Today's blog entry is nothing to do with wargaming. Instead, I am going to mention a local south-east London landmarks that was demolished yesterday as a result of an accident.
The tea hut on Blackheath has been there for over one hundred years, and was built to serve the needs of the growing number of motor car drivers and motorcycle riders using the old Roman road (Watling Street) that connects London to Dover. The section of road upon which it is located is now called Shooters Hill Road, and the hut was located at the junction with Goffers Road.
(Goffers is the eighteenth-century word from which the modern word golfers is derived. Golf was played on Blackheath from the time of the accession of James IV of Scotland to the English throne as James I. He set up his court at the Royal Palace of Greenwich, whose grounds (now Greenwich Park) abut the heath.)
Over the years, the Blackheath Tea Hut has become a local landmark, and until yesterday it continued to supply thirsty and hungry drivers (including a large number of police officers) with hot and cold drinks and food. It was not, however, popular with the Blackheath Society, which was set up in 1937, 'to preserve and improve Blackheath'. They have regarded the hut as an eyesore for years, and no doubt hope that it will not be rebuilt.
It would appear that at about 8.00pm last night a Mercedes car driving eastwards up Blackheath Hill left the road just after it becomes Shooters Hill Road ... and hit the tea hut. The impact was so great that the hut was turned through ninety degrees, and the member of staff inside was trapped and injured. She was rescued by a number of bikers who happened to have stopped at the hut for a drink, and was admitted to hospital with broken ribs and injury to her sternum. At present there is no information about the fate of the car's driver or whether or not they had any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.
At least three ambulances and several fire appliances attended the scene as well as numerous police cars. Local roads were closed until late into the night, and bus services across Blackheath were diverted.
According to a statement made this morning by the hut's owner, the remains of the building had to be removed overnight as it was almost completely demolished. Emergency work had to be carried out at the site as the hut had both mains gas and electricity supplies which were severed, and were therefore dangerous.
For three years I drove past the hut almost every morning and evening going to and from my place of work in Brockley. I also had a car accident nearby when my old Mazda Tribute 4x4 was driven into by a builder's truck whose driver had not realised that I had stopped because the traffic ahead of me had come to a halt. His claim that he had been blinded by the sun was laughable, as we were both travelling eastwards (in the same direction as the Mercedes car that hit the tea hut) at about 5.00pm ... when the sun was behind us! Needless to say, his insurance company agreed that he was liable, and my car was repaired at no cost to me or my insurers.
I do hope that the hut is rebuilt, and that the Blackheath Society do not manage to block its rebuilding. Over the years, too many of these old local landmarks have gone (usually in the name of 'progress'), and it would be a shame if this one was not reinstated.
The tea hut on Blackheath has been there for over one hundred years, and was built to serve the needs of the growing number of motor car drivers and motorcycle riders using the old Roman road (Watling Street) that connects London to Dover. The section of road upon which it is located is now called Shooters Hill Road, and the hut was located at the junction with Goffers Road.
(Goffers is the eighteenth-century word from which the modern word golfers is derived. Golf was played on Blackheath from the time of the accession of James IV of Scotland to the English throne as James I. He set up his court at the Royal Palace of Greenwich, whose grounds (now Greenwich Park) abut the heath.)
Over the years, the Blackheath Tea Hut has become a local landmark, and until yesterday it continued to supply thirsty and hungry drivers (including a large number of police officers) with hot and cold drinks and food. It was not, however, popular with the Blackheath Society, which was set up in 1937, 'to preserve and improve Blackheath'. They have regarded the hut as an eyesore for years, and no doubt hope that it will not be rebuilt.
It would appear that at about 8.00pm last night a Mercedes car driving eastwards up Blackheath Hill left the road just after it becomes Shooters Hill Road ... and hit the tea hut. The impact was so great that the hut was turned through ninety degrees, and the member of staff inside was trapped and injured. She was rescued by a number of bikers who happened to have stopped at the hut for a drink, and was admitted to hospital with broken ribs and injury to her sternum. At present there is no information about the fate of the car's driver or whether or not they had any passengers in the car at the time of the accident.
