Talk:New Malden

Famous Residents
I have heard that Cat Stevens lived in Elm Road, there is a house with a large mural down the side near the junction with Chestnut Avenue. I also heard that Eric Clapton grew up in New Malden. I also think that the footballers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gianluca Vialli and other Chelsea footballers lived in New Malden whilst playing for Chelsea.

- R.E. Chelsea footballers. I used to work in Blockbusters in New Malden and the rest of the staff would occasionally get very excited because apparently the Chelsea goalkeeper was a regular and they'd point him out and whisper to each other everytime he came in. I didn't have a clue who he was as I don't like football so i'd just serve him with the normal contempt I had for all out customers.

I grew up in New Malden (22 Poplar grove) Through the war years & until I joined the Royal Navy in 1953, I went to Lime Grove, Elm Road & Beverly schools, Beverley had a link with Chelsea F.C. as we had professional coaching for football, & it was Chelsea goalkeeper Harry Medhurst who came to Beverley for this. (billandkate@hotmail.com) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.138.172.72 (talk) 16:11, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Not quite what you had in mind... but it is said that in the 1940s Glenn Miller and his band played at Barton Green Pavilion (now Barton Green Theatre) in Elm Road! He apparently rehearsed there for gigs to entertain US troops stationed in Bushy Park. The only evidence is hearsay - some elderly locals told me. JonC

Can't confirm the above, but I read ages ago that Dame Nellie Melba lived here and Lord Liverpool (three-time prime minister) while President Eisenhower's wartime residence was further away at Worcester Park. Any confirmation available on these?

-  Eisenhower did live in New Malden during the war, he apparently worked from a house in the estate at the top of trapps lane. I don't know whether New Malden was chosen because it has a depressing atmosphere and so was more conducive to war.

After googling the names of the newer "famous residents" I've got to ask if there's a good reason why they should be included.

The recently- added local politicians/youth representatives get a few hundred hits when googled compared with Alec Stewart 127.000 John Martyn 528,000 Dave Swarbrick 110,000 Max Wall 82,200 Mr. Woo 101,000. If nobody objects in the next few days I'll move these new political ones to this talk page until someone gives a good explanation why they're famous enough to belong in the main article.Zagubov 20:56, 27 August 2006 (UTC) I suggest we move this sentence here; "Youth leader Michael Joslin and politician Nick Parrott are also famous residents". This can be returned if it's shown why they're famous. The Sri Lankan broadcast pioneer Vernon Corea was a New Malden resident who scores a simiilar Google hit rate but was far more famous outside the English speaking world, and so probably better deserves to be included, being a household name for many years in a Commonwealth country.

It seems likely that the Notable Residents section may be the victim of some self promotion. Would someone without a direct link to the area be prepared to take a look and re-evaluate it?Zagubov (talk) 21:40, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Farm?
Hello, there was a farm that ran between the train track and Alric Avenue, I remember animals grazing below the footbridge that connects Dukes Avenue to Alric Avenue. Suddenly it vanished, any history to this eerie disappearance? The land appears to be derelict today, someone said that an old train track used to run from here to Raynes Park.

- "Webbies"? Is there any confirmation of this; I've lived in New Malden most of my life, and I've _never_ heard of this...

The land between the railway and Alric Avenue has a huge mains water pipe beneath it so I don't think anything would or could be built on top of it. You could always hear chickens when you were on the railway platform in the 70s.

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I lived in New Malden for 20 years and never heard the term, which doesnt nmean its wrong. It is wrong to call NM a new town. Its called new to distinguish it from Old Malden to the south but most of it was developed in the 19th century and as normal suburban development.

Lumos3 09:12, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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About the number of Koreans - httpxxxxxx/newmalden/archive/2005/01/24/gbmg0nlebdj6.htm states a number as high as 20,000, and several other sites say that the number of Koreans in SW London is over 20,000

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I have amended the statement of what New Malden comprises, to make clear that it includes the Motspur Park area. Colin McLaughlin 09:41, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Leafy?
Leafy is vague. I grew up in New Malden. The areas around the Golf Course are definately leafy but other areas, like near the A3, are grey grey grey. I hate the term leafy it gives the wrong impression of an area.

