The Blackheath Society produces a range of leaflets providing local information and guided walks around the area.

Rock Around Blackheath

A surprising number of pop and rock stars either originated from Blackheath and the surrounding area or chose to live here – at least temporarily. Stars such as Albert Lee, Chris Difford and Marty Wilde grew up in Blackheath while others such as Manfred Mann, John Mayall and Kate Bush became famous while living in the area. A number of local venues also figured prominently on the twentieth century music map, including the Lewisham Odeon, the Green Man pub and the Underhill rehearsal studio.

Paul Wright, a long standing member of the Blackheath Society (also responsible for ‘Road Rage’ and ‘Forgotten Neighbours – Some Residents of The Old St Margaret’s Churchyard’), together with friend and colleague Maureen Corcoran, gave an illustrated talk on the area’s musical past in 2022. Paul has now produced an illustrated booklet based on that talk which also contains links to interviews with some illustrious figures from rock history. These can also be seen here.

The booklet is available to download as a PDF here.

Road Rage – Fifty Years of Plans for Motorways Through Blackheath

In the late 1960s there was a plan to build an eight-lane motorway through the centre of Blackheath Village. In what many regard as its finest hour, the Blackheath Society was instrumental in ensuring that this very real plan never came to fruition. The plan was in fact part of a London-wide scheme which would have seen a ring of mostly elevated motorways around the capital. It was also just one of a number of schemes developed for major roads across Blackheath throughout the twentieth century.

Paul Wright, a long-standing member of the Blackheath Society presented an illustrated talk on these spine-shivering plans in October 2019. He has now produced an illustrated booklet based on the talk, which describes in detail the various ways in which planners sought largely to destroy Blackheath Village by driving major roads through it.

The booklet is available to download as a PDF here.