Author: Ian Ramage

Blundell’s Squash Club

Jail Lane   Biggin Hill   Kent   TN163AU  –  01959 573240

Blundell’s is hosting a fund-raising Auction

On Saturday 6^th September 2025. From 7pm.

We have a large variety of lots from Services to Activities and Goods, initial items listed below. More being added all the time.

Everybody Welcome

Advance bids accepted up to 12 noon on the day

All monies raised are for the save Blundell’s Fund.

AUCTION LOTS

SERVICES – etc                                                         ACTIVITIES

Beauty Treatment`                                                                  Yoga for up to 15 + afternoon tea

2 hours of Cleaning                                                                 Painting Lesson                      

Home Hair Appointment                                                        Archery Session for 2             

Massage                                                                                  4 Ball Golf – Hever                

Massage                                                                                  4 Ball Golf  –  West Kent

2 hours of gardening +          

  Box of gardening items                                            .                                              

Acupuncture Session                                                               .                                  

                                                .                                              

GOODS

3 Course Meal for up to 10 preparedby local Chef (at Blundells)                                        

6 x Carvery Meal for 2 (at Blundells)                                    

4 Course Dining Experience with fizz atMarco Pierre White’s London Steak House

7.5 ltr Triple Slow Cookerand warming station                                 

Professional Pizza press   (new -original price £150)                        

The 3 Teddy Bears (XL,  L & M  –  new)                                             

Cockburns Port                                               

CREED Perfume   (unopened, original price £265)                           

Box of 2 quality wines & glasses                    

2 x Champagne                                              

Sound Bar        (new)                                      

Millwall signed shirt               (25/26 Season)                                   

Millwall signed football          (25/26 Season)                                   

Bromley Town signed shirt     (25/26 Season)                                   

Built-in BBQ     (new)

Bluetooth Speaker with lights etc   (new)                                                      

Silent Night Dual Electric Blanket       (new)  

Ted Baker Candle Set  (new)                          

Beach Bag with contents(beach towel, suntan lotion, water bottle etc  –  (new)                 

Original Painting                                            

Carvela Trainers (size 5)    As new, shocking pink with silver trim

Go-Pro Camera(new)

QE2 boxed Whisky Flagon  (unopened)

DUNE Black Evening Bag  (new)

8 x 8” Royal Dalton Painted plates + 1 x 11”  – by Mike  Bensley  (with Certificates)

Lumineer Hand-controlled Action Orb (new)

Exercise equipment   (used& new)                

3 x Jigsaws  (used)

More items arriving daily – new lots to be advised.

SOME ITEMS HAVE A RESERVE- Advance bids accepted

Below is a message from Police Sergeant Tony Brown….

Since I have taken over as the Ward Sergeant I am shocked at the amount of calls and emails from residents reporting both crimes in progress, past crimes and Anti social behaviour to the ward phones (which will be decommissions very soon) and ward email boxes.  My team of officers and staff is very low at the moment, with two more officers hopefully joining us by the end of the year.  With entitled annual leave, course and operational abstractions due to ULEZ camera issues, Protests in central London and back filling Emergency response teams these phones and emails are not checked for days.

Please could you help me in passing the message that ALL reports regardless of the issues, ASB and or Crimes regardless when happened MUST either be reported online via the Met police website or over the phone by calling 101 for non-emergency or 999 for emergency.

https://www.met.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us-beta/contact-us

Contact us – Metropolitan Police Call 999 in emergency situations like these: there is an immediate danger to life someone is using violence or is threatening to be violent a road traffic collision where life is at risk, or the road is blocked a crime is happening right now, like a house burglary or a theft If you accidentally dial 999, please stay on the line and tell the operator you’re safe and that no crime has occurred … www.met.police.uk

If the residents have the time to send a detailed email I am sure they could complete a short online reporting form, which logs the incident, send to be triaged and someone will complete a report and if an ASB local issue should be sent to me to review and allocate.  

I feel together as a community we can do great things, but the local residents whom continue to send emails and phone the ward phone are feeling unheard due to the way they are not reporting correctly, and feel that were not listening.

Thank you for listening and I hope that together we can reduce ASB and Crimes on the Ward.

