The RT buses ran for 40 years from 1939 (Photo: Pete Edgler via Creative Commons)
Two vintage London Transport buses will run on route 53 through Charlton on Saturday as part of celebrations to mark Plumstead bus garage’s 40th anniversary.
An open day is being held at the garage from 11am to 4pm, and to mark the day two buses that used to run on the 53 will run from Elephant & Castle to Plumstead, passing through Charlton at just after 10am.
The first bus will be an AEC Regent – the predecessor of the more famous Routemaster, and the type used in the Cliff Richard film Summer Holiday. This particular bus, the RT4779, last saw service in 1978, after which it was left to rot in a farmer’s field before being set on fire for the 2002 film Heart of Me. Enthusiasts restored the bus to its former glory and it will be seen plying its old route in Saturday.
Alongside it will be MD60 – not as iconic, but a bus which saw service on the 53 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is only one of two surviving roadworthy Scania Metropolitans and has also been restored by an enthusiast.
The buses will depart Elephant & Castle at 9.30am, reach Blackheath Royal Standard at 10.01am and Charlton Park at 10.06am, although these times may slip somewhat. Later in the day, the RT will run a return trip on the 122 to Crystal Palace, leaving Plumstead at 4.10pm.
The open day will include old buses and other memorabilia, and will raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Tickets will be available on the day for £5 (£2.50 for children) and there will also be a shuttle bus linking the garage with Woolwich Arsenal station.
Gates have since been installed at the Angerstein crossing
Network Rail bosses have asked neighbours and passers-by to watch out for misuse and vandalism at the Angerstein Wharf railway crossing, which has been saved from closure this week.
Safety issues were cited as the reason for closing the crossing, but Network Rail said that an independent review by its head of passenger safety, Allan Spence, found that safety measures in place were sufficient to make the Angerstein path an exception to its normal rules on crossings.
Network Rail now plans to straighten out rights-of-way issues at the crossing
Network Rail now plans to upgrade the footsteps to the crossing, installing a new surface on the crossing itself, and is considering installing CCTV to watch the area.
“I am counting on cooperation of people who use the crossing and would be grateful for misuse and vandalism – anything that takes place that is unsafe – is challenged and reported,” Fiona Taylor, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, told a Zoom call for neighbours of the crossing on Wednesday evening.
The crossing would remain open so long as there were no incidents which called its safety into question, Taylor said.
Peninsula ward councillor Chris Lloyd, who also attended the meeting, backed Taylor’s call for help. “An interface between people in the railway isn’t what we would do today,” he said. “We don’t want to be here again should we find out that the crossing as been abused and it’s up for closure once again.”
Questions of rights of way around the land also needed to be sorted out with landowners and Greenwich Council, Taylor added.
The crossing was originally built for farm workers in the 1850s when the privately-built Angerstein Wharf line was built to link the new North Kent line to the Thames. It has grown in importance in recent years with the building of new housing on the former Thorn Lighting site off Victoria Way and Fairthorn Road, with 675 people recorded as using the crossing each day.
The meeting was told that rerouting the footpath under the railway line would cost £3 million, although these costs were challenged. Lloyd suggested that funding from developers could be used to help pay for any path under the line.
The crossing has been a local landmark since the 1850s
Charlton Champion exclusive: Plans to close Angerstein Wharf foot crossing have been cancelled by Network Rail, people who live close to the branch line will be told at a meeting this evening.
The historic crossing over a single-track freight line, one of the last of its kind left in London, connects residents in and near Fairthorn Road, Charlton, with Farmdale Road in east Greenwich and a footbridge over the A102 to Westcombe Park station.
Network Rail amended its claim to state that the crossing was the most dangerous in south-east London – however, there are no other crossings like it in south-east London.
News that the closure has been cancelled emerged in an email from Matt Pennycook to those involved in the campaign to save the crossing.
“It would appear that, as a result of the collective pressure we exerted, an independent review was commissioned by Network Rail which concluded that there are sufficient grounds in this case to disapply the national algorithm that the organisation uses to determine safety risk at individual crossings,” Pennycook said.
“As such, Network Rail are content to treat Angerstein as an exception to their general policy vis-à-vis such crossing closures.”
The crossing, originally built for farm workers in the 1850s, has grown in importance in recent years with the development of new housing on the old Thorn Lighting site between Victoria Way and Fairthorn Road. The newer Bowen Drive development off Victoria Way, which welcomed its first residents last year, offers a direct link to Gurdon Road and the crossing.
Network Rail has been contacted for comment. It is due to hold a meeting with neighbours this evening to discuss the findings of its review.
Faraday Works – the long-closed Siemens factory – is on the Thames cycle route
The pandemic has pushed many people to get back on their bikes or try cycling for the first time. CLAIRE SELBY is one of them. With Charlton’s new cycleway under construction, she’s been brushing up on her cycle skills on the Thames Path…
Prompted by a couple of my dearest female friends who bought cycles in the first lockdown, I finally bit the bullet a few days before Christmas and got myself a city bike. I used Cycles UK in Deptford and found them ridiculously helpful for a complete novice. Panniers, rack, mudguards, a helmet and a lock later I wheeled my way out of the shop. I knew I could cycle most of the way back to Charlton along the river on the Thames Path but I hadn’t actually done it.
