Horse
Trams
Two
Acts of Parliament, passed in 1869 and 1870, empowered the
Metropolitan Street Tramways Company to construct tramways
from the Lambeth end of Westminster Bridge to Brixton and
to Clapham. The company got to work quickly; they lost no
time in laying down double tracks with rails level with the
surface of the road. 2 May 1870 was an important day in Brixton's
history. It was the day when the first authorised tramcars
operated in London. (A few years earlier there had been a
short-lived and probably illegal attempt to run horse tramcars
in some London streets.) The new trams ran that day from the
Horns Tavern in Kennington Road and along Brixton Road as
far as its junction with Stockwell Road. The smart blue tramcars
were hauled by two horses. Cars seated 22 persons inside and
24 on the open top deck. The passengers inside sat on red
velvet cushions. For top deck passengers were two wooden benches
running the length of the tram; these passengers faced outwards.
Trams ran every five minutes. The normal fare was a penny
a mile but Parliament had required special trams to be run
for workmen in the morning and evenings at a halfpenny a mile.
As soon as the 1870 Act was passed more track laying was rushed
on with, and by the end of 1870 trams were in service from
the Lambeth end of Westminster Bridge to St Matthew's church,
Brixton, and another line ran along Clapham Road to the Swan
at Stockwell. During 1871 tramcars had reached the Plough
at Clapham, and the Brixton Line had been extended to the
junction of Brixton Water Lane. Authorised by an Act of Parliament
of 1882 the London Southern Tramways Company ("London Southern")
laid down tracks for horse trams along Stockwell Road, Gresham
Road and Coldharbour Lane to Camberwell Green by the end of
1883. Lines from Loughborough Junction along Milkwood Road
and Norwood Road reached Tulse Hill in 1884 and West Norwood
Cemetery in 1885. Lines along South Lambeth Road to link with
Vauxhall Station had to wait until 1887.
Cable
Cars
Brixton
Hill was really too steep for two horses to pull a tramful
of passengers so an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1890
to enable the London Tramways Company (the new name the Metropolitan
Street Tramways Company had acquired after an amalgamation)
to construct a cable line. This would replace the horse tram
service from Kennington to Brixton Water Lane and would continue
to the top of Brixton Hill at Telford Avenue. Cable traction
was already in operation (and still is) in San Fransisco;
it was first used in this country on Highgate Hill, North
London, in 1884. The cable consisted of strands of steel wire
wound round a rope, about an inch in diameter. It was nearly
six miles long. That is, twice the length of the route. It
ran underground between the tram lines through a concrete
conduit which had a small open slot along the rope so that
the cable could be gripped by the mechanism on the small man-operated
tractor or "gripper" car; it was this car that pulled the
passenger tramcar. A tramcar going from Brixton Hill to Westminster
Bridge would have its gripper car detached at Kennington and
replaced by a pair of horses; passengers remained in their
seats. The cable moved all the time at a maximum speed of
8 m.p.h. A special depot was built on Streatham Hill opposite
Telford Avenue to house not only cars and horses but the steam
powered winding gear for the cable. The cable service started
to operate in December 1892. In 1894 yet another Act was obtained
- to extend the cable southwards to the Tate Library in Streatham
High Road; this section was in use by the end of 1895. Cable
cars ran until 1904.
Electric
Trams
One
of the aims of the new London County Council (set up in 1889)
was to take over the various private tramway companies, to
electrify the existing systems, and to construct new lines.
This they did, and very efficiently. We will see what happened
in Brixton and Stockwell. By 1896 the LCC had succeeded in
obtaining an Act of Parliament empowering them to operate
trams, On 1 January 1899 they took over the London Tramways
Company and by 1906 they were able to acquire London Southern.
The method of electrification favoured by the LCC was the
conduit system. The conduit was a tube which housed the electric
conductor rail which ran just below the road surface about
midway between the two lines of each track. Along the top
of the conduit was a narrow slot through which the "plough"
under the tram made contact with the live conductor rail.
The London Tramways Company had succeeded in 1890 in extending
their horse tram service from Clapham to near Tooting Broadway.
It was this line that the LCC decided should be the first
in the County of London to be electrified.
