Sydenham Town Forum

this is superb, falkor!
thanks!

Good job, yerself, mate..... its great to be able to 'debate' such a project....i'd have missed those estate maps, for sure! I have a feeling this is the most accurate course to date... .... it does make sense...with brockley road known as brockley 'vale', that the area was very different...ie, the ...

sorry to keep filling up the thread with my wanderings......

heres a section from an 1820's map of south london, i think, showing the canal in situe...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2240/223 ... bd1c_o.jpg

heres a section from the 1833 map. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2211/2232627336_213f8e68f9_o.jpg the only real possibilty for that 'hill' in the painting is the other side of the (natural') vale which was deepened for the cutting.... 'possibility' is all it is though.. (I reckon the artist ran out...

i think the playing field was almosrt certainly levelled off with spoil...especially nearer the brockley way end, where there seems to be a distinct valley.... the canal cutting may be only a few feet underground by the top lock, but, obviously will get 3 -6 feet deeper at each lock, so, unless we c...

no worries, mate..
I need a rest for a bit anyway...
great picture.
..looking down to the mounds from whats now the cemetary/allotments)

heres a rough sketch in 3d (ish)... the 1833 map shows the top 3 locks apparently dug in to flat iis ground, with the ground tapering away to the north east at lock 23. from here, the canal would be likely to have been cut into an an embankment as it hugged the hillside, the towpath and the bank wou...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2358/2230796866_cbf8060f19_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2344/2230004079_abf5ffc644_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2123/2230796674_e60b1d07df_o.jpg ...interesting.. the main escarpment of the cutting near honor oak does seem to be contemporary with the ca...

I imagine the locks would have been dug out completely on the eastern slopes, possibly leaving bits of the western banks. the higher locks may be simply filled and left...they would have compressed the earth and raised a mound to allay subsidence... if the embankments were sound, they may well have ...

...which means...as i suspected..that part of the cutting is natural!!
so there may be easier access to lock masonry...

That fits with the image of the locks cutting along the side of the natural escarpment... if we can pinpoint one actual spot...we can pace out the locks from the distances in the book...albeit roughly. if you look where the path bends at dead lane and brockley way, it does imply a bridge further eas...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2042/223 ... 4bcc_o.jpg

the painting was made from further west, to incorporate the hills etc.....unless Falkor is right about it crossing the tracks...(but I hope not...not at this stage, anyway)
so it seems to bear out the more westerly route

doesnt look quite right to me... perhaps its not as accurate as you expected...the length of the pounds aredifferent, so your allignment might be off. I agree about the bank....(i'd like a 60 foot trench 3 yards wide, please) but i'm pleased at how close i've got with the locks...once the course is ...

this one also looks useful;

http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/coll ... &sp=X&sp=2

sounds good to me...i dont think we'll be far off...
I wish we could get in there witha JCB...then we'd find something, eh?

..I overlayed the 1850's whittaker map , roughly...lining up dead lane etc....and we see the canal diverge from the top of the scarp and down, where the locks would be...the top point woukld have been further back , having been levelled with spoil from the railway cutting. http://farm3.static.flickr...

thats what i thought....just a bit of wishful thinking on someones part, that a bridge would coincide with the railway bridge...

nice one.
in fact...while we're talking about swing bridges...
I cant actually find any reference on any mao to the swing bridge at sydenham park...although at least 2 repurted sources mention it....
one for the other thread, perhaps..

...and looking at these maps, I am beginning to agree... nothing like a debate to focus the mind... http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2278/2228787809_a89e0f6fe7_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2223/2228787975_8440025283_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2130/2229590052_af56e5b023_b.jpg ( this o...

That is certainly the spot.
whether that wall and door are contemporary I cant say...I think its a different building now.