Brixton history: Tram Depot, Brixton Hill

[editor]

Amazing that the tram tracks are all still in place!



1912 Sitting at the top of Brixton Hill opposite Telford Avenue is the London County Council tram depot, designed by London County Council Tramways' architect G. Topham Forest.

Built in 1905, the depot had a capacity of 30 trams which replaced the cable-driven cars which had hauled trams from Kennington Junction up Brixton hill to Streatham hill from 1891. Read more here: Brixton Hill cable tram.
(pic: Lambeth Archives)



Aug 2009 The depot remained in use until the last tram ran in 1951. The site has since been redeveloped as Brixton Hill bus garage, with the exterior looking in a rather forlorn state in this August 2009 view.


Entrance to the tram depot.


Looking inside the depot. Even though it's been over fifty years since the last tram left the depot, the tram tracks remain in place and look in excellent condition.


Detail of the tram tracks.

More info: History of Brixton trams, horse drawn trams and cable cars.

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/histo...ram-depot.html

[Kanda]

You should get a picture at night, about 11:30pm when it's full of buses. It looks pretty cool. (I might wander round one night this week, it's at the end of my road)

[Crispy]

It's two different buildings - look at the brick detailing, the angled walls, the lack of stone cornices and arches.

[Kanda]

Originally Posted by Crispy

It's two different buildings - look at the brick detailing, the angled walls, the lack of stone cornices and arches.

Could be, or is it possible they knocked the right hand side down?

[Mrs Magpie]

Yeah, Crispy's correct, one is further down the road. Both on the same side but different buildings.

[editor]

Originally Posted by Crispy

It's two different buildings - look at the brick detailing, the angled walls, the lack of stone cornices and arches.

I'm a bit confused by that too, but those tram tracks date it to pre-1950. There was another bus depot further along but that looked even less like the original (mind you, I was pedalling along at speed so I may have missed it).

Originally Posted by Kanda

You should get a picture at night, about 11:30pm when it's full of buses. It looks pretty cool. (I might wander round one night this week, it's at the end of my road)

That would be an ace addition to the page! If you get chance could you snap the other depot?

[Crispy]

Here's the yellow brick one:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...05418&t=k&z=18

The major bus depot is further up the hill, on Streatham Hill proper. It's a concrete building completely replacing the old brick and stone one. This is the site of the cable tram depot, opposite Telford Avenue as per the cable tram history page.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...05418&t=k&z=18

The yellow brick building must have been for the electric trams that replaced the cable system.

[Kanda]

Originally Posted by editor

That would be an ace addition to the page! If you get chance could you snap the other depot?

Streatham Bus Garage?

[editor]

Originally Posted by Kanda

Streatham Bus Garage?

Yes please!

Cheers for the update Crispy: I've now reworded the caption to say, "The building above has now been demolished and rebuilt as Streatham Bus Garage, but this original LCC Tramways building a little further down the road towards Brixton survives."

I can't find any archive photos of the tram depot I photographed which is a bit frustrating. It was built in 1923.

[Kanda]

Will do.

[editor]

Originally Posted by Kanda

Will do.

Cheers fella. If you can find a view remotely similar to the archive one, that would be grand.

[newbie]

Originally Posted by Crispy

Here's the yellow brick one:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...05418&t=k&z=18

that's the big church on Christchurch Road, opposite the end of Palace Rd.

mind you that's probably an artefact of google maps, which has become almost impossible to use since streetview.


try this
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=51.4...2&z=20&iwloc=A

[Puddy_Tat]

Originally Posted by Crispy

It's two different buildings

Indeed.

The top photo (marked "Streatham Hill" but generally known as either Streatham or "Telford Avenue" depot) was completely demolished, and a new bus garage built on the site in 1951, the bus garage is still in use, as Arriva's Brixton garage (east side of Streatham Hill, opposite junction of Telford Avenue) - it was re-named "Brixton" in 1951 to avoid confusion with the existing Streatham Bus Garage (see later).

recent-ish photo here - http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/02/...1_17f32e3d.jpg

The second photo (the surviving building) was "Brixton Hill" tram depot which was (operationally) an annexe of Telford Avenue. It was not needed for buses in the 50s, but was brought back into (bus related) use in recent years after being used for other purposes.

Historic photos of Brixton Hill depot at - http://www.tramway.co.uk/smx/photos/photo/?id=11275 and http://www.tramway.co.uk/smx/photos/photo/?id=11384

Streatham bus garage is neither of these two - it is / was on the west side of Streatham Hill, near the junction of Natal Road, and is now (I believe) used as a go-karting track (although part of the land is still used as a bus terminus.) This building dates from the early 80s, and is on the site of an earlier (London General) bus garage. Unfortunately, the optimism of the early-mid 80s that led to a number of bus garages being rebuilt or refurbished didn't last, and the cuts of the later 80s saw the (modern) garage closed.

recent photo here - http://assets1.qypecdn.net/uploads/p...lery.jpg?27767

There is an excellent book (I believe out of print now) titled "The Wheels Used to Talk to Us" - the reminiscences of a tram (later bus) driver who was based at Clapham and Telford Avenue depots from the 20s to the 60s, which contains a lot of pictures of the area from the cable tram days onwards.

