Victorian Road signs circa 1866-1917

I've written previously about Victorian Road signs (or, in particular, a Victorian Road sign) dating prior to 1866. This time, I'm going to talk about Victorian road signs that date from 1866 till 1917 (when the postcode changes again).

What's interesting about these road signs that i'm sharing with you here is that these were found in the Brick Lane area of East London (photographed by me in the middle of 2010). What makes this interesting is that these very signs were up during the time Jack the Ripper were prowling these very same streets. In a way, these signs are the silent witnesses of those bygone days.

As you can see from these photographs, these signs bore the 'E' suffix. As already commented on with my previous post on Victorian road signs prior to 1866, road signs in East London bore the 'NE' suffix.
on this subject, Wikepedia makes this comment:

"The original NE district created in 1858 was in North East London, but this was abolished in 1866; parts were transferred to the N and E districts, while others were removed from the London postal district altogether."

Source: Wikepedia -- NE Postcode

Regarding the E suffix, Wikepedia continues:

"The current E postcode area was originally formed in 1866 as a merger of the E and NE areas created in 1858. In 1917 the postal districts were numbered alphabetically by their location;^[3] the districts usually cover a wider area than their names might suggest. As of 2004, the district names do not form part of the postal address.^[2] Due to high demand, sector 9 of the E1 postcode district was split and recoded in 1999 to create an E1W postcode district around Wapping;^[4] the rest of the district did not gain an additional character. Where districts are used for purposes other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs, E1 and E1W continue to be classed as one 'district'. The E postcode area contains two non-geographic postcode districts for high-volume business users, E77 and E98.^[5]"

Source: Wikepedia -- E Postcode

A road sign seems very inconspicuous, or very easily missed when going about our daily life, but if you're a history fan like me, sometimes it's worth-while stopping and taking stock of our surroundings. Especially if we're visiting or touring London.

If you want to check out these particular signs for yourself, head on down to the Brick Lane area in East London (a short walk from Aldgate and Liverpool street stations -- A walk I heartily recommend) and see them for yourself. The area is a treasure trove of old buildings and streets dating back not only to the Victorian era but to the Georgian era too!

Until next time.....

Steam train service out of London

Bittern class Mayflower

On September 11th last year at around 10:00 pm, I was standing on platform one at London Paddington station shivering.

No, I wasn't catching a train........... I wasn't waiting for anyone....
                       .................. I was just waiting for a train......

No, not just any train. I was waiting for a steam train. In fact, this particular train was late (not surprisingly given the usual mainline train 'track-record.'); it was due to arrive about an hour earlier. But given that this train had just travelled over 400 miles round-trip from Plymouth over Britain's modern rail-tracks (presumably giving way to the regular services, taking on water, etc -- but don't quote me), I think we can forgive this particular service.

Now, why am I talking about steam trains in this blog?
Well, for one thing, as probably noted already in this blog, I am totally fanatical about history and historical things from the past; and this train fits the bill. Plus, the train has departed and arrived in one of London's busiest rail terminals.

1st Class Carriage

why should this interest you?
Well..... did you know that there are chartered steam services running from London throughout the year?
Until late last year, I didn't even know.
Not only in London, but throughout the United Kingdom. Chartered steam trains also call on major cities up and down Britain's mailine rail system.
This particular train on the 11th called on the following stations:

• London Paddington
• Slough
• Reading
• Newbury
• Plymouth

.... And back again after it's Passengers spent the day at Plymouth.

If you are interested in rail tours for 2011 (it's a new year and a new brochure!), you can book mainline steam  tours via "The Railway touring Company".

You won't be disappointed!

See you onboard!.......

Until next time!..............

Unearthing the past: Rediscovering Victoria Park Station

It always amazes me what I find when I look more closely at the old buildings, viaducts, bridges, roads and places that literally dot and saturate London.

For example, we take for granted the North London line (now London overground from Richmond to Stratford), and yet there's so much that was a part of that railway that now is lost to time and redevelopment.

The London overground line (previously the North London line) used to be part of a much bigger railway of Victorian invention and initiative. This was way before the UK railways came under Government control. Back in Victorian times, they built railways everywhere.

But now, what's left of them can be seen in old buildings and perhaps signs, stairs and walls.

I've managed to unearth an excellent site with full pictures and history of these disused stations and lines that at the very least, can be seen online.

It's clear that much time and attention has been given to this project and I've read with fascination things that I've walked past but never knew was there!

Here's an article about Victoria Park station: "Disused railway stations: Victoria Park

I hope to have more to share about this station later. Stay tuned.

Related posts

>

Victorian Road signs circa pre 1866

Where I live, in Hackney East London, for some time I used to pass by this old sign in Cassland Road (E9 postcode). For a while, I never really took note of it just noting that it appeared quite old.

It was only in March of this year that I really wanted to know just how old this sign really was. So I dug around came across these sites in Wikedia (London Postal District" - Wikepedia, "N.E Postcode area" - Wikepedia).

I was actually rather fascinated at the age of the sign (and there are more dotted around the East End! just look up from time to time). Apparently, according to Wikepedia, the postcode came into use around 1856 till 1866 when the area was merged with the 'e' postcode (look around Brick Lane, and you will still see the 'E' suffix signs still up). London at that time, got so big that they had to portion london up into different postal codes instead of having one big system as you would for a town at that time.

This is really an interesting piece of postal history and a relic of the time.

Check back often, as I will be adding more images of signs from this time period.

Related Posts -- Through the Eyes of a Londoner

• Victorian Road Signs circa 1866-1917

Related sites:

• "London postal District" - Wikepedia
• "N.E Postcode area" - Wikepedia

Broad Street - Dalston BR

Further to my recent post, I've just seen this article while googling. For the history enthusiasts among us, this is well worth a read. Especially after my last post!

Related Sites

> "Abandoned Stations:" Broad street.

Dalston to Broad Street (What there was before the overground extension)

While travelling on London overground from Dalston Junction to Whitechapel last week, I overheared a conversation between two people who sat opposite me. As we all know, the stretch of the line between dalston Junction and just before Shoreditch High Street was closed for quite some time (the line used to stretch from Dalston Junction to Broad Street (Terminal next to London Liverpool Street station).

Now this guy was quite excited and animated about the new line (I share his sentiments) and he could see that the line was built over the old line and he wondered what was there before it. His partner didn't know. I had a dig around youtube and found an old clip dating from the late 1970's of the route from the driver's cab. I thought that I'd share it with you here (hope you don't mind the music --- Looks like it was from an old radio station).

Anytime you take a ride on the overground, look out for remnants of the old line!






Related posts:

>Through the Eyes of a Londoner: Broad Street - Dalston BR