Croydon Road Recreation Ground, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3PR Croydon Road Recreation Ground is situated in the London Borough of Bromley adjacent to Beckenham Hospital (The Beacon). The park is one of the most popular facilities in the borough for outdoor events ranging from May Queen pageants and charity fetes to firework displays and funfairs. The recreation ground boasts scenic views with a bandstand, landscaped gardens, football pitches with changing accomodation, a childrens' paddling pool and enclosed play area, a cafe, tennis courts, and basketball/netball facilities. There is also a thriving bowls club with immaculate greens. Entrances to the recreation ground can be found on Croydon Road and Village Way, Beckenham. On-street parking is available in Croydon Road and Village Way and a multi-storey car park is available above Sainsbury's store close to the High Street. The official opening/closing times can be found on our Facilities page You can join The Friends of
Croydon Road Recreation Ground by following this link The 2023 Annual General Meeting of
The Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground |
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Paddling Pool status - The paddling pool is currently closed
Beckenham Fireworks in the Park
Saturday 4th November 2023 ADVANCE TICKETS ONLY Bench Action Day 2!
Beautiful
day for our second “Bench Action Day” of the
year Soultown 2023 We joined in the fun at the 2023 Soultown Festival in the rec. with our stand displaying a model of the refurbished bandstand which was lent to us by Heritage of London Trust. We were also providing information about our friends group and handing out membership forms. If you are interested in our work and would like to join us, see here.
Restoration of the Bandstand - August 2023 Update
Personalised Bandstand Brick Inscriptions that will be installed on the circular path around the bandstand
London Borough of Bromley have now halted sales of bricks until after the restoration works have completed. You will still be able to purchase tickets for the launch party and/or donate to the project whilst the works are underway, and further purchases of bricks will be possible once the works have been completed. Visit https://www.bromley.gov.uk/bowiebandstand for more information. Croydon Road Recreation Ground bandstand restoration begins Restoration works on the much loved and historic Croydon Road Recreation Ground Bandstand is getting underway.
The £220k project includes refurbishing all areas of the bandstand, including its intricate ironwork and perimeter fencing, and will restore the original colour scheme of dark brown and buff. The plans also include landscaping improvements, a brick pathway of personalised bricks, rainwater dispersal materials added to the roof, new bandstand signage, and upgraded lighting that can be used for performances. Restoration specialists A.F.Starr Limited have been awarded the contract to restore the Grade II listed Edwardian bandstand, where David Bowie famously performed, with the news also following recent planning approval and listed building consent at the council's Plans Sub-Committee No.4. In conjunction with this, the Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground has been awarded funds from the Platinum Jubilee Parks Fund to replace outdated signage for the park. The signage will look to improve accessibility and identify multiple recreational activities on offer such as mini tennis, basketball and bowling. These signs will also pinpoint park users to other forms of leisure activities, such as the bowls club, quieter points of gathering, as well as looking to advertise other recreational activities beneficial for health (e.g. walking trails), including special events that the Bandstand will host once works are complete. It is envisaged that the works will commence at the beginning of July 2023 and be completed this winter. The bandstand will remain closed whilst these works are undertaken. Chris Phillips, Chairman of the Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground says "After our ten-year campaign to raise awareness of the significance of this unique Grade II listed bandstand, I am absolutely delighted with the news. I am grateful to the wide range of people who have contributed time and money to help fundraise for the project, and to idverde and Bromley council. We still have other plans to improve our park and would be delighted to hear from local residents who may want to join our Friends group in support as well." In conjunction with this, the Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground has been awarded funds from the Platinum Jubilee Parks Fund to replace outdated signage for the park. The signage will look to improve accessibility and identify multiple recreational activities on offer such as mini tennis, basketball and bowling. These signs will also pinpoint park users to other forms of leisure activities, such as the bowls club, quieter points of gathering, as well as looking to advertise other recreational activities beneficial for health (e.g. walking trails), including special events that the Bandstand will host once works are complete. More details can be found on The London Borough of Bromley's website Bench Action Day - 16 June 2023
The Council has now launched its
annual Park User Satisfaction survey. Heritage of London Trust Proud Places project visits the Bandstand In mid May 2023 we welcomed students from local schools to the Beckenham Bowie bandstand as part of the Heritage of London Trust grant awarded to the restoration project. Their Proud Places engagement programme inspires young people to be proud of their local spaces. Pictures from the visit can be found on the News page
We are pleased to report that the
proposals for restoration were granted Planning approval
and Listed building consent at the Council’s Plans
Sub-Committee No. 4 on 24th November 2022. Bowie Bandstand, Croydon Road
Recreation Ground Bromley Council has now issued the
following timetable,
Croydon Road Recreation Ground bid for London Borough of Bromley Platinum Jubilee parks fund London Borough of Bromley has unveiled a £1 million fund to contribute towards community led projects that improve our green spaces. More details can be found here: www.bromley.gov.uk/jubileeparksfund Applications are welcomed from Friends groups, and must also include the backing of at least 100 local residents who are on the electoral roll within the London Borough of Bromley. The Friends of Croydon Road Recreation Ground have applied to the Platinum Jubilee parks fund so we can help to improve your local park. Our proposal is to install new park signage at each major entrance, and within the park. We would like a picture of the bandstand to appear on each entrance signboard as it is a unique symbol of the park. Improved access to the park will be of benefit to all, and the signboards could include space for advertising special events.
