Railway Arches On The Greenwich Line
Wikipedia says this about the railway built between London and Greenwich Railway.
The railway was opened in London between 1836 and 1838. It was the first steam railway in the capital, the first to be built specifically for passengers, and the first elevated railway.
As it’s a line on a viaduct it has lots of arches.
And as the picture shows, many are good ones and seem to be being used profitably.
As I said in the piece on the Greenwich Pumping Station, the area between the blue bridge and the Pumping Station at Greenwich could become a quality leisure area, with waterside cafes and shops, overlooked by a hopefully-restored Deptford Creek Lift Bridge.
A Modern Take On Victorian Railway Arches
I took these pictures of the new viaduct that is being built as part of the works concerning the Bermondsey Dive-Under.
This artist’s impression is from Network Rail and shows the dive-under.
Bermondsey Dive-Under
I actually walked along the side of the East London Line Extension, which crosses under the three sets of railway lines running through the area, towards the right of the picture.
The two lines shown in my gallery are the two viaducts towards the top. Note how both are shown going into a concrete tunnel, with the other line, which will carry the Thameslink trains over the top. You can also see the viaduct being built in this Google Earth image.
Bermondsey Dive-Under
I think the viaduct is being built alongside the rail line closest to the top-right of the image. Are the white shapes, the concrete shells of the arches shown in the gallery?
The sets of lines from top to bottom are as follows.
1. This set of lines along which I think the new arches have been built will take trains on the South Eastern Main Line between London Bridge and New Cross and on into Kent.
2. This set of lines also takes services between London Bridge and New Cross, although at the moment no trains are running on these lines.
3. This set of lines will take Thameslink services to New Cross Gate and beyond.
4. This set of lines links London Bridge and New Cross Gate.
It’s all very complicated and if anybody can correct anything or add more, please let me know.
I do think that untangling the spaghetti left by the Victorians, probably caused a lot of sleepless nights amongst Network Rail employees.
I also wonder, whether Network Rail will be creating small business units in the large number of new arches.
Exploring Around The Bermondsey Dive-Under
As the post entitled Uncovering The Past On Thameslink showed, the railway lines around South Bermondsey station are complicated to say the least and at the moment they are more so due to the construction of the Bermondsey Dive-Under. This Google Earth image shows the main viaduct out of London Bridge as it goes south east.
Exploring Around The Bermondsey Dive-Under
The top left corner of the image shows the old Peek Frean biscuit factory and at the bottom right there is Millwall’s ground. I took these pictures as I walked around.
The arches are certainly a good example of Network Rail’s extensive collection of railway arches used for non-rail commercial pyrposes.
Before Overground – London Fields
A Station With an Excellent Bakery/Cafe – Rating 3/10
London Fields station is another station on the Lea Valley Lines with no decent access.
As I arrived a Japanese lady was struggling down the stairs with her three-year-old, a buggy and a scooter.
The reason she was coming was to visit the E5 bakehouse and cafe. It was so full, that I couldn’t get my intended cup of tea.
As you can see from the pictures, Network Rail have done a superb job in creating a series of small workshops in the railway arches.
It’s just a pity, that the access at the station wasn’t fixed at the same time.
As the station has only had a frequent service since 2005. was this one of those stations that British Rail hoped would quietly die?
A Beagle Comes To Hoxton
One of my Internet trawls found this restaurant, called Beagle, that is opening in Hoxton. I paid it a visit today.
It is conveniently situated underneath the railway arches of the East London line at Hoxton station, just behind the Geffrye Museum.
One of the staff said they would be doing gluten-free food, so I think I’ll give it a try after it opens on Monday the eighth and when I return from my travels to Budapest.
The designers seem to have done a good job.
I wonder if it will set a precedent for stylish restaurants in stations on the London Overground!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to eat and drink your way in a complete circle around London!
The Arches Underneath
I had gone to London Fields station to find the E5 Bakehouse, that delivers bread to the pub next door. I hadn’t expected this line of railway arches, that had been creatively turned into small business units.
The E5 Bakehouse has a rather good cafe and I had an excellent cup of tea before moving on. There was no gluten-free bread or cakes, but there was at the Happy Kitchen.
I bought a cake for later and it was certainly worth the couple of pounds I paid for it. They said it was a bit stale and that they would have some new ones tomorrow, which they were baking for their stall in Broadway Market.
My one problem with the cake, was that if this was a stale one, just how good is a freshly-baked one? I shall go and get another in a few days.
As I look back on my visit to this immaculate row of railway arches, I can imagine C, my late wife, swooning over that bread in the bakehouse and I was almost feeling resentful at being a coeliac. But then I did have that glorious cake!
Good luck to all, who try to run a business in these difficult times! And especially those, in a small niche market like gluten and everything else free cakes. Except of course quality!
The Anonymous Widower 