Catford Bridge

Rail station, existing between 1857 and now.

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Rail station · * · SE6 ·
November
28
2020
Catford Bridge is one of a pair of neighbouring railway stations in Catford.

Like New Cross and New Cross Gate, southeast London sees both a Catford and Catford Bridge station in the immediate vicinities to one another. This complication seems a bit pointless from a modern perspective. And indeed it is.

NOTE: Apologies in advance for all the forthcoming railway company initials here - this was a complicated story.

The Mid Kent line, including Catford Bridge station, was built by the Mid Kent and North Kent Junction Railway and was opened on 1 January 1857. After opening, the line was worked by the South Eastern Railway (SER). The remaining interests of the Mid Kent company were taken over by the SER in August 1866. Services from the station ran all the way into London, terminating at Charing Cross or Cannon Street. This was typical of a pattern in the story of Victorian railways - a small local company (with long initials) built a local line which was taken over and absorbed into a larger local company, merging the small lines together into a regional network.

Passengers of services to the south east of London and into Kent were some of the unluckiest in the country - many lines but terrible customer service. This was due to much of the SER’s early history seeing attempts at expansion scuppered by feuds with its railway neighbours. Money which could have been spent on rolling stock, decent stations and sensible timetables was spent instead on politics.

One of the feuds was with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). This was a railway company created on 1 August 1859 when the former East Kent Railway was given Parliamentary approval to change its name. The LCDR had ultimately originated through the dissatisfaction felt by the inhabitants of north and east Kent with the services provided by the SER.

The reason for two next-door stations in Catford started when both SER and LCDR completed rival routes to Dover by 1861. The SER refused to accept the terms of the contract for the cross-channel carriage of mails in 1862, as this stipulated the use of Dover rather than Folkestone. This enabled the LCDR to secure the contract much to the chagrin of the SER.



Cudworth 0-4-4 tank No. 241
(click image to enlarge)


So as not to use any SER permanent way, the LCDR then decided to expand its service into central London and gained parliamentary approval for this idea, despite there being SER services into London from stations which were near to the proposed LCDR ones. It was quite easy to get a railway built and parliamentary approval in Victorian times if you knew the right MPs. Parliament would approve railways which were not necessarily in the national interest. It would also not approve railways which were in the national interest if your pockets weren't deep enough or you had no way to earn an MP's favour.

The LCDR and another company - the London Brighton & South Coast Railway - decided to pool their resources and put money into the Victoria Station & Pimlico Railway. The latter had been authorised by parliament to build an extension of the line from a station at Battersea to a new station at Victoria Street, just a few hundred yards from Buckingham Palace.

By July 1863 the LCDR had its own independent route to Victoria to rival and mirror the SER service, and in 1864 its own terminus on the edge of the City of London at Ludgate Hill. Catford railway station was built within a few years as part of this new route.

Catford Bridge and Catford railway stations are separated only by the site of the former Catford Stadium. There were rival ticket offices just 100 yards apart offering two ways into London.

The bitter rivalry involved the two sets of management and directors. The pointless duplication of services caused a drop in revenue in both LCDR and SER and many a financial scandal, which we won’t go into here. However, one nickname for the SER from its customers was ’The Rattle and Smash Railway’. ’The Chatham’ was often criticised for its lamentable carriage stock and poor punctuality.



Portrait of Sir Edward W. Watkin by Augustus Henry Fox now in the National Railway Museum
(click image to enlarge)


The period of destructive factionalism eventually ended with the appointment of Edward Watkin - also Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway - as SER Chairman in March 1866. The LCDR went bankrupt through mismanagement and was taken into administration on 12 July 1866. Watkin’s appointment was quickly followed by the 1867 UK financial crisis. This had a severe effect on expansion plans of several railways including the SER. Watkin had his own issues with bitter rivalry elsewhere but, due to him, it halted in south east London and north west Kent.