Both images © @dougiedickson/Twitter
At least three ambulances and several fire appliances attended the scene as well as numerous police cars. Local roads were closed until late into the night, and bus services across Blackheath were diverted.
According to a statement made this morning by the hut's owner, the remains of the building had to be removed overnight as it was almost completely demolished. Emergency work had to be carried out at the site as the hut had both mains gas and electricity supplies which were severed, and were therefore dangerous.
For three years I drove past the hut almost every morning and evening going to and from my place of work in Brockley. I also had a car accident nearby when my old Mazda Tribute 4x4 was driven into by a builder's truck whose driver had not realised that I had stopped because the traffic ahead of me had come to a halt. His claim that he had been blinded by the sun was laughable, as we were both travelling eastwards (in the same direction as the Mercedes car that hit the tea hut) at about 5.00pm ... when the sun was behind us! Needless to say, his insurance company agreed that he was liable, and my car was repaired at no cost to me or my insurers.
I do hope that the hut is rebuilt, and that the Blackheath Society do not manage to block its rebuilding. Over the years, too many of these old local landmarks have gone (usually in the name of 'progress'), and it would be a shame if this one was not reinstated.
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Hi Bob.
ReplyDeleteHope the lady injured doesn’t have long term damage and that no one else was hurt.
It’d be a shame if another informal landmark disappears. I used to use the black cab drivers hut in Hanover Sq when I worked in that area. Whenever I’ve passed that way in recent years I’ve not been able to see it due to the Crossrail works. Be a shame if another good value hub like this is lost.
Isn’t it ironic that an organisation founded 20 years after the hut first appeared objects to it being there. OK the style may not fit with some conceptions of conservation but the bigger picture should be borne in mind.
Oh, and a belated Happy New Year (think I can get away with it still)!
Nundanket,
DeleteA Happy New Year to you and yours!
As far as I can find out, the lady who was hurt suffered no life changing injuries.
The old Black Cab shelters were a great place to get a cup of strong tea and a bacon sandwich, but they seem to be disappearing from London’s streets. A lot of people think that only cab drivers can use the shelters because only cabbies were allowed to go inside and sit down ... but anyone could use the outside counters.
The Blackheath Society is one of those worthy bodies that seem to exist in twee areas to keep out what the middle class members perceive as being rough and/or common and/or new. They were behind some of the unsuccessful but time-consuming local campaigns to restrict the use of Blackheath during the 2012 London Olympics.
All the best,
Bob
PS interesting to read about the origin of Goffers Road. I love hearing about snippets of local history like that. London Notes and Queries on Robert Elms’ radio show is worth a listen from time to time.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteThe Royal Blackheath Golf Club was set up by some of the Blackheath ‘goffers’, and although its course is now in Eltham (a few miles away), the move there is relatively recent, and it remains the oldest golf club in England.
All the best,
Bob
Oh no! I had a bacon sarnie and a cup of tea in there a few weeks ago! I hope it gets replaced, in whatever mode they choose.
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
DeleteI understand that money is being raised by public subscription to rebuild the tea hut. One local undertaker, whose staff regularly stop at the tea hut, has donated £400 ... and quite a few other people are chipping in small amounts to help to get the hut reinstated ASAP.
All the best,
Bob
It's a shame when those informal landmarks disappear. It's sometimes those informal ones that become the most memorable. Some are even promoted to formal status.
ReplyDeleteIn my home town there were only 2 restaurants allowed to keep their signs hanging over the main Street. All the others had been removed as a public safety measure. One was for the oldest Chinese restaurant in town. They took their sign down when they closed permanently. The other is the neon sign in front of my grandfather's restaurant. It was one of those informal landmarks that made it to formal status. Some day it will have to come down and I hope I'm not around to see it go.
Have you got any pictures of the hut in it's better days?
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteFrom the amount of news coverage this event generated (it made it onto the pages of several national newspapers) and the support given by members of the general public, I suspect that there will be a new tea hut on site in the very near future.
Across the UK, some older business premises have protected status and must not be altered without permission for exactly the reasons that your two restaurants have hanging signs. They are iconic landmarks, known to all the locals. Recently a property developer demolished a public house that had protected status ... and they have been ordered to rebuild it exactly the way it was. In our local area, a famous pie and mash shop owned by the Manze family has ceased trading but its shop front has protected status and must not be altered by any new owners. (See photo.)
