One of my many interests and hobbies is disused railways and I have spent many hours in London hunting out and photographing old stations and other related buildings and structures.
I recently followed part of the route of the London and Greenwich Railway which was London's first passenger steam railway and opened in stages between 1836 and 1838. My walk took me alongside the Southwark Viaduct which runs for almost four miles and carried the railway from London Bridge to Greenwich. It was constructed with 878 arches and originally, in 1836, only went as far as Deptford but was extended to Greenwich in 1838.
One of the places I missed on my walk was the Deptford Creek Lifting Bridge and during my latest London trip I took time to visit and in this article I give some history of the area, the bridge and include many of the photos I took.
In the mid-16th century it was home to the Deptford Dockyard, one of the Royal Dockyards, and was a major shipbuilding location until it closed in 1869. The whole area is currently undergoing regeneration focussed on improving the town centre with amenities and housing projects.
Deptford Creek is where the Ravensbourne meets the tidal Thames and at high tide is very deep. This meant that it could be used by sailing barges with their tall masts who had right of way over any other form of transport. This meant that when plans were made to extend the London and Greenwich Railway to Greenwich a decision had to me made as to how the railway could cross the Creek, a challenging task for the railway. The idea to extend the viaduct was a non-starter due to both the high tides and the right of way granted to shipping.
Two options were put forward, a swing bridge or lifting bridge. There would have been many problems with constructing a swing bridge at the same height as the viaduct, so the decision was made to construct a lifting bridge. This would allow the rail tracks to be raised letting high-masted shipping through. The complications in constructing such a structure delayed the extension of the line to Greenwich which didn't open until December 1838.
There have been three lifting bridges built over the years with the first opening in November 1838. Constructed of iron it had a central section where the two railway lines crossed the creek. Opening and lifting the bridge was a time-consuming task which would take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete and required eight strong men to complete the task. Bolts had to be removed that secured the tracks to the fish-plates and a complicated series of chains, pulleys and counterweights were then tackled by the men to raise the section of the bridge and allow ships to pass. Delays in the operation often meant that train timetables were seriously disrupted with passengers facing long waits, either on the train waiting to continue their journey or those people waiting in Greenwich to meet friends and family.
An Act of Parliament required the bridge to be raised promptly and in a timely manner. Failure to raise the bridge was a criminal offence and the railway company could be fined. It wasn't until the 1980s that the act was abolished.
In 1884 the original lifting bridge was replaced after being in service for more than forty years. However, technology had not improved the procedure to raise the tracks, which was now even more complicated than before. The actual rails had to be removed to allow the bridge to be raised and rather than eight men it now required twelve!
This second bridge was in service for almost eighty years before being replaced in December 1963. The new bridge was designed by British Rails Southern Regions Chief Civil Engineer, A H Cantrell and built by the Glasgow firm Sir William Arrol & Co.
Any barges wanting to pass through during high tide would have to book a time in advance to allow the bridge to be opened.
In the 2000s the central span, which weighed around 40 tonnes, was welded shut and new rails were laid in a permanent position.
The bridge, which is now a listed structure, is managed by Network Rail who are considering removing the lifting mechanism which, after being inoperative for almost thirty years, has become run-down and fallen into disrepair.
Often described as 'ugly' it is part of Deptford's industrial heritage and many locals would hate to see it demolished. Maybe a new lick of paint would make it more attractive and could also serve to protect the ironwork which has either rusted over the years or was, at some time, painted black.
My own personal opinion is that it should remain, freshly painted, as it has so much historical value and from experience I have seen so many old railway structures demolished or left to slowly disintegrate and it is such a shame.
Visiting the bridge is easy and it can be reached from either Deptford or Greenwich Stations, both on the line out of London Bridge and with a journey time of less than ten minutes, and then a short ten minute walk from either station.
I approached the bridge from Greenwich Station, continued across Ha'Penny Bridge and along the Creekside Street Art Footpath, where all the railway viaduct arches are covered in street art, before turning back.
Ha'Penny Bridge, which is painted blue and visible in one of the photos above, also has an interesting history. It's actual name is Ha'Penny Hatch Bridge and the original wooden bridge was built in 1836 allowing passengers who had travelled by train to Deptford, the end of the line at the time, access to the other side of Deptford Creek and onto Greenwich.
As we have already seen the line was extended in 1838. For those two years it allowed passengers to finish their journey, on foot, at the cost of a halfpenny. The original wooden bridge closed in the 1920's.
The modern replacement, built in 2002, still gives access across the creek and has a steel lifting mechanism which continues to allow access for boats that occasionally make their way up and down the creek.
Most of the photos included in this article were taken from the Ha'Penny Bridge and the Creekside Street Art Footpath although I also walked around the local area to capture different views.
I enjoyed the walk and pleased to have viewed this impressive structure and would recommend a visit to anyone interested in the history of the railways. This will not be my last visit to London and I look forward to discovering more of London's hidden gems.
I will be covering some of my other photographic trips to old railways and will be posting more articles in the future.
