is an area in the
London Borough Of Lewisham ,
England . It is located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) south east of
Charing Cross .
The name may either derive from wildcats at a crossing of the
River Ravensbourne or, as is more likely, from a cattle ford across the same river. Catford's most prominent landmark is the Catford Cat, a giant fibreglass sculpture of a black cat above the entrance to the Catford Centre. This is a small
Shopping Centre , housing Tesco and Iceland supermarkets as well as some independent shops in the punningly-named Catford Mews. There is a street market on Catford Broadway. Catford has several
Pub s and a variety of non-chain restaurants and cafes. Catford's oldest pub is the Black Horse and Harrow which existed at least as early as 1700, though the present building dates from 1897. Between 1932 and 2003,
Catford Stadium was a successful
Greyhound Racing track, but it is now closed.
The 1960's and 70's had a considerable impact on the architecure of Catford. The old Town Hall, 'the Catford Cathedral' of 1875 was replaced by the current Civic Suite in 1968, soon after the merger of the metropolitan boroughs of Lewisham and Deptford. Laurence House where many of the borough's offices are housed is on the site of St Laurence's Church. The
Brutalist Eros House, which replaced the Lewisham Hippodrome (Catford's
Music Hall designed by the famous theatre architect
Frank Matcham ) in 1960, is now Grade II listed. In Rushey Green outside Eros House, the old village hand-pump from the 1850s survives. In 1974 the Catford shopping centre was built by the brutalist architect
Owen Luder .
The
Art Deco Broadway theatre adjoins the town hall. This is a curved stone structure decorated with shields and heraldic emblems and topped with an attractive copper-green spire. It was opened in 1932 as the Concert Hall and is now a Grade II listed building. The interior is in art deco style. The only cinema in the borough stood opposite the theatre until its closure in
2002 .
Other than the shows at the Broadway Theatre the main cultural events are Lewisham Peoples day held in Mountsfield Park and the yearly beer festival organised by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) which is held at the theatre.
In recent years it has been satirised in The Chap magazine series called 'A year in Catford' after Peter Mayle's bestseller 'A Year in Provence'. The magazine poked fun at Catford's mundanity.
- Spike Milligan (1918-2002) the comedian and writer went to school at Catford's Brownhill Boys School and often visited the suburb where his aunt and uncle lived. He claimed to have lived in Catford and wrote about the area in many of his books and sketches. In reality he lived in nearby Honor Oak which is nearer Forest Hill than Catford. Catford was probably thought to have been funnier.
- Ben Elton the comedian and writer was born in Catford in 1959.
Catford is well connected for public transport, with two adjacent stations where railway lines cross (but do not
Interchange ). Catford railway station is on the route between
Blackfriars Station and
Sevenoaks via
Bromley South, while
Catford Bridge Railway Station is on the Mid-Kent line to
Hayes from
Charing Cross and
Cannon Street stations. As well as the railway stations there is Catford bus garage, providing many routes towards
Central London and out towards
Bromley .
- 47 Catford Garage-Shoreditch
- 54 Elmer's End-Woolwich via Beckenham
- 75 West Croydon-Lewisham via Sydenham
- 124 Eltham-Catford via Mottingham, Grove Park and Torridon Road
- 136 Grove Park-Peckham via Goldsmith's College
- 138 Coney Hall-Catford via Bromley South and Downham
- 160 Catford Garage-Sidcup via Brownhill Road and Eltham.
- 171 Catford Garage-Aldwych via Brockley, Peckham and Waterloo
- 181 Downham-Lewisham via Bell Green and Hither Green
- 185 Lewisham-Victoria via Peckham
- 199 Catford Garage-Canada Water/Surrey Quays via Greenwich
- 202 Crystal Palace-Blackheath
- 208 Lewisham-Orpington
- 284 Lewisham-Grove park via Crofton Park and Verdant Lane
