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    October 26

    London Bridge Station

    Railway chronology
     
    • London and Greenwich Railway (later South Eastern Railway) station opened 14 December 1836.
    • London and Croydon Railway (later London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) station opened 5 June 1839.
    • Joint station opened July 1844; demolished in 1850.
    • New SER and LBSCR stations opened on 3 January 1851.
    • LBSCR station demolished and rebuilt in 1853; extended in 1866 (present station).
    • Original London and Greenwich platforms demolished and new high-level through platforms opened 11 January 1864.
    • Station unified by the Southern Railway 1928.
    • Large scale rebuilding by British Rail opened 15 September 1978.
    • Terminus Hotel opened 1861; purchased by the LBSCR for offices in 1893; demolished 1941.

    Station Design

    • 1839 L&CR station wooden-trussed pitched roof, one span 56 ft by 212 ft, designed by J. Gibbs(?)
    • 1866 LBSCR station, one span, trussed-arch roof, 88 ft by 655 ft, designed by J. Hawkshaw / F.D. Banister.
    • 1978 redevelopment by British Rail Southern Region Regional Architect, N.G.T. Wikeley
    3:27 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Walking About History

    London's Eleveated Railway

    When you think about elevated railways you tend to think of the fabled EL in Chicago, but when it comes right down to it much of London's first overground railway between Greenwhich and London Bridge was, and still is, elevated. The brick built Victorian arches are home to myriad small businesses, including:

    • Health Clubs
    • Art Galleries
    • Garages
    • Scrap Metal Merchants
    • Sandwich Bars

    With London Bridge as the hub the lines extend out over Borough Market to Waterloo East and Charing Cross South of the River Thames, and to Blackfriars and Cannon Street over the River. Going south, which really means going east to New Cross and New Cross Gate, before heading south the line is elevated most oif the way.

    From Blackfriars the track swings to the east into London Bridge or carries on southwards to Elephant & Castle - all at an elevation, and even entering the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre at the first floor - and on towards Herne Hill.

    London Bridge is the oldest station in London and was opened in 1836.

     

     

    3:23 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Walking About History
    September 06

    Tadworth Water Tower

    The Tower House in Tower Road, (formerly Middle Road) Tadworth is now a distinctive residence. It started life as a water tower for the Sutton District Water Company who built it in a Victorian Romanesque style in 1898. Although the Tower was essentially an industrial building, it was also a prominent tourist landmark on the edge of Walton Heath. Walkers were attracted to Tadworth by the healthy scent from the pine trees that grew in profusion together with the bracing air of the North Downs.

     

     The district was sparsely populated and the Tower, as a landmark, was featured extensively on post cards of the era. The Tower comprised a riveted steel tank on a brickwork supporting structure. It was supplied by water pumped from the SDWC works in Carshalton Road, Sutton. This necessitated raising the water approximately 500 ft to achieve a top water level in the Tower 641 ft above sea level. The tower was originally about 50 ft high including the tank, which was 11 ft in depth, and with a diameter of about 24 ft. In 1910 the SDWC acquired the Kingswood and District Water Co and in order to meet the demands of the new area, a second tower was built at Colley Hill in 1911. This tower, standing in Margery Wood, is still in use today, and is now adjacent to the M25 motorway where it can be seen on the south side. The capacity of the Tadworth tower was 20,000 galls (90,922 litres weighing 91 tonnes). It is known that by 1925, the SDWC had decided to decommission the Tadworth Tower and the tank was removed to SDWC Woodmanstern depot where it was used for oil storage. The tank was eventually scrapped in 1938. The Sutton District Water Company had decided to dispose of the site and following removal of the tank, the land reverted back to the Tattenham Park Land Co under the terms of the original purchase agreement. By 1926 the Land Co. had disposed of the Water Tower plot to William Adams, landlord of the Dukes Head on Tadworth Green. In 1926/7, the adjoining domestic buildings to the Tower were erected and the whole assumed a residential role. A flat roof with castellated parapet replaced the tank and William Adams was the first occupier.
    2:34 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Walking About History
    July 20

    City of London Coal Posts

    Living in Surrey for most of my life I have long been fascinated by Coal Posts. You must have seen them white posts bearing the arms of the City of London in red.

    From mediaeval times the City of London Corporation collected taxes on coal and wood being brought into the city.

    In 1861 the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Act led to the setting up of the coal and wine tax posts. The funds collected were used to pay Londons debts, as well as for building bridges over the Thames, pavements, roads, Thames embankment etc. The growth of canal and railway traffic meant extra collecting points for taxes had to be set up outside the City boundaries. These points were by canals, railways, tracks and roads into London.

    The tax was finally officially ended in 1889, but many posts remain. Of the original 260 posts more than 200 still remain in a ring around London.

    Clearly a lot of money was collected over a great many years. So who did the collecting? Was a tax collector standing by each of the 260 Coal Posts each day to collect the money, or was a nearby resident responsible? What was the fee for a wagon load of coal?

    Does anyone know?
    11:55 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Walking About History