Best wishes,

Police Sergeant Tony Brown LCGI

PS  408SN  

(Licentiateship City & Guilds Institute – Leadership & Management)

Tony Brown 408SN | Police Sergeant | Darwin & Biggin Hill SNT | South Area BCU | TP | Metropolitan Police Service

THE STORY BEHIND BIGGIN HILL’S VILLAGE SIGN.

BACKGROUND TO THE VILLAGE SIGN.

It was back sometime during the Summer of late 1998 that David Haslam the then Chairman of Biggin Hill and District Residents Association was informed that the Local Authority had access to a source of funding, that was available to support Villages that didn’t have a proper village sign to acquire one. This fund would provide half of the cost of manufacture and erecting of a village sign that had the approval of the Local Authority and the participating community group submitting the design. From memory I believe that the rules recognised request for funding from properly constituted community groups or properly constituted Residents Associations.

The London Borough of Bromley were aware that they had several villages that were part of LB Bromley that didn’t have a Village Sign, Leaves Green was another village close to Biggin Hill that also qualified for a grant towards their village sign. The Council financial offered covered half the cost of manufacture of the sign and its placement; but didn’t include the cost of any proposed design artwork. The sign that you can now see, placed on the Village Green, adjacent to the junction of Jail Lane and Main Road, was officially unveiled by the then Mayor of Bromley on the 31st of October 1998, and was jointly funded by Council grant and Biggin Hill & District Residents Association.

THE PROCESS
As someone involved in the world of architecture, David Haslam realised that a design brief was necessary. David Haslam was at that time, the Chairman of the Biggin Hill & District Residents Association, and a Governor of Charles Darwin Secondary School.(1978 – 2024)

The Biggin Hill Residents Association decided to participate and paid to produce the formal design, by offering a cash prize, which would be paid to the winning individual or team of Charles Darwin pupils/students who produced the winning design.

It was felt by the committee of the Residents Association that there were some key elements which should feature in the finished design. To achieve this David Haslam as chairman produced a Design Brief describing those key elements which should be incorporated in the finished village sign.

THE DESIGN BRIEF
The key elements to be included relate to: –
1 Biggin Hill has for a long time been a community divided geographically between Top and Bottom, with a Top Plateau, and the Valley, these two elements are represented by a valley with a sunset sporting three rays of sunlight, radiating outward.

2. Biggin Hill’s long association with RAF Biggin Hill dates to January 1917, whilst its main claim to fame was during the Battle of Britain. Those three rays of sunlight with the silhouette of aircraft stand as reminders of those times, the two outer rays each baring an image of a Hawker Hurricane fighter, whilst the central ray sports an image of a Supermarine Spitfire fighter. This directly reflects the number of Hurricane to Spitfire fighters deployed during the battle, there being twice as many Hurricane squadrons as Spitfire squadrons during the Summer of 1940.
3. Another key element that is basic to Biggin Hill’s story, is St, Marks Parish Church, known locally as the Moving Church. During the early days of Biggin Hill (1900-1950) Church goers would walk to Cudham Parish Church on a Sunday, however, with the rapid growth of Biggin Hill’s population a ‘Tin Tabernacle’ was used as a local church, this had been constructed from corrugated iron sheets, hence the name. As the Population grew from approximately 4.370 in 1951 by 93% by 1971, it was thought that a new bigger church was required. However, following World War II, there was a national shortage of building materials. The then Vicar of St Marks – Rev Vivian
   Symons (appointed 1951) had learned of a disused, bomb-damaged church, All Saints in North Peckham, Vivian Symonds decided to demolish All Saints church with the help of his parishioner’s and a lorry, they moved load after load of salvaged materials. The St. Marks church shown on the village sign is that church.
4. Another iconic symbol of Biggin Hill is the Ceder of Lebanon, which still stands close to the junction of Church Road and Village Green Avenue. This tree is listed as one of the great trees of London, the other significance of this tree is that it helps us to locate the site of the old Apperfield Manor House. A photograph can be found in the Book published by Harry Nelson – Grandfathers Biggin Hill, this shows the tree standing close to a Victorian Structure that had replaced a much older manor house. The tree has been identified as having stood in the courtyard of the Victorian manor house.
5. One of the other elements that recognises the rural nature of Biggin Hill is a fox, representing the frequent evening sightings of these creatures – out hunting.
6. There is another native creature depicted, – a Badger, whilst the badger shown on the village sign shows up as black, being part of a metal cut-out design, to David Haslam this creature represents a beautiful albino badger frequently spotted around the Lusted Hall Lane and Polesteeple Hill area during the late 1980’s, sadly killed by a careless driver.
   THE COMPETITION – CHARLES DARWIN SCHOOL.
   As a governor of Charles Darwin School, at the time. David Haslam persuaded the Committee of the Biggin Hill & District Residents Association, that the production of the final design artwork, incorporating all the various elements of the ‘design brief’ should be offered to Art Students of Charles Darwin School as a competition, with a cash prize being awarded to the winning team, the design which most closely satisfied the design brief was that produced by Paul Cassy and his friend (whose name I can’t remember).
   Their design along with all intellectual rights to manufacture or reproduce the sign was vested in Biggin Hill & District Residents Association as the original commissioners of the design Brief.
   The cost of manufacturing and erecting the sign was shared equally between London Borough of Bromley and the Biggin Hill & District Residents Association.
   David R Haslam – Honorary Alderman,
   Honorary Life President BH RA

