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Kidbrooke
Nelson Mandela Road - geograph.org.uk - 19596.jpg
Nelson Mandella Road, Kidbrooke
Kidbrooke is located in Greater London
Kidbrooke
Kidbrooke
Population 14,300 (2011 Census: Kidbrooke with Hornfair Ward)
OS grid reference TQ413760
• Charing Cross 7.5 mi (12.1 km) WNW
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district SE3, SE9
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK Parliament
  • Greenwich and Woolwich
London Assembly
  • Greenwich and Lewisham
List of places
UK
England
London
51°27′44″N 0°01′38″E / 51.4621°N 0.0273°E / 51.4621; 0.0273

Kidbrooke is an area of South East London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 7+12 miles (12 km) south-east of Charing Cross and north west of Eltham.

The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisham, by which point it is part of the River Quaggy. It is a tributary to the River Ravensbourne.

Features

Kidbrooke1980
Houses and gardens in Kidbrooke, January 1980

Immediately south of the former Ferrier Estate is Sutcliffe park which includes a lake, acting as a flood defence, and created by partly releasing the Kyd Brook from concrete conduits underground in which it had run until 2006.

Rochester Way, a road which was built along much of the course of the old country lane Kidbrooke Lane, was intended as a bypass for Shooters Hill to the north. Rochester Way has itself now been bypassed by a dual carriageway – part of the A2 road – built in the 1980s over most of Kidbrooke Green. A small remaining piece of this open land, alongside the road, is now Kidbrooke Green Park, and adjacent to that, a small nature reserve managed by Greenwich Council. The nature reserve is visible, but not open to the public.

Some of the land encroached on by the dual carriageway, adjacent to the railway line serving Kidbrooke railway station, was formerly a Royal Air Force equipment store. Some of the buildings remain, beyond the houses of Nelson Mandela Way, but the site is now little used. The nearby Thomas Tallis School is built on the former site of an RAF aerodrome, formerly a barrage balloon centre. (There are several other military facilities in the general vicinity, which is also close to a surviving base in Woolwich, long home to the Royal Artillery and now to other parts of the British Army.)

Transport

Rail

Kidbrooke railway station provides the area with Southeastern services to London Victoria, London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street, Dartford and Slade Green.

Buses

Kidbrooke is served by London Buses routes 132, 178, 286, 335, 386 and B16. These connect it with areas including Bexleyheath, Blackheath, Eltham, Greenwich, Lewisham, North Greenwich, Sidcup, Welling and Woolwich.

Roads

The A2 road gives the area rapid access to the London Inner Ring Road, the South Circular Road and the M25 motorway.

Education

Primary schools

  • Wingfield School
  • Kidbrooke Park
  • Holy Family R.C
  • Henwick Primary School
  • Ealdham Primary School

Secondary schools

  • The Halley Academy — opened in 1954 as Kidbrooke School; the first purpose-built comprehensive school in Britain and became an Academy in 2011 as Corelli College
  • Thomas Tallis School — opened in 1971

Notable inhabitants

Famous residents have included comedian Jim Davidson, who grew up in Holburne Road; interior designer Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, who lived in a bungalow on Kidbrooke Park Road until 2004; and singer Sandie Shaw. AFC Bournemouth player Junior Stanislas was born in Kidbrooke. Ryan Stanton currently lives in Kidbrooke.

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