London 1981
Peter MARSHALL
North Woolwich Station, North Woolwich, 1981
29o-21: station, disused, Newham
You can click on the image to go to the next picture
The North Woolwich Railway was built in 1845-7 and purchased by the Eastern COunties Railway who opened it to passenger traffic in 1847, with services from their terminus at Shoreditch. At the time it was the only rail service to Woolwich, and the railway company ran two steam ferries across the Thames.
The profits plunged when the South Eastern Railway opened their line to Woolwich two years later, leading the ECR to start the development around the station, which included a factory of S W Silver & Company, makers of rubberised waterproof clothing, later branching out into other rubber goods as the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Cable Company. But the name Silvertown stuck to the area west of North Woolwich, and other factories moved in along the riverside. Later came the docks; Victoria in 1855, Albert in 1880 and later King George V, requiring serval moves of the line but retaining the station.
At first there was only a small wooden station building; this fine replacement probably came in 1854, though the listing text states "1847 by Sir William Tite." In 1862 a merger made the line a part of the Great Eastern Railway. It suffered severe damage in the Blitz, destroying most of the station canopies, but this block was repaired. When the North Woolwich line was refurbished in 1979 this station was taken out of use and replaced by a smaller and rather basic structure to the south, which in turn was closed in 2006 when parts of the line were taken over for the DLR Woolwich extension and a new station , King George V, opened a short walk to the north.
The old station building was used as the North Woolwich Old Station Museum, dedicated to the history of the Great Eastern Railway from 1984-2008. Since then it has been unused, but its 1998 Grade II listing has prevented demolition. A project approved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan in 2017 hoped to secure it "and adjoining land as a future public workspace for artists, local residents and creative businesses, as part of an ambitious regeneration scheme for North Woolwich" but I am unsure of its current status.
Even at full size, it's hard to read the flyposters on the building but they appear to be for 'Circus Holiday' in Woolwich, with a large clown's face. The clown looks similar to those on other Circus Holiday posters on the continent, one of which describes it as 'Nederlands nieuwe SUPER CIRCUS', and it also gave performances in other places in the UK in 1981, including the Lea Bridge Road and Dumfries.
The profits plunged when the South Eastern Railway opened their line to Woolwich two years later, leading the ECR to start the development around the station, which included a factory of S W Silver & Company, makers of rubberised waterproof clothing, later branching out into other rubber goods as the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Cable Company. But the name Silvertown stuck to the area west of North Woolwich, and other factories moved in along the riverside. Later came the docks; Victoria in 1855, Albert in 1880 and later King George V, requiring serval moves of the line but retaining the station.
At first there was only a small wooden station building; this fine replacement probably came in 1854, though the listing text states "1847 by Sir William Tite." In 1862 a merger made the line a part of the Great Eastern Railway. It suffered severe damage in the Blitz, destroying most of the station canopies, but this block was repaired. When the North Woolwich line was refurbished in 1979 this station was taken out of use and replaced by a smaller and rather basic structure to the south, which in turn was closed in 2006 when parts of the line were taken over for the DLR Woolwich extension and a new station , King George V, opened a short walk to the north.
The old station building was used as the North Woolwich Old Station Museum, dedicated to the history of the Great Eastern Railway from 1984-2008. Since then it has been unused, but its 1998 Grade II listing has prevented demolition. A project approved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan in 2017 hoped to secure it "and adjoining land as a future public workspace for artists, local residents and creative businesses, as part of an ambitious regeneration scheme for North Woolwich" but I am unsure of its current status.
Even at full size, it's hard to read the flyposters on the building but they appear to be for 'Circus Holiday' in Woolwich, with a large clown's face. The clown looks similar to those on other Circus Holiday posters on the continent, one of which describes it as 'Nederlands nieuwe SUPER CIRCUS', and it also gave performances in other places in the UK in 1981, including the Lea Bridge Road and Dumfries.