Why are there no railways around Biggin Hill?

[frankmoh]

Here is an image of southern Bromley and Croydon using @optional 's railway map website. My question is why are there no railways in the Biggin Hill area? I could also say the same about New Addington, although the Trams have now since filled that role.

 

[Purple Train]

According to Wikipedia, there were various proposals - this link is to the page dedicated to them.

The Southern Heights Light Railway (SHLR) was to have been a speculative London area suburban electric railway between Orpington, Kent and Sanderstead, Surrey. It was authorised in 1928 under the Light Railways Act 1896, but ultimately not constructed. The engineer was to have been Colonel Holman Fred Stephens, heavily involved in the promotion of light railways.

It appears that Colonel Stephens was brought in to promote an early scheme around 1900, known as the Orpington, Cudham, and Tatsfield Light Railway. Although most of the references in the Wikipedia article are outdated, this is an up-to-date link to a series of blog posts about Biggin Hill, now on the University of Greenwich website, which delivers the following potted history of Biggin Hill railways:

Biggin Hill's major drawback has always been its poor transport links: one road in and one road out. Set on the top of the North Downs it was never going to be a candidate for a main line railway. It was this remoteness that resulted in the low land prices that enabled Frederick Dougal to offer his plots so cheaply. Even so, he realised that Biggin Hill would benefit greatly from a railway and supported the plans for the Tatsfield Light Railway which were developed in 1898.

By this date most of the accessible parts of the country were within easy reach of a railway, but some areas, especially in hilly regions, were prohibitively expensive to serve. The Light Railways Act of 1896 changed this, allowing lower cost railways to be built in return for lower maximum running speeds. The Tatsfield Light was to run from Orpington station via Green Street Green, Cudham and Biggin Hill to Tatsfield. Following a public enquiry it gained approval to proceed but the company was unable to raise the £70 000 required and the idea was quietly dropped.

This original plan came before Parliament on 22 July 1902, as per Hansard:

Copy presented, of Order made by the Light Railway Commissioners, and modified and confirmed by the Board of Trade, authorising the construction of a light railway in the counties of Kent and Surrey from Orpington to Tatsfield (Orpington, Gudham, and Tatsfield Light Railway Order, 1902) [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

After the collapse of the first scheme, Colonel Stephens did, as per the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article, come back for a more ambitious scheme in the 1920s. This brief article is still up on the Chelsham Bus Garage website, which contains more details of the proposed route:

Plans were well under way in the 1920's between Colonel Holman Fred Stephens of Light Railway fame and the Southern Railway to construct a light railway from Orpington to Sanderstead with stations at :-

ORPINGTON

GREEN ST. GREEN for FARNBOROUGH

DOWNE & KESTON

CUDHAM & BIGGIN HILL

WESTERHAM HILL

TATSFIELD

CHELSHAM for WARLINGHAM

HAMSEY GREEN

MITCHLEY WOOD

SANDERSTEAD

The proposed passenger train service would have been operated by Electric trains with steam locomotives hauling the freight trains The timetable would have shown trains running in a circular service in each direction starting from Charing Cross and running via Waterloo East, London Bridge, Orpington, Green St. Green for Farnborough, Downe & Keston, Cudham & Biggin Hill, Westerham Hill, Tatsfield, Chelsham for Warlingham, Hamsey Green, Mitchley Wood, Sanderstead, Selsdon, Coombe Road, Woodside, Elmers End, Clock House, Lewisham, London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross. It is of interest to note that the section between Coombe Road, Woodside and Elmers End is now part of Croydon Tramlink. Agreement could not be reached and the plans were finally dropped in the early 1930's.

This was known as the Southern Heights Light Railway - a counterpoint to the Northern Heights railway I guess. Although there isn't a Jay Foreman video about this particular route, there is the next best thing - a video from Jago Hazzard:

Let me introduce you to the Colonel.

(Sorry, that's the fullest description of the video I can see, although it's slightly too early in the morning for me to be fully compos mentis. I did think of the Northern Heights joke before finding the video, by the way, before anybody accuses me of stealing Mr Hazzard's wit.)

That neatly saves me from having to include any more research, so I guess I'll stop there. I suppose the shortest summary I can offer is that the settlement is not known as Biggin Hill for no reason, that Colonel Stephens was and is the only man ambitious enough to decide that trains and hills do mix, and that, for all the Colonel's effervescence, his first plan was quite a bit too early, and his second plan was slightly too late.

Incidentally the blogs about Biggin Hill's history are fascinating.

 

[telstarbox]

Hardly anyone lived there in the 19th century which is when most of our railways were built. New Addington is an interwar / post war scheme.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The Southern Heights scheme envisaged a lot of associated housebuilding, but Green Belt legislation would have precluded any post WW2 revival. It is said that the little used electrification to Sanderstead was in anticipation of this project.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

My question is why are there no railways in the Biggin Hill area?

Isn't it because the immediate area is ~600 feet above sea level?

 

[Magdalia]

My question is why are there no railways in the Biggin Hill area?

The clue is in the name. Biggin Hill is on top of the North Downs, which are to this day an obstacle to communication.

The two nearest routes to Biggin Hill go under the North Downs, at Polhill and Oxted, with both tunnels about a mile and a half long.

 

[30907]

Hardly anyone lived there in the 19th century which is when most of our railways were built. New Addington is an interwar / post war scheme.

Leaves Green and Biggin Hill began to grow between the wars too, with random bungalows on small plots off the Westerham Road (mostly now rebuilt/replaced, but my 1960s memories are clear). The transformation of Biggin Hill in the last few decades is amazing.

A tramway extension from New Addington would be the least unlikely rail-based solution, but there's a steep-sided dry valley in the way.

 

[8ace]

Isn't it because the immediate area is ~600 feet above sea level?

Devil's Dyke on the South Downs used to have a railway and it's about 700 ft (although the line didn't go all the way to the top). The fact the that it closed about 100 years says something about the usefulness (or lack thereof) of such schemes.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Devil's Dyke on the South Downs used to have a railway and it's about 700 ft (although the line didn't go all the way to the top). The fact the that it closed about 100 years says something about the usefulness (or lack thereof) of such schemes.

Indeed. Never profitable. Closed end 1938.

 

[John Webb]

As a former resident of SE London, I often went for walks or cycle rides in my teens and twenties in that part of the world. Yes, it is hilly and relatively lowly populated even in the 1950s/60s. There was once, of course, a railway station at Westerham, only 3miles/5km away but the line closed in 1961 and much of the track route now lies under the M25, so no hope of a revival!

 

[Gloster]

There is a short article in The Colonel Stephens Society’s journal The Colonel, no. 69 of Winter 2002. There are links to it in the References section of the line’s entry on Wikipedia.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

There was once, of course, a railway station at Westerham, only 3miles/5km away but the line closed in 1961 and much of the track route now lies under the M25, so no hope or a revival!

When you travel along that stretch of the M25, you can see the hills to the north.

 

[telstarbox]

This often happens with small towns which are isolated enough from other places to not have one obvious 'parent' town where the demand would go to.