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Home , Blackwall Tunnel, Docklands Light Railway, Eltham, Greenwich, Greenwich foot tunnel, Greenwich Pier

The growth of through Map of London’s boroughs

10 The map shows the current boundaries of London’s Key boroughs. The content of 2 1 Barking 17 this album relates to the & 15 31 18 area highlighted on the map. 14 26 2 Barnet 16 19 This album is one of a 3 20 Kensington series looking at London 17 4 6 12 19 4 Brent & Chelsea boroughs and their transport 1 25 stories from 1800 to the 5 21 Kingston 9 30 present day. 33 7 6 Camden 22 23 7 13 20 28 8 24 18 11 3 9 25 Newham 22 32 23 26 Redbridge 27 10 Enfield 11 Greenwich 27 Richmond 28 24 12 29 Sutton 21 13 5 & 30 Tower Hamlets 29 8 14 Haringey 31 Waltham Forest 15 Harrow 32 16 Havering 33 Map of Greenwich

* Princess Alice Disaster

l al kw would like to thank the staff nnel O2 Blac Tu * A201 6 at the Greenwich Heritage Woolwich North Tha me s Free Ferry* * tunnel Centre, London Borough of Greenwich Ba rrie r Royal A10 WOOL*WICH Greenwich, for their help 2 Beresford Gate 6 with this album. A201 * Woolwich A2016 A206 Gr Dockyard Woolwich fo eenwic Arsenal The Museum has worked ot tunnel h Greenwich Power Charlton * Station closely with local partners * Greenwich 5 Pier * 20 A to produce the series. GREENWICH A 10 L & GR Viaduct Greenwich 2 GREENWICH Details of the partner M * Greenwich * Park contributing to this album Bridge can be found at the back of

Elverson the book. Road A2 Blackheath A205 References for the images are at the bottom of each

A221 page. Those in the 3 A2 A205 A21 Greenwich collections are A2 ELTHAM 0 10 marked LBG.

A2 Eltha* m Lee 0 High Street

A208 A 2 11

Mottingham A20

0 miles ½ 1 * Asterisks indicate a

0 kilometres1 story in the text.  Timelines

World events Local stories 1800– 49 1825 Opening of the world’s first steam-powered passenger 1834 George Shillibeer begins operating omnibus services railway, the Stockton & Darlington, UK between Woolwich and Greenwich 1838 Slavery abolished throughout British Empire 1836 London & Greenwich Railway opens, the first suburban railway in the world

1850– 99 1861 Start of American Civil War (ends 1865) 1878 Princess Alice steamboat disaster. Over 600 people drown 1863 Opening of world’s first underground passenger railway, 1889 Woolwich Free Ferry launched London, UK 1897 opens to road traffic

1900– 49 1912 Ocean liner RMS sinks after hitting an iceberg 1902 provides access to 1947 India gains independence from Britain. Country is partitioned 1906 Greenwich opens, supplying electricity for into India and Pakistan London’s 1912 opens, London’s most easterly underwater cross-river link 1950– 99 1969 American Neil Armstrong becomes first person to walk on 1952 London’s last runs from Woolwich the moon 1999 North opens, connecting Greenwich 1994 Channel Tunnel opens linking Britain to European mainland to the Underground network for first time 1999 (DLR) extended to Greenwich and Lewisham 2000 onwards 2001 World Trade Centre in New destroyed in terrorist attack 2000 opens 2005 London is awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2009 Opening of DLR extension to for 2012

 Image of Titanic courtesy of Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Greenwich’s transport story

Henry VIII established his Tudor palace at Greenwich and dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich in the 16th century. By the 19th century, the area had a large community and industry flourished along the river. London’s first railway began operating from Deptford to in 1836. Steamboats and horse also ran regularly to and from the city. After the Second World War, local industry across Greenwich and Woolwich declined and many jobs were lost. Today, new transport links at Woolwich are a key part of regeneration plans for the borough. Beresford Gate, , Woolwich, c1900. The Royal Arsenal was the oldest and largest armament in Britain. LBG  The river highway

