History of Sydenham Station

[Nicholas]

Does anybody have any Victorian or Edwardian pictures of Sydenham station with platform one north of Sydenham Road? Or know anything interesting about the history of the station?

[Falkor]

See 8th and 9th reply to this topic:
http://forum.sydenham.org.uk/viewtopic. ... 755537c4b8

[Nicholas]

Thanks Falkor, but why was the platform moved?

[Falkor]

I've not been able to find a reason... I think both platforms were in use before the demolition of the booking hall. The current booking hall was built about 1875 I think...

[Steve Grindlay]

Nicholas, this picture might answer your question (it is from Mitchell & Smith's London Bridge to East Croydon, 1988):

I've also uploaded a couple more pictures of the station <here>

[Nicholas]

thanks Steve

[user100]

Steve, can you confirm that this view was taken from the Up platform i.e. we are looking north?

I have a notion that it was taken from the other side and that the buiding we can see is the Railway Tavern?

Or am I going mad? and if so, then what is that building to the South-east of the bridge?

[Steve Grindlay]

I can confirm it, user100. I'm fairly sure that the arched ground floor of that building survives. The timber clad first floor (which has definitely gone) was the office of a coal merchant, Moger & Co, seen at the extreme right in this picture:

[user100]

Cheers for that Steve!

Not that I doubt you for one second - but I must have a look for those arches next time I am in the station!

[Nicholas]

Are there any coulor photos of the station like that?
I had a look around and could not find any.
and can i ask where you (Falkor and Steve) find all these brilliant pictures?

[Falkor]

The timber clad first floor (which has definitely gone) was the office of a coal merchant, Moger & Co, seen at the extreme right in this picture:

Thanks for sharing that info and comparison pics! I wish I could get down beside the railway to have a good look at the area where the original platform/booking hall was located. It would be interesting to compare the adjacent area today with the common illustration of the Croydon Canal underneath Sydenham Bridge.


It would also be interesting to see a high-res version of this colour pic, instead of the usual black & white.

Are there any coulor photos of the station like that?
I had a look around and could not find any.
and can i ask where you (Falkor and Steve) find all these brilliant pictures?

I doubt it. I've never even seen those B&W photos Steve posted, let alone colour ones, but it did close as late as 1982; therefore, it's a possiblity.
As for finding pictures, a couple of the B&Ws Steve posted last year were published in that book about the Croydon Railway (I still haven't got a copy yet). Other than that, the best places are through newspaper adverts, other books, auction sites, print shops, postcard fairs, libraries and archives, for finding historical pictures in general.

[Steve Grindlay]

This is all I can do for a colour picture of the station; it was scanned from a slide taken in the early 1970s:

[fishcox]

Great pictures (again) Steve, thanks.

Incredible to see that the original 'up' platform had a considerable length cover, to protect the travellers from the elements.

These days we just get soaked.

[will greenwood]

I just found this...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/223 ... a648_o.jpg

[goonerchamp]

Thats the Footbridge at Sydenham Hill Station - off sydenham hill - up past Wells Park road - I try not to use it due to the bitch of a hill you have to walk up to get to Sydenham Hill !

[Thomas]

Ah, but the walk up the hill does marvels for your leg muscles!

[will greenwood]

sorry...wrong station...but it was 1972!

[Falkor]

Ah, but the walk up the hill does marvels for your leg muscles!

It's all about One Tree Hill to take the calves to the next level! Unfortunately, these days after so many walkabouts, I lose my stamina before my legs ever start aching. In the early days when I was unfit, my legs used to ache all the time after a walk. Not now. I can ascend One Tree Hill so damn briskly without running, yet my legs aren't even affected, only my heart. I'm thinking of joining a gym to see what I can do with weights in regards to my lower body. I might be up there with the big boys I reckon... Shame the rest of my body is out of proportion though... Sorry, I better start up a new thread in the pub section, as this going off-topic...

[tulse hill terry]

Thought this might be of interest.

Londoner's Diary Evening Standard 30.01.08

"There's upwardly mobile and there's downright snooty . . . The Dulwich Society is campaigning to have Sydenham Hill station on College Road, home to a number of expensive detached houses, renamed South Dulwich on the grounds it is misleading. Denizens of Dulwich, who include Jo Brand and Lady Sainsbury, think Sydenham is not as posh as Dulwich Village, but the people of Sydenham are proud of their independent heritage. And the rest of us? What with West Dulwich, East Dulwich and North Dulwich stations, isn't it all becoming a bit bewildering?"

[Falkor]

Well, that station is topographically on Sydenham Hill, and the tunnel there cuts right the way through it!