Beckenham is a suburb in south-east London, and it is also where my uncle once lived. The arrival of the railway in 1857 transformed Beckenham from a quiet rural village into a thriving residential town that today is home to more than fifty thousand people.

Despite its close proximity to the metropolis, Beckenham has retained an abundance of green spaces. Among the finest is Beckenham Place Park, centred on the elegant eighteenth-century mansion built by John Cator, Lord of the Manor, who made his fortune in the timber trade. Today the house is surrounded by London’s first municipal golf course, ancient woodland and peaceful parkland, providing a welcome escape from the bustle of the capital.

The heart of Beckenham is dominated by the magnificent parish church of St George. Dating from around 1100 and extensively rebuilt in the late nineteenth century by the architect W. Gibbs Bartlet, it has almost cathedral-like proportions. Particularly striking are its unusual polygonal apse—most English churches end with a straight east wall—its graceful tower crowned by four pinnacles, richly coloured stained-glass windows, finely carved stonework, impressive memorials, a splendid hammerbeam roof and the ancient wooden lychgate leading into the churchyard, one of the oldest surviving timber structures of its kind in England.

The scale and grandeur of St George’s Church reflect the growing confidence and prosperity that accompanied Beckenham’s remarkable expansion during the Victorian era.

At this point you may well be asking, “But who are the two Chinese ladies mentioned in the title?”

The first is the famous Chinese Garage. In reality it is not Chinese at all, but was designed in 1928 by the architect Edmund Clarke in the style of a Japanese pagoda. Why anyone should choose to build a petrol station in such an exotic style remains something of a mystery, but it certainly succeeded in attracting attention. As a child I was utterly captivated by it. Seeing this extraordinary building first awakened in me a desire to visit the Far East, and many years later, beginning in 2016, I was fortunate enough to fulfil that ambition with two memorable journeys.

When I originally wrote this article, the future of the Chinese Garage was uncertain. I imagined it might one day become an elegant sushi restaurant. Instead, the beautifully restored Grade II listed building has found a new lease of life as the home of a Tesco Express and a Majestic Wine store, with flats above. While no longer serving motorists, it continues to delight passers-by as one of Beckenham’s most distinctive landmarks.

And where is Beckenham’s second Chinese lady? She can be found in nearby Kelsey Park, through which flows the little River Beck, from which the town itself takes its name. For many local families—including ours—a walk around this delightful park after Christmas lunch became a cherished tradition. I can still picture it lying peacefully beneath a blanket of snow. The park boasts magnificent trees, among them one of the largest London plane trees I have ever seen, but its most colourful residents are undoubtedly the Mandarin ducks. Native to China, these beautiful birds wear some of the most dazzling plumage to be found anywhere in the bird world.

Beckenham has many other charms: attractive streets, welcoming pubs and a relaxed atmosphere that captures the character of a prosperous middle-class suburb at the height of the Belle Époque. It may not be the first destination on a visitor’s itinerary to London but those who take the time to explore it are richly rewarded.

Since 2000, Beckenham has also enjoyed something that London had lost for almost half a century—the tram. Here, painted in their distinctive green livery, London’s modern trams begin their journey towards another of the capital’s great green suburbs, Wimbledon, world-famous as the home of lawn tennis. What better excuse could there be than to combine a leisurely tram ride with the chance of watching the world’s finest players competing on its legendary grass courts including Bagni di Lucca’s own Jasmine Paolini!

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