Bromley’s 60th anniversary

This is the first of five town centre walks that are being delivered for Bromley’s 60th anniversary to celebrate local history and heritage.  

Beckenham and Penge walking route

This approx. 2.5 mile walk begins at Anerley Town Hall, which actually served as the town hall for Penge Council prior to the formation of the London Borough of Bromley. The Victorian hall opened in 1879 and was designed by George Elkington for a construction budget of just £4,400.

The route then travels past Betts Park, where a short remaining stretch of the Croydon Canal can be found, which the train line from Anerley Station used to run along.

Turning up Maple Road, residents will reach Penge High Street opposite the impressive Free Watermen’s and Lightermen’s Almshouses, the Tutor revival design is by George Porter and was built in 1840.

Travelling down Penge High Street, at the junction with Kent House Road and Royston Road, residents cross the old boundary between the Hamlet of Penge and Parish of Beckenham, a prior marker between the counties of Surrey and Kent, where the ‘Boundary Stream’ runs beneath the road.

Continuing past Clock House Station, residents will reach Beckenham High Street via prominent War Memorial first unveiled in 1921. While walking up, spot the blue plaque outside the site of the folk club that David Bowie established in 1969.

The walk concludes at Beckenham Green, the lovely park in the town centre. This is just past St George’s Church and its distinct lychgate, understood to be the oldest in England, dating to the 13th Century.