Trolleybuses and Buses serving Tottenham

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Prior to 1881 the basic means of transport along the main road arteries serving Tottenham was by Horse and carriage. The arrival of the railways in the 1850's had generated a growth in population as people moved out to the then rural suburbs from central London when the notion of commuting to one's place of work became a practical reality. However it was not until the introduction of the horse-trams that public road transport really took off. North London Suburban Tramways built their first depot at the aptly named Tramway Avenue in Edmonton and it was in April 1881 when horse-trams first opened for public service on a route between Tramway Avenue and the Edmonton/Tottenham boundary. By the end of 1881 the route had been extended south to Stamford Hill and in January 1882 it had been extended north to Ponders End.

The company was certainly not reluctant in adopting modern technology because by 1885 the horse-trams had been partially replaced by steam-trams and the route extended with a connecting service between Seven Sisters Corner to Manor House and Finsbury Park.

And so public road transport had arrived in Tottenham and by 1905 the steam-trams had been replaced by electric-trams and in 1908 the route was extended further north to Waltham Cross and another link created between Bruce Grove and Wood Green. During this time the service was to be operated by the North Metropolitan Tramways and later Metropolitan Electric Tramways(MET) before London Transport was established in 1933. .

We have acquired a number of photographs over the past several years from various sources and we have incorporated a number of them within this article. We will attempt where possible to indicate the location and approximate date of the photographs but I am afraid we have very limited technical information on the trams and trolleybuses etc that would appeal to the more serious bus and tram enthusiasts.

To the right is a diagram that shows the principle routes that ran through Tottenham.

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Tramway Construction Photographs - Linda Bonner

We are indebted to Linda Bonner who has provided these wonderful old photographs of tram-line construction in Tottenham. Linda informs us that her husband's Great-Grandfather, William Bonner, had lived in Tramway Avenue, Edmonton and worked for the tram company. In the 1911 Census he is working as a 'Horse Tower Wagon Driver' and his son (Linda's husbands Grandfather - Also William Bonner) was an apprentice engineer for the company. In the second photograph, William Bonner Jnr is pictured standing at the back of the lorry on the right hand side. The Bonner family were later to live in Flexmere Road close to Bruce Castle Park.

Early Electric Trams

Electric Tram Tottenham/Edmonton Boundary 1905	Junction High Road/Park Lane 1908

Tram- Tottenham High Cross c1900	Tram- South Tottenham Station c 1909

Seven Sisters Road approaching Wards Corner 1904	High Road-Wards Corner 1913

Seven Sisters Road 1938	Tram- Lordship Lane

Bruce Grove 1938	Bruce Grove Road & Cinema 1930
TRamcar Route 5 - Turnpike Lane Station - 1938	Wood Green Tram Depot - Jolly Butchers Hill - 1937
Announcement about new Trolleybus service - 1938
The new trolleybuses were much more comfortable than the old trams. The Times in 1935 was full of praise for these modern machines and marvelled that ‘they are almost silent, not only in running but in stopping and starting’. London Transport replaced its trams with trolleybuses astonishingly quickly. Between 1935 and 1940 they converted about 70% of the huge tramways system. They soon had the largest trolleybus fleet in the world. Despite these advantages, few Londoners became as sentimentally attached to trolleybuses as they were to the old trams.

Trolleybuses operating in the Tottenham Area

Hertford Road Edmonton-Tramway Avenue	Queue at Tramway Avenue Edmonton

Route 649- leaving Tramway Avenue Depot 1960s	On stand Edmonton Broadway 1960's

Angel Edmonton-Note 'Regal' cinema in background	Junction Fore Street and Angel Road Edmonton

Trolleybuses Queuing -Spurs v QPR 1949	Trolleybuses Queuing -Spurs v QPR 1949 -View 2

Turning Circle-Snells Park- On Spurs duty !	High Road - Junction Broad Lane 1961

Junction Rudds Corner -West Green Road & High Road 1960	Seven Sisters Road and St Annes Road 1960

Stamford Hill Junction	Stamford Hill- leaving Amhurst Park Road

Coliseum Cinema Green Lanes Haringay 1960s	Entrance to Harringay Stadium- Green lanes 1960s