Services to row passengers between Greenwich and London began in 1816. Steamboat services followed in the 1830s. They later faced stiff competition from the railway. By 1876, the surviving London Steamboat Company (LSC) was running reduced summer services only, between Chelsea, Greenwich and Woolwich. On 3 September 1878, the LSC pleasure steamer Princess Alice collided with the 890–ton collier Bywell ‘She [Isaacs’ aunt] . . . took me to the mortuary Castle and sank at Woolwich. where she recognised my mother and the baby . . . Over 600 people died, My father’s body was never found . . . My brother making it Britain’s largest William . . . was not identified until three days civilian disaster. It marked later . . . he had been struck on the head and had the decline of the river as a given his name wrongly.’ passenger highway. Thames steamboats pass the WT Isaacs, survivor of the Princess Alice collision. Royal Naval Hospital, Interview in the Kentish Mercury, September 1938 Greenwich, c1840. LBG The Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle. Illustrated London News, 1878. LBG  In 1905, the (LCC) attempted to revive passenger services along the river from Hammersmith to Plumstead. But they suffered huge losses and closed in 1908. Only a handful of private operators survived, carrying day-trippers during the summer months. Services were briefly reinstated for six weeks in 1940, when London Transport ran river buses between Westminster and Woolwich. They were to replace the trams which had been damaged by bombs during .

LCC steamboats at , 1906. LBG Crowded pleasure steamer at Greenwich Pier, c1910. 2006/4989 Tram conductor taking fares on the emergency river service, 1940. 1998/56538  The coming of the railway and a world first

The railway boom brought the world’s first suburban line to Greenwich. The London & Greenwich Railway (LGR) opened in 1836 between Deptford and London Bridge. Built by Colonel George Landmann, a Woolwich-born military , it ran along an 878-arch railway viaduct, still in use today. During construction, 100,000 were laid each day by hundreds of navvies. Attempts were made to rent out the arches for housing, but the venture failed.

Bird’s-eye view of the London & Greenwich Railway, The Mirror, 17 December 1836. LBG Poster advertising train times and fares, London & Greenwich Railway, c1836. LBG  Although fares were expensive, by 1844 the London & Greenwich Railway was carrying two million passengers a year. Despite this, the company struggled to survive. It was taken over by the South Eastern Railway in 1845. A proposed extension of the line through was thwarted by local opposition. It was 1878 before the line was extended and even then it was routed through a tunnel north of the park.

Proposed railroad as it would appear in Greenwich Park, 1835. It was never built. LBG South Eastern Railway steam and crew, Greenwich station, 1885. LBG, Spurgeon Collection Tilling hansom cab outside Greenwich station, 1887. LBG, Spurgeon Collection  The reliable friend: Woolwich’s famous ferry

For hundreds of years, local people relied on ferries to get across the Thames. Before opened in 1894, the nearest crossing point for road traffic was far upriver, at London Bridge. By the 1880s, local pressure forced the Metropolitan Board of Works to provide a free ferry service between north and south Woolwich. On the opening weekend in 1889, 25,000 people flocked to ride on the new ferry.

Woolwich Free Ferry crew, c1900. Captain Thomas Tucker (centre, with hands folded) was married to Edith Nesbit, author of The Railway Children. LBG Postcard of ferry paddle steamers Gordon and Duncan, named after two local military heroes, c1900. LBG  The Woolwich Free Ferry has carried vehicles and passengers continuously since 1889. In the 1950s a ride on the ferry formed part of the London River Tour run by London Transport. From the tour took the ferry across the Thames before returning to London through Greenwich. The original paddle steamers were replaced with new diesel-engine boats in 1963. Today the ferry is managed by and remains the only free ferry in .

A London Transport River Tour sightseeing coach on the , 1951. Note the second ferry boat in ‘Since the ferry started, children have delighted in chasing the background. 1998/44356 around the decks, taunting the constables, evading the crews.’ The modern James Newman ferry, 2007. Canary Wharf can Julian Watson and Wendy Gregory, Free for all, 1993 be seen in the background. 2007/8223  Growth of the suburbs

A surge of house-building at the end of the 19th century changed the local landscape. The genteel houses of Greenwich and Blackheath were joined by more modest dwellings as local industries grew and the need for workers increased. The transport network of rail, buses and trams gradually extended to service the growing population. Greenwich was one of the last areas of London to have horse trams.

Blackheath station, opened in 1849, is the building below the Dannatt sign, c1900. LBG Driver George Alfred Darville aboard an LCC double deck horse tram on the Greenwich to Elephant & Castle route, 1904. 1998/84417 10 In Woolwich and Plumstead workers were drawn to the area by the many industries based along the river. Woolwich became the main shopping centre for south- and north . Eltham’s rural aspect survived well into the 20th century. Claude Sisley, riding on a horse bus to Eltham, remarked: ‘Through the long winding High Street of Eltham we clattered. There are many fine wooden houses here... At the eastern end of the village... a bus was just starting for Woolwich... drawn by three horses as a unicorn team as the road is hilly.’

