Saturday, January 31, 2009

Kate Bush in Brockley

This house in Wickham Road (number 44) was the launchpad for the career of arguably England's greatest singer songwriter: Kate Bush.

She actually grew up in a farmhouse in the similarly named Wickham Lane in Welling, where she famously wrote some of her later hit songs while still a child. She went to St. Joseph's Convent Grammar School (later the St Joseph's Campus of Bexley College).

In her late teens, having already been signed by EMI, she moved to Brockley where she lived in the middle flat at no.44 Wickham Road, sandwiched between her two brothers' flats.

In 1977 she fronted the KT Bush Band in local pubs, particularly the Rose of Lee in Lewisham (now Dirty South), as well as the Royal Albert in New Cross Road (later the Paradise Bar, now back to being the Royal Albert). The following year she released her first album, The Kick Inside, with her first single (Wuthering Heights) going to number one. That was the end of her playing down the pub, and in fact after a tour in 1979 she pretty much gave up live gigs altogether apart from the occasional appearance. Later she lived for many years in Court Road, between Mottingham and Eltham.

Thanks to Fred Vermorel for confirming the address; there are some references elsewhere (e.g. on Wikipedia) to Kate Bush living in Tressillian Road in Brockley - I don't think this is right, unless somebody is clear that she lived there as well as Wickham Road - the latter is definitely correct. By the way, I have heard that another well known musician lived in the same flat after Kate Bush, but not sure who - anybody know?

 See Also: Kate Bush - The Brockley Demos - yes, she wrote Wuthering Heights in Wickham Road
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13 comments:

  1. Anonymous1 February 2009 at 13:12

    I would like to thank Fred Vermorel for behaving like such a psychotic fan that Kate Bush now seldom comes out of hiding. Well done, mate!

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  2. .1 February 2009 at 13:28

    I can't speak for FV, but I wouldn't post somebody's current home address on Transpontine - however where they lived years ago is a matter of local historic interest.

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  3. Anonymous1 February 2009 at 14:07

    I lived in Brockley for a couple of years between '86 and '88 and the word on the street was that she was living, or had lived, on Tressillian Road. That might just be the same strand of misinformation that ended up on Wikipedia though.

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  4. Tressillian James5 February 2009 at 13:34

    I also heard that she lived in Tressillian - this from a driver who came to pick me up to go to the airport. Turns out he was from Brockley, lived at that time in Tressillian, and not been back for years. He pointed out a house a little bit down from mine and mentioned that it was the one that Kate Bush lived in.

    Would be nice if someone could confirm it somewhere. As a lifelong fan, I would of course like it to turn out to be Tressillian!

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  5. 'len25 February 2009 at 20:57

    I used to live at 44C (the big windows) - I cannot tell you how excited I am to hear I've lived in Kate Bush's house!!!

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  6. Unknown25 February 2009 at 20:58

    My friend just found this link.....this is our old house! We used to live in the ground floor (with the bay window), but unfortunately not when Kate was there.... We always knew she lived on Wickham somewhere, but I can't quite believe it's number 44!

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  7. Anonymous16 November 2013 at 16:16

    She did used to live at 44 as she used to look after me as a child when I live at the same flats 44D

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  8. Anonymous30 May 2014 at 16:51

    I used to go to cub scouts with her nephew Owen and remember going to a birthday party at the house, so this rings true. This would have been in late 70s early 80s.

    At the time we lived on Wickham Road, and my sister looked a bit like Kate. She was often chased by fans looking for autographs.

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  9. Nick19 February 2015 at 16:12

    Slightly off-post but can anyone tell me exactly where the Bush family farmhouse in Wickham Lane, Welling, is/was? I never knew that Kate grew up there, yet my mother has lived in Wickham Lane for over thirty years and I must have passed this spot countless times (In the early 1970s I used to live in Manor Park, Lewisham, just round the corner from The Rose Of Lee. I never used it as it was such a grim (Watneys) pub but I wish I had now as apparently it was at this exact time that the KT Bush Band used to play there.

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  10. Sidsaucer2 March 2015 at 01:04

    Kate lived with her parents in East Wickham Farmhouse in Wickham Street, Welling as described here: http://www.francisfrith.com/welling/east-wickham-and-welling-a-magical-time-a-magical-life_memory-370801

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  11. Nick26 August 2015 at 17:37

    Many thanks for the info Sidsaucer. So it seems from the article that the farmhouse was in Wickham Street rather than on Wickham Lane itself - that makes me feel a bit better as it's only Wickham Lane that I've ever travelled along! Still an interesting piece of local history for me though.

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  12. Fred Garnett19 August 2017 at 16:28

    Thanks for the Kate Bush details. The drummer Jim Russell used to live in Wickham Road. He was in Stretch (Why Did You Do It), Human League (Human), Curved Air and was the Beach Boys live drummer for a time. He was a mate whilst he lived there. I worked at Lewisham College.
    More info on Discogs; https://www.discogs.com/artist/161220-Jim-Russell

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  13. Anonymous6 November 2017 at 02:51

    I definitely knew Kate lived in this address until at least late 1981 as I went to school (Myatt Garden) and also got her nephew Owen to join the local cub scout group. I was good friends with Owen until we lost contact when his family moved to Kent. Also used to go on the occasional days out with the family.

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