If anyone wants to venture to Derbyshire The National Tram Museum at Chrich, near Matlock is well worth a visit. It has a mile and a half of a working tram line and a fabulous sheds holding trams from all over the UK and the world.
Croydon has working tram line but I don't want to visit it.
A disused part of the subway was used as London's flood control centre before the flood barrier was commissioned.
Surely somewhere on a hill would have been more sensible?
It was above flood level and available.
I would have thought that if it was part of the means to control a flood it must be at the level a flood would reach if they presumably planned to bring the flood level down by letting the subways fill up
A disused part of the subway was used as London's flood control centre before the flood barrier was commissioned.
Surely somewhere on a hill would have been more sensible?
It was above flood level and available.
I would have thought that if it was part of the means to control a flood it must be at the level a flood would reach if they presumably planned to bring the flood level down by letting the subways fill up
It was a command centre in available space and the subway was not the means of controlling any flood.
Just to round off this topic, the management at London Transport floated several ideas of utilising the Subway, until it was found unsuitable for buses. One bright spark suggested a group outing to Paris to check out an underpass in St Cloud - at least that was the excuse for a jolly boys outing to Gay Paree (as it was known in those days). Anecdotal evidence suggests the LT boys ran up an expense account and returned worse for wear. Perhaps this was the origin of the rumour that the Subway might make a good venue for a nightclub!
As regards the general Charlton connection to trams, I managed to include several eye witness observations in two books - Lord Ashfield's Trams ISBN 978 -1- 85414 - 384 -6, and London Tramway Twilight ISBN 185414 238 8. I collected the stories from older fellow members of the East Terrace group. The best extract was from a chap who had gone to see the Addicks play away at West Brom in the late thirties. If you want to read it, you will find it on page 123 of Birmingham Tramways published in 2017 by Heathfield Publishing.
The last picture is one of my favourites and harks back to a time when you could easily and cheaply get about the capital using electric traction. The location is Plumstead.
Even I'm not old enough to remember trams - but I do remember the tram rails in Beresford Square.
That’s where we would pick up Lewis Coaches for away games in the early 1970s. Remember the very large tram shelters there to if my memory is not playing tricks.
My grandparents lived on Woolwich Road near Harvey’s entrance and always spoke of the trams passing by.
My Grandad worked in one of the tram workshops, night work. May have been at New Cross? Not sure what he did but it involved something to do with the wheels....might have been something about a build up of crap affecting the motors....too long ago to fully remember. He passed at 97 years of age in 2015.
Even I'm not old enough to remember trams - but I do remember the tram rails in Beresford Square.
That’s where we would pick up Lewis Coaches for away games in the early 1970s. Remember the very large tram shelters there to if my memory is not playing tricks.
My grandparents lived on Woolwich Road near Harvey’s entrance and always spoke of the trams passing by.
Yes, think the tram rails were there in to the 80s.
Gratuitous photo of Beresford Square, 1951, complete with tram shelter (was used for the routes towards Eltham) here on Flickr
My Grandad worked in one of the tram workshops, night work. May have been at New Cross? Not sure what he did but it involved something to do with the wheels....might have been something about a build up of crap affecting the motors....too long ago to fully remember. He passed at 97 years of age in 2015.
The place that's now Go-Ahead London's bus garage at New Cross was a tram depot, there was another at Abbey Wood where Glover Close is now - it also became a bus garage, but it closed in the early 80s and has since been re-developed.
Basic maintenance was done at night - checking / replacing brake blocks might have been part of it?
New Cross depot early 50s picture here - the old building was damaged by WW 2 bombing, so was completely rebuilt when it became a bus garage.
Comments
Not sure how true that is.
As regards the general Charlton connection to trams, I managed to include several eye witness observations in two books - Lord Ashfield's Trams ISBN 978 -1- 85414 - 384 -6, and London Tramway Twilight ISBN 185414 238 8. I collected the stories from older fellow members of the East Terrace group. The best extract was from a chap who had gone to see the Addicks play away at West Brom in the late thirties. If you want to read it, you will find it on page 123 of Birmingham Tramways published in 2017 by Heathfield Publishing.
The last picture is one of my favourites and harks back to a time when you could easily and cheaply get about the capital using electric traction. The location is Plumstead.
Remember the very large tram shelters there to if my memory is not playing tricks.
My grandparents lived on Woolwich Road near Harvey’s entrance and always spoke of the trams passing by.