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New Malden

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New Malden
New Malden High Street
OS grid referenceTQ215685
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEW MALDEN
Postcode districtKT3
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London

New Malden is a suburb in south-west London, in the boroughs of Kingston and Merton, and is 9.4 miles (15.1 km) from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities are Kingston upon Thames, Raynes Park, Surbiton, Tolworth, Wimbledon and Worcester Park.

History

New Malden was established entirely as a result of the arrival of the railway when what is now called New Malden railway station was opened on 1 December 1846 on the main line from Waterloo. However, when Queen Victoria visited distinguished residents in the Coombe Hill area, the royal train always continued to Norbiton station where the platform was at ground level.

Building started slowly in the area just to the north of the station, gathering pace in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with two- and three-bedroom terraced houses. Further out are larger detached and semi-detached houses from the 1930s. The name of the road up the hill to Coombe, Traps Lane, is thought to derive from a farm owned by a Mrs Trap.

Two miles (3 km) to the south is the former village of Old Malden (from which New Malden gets its name) whose origins go back to Anglo-Saxon times, the name being Old English for Mæl + duna = "the cross on the hill".

Under the District Councils Act 1895, The Maldens & Coombe Urban District Council was created (the plural relating to Old Malden and New Malden). In 1936 Malden and Coombe was granted full Borough status, with its own Mayor, and had the rare distinction of a civic mace bearing the royal insignia of King Edward VIII. In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 came into force merging the boroughs of Malden & Coombe and Surbiton with Kingston upon Thames to form the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

New Malden is home to the offices of many large organisations, including Nestle Purina and Northrop Grumman.

Description

New Malden is bounded to the north by the affluent Coombe Hill and to the south and east by Raynes Park, Worcester Park and Tolworth. New Malden includes Motspur Park, home to the training ground of Fulham Football Club and also the King's College London sports ground, home to the training ground of AFC Wimbledon.

The busy A3 trunk road runs through part of New Malden. A minor tributary of the River Thames, Beverley Brook, flows through the east of the town, while its western boundary is along the Hogsmill, another Thames tributary.

The first parking meters were made in New Malden at Venners Ltd.

Korean culture and presence in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has one of the largest expatriate communities of South Koreans in Europe, and is said to be one of the most densely populated area of Koreans outside South Korea. According to different sources, the Korean population in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is around 20,000. In the 2001 census, some small areas of New Malden had "Other Asian" (i.e., other than of Indian sub-continental origin, which also included Chinese) populations of "over 25%", though no whole ward reached over 20%. New Malden functions as the shopping and cultural centre for a Korean population spread more widely across South-West London and the neighbouring counties. The area has around fifteen Korean cafes and restaurants, a state-of-the-art Karaoke bar and many supermarkets and other shops. Churches of several denominations in the area have regular Korean services with associated Korean clergy.

The size of this community has been attributed to the former residence of the South Korean ambassador in Lord Chancellor's Walk off Coombe Lane West. During the 1970s many Koreans came to the area following his example, but when house prices rose in Wimbledon, they moved to nearby New Malden. Others point to a joint-venture between what was then Decca, later Racal Avionics, now part of Thales Group, at Shannon Corner and a Korean chaebol in the 1950s as the start of the community. Samsung Electronics' UK division used to be based in New Malden, although it has now relocated its European headquarters to nearby Chertsey. A high proportion of the community are expatriate workers for Korean companies, who remain in the UK for a number of years before returning to Korea.[citation needed] Many work in finance and banking in the City of London.[citation needed]

Amenities

New Malden war memorial

New Malden has its own sports centre, the Malden Centre,[1] which includes a swimming pool, gym and community facilities. It also runs several adult learning courses.

Beverley Park provides a football pitch, tennis courts, children's playground, allotments and open space.

Tudor Williams Ltd, established in 1913, is a family run department store in the High Street. The company also has shops in Cobham and Dorking and expanded by acquiring department stores Elphicks of Farnham in October 2004, and Knights of Reigate in September 2006. A branch of Waitrose is one of a number of other well known stores in the High Street.

The local newspapers are the Surrey Comet which has been in print since 1854, and the Kingston Guardian.

A monthly publication, The Village Voice,[2] covers local history, news, topical articles and advertisements for businesses serving the community.

There is an annual Malden Fortnight, which is a parade showcasing all the local schools and community groups and various other activities.

Each Christmas the High Street is festooned with Christmas lights with its own switching-on ceremony. The choir from Christ Church School, in New Malden sing Christmas carols to the townsfolk.

For a small town it is more than proportionately blessed with winners of the Victoria Cross. Research recently published in the Village Voice revealed the existence of a previously unknown third medal winner – see Notable Residents below.

