Bringing history into digital age

2:42pm Thursday 23rd August 2007

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The editor of a historical website about Beckenham is appealing for people to send him pictures and memories of the town. WILLIAM DAVIES finds out more.

HISTORY enthusiast Ian Muir has been working on his website beckenhamhistory.co.uk for the past six months.

The website charts Beckenham's history from Roman times onwards, but focuses mainly on the pictorial history of the town through photographs and postcards.

There is evidence of civilisation in Beckenham from as early as Roman times.

A Roman road passed through the town in a direct line from Lower Sydenham, by Worsley Bridge Road and through Langley.

Recent excavations at Holwood Park in Keston have dated it to a century before the first Roman Invasion. Relics from the Bronze and Stone Ages have also been found there.

Mr Muir, of Chessington Way, West Wickham, has recently unearthed a 16mm film made by Beckenham Cine Society showing scenes from the area dating from 1935.

In that year, Beckenham became a borough, and it remained as such for the next 30 years before becoming part of the Bromley borough.

Mr Muir is hoping to put the film up on his website, which went live three months ago, within the next three weeks.

He is keen to hear from people who remember anything from the film and is intrigued by the idea some of the people featured in it may still be alive.

The 52-year-old, who is a printer, said: "The film features a number of maternity hospitals in Beckenham with women coming and going with their children.

"It occurred to me some of those children may still be alive and would take great joy in seeing their parents walking around."

Mr Muir, who grew up in Eden Park, has had his website up and running for the past three months.

He said: "I've always been fascinated by history and the website seemed like a natural progression.

"I've always felt it's a tragedy so many things get lost, particularly pictures and documents.

"I wanted the website to be a permanent record of all these memories. It's digital, which means it can't be destroyed.

"We have a huge amount of things on the website, including more than 1,000 postcards."

Despite the continuing growth of the website, Mr Muir is keen to hear from anyone who has anything they could submit to the website He said: "I am always keen to receive more pictures and memories, particularly with regard to the schools and sports team section.

"I get so much feedback from people who have seen an old photo or picture of a sports team they used to be in."

Mr Muir, who is also a historian for Beckenham Town Football Club, added: "It's great the website is generating so much interest."

If you have memories or pictures you would like to share with Mr Muir, visit the website at beckenhamhistory.co.uk to find out how.