To see what the Blackheath Tea Hut lloked like before it was demolished, have a look here.
All the best,
Bob
Looks like one of those little imbiss stands we used to see all over the back country when I was stationed in Germany. I loved those little snack bars!
DeleteYour tea hut was palace compared to a hot dog stand just outside my hometown. It's quite literally leaning over. A nasty little run down shack but they serve some of the best hot dogs in town.
Hopefully the fans and patrons of the tea hut will prevail in getting it rebuilt. The good community that appreciates a business can be more important than the aesthetic surrounding it.
Mr Pavone,
DeleteIt’s places like the tea hut and your hot dog stand that need to preserved if at all possible ... and not just because they serve excellent food! They serve as little havens of good service and a reminder of what life was like before the advent of bland, multi-national, fast-food emporia.
All the best,
Bob
Morning Bob. Now here's a funny thing, I know Blackheath very well, lived in a bedsit there when I was 19 and must have travelled to work across the heath for 20 years as well as regularly taking my daughters there for the Sunday morning donkey rides outside the park gates but I simply cannot place the Blackheath Tea Hut in my mind!I worked for many years at EG Berrymans and sons printers at the bottom of Blackheath Hill (do you remember the yellow and black circular sign on the side of the building?), so used to cycle or bus it up the hill and across the heath to my house in Plumstead. I MUST have seen it surely? Btw, you mention working in Brockley, I was born there, 82 Foxberry Road, the houses are worth a fortune now!
ReplyDelete‘Lee,
DeleteI suspect that like a lot of people in the area, the tea hut was so much a part of that corner of Blackheath that you just didn’t notice it. It’s location - on the right-hand side of the flat bit of road just after Blackheath Hill reached the heath and not far from the Ranger’s House and the western wall of a Greenwich Park - meant that it was ideally placed for drivers wanting to stop for a quick drink and something to eat. I am sure that you know the hut, but probably never noticed it, especially if you never used it.
The name Berrymans rings a bell, but that area of a London has been undergoing remodelling and gentrification (especially the so-called Ashburnham Triangle) that I don’t think that the sign is now there.
I worked at Crossways Sixth Form College, which was built on the site of the old Telegraph Hill School. Some of the houses round there were worth millions, although some parts of Brockley (particularly towards Peckham and New Cross) were somewhat dangerous to venture into. One of my tutor group was killed nearby by a drug-dealing gang ... because he happened to be with someone they were after.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I thank I can 'see' the location now that you describe it but still can't recall the hut!
ReplyDeleteI recently checked Google maps to see if the EG Berryman building was still there - I know that it was listed. It's now been re developed into private flats and the sign has gone. It was a 'Steam Printers' originally before 1900 and a private house with stables at rear before that. When I worked there you could still see all the drive belts for the old machinery and on the first floor retained original hand turn proofing presses and wall to wall typesetting cases full of the old lead type characters - later sold off for scrap metal. Down in what had been the servants quarters by the spiral back staircase there was a room with wallpaper that dated back to when it had been a private house and the original black lead cooking range, again all went for scrap value. You could also see all of the bells still hanging with room labels beneath them for the servants to tend the owners every need. The was a lot of original features in the upper part of the building too, fireplaces etc and plaster work, I wonder how much of it was retained when it was re developed?
I worked there through the 1980's and it was still in the hands of the Berryman family, one of the Directors used to come day at the same time every day and take a walk around saying good morning to all of the staff in turn, we used to address him as Sir! The place was like a time warp, but a good place to work.
Sorry to go off topic Bob.
‘Lee,
DeleteI’m glad that my description helped you to locate where the hut stood.
I’m not surprised that the old print works has gone and the building has been converted into flats. It seems to be the way of the world these days.
It sounds as if it was the sort of place that should have been preserved ... or at least, had its interior properly recorded for posterity. The industrial heritage of south-east London is being lost, and no one seems to be taking steps to record it.
The Berrymans sound as if they were a good, old fashioned family firm, probably a bit authoritarian, but with a paternal outlook towards its employees.
All the best,
Bob