John Prentice has very kindly given permission to use some text, from his excellent and very interesting Tramway Information website. We are also most grateful to Mr Prentice for the permission to use the images taken from his extensive collection of historic tram postcards. Opening of London County Council Electric Tramways (1903) The Prince of […]
Taxis in Lambeth
The history of the London taxi dates back to 1639 when the Corporation of Coachmen obtained a licence to ply for hire in London. By 1654 Parliament limited the number of carriages plying for trade in London and Westminster to 300, increased in 1661 to 400 and 700 in 1694. Passenger safety concerns led to […]
Vauxhall Station
This photo was probably taken in 1966 and shows the A2 class Locomotive designed by Arthur H. Peppercorn for the LNER and manufactured in 1948. It was originally named The Blue Peter after a famous racehorse, and under Bristish Railways was numbered 60532. Weighing in at over 161 tons this 4-6-2 had 6’2″ driving wheels […]
Victoria Line
Initial plans for a Victoria line were made in 1937 but work on the first new underground line for 61 years began on 20 September 1968. It was built using new techniques including a drum digger (or rotary shield) and completed in record time. The first part (Walthamstow to Highbury and Islington) was opened in […]
Stockwell Station
The text of this page is based on two articles that appeared in the Vauxhall Society’s newsletters during 1983. In previous Newsletters we have described the history and architecture of some tube stations within the Society’s area. But the station at Stockwell, and former railway depot nearby (of which hardly a trace remains) are of […]
Northern Line
The Northern Line was formed out of the City and South London Railway (C&SLR) and the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR). The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first deep level tube railway in London as well as the capital’s first electric railway. It ran from Stockwell to the City of […]
Nine Elms: The National Railway Museum now leaving…
By Simon Midgley Imagine if Vauxhall were to become home to a world-class museum. What would that do for the image and prosperity of the area? Well, it turns out, that’s what could have happened. Vauxhall nearly got the National Railway Museum, but it went to York instead and is now the most-visited museum outside […]
Nine Elms Station
Nine Elms Station was designed by Sir William Tite as the London terminus of the London and Southampton Railway and was opened in 1838. Joseph Locke was the chief engineer of the line which was build by Thomas Brassey. Just nine days after the opening, eight special trains ran to Epsom and carried more than […]
The London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company
By the mid 1800s, the Lambeth Parish Burial Ground was not the only London cemetery to be rapidly filling up. In 1850 the situation had become so bad that the idea of a grand metropolitan burial ground serving all of London and its suburbs was being talked about. The London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company […]
Lambeth North Station
The following article appeared in The Vauxhall Society Newsletter of July 1981. To the casual traveller, the underground station at Lambeth North is pretty unprepossessing. With its clanking lifts and lonely platforms it characterises some of the depression of the inner city. In recent months a modest effort has been made by London Transport to […]
Kennington Station
The following article appeared in the Vauxhall Society Newsletter in the early 1980s Three of London’s oldest tube stations are at Kennington, Oval and Stockwell, and one of the very newest, at Vauxhall itself. The oldest stations were completed originally by the City and South London Railway Co. and opened, after three years of work, […]
William James (1771-1837)
William James was an English lawyer, surveyor, land agent and pioneer promoter of rail transport. He was born the son of a solicitor, in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire in 1771. He trained as a solicitor but became a land agent for the Earl of Warwick. He later moved to London where he established one of the largest […]
Buses
This article is based on one that appeared in the Vauxhall Society Newsletter in January 1980. It is commonplace nowadays to hear people complaining about the decline of private enterprise. But what were conditions like in our area, say, 50 or 60 years ago, before large public companies and state corporations dominated the scene? We […]
