Petts Wood

2:37pm Wednesday 20th June 2007

Petts Wood has grown to the size of a small town but maintains a friendly village atmosphere.

Compared to other places around it, Petts Wood has a short history, dating back only around 70 years.

Long before it was a suburb Petts Wood was a wood, probably named after the Pett family who for 200 years were the nation's leading shipbuilders.

It was through this wood that William Willet rode in the mornings and devised his daylight saving plan to provide an extra hour's daylight each day.

Some parks and roads have been named after him and there is a public house named the Daylight Inn.

Petts Wood was transformed from a quiet landscape of woodland, lakes and strawberry fields in the 1920s into an attractive residential area, completw with shops and railway station. The earliest church dates back to only 1935, when St Francis was completed.

Petts Wood owes its existence largely to Basil Scruby, who was responsible for planning and developing the area in his vision of a "garden suburb" for London commuters.

Modern Petts Wood is split in half by the railway station, with the busy Queensway on one side and the quaint Station Square on the other.

Shopping in Petts Wood is a mix of popular chain stores and specialist independent shops.

The biggest store in town is Safeway, which opened in 1982 on the site of the Embassy cinema.

Petts Wood has been home to the News Shopper since 1990.

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