Description

This DVD presents a fascinating look back at life in bygone Bromley. It follows the town’s growth from a small market town in Kent, to the heart of the thriving London Borough of today.

It begins in May 1858, when an excited crowd gathered on Martins Hill to celebrate the opening of the West End and Crystal Palace Railway and ends in 1965 when Bromley, Beckenham, Orpington, Penge and Chislehurst, became part of Greater London. The DVD also reveals why Bromley was once described as ‘the smelliest town in Kent’; why highwaymen once plagued Bromley Common; how an Orpington housewife came to be the last civilian casualty of World War II; and why a 7 foot high wall topped with broken glass once divided the residents of Downham. In a special feature about Bromley at war; the DVD remembers the major part Biggin Hill played in World War II, the heavy price paid by the residents of Bromley, Penge, Beckenham and Orpington, and the indomitable spirit that saw them through. This engaging journey through time is narrated by award winning actor, Howard Ellison.

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