- Peckham Park Road, Astoria Cinama in the Old Kent Road in background.
Bermondsey Trams & Buses
Re: Bermondsey Trams & Buses
Last edited by kiwi on Sat Jul 01, 2023 3:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Bermondsey Trams & Buses
A P5 Low Decker Bus Going Over the Little Bridge Down Town Rotherhithe in the 1980’s. This Bus ran from Rotherhithe To Peckham and Back From 1978-1985.
Re: Bermondsey Trams & Buses
Hornshay Street, Off Old Kent Road, number 53 bus jammed under rail bridge after taking the wrong turning. Ilderton Road in background with Tustin Estate being constructed,1958.
Re: Bermondsey Trams & Buses
Last edited by kiwi on Tue Apr 14, 2020 11:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Bermondsey Trams
Regarding Bermondsey trams:
I recall walking with my Mother out of Waterloo Station and a short distance down Waterloo Road to catch a tram to Abbey Street.
I was about five at the time and the London bombings had really begun - at the time we would take long weekend visits to my Grandmother who lived in Abbey Buildings.
I remember we, well I, would rush upstairs and sit in the front. On the move the tram would not only sway dangerously from side to side but also forward and backward - for a five year old this an unbelievably exciting journey. You never really knew which way you would be thrown next. Frankly you always felt that the tram was so unstable it would topple over at any moment.
I think we used to get off by the Trocquet? cinema and then walk across the road to Abbey Street and the buildings - not so many vehicles in those days and if one did turn up you could hear it coming miles off - most of them made so much noise!!!
I also remember that the trams had a sign inside the lower deck indicating "No Spitting Upstairs" so I assumed that spitting downstairs was not only permitted but encouraged!! Yes, those were the days. Health & Safety eat your heart out.
At the end of the war these signs disappeared and were replaced by "No Spitting" and eventually a sign that read "Coughs and Sneezes spread diseases".
After a number of visits to my Grandmother she asked us to stop coming because the bombings always seemed to be worse when we were in London (we had been evacuated to Englefield Green - Englefield Green - a village abutting to Windsor Great Park.
We attempted to visit Gran about once a month, but at her request we stopped our visits until the end of the war - by which time the spitting signs had been removed.
Is anyone sufficiently old to remember the spitting sign or is it only me who now remembers it? Can anyone remember or have experienced "the" Pea Soupers? Fogs so thick you really couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Very frightening indeed.
It was alright for the trams as they simply followed the tracks, but once you as a passenger got off you were immediate enveloped in a dense yellowish thick opaque haze of sulphurous smelling dampness. It was like wearing a thick wet blanket. The fog wasn't just difficult to see through but, when in the fog, it was difficult to breathe. Needless to say if we left the tram in a pea souper it would take us a long time before we arrived at Grans. We only succeeded getting to our destination by following the edges of the kerbs, feeling our way along the walls of buildings, listening out for sound clues and when possible, asking other lost souls where they though they were! My Mother was Bermondsey born and bred (She was a Spillers Biscuits girl and my Grandfather the Manager of Spillers) but she always got lost trying to find her way through the soup.
Yes, as I say "Those were the days".
Merv
I recall walking with my Mother out of Waterloo Station and a short distance down Waterloo Road to catch a tram to Abbey Street.
I was about five at the time and the London bombings had really begun - at the time we would take long weekend visits to my Grandmother who lived in Abbey Buildings.
I remember we, well I, would rush upstairs and sit in the front. On the move the tram would not only sway dangerously from side to side but also forward and backward - for a five year old this an unbelievably exciting journey. You never really knew which way you would be thrown next. Frankly you always felt that the tram was so unstable it would topple over at any moment.
I think we used to get off by the Trocquet? cinema and then walk across the road to Abbey Street and the buildings - not so many vehicles in those days and if one did turn up you could hear it coming miles off - most of them made so much noise!!!
I also remember that the trams had a sign inside the lower deck indicating "No Spitting Upstairs" so I assumed that spitting downstairs was not only permitted but encouraged!! Yes, those were the days. Health & Safety eat your heart out.
At the end of the war these signs disappeared and were replaced by "No Spitting" and eventually a sign that read "Coughs and Sneezes spread diseases".
After a number of visits to my Grandmother she asked us to stop coming because the bombings always seemed to be worse when we were in London (we had been evacuated to Englefield Green - Englefield Green - a village abutting to Windsor Great Park.
We attempted to visit Gran about once a month, but at her request we stopped our visits until the end of the war - by which time the spitting signs had been removed.
Is anyone sufficiently old to remember the spitting sign or is it only me who now remembers it? Can anyone remember or have experienced "the" Pea Soupers? Fogs so thick you really couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Very frightening indeed.
It was alright for the trams as they simply followed the tracks, but once you as a passenger got off you were immediate enveloped in a dense yellowish thick opaque haze of sulphurous smelling dampness. It was like wearing a thick wet blanket. The fog wasn't just difficult to see through but, when in the fog, it was difficult to breathe. Needless to say if we left the tram in a pea souper it would take us a long time before we arrived at Grans. We only succeeded getting to our destination by following the edges of the kerbs, feeling our way along the walls of buildings, listening out for sound clues and when possible, asking other lost souls where they though they were! My Mother was Bermondsey born and bred (She was a Spillers Biscuits girl and my Grandfather the Manager of Spillers) but she always got lost trying to find her way through the soup.
Yes, as I say "Those were the days".
Merv
Re: Bermondsey Trams & Buses
Hi Merv, great story and memories, all what you say about the Trams, Rock & Rolling I can remember, also of them feeling a bit unstable. Funny enough I can’t remember the No Spitting signs, but my sister can. I remember the “Pea Souper’s” (Fogs) & as you say you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, but boy couldn’t you have fun. Knock-down ginger was one as no one could see you when you ran away and hanging on the back of the horse & carts was another.
One thing that really brings back some great memories, is lying in bed at night and hearing the barges (boats) on the Thames sounding their fog horns. In reality the fogs were bad but as a kid you never realised that, also, when you got off the Tram you had that gap before you got to the pavement and in the Fog, you couldn’t see any vehicle coming down the inside. Even without the fog, riding your bike could be dangerous, especially when your front wheel got caught in between the tram track.
Yes Merv “Those were the days”, our memories, our BERMONDSEY.
One thing that really brings back some great memories, is lying in bed at night and hearing the barges (boats) on the Thames sounding their fog horns. In reality the fogs were bad but as a kid you never realised that, also, when you got off the Tram you had that gap before you got to the pavement and in the Fog, you couldn’t see any vehicle coming down the inside. Even without the fog, riding your bike could be dangerous, especially when your front wheel got caught in between the tram track.
Yes Merv “Those were the days”, our memories, our BERMONDSEY.
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