ian
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Posts: 17
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Post by ian on Aug 19, 2007 12:49:31 GMT 1
I was wondering if anyone has any information on the Old British Rail offices that where located in Albermarle Road in Beckenham and which closed I believe in 1984.
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Post by lauriemack on Mar 3, 2008 20:44:47 GMT 1
I lived in Abbey Park circa 1963-66 and from memory the Albemarle (without the middle "r") Road offices were built about then. (It's the block, behind the pub, which has been gutted and refitted recently). I don't remember when BR moved in: it may have been soon after the block was built, because one of BR's reorganisations happened circa 1965, when they decided on a national image and started to paint trains blue. The BR people were the Southern Region's South Eastern Division Head Office and divisional management; I went there for a meeting with the Div Manager circa 1981 when Bromley Consumer's Group (now defunct) wrote a critical report on commuter services. By 1985, Network South East had been set up and they had gone back to Waterloo.
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Post by The Historian on Oct 10, 2008 9:11:01 GMT 1
Can someone tell me if there was a door on the platform at Beckenham Junction that all BR employees used when getting of a train, the door led to a tunnel that went under the road leading into the offices.
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ian
New Member
Posts: 17
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Post by ian on Jan 29, 2009 13:20:34 GMT 1
I have recently met someone who worked in the offices and remembers using the tunnel. I wonder if it is still there?
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Post by joykentishmaid on Feb 1, 2009 17:41:13 GMT 1
In the early 1970s, I worked for British Rail, at its South Eastern Divisional Headquarters in Albemarle Road. I was secretary to Jim O'Brien, the Assistant Divisional Manager and Roy Calvert, the Divisional Movements Manager. There was a pub called The Signal within the building
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Post by briantoot on Mar 24, 2014 14:03:30 GMT 1
It wasn't a tunnel it was a footpath that went under the bridge from the up platform to the rear of the offices
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Post by pudwud100 on Jan 3, 2021 15:38:34 GMT 1
Hi
Yes the Southern Region Divisional Offices in Albemarle Road was where it all started for me. My long (and relatively happy) railway career began in August 1970 as a not quite 18 year old brandishing my A-Levels cos that meant I could start at the highest salary scale for a Clerical Officer Grade 1. Facing the Divisional Office was another large block which was linked internally to the DMO. This was the Southern Region Training School where I went for my induction. I started in what they called the Works Department where I was shown my place in the grand scheme of things - do the filing, make the tea etc. No millenial managers then. Managers were older, knew their trade inside out and you disrespected them at your peril!
Yes there was a tunnel to the up platform of Beckenham Junction station. You came out of the front of the building, turned back on yourself through the small car park, went down a ramp and then through the base of the bridge carrying the main road. This was a godsend at going home time and saved you from taking your life in your hands crossing the main road. I can't remember the name of the pub but I know their trade virtually disappeared when the DMO closed. There used to be a semaphore signal which stood outside the pub. Back then of course there was no drinks and alcohol policy and it was common practice for some staff to suitably imbibe themselves in said hostelry. Happy days, especially in the summer months when people ate their lunches on the (then) vast area of grass in front of the offices.
But managers were still managers, even back then. I will always remember Christmas 1972 when the Divisional Manager did his annual tour of the offices. He came up to me and said "Hello, how long have you worked here?" "Two years sir" I said. I rest my case.
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Post by The Historian on Jan 4, 2021 23:12:58 GMT 1
Hi Yes the Southern Region Divisional Offices in Albemarle Road was where it all started for me. My long (and relatively happy) railway career began in August 1970 as a not quite 18 year old brandishing my A-Levels cos that meant I could start at the highest salary scale for a Clerical Officer Grade 1. Facing the Divisional Office was another large block which was linked internally to the DMO. This was the Southern Region Training School where I went for my induction. I started in what they called the Works Department where I was shown my place in the grand scheme of things - do the filing, make the tea etc. No millenial managers then. Managers were older, knew their trade inside out and you disrespected them at your peril! Yes there was a tunnel to the up platform of Beckenham Junction station. You came out of the front of the building, turned back on yourself through the small car park, went down a ramp and then through the base of the bridge carrying the main road. This was a godsend at going home time and saved you from taking your life in your hands crossing the main road. I can't remember the name of the pub but I know their trade virtually disappeared when the DMO closed. There used to be a semaphore signal which stood outside the pub. Back then of course there was no drinks and alcohol policy and it was common practice for some staff to suitably imbibe themselves in said hostelry. Happy days, especially in the summer months when people ate their lunches on the (then) vast area of grass in front of the offices. But managers were still managers, even back then. I will always remember Christmas 1972 when the Divisional Manager did his annual tour of the offices. He came up to me and said "Hello, how long have you worked here?" "Two years sir" I said. I rest my case. The pub was The Golden Arrow, still there under another name.
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Post by seventies on Jun 2, 2022 21:11:45 GMT 1
Likewise, i started at Beckenham DMO in 1970 from school, (and am still working full time for the railways). It was a real community of all sorts of ages and backgrounds. What i’d give to meet some of them today !
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Post by joykentishmaid on Aug 10, 2022 19:47:00 GMT 1
Happy days, mostly :-) The Divisional Manager's name was, I think, Malcolm Southgate.
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Post by snowmanjim on Nov 3, 2022 21:48:32 GMT 1
Hi Yes the Southern Region Divisional Offices in Albemarle Road was where it all started for me. My long (and relatively happy) railway career began in August 1970 as a not quite 18 year old brandishing my A-Levels cos that meant I could start at the highest salary scale for a Clerical Officer Grade 1. Facing the Divisional Office was another large block which was linked internally to the DMO. This was the Southern Region Training School where I went for my induction. I started in what they called the Works Department where I was shown my place in the grand scheme of things - do the filing, make the tea etc. No millenial managers then. Managers were older, knew their trade inside out and you disrespected them at your peril! Yes there was a tunnel to the up platform of Beckenham Junction station. You came out of the front of the building, turned back on yourself through the small car park, went down a ramp and then through the base of the bridge carrying the main road. This was a godsend at going home time and saved you from taking your life in your hands crossing the main road. I can't remember the name of the pub but I know their trade virtually disappeared when the DMO closed. There used to be a semaphore signal which stood outside the pub. Back then of course there was no drinks and alcohol policy and it was common practice for some staff to suitably imbibe themselves in said hostelry. Happy days, especially in the summer months when people ate their lunches on the (then) vast area of grass in front of the offices. But managers were still managers, even back then. I will always remember Christmas 1972 when the Divisional Manager did his annual tour of the offices. He came up to me and said "Hello, how long have you worked here?" "Two years sir" I said. I rest my case. hi my railway career started in early 1970s. I too had my induction at DMO and after a spell at Faversham and Canterbury East, I spent 6 happy years in the Rules Section floor 3. at DMO, across the corridor from Works. Was Frank Todman your boss. Kind regards Snowman.
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