We have now added a Gallery page to the website, displaying images of previous activities of the Biggin Hill Residents Association.

If any residents have interesting photos of the area please send them to ian@ianramage.co.uk and we will add them to the display.

Come along on the 16th February to help tidy up your Community.

There are emergency defibrillators at the following sites in Biggin Hill

Below are a list of local phone numbers that may prove useful. If you have any others then please send to ian@ianramage.co.uk. Please also let me know of any errors or changes, thank you.

Age UK -Bromley and Greenwich	02083151850
Benefit Enquiry Line	0800882200
Biggin Hill Aperfield W.I.	01959571360
Biggin Hill Community Care Association	01959577400
Biggin Hill Councillors : Melanie Stevens	07900171266
Biggin Hill Councillors : Sophie Dunbar	07929365228
Biggin Hill Councillors : Jonathan Andrews (Darwin)	07811313559
Biggin Hill Evening W.I.	01959700973
Biggin Hill Horticultural Society	01959575799
Biggin Hill Library	01959528053
Biggin Hill Musical Theatre Company	01959701829
Biggin Hill Residents Association	07763215037
Biggin Hill Rangers, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows	01959575717
Biggin Hill Romanian Group	07802575417
Biggin Hill Scout Group	07983447721
Biggin Hill Society	01959572569
Bromley Council – Office Hours	02084643333
Bromley Council – Emergency Out of Hours	03003038671
Bromley Social Services – child referrals	02084617373
Bromley Social Services – adult referrals	02084617777
Childline (confidential helpline for children)	08001111 (24hr)
Citizen’s Advice Bureau (Bromley)	02083151940
Community Links, Bromley	02083151900
Crimestoppers	0800555111
Dial-a-ride (For registration and enquiries)	03432227777
Doctor’s surgery – Norheads Lane Surgery	01959574488
Doctor’s surgery – Stock Hill Surgery	01959580011
Domestic Violence 24hr Helpline	08082000247
Electrical power cut – to be connected to the local network operator	105
FOAL Farm – Friends of Animals League	01959572386
GAS emergency – 24hr freephone	0800111999
National Childbirth Trust – Biggin Hill	01959572209 or 01959701765
New Life Church	01959571667
NHS Helpline when you need medical advice	111
Police – non emergency reporting	101
Police – Local Safer Neighbourhood Team	02087212820
Princess Royal University Hospital	01689863000
RAF Biggin Hill Memorial Museum and Chapel	01959422414
St Mark’s Parish Office	01959577816
Schools – Biggin Hill Primary	01959575846
Schools – Charles Darwin Secondary	01959574043
Schools – Cudham Primary	01959572673
Schools – Oaklands Primary	01959573963
Schools – Tatsfield Primary	01959577356
Samaritans – Local branch	01689833000
Samaritans – 24 hour	08457909090
Samaritans – Text phone for hard of hearing	08457909192
Spitfire Youth Centre	01959574835
St John Ambulance	01959701281
Thames Water	08459200800
Trading Standards Rogue Traders Rapid Response	07903852090
Valley Hall Community Association	01959573917 or 01959570020
Victim Support Scheme	02087767071
Westerham Hill Baptist Church	01732867516