Tom Thornton would never have seen an email in his life but his name has kept cropping up in my inbox since I wrote about his efforts to save Kelsey Park for the people of Beckenham.
David Alston writes: “Great stuff on the annals of Tom Thornton, believed to be responsible for the first airmail flight in Britain in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 when he and Dr Francis Barton hired a huge coal-fired, gas-filled balloon which sailed across Kent mail to commemorate the event.”
Greta Paxton writes: “Did you know Tom Thornton campaigned for better-class houses of the Victorian residential development as the town grew, claiming this ‘desirable neighbourhood’ should not lose its character?”
And Jean Brackley reveals: “In 1951 aged 15, I worked in Thornton’s shop and knew his children who were all much older than me.”
Thank you for the letters. Tom Thornton said “Beckenham to me is the world and as long as I am spared and have health and the means to do so, I shall do my best for the dear little place”.
The dear little place now merges without distinction into Catford, Lewisham, Penge and Bromley, but it still maintains the community spirit fostered by Tom Thornton.
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