An Insight into Addiscombe past
Thousands of Croydon children were evacuated to safer places during the Second World War.
This coffee table history book, published just in time for Christmas, offers a fascinating and comprehensive insight into the history of Addiscombe.
Supported by a Millenium award for all grant, the book was compiled by the Canning and Clyde Residents Association and friends.
The book has pre-sales of 600 copies and will be officially launched between 6pm and 8pm on December 8th at the Nat West Bank, Lower Addiscombe Road, Addiscombe.
The book "wanders through the questions of when, what, why and how" and takes the reader on a wistful journey through the boundaries of Addiscombe Road, through part of Park Hill and Shirley, Ashburton and Woodside, out to the Croydon Canal and Morland Road, before running back to Lower Addiscombe Road, East Croydon station and the Addiscombe Road.
These boundaries offer a not insignificant amount of historical information to explore, best summarised by Croydon Society chairman May Johnson's forward.
She writes : "There was much ground to cover - the churches, each a beautiful historic building in its own right; the transport from horse drawn vehicles through to the railways, trams and buses, and now, full circle, to trams again. There were also the communications systems from semaphore and morse to Creed's telegraph systems."
" The East India Company both at home and in far away eastern countries must have used some of these. Their college for training the cadets had a great impact on the area. People from all walks of life through times of war and peace have told their stories."
The Book of Addiscombe provides a tour through this historic and vibrant community. It centres on the former Addiscombe Place, and later the East India Company, but encompasses neighbouring communities, services, trades and industries, services, trades and industries that enabled Addiscombe to thrive.
Focusing on the formative 19th and early 20th centuries, the authors relate the story of those who had the vision to create the services essential to the area, where vital supplies can from and what life was like in the early days.
Addiscombe was clearly the place to be seen in the 1860s and although its fortunes are forever changing, it retains that vitality to this day.
The lavish illustrations are a joy to behold and the producers and writers of the book - headed up by Steve Collins, Anne Bridge, The Croydon Local Studies Library, the late Doris Hobbs, The Croydon Society's John Gent and many more - have done a remarkable job.