A comprehensive David Bowie Trivia book, compiled for charity and presented in the form of 1500 questions, offering even the most obsessive of fans the opportunity to test themselves on all things Bowie. The questions are presented in a chronological order, decade by decade, thereby giving the reader a timeline, and hopefully at least some small insight into what a certain David Robert Jones did with his life. It is hoped that the book proves to be both enjoyable to work through, and informative at the same time. Proceeds donated to the 'Bowie Bandstand Restoration Appeal' in Beckenham and to 'Macmillan Cancer Support'. Buy the book from Amazon and support our appeal Bowie Bandstand Planning Application
(The above image may be viewed in more detail as part of PDF document 'PROPOSED NORTH-WEST & SOUTH-EAST ELEVATION PLANS' within the planning application documentation via the Planning Permission link below) The planning applications for the Bandstand Restoration have been published and may now be viewed on the London Borough of Bromley's planning portal via the links below: London Borough of Bromley Bandstand News: Planning Permission: Listed Building Consent: Future Plans LBB Neighbourhood Management is working with the Friends of Parks borough-wide forum on a parks-wide signage improvement project and our Friends Group will be putting forward some ambitious proposals to improve park signage at Croydon Road Rec. specifically. London Borough of Bromley is now accepting applications for their £1Million Platinum Jubilee Parks fund, an LBB-administered parks improvement fund. .Details of how to apply for some of the fund have been circulated to community groups and The Friends are planning to apply to the fund for replacement of our park's grossly out of date signage, which could include a story board of the bandstand. We will keep you informed of the progress of our application in due course. Also, toilet refurbishment has been brought up by ourselves, the cafe and the Ward Councillors as a priority for the park (see the article below). Another longer term improvement for the park will be refurbishment of the paddling pool, for which we have already started fundraising. LBB are also planning to refurbish the smaller gazebo/shelter in the park this year, should the external funding prove forthcoming. The state of the park's toilets
The Friends are increasingly concerned about the state of the park’s toilets, following several recent complaints. idverde ground staff are contracted by Bromley Council to clean and re-stock the toilets every morning when the toilets are unlocked; the Service level Agreement is once a day. The toilets have deteriorated recently and
have experienced vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The
state of the toilets has led to the ward Councillor
escalating the situation with the Portfolio Holder for
parks at Bromley Council. Due to these problems, the idverde team has committed to monitoring the toilets at various times during the day and cleaning and restocking them as necessary. Time sheets have now been placed in the toilet for the operative to sign on each visit and a supervisor will visit periodically to assess the condition and request a clean, if necessary. The team will inform management immediately if there are any signs of anti-social behaviour and record any damage to the toilet block so that this can be reported to Bromley Council, for repairs to be initiated. We would encourage all Friends to report
issues with the toilets direct to the council. The more
we report it the more pressure we put on Bromley Council
to address the issues . Please report all issues with the
toilets (and any other matters in the park) here: Longer term we are campaigning for a full refurbishment of the toilet block to coincide with the bandstand renovation and we would welcome support from all Friends to pressure Bromley Council to provide funding to support this. If any Friends are interested in volunteering to help with repainting and refreshing the toilets in a community day partnership with IdVerde and Bromley Council please email John Backway, Membership Secretary at jmbackway@yahoo.co.uk. All materials will be provided and no toilet cleaning would be expected ! Parks News Update (July
2022) Council discuss Bowie Bandstand
restoration report Programme Timetable for Bandstand
restoration project The Gate Lodge and adjacent Gateway awarded Grade II Listing by Historic England
David Bowie's festival bandstand gets Grade II listing (August 2019)
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