kingston upon thames in old photos by jason blackman

hi i spend a lot of time making these small films of when the days were a lot different. most of the photos are from old books or old post cards. i love doing this to show you how life was way back then. some people can not buy books or find things to do with local history so this is why i have done this for all of you.
i do not do this to make money in any way, it is just for free so i do hope you all like the small films i do as it takes a long time to do. i did use to live in SW London but now moved to bucks where i find this is much better for me and my family.
all the best --- Jason Blackman.

[@Horizon344]

Kingston-upon-Thames' town centre has been architecturally wrecked over the course of the last several decades, much of it is now so mind-numbingly blandly modern that it could be a Chinese "ghost city" that was build from scratch in the last 5 years, rather than a town with more than 1500 years of history behind it. This is the price a place pays in the 20th/21st Centuries for being a popular retail centre & having a Town Council that allows builders to run amok seeking short term capitalization on property price bubbles. Nice film, thx,

[@BlesamaSoul]

Sad thing is they knocked the character out of Kingston and in doing so they have killed off the higher end retail so many quality shops have closed and been replaced with low end stuff, the new developments and walkways are also low quality stuff that is not ageing well and hence looks dog earned and tired already. Politicians and their developer friends have a lot to answer for and you cannot help but think the Kingston of years ago looks much better than the Kingston of today.

[@jennyoshea1958]

Beautiful video. Such rich heritage and great architecture. Thanks for sharing.

[@susanneguzman5339]

I was born in Norbiton and grew up in Kingston. Trying to find photos of the fish n chip shop and fish shop on Coombe Rd. Norbiton. Beautifully edited video and music was very touching. Kingston was so much nicer in the 70’s before they blocked off roads and stopped traffic.

[@paulannable3734]

Yes, solid lines of stationary traffic immeasurably improve town centres

[@carriesmith7217]

Stunning, recognise all the places

[@normasnockers323]

thanks so much i was born and grew up here, ive never seen these,

[@iculpin]

Fantastic set of memories. I lived in New Malden in my teenage years and Kingston was my social focus even if it meant walking home after the last bus. Thank you. .

[@_dude..]

Lived in Kingston my whole life. It used to be such a nice, pleasant market town. I rarely go there any more, Its sad how its declined.

[@jassonsw]

Sadly it has declined. Blocks of flats going up all over the place and several stabbings of young people in the last few years.

[@tess1433]

Lovely, I grew up in Tolworth and New Malden, it will always be home 💗

[@Cromwelldunbar]

I recall my many visits to Kingston with considerable fondness in my mind’s eye… Altho’ not a Kingstonian, born in Walton and living a little further on, my Mum loved Kingston and we would often catch the 131 ´bus direct to get off by the bridge to visit the Market and Bentalls. Even during the War I’d make a similar visit, Bentall’s swing doors and escalators were something new to us kids! Recall on the way our seeing many houses hit by bombs. Kingston ´bus garage where we often had a long wait to make the return trip was cold and draughty because the waiting room was near the outside and small and it wasn’t allowed to go further inside the garage. Years later, at a pub in the market, Mum wanted to treat me to my first glass of beer on my birthday…but my 16th birthday! She passed me off as 18 but I think the publican was a good soul and understanding! Two years later, at a big corner building that stands opposite a cinema, on a road that buses used to take you to Chessington Zoo [ and curiously double deck buses of London Transport that were painted by an unusual colour of dark crimson colour that wasn’t seen elsewhere), the Royal Air Force had its recruiting centre for those like me falling due for national service and offering better conditions for conversion cum inclusion into short-term regular service, which quite made my day!

[@jassonsw]

Lovely film, thanks for that.

[@Terrezio]

I wish I could travel back in time and just walk around. Go to the places I recognise, and walk back to where my house now stands, and do so for every decade after leading up to my birth year 1996

[@dpgaming6924]

Man like Harry

[@MrElsey123]

I was born in Kingston and lived in Surbiton although I was too young to remember when moved out of the area. I still have family in Kingston and I am related to one of the market families from my grandmother's side. Very fond memories of visiting the town as a child, especially the market around Christmas time. Now living in Ashford Middlesex which is only 6 miles from Kingston so quite oftened in Kingston shopping etc. Great video and makes me imagine of a better, simpler time.

[@koont666]

Lovely song I lived in Kingston for 8 years in the 90s

[@juliesmith5567]

That's a loverly memories for people who knew but it's so nice the tune was too

[@ynwa3476]

My home since 1989 (4 years old).The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames has a special place in my heart.The only complaint i can have is the expansion of the University has made house prices so expensive that most local people of my age have little to no chance of buying a home in the Borough.

[@mattydsmith]

As someone who was born in 1981 and worked at the uni, it wasn't the University / Polytechnic that caused house prices to rises. Unfortunately it was our parents, and Thatcher.

[@peterflatau2545]

thankyou....so many memories!

