Newsletter for April/Spring 2013 - see Events page for current and old newsletters links, as well as events for the coming months.

Sensory Garden - Planting and landscaping work continues but the garden is fullly usable.  Our volunteer team regularly undertake work and the park staff also carry out routine maintenance. Sensory Garden pdf   A leaflet explaining the uses and design of the sensory garden.

Contact us at bpp.friends@ntlworld.com

The Visitor Centre is open 1.30 to 3.30 on Sunday afternoons.

Park Features:

• Childrens play area,
• Ornamental gardens
• Ancient Woodland
• Picnic and Meadow areas,
• Nature Trail and Riverside Walk
• Green Chain and Capital Ring Walks,
• Pay and Play 18 hole public golf course
• Visitor Centre (Sunday afternoons)
• Historic Buildings
  
• A wide variety of flora and fauna.

The 'first time' or occasional visitor to BPP may not appreciate its true extent. The Park lies on the Lewisham/Bromley border strictly speaking between Downham, Bellingham, Beckenham and Shortlands.

It was acquired from the Cator Estate by the LCC circa 1927, passed through the hands of the GLC and then on to the London Borough of Lewisham. A 'well kept secret' from many Londoners, the park has been thought of as a private golf course or private house and grounds as it is not widely publicised. It does lie on the Green Chain Walk and Capital Ring. A railway bisects the park and the only routes joining both parts are the bridge north of woodland called the Ash Plantation or by leaving and re-entering the park in the viscinity of Ravensbourne Railway Station. Hence the railway effectively divides the park into West and East.

Beckenham Place Park is the surviving nucleus of what was once a large estate.

The history of the park and its environs is extensive and is covered in other Friends publications. Information is available in the Friends of BPP Visitor Centre (see navigation hyperlink).

The park's life as a public recreation area began around 1927/29 when the park was purchased by the London County Council and London Borough of Lewisham to satisfy a need for public open space in the area as the large housing estates of Bellingham and Downham were being developed.

The historic and 'listed' buildings in the park include The Mansion, The Stables and Homesteads (and Garden Cottage), Southend Lodge (gatehouse).