New Eltham is a commuter suburb in South East London, and is a part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Although, the Dulverton catchment area to the North side of Footscray Road, falls within the London Borough of Bexley. The crossroads around the railway station are the hub of the area, with the library, post office and other shops along Footscray and Avery Hill Roads providing the area's amenities. Neighbouring the area south west at the end of Green Lane is Chislehurst, with Eltham and Sidcup at either ends of Footscray Road. New Eltham grew up as a suburb of farmland to the south of Eltham in and around the small hamlet and crossroads of Pope's Street. The railway station was opened in 1878 as "Pope Street", and acted as a catalyst for growth. Less than a decade later in 1886, the station officially became known as "New Eltham". The redevelopment of land into housing had spread southwards from Eltham, the Pope Street area being rechristened as a new extension. On the main building of Wyborne School (Footscray Road) there is a sign, clearly identifying it as "Pope Street" School, built in 1904. As part of the Cold War Civil defence, a rectangular windowless blockhouse was built in 1954 behind New Eltham library. It served as the Woolwich Borough Control and when Woolwich merged with Greenwich in 1965 it took over the role as the Greenwich Borough Control. The control was part of the South East London Group reporting to the Regional Group War HQ at Chislehurst and later to Pear Tree House. In 1974 the bridge (crossing the railway line) at Avery Hill Road was widened to allow buses to cross it. This replaced a narrow iron bridge which only had a separate path on one side for pedestrians.
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| Footscray Road |
The walk from the railway station to Footscray Road took around ten minutes. This ground was one of the more 'basic venues' that I have visited to watch senior football. A roped off pitch and the changing facilities being the only structure. However it was here that a West Indian gentleman served me a cup of tea from a tea pot with the milk already included - a nice gesture if different from the norm. A typical end of season affair resulted in the home side defeating visitors Cockfosters 2-1.
Admission: Not charged
Attendance: ?
Programme: Not issued
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