Dear Mike and Brenda,
I, too, have not been on line here for a very long time. However, I wish everyone a belated Happy and Prosperous 2019. As always, I sit and ponder - When shall I go and visit dear old Downham again! The nearest I've got to it is to go to You Tube and 'cab ride' a train from Charing cross to Sevenoaks and back. I was surprised at all the changes en route - New Cross station unrecognisable, high rise flats where there were allotments near St Johns (where I went to school), all the housing at Grove Park which used to be carriage sidings. I enjoy a glimpse of the Downham Estate between Hither Green and Grove Park just past the footbridge, which we called 'the footer', and the backs of the line of houses in Reigate Road just beyond which I was born at No 10, Ballamore Road 87 years ago! I hope that all that read this remarkable forum are well. Long may it continue.
Warmest regards, Vic Dabin