Blackheath Village

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When so many population centres have a depressing 'sameness' about them brought about by inconsiderate and thoughtless architectural redevelopment, often by big commercial chains, Blackheath retains an originality and charm that many admire and envy.

This is is due in no small effort to the Blackheath Society, one of the oldest amenity societies in the country, which was set up in 1937, and whose supporters recognised early on that if Blackheath was not to go a similar way, powerful developers would have to be resisted strongly and the voice of the local population heard loudly.

While the origins of Blackheath Village remain firmly in the early part of the C19th and earlier, subsequent redevelopment (and there has been a great deal since the Second World War) has not taken away a unique charm which makes it an enviable place in which to live, shop or visit.

For Italian Speakers, there is a review of Blackheath at:

http://www.italianialondra.it/visitarelondra/boroughs/Stazioni/Londra-interna/Lewisham/html/Blackheath.html .

Most of the images derive from the work of Neil Rhind who, over the course of many years, built a comprehensive image archive of Blackheath and the surrounding area. He has written the definitive history of Blackheath - "Blackheath Village & Environs" in 2 Volumes- which provides most of the text which accompanies the photos. Any errors rest with me, Allan Griffin, not with Neil.

Volume 1 of Neil's book, Blackheath Village & Environs (The Village and Blackheath Vale) is available from The Bookshop on the Heath, 74 Tranquil Vale, Blackheath, SE3 0BW (ISBN 0 9505136 5 2), 1993.

Volume 2, Blackheath Village & Environs (Wricklemarsh and the Cator estate, Kidbrooke-Westcombe & The Angerstein Encroachment is sadly out of print.

In addition, there are 2 smaller publications, co-authored by Neil Rhind and Roger Marshall:

"Walking the Village - An Introduction to its History" (ISBN: 978-0-9565327-6-3)

"Walking the Heath - An Introduction to its History" (ISBN: 978-0-9565327-4-9)

Both publications are available from the Blackheath Society office at

www.blackheath.org

Thanks are due to Sue Shields, Helen Doris, Jo Swadkin and Hilary Weedon who have spent many hours titling and tagging.

Finally, our thanks and gratitude go the the countless number of often unattributed photographers who have left such a wonderful legacy of the history of Blackheath Village.

We are very keen to acknowledge credit where we can possibly do so.