Southern Brambles – An Untangling Tour (9th Aug 2014)

London’s railways south of the river are a popular topic here but one that can sometimes be confusing. As a result, we’ve decided to do something rather different this summer and offer a guided tour of some of the South London railway routes (more particularly the Southern Central & South Eastern areas) for those not so familiar with how they fit together.

The tour is the brainchild of regular commentor (and regular attendee of the LR Pub Meetups) Graham Feakins, who first suggested it here and, as we know the depth of Graham’s knowledge, we were more than happy to give it our “official” blessing.

The Day

Having checked as far as possible engineering work, the trip will take place on Saturday, 9th August, 2014, meeting no later than midday by the London Chatham & Dover Railway ‘destination board’ near the stairs/escalators to Platform 1 on the main station concourse at the north end of Blackfriars station (Network Rail), pictured here:

The plan is to depart Blackfriars (upstairs/escalator) on the 12.16 Thameslink train to Wimbledon (Platform 1, far, south end – allow time to reach it – the train stops near the South Bank of the Thames!), going the ‘quick way around’ via Herne Hill, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Tooting & Haydons Road, taking 30 minutes.

By special request (but a good idea anyway), we will take a brief trip on Croydon Tramlink from Wimbledon to East Croydon via West Croydon and back around the loop to West Croydon, passing Mitcham Junction on the way. Much of the former railway alignment on which the tram runs was there long before any of the others in the area.

This will be followed by a short break at George Street Tramlink stop to walk a few yards to see trams interacting with pedestrians in the town centre and down the short Crown Hill to Surrey Street market (bring your shopping bag for fresh fruit & veg.). A pint or two may be imbibbed at an old hostelry (with ‘garden’), before re-boarding at the next stop – Church Street to return to West Croydon, where London Overground services via the East London Line commence.

Then, West Croydon – Crystal Palace via Norwood Junction (2tph Southern service to Victoria). Alight, have a look around the fine, restored (Low Level – LBSCR) station and the Overground terminating platforms. The Tramlink Crystal Palace extension would be alongside/nearby before climbing to Crystal Palace Parade, alongside the long-gone High Level (LCDR) station high above.

Crystal Palace is a good place to change to await the 2tph Beckenham Junction – London Bridge (Southern) service via Tulse Hill (where we are momentarily alongside the Wimbledon Loop platforms which we came through from Blackfriars), which we would take as far as Peckham Rye.

We will then change for the 2tph Southeastern service to Lewisham (the Victoria – Dartford service); there should be time at Peckham Rye to glance in the window of the door opening onto this:

We may also see something of the 4tph London Overground trains there, as well as some South London freight.

Exhaustion may be setting in by then, so after a brief look around Lewisham, we will run to London Bridge (10tph from Lewisham taking 9/10 minutes and either end it all there (and have another pint) or return around the corner on the Thameslink route to view some of the ongoing work to Blackfriars (and have a pint near there).

Although that might not seem much of an excursion in the railway enthusiast environment of ‘doing’ every bit of track, we can promise you that there are masses of junctions and lines through, over and under which we would pass to keep Graham busy explaining it all. Of course, anyone can leave en route if they wish – nothing’s obligatory.

There’s no set time that we will return to London Bridge/Blackfriars, but it should be around late afternoon. Of course, for the enthusiastic, there’s always the chance to take the train back from Blackfriars to Denmark Hill (yet another route – also 2tph – surprised?) and walk down to Camberwell Green for the NB4L bus Route 148 to Central London via the Elephant! Alternatively, there are trains from Denmark Hill to Victoria (2tph…) + LOROL services to Clapham Junction and the ELL.

What you will need

You need to be equipped with a ticket for Zones 1-6, such as a One-Day Travelcard; these can be purchased at railway stations as well as TfL outlets.

So far, about half a dozen have signed up for the tour, which is comfortable, but more are welcome. Graham is happy for people to turn up on the day, but we would suggest you let him know you’re coming by emailing [email protected] so that he can print off sufficient copies of hand outs which all of you can take with you on the day.