In 1898 the South Eastern Railway and the London Chatham and Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway and Catford Bridge became an SECR station. The two Catford stations escaped the Beeching cuts and Catford is now a Thameslink station. Interchange on one ticket is now allowed between the two stations.

There is a fascinating 1955 book on the SER/LCDR spat: "The Rivalry and Working Union of the South Eastern and London, Chatham & Dover Railways" by Philip S. Bagwell. This is also available online (with access limitations): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002252665500200201?journalCode=jthc





Main source: Wikipedia
Further citations and sources


CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

None so far :(
LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

Reply

Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

Reply

NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

Reply
Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

Reply
Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

Reply
Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

Reply


NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
Catford Bridge Catford Bridge is one of a pair of neighbouring railway stations in Catford.

NEARBY STREETS
Abbey Court, SE6 Abbey Court is a block on Adenmore Road
Adenmore Road, SE6 Adenmore Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area (Catford Bridge)
Ardenmore Road, SE6 Firgrove Court is a residential block near to Catford Bridge (Catford Bridge)
Bankhurst Road, SE6 Bankhurst Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Beechfield Road, SE6 Beechfield Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Bournville Road, SE6 Bournville Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Bradgate Road, SE6 Bradgate Road runs west-east from Doggett Road to Rushey Green
Burgess Court, SE6 Burgess Court is a block on Adenmore Road
Canadian Avenue, SE6 Canadian Avenue is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Casslee Road, SE6 Casslee Road is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Catford Broadway, SE6 Catford Broadway is one of the main shopping streets of the area
Catford Island, SE6 Catford Island is a location in London
Catford Road, SE6 Catford Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Cavendish Court, SE6 Cavendish Court is sited on Bromley Road
Chilthorne Close, SE6 Chilthorne Close is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Dempsey Court, SE6 Dempsey Court is a block on Adenmore Road
Doggett Road, SE6 Doggett Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Dunstone Court, SE6 Dunstone Court is a block on Adenmore Road
Eros House Shops, SE6 Eros House Shops is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Eros House, SE6 Residential block
Faversham Road, SE6 Faversham Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Ferdinand Court, SE6 Ferdinand Court can be found on Adenmore Road (Catford Bridge)
Firgrove Court, SE6 Firgrove Court is a block on Adenmore Road (Catford Bridge)
Glenwood Road, SE6 Glenwood Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Grosvenor Court, SE6 Grosvenor Court is a location in London
Holbeach Road, SE6 Holbeach Road was originally called The Retreat
Iona Close, SE6 Iona Close is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Iona Close, SE6 Iona Close is a road in the SE4 postcode area
Laurence House, SE6 Laurence House is a block on Catford Road
Lawrence Court, SE6 Lawrence Court is a block on Adenmore Road
Milford Road, SE6 What started as Milford Road began its life as Willow Grove
Morena Street, SE6 Morena Street is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Nelgarde Road, SE6 Nelgarde Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Old Inn Court, SE6 Old Inn Court is a block on Rushey Green
Patrol Place, SE6 Patrol Place is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Plassy Road, SE6 Plassy Road is a road of Rushey Green
Polsted Road, SE6 Polsted Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Ravensbourne Park Crescent, SE6 Ravensbourne Park Crescent is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Ravensbourne Park, SE6 Ravensbourne Park is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Ringstead Buildings, SE6 Ringstead Buildings is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Rushey Green, SE6 Rushey Green is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Scrooby Street, SE6 Scrooby Street is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Silvermere Road, SE6 Silvermere Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Station Approach, SE6 Station Approach dates from 1857 when Catford Bridge station opened
Thomas Lane, SE6 Thomas Lane runs off Catford Broadway
Vineyard Close, SE6 Vineyard Close is a road in the SE6 postcode area
Westdown Road, SE6 Westdown Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Wildfell Road, SE6 Wildfell Road is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Winslade Way, SE6 Winslade Way is one of the streets of London in the SE6 postal area
Winterstoke Road, SE6 Winterstoke Road is a road in the SE6 postcode area

NEARBY PUBS


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