*SAVE THE BOWIE BANDSTAND & LEAVE A TRIBUTE MESSAGE*

The Beckenham Bandstand is now indelibly linked with David Bowie. He performed on it at the free festival, wrote a song about that festival which ended up on his Space Oddity album, and wrote Life on Mars? on the steps of this bandstand. However, the bandstand has unfortunately fallen into disrepair and now requires funds for restoration.

Following David’s incredibly sad passing, the bandstand is now a focal point for tributes. As David had always supported emerging artists, We believe that getting this bandstand repaired and ensuring its long term survival would be a suitable tribute. It would provide a platform for future generations of musicians to perform on and in doing so would allow audiences to continue to enjoy live music in the park. It’s also a unique Victorian bandstand, now the only one of its kind, so was already worthy of saving irrespective of the amazing cultural and musical legacy it carries.

The Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground are working in partnership with Bromley Council to fundraise for the bandstand restoration. You can support the restoration campaign by:

• Making a direct donation on the London Borough of Bromley website to the bandstand restoration fund: www.bromley.gov.uk/bowiebandstand
  For donations of £15 or over, Zizzi’s have kindly offered to give donors 30 per cent off main meals on Mondays to Thursdays in their Beckenham branch. To claim this offer, supporters need to take a copy of the automated receipt they receive when making a donation.

• Buying a personalised Bandstand Brick that will be installed on the circular path around the bandstand : www.bromley.gov.uk/bowiebandstand

Each brick will contain a maximum of 48 characters. Please be aware that the characters will be divided into three lines of maximum 16 characters each including spaces. You will be free to write your own message for the brick, however, you will only have 48 characters in total and if you wanted to put your name on the brick this would be included within the word count.

Once sufficient funds have been secured for the restoration project, we will contact you regarding details of your preferred personalised inscription.

• Donating coins in local shops in Beckenham:

Bella Donata delicatessen (324 Croydon Rd)
East St Barbers (403 Croydon Rd)
Paydens Pharmacy (399-401 Croydon Rd)
Wanted Music (415 Croydon Rd)

Beckenham High Street:

Big Catch restaurant
Bricklayers Arms pub
Coughlans bakery
Dizzy’s Diner restaurant
Fee & Brown coffee shop
La Rascasse restaurant/bar
Marks & Spencer
Nineteen Fourteas tearoom
Red Boutique
White Horse pub
Wimpy Bar
Zizzi restaurant

Please also let us know if you would like to become a Friend of the park and join us with our on-going efforts to improve this local greenspace.

If enough people donate, even just £1 each, we will hit our target! All donations are eligible to leave a tribute message which will be viewable when the tribute page is up.

Once the Bowie Bandstand is repaired there will be a celebratory opening party & surely many future festivals to look forward to. History will recall that it was Bowie’s fans both near and far who generously donated to get this unique Victorian bandstand restored to its former glory.

Thank you.

The Bandstand

The bandstand is significant not just for the elegance of the structure and its setting, but also because it has been the scene of many famous musical events. Perhaps most famous of all, in August 1969 David Bowie organised and played at the Beckenham Free Festival in the park, joined by a number of bands including the Strawbs. A link to the event is:

http://www.beckenhamhistory.co.uk/davidbowie-beckenham-free-festival

The bandstand was the product of McCallum & Hope Ltd of Glasgow from 1880 until 1921, an astonishing enterprise supplying all aspects of architectural ironwork. Many of the original designs of the foundry continue to be manufactured. A condition survey has revealed that the bandstand is in reasonable condition but in need of repair and replacement of certain elements, especially the canopy, which has later addition roofing felt in poor condition. The coronet is a mixture of cast and wrought iron and is extensively corroded and in need of conservation repair. Repairs to rotten roof timberwork, roof coverings and ironwork with consequent redecoration are therefore an urgent priority, and this is a key priority of The Friends in their fundraising objectives.

For the latest information about this project including the results of the recent structural survey, please see the dedicated project page of our site.

Please click here to pledge to the Bowie Bandstand Restoration Appeal

The Children's Paddling Pool

The pool is well past its designed life and badly needs rebuilding/replacement. This is the only local paddling pool in the district and is extremely popular in the summer months. It has continued to be repaired as necessary over the past few years, however the current facility is costly to maintain and has reached a point where ongoing maintenance of the deteriorating structure is becoming uneconomical.

A possible replacement design is shown below with new water features, plumbing and drainage and would obviously need to be funded.

Please help us to retain this very popular facility if you possibly can.

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click to enlarge

Please click here to donate to our Paddling Pool Replacement Fund via PayPal.

A BOOK ABOUT THE PARK

This book is available to purchase either on CD in PDF format from Pat's website
or in hardcopy format at £8 per copy by e-mailing pickpatspage@googlemail.com

Please click on the cover above to visit Pat Manning's website for CD purchase details.

THE TREES AND SHRUBS OF CROYDON ROAD RECREATION GROUND

Mrs Pat Manning a respected local author and a member of the Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground has produced a booklet about the flowering trees and shrubs within its boundaries. The book was compiled for the Friends of the Recreation Ground in celebration of its 120 years existence in 2011. It is not generally available as hard copy but can be ordered on CD for use on a computer. It includes a taste of history, a month by month record of the most notable trees and shrubs through the year, all in full colour, three walks to identify the trees and shrubs with plans of the shrubberies and a Latin/common name index.

CONTACT US

You can e-mail us at friends@becrec.net

becrecfriends @becrecfriends

and our mailing address is:
FoCRRG c/o 19 Clock House Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4JS