Welling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Welling


OS grid reference:	TQ465755
Latitude:	51.459441°
Longitude:	0.10972°
Administration
London borough:	Bexley
County level:	Greater London
Region:	London
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Greater London
Historic county:	Kent (1965)
Services
Police force:	Metropolitan Police
Fire brigade:	London Fire Brigade
Ambulance service:	London Ambulance
Post office and telephone
Post town:	WELLING
Postal district:	DA16
Dialling code:	020
Politics
UK Parliament:	Old Bexley & Sidcup
London Assembly:	Bexley and Bromley
European Parliament:	London
London \| List of places in London

Welling is a district in the London Borough of Bexley. It is a suburban development situated between Shooter's Hill and Bexleyheath north of the A2 road and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) east south-east of Charing Cross.

1 History
2 Welling today
3 Nearest places
4 Nearest railway stations
5 External links

[edit] History

Welling is probably one of the oldest settlements in this area. A neolithic stone axe was found in East Wickham in 1910 and more recently in 1989 the remains of Roman buildings were unearthed near Danson.

Before the coming of the railway, with the opening of the Bexleyheath Line on 1 May 1895, Welling was a village on the main road between London and Kent (Watling Street). It had been a traditional staging post for coaches; the presence of three inns along the main road is the result of that.

After WWI what was then Bexley Borough Council built over 400 houses north of the railway; later, when the Danson estate was sold to developers. the land to the south was opened up to suburban sprawl. The settlement incorporated the local parishes of East Wickham, Falconwood, Danson and Saint Michael's.

[edit] Welling today

Welling is home to a bingo hall, a football ground - Welling United F.C., a newly refurbished library with free meeting room, IT and internet facilities and a local café, The Koffi Pot, dating from 1930s, when it was called "Ferrara's" and was famous for its widely loved ice cream. The Ferrara family still live in Welling. There is also a wide range of restaurants (mostly ethnic take-aways), various independent outlets and charity shops, lining Welling High Street (ancient Watling Street), Upper Wickham Lane, and Bellegrove Road. Welling railway station is close to Central Avenue at the Western limit of the town centre and offers direct rail links to London Bridge, Charing Cross, Victoria and Cannon Street Stations in central London, and to Dartford and other towns in north Kent.

The former Foster's School building in Upper Wickham Lane is a local landmark. The school relocated to Westbrooke Road in Welling and its original site was converted to residential use (whilst retaining the old Grade II listed main school building). Further North of the original site is an ancient church, now used by a Greek Orthodox congregation. Other schools in Welling include Bexley Grammar School.

A large Russian gun is located at Welling corner. This Russian weapon is a 36 pounder carronade (calibre 6.75 inches - weight 17cwt) of a type used during the Crimean War(1854 to 1860), displayed on a simple wooden replica carriage. The carronade was in service from 1780 to 1860 and is now on loan from the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich as a reminder of Welling's early association with the Woolwich Arsenal, when huts at East Wickham were built as homes for munitions workers in the Great War.

The population of Welling was estimated to be around 42,000 at the 2001 census. Singer and songwriter Kate Bush is a famous former resident.

Welling was, for a time, headquarters to the British National Party, whose barricaded building was the centre of several anti-racist protests in the early 1990s. One protest in September 1993 was 50,000 strong, and their presence brought the town unwanted notoriety. A post-office box address in Welling was still in use by the BNP in 1999, and, alongside Labour, Conservative and Lib-Dems, they continue to field candidates in local elections.

A major upgrade of paving and street lighting was completed in the autumn of 2005. The retention or removal of a section of westbound bus lane from Welling High Street became one of the few specific local issues on which the main political parties disagreed in the approach to the local Bexley Council elections held on 4th May 2006. The locally successful Conservative Party have promised its deletion.

The bustling high street has plenty to offer in the range of pound shops, charity shops, kebab shops on both sides of the road (directly opposite each other) and barbers. It also boasts a Co-Op and Tescos which both internally have not differed in around 20 years.