Victories
The
first LCC electric tram ran from Westminster Bridge to Tooting
on the afternoon of 15 May 1902. This was a big occasion for
South London. Bystanders outside the Stockwell "Swan" waiting
to see the fist electric tram rumble down the Clapham Road
enjoyed the unique spectacle of three future kings sitting
on the front seats of the open top deck. (These passengers
were the Prince of Wales and his two eldest sons, Edward and
Albert). In 1904 the LCC replace the cable line from Kennington
to Streatham by an electric line on the conduit system. The
cable line was close on 5 April. All the old tram tracks and
cable conduits were dug up and removed, and new double tracks
and electrical conduits laid, and duly inspected by the Board
of Trade. Services from Kennington were resumed to Brixton
Station on 21 May and to Streatham Library on 19 June. This
shows how quickly work could be done in those days. This line
was extended to Norbury in 1909. By the end of 1906 the LCC
had, after a long fight, overcome opposition to tramways on
London bridges and were able to run a through service from
South London across Vauxhall Bridge to Victoria, and across
Westminster Bridge to Victoria Embankment. A great achievement
was the Kingsway Tram Subway which connected the Embankment
with Holborn and North London. At this point it is interesting
to look at the routes of the four trams which were the most
prominent in Brixton and Stockwell. The trams, nos. 2, 4,16
and 18, kept their numbers right up to 1951. Nos. 2 and 4
ran from Tooting along Clapham Road. On reaching Kennington
no.2 ran along Kennington Road and Westminster Bridge Road
and crossed the bridge on the double track reserved for trams
along the downstream side of the bridge. It turned into Victoria
Embankment, again using a special tram track along the river
side of the Embankment. At the end it turned into the upstream
side of a specially widened Blackfriars Bridge where again
was a double track reserved for trams. It continued via the
Elephant and Castle and Kennington Park Road and then back
along Clapham Road to Tooting. No. 4 covered the same ground
except that when coming up from Clapham it crossed the river
by Blackfriars Bridge and returned by Westminster Bridge.
No. 16 ran from Norbury over Westminster Bridge returning
by Blackfriars, while no.18 ran via the Elephant and Castle
to Blackfriars Bridge returning, like no. 4, via Westminster.
These round trips became possible as soon as work on enlarging
Blackfriars Bridge was finished in 1909. In 1908 and 1909
horse trams on the former London Southern routes mentioned
before were replaced by electric trams. The South Lambeth
Road and Stockwell Road sections went over to the conduit
system. But the Gresham Road, Coldharbour Lane, and Norwood
sections included narrow sections of road which would have
needed widening to accommodate the conduit system. So these
sections had overhead wires, which was normal in the outer
suburbs of London. On the top deck of the tram was the trolley
pole to convey current from the wires. The last tram tracks
to be laid in the Brixton area, in 1912 with overhead wire,
were along Effra Road and Dulwich Road to connect Brixton
centre directly with Norwood Road. This was a much needed
improvement on the roundabout route via Loughborough Junction.
An
Experiment
An
unusual sight for this country was the appearance from 1913
to 1924 of a number of trailer cars operated by the LCC. A
single trailer was coupled to the normal electric tram. The
trailers were double-decked but roofless, of lighter construction
and smaller than the ordinary cars. They were used chiefly
in the rush hours and were mainly confined to routes 2, 4,
16, and 18. They did prove useful in grappling with transport
problems during the First World War. The Streatham trailers
were housed in the former Streatham tram shed opposite Telford
Avenue. At the beginning of 1922 the LCC brought 125 more
trailers into service of which 50 went to Streatham. But trailers
were now proving to the uneconomic and were withdrawn from
services 16 and 18 in April 1923. Double-decker trailers were
never completely safe and were all withdrawn in 1924. Perhaps
the LCC was losing its magic touch.
A
Late Advance
From
1909 LCC trams had run south from Streatham as far as Norbury
Brook where the Borough of Croydon started. Passengers wishing
to travel any further had to dismount and board a Croydon
Corporation tram. From 1926 LCC trams were able to run a through
service to Purley replacing the Croydon trams.
Tram
Life
Seating
in trams varied from about 65 to as much as 80. The plush
seats and window blinds of the first horse trams did not remain
long. Soon the standard furnishings of the lower deck was
a pair of polished wooden inward facing benches that ran the
length of the tram. On the upper deck were pairs of wooden
slatted seats on either side of the gangway, with reversible
backs. Trams were very clean. By 1910 top decks were nearly
all roofed and glazed and the stairs at each end were covered.
But windscreens for tram drivers ("motormen") were slow to
come and some drivers were exposed to wind and rain right
into the 1930s. The LCC livery was of two colours - a reddish
brown colour sometimes called carmine or lake, and a shade
usually described as cream or primrose. By the 1930s the livery
had changed to the less tasteful monochrome red. All-night
services were provided by the LCC on routes from London to
Clapham and to Brixton Water Lane, at first on the horse trams
and then on the electric trams. In 1922 the Brixton night
service was extended to Streatham and Tooting. These facilities
attracted many hotel and newspaper and other workers to Brixton.
