The arrival of the railway in 1882 was a false dawn for suburbanisation in West Wickham.

Situated 15 miles from Charing Cross on a branch of the comparatively slow Mid-Kent line, with very few through trains, there were still plenty of undeveloped areas more accessible to London.

In this view taken almost 50 years after it opened, this very suburban public house, which had replaced the historic 'Leather Bottle' in 1882, still looks rather lonely.