Sidcup

Sidcup is an urban district of South East London, England in the London Borough of Bexley. Located 11.3 mi south east of Charing Cross. It borders the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich.

The Area
Sidcup has a mixture of large Victorian and Edwardian properties alongside typical 1930s suburbia, primarily owner occupied semi-detached and detached housing. It retains many parks and open spaces hinting at the great estates and large homes which once stood in the area. The town contains Queen Mary's Hospital, a large Leisure Centre, four colleges (Christ The King: St Mary's, Adult Education Centre, Bird College and Rose Bruford College), and three secondary schools. There are two shopping parades, the High Street which contains McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Weatherspoons, Costa Coffee, Cafe Nero, Greggs, with a Morrisons located close to the high street. There are also lots of shops at Station Road including Dominos, Papa Johns and several other restaurants and cafes. Blackfen, Foots Cray, Longlands, and Lamorbey are all districts within Sidcup.

History
Sidcup originated as a tiny hamlet on the road from London to Maidstone. The name is thought to be derived from Cetecopp meaning "seat shaped or flat topped hill"; it had its earliest recorded use in 1254. According to Edward Hasted, "Thomas de Sedcopp was owner of this estate in the 35th year of king Henry VI. [i.e. in the 1450s] as appears by his deed." Hasted described Sidcup in the latter part of the 18th century as "a small street of houses, among which is an inn of much resort", referring to the former Black Horse pub on the high street.

A number of manor houses (converted to other uses) remain. They include Frognal House, the birthplace and residence of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, after whom Sydney, Australia was named (now converted for use as residential and nursing accommodation), Lamorbey House (now used by Rose Bruford College), Sidcup Place (now a Brewers Fayre bar and restaurant) and "The Hollies" (now converted for residential use).

Sidcup parish formed the Sidcup Urban District of Kent from 1908. It was initially known as Foots Cray; however, in 1921 the urban district, and in 1925 the parish, were renamed Sidcup. The parish and district were abolished in 1934 and combined with Chislehurst to form the Chislehurst and Sidcup civil parish and urban district. In 1965 the parish and urban district were abolished. Sidcup went on to form part of the London Borough of Bexley in Greater London and Chislehurst formed part of the London Borough of Bromley.

Sidcup is mentioned in two famous plays and their film adaptations, Noël Coward's Relative Values and Harold Pinter's The Caretaker, and it was the location of the 2004 Dasani scandal. It was also mentioned in early episodes of the BBC-1 comedy series Porridge by prison inmate "Heslop" played by Brian Glover.

It is also reputed that it was on the platform of Sidcup railway station that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had a conversation about music, an event that eventually led to the forming of The Rolling Stones in 1962. Other connections of Sidcup to the world of entertainment and show business include the Rose Bruford College of drama and Bird College, both of which have many well known and famous alumni; regular large-scale concerts are given by Sidcup Symphony Orchestra,. conducted by James Ross, which also serves the wider South East London area.

For many years, Sidcup had as its constituency (Old Bexley and Sidcup) Member of Parliament, the Rt Hon. Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister 1970-1974.

Rail
Sidcup station serves the area with services to London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street as part of a loop service operating via both Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal, and a service to Gravesend.

Bus information
Sidcup is served by a number of bus services operated for Transport for London. These connect Sidcup with areas including Bexleyheath, Bromley, Catford, Chislehurst, Crayford, Dartford, Eltham, Erith, Greenwich, Lewisham, New Cross, Orpington, St Mary Cray, Swanley, Thamesmead, Welling and Woolwich.

Geography
Other nearby areas
 * Ruxley
 * Blendon
 * Welling
 * Bexley
 * Eltham
 * Bickley
 * Mottingham
 * St Mary Cray
 * Bexleyheath
 * Elmstead Woods
 * Orpington
 * Petts Wood
 * Swanley
 * Grove Park
 * Bromley

Sport and leisure
Sidcup has a Non-League football club Seven Acre & Sidcup F.C. who play at Sidcup & District Conservative Club.

Sidcup Sports Cub in Sydney Road, home to Sidcup Rugby Club grounds, Sidcup Cricket Club grounds and practice nets, Tennis Courts and coaching, Martial Arts, Slimming World, gym, changing room, showers, function room, bar, free parking in large on site car park.