But trams were noisier, night and day, than other vehicles,
and residents who disliked noise were inclined to desert Brixton
Road and Brixton Hill for quieter streets. Trams in the first
two decades of this century enjoyed a lot of popularity. They
were the kings of the road. Though they continued to be used
by all classes they became the special favourites of working
people. One reason for this was their cheapness; for example,
for one shilling (five new pence) one could buy a ticket entitling
one to travel all over the LCC system for the day; midday
fares were at a flat rate of two (old) pence. Trams tended
to arouse emotions in ways that no other vehicles did; you
either loved trams or you hated them. And the haters included
many of the decision makers.
Recession
By
the twenties trams were ceasing to be kings of the road. Their
rivals the buses were gaining on trams in speed and comfort;
they were quieter and of course more flexible. LCC's rolling
stock and equipment was ageing and doubts about the future
of the tram discouraged large expenditure on new stock. The
last tram - a single vehicle to be designed by LCC made its
appearance in 1932. But what told most heavily against trams
in London was the traffic factor. The volume of traffic, especially
of cars, was steadily growing. In only a few places in London,
like Victoria Embankment, did trams run on their own trackways.
Tramlines were usually well out into the road and every time
a tram stopped, the traffic behind it had to pull up to allow
passengers to use the road. During the thirties trams were
replaced in several outer South London suburbs and many suburbs
north of the river by trolleybuses. These were large double-decker
buses powered by electricity from overhead wires. They were
silent, smooth running, non-polluting and not shackled to
tramlines.
Sentence
of Death
In
1933 all public transport in London - buses, trams and Underground
- was transferred to the new London Passenger Transport Board.
It was the Board's policy to replace all trams by trolleybuses
and by 1940 nearly all the remaining trams in North London
and the outer southern suburbs disappeared. The outbreak of
the Second World War gave the tramway system a temporary stay
of execution, but the end was to come in 1950 and 1951. By
that time petrol buses had replaced trolleybuses as the favoured
means of passenger transport and it was these buses that took
over from trams in Brixton in April 1951. The last tram to
run in London was to Abbey Wood on 5 July. Trams Were Here
Not many visible reminders of the tram survive in Brixton
and Stockwell. The present "Brixton Garage" for buses, in
Streatham Hill, was built on the site of the "Streatham Depot"
or "Shed" opposite Telford Avenue which housed cable cars
and, later, electric trams. At 239 Brixton Hill, just north
of Christchurch Road, stands a brick building date-marked
1923 and now used by firm of car distributors. This was really
built for the LCC's trailers, but by the time it was ready
trailers, as we saw, were being withdrawn. So it was used
to house ordinary trams until 1950. At no. 8 Brixton Road
(the Kennington end) is the "Cable Restaurant and Snack Bar",
"Cable" being in small letters. This name looks as if it has
stuck to the premises ever since the days when they faced
the London terminus of the cable trams. An intriguing little
relic can be seen on the pavement in front of "Mixes" (formerly
the Old Queen's Head) at 133 Stockwell Road. Embedded in the
cobbled drive leading into a yard are two short lengths of
rail. These are fragments of the track for horse trams laid
in 1882 which turned off here from Stockwell Road into a tram
shed behind the Old Queen's Head. Son of the Tram Increasingly
today the new-style "supertram" is seen as the public transport
of the future. A good recent example is the Metrolink System
of Manchester which in places makes use of city streets. One
of the latest plans is for a light railway system of lines
from Wimbledon through Croydon sending branches to Beckenham
and New Addington. The system will in some places use redundant
British Rail track and in other places new rails on their
own tracks in the streets. Having its own trackways in streets
gets over the difficulty which made it so hard for the old
trams to operate in heavy London traffic. This seems to be
the closest that the new transport movement has got to Brixton.
It does make one wonder about the possibility of an electronic
single-deck carriage and trailer, with overhead wires, gliding
along its own track in the middle of the wide A23 from, say,
West Croydon northwards to Westminster Bridge and Victoria
Embankment, with a few "stations" on the way. This might not
be impossible on a disciplined Red Route. And even with all
the off-track requirements of any railway system the thing
might still be more attainable than proposals like those for
extending the Underground.
KEN
DIXON, Brixton Society Archivist, January 1993
BRIXTON
abridged: an occasional series of short pieces published by
the Brixton Society number: 1/93 price: 50p ISBN: 1 873052
03 0