Plenty more London tram photos at http://www.londontramways.net/index.php and http://www.tramway.co.uk/smx/photos/

[editor]

Originally Posted by Puddy_Tat

The second photo (the surviving building) was "Brixton Hill" tram depot which was (operationally) an annexe of Telford Avenue. It was not needed for buses in the 50s, but was brought back into (bus related) use in recent years after being used for other purposes.

That's great - thanks. I'll update the article.

[lang rabbie]

Originally Posted by editor

Yes please!

Cheers for the update Crispy: I've now reworded the caption to say, "The building above has now been demolished and rebuilt as Streatham Bus Garage, but this original LCC Tramways building a little further down the road towards Brixton survives."

Still wrong!

The bus garage on Streatham Hill opposite Telford Avenue is Brixton Bus Garage. For years, people heading out of Brixton heading for Streatham Hill were confused by this, and stood at the bus stops by the tube while buses to Streatham Hill sailed past with misleading destination boards saying Brixton Garage.

London Buses finally renamed the bus stop (and terminating point for bus routes) as Telford Avenue only about eight or nine years ago.

Streatham Bus Garage was next to Streatham Ice Rink (having been closed down following the privatisation of London Buses, the building is currently a Go-Kart track while waiting for Tesco to get their finger out with the "Streatham Hub" redevelopment)

The Brixton Hill tramway depot building was not used as a bus garage after the end of tram services. It was occupied by Stratstone Garages, who created the now overgrown garden outside. It was bought back by London Buses about five years ago (?) following the increase of bus services in the first Livingstone mayorship to provide the extra bus berthing capacity lost because of the sale of Streatham Bus Garage.

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Originally Posted by Kanda

Streatham Bus Garage?

Streatham Bus Garage is at the far end of Streatham isn't it, near the Go-Karting place

[editor]

Originally Posted by lang rabbie

Still wrong!

The bus garage on Streatham Hill opposite Telford Avenue is Brixton Bus Garage. For years, people heading out of Brixton heading for Streatham Hill were confused by this, and stood at the bus stops by the tube while buses to Streatham Hill sailed past with misleading destination boards saying Brixton Garage.

London Buses finally renamed the bus stop (and terminating point for bus routes) as Telford Avenue only about eight or nine years ago.

Streatham Bus Garage was next to Streatham Ice Rink (having been closed down following the privatisation of London Buses, the building is currently a Go-Kart track while waiting for Tesco to get their finger out with the "Streatham Hub" redevelopment)

The Brixton Hill tramway depot building was not used as a bus garage after the end of tram services. It was occupied by Stratstone Garages, who created the now overgrown garden outside. It was bought back by London Buses about five years ago (?) following the increase of bus services in the first Livingstone mayorship to provide the extra bus berthing capacity lost because of the sale of Streatham Bus Garage.

I'd actually corrected the page before you posted this, but there's some useful info in there, so I'll update it yet again.

This is hard work - but thanks very much for everyone's input!

[lang rabbie]

There were tram tracks visible in the pavement surface outside the tramshed until very recently - when did those brick pavers get laid

The Brixton Hill shed was apparently built to house "tram trailers" drawn behind a regular tram - but had only just been completed in 1923 when they were withdrawn from service. Was there some horrific accident involving one in the mid/late 20s that meant a loss or public confidence?

http://www.brixtonsociety.org.uk/trams.htm

[newbie]

Originally Posted by lang rabbie

There were tram tracks visible in the pavement surface outside the tramshed until very recently - when did those brick pavers get laid

don't know, but (as elsewhere in London) there are still LCC Tramways manhole covers on the west pavement on Brixton Hill.

[Puddy_Tat]

Originally Posted by lang rabbie

Was there some horrific accident involving one in the mid/late 20s that meant a loss or public confidence?

Not that i am aware of. the trailers had a number of drawbacks -

the additional weight of pulling one meant that the tram (and any conventional trams behind it) could not travel as quickly

the trailers were open-top, which was less passenger-friendly (at this time, the LCC Tramways were pretty much in competition with the buses, and were able to use 'all enclosed' as a selling point before the buses could - buses improved considerably between 1913 when trailer trams first saw the light of day and 1922/3 when the decision was made to get rid of them)

they were a bit of a pain in the tail at terminus points, as (with a few exceptions) most London tram terminals involved a dead-end with the tram reversing and going back rather than going round a loop. with a conventional tram (that's exactly the same at each end) a 'reverse' is quite simple, but less so if there's a trailer in the way. Even on routes (like Embankment - Tooting) where there was a loop at each end, a trailer set would have been more difficult to turn back if there was an obstruction / problem.

http://www.londontramways.net/search...p?pic_id=26653 has a picture of a tram / trailer set - somewhere on the Tooting - Embankment route.