Hi Something weird's going on- I'm new to this but when I open this page and try to add to it I get the following notice (quoting it here in full:

"Spam protection filter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This is a talk page. Please respect the talk page guidelines, and remember to sign your posts using four tildes (Zagubov 17:42, 10 December 2006 (UTC)).	The spam filter blocked your page save because it detected a blacklisted hyperlink. You may have added it yourself, the link may have been added by another editor before it was blacklisted, or you may be infected by spyware that adds links to wiki pages. You will need to remove all instances of the blacklisted URL before you can save. You can request help removing the link, request that the link be removed from the blacklist, or report a possible error on the Spam blacklist talk page. If you'd like to allow a particular link without removing similar links from the blacklist, you can request whitelisting on the Spam whitelist talk page. The following text is what triggered our spam filter: xxxx Return to Main Page."

I put a gap onto what I think is the dodgy link but am worried I'm breaking with etiquette on this point Now I got this warning even when I didn't change the edit by a single letter! Does this mean this page is uneditable ? Not complaing -have found the wikipedia user-friendly until now, first instance of a user-hostile warning. What's going on? Just how can I bypass this? Zagubov 00:58, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Dull intro
Don't mean to be rude, but isn't the intro to a little dull? It reads like it was written by some superannuated Geography teacher. 'Its 3.4 miles east of this and 5 miles west of this, there is a deciduous forest on your right and a steep incline on your left, with a paelolithic grid reference at the back.' If you look at other town pages on Wikipedia they often start with some sort of boast or claim that must make their inhabitants proud to live there. Anyone reading this page would get the impression that New Malden was competing to become known as one of the dreariest places in the British Isles.

So what should go in its place? Whenever I explain New Malden to people the first thing I say (and most people say) is that it has the biggest Korean community in Europe and basically it is close to London without all the downsides - e.g. high crime, bleak architecture, urban alienation etc. The first one is easier to quantify - how about a someone writing down the reason all the Koreans came to New Malden? One story I heard was that the Japanese moved here first in the 1970s and the Koreans followed, but then the Japanese moved out. Goldgreen 4 May 2007

I heard the Korean embassy used to be/ambassador used to live in Wimbledon and advised visiting businesspeople to rent there - until prices rocketed after which they recommended New Malden as being only two stops further out but better schools, crime rate, environment, prices etc. However this needs checking and I don't have great sources for this. Anybody got any info? Zagubov 20:48, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Constituency
I believe that part of NM is in the Richmond Park parliamentary constituency. 82.163.24.100 12:41, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Beverely Park
Does anyone have a short history of New Malden's park they could include, it doesn't get a mention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.14.152.15 (talk) 01:49, 13 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Perhaps you mean Beverley Park? And your wording implies that it is the only park, but Blagdon Park exists (search the Web for "Blagdon Park" "New Malden"), as does Manor Park. 94.30.84.71 (talk) 12:31, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Google Maps
Does anyone know why the Wiki entry for New Malden appears in Google Maps as being on Kingston Hill? The co-ordinates look OK to me, so where is Google getting the location from?