Context here: I haven’t cycled since I was about 14 years old, which is a long time ago and not in London. I didn’t like the idea of trying Boris bikes, and there are unbelievably no hubs yet near Charlton or Greenwich. But sometimes you just have to go for it, and go for it I did.
During the first lockdown I had three local walks I did very often: Charlton via Westcombe Park to Greenwich via the park, walk up and across to Blackheath Village and then Charlton round the O2 via the Thames Path. I got reacquainted with my local area again quietly as I had done through mudlarking over the past couple of years on the foreshore outside the Anchor and Hope. Traversing the area by cycle is quite different, but much more fun. You realise just how long a bus can take. Cycling along the Thames Path will never get old or dull for me. The absolute exhilaration of being near the river, on a designated and pretty decently maintained surface is quite the rush.
From my house off Woolwich Road I can easily cut down the usually quiet Horn Lane, use the Bugsby’s Way crossing and go down Peartree Way right up to the yacht club and then have a glorious cycle right around the O2. Soon I’ll be able to come out of my road and go immediately onto the new cycle track either all the way to Greenwich or Woolwich.
The metallic bridge on the Thames cycle path
My favourite part of cycling in Charlton is the Thames Barrier. If you cycle from Woolwich and follow the Thames Path, you cycle alongside the river on your right, across the white metallic bridge by the marvellous Thames-Side Studios and slide right down the slope onto Warspite Road. Hook a right, sneak through the gate and cycle alongside the beautiful old warehouse buildings. How long until Faraday Works opens? I can’t wait! You come to a small restriction barrier, onto tarmac humps and there you are – the Barrier! It feels so un-London I love it. Did you know it has its own Twitter account? The glistening peaks of the Barrier hit with sunlight never fail to delight me.
I recently learnt of a proposal to build a bridge alongside the Barrier, why ever not? Recently I arranged to meet a friend there: as I got there I realised he was on the other side of the river.
My next goal is to use the Woolwich Ferry to go north, which should be an adventure. Sadly due to the redevelopment west of the ferry means you can no longer cycle right beside the river, you have to take an awkward ride or walk alongside the road and then rejoin a diversion through one of the new developments. But oh, it is surely worth it because as soon as you pop out, you are right alongside the almost mythical Woolwich Dockyard fishing lakes. Apparently there is still a 40lb carp in there somewhere according to one of the lads fishing there.
The old South East London Aquatic Centre in Woolwich, which has been earmarked for development for many years
On cycling trips around the Peninsula, I have played with cycling back on part of the new cycle lane westbound from Greenwich towards Charlton. As long time residents and avid readers of The Charlton Champion will know, one of the main reasons for this cycle track being developed was the number of fatalities on the Angerstein Roundabout. Even as a pedestrian it is always quite hairy crossing the A102 – the car is king. As a cyclist now, you can’t take an unbroken route to cross it but they have made it a little easier by widening lanes and utilising the pedestrian lights to enable you to cross while still mounted. You still need to press three crossing buttons to do it though so it’s not entirely seamless.
Work is continuing on the new cycleway along Woolwich Road
The traffic on Woolwich Road and around the Blackwall Tunnel has always been terrible ever since I moved south of the river about 24 years ago. Lockdown is the only thing that has made it less congested, and the new cycle lane makes things more accessible.
If you are also starting out or getting reacquainted with a bike there is an excellent company called Cycle Confident, which offers free cycle lessons for adults. I had one lesson in that weird limbo between Christmas and New Year amongst children with fancier bikes than mine, scooters, roller skates and everything in between. I highly recommend them and have booked a second now Covid restrictions allow.
We’ve not been sent any information about this (engagement, eh?), all we’ve seen is a little-noticed tweet from Greenwich Council, but it’s worth flagging up – TfL is holding an online event on Monday 14 December to explain and discuss its plans to create a cycle route between Greenwich and Woolwich.
The first section, which begins at Old Woolwich Road and stops at Farmdale Road, right where Greenwich becomes Charlton, is due to be finished by next week after being delayed for about two months. A second section, through Charlton to Anchor & Hope Lane, is due to follow soon after. A third section, to the Woolwich Ferry roundabout, is currently being covered by wider bus lanes until funding can be found for cycle lanes – which have led to some traffic problems as drivers adjust to only having one lane rather than two.
The cycle route is part of a wider plan to create a continuous cycle route between Tower Bridge and Woolwich.
TfL analysis showed that Charlton and Woolwich would benefit most from low-traffic neighbourhoods (darker scores are higher, see the full details)
The wider Streetspace scheme also includes the blocks on through traffic in west Greenwich and new proposals for streets around Maze Hill. There is nothing for side streets in Charlton, despite rat-running problems here, and TfL advice that suggests that streets between the A102 and Woolwich town centre would benefit most from measures to to block rat-running – advice based on factors including traffic and casualty levels, cycling potential, schools, population density, deprivation and low car ownership.