Arsenal station, Woolwich, c1910. 2006/2924 Eltham High Street with an early motorbus outside the library, c1910. LBG Tilling horse bus in 1912 with three horses in ‘unicorn’ arrangement, similar to the one described by Claude Sisley at Eltham. 1998/86829 11 Tunnels under the Thames

Well into the 19th century, road traffic was forced into the city before it could cross the river at London Bridge. To relieve the congestion, the LCC opened the Blackwall Tunnel in 1897, one of the last great engineering feats of the century. Double deck buses had their roofs and tyres specially modified to pass through the tunnel. Traffic continued to increase, requiring a second tunnel to be opened in 1967 alongside the original one.

Cross-section of the Blackwall Tunnel under the Thames, The Engineer, 1895. Institute of Civil Single deck B-type bus number 69 entering the Blackwall Tunnel, c1915. 1998/56064 NS-type Blackwall Tunnel bus number 108A with modified domed roof, 1929. 1998/79786 12 The Greenwich foot tunnel opened in 1902. The tunnel enabled residents living south of the Thames to walk to work in the docks on the Isle of Dogs. At Woolwich, the free ferry could not operate when winter fogs rolled across the Thames. Residents north and south of the river often lost a day’s pay if they were unable to get across. The opening of the Woolwich foot tunnel in 1912 meant people could get to work regardless of the weather.

Crowds gather on a wet day at the opening of the Woolwich foot tunnel, 26 October 1912. LBG North entrance to the Greenwich foot tunnel, with Greenwich Hospital in the background, c1905. LBG 13 Royal Arsenal at Woolwich

The Royal Arsenal was Britain’s largest munitions factory and a huge local employer. Woolwich and Plumstead grew rapidly in the late 19th century as more houses were built for workers at the Arsenal and other in the area. Special express ‘dinner’ horse trams enabled workers to travel home for lunch and get back to work on time. Local roads were widened for tram services. In 1913, to increase numbers of passengers on the route, additional trailer cars were added to the trams.

Tram in front of the Royal Arsenal gates, c1915. Holy Trinity Church was demolished in 1962. LBG LCC E1 electric tramcar coupled to a trailer car, similar to those used on the Woolwich route, c1915. 1998/83930 14 At its peak during the First World War, the Royal Arsenal employed 80,000 workers, including women and boys. A shortage of local housing led the government to create the . Built in just one year in 1915, it provided 1300 new homes for Arsenal workers. Around 30,000 people worked at the Arsenal during the Second World War. Targeted by attacks during the previous war, the area was bombed again during the Blitz of 1940.

Women munition workers at the Arsenal, c1915. LBG The Progress Estate, Road, Eltham, 1915. LBG Air-raid damage to the tram track at Woolwich Road, Charlton, 24 October 1940. 1998/35120 15 The beginning and the end for London’s trams

Greenwich Power Station opened in 1906 to supply electricity for London’s newly electrified trams. It required vast supplies, which arrived by river. The London County Council’s Central Repair depot opened in Charlton in 1909 to service the fleet. In the 1930s trams began to be replaced by . The last London tram left Woolwich at 23:57 on 5 July 1952.

Royal Naval College and , c1920. 2005/126 Tram travelling past Eltham Church in its last week of service, 1952. 2003/3989 Scrap or ‘tramatorium’ at Charlton, 29 January 1953. The last London tram has been stripped out and burned. 1998/89618 16 Into modern times

North Greenwich station on the opened in 1999. Each year 9.6 million passengers pass through the station. The new Docklands Light Railway station at Woolwich offers another route into the City for commuters south of the river. Future schemes include the Greenwich Waterfront Transit (a bus-based system between Abbey Wood and Greenwich), a station at Woolwich as part of the scheme linking east and west London, and the bridge.

North Greenwich station and , 2007. 2007/8224 17 Greenwich now

The Royal Arsenal is no longer used as a munitions factory. Redeveloping the site is a key part of Greenwich’s future. The Heritage Centre and Firepower Museum are located there. Other historic buildings are being developed for housing, offices and leisure. River transport from the is also making a comeback. run commuter services between , Greenwich and Woolwich. They carry over 20,000 passengers a week.

Beresford Gate, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, 2007. Behind these gates, the huge site that was once the munitions factory is now being redeveloped for a variety of uses. 2007/8189 18 Want to know more?

Greenwich Heritage Centre Square Royal Arsenal Woolwich London SE18 4DX Tel: (020) 8854 2452 Email: heritage.centre@ greenwich.gov.uk www.greenwich.gov.uk

Greenwich Heritage Centre (right) stands next to the former Officers Mess (left), 2007. 2007/8188 19 © Transport for London