"Koreatown"??
The Koreatown page lists New Malden as a "Koreatown". Do New Maldenites consider this to be a Koreatown, or only one neighbourhood of New Malden? Do 15 restaurants, a cultural institute and a former ambassador's residence and a a Samsung office constitute a "Koreatown"? Or is that a "reaching" claim? Please modify Koreatown appropriately if need be.Skookum1 (talk) 16:06, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * The article also categorises New Malden as an "ethnic enclave". This seems a bit over-the-top to me. Yes, there is a large Korean population in comparison to elsewhere in the UK but it's nowhere near being a majority of the local population. I intend to remove this category unless anyone objects. Cordless Larry (talk) 07:34, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * That category is up for discussion. NM qualifies as much as the other members. Imo it is not about residents, but as a commercial & entertainment centre for a widely-distributed community & NM qualifies. Johnbod (talk) 14:35, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
 * The entire definition/determination of "Koreatown" is problematic in Wikipedia terms; simply a concentration of commercial & entertainment centres for the Korean-language market is not sufficient by itself to warrant the name "Koreatown".....doing so is original research, and also creating a directory of ethnic-market services rather than a real community. See Talk:Koreatown, new section at bottom.  In re your "imo it is not about residents", you're an unreliable source; show us some documentation describing New Malden (the whole of New Malden) as Koreatown, and note that what the other non-Korean residents of New Malden may think about being classified as one is likely quite citable.  As with Albany Park, Chicago, which is Latin/Hispanic-dominant and Koreans are only about eighth on the list of non-anglo minorities, describing the whole place as a Koreatown is overreach, undue weight and original research.  And, once again, the use of the term Koreatown is only valid if backed up by citations of that term as applied to the specific place.  A collection of groceries and video-rental and karaoke joints with hangul signs is not sufficient.Skookum1 (talk) 22:15, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I've never heard NM described as Koreatown, nor do I expect to. That article might well be renamed. But "Chinatown" is a very well-established term, & the Soho one is equally about a commercial centre rather than a residential one, as only a very small minority of the Chinese on the streets of Shoh actually live there. The section in this article, which I have recently added to with census data, seems perfectly reasonable. Johnbod (talk) 00:19, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Still doesn't warrant the use of Category:Koreatowns. If there were a "cities with a notable Korean commercial presence" category that might suffice or "communities with Koreatowns".  But exactly how notable is it as a commercial presence in New Malden, vs other commercial presences?  And where is this category up for discussion?  Is there a CfD?  And this article is about New Malden, the whole of it, not as if it were only notable because it's a Koreatown, or alleges to be.....Skookum1 (talk) 01:53, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * The Korean presence is certainly the most notable feature of the modern New Malden, which is not restricted to any particular part of NM. The Cfd is here. Johnbod (talk) 02:36, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Among the other items in the category was Liberdade in Sao Paulo, which is a Japanese area; the article didn't even mention Koreans or a Korean presence - and I've been in Liberdade and didn't see any Korean signs  at all.
 * You mean Liberdade (district of São Paulo)? It still does? Maybe worth a note at that Talk page. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:19, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

Surrey
If New Malden was once within Surrey, this would be worth mentioning. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 03:24, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
 * It was. Johnbod (talk) 03:35, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Bradbury Wilkinson and Company
It might be worthwhile to mention Bradbury Wilkinson and Company as a former business in New Malden. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 03:24, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
 * They were technically in Raynes Park, at least as defined after the A3 was set up. Johnbod (talk) 03:34, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Do we know the exact location? The New Malden/Raynes Park boundary comes close to the A3 here. Tesco's has a New Malden address while Raynes Park School next door has a Raynes Park address Zagubov (talk) 18:45, 9 March 2010 (UTC)


 * The linked company page says that Tesco is now on the site. 94.30.84.71 (talk) 12:34, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Sandy's
Sandy's appears to be having a closing-down sale. 94.30.84.71 (talk) 22:08, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Blagdon Road Open Space
Blagdon Road Open Space (http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/parks/recreation_sites/blagdon_road_open_space.htm) seems to have been overlooked as a park. Interestingly, it seems to have been built on something that was called the 'Norbiton Pottery' if you look at http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html of the area circa 1954. Does anyone know anything about the Norbiton Pottery?

Nomkt3 (talk) 19:36, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

I've found a panoramic photo from the top of the Norbiton Pottery chimney which shows New Malden at the turn of the 20th Century here.

Murugan Temple
The Murugan Temple link now appears not useful; but the Temple is still there.

BTW, New Maldeners fron the (Indian) sub-continent are woefully under-represented in the Article in comparison with Koreans.

94.30.84.71 (talk) 16:58, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

Little Korea or Koreatown
I noticed someone removed this some years ago. However it is correct and locals and tourists do refer to it in this way. Could this be edited? https://kingston.nub.news/news/local-news/inside-londons-thriving-mini-korea-171705 https://www.huckmag.com/article/inside-the-uks-very-own-little-korea https://simplylondonrelocation.com/knowledge-base/new-malden-in-south-west-london-aka-little-korea/ Bigbotnot2 (talk) 18:01, 14 June 2024 (UTC)