Lunch followed by a short business meeting and talk

Thu, Sep 8th 2016 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

After lunch, there will be a short business meeting, followed by a talk by Alan Davis on "Portraits of Penge". Please note that this talk will last for 30-35 minutes.

Penge Police Station Circa 1905


Today, Thursday 8th September we have a special speaker from the Rotary Club of Penge and Lewisham who will be showing a historic film of life in Penge made by Penge Rotary  in the 1930’s – I appreciate that apart from me – most of you live on the other side of the Beck! But this will be a unique opportunity for nostalgia and to recall the days when Penge enjoyed its own UDC Government – anyway to whet your appetites:-

The Crystal Palace (q.v.), moving from Hyde Park in 1854, was the main catalyst of growth for Penge. In 1851 it was a small settlement of 1159 inhabitants who's first church (St. John's) had only opened the previous year. By 1871 it was a town with a population of 13201. Being mainly on the lower slopes of Sydenham Hill the houses were mainly smaller that those higher up near the Palace. By 1900 Penge was in reality a suburb of London but administratively it was a mess having connections with Lewisham, Croydon and Camberwell and the newly created London County Council. In this year it was decided it should become independent and Penge UDC was created, the town being transferred from Surrey into Kent at the same time.

From 1906, the Croydon tram network was electrified and the network extended via Norwood to Penge and Crystal Palace. The Penge route closed in 1933 but the Crystal Palace one survived until 1951. Both were replaced by buses. Some of the original larger Victorian developments to the south of the High Street began to be replaced by newer houses after the First World War but it was World War 2 that resulted in the greatest changes. Reputedly the most bombed town in the country, the most serious damaged occurred after 1944 when the flying bombs began to arrive.Post war redevelopment was not as radical as originally planned but major new developments took place in the areas most affected by bomb damage including the building of the recently redeveloped Grove's estate.In 1965 Penge lost its independence, being taken in to the London Borough of Bromley, many services transferred to the new administrative centre but Penge retains a High Street full of small shops and a market in Maple Road.

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Raising money by holding events and volunteering our services to support local charities

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