TRANSPORT AND POSTAL SERVICES.
Even
before the coming of the railways Stratford was well
served by public transport. In 1839 omnibuses and
coaches ran to London four times an hour during
the day, and coaches to and from Essex, Suffolk, and
Norfolk passed through about once an hour. (fn. 1)
Plaistow at that period was served by three coaches,
each making three journeys a day. (fn. 2) During the
1830s steam coaches ran for varying periods on the
road between Stratford and London, and on other
local routes, but the experiment proved unprofitable,
and was abandoned about 1840. (fn. 3)
The first railway through the parish was the
Eastern Counties (later Great Eastern) line from
London to Romford, opened in 1839, extended to
Brentwood in 1840 and Colchester in 1843. (fn. 4) Stratford was one of the original stations, (fn. 5) and by 1841
there was also a small station at Forest Gate. (fn. 6) Maryland station was opened by 1874. (fn. 7) The line was
electrified in 1949. The Northern and Eastern line
was opened from Stratford to Broxbourne (Herts.