How Farnborough Village Kent has changed 1983 to 2023: old school, pubs, shops, church and overview

How Farnborough Village Kent has changed in the 40 years up to 2023.
In the early 1980s I was very concerned about the number of old buildings disappearing so I photographed parts of Orpington, Kent and London to create record, focusing on listed and locally listed buildings as well as anything else that was interesting that I came across
I have come back in 2023 to see what has changed!
We will look at the Pubs, school, shops, church and other interesting features
Please stay to the end for all the details, I hope you enjoy, please like and subscribe.
Brought to you by Eclectic Experience, change seen through images.
If we start with a map, Farnborough Village is located here, in Kent but part of the London Borough of Bromley. It is on the edge of Orpington right next to the A21 and close to the M25
Looking at another map from the London Borough of Bromley it shows the listed buildings in orange and the locally listed ones in mauve, as we can see there are a lot and the hashed zone is a conservation area
Places Covered:
Farnborough Old School
Listed and Locally listed buildings
The Woodman Pub
The Change of Horses Pub
The George and previously the George and Dragon Pub
The village centre triangle
The village sign and landscaping
Malcolm Tysoe music shop
Maxims Chinese takeaway
Old cafe with net curtains
Woppets and Poppets photography
Fiat garage Farnway Services
Church of St Giles the Abbot
Church Road
Sources:
Dover Kent Archives website
London Borough of Bromley website
Historic England website
Farnborough Village History Website
www.farnborough-kent-village....
Orpington History Organisation
www.orpington-history.org
Book - Around Orpington Through Time by Phil Waller

[@peterjenkins2789]

Memories, memories! My father used to teach at the school in the early 1950s before he changed to Charterhouse Road School. In '69 I worked the Christmas post in the village during the school holidays. I think there were 4 or 5 of us for the area. We received our bags at Orpington Post Office in the morning and then piled into the back of a PO van (what Health and Safety) to be dropped off by the George. After finishing the round we took the 51 bus from the turnaround triangle back to the high street, making sure we kept the ticket for recovering the travel cost. I was baptised in St. Giles since the parish extended over the A21 into the Tubbenden Lane area.

[@roomullan3050]

Very interesting

[@mcharrisment4765]

Excellent video especially if you know this area well - and it is still lovely today 👏👍

[@tw25rw]

I used to attend meetings of Orpington Rotaract in the Change of Horses back in the 80s.

[@elephant_pavilion]

Great video as always

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed!

[@Brit4164]

My grandad used to be the organist at St. Giles from around the early 1980s until the mid-late 1990s.

[@stephengetting9693]

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to put together these local history videos - much appreciated,

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thank you , the comments are much appreciated!

[@NowFunStarts]

At 6.40 you can also see H Lewis dental laboratory which was where i used to work, my boss was Harry Lewis (good man) and that Mini outside was my first car bought in 1981. I was 20yrs old when this was filmed. Great times back then.

[@eclecticexperience1]

Wow, great to bring back good memories and its amazing your car was in the video!

[@joboorman5445]

You should see how much the village has changed since I was a child 70 yrs ago,let alone only 40 yrs ago !

[@eclecticexperience1]

I can only imagine.....

[@leakoe3797]

Farnborough ..been told its Villens paradise..!

[@TheFairway8]

Dare I say there is actually aesthetic improvements (very surprising in this day and age) in the later photos ie the street lamps and the Old Forge looks a lot nicer

[@eclecticexperience1]

I think you are right, it is the little things like the vintage lamp posts that make all the difference

[@charlescalthorp5375]

It still looks nice to be honest, just a bit of tweaking here and there. A bit like Downe.
Biggin Hill on the other hand 😞

[@johnc3548]

Would like to see Locks bottom, if you've done that area.

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thanks, funnily enough I am working on Locksbottom now, should be out in the next couple of weeks!

[@jennymole1374]

Thank you for this I enjoyed watching this as I did with your Orpington videos I was born and grew up in farnborough so thank you❤

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@dwbonbon3370]

Ah, Farnborough, if only I could be one of those sons of Farnborough!

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thanks, what fine words!