Two of our most distinguished comrades are currently in sick-bay - Redmidland and March51. I'm afraid there's not much I can offer to RM except to send my heartiest good wishes and hope he is re-united very soon with family, friends and Shepherds. (Except to say - the greatest street name ever must be Dog Kennel Hill!)
For March, though - young Terry - I hope the following extract from a recently-published book I just bought might give you a lift.
(A small diversion first - two items about post-war industrial Charlton that not everyone may have seen: Google J Stone and company foundry and environs - New Charlton to find 7 marvellous aerial photos (one of which includes The Valley!), and on YouTube a British Transport Film "Dodging The Column", a 10 minute heavy-haulage film featuring a giant oil-refinery component built by GA Harvey, Charlton. (Cheeky cameo appearance by two trams!) )
Back to the book .... it has just vividly described a journey in a real London "pea-souper", and for certain tasks how indispensable the trams were. "Aside from the fog-shrouded environment, what really is striking from this eyewitness account is the capacity of the average London tramcar to transport above average numbers of people. Aided by their robust construction, vehicles from the tram fleet were often called upon to shift mammoth crowds. This task they were required to do at frequent intervals during the football seas.
On 12th February 1938 the crowd at The Valley to watch Charlton Athletic play Aston Villa was given as 75,031. Woolwich Road, a couple of hundred yards from the ground, was the setting for lines of trams catering for local supporters from Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead and Eltham. Fans arriving from North Kent changed modes of traction at Woolwich Ferry trolleybus terminus. Observers later confirmed that the actual attendance was well in excess of the official figure. On the day, staff from New Cross and Abbey Wood depots worked extra shifts to cope with the situation.
Spotted amongst the convoy on Woolwich Road were several HR/2 cars, drafted in to work service 58EX and waiting, after the final whistle had sounded, to return passengers to Lewisham, Catford and to various suburbs in the Dulwich hills.Also present was at least one E/3 vehicle with Kingsway Subway stencils above the indicator boxes. This may have been part of a contribution from Holloway depot and the tram concerned would have headed back to North London after the match. However, one tram stood out brightly on this winter's day. It was newly painted and anecdotal evidence suggests that it was commandeered from the nearby yard of Charlton Repair Works. It is quite feasible that a harassed inspector, probably stationed by the crossover opposite Rainton Road, Charlton was told to use his initiative to supplement the service. Certainly, London Transport staff out of uniform and therefore probably fitters from the works, were seen piloting vehicles in the centre of Woolwich. Whatever the arrangement, it worked and thousands of fans who relied on public transport got home safely, thanks largely to the efforts of London's tramwaymen."
Terry - thought you might like this story. Even in those far-off days still signs of a Charlton spirit, eh ....
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Comments
Good to hear, Jimmy !!
Many thanks for the appreciative comments. If it's not pushing my luck I thought it might be worthwhile taking the story a stage further - after all it does concern our all-time record home crowd - respect!! So, with Euell-tide greetings to one and all, here goes.
The background is as follows. The fixture was an FA Cup-tie and was therefore a sudden surprise, not part of the regular and planned League season. Charlton was still a young club and making its way amongst the throng of other more-established London sides. The club had uncharacteristically harnessed the amazing success of Jimmy Seed's boys to a timely and vast extension of the stadium's East and South terraces. Who could tell what crowds might one day fill those awesome slopes? A decent Cup run had eluded Charlton since the early twenties, so just maybe this 5th-round tie was an especially enticing occasion, the Cup lift-off to accompany the by-now relentless progress in Division One. If we assume that the weather was not unkind, then the stage was set.
Undoubtedly a good number of supporters would have lived within walking distance or otherwise strolled along after their Saturday morning shift at a local factory. A relative handful would have made their way by private car, others would have come by bus and more besides by the Southern Railway's Dartford to Charing Cross North Kent Line. By a considerable majority, though, the lower-road tram services would have borne the brunt. On this exceptional day, imagine a modern Wembley-sized full house served not by Underground to and from Wembley Park but by an endless line of tramcars.
Of course the build-up prior to the match would have been a severe test but at least it had been spread over a couple of hours or more. The fun would really begin at the final whistle when everybody would be looking to leave The Valley at the same time. The LT controllers had no prior warning of that day's surge of fans - after all, tickets were not sold in advance and you just turned up at whatever match you fancied on the day and paid at the gate - and it was unlikely that many away fans had travelled down for the day. However, the LT officials would have a brief respite during match-time to prepare their response, not entirely forgetting their other passengers in the process, of course.
As the author says, the local depots New Cross and Abbey Wood bore much of the burden. New Cross was a giant depot, rostering more than 300 trams, so that provided some of the much-needed extra capacity. The HR/2 trams on service 58EX were a little off the beaten track. HR denotes Hilly Routes and these trams were specially equipped to deal with such Alpine South London highways as, you've guessed it, Dog Kennel Hill in East Dulwich. For many years tram 58 followed a long U-shaped route from Victoria to Blackwall Tunnel southern entrance, and after conversion to motor bus the service became the 185.
At least the 58 ran through Greenwich until it turned up Blackwall Lane. What a Holloway depot tram was doing in SE7 was anybody's guess. Holloway was indeed another huge depot, second only to New Cross with over 300 trams. (The Kingsway Tram Subway was a far-sighted underpass built to provide the only north-south tram connection in Central London; upon the trams' demise the southern end was opened up to motor traffic but the northern end with its ramp in Southampton Row remains disused to this day.) How the inspector concerned persuaded the motorman/men to make such a huge diversion - from the Embankment! - would have been interesting to hear.
The star turn, though, must indeed be the newly-overhauled tram dragged from the engineers' clutches at the Central Repair Depot (the depot was entered via Felltram Way, SE7 along the Woolwich Road - this little side-road is still there). Un-uniformed staff at the controls of this and other (presumably ex-works) cars - no mention of conductors - it sounds like the Rule Book was shoved well and truly into a back pocket. It may be of interest to make some enquiries ....
So there we are. (I am away at the moment so apologies for any errors.) Terry - I hope these further notes will help to pass a few minutes of your day. Who said trams were boring?
Ding ding !!
Merry Christmas, GHF!