John met Roger for a pint in Farningham Village last night and he brought in a Pic of the steps to prove tey were still there.Can't remember if it was before or after I popped into The Bull that I decided i could not see them.As you seem to be favoured by greenwich Council perhaps you can get them to do something about the grafitti on the Water tower,The Castle The Steps and the Walls at Castle and Jack wood .Oh! and not forgetting the actual history sign specially cast again obliterated with paint at the entrance to the Castle area just by the old putting green.Perhaps Ken Livingstone could pass on some of his Windfall Pollution Tax to Greenwich to remove "Polluting" grafitti ..........

John another thing we discussed with Roger were all the old large houses that were on the hill that had either become derelict or bombed.One I well remember was on the corner of shooters hill and constitution rise (wonder if they will change the name to TREATY?) I think it was called The Wilderness I think but the old name was included in some way with the name of the blocks of flats. There was an enormous Mulberry tree in the middle of the grounds and the floors that remained from the house were mosaic.Another was on the corner of Moordown and Constitution Rise many acres backed onto donaldson,the grounds to red lion lane school and the backs of the houses in Red Lion Lane big pond in the middle with an ornate wooden bridge that had survived.Still not built on I believe mighr have been some allotments there.Another was a big one on the right as you went from the bottom of Ankerdine into Cantwell Rd. again now Flats.Why did they build all those flats in an area containing only Houses .
I think TT could do ma lot more work on the Hill ??

vaguely remember the wilderness.The pond you mention of off constitution rise was there when i was a kid,used to make rafts and paddle about on it also collect frog spawn and newts from there ,it was stagnant and stank we used to going home to a rollicking as by the time we finished playing we stank,Don't remember a bridge though probably became one of our rafts.
I believe this was going to be the site of a spa when they were all the rage in 17/1800s,sombody had the idea of building a spa on Shooters Hill but they ran out of money or the napoleonic war finished them will see if Vincent mentions it.
Do you know the old reservoir on common just down from traffic lights heading towards Woolwich?Left hand side of road its overgrown now but you can see the circular shape in the rushes and weeds.This was dug for our army by French prisoners of war in napoleonic times they were housed at Woolwich Dockyard ,there was a firm there called albion sugar and there were marks on walls and floor from those days,their engineer was a mate of dads lived oppsite side of alley entrance from Mr Chick and had a large model railway in his garage.
Was'nt Fox Under The Hill pub by Brook Hospital destroyed by a V2 ?

Yes I remember the resevoir now you mention it and Albion Sugar Co.The Fox Bomb I believe landed on a bus and killed a lot of people my cousin was cursing at the time having missed it at Blackheath Station and had the shock of her life when they arrived at the Brook she only mentioned it the other evening when I was quizzing her.Thinking about it again was it not the Brook Pub next to the red water tower that got the bus bomb?I think the fox was the one further down near the Lido.Talking of which my cousin Sid Henning(Mayday Gardens) was one of the staunch body of outdoor Swimmers that saved the Lido from being turned into yet another derelict slum by the council.

remember the lido well ,favourite spot in the hot summers we used to have.Always watch the London Marathon when its on TV to see how the area has changed (and not always for the best )
The road opposite the Brook used to go right through until they built Queen Elizabeth military hospital My mrs was at Shrapnel bks there in WRAC.

Yes remember that it went right through to HaHa Road thats something for Roger to research although i think the origin was known probably military.?Did you know that road that cut across from HaHa to the Academy was closed once a year to keep it "private" I think to the Military

HA-HA Road is named because of the ha-ha which runs along left hand side.A ha-ha is a high wall built in a ditch so it is not seen and doe's not spoil view of either a large mansion or in this case R A officers mess etc by parade ground
peple would think no walls fences to keep them out and would then come across the hidden wall ha-ha.The brick building across from path you mention that looks a bit like an air raid shelter is HA-Ha rd pumping station,the army used to close that path and Stadium Rd one day a year as otherwise they reverted to public ownership .No idea who owns them now but as brown won't give troops right equipment i can't see the government paying for a road.
Remember Circular way ?

I remember the name circular way but not what it was. What about the Rotunda Museum?Bet thats gone or covered in Grafitti.Do you think it's the French over from Paris for the 6 nations that write all this stuff on our walls to make themselves feel at home?
Seems that poster ANN W's husband should have been around in our time more yours.

circular way from ha-ha rd to junc by academy. blocked off now.
Re ANN W Hope she comes back and lets us have a name we shall soon have enough people to start an old Shooters Hillian society.
Have put anecdote about circular way on SOC site.

Circular way was one of the roads that were blocked off annually.There was also a temporary nursery school on the common

more info on hill on suzuki owners club site under Roger WW2

Just a follow up I drove over to see John DR when I was in France recently he has some old books on the HILL and surrounding area.He can certainly point you in the right direction if you want to investigate the battlefields of the Somme.

quote:

Originally posted by john dr650:
circular way from ha-ha rd to junc by academy. blocked off now.
Re ANN W Hope she comes back and lets us have a name we shall soon have enough people to start an old Shooters Hillian society.
Have put anecdote about circular way on SOC site.