[@johnpowell5433]

I lived in Kingston and went to school in Kingston and Surbiton. So many of these photos bring back memories but I'm sad to see how much the place has changed over the years. My dad had a business in Vicarage Road, near the bridge, and the area around there was my playground in the mid fifties. I climbed on the timber stacks in Gridley, Miskins and fished off their wharf. Old Mr. Turk was still ensconced in the house next to his boatyard and a chap called Alec worked as a boatbuilder there. The Steadfast Sea Cadets paraded just a bit further along from there. The old Bentalls was an amazing place in the grand tradition of department stores and was huge. There were all the usual departments plus ladies and gents hairdressing and a special salon for kid's haircutting where you could sit on a variety of zoo animals to have your hair cut. There was a wood pannelled restaurant, the Tudor as I recall, that was for lunches and afternoon teas but in the evening the Normandie Restaurant across the road above Bentalls parking garage was a good choice. The trolleybuses were still going during my time and you'd occasionally see one with its collector arm hanging askew where it'd come off the wire, often at the junction of London Road and Eden Street. I sang in the parish church choir and played in the churchyard before choir practice after a sixpenny fruit pie and a cuppa at Jo Lyons. The whole area on the Kingston side of the bridge between the market and the railway bridge has pretty much been obliterated since those days and many, if not all, of the shops and businesses will have gone. Does Bardwell's still exist where you went for school uniforms? Who remembers the Kenya Coffee House that filled the market with the smell of roasting coffee beans? Thank you Jason for compiling this collection and bringing back these memories. JP

[@THEJASONBLACKMAN]

hi how funny i use to go fishing just near there when i was a kid, Thames side the road was, there was a jetty i fished from or were the train bridge was.

[@chrisadams3399]

Time and tide wait for no man ... kingston totally changed from the 50's bardwells went many years ago along with the monday morning market , Bradys arcade flattened for the multi storey car park and the bentalls centre replaced the old bentalls complex - not to mention the John Lewis traffic improvement scheme and the power station now flatland . preferred as it was but it couldn't have existed in today's environment .. we will never see 2 way traffic again in Clarence street ..

[@jassonsw]

Lovely memories, thanks for sharing.

[@desaltomac]

Great collection of photos.. I just moved to Kingston a couple of years ago and wondered what the riverside looked like before development

[@maggiewilson-mc6wg]

thank you so much - a lot of the town still recognisable.

[@thebritkate]

Thats really lovely - good for you....very giving.

[@hunglikeamaggotseyelash]

I've been doing my family tree and discovered that my great grandparents lived in Richmond in 1900. I was told my great grandad used to run the Britannia in Brewers ln

[@hunglikeamaggotseyelash]

@Rebel Historian brilliant! I found the census of them living there. I’ve still not been yet. I must go one day

[@misstortitude]

Before the markets were trashed ... Watch the remains of the Cattle Market go next

[@sigma4346]

My old town.

[@Casualgames82]

Wow this was emotional 😭 what version of fix you was that ? The music was beautiful. If I could jump in and go back I so would

[@Cromwelldunbar]

Splendid production! What is the name of the singer please? Well done and thanks for showing it!

[@goldtop555]

Before the yobs took over.

[@extrawarmwhite3946]

Does anyone know of where i can find pictures of Florence Rd & York Rd in Kingston before Dale court was built in the 1970`s I was told there were some nice terrace cottage`s there Then the council demolished them in the early 70`s to build flats & old peoples home

[@mattbeardsworth3201]

What years were these photos taken?

[@sigma4346]

Sad to see what Kingston and New Malden has become. They "Kingston & New Malden" were great places to live and nice people, most of them. New Malden got a a right bashing in ww2.

[@vincentdeguard4726]

+Sigma 4 Do you think it really that bad now...? Visited Kingston recently...and feel there is something "different" now from even say 20 or 30 years ago.

[@sigma4346]

Yer, lived there for over 20 years. I am not keen on the town centre and a bad crowd has moved in.

[@vincentdeguard4726]

Sigma 4 Sad really. Once a bit of "rot" starts to set-in in any town (centre)/district/local area it becomes difficult to stop a downward turn. Shame really as it always been one my fav areas of London...even though have had a couple of "run-ins" with people there.

[@dotheyfloat9961]

Kingston is still gorgeous and it's voted the happiest place to live in Greater London. Perhaps what you're seeing is more related to society at large, people in general seem to be rather shallow and vapid nowadays, stuck to their mobiles and watching "The Only Way is Essex".

[@vincentdeguard4726]

***** you are right about 'society at large' but anyone who knows somewhere well having lived/studied/worked/shopped there for many years will tell you that a place is either worse, better or fairly much the same as it was years/decades ago. Kingston, in my mind, seems to be struggling from keeping itself from being worse. that just my personal opinion of course.

[@beautyonthespot4612]

Do you have pictures of the wharp as my granddad worked their

[@user-gc3lm2nh7b]

The eyesore that is John Lewis, has destroyed Kingston as much as anything!! I wish I could time travel!! At least people knew what a woman was back then!!