Thames Tributary Pyl Brook - Beverley Park

Thames Tributary Pyl Brook
The Pyl Brook and the east Pyl Brook meet and flow towards the Beverley northwest.

TQ 22504 68914

An area of largely inter-war housing around the A3 and its feeder main roads. There was a considerable amount of industry here - gramophone and radio, tyres, typewriters and even the first parking meters. Some of these firms were to develop into international players in communication and other technology. An older, and continuing to be successful, company was Carters Seeds. There are schools and sports fields -albeit some workplace sports fields now going over to modern housing as firms have closed.

Post to the north Cottenham Park
Post to the east Cannon Hill
Post to the south Motspur Park

Adela Avenue
Holy Cross Church built 1908 for the Church of England destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt. Designed by Ralph Covell in 1949.
Church hall burned down in the 1980s and since rebuilt

Beverley Way
Name for the Kingston Bypass

Beverley Road
The Beverley runs parallel to it to the east but completely hidden by houses

Bodnant Gardens
One of a group of roads all with names of famous gardens. They are on the site of Carter Brothers seeds site
James Carter, Dunnet and Beale. Seedsmen. Established 1804 and registered in 1879 as Carters Grass Seeds. They moved here in 1910 as their ‘model establishment’ and closed in the early 19780s. Carters produced many breakthrough strains of seeds. In 2008 they became part of Vilmorin, an international company dominating the seeds market.

Burlington Road
Fire station
Krispy Kreme factory store in what was the Duke of Cambridge pub. There was a big snooker/pool hall at the back that used to be the Cambridge Rooms owned for a while by the K twins
118 Burlington House Northrop Sperry Grunman Marine. The company was formed in 1997 from three well-known brand names in the marine industry - Sperry Marine, Decca and C. Plath. The Decca marine group is a descendent of the Decca Company, established before the First World War, manufacturing gramophones and subsequently gramophone records. They moved into the marine industry during the Second World War, with the Decca Navigation System, which was first used on D-Day. Now Decca produces a comprehensive range of radars under as BridgeMaster and also make marine machinery monitoring and alarm systems and specialized electronics for the commercial fishing industry.
Railway footbridge BQ store. In 1977, sale of furniture and carpets in an old factory. And other stores followed
20-8212 Shannon corner service station Tesco on the former Bradbury Wilkinson site
Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were printer of banknotes, and share certificates. They were set up in 1856 by Henry Bradbury and in 1861 opened their works at New Malden until they were taken over by De La Rue in 1986.
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School 240 Malden Hall. Student hostel for Kingston University
Decca Gramophone Co. In 1929 this was employing 700 people, and making up to 60,000 records a day at its factory. They later diversified to make radar and the Decca Navigator
Shannon Typewriter Co. After which the junction is named. The System Shannon Typewriter Company was founded in 1883 and was a reconfiguration of the Shannon File Co. They made office furniture, filing and card record systems, duplicators (called Shannotype) and bookcases. In 1961 they were still producing filing equipment, office furniture and photocopying equipment. They were based in the City of London but employed over 500 people in this art deco factory in New Malden.
Rapson Tyre Works. Frederick Lionel Rapson came from Ride on the Isle of Wight. He worked as a chauffer to a Miss Schinz and maintained a fleet of cars for her fitted with his own high endurance tyres and frequently appeared at Brooklands. He set up the Rapson Tyre and Jack Co. in New Malden in 1922 to manufacture and distribute them. Eventually the company was wound up in June 1931.
Duophone. The ‘duophone' label was named after a record player made by the Duophone Syndicate Ltd., of London. Duophone entered the record market in August 1925. But had had been manufacturing their special gramophone for some time In September 1926 they produced a revolutionary Unbreakable Record. A core of bonded layered paper, coated with a thin layer of some sort of rubberised plastic. In August 1928, they gained control of British Brunswick Ltd. They had a factory in New Malden which had been used by the Rapson Tyre Co. In 1930 they were taken over by Decca.
Venner Timeswitch Company, maker of Britain's first parking meters.

Bushey Road
Raynes Park High School opened in 1935 as a Boys' Grammar School in Surrey. In 1969, it was reorganised as a boys' comprehensive school and in 1990, became a mixed comprehensive school. The School badge consists of a representation of the bridge carrying the Kingston By-Pass over the railway, the two main roads at the front and rear of the school and the railway express trains.

Fairway
Royal and Sun Alliance sports ground. Sold for development but the majority kept as a school sports area
The Pavilions. Housing development on the sports ground area

Kingston by pass
Part of the A3 and as such the Portsmouth Road although many towns are now bypassed y it., a programme of road improvements in the 1920s turned it into what is mainly a two or three lane dual carriage. The construction of the Kingston Guildford bypass made use of a temporary narrow gauge railway for construction materials. It had been proposed in 1912 and work started in 1924 on what was to become one of the easiest arterial roads. It was opened by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin in October 1927. .
Jurassic Adventure golf driving range on the site of the Bradbank sports ground. Bradbank was the sports club for Bradbury Wilkinson,
Emmanuel Schools sports ground. This is for Emmanuel School in Battersea and is shared with their old boys club using Blagdon house. The site is also used as a training ground by Harlequins Rugby Club.

Onslow Road
The Beverley runs parallel to it

Park View
Beverley Park large park with playground rose garden and sports facilities and a nature conservation area. The Beverley Brook forms the boundary between the Kingston and Merton Councils and is joined by the Pyl Brook in the park
Beverley Park Allotments Association

Seaforth Avenue
New Maldon Evangelical Free Church

West Barns Lane
The Pyl brook runs parallel and north of it Raynes Park High School Level crossing

Sources
Decca Gramaphone Co. Web site
Emmanuel School. Web site
Field. London Place Names
Grace's Guide. Web site
Holy Cross Church. Web site
Jurassic Adventure. Web site
London Borough of Kingston. Web site
London Borough of Merton. Web site
Raynes Park School. Web site
SABRE. A3. Web site
Smythe. City Wildspace
Vilmorin. Web site

Comments

Unknown said…
I would be interested to know where you got information about Rapson Tyres in Burlington Road and if oyu have any more information about the proprietor Frederick Rapson john@stratadata.co.uk
Unknown said…
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-1970/14/frederick-lionel-rapson-inventor-extraordinary

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