I can see that Shooters Hill is not a long lost part of the Empire !! nice to read so much from former residents.
My comments and updates on most of what has been written -

The pond on Eaglesfield was there for many years and probably was a place where boys could sail their toy boats etc., would go back to the early 1900s at least. After the declaration of WW2 the pond was made out of bounds and became an Emergency Water Supply tank (EWS) and reopened for children after peace was restored and then made into the 'playground' that you can now see – shame that this upgrade has meant a loss of much of the character that the park has and the later loss of the toilets, ice-cream and snack kiosk, the beautiful wooden shelter and the fish ponds – they call that progress !
Eaglesfield was the home of a balloon during the war and the RAF men manning it were billeted at 21-23 Cleanthus Road. The day came when the residents of that terrace in Cleanthus Road (21-31) found that night had descended early when the balloon collapsed and covered those houses.
People had access to the lower half of Eaglesfield when they were told to “Dig for Victory”. I recall that men from Ankerdine, Moordown, Cleanthus and other roads around the Hill went to grow their potatoes, carrots, greens etc., with the allotment holders club being in the former Golf Course buildings giving cheap seed potatoes etc., The one problem was getting water to the allotments and I remember that several of those people who had a plot at the Golf Course buildings end found a bomb crater that was regularly topped up with water – probably the bomb has found one of the springs in the lower left corner of the site before the golf course itself.
I remember Mr Kearns who lived about 50 yards away on the corner of Cleanthus and Foxcroft. I think that he had three daughters – the middle one, I am sure, was called Monica. Before Mr Kearns at Plum Lane School was a Miss Hasluck who lived in Kinlet Road.
Some people have mentioned the 'hut' on Plum Lane corner of Dallin Road. The hut sold all sorts of foods but children would remember it for sweets (when not rationed) and ice-creams- the shop was a regular gold-mine for those people who did not fancy the trek down to the Hollow or Herbert Road. Maybe you will remember that outside the hut was a telescope where you could view over the river to North East London and Essex for a couple of pennies.
Another shop on the Hill was a small greengrocer (in another 'hut') that sold a lot of bundles of firewood and ovoids (remember them ?) and seemed that greengroceries were a side line. This shop was at the corner Occupation Lane and Eglinton Hill. Whilst at this location, during the war there were tank traps here across Eglinton Hill – pyramid shaped chunks of concrete. I do not remember any pill boxes anywhere around the Hill.
The main shop was, of course, the United Dairies in Foxcroft Road – there was always a certain smell of the countryside if one went into one of their shops. The only other shops were actually on Shooters Hill opposite Christ Church – one being a general store plus newspapers and also was a sub post office.
As for Oxleas, Jack and Castle Woods being military defence centres of any description beggars belief – I remember those places for picking blackberries, collecting mushrooms etc., and after the War the same past-times plus Oxleas being the place for romancing especially on days when there was dancing on the flat green in front of the snack bar with music blasted through a Tannoy system.
Of course the hospitals have diminished – the Brook and Herbert converted to houses and flats together with the Fire Station on top of the Hill and the police station at the bottom of the Hill – I wonder how long it will be before the public loo that is opposite the police station is converted into a one bed property too ?

quote:

Originally posted by tiskev:
still thinking about your mounting steps John.The Bus and Greenline stop used to be right outside the Bull am I right in saying they moved it and made one at Hillend and the other at Eaglesfield If so it probably went then.I have been back twice now since the programme and not noticed if there is still a stop at the bull.I will be meeting tomorrow night an old greenline and Bus driver that used to drive over the hill he is 87.
As a matter of interest tfor the forum you could catch a greenline from the hill to Epson and also somewhere in Hertfordshire or Bucks .
How we have progressed today you can never be sure the bus will come .................

By the way, I refer to the Green Line routes over the Hill. They started only in June 1946 – I think that all Green Line services were suspended during the War – the 701 ran from Gravesend to Virginia Water and Ascot and the 702 from Gravesend to Virginia Water and Sunningdale.

You may recall a 89a bus that ran from Welling – or often from Eaglesfield Road, Shooters Hill to Westerham on Sundays only during the summer – a nice day out and passing by Biggin Hill RAF drome – and that was another route from 1946 but it was rather shortlived.

Maybe some people who lived on the Hill toward the end of the War and just later will remember that there was a Prisoner of War camp on Shooters Hill - I seem to remember that it was mainly on the golf course where there had been the army with rocket guns before. POWs were housed in nissen huts. I believe that officially the camp was known as Woodside Farm - probably that was where the prisoners were set to work - Camp No.1020. I recall that one could see prisoners walking freely in uniform around Eaglesfield Road, Eaglesfield and nearby - so that must have been after end of the War.