Bexley Archives

Join Archives Officer Penny Duggan for 'Memories of Sidcup', a reminiscence-style interactive session talking about where we live. 24 Feb 10.30am-12 at Sidcup Storyteller Ageing Well Hub for Bexley residents aged over 50. No need to book, just drop in.

arena.yourlondonlibrary.net/web/bexley/w...

Join Archives Officer Penny Duggan for 'Memories of Sidcup', a reminiscence-style interactive session talking about where we live. 24 Feb 10.30am-12 at Sidcup Storyteller Ageing Well Hub for Bexley residents aged over 50. No need to book, just drop in.
arena.yourlondonlibrary.net/web/bexley/w...

On #WomenAndGirlsInScienceDay we wonder what became of these girls from Lessness Heath School, Erith in October 1970.

On Saturday March 2.30pm, mudlarker Sean Clarke will give a talk here at Bexley Archives, Small Change in Muddy Waters - stories of trade tokens.
Tickets £5

To book your place please call 020 3045 3369, email archives@bexley.gov.uk or visit the centre (open 9.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday).

On Saturday 14 February 2.30pm to 4pm we have a talk by Chris Hawkins on 'Lesnes Abbey - Dissolution and the Years After'. Why was it one of the first to be dissolved and how were the ruins saved?

Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!

Thanks to @jpaprice.bsky.social who gave an excellent talk at #BexleyArchives on Deptford Ragged School which later provided education to working people. Here in Bexley evening classes in arithmetic, dressmaking and leatherwork (1928) had expanded to car maintenance and Tourist French by 1963.

Still a handful of tickets left for our talk on 17 January at 2.30pm by Dr John Price - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community.

Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!

We wish everyone a #MerryChristmas and hope you all have a jolly good time. (Pictured, Rose and Crown, Welling, 1981). #ArchiveAdventCalendar

Here is a snowy scene at Hall Place Gardens, Bexley in 1964. #WinterWonderland #ArchiveAdventCalendar
Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre is now closed for Christmas. We will re-open at 9.30am on 5 January.

Bexley Christmas Show, 1995 A lively record of Christmas festivities in Bexley, a variety of impressive performances, from jazz bands to mime artists, as jaunty locals dressed as Christmas decorations populate the streets at nig...

This is how locals in Bexley village celebrated Christmas in 1995! Were you there? As well as splendid costumes, there are some lovely interior views of the shops as they used to be.
Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre is now closed for Christmas. We will re-open at 9.30am on 5 January.

Our first talk of 2026 is on 17 January 2.30pm by Dr John Price @jpaprice.bsky.social - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community, exploring stories of the children who attended. Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place!

Parcels of ‘toothsome cake and chocolate’ were sent by Sidcup residents to boys in the trenches in 1916, but by 1917 the making of fancy pastries was prohibited. (Sidcup Times). #NaughtyOrNice #ArchiveAdventCalendar

Bell ringing at St John's Church #Sidcup in 1979. #Bells #ArchiveAdventCalendar

We have a small display here at #BexleyArchives on Hides department store which includes this paper bag. Hides was a popular shop in Bexleyheath's Broadway 1861-1979 and had wonderful displays every Christmas. #WrappingPaper #ArchiveAdventCalendar

Our first talk of 2026 is on 17 January 2.30pm by Dr John Price - Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its Place in the Community, exploring stories of the children who attended. Tickets £5, location Central Library Bexleyheath - contact us to book your place! @jpaprice.bsky.social

Thank goodness for the lamplighter on #DarkNights, here at 1. Bridgen and 2. Erith #ArchiveAdventCalendar

Some fabulous costumes here at Welling's Hook Lane School nativity play in 1963. Photograph from our Kentish Times collection. #Nativity #ArchiveAdventCalendar

1970s food at its finest at the Mayor of Bexley’s Christmas Luncheon in December 1972, held at the Riverside Baths, Erith: ham and melon, soup, scampi, pineapple, cheese, Riesling and brandy. #FestiveFood #ArchiveAdventCalendar

Still stuck for gift ideas? We have #Christmas2025 bargains here at #Bexley Archives.
⭐️Bargains on our books, plus 3 for 2 on our Old Ordnance Survey maps.
⭐️And if you aren’t able to visit us to make your purchase, we are offering free postage to UK addresses until 18 December.

Sometimes what wasn't built is more interesting than what was built! Our collection of planning applications includes a proposed development in 1951 for Blackfen which included building an ice rink. These plans were eventually abandoned. #WinterSports #ArchiveAdventCalendar

2025 has been a year of anniversaries for #CelebratingBexley and #BexleyArchives – Dissolution of Lesnes Abbey (500 years), Crossness Pumping Station (160 years), Danson Park (100 years), London Borough of Bexley (60 years). #EYAAnniversaries #ExploreYourArchive

Bexley parish baptisms, marriages, burials and electoral registers have been digitised and are available to search for free on Ancestry at Bexley Library branches - invaluable for #familyhistory and #localhistory. #EYADigital #ExploreYourArchive

For #ChristmasCarol here is the 1995 Bexley Christmas Carol Concert at Crook Log Sports Centre, conducted by local MP Rt Hon. Sir Edward Heath. #ArchiveAdventCalendar

At Bexley we have a huge collection of images taken by amateur photographer Arthur Boswell. As well as local landmarks, he liked to photograph people, including his gardener whose dogs liked to pose for the camera. #EYAPets #ExploreYourArchive

Hides department store in Bexleyheath was known for its #FestiveLights each year. It closed its doors for the final time in 1979. #ArchiveAdventCalendar

For #EYASilence we immediately thought of Blackfen Library - pictured here in 1949 - where stern librarians inspected children’s hands for cleanliness before they could borrow books. If anyone whispered there would be a very brusque ‘SSHH!’. #ExploreYourArchive

Does your church, faith group or club have a regular newsletter? At #BexleyArchives Centre newsletters are donated to us on a regular basis. Each one provides a fascinating snapshot of community life at a particular moment in time. #LocalHistory

For #BlackFriday we have some amazing #Christmas2025 deals here at #BexleyArchives
⭐️Bargains on our books, plus 3 for the price of 2 on our Old Ordnance Survey maps.
⭐️And if you aren’t able to visit us to make your purchase, we are offering free postage to UK addresses until 18 December.

That important event in the #BexleyArchives calendar: putting up the Christmas decorations. We have to admit our #BexleyLibraries colleagues have outdone us this year with Rudy the Reindeer. #Christmas2025

Our new exhibition at #BexleyArchives looks at #music in the 1960s. Bexley Jazz Club at the Black Prince had a rhythm and blues club every Sunday. Performers include Ben E. King, Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and Derek & the Dominos featuring Eric Clapton. Were you there? Who did you see?