Education

 * For education in Sidcup see the main London Borough of Bexley article

Tertiary

 * Bird College, which provides pre-vocational music and dance services on behalf of the London Borough of Bexley
 * Christ the King: St Mary's (RC) Sixth Form College (formerly St Luke's College)
 * Rose Bruford College

Secondary

 * Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School
 * Cleeve Park School
 * Hurstmere School

Primary

 * Benedict House Preparatory School (Independent)
 * Birkbeck Primary School
 * Burnt Oak Junior School
 * Days Lane Primary School
 * Holy Trinity Lamorbey CofE (VA) Primary School
 * Hurst Primary School
 * Longlands Primary School
 * Merton Court Preparatory School (Independent)
 * Orchard Primary School
 * Royal Park Primary School
 * West Lodge Primary School (Independent)
 * St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School

Places of worship

 * All Saints Church, Rectory Lane
 * Avery Hill Christian Fellowship, Southspring
 * Christchurch, Main Road
 * Churches Together in Sidcup
 * Days Lane Baptist Church, Days Lane
 * Emmanuel Church, Hadlow Road
 * Foots Cray Baptist Church, Sidcup Hill
 * Holy Redeemer Church, Days Lane
 * Holy Trinity Church, Hurst Road
 * New Community Church, Station Road
 * New Generation Church, New Generation Centre, Birkbeck Road
 * Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Burnt Oak Lane
 * Redeemed Christian Church of God-Victory Assembly, Footscray Road
 * St Andrew's Church, Maylands Drive
 * St James Church, North Cray Road
 * St John's Church, Church Road
 * St Lawrence's Church, Hamilton Road
 * Sidcup Baptist Church, Main Road

Notable residents
(in alphabetical order)
 * Michele Austin — actress, schooled in Sidcup.
 * Steve Backley — Olympic sportsman, born in Sidcup.
 * Doreen Bird — dance teacher, lived in Sidcup and established college.
 * Quentin Blake — illustrator, artist, born in Sidcup.
 * Garry Bushell — journalist, lives in Sidcup.
 * George Albert Cairns — winner of the last Victoria Cross of World War II, worked in Sidcup.
 * Ben Chorley — footballer, born in Sidcup.
 * Charlie Clements — actor, born in Sidcup.
 * Steve Clement-Large — artist, grew up in Sidcup - now resident in Plymouth. Creator of "Argyle Man".
 * Jason Crowe — footballer, born in Sidcup.
 * Ian Davenport — artist, born in Sidcup.
 * Martin Evans — musician, former drummer of American Indie Pop band Milton and the Devils Party, born and raised in Sidcup.
 * Ashley Glazebrook — dancer, part of Twist and Pulse.
 * Steve Hillier — musician, schooled in Sidcup.
 * Will Hutton — economist, schooled in Sidcup.
 * Alfred Garth Jones — illustrator died in Sidcup in 1955.
 * John Paul Jones — bass guitarist of Led Zeppelin, born in Sidcup.
 * Rob Knox — actor, murdered in Sidcup.
 * Ivan Magill — innovative anaesthetist, worked in Sidcup.
 * Clive Mendonca — footballer for Charlton Athletic, lived in Sidcup
 * Lee Murray — former kickboxer and mixed martial arts champion, wanted for Securitas depot robbery, lived in Sidcup.
 * Emma Noble — glamour model, born in Sidcup.
 * Bob Powel — former Radio London disc-jockey, journalist, lives in Sidcup.
 * Mike Rann — Premier of South Australia, politician, born in Sidcup, lived in Blackfen prior to emigrating to New Zealand with his parents.
 * John Regis — Olympic athlete, lived in Sidcup.
 * Keith Richards — guitarist Rolling Stones, attended college in Sidcup
 * Wayne Routledge — footballer, born in Sidcup.
 * Ethel Smyth — composer and Suffragette, born in Sidcup.
 * Jim Staples — International Rugby Union captain, educated in Sidcup.
 * John Styles — Has the reputation of being Britain's leading authority and exponent of Punch & Judy.
 * Dick Taylor — founder member of The Pretty Things and early bass guitarist in the Rolling Stones, schooled in Sidcup.
 * Philip Thomas — record producer, musician, educated in Sidcup.
 * John Topham — photographed daily life around Sidcup from 1931 - 1973.
 * Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney — died in Sidcup.
 * Mark Ricketts — footballer, born & raised in Sidcup
 * Gordon Watson — former Sheffield Wednesday footballer, born in Sidcup.
 * Elizabeth Wiskemann — journalist, born in Sidcup.
 * Doug Wright — cricketer, born in Sidcup.