his kids went to university....quite something in those days!
Teresa, the eldest, was head girl at Catford girls school around 1962/63.
His son Roger(ex Askes) died in an accident in The Scottish Highlands around 1968....he was a mountaineer/hill walker and worked up there as a guide or something like that.
When i left school it was large engineering all along that part of the river. Skilled work. Look at it now, pretty grim, unless you like working in retail.
Stones pitches were truly fantastic, lush green grass and flat. Should never been built on.
There's one in here about Thamesmead where they say the caravan is parked where the boiler house now is, I'm sure its wrong, it would be on the other side of the mound/incline and further to the left?
[cite]Posted By: DA9[/cite]There's one in here about Thamesmead where they say the caravan is parked where the boiler house now is, I'm sure its wrong, it would be on the other side of the mound/incline and further to the left?
Wow....sat here and read through a few pages....I should be working! One particular shot brought a bit of a lump in the throat.....showed Abbey Road towards Belvedere before the hideous flyover was built....it says something like "A bright sunny day in Abbey Road, April 1968" I lived in Abbey Road from 1964 to 1970, about midway along, opposite Elstree Gardens, near the Offy "Danny's" I've often told Kay about moving from Woolwich in 64 and Abbey Road seeming like living in the country, of course when I took her there recently, well lets be polite and says its changed....but it really did seem like the country. I remember well, going down to the level crossings at both Abbey Wood and Belvedere to watch the trains, and the men in the signal boxes turning the huge wheels to open the gates, particularly at AW......and the novelty of getting on a London Country Green bus. I spent many an hour playing on buses at Abbey Wood Garage as my Mum was dating a driver, so a lot of these pictures really made me feel nostalgic....thanks for posting this up, Id have never looked for them, glad you did.
Pleasure Tel, love the website, guy I work with was a clippy out of Bexleyheath garage in the 60's & 70's, he even knows some of the people in the photos, thats how we got into in the first place, fantastic website.
If you go further down the main page there is a whole lot more on other local stuff, the Well Hall station disaster in 1972 etc.
Was trying to find some pictures that maybe had shots of the old Valley floodlights, but cant find any, although there is a photo in there with the old Erith & Belvedere football ground in the background (now B&Q)
[cite]Posted By: DA9[/cite]
If you go further down the main page there is a whole lot more on other local stuff, the Well Hall station disaster in 1972 etc.
)
I remember walking along beside the railway embankment in Westbrook Road, Welling that Sunday evening, seeing on a mundane commuter line the strange sight of a diesel loco and excursion train really belting along at a huge rate of knots.
A couple of hours later on the news or newsflash, they announced there had been a major train crash on the sharp bend at Eltham Well Hall station, and emergency services were attending the dead and injured.
The train driver had taken the sharp bend far too fast and the train had been thrown off the rails.
He died himself - but was found to be way over the alcohol limit.
My old Great Uncle Fred lived in one of the flats overlooking the crash - and I remember being there looking down from his window at the wreckage a day or so later.
The bus driver my Mum dated worked out of Abbey Wood, bloke called Dave Walker...wonder if your mate knows him? I used to get really dissapointed when catching a 180 if a RT turned up and not a RM....Mate, I spent 45 mins going through page after page.....I love all this old stuff. God, I remember tormenting the brownies(Brown Coats) up at Abbey Ruins, by climbing all along the walls. When I was a kid, we discovered a tunnel system behind the swing park in Abbey Road after a landslip....that was an adventure...gawd I'll start on the old Arsenal next and the underground hospital....
My Dad was a Bus Conductor in the 60's and 70's (Tom Smith), firstly out of Bexleyheath before they moved him on to Woolwich when Bexleyheath went fully 1 man buses.
[cite]Posted By: KillersBeard[/cite]Blimey this is surreal.
My Dad was a Bus Conductor in the 60's and 70's (Tom Smith), firstly out of Bexleyheath before they moved him on to Woolwich when Bexleyheath went fully 1 man buses.
Going to check them photos, see if he's in there.
The guy I work with is John Krawiecki, see if he knows him?
