BROMLEY

'Bromley' is the principal town of the London Borough of Bromley, England and is listed as a metropolitain centre in the London Plan. It is a suburban development situated 9.3 miles (14.9 km) south east of Charing Cross.
The origin of the town's name is from Old English ''brōme-hlǣwe'', or "broom hill", as supported by records of the name as ''Bramelewe'' in 1272. Other places with this name are from Old English ''brōme-leah'' meaning 'broom clearing' or wood clearing. Twinned with Neuwied, Germany.

Contents

About the town

Notable Residents

References In Pop Culture

Nearest places

Nearest railway stations

External links

About the town

The town has a large shopping and retail area including a pedestrianised High Street and ''The Glades'' shopping centre. It is one of ten major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. The London Borough of Bromley Civic Centre is located in the town. The historic Wickham Court with its crow-stepped gable construction is located in Bromley.
There are two railway stations providing connections to the City and West End. Bromley South is located on the main line from Dover and is served by fast and local services to Victoria and Blackfriars. Bromley North is located at the southern end of a short branch line from Grove Park from where connections can be made for London Bridge, Cannon Street and London Charing Cross.
The town's football club Bromley F.C. are currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division, but very recently have been promoted into the Conference South.
It has a number of theatres, the most notable being the Churchill Theatre in the town centre and the Bromley Little Theatre close to Bromley North railway station.

Notable Residents

H. G. Wells, most famous for his novel,''The War of the Worlds'', was born in Bromley in 1866. In August 2005, the wall honouring H.G Wells in Market Square was repainted. The current wall painting features a rich green background with the same H.G Wells reference and the evolution sequence of homosapiens featured on ''Origin of Species'' by Charles Darwin (a former resident of nearby Downe).
Bromley and its neighbouring suburbs provide the setting for the Hanif Kureshi novel The Buddha of Suburbia.
Sir Thomas James Harper a decorated officer in the Crimean war, hailed from Bromley.
Bromley is also known for "The Bromley Contingent", who were a group of followers and fans of the Sex Pistols (including Siouxsie Sioux, Sid Vicious and Billy Idol (Idol's mother still lives in Bromley) who also went on to become famous).
Other famous people who lived in Bromley include David Bowie and Peter Frampton who both went to Bromley Technical High School (now known as Ravenswood School), Aleister Crowley, who had stayed shortly to study Freemasonry in Locksbottom, the England cricketer Jill Cruwys, the anarchist Peter Kropotkin, the former Clash drummer Topper Headon, McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, and fellow racing driver, and 2006 British Formula Three champion Mike Conwaywho is currently racing in the GP2 series and is also a test driver for the Honda F1 team. The children's author Enid Blyton also lived for a time in the borough, opposite Shortlands Library. Steve Allen (LBC radio presenter) was born in Bromley in 1954. Also
Keely Hazell, a model and winner of The Sun's Page 3 Idol glamour modelling competition was a resident of Bromley, attended The Ravensbourne School in Bromley and went on to attended Lewisham College where she studied Fashion but soon dropped out when she began modelling full time. In 2006 Keely was voted the 2nd sexiest woman in the world by FHM.
Kym Scott, star of The Learning Environment, Teachers TV, lives in Bromley.

References In Pop Culture

★ In the ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode 'Spam', the Green Midget Café in the 'Spam' sketch was located in Bromley.

★ In the famous Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson sit-com ''Bottom'', the episode 'Hole' includes a rather humorous reference to Bromley. Stuck at the top of a ferris wheel and shouting down to the fun-fair workers, Mayall's character Richie, in an attempt to convey a veneer of belligerence, shouts out: 'Now look here. I used to live in Bromley. And that's a pretty wild place! And I picked up one or two tips on punch-ups while I was down there.' The reference is a rather satirical one in which the two comedians gently mock the pretentious nature of the conservative suburban London town.

★ In Jane Austen's most enduringly popular novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1813) there is a reference to Bromley in chapter XIV of Volume 2. Lady Catherine, talking to Mrs Collins, says: 'Where shall you change horses? Oh! Bromley, of course. If you mention my name at The Bell, you will be attended to.' The Bell public house in Bromley no longer exists since it was converted into a contemporary bar called 'Sky' in late 2005. This had since shut down, in 2007 and has now been replaced by another Bar, named 'Bromleys', but the sign of the Royal Bell are still visible on the stones on the front of the building.

Nearest places

★ Beckenham

★ Bickley

★ Chislehurst

★ Downham

★ Hayes

★ Grove Park

★ Orpington

★ Petts Wood

★ Penge

★ Lee Green

★ Shortlands

Nearest railway stations

★ Bromley North

★ Bromley South

External links

★ London Borough of Bromley Homepage

★ Young Bromley - A place for young people in Bromley to share views and ideas.

★ Bromley Community Directory