About our Scheme
Blackthorn is run by London & Quadrant (L and Q) Housing Trust.
L and Q is one of 2,000 housing associations that work in the UK. Its main purpose is to provide homes for people to rent. Usually residents come from council lists of those who need housing. L and Q manage over 33,000 homes and although most are in Greater London, we also work all over South East England.
Blackthorn has over 50 residents who all live in their own flats in a very attractive setting with gardens and communal facilities.
Blackthorn Collage
A large Collage hangs proudly in the lounge at Blackthorn. It was made by the residents made for the Millenium and is made from of cut out pieces of fabric with panels showing scenes from the history of Britain up to 2000.
Living at Blackthorn
As I look out from my bungalow I see a Rowan tree heavy with blossom and know that in late Autumn our feathered residents, Joe Crow and his Missus, two of the largest wood pigeons, many starlings, magpies, blue tits and the odd sparrow (there used to be 29) will descend upon the tree with its mass of orange berries. Starting from the top they will have a great feast this year. We have many trees that have already or are in bloom at the moment set in our beautifully cut grass surrounds. Our ‘mower men’ come regularly every other Monday and keep it immaculate “Well Done”
In our lounge we still have computer lessons, art class and Monday club which involves many interests. Midweek we also have a coffee morning, not everyone joins in but we all know each other well and are like a family.
We now have our new Warden (Co-ordinator) non-resident Kerie who is like a breathe of fresh air. She has a lovely young family and I can relate (way back in time) to when I was in a similar situation, it was the best time of my life. Kerie gives us a newsletter each week especially useful if she has to go off-site to tell us who will stand in for her.
My View of Blackthorn
I'm Pat and I have lived in Blackthorn Grove for the last five years. It is a very happy place to be. There is always something to do, for example, there is a Monday club, Wednesday coffee morning where we meet one another and chat over refreshments. There is an Art class on Fridays, where some quite gifted painters have exhibited their work in Hall Place, I too belong to the group. No time to be bored. We have computer studies for those who wish to participate, especially the class with Emily where we feel that we really have learned a lot. We wish she was staying here. We go every year to the coast, also have several lunches out with Monday club from time to time.
About our Area
Bexleyheath is in Bexley, one of thirty-two London Boroughs which, together with the City of London Corporation, make up the area of Greater London. The Borough follows the River Thames as it meanders out of London. It is bordered by Greenwich to the west and Dartford to the east, while Bromley lies to the south.
A little more than a century ago the area was almost entirely open country and surprisingly remote country at that. A map of the 1850s graphically shows this. The name Bexley, which means the 'clearing in the box wood', first turned up in records in 814 when King Kenulph, the King of the Mercians, granted lands at Bexley to Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury. However, there is evidence that the area was a place of habitation long before that time. Tools and other artifacts have been found in many places in the Borough dating from the old and new Stone Ages, the Bronze and Iron Ages, and from Roman times. In 1973, a local resident unearthed a fine Roman Burial in his garden.
The coming of the railways, largely in the latter years of the 19th century, saw the beginnings of the Bexley of today and the separate towns and villages, which had seen some development at the close of the 18th century, began to grow. It was not, however, until the 1920s and '30s that communities began to cover this corner of what was then North West Kent. The electrification of the railways added impetus to this steady development.
Quite a number of famous people have been associated with the Borough over the years. Notable among them were Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel who lived at May Place, Crayford, during the 18th century and Sir Hiram Maxim, who gave his name to the automatic machine gun and who, at Crayford in 1894, invented what is thought to have been the first heavier than air machine to get off the ground successfully. Also notable were Sir Robert Taylor, the architect of the Bank of England, who designed Danson Mansion for John Boyd, a wealthy London merchant; and William Morris, the Victorian artist, poet and designer, who built the Red House at Bexleyheath.
Living at Blackthorn
We have a very active Residents Association and we organise through that various outings and activities.
Blackthorn Noticeboard
microwave