Had to move out of our lovely old Victorian House in Abbey Road because of bloody Thamesmead...makes you laugh really, it stood empty from 1971 until 1976 when they finally knocked it down
[cite]Posted By: DA9[/cite]ps...he knew A Tom Smith at the time, he finally went on to work at the Woolwich Arsenal
Sadly can't check with Dad as he's no longer with us, but thanks a million for the photo link mate, it's brought back some great memories of times with the old man on his bus.
[cite]Posted By: DA9[/cite]ps...he knew A Tom Smith at the time, he finally went on to work at the Woolwich Arsenal
Sadly can't check with Dad as he's no longer with us, but thanks a million for the photo link mate, it's brought back some great memories of times with the old man on his bus.
Comments
Just had a look at Blackheath on the transport page - there is a great photograph of the Royal Standard pub in 1915 with two buses outside it.
It's an incredible website, brings back memories of my old school bus the 180 from Woolwich/Plumstead to Abbey Wood in the early 80's.
Teresa, the eldest, was head girl at Catford girls school around 1962/63.
His son Roger(ex Askes) died in an accident in The Scottish Highlands around 1968....he was a mountaineer/hill walker and worked up there as a guide or something like that.
Stones pitches were truly fantastic, lush green grass and flat. Should never been built on.
Yes, I'm bored at work
Boiler House
Did a lot of practising round there when I learnt to drive
One particular shot brought a bit of a lump in the throat.....showed Abbey Road towards Belvedere before the hideous flyover was built....it says something like "A bright sunny day in Abbey Road, April 1968" I lived in Abbey Road from 1964 to 1970, about midway along, opposite Elstree Gardens, near the Offy "Danny's"
I've often told Kay about moving from Woolwich in 64 and Abbey Road seeming like living in the country, of course when I took her there recently, well lets be polite and says its changed....but it really did seem like the country. I remember well, going down to the level crossings at both Abbey Wood and Belvedere to watch the trains, and the men in the signal boxes turning the huge wheels to open the gates, particularly at AW......and the novelty of getting on a London Country Green bus. I spent many an hour playing on buses at Abbey Wood Garage as my Mum was dating a driver, so a lot of these pictures really made me feel nostalgic....thanks for posting this up, Id have never looked for them, glad you did.
If you go further down the main page there is a whole lot more on other local stuff, the Well Hall station disaster in 1972 etc.
Was trying to find some pictures that maybe had shots of the old Valley floodlights, but cant find any, although there is a photo in there with the old Erith & Belvedere football ground in the background (now B&Q)
I remember walking along beside the railway embankment in Westbrook Road, Welling that Sunday evening, seeing on a mundane commuter line the strange sight of a diesel loco and excursion train really belting along at a huge rate of knots.
A couple of hours later on the news or newsflash, they announced there had been a major train crash on the sharp bend at Eltham Well Hall station, and emergency services were attending the dead and injured.
The train driver had taken the sharp bend far too fast and the train had been thrown off the rails.
He died himself - but was found to be way over the alcohol limit.
My old Great Uncle Fred lived in one of the flats overlooking the crash - and I remember being there looking down from his window at the wreckage a day or so later.
:-)
http://www.plumstead-stories.com/photos.htm?PHPSESSID=60f3e0ba336c92b2a70ce2764681b6cb
There is another good one for local stuff Thamesmead being built etc ill look for a link
Tel, will ask him later if he knows Dave Walker
My Dad was a Bus Conductor in the 60's and 70's (Tom Smith), firstly out of Bexleyheath before they moved him on to Woolwich when Bexleyheath went fully 1 man buses.
Going to check them photos, see if he's in there.
Thamesmead and others
http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/bexley/thamesmead/thamesmead-from-maplin-house.htm
The guy I work with is John Krawiecki, see if he knows him?
Some excellent old plumstead photos on there , good stuff mate
'A hive of Industry' on the Woolwich Road was working as a lad at SYKES Pumps
Sadly can't check with Dad as he's no longer with us, but thanks a million for the photo link mate, it's brought back some great memories of times with the old man on his bus.
Sorry to hear that fella