Hither Green History

This page brings together all the posts on Hither Green in one place in a way in which it is easy to see at a glance the subjects that the blog has covered.  It isn’t exhaustive and will be added to over time.

Boundaries – as a ‘rule of thumb’ this page will cover the area bounded by the Quaggy to the east, the railway towards Grove Park, Brownhill Road and then a line than runs north from the western edge of Mountsfield Park to Courthill and Dermody Roads.  It is a bit blurred around the edges though with some of posts around football clubs in Mountsfield Park appearing on the Catford History page.

If you are wanting an overview of Hither Green history – there is a ‘Walk’ which provides a good starting point and has links to most of the posts below.

For posts on the neighbouring areas of Lee, Lewisham, Catford and Blackheath there are separate pages.

Wartime

Remembering the WW1 War Dead in Hither Green, Lee & Lewisham

Remembering those who died on the WW2 Home Front in Lee, Hither Green & Blackheath

The Zeppelin Attack on Hither Green

Henry Williamson’s fictional re-telling of the Zeppelin Attack

WW1 Gotha Attack – bombing of Leahurst Road, part of wider piece mainly on Sydenham

First Day of the Somme – post on some of the local young men who lost their lives at Gommecourt

Fernbrook Road V1 attack – the death, damage and post war reconstruction relating to a dooblebug attack in June 1944

The Hither Green station V-1 attack – larger scale devastation and reconstruction on the other side of the railway

Rivers, Streams & Lakes

The Quaggy – Lee Green to Manor Park – the urban river passing between Victorian and Edwardian houses and two of south London’s finest parks

The Quaggy – Manor Park to the Ravensbourne – the final stretch into Lewisham as it flows from Hither Green into Lewisham, stopping briefly to listen to Kate Bush

Hither Green Quaggy/Ditch– joins the Quaggy in Hither Green and has a small tributary which flows under Hither Green station and a bigger one flowing through the Corbett Estate

 On the Street

Hocum Pocum Lane – Dermody Road, before it was Dermody Road

Thomas Dermody – the name behind the road name

Ardmere Road – a 2 part history of what was once Hither Green’s poorest street, part 2 here – pictured above

W J Scudamore – a building firm working in the area from the late 19th century to the 1960s, inlcuding several Hither Green streets

Bullseye Cottage – an odd looking Victorian cottage on Hither Green Lane

The Butcher, the Baker and the Disney Store – Shopping through the years on Staplehurst Road

Parks, Leisure and Sport

Globe Cinema – a cinema in Staplehurst Road

The Sir David Brewster Pub (latterly Hansbury’s) – a history of a closed pub

Source – history board at Hither Green Station

Hilda ‘Laddie’ Sharp – Hither Green’s 1920s Channel Swimmer

The Corbett Estate

North Park – the farm that predated the Corbett Estate

A Victorian Walk around the Corbett Estate with one of Charles Booth’s researchers

There are some more posts on the Corbett Estate in Catford History

A Hither Green Miscellany

Hither Green Rails Crash – the 1967 crash close to St Mildred’s Road bridge that claimed the lives of 49 passengers

Park Fever Hospital – Hither Green’s hospital

Hither Green & the Black Death – an early settlement in the area and its links in name to Lewisham’s first council houses.

Garibaldi in Lewisham – Criterion Biscuits which was originally, next to the station in Staplehurst Road

McMillan Sisters – pioneers of nursery education who lived in George Lane

Suffragette City – Lee and Hither Green – covers the full range suffragette activities from pillar box ‘outrages’, to the arson of a cricket club and jam making

Following the Meridian II – Into Inner London – through Hither Green and Lee to St Margaret’s Churchyard, part of a wider ‘trip’ from the edge of London to the Observatory

The Leahurst Road Murder – the sad story of a WW2 murder with links back to a WW1 tragedy

Fox & Sons – the ‘ghost sign’ of a former Farnborough brewery sign on Hither Green Lane

Hither Green Methodist Church –  a church destroyed during World War 2

Source – e Bay February 2016

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Notes on Photos

The picture of Bullseye Cottage is owned by Lewisham Archives and made available on the Art UK website, reproduction is allowed for the non-commercial research purposes, such as this post.