Central Beckenham

Approaching from the east, photos show Bromley Road, the north end of the High Street, Church Hill and the curve of the rest of the High Street as far as the Regal roundabout.  Similar photos are included in the Shops … read more

Shops-Central

Under seige from the growth of pubs and restuarants Beckenham still has a good range of shops and major supermarkets. read more

Shops-Croydon Road

Most of these premises were built in the 1920s and 1930s. Some like Lampards bakers and the Post Office have retained the original shop front. read more

Shops-Elmers End

Elmers End remains a community shopping centre, although most visitors head for Tesco, built on the site of the Muirhead and Twinlock factories. read more

Sports

Beckenham is home to many famous sports clubs which date back some 100 years. David Beckham wannabes can be seen at the weekends at various venues including the hospital meadow in Croydon Road rec. read more

Services

A brief glimpse of all the essentials that help make the good life in Beckenham read more

Schools

20 photos showing the buildings of Beckenham’s wide range of primary and secondary schools to be found across the very wide area of the BR3 postal district. read more

People and Events

People enjoy long lives in Beckenham which is the home for many thriving community groups, as evidenced by the photos. read more

Views from above

Most of these photos were taken from the tower of St. George’s Church in May 1999. Exceptions were the first two photos which were from the roof of Albemarle House: the Post Office and The Drive were from the Cinema … read more

St George’s Church

The Parish Church of Beckenham dates from Saxon times. The many photos show exterior and internal views including some of the famous Freeth stained glass windows.  The church provides abundant evidence of Beckenham’s history back to the 18th century read more

Churches

Views of most of Beckenham’s many churches.  As with the separate chapter for St Georges, some interior scenes are included in the People & Events and Music & Drama chapters read more

Houses

Beckenham changed from village to town in the last 20 years of the 19th century and, in the last 20 years of the 20th century, it changed from self contained town with much local industry and many varied shops to … read more

Heritage

The following photos offer an insight into Beckenham’s rich heritage of buildings, estates and parks, people and the period between 1935 and 1965 when Beckenham was a Borough. Click on any image to start a slideshow read more

Music & Drama

Just a fraction of Beckenham’s many performing societies were photographed and apologies to the many excellent choirs and drama groups who are not shown. read more

Leisure

Beckenham may rightly claim to be the leisure and gourmet capital of the South East. Thus, the leisure theme is covered by the Music & Drama, People & Events and the Pubs, Clubs & Restaurant chapters. read more

Industry

A limited coverage here and apologies to the many small businesses that were not photographed.  50 years ago, Beckenham had a considerable industry base including internationally known companies like Muirhead, Twinlocks and Wellcome and the Council owned power plant which … read more

Parks-Beckenham Place

Photos of the historic mansion and grounds including the ancient woodlands of Summerhouse Wood.  Although administered now by Lewisham Council the park is within BR3 and exists only because the grounds were bought in 1773 by John Cator; as successive … read more

Parks-Croydon Road Rec

The Rec, close to the High Street, was home to all the major events in Beckenham in the first half of the twentieth century. In August 1902 the world’s first air mail post was sent from here by balloon to … read more

Parks-Kelsey

Formerly the grounds of Kelsey manor, the park was saved from development by community action led by Tom Thornton in 1923.   read more

Parks-Others

Six parks and open spaces are shown. Wannabe historians will enjoy tracing how each got its name   read more