Jolly Butchers Hill -Wood Green 1960s	Jolly Butchers Hill - Wood Green 1960s

Buses -Early Post-Trolleybus era
The now iconic Routemaster entered service in 1959, replacing trolleybuses. Previous diesel buses had already replaced London's trams. In the 1990s London's bus use increased for the first time in 50 years, due to improved service.
early Omnibus - route 106 Tottenham to Richmond- c 1920	Route 73 Marble Arch - En-route Tottenham
	Pictured left and above -Route 176 circa 1931

Route 41 Bus -Turnpike Lane 1949- last day of service for 6 wheel model	Interior of old London Transport RT Bus

Route 171 Bus on Stand at Bruce Grove	Route 171 -Central London- on route-Tottenham
Route 171 -High Road & Chesnut Road - May 1970	Route 259 - Chesnut Road -1980

Old Route 41 Bus- Tottenham Hale to Archway.	Old 76 Bus - Tottenham to Victoria Station

Route 41 Bus- Routemaster	Route 76 Bus crossing Waterloo Bridge

Route 73 -Special Livery - Leaving Tottenham Garage	Route 76-Special Livery - High Road & Broad Lane 1979

Route 171 Bus - Routemaster	Eastern National Bus - Wood Green 1977

Route 41 Bus	Route 476 Bus-High Cross 1998

Route 73 Bus- central London	Route 73 Bus leaving Tottenham Garage

Route 73 Bus - Tottenham Garage	Routemaster Bus 1963
Tottenham Bus Garage - 1936	West Green Road Bus garage -Willow Walk - 1959
NEW SELECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS ADDED - MARCH 2016
Tottenham Bus Garage	Route 230 - Junction High Road/ West green Road
Route 41 Junction High Road -Broad Lane 1970s	Eastern National Bus -High Road /Broad Lane
Route 41 - Turnpike Lane 1949	Turnpike Lane Bus Islands 1968
Route 29 Turnpike Lane 1987	Route 144 Westbury Avenue 1970s
Route 41 West Green Road - 1970s	Route 171 - Bruce Grove 1980
Trolleybus on Stand - Wood Green Broadway	Ole Bill- Famous WW1 Omnibus - Tottenham Garage

And finally... My cousin Tony Palmer, who now lives in Canada, spotted this bus when driving to the Niagara Falls area. So now you know where some London Buses eventually end up ! Some nostalgic destinations on Bus roller binds

Updated - July 2012. - Route 41 Bus at Turnpike Lane 1949 plus interior - Trolleybuses at Spurs 1949 - Special Livery Buses in 1979 and Trolleybuses - Rudd's Corner and Seven Sister Road 1960

Updated January 2014 - Route 106 Omnibus & Route 176 Bus from 1931 - Route 171 crossing Chesnut Road- Trams Turnpike Lane and Wood Green Garage -Tottenham Garage and West Green Road Garage.

Early Horse Trams

Horse Tram leaving Tramway Avenue	Horse Tram -Tottenham/Edmonton Boundary c1900

Horse Tram approaching Scotland Green -High Road	High Road- preparing for electric trams c 1903

Steam Trams operating in Tottenham

Steam Tram - High Road c 1889	Steam Tram- High Road Tottenham c 1887
The steam trams were in operation for a relatively short period of time before being replaced by Electric Trams.

Assorted Tram and Trolleybus Memorabilia

Trolleybus Logo	Trolleybus illustration - Eagle Comic 1961

Trolleybus Brochure 1937	Bus Ticket Machine

Trolleybus Ticket	Trolleybus Ticket Assortment

Ticket Rack	Trolleybus - Seat Upholstery

Trolleybus - Upper Deck	Trolley Bus - Lower Deck

Trolleybus Staircase	Trolleybus - Conductress 1947

Early Tram Car Photographs - By Bob Rust

The above photographs have been presented by Bob Rust (and his brother Bill) and show their Grandfather firstly standing alongside a Horse drawn tram at Tramway Avenue in 1895 and a few years later as the driver of one of the first electric trams as it passed through Bounds Green.