New Malden has its own youth theatre, the Green Theatre Company, established in 1986 in a converted cricket pavilion at Barton Green. Green Theatre Company

The area's last cinema, the Odeon at Shannon Corner on the A3 has closed and been replaced by a large retail area including several large stores. The other cinema in the High Street (corner of Sussex Road) burnt down on Boxing Day 1936. There was also a silent cinema on Coombe Road by the station, which became the New Malden Gentlemen's Club in 1923; this closed in August 2010, and is now a Korean karaoke and pool bar.

New Malden also has its own "Dino-Golf" course, 18 holes of dinosaur themed crazy golf overlooking the A3. As well as a floodlit golf driving range.

In recent times New Malden played host to the biggest B&Q, Tesco and Currys. This Currys is the biggest electrical store in London. These are situated away from the High Street, which focuses more on smaller, more upmarket shops and restaurants.

Main article: New Malden High Street

Notable open spaces

Education and schools

For education in New Malden see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article.
  • Burlington (primary and nursery)
  • Christ Church (primary and nursery, Church of England)
  • Coombe Boys (secondary; "Beverley" prior to 2006)
  • Coombe Girls (secondary)
  • Coombe Hill Junior (primary)
  • Corpus Christi (primary and nursery, Roman Catholic)
  • Holy Cross (secondary, Roman Catholic School)
  • King's Oak (primary and nursery; formerly, "The Mount")
  • Malden Manor (primary and nursery)
  • Richard Challoner (secondary, Roman Catholic)
  • Sacred Heart (Primary)
  • Study School (Primary)

Transport

Rail

New Malden railway station has services provided by South West Trains to London Waterloo, Hampton Court, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond and Shepperton. It is in London Zone 4. The Old Malden area is well served by trains from Malden Manor railway station, travelling north to London and south to Chessington. Motspur Park railway station on the New Malden/Raynes Park borders also has rail connections to Chessington South, Epsom, Dorking and Guildford.

Bus

There are many bus routes going through New Malden, including the 213 route going from Kingston towards Sutton, the 131 and N87 routes going through Kingston Town Centre and Tooting Broadway (and Aldwych for the night bus) along with the X26 express bus to Croydon and Heathrow Airport and the 152 route going from New Malden towards Pollards Hill. The town also has a series of local bus routes, including the K1 which goes to Kingston and New Malden Station and the K5 to Ham and Morden.

Notable residents

Notable former or current residents include:

New Malden also has links to a third recipient of the Victoria Cross, Humphrey Osbaldston Brooke Firman VC, whose parents lived in Coombe at the time of his death. A plaque bearing his name was unveiled on the war memorial in the High Street during April 2008 and a road in a new housing development near the High Street has been named Firman Close.

  • In the BBC TV series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, New Malden features twice in the list of excuses Perrin made to his boss for his late arrival at work; one of the claims made is that a badger ate the signal box there.[7]
  • The house on the corner of Dukes Avenue/Howard Road featured in the exterior shots of 1970s ITV series Bless This House, which featured comedian Sid James.
  • In 2004, Tesco reported that the New Malden store was the biggest consumer of fruit and veg in the Country, in relation to items of fruit purchased per customer. It is thought that the Korean diet contributes significantly to this.[8]
  • Mentioned in a mid-1990s MasterCard advert – "New York? The furthest he's ever been is New Malden!"
  • Mentioned briefly on the radio traffic report in the BBC television series "Outnumbered".
  • Mentioned in Stephen Fry's autobiography 'Moab is my washpot'. "I suppose some rat faced weasel from New Malden will be interviewed at any minute to give the other side of the hunting debate" (page 45)
  • The Duke of Cambridge pub, now a Krispy Kreme doughnut store, was formerly a haunt of the Kray twins; the heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston attended the reopening night in the 1960s.[9]
  • Malden features in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which the "North Malden Icelandic Saga Society" change the script to the BBC's production of the Icelandic legend "Njorl's Saga" to incorporate references to Malden in an effort to attract investors. (Episode 1, Series 3)
  • Mentioned in BBC Comedy 'Little Britain'. In the Fat Fighters scene the host asked a member of the group where a photograph of her was taken, she replies, "New Malden!"
    • In another episode of the same show, an Indian representative is asked whether she will be writing a letter to her family in India, to which she corrects "New Malden".

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Malden.
  1. ^ http://www.dcleisurecentres.co.uk/Centres/Surrey/Malden+Centre%2C+The/index.html
  2. ^ The Village Voice
  3. ^ http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/parks/recreation_sites/beverley_park.htm
  4. ^ http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/532426.print/
  5. ^ http://www.kingstonguardian.co.uk/news/9713178.print/
  6. ^ Waller, Martin (26 May 2007). "Kynaston leaves the Square Mile behind to begin his search for Austerity Britain". The Times. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  7. ^ http://www.mgnet.karoo.net/11mins.htm
  8. ^ New Malden Is Bananas For Fruit And Veg (from Surrey Comet)
  9. ^ Krays Old Haunt up for Sale


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