Croydon Canal route: Honor Oak Park to Brockley

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 6 Feb 2008 00:32

1965 Aerial (1)
1965 Aerial (2)

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 6 Feb 2008 10:15

Great finds, Falkor...

some stuff to get into here...I'll update the map with the new images later..

is that the lock keepers cottage at Brockley Cross?

Nice one, mate.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 6 Feb 2008 11:21

first reaction to those aerials....

the railway cutting has hardly changed since the days of the canal...only the low land by dead lane bridge...so theres no sign of any breach to that scarp.

the line of the embankment is visible in the persistant hedge row along the tennis court...

the flat area between the hedge and the cutting really does seem tiodenote the canal route...
more to follow when i've had a good look.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 6 Feb 2008 15:09

heres a bit of info from the people at the nature reserve at devonshire road...

'The soil of the embankments is sort of interesting, as it was largely brought in by the rail workers. In Dev Rd there is a lot of pure chalk, probably from the Downs, and the flora has a lot of chalk grassland components. The other side of the tracks in Garthorne is more acidic, apparently a lot of brick rubble. I did hear there was once a brickworks nearby, don’t know if you have come across that?'

interesting they needed spoil from the north downs...
and also interesting that they are adding rubble to the eastern bank...banking, not cutting, in fact.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 6 Feb 2008 22:53

heres a property ad from the daily News, May 22nd 1882

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 8 Feb 2008 14:29

there may well be a map of the location of the persistent reed bed, that reputedly follows the canals route accross the playing fields....
I'll post it as soon as it becomes available....
it could well tie things together.

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 21 Feb 2008 21:52

I finally got the Honor Oak pic in higher res, but not sure if you guys are ready for it yet.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 21 Feb 2008 22:12

ready, here!
I'm waiting to hear from the national archives about other aerial shots...

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 21 Feb 2008 22:38

Still, hold it down for now though; you get me?

Have to wait until the time is just right!

*Falkor looks through his telescope again* o_O

BTW, I'm sure there's a company that specialises in aerial photography from early 20th C. I saw the company name and address on the back of some other early aerials for different towns; should have made a note of the details silly me.

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 21 Feb 2008 23:10

Supposedly the bridge at the top of Coutrai Road.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 21 Feb 2008 23:38

fantastic, mate!
(wasnt the lunar eclipse enough of an auger?)
...now all we have to do is work out which way we're facing......

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 21 Feb 2008 23:49

...i reckon its looking south west...
it shows the vale that dead lane was in...so lock 22 would have been tantalisingly just out of shot to the right.
the terrain is very different today, buit we should be able to match that bit of the cutting to the other photos...

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 22 Feb 2008 00:17

5...4...3...2...1........................................................0
View hi-res...
This cost me £5, you know?

But it was worth it!

Steve Grindlay · Post by **Steve Grindlay** » 22 Feb 2008 00:43

Was there a bridge at the top of Courtrai Road? This map, of 1914, doesn't show it:

It shows Brockley Footpath, an ancient field path from Brockley Green to Nunhead, but nothing of the Courtrai Road path, apart from a gap in the embankment (which still exists) near the present crematorium.

Oh dear. Of course there was a bridge. I posted this message at 12:45 am, so you could have been forgiven for thinking I was a little "tired and emotional", and perhaps I was.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 22 Feb 2008 08:08

so thats the pipeline in the foreground..fair enough!

(...although...it does look like the view of dead lane bridge in the hires image.)

Falkor · Post by **Falkor** » 22 Feb 2008 09:16

Was there a bridge at the top of Courtrai Road?

Yes, across both the canal and railway. It can be seen on the 1833 map and hi-res aerial view.

This map, of 1914, doesn't show it:

This is about the time the Courtrai Road bridge was demolished (it looks like bricks are already missing in the photo), so maybe we can narrow the date down to 1914. I had a similar problem with the 1914 map when checking an area in Southend Village; to cut a long story short, the map was probably surveyed after 1913 instead of 1912. The previous map should show the bridge. I'm starting to think the original archivist was probably correct with their information, and Will has the correct viewpoint (southwest). You can see the fencing running along the bank, right? Well, in the hi-res view, one can make out that same fencing this side of the railway, and it shows 5 horizontal beams to match.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 22 Feb 2008 09:40

its marked on this map...(I cant remember the date, sadly...but I got it from Steves earlier post)
Its the Dead lane bridge, where there was a bridge over lock 22 of the canal...the lane appears to have originally veered north and headed for Nunhead.
the map clearly shopws the small vale that the lane passed through...an area of much landsacping as it is now the south end of the crematorium.

will greenwood · Post by **will greenwood** » 3 Mar 2008 19:50

this is the footing for the bridge at dead lane...visible from inside the crematorium

courtrai rd across the cutting

and Dead lane, as it is today, part of the crematorium

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Croydon Canal route: Honor Oak Park to Brockley