Here’s chuck-out time at Fossdene school – hardly a conducive and friendly environment for walking and cycling, with pedestrians penned in and cars dominating what should be a residential road.
Plenty, then, to discuss. You can sign up using this form for the meeting, which runs from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Transport for London says the widened lane improves safety for cyclists
Transport for London says it is monitoring the effects of widened bus lanes between Charlton and Woolwich after over 2,000 people signed a petition calling for them to be removed.
The lanes have been widened between Anchor and Hope Lane and the Woolwich Ferry to assist buses and improve safety for cyclists, cutting the ordinary traffic lanes down to one in each direction.
In January TfL consulted on plans to build a segregated cycleway between Charlton and Woolwich, which would have had a similar effect, but after the coronavirus pandemic the route between Greenwich and Charlton was prioritised instead. Eventually TfL hopes there will be a continuous cycle route between Tower Bridge and Woolwich.
Bus lanes were widened as an interim measure – and introduced to Woolwich Church Street for the first time – to speed up services and to add some extra safety for cyclists. However, they have been blamed for increased congestion on Woolwich Road and Woolwich Church Street.
A petition created three weeks ago by Gagandeep Singh says there are “vehicles queuing up all day and evening”. By Thursday evening it had gained 2,359 names. One signatory claims it took them 90 minutes to travel between Woolwich and Charlton; another said: “It’s impossible to get out of the roundabout at Warspite Rd. Traffic jams are terrible all day long.”
While there has been a huge jump in traffic since the end of the first coronavirus lockdown, there has been congestion where drivers attempt to filter from two lanes to one at the junction with Anchor and Hope Lane. While the wider bus lanes – which replace narrow cycle lanes on Woolwich Road – allow cyclists to overtake buses at stops, they are not continuous. This means riders still have to take their chances with HGVs and other fast-moving traffic at roundabouts – despite the introduction of a 20mph speed limit on the route.
Two lanes merge into one at Anchor and Hope Lane
A Transport for London spokesperson told The Charlton Champion the widened lane had been introduced as part of its Streetspace programme “to create more space for people to safely walk and cycle”.
He added: “The bus lanes push general traffic and HGVs further away from cyclists; making this corridor a much more pleasant and less intimidating route, and provide a link from Woolwich into the Cycleway that is currently being built between Greenwich town centre and charlton. These lanes are an interim measure while we work on the permanent scheme that was consulted on earlier in 2020, and which would provide a two way segregated cycle lane taking people from Woolwich all the way into Greenwich, and eventually into central London.
“Bus lanes protect buses from congestion and ensure journey times and intervals between buses are more reliable. Bus lanes will help guard against a damaging car-led recovery by improving bus journey times and safety for Londoners making journeys by public transport and the increasing proportion travelling by bike.
“Changes made as part of the Streetspace programme are being introduced on a temporary basis under temporary traffic orders, and will be monitored after implementation to ensure they deliver the expected benefits. Monitoring along the A206 corridor will include reviewing cycle flows, perception of safety, collision rates, general traffic flows and bus journey times.”
The widened lanes do not run across junctions
He continued: “We are reviewing the operation of the bus lanes with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the data we are collecting is helping to inform these ongoing discussions. Where appropriate, adjustments to the scheme will be made if they aren’t performing how we expected. The new measures will be in place for up to 18 months, after which the monitoring strategy will form a key part of discussions between TfL and the council as to whether the scheme should be removed or made permanent.”
CYCLEWAY 4 PROGRESS
Woolwich Ferry to Anchor and Hope Lane, Charlton: Bus lanes as interim measure, funding for cycle route not yet certain
Anchor and Hope Lane to Farmdale Road, Greenwich: Work yet to start
Farmdale Road to Old Woolwich Road: Due to open early December
Old Woolwich Road to Old Royal Naval College: Uses existing routes
Old Royal Naval College to Norway Street, Greenwich: Awaiting funding application
Norway Street to Rotherhithe Tunnel: TfL in discussions with local councils, plans due in coming months
The TfL spokesperson said: “This is later than originally anticipated for a number of reasons, including delays in our supply chain for temporary materials, issues with ducting identified when on site and a recent design change to Vanburgh Hill bus stops to assist bus operations.
“We are currently finalising plans for the section of cycleway between Charlton and Anchor and Hope Lane and will announce our proposals and construction timescales shortly.”
A small section of Cycleway 4 is already open between Tower Bridge and Rotherhithe Tunnel; TfL said this week that plans for the section through Deptford would be announced “in the coming months”.
Whizz-bang: There are no fireworks this year on Blackheath, but we’ll still have a brief display on our doorstep (Clogsilk via Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
There may be no pyrotechnics on Blackheath next month, but fireworks fans in Charlton will be able to get their fix soon without going too far from home.
According to a notice issued by the Port of London Authority, there is due to be a fireworks display off the Greenwich Peninsula from 8.30pm on Saturday 17 October. It will take place between the O2 and Trinity Buoy Wharf.
It’s not clear what the five-minute display is for, but you’re unlikely to miss them in Charlton, and they should liven up what’s currently forecast to be a damp Saturday night.
The Charlton Champion 