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The Book of Addiscombe Many thanks to our 50 contributors for the first Book of Addiscombe. To view images from the book please link to Richard Ogden's website: www.tboa.co.uk The first Book of Addiscombe traces the history of how things began. Below are the chapter headings plus a small taster from each chapter.
Chapter 1 - Addiscombe Farm The Addiscombe Farm House was built in 1676. The original flint work remains at the front of the house and the date has been clearly inscribed in red bricks between the upstairs front windows ... The interior walls are partially covered with the most attractive hand-painted tiles, 57 of which are illustrated with decorateive birds, each painted differently ... There is evidence that this area of the house was ued as a shop where locals would purchase bread and dairy products ... The outbuildings included cowsheds which spread east as far as what is now Fryston Avenue. Deborah Bryan Chapter 2 - From the Year Dot There are various theories surrounding the origin of the name. 'Addiscombe' comes from Old English and is composed in the first part of 'Aeddi', a personal name, and secondly 'camp', meaning an enclosed piece of land. Therefore it is the place where Aeddi lived. Kay Manley, Anne Bridge Chapter 3 - East India Company The annual Croydon Fair used to provide a source of distraction but, following an incident in which some cadets (uninvited) mounted a stage to take part in a dance and a fight ensued, the fair became out of bounds. At the time it was sugggested that the tone of the fair went downhill once improved public transport enabled the hoi polloi to come into Croydon! Henry Vibart, Anne Bridge, Steve Collins, Tony Wild, Doris Hobbs Chapter 4 - Villas Galore From the Croydon Chronicle of 6 June 1863: Mr Whittingham is instructed to Sell by Auction at the Greyhound Inn, Croydon, on Turesday June 30th, at 6 for 7 o'clock in the Evening. A further portion of this eligible estate, late the property of the Hon the East India Company ... The lots are well adapted for a good class of Villa Residences. The property is within ten minutes' walk of the New and East Croydon Station ... and when the Addiscombe Railway is completed, the station will be on the estate, thus bringing the property in constant communication with the Cicty and West End at all times of the day. Doris Hobbs, Anne Bridge Chapter 5 - Edwardian Addiscombe In Edwardian times there began the era of the popular postcard, which could be posted and collected as many as six times a day at a cost of 1/2d! One can wade through pages of beautiful cards of the time, showing Addiscombe with horse-drawn vehicles, old trams, gas lighting and shops that still retained the symbols of their trade (for people who could not read). Kay Manley Chapter 6 - What a Brick! The area around Woodside stood on best quality London Clay, ideal for brick making. Brickworks sprung up ... Most significant for our area were the Handley brickworks. These first opened in Freemead in the 1880s as Horris (or Horris Parks) brickworks. In 1910 they were bought by Edward Handley and renamed Handleys. Two strata of clay existed at the site. Initially the top layer was excavated, which produced yellow London stock bnricks. Examples of similar (earlier) London stocks can be seen in many of the Victorian houses in Canning Road. Anne Bridge, Edward Handley, Lillian Thornhill Chapter 7 - Addiscombe Pubs The oldest pub in the area is the Black Horse, at 335 Lower Addiscombe Road, which may date back to the 16th century. It was acquired in the 18th century by Robert and Charles Smith, brewers of Croydon, whose business had been founded back in the late 1500s. Peter Walker Chapter 8 - Churches of the Borough Rebellion, rivalry, resentment - all marked the early days of the local church and provided fodder for the local press. As the land formerly occupied by the East India Company was rapidly covered with houses, so the population of the area grew apace. Churchgoers in England at the time were largely Church of England. By 1866 some of the new people had decided that St James' Church was too far away and moved to form a new congregation in Addiscombe. They rather took matters into their own hands. Anne Bridge Chapter 9 - Shops and Businesses No 51 Leslie Park Road - Old George Turner was still running his shoe repair business in the front shop at No 51. I can still see him, heavy canvas apron on, and covered in shoe dye and holding a heel ball. In the old building at the end of the yard, downstairs and beneath my workshop was an old builder's yard, workshop etc. This business was owned by Mr Whitlock. His family history went back a long way. The cottage in the yard was occupied by his elderly mother and sister (both born there). David Payne Chapter 10 - Trains, Trams, Boats and Planes A spooky story concerning the huge EMU (Electical Mechanical Unit) shed - A number of signalmen reported hearing the distinctive rumble of a train leaving the shed at night. And, when they went to check what was going on, they found that all was still and every handbrake firmly wound down. Other phenomena have included a grey figure leaving the sheds and walking along the track. This has been seen by drivers and a particular shunter who - on turning to get a better look at the figure's blurred features - found that the strange form had disappeared! Steve Earl, Steve Collins Chapter 11 - Addiscombe Schools On 29 September 1873 the Oval Road Board Schools were opened ... Pupils were expected to pay 1d (one penny, known as school pence) per day but for many families, struggling to make ends meet, this was impossible. What's more it could be hard to encourage parents to send their older children to school as they were needed to earn extra money for the family or to look after younger silbings. To overcome this problem, pupils could attend either the day school or the evening school. Lillian Thornhill, Anne Bridge Chapter 12 - Entertainment On 19 July 1947 the then Home Secretary, Mr J Chuter Ede, opened the Sir Philip Game Boys' Club at 'The Cedars', 38 Morland Road ... On the sporting side you chould choose from athletics, bicycle polo, billiards/snooker, boxing, cricket, football, gymnastics, judo, table tennis and tennis ... For the less energetic you could participate at any of the following: art (which my mother ran), car maintenance or the concert party where as a teenager Roy Hudd got his first expereience on the stage. There were also metal, plastic, and woodwork classes and even a shoe-repair class, which in those days was very useful indeed. Paul Nihill Chapter 13 - Local Heroes Paul Nihill was Addiscombe and Croydon's first ever Olympic medallist. In 1964 he won a silver medal in Tokyo for the 50km walk. During a distinguished athletics career he heas held world records for the 3km and 5km track and the 20km and 30km road walks. He is a former member of the Sir Philip Game Boys' Club. Now living in the Medway area, Paul Nihill still plays an active role in local sports clubs. In 1976 he was awarded the MBE for services to sport.
Chapter 14 - Second World War Constance Brennan remembers the bomb that annihilated No 28 Addiscombe Road (now an office block). The owner, Mr Egleton, was an Air Raid Warden who was outside at the time. His false teeth were blown out - and never recovered. After the bomb damage had been assessed, immediate (first-aid) repairs were carried out, to allow the house to be used. Tony Stelling
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