Yesterday I got off the train at Crofton Park, which is not something I usually do, and took the side exit, which is not something I've ever done before.
A house opposite had a blue plaque on it, so I went to have a look and blimey what an unusual plaque.
Firstly it's a plaque to someone who hasn't been born yet.
Secondly it's a plaque to a character in the Star Trek universe.
Thirdly it was supposedly erected by the Vulcan High Council.
For all these reasons it's clearly a fake, although a solid piece of work and very convincing-looking.
AmandaGrayson is Spock's mother in the TV series, a human female married to a Vulcan who appeared once in an episode called Journey to Babel. This was first broadcast in September 1967 so you've had every chance to watch it. But there are two problems here. Firstly Journey to Babel is set in 2268 and this plaque claims Amanda died in 2258, and secondly Spock was only a Commander in The Original Series, not an Ambassador. Hardcore Trekkies would therefore argue that the plaque comes from the so-called Kelvin Universe in which the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies are set, where Spock now has the appropriate rank and Amanda falls to her death during the destruction of the planet Vulcan in the requisite year. If you're genuinely interested in the distinction I hope I've provided enough weblinks to satisfy your inner geek.
There is however no evidence anywhere in the Star Trek back catalogue to suggest that Amanda comes from Crofton Park. We know she comes from Earth and was a schoolteacher but at no point in her backstory are England, London or Brockley SE4 ever mentioned. It is hinted in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that one of her ancestors was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but that's just an amusing throwaway line and the great crime novelist has no connection to southeast London. All I think we can say for certain is that the owner of this house on Marnock Road is a massive fan of the later Star Trek franchise and enjoys trolling their neighbours.
I'm obviously not the first person to spot the plaque, nor the first person to blog about it. Londonist ran a piece in 2019 tipped off by a local contributor to their Urban Oddities Facebook group, which I think is where I must have read about it before. But nothing quite beats the fun of stumbling unexpectedly upon a convincing anachronism in a random suburban street, especially when its existence is highly illogical. Let's just hope that this Victorian terrace is still standing in two centuries time, and that the schoolteacher who resides here gets the chance to boldly go, live long and prosper.
