Kidbrooke
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kidbrooke is an area within the London Borough of Greenwich. It 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.
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[edit] Facilities
Kidbrooke School, which opened in 1954, was the first purpose-built comprehensive school in Britain.
[edit] Housing
The area contains a large amount of 1920s and 1930s domestic housing, developed partly as the Kidbrooke Park Estate, between Shooters Hill and Rochester Way.
Kidbrooke is also home to the Ferrier Estate, one of the largest and most deprived council housing developments in London. The housing estate is due to be redeveloped, and consultations with residents are on-going.[1]
Immediately south of the estate is a 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.
[edit] Transport
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 a nature reserve managed by Greenwich Council.
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 supplies depot and government training centre. There were once several other military facilities in the vicinity, which is also close to a surviving base in Woolwich, home to the Royal Artillery.
The A2 gives the area rapid access to the London Inner Ring Road, the South Circular Road, London and the M25 London Orbital Motorway.
The area falls within Transport for London's "Zone 3".
Nearest railway stations:
[edit] Notable inhabitants
Famous residents have included comedian Jim Davidson, who grew up in Holburne Road; radio presenter Danny Baker, who currently resides on Kidbrooke Park Road; interior designer Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, who lived in a bungalow on Kidbrooke Park Road until 2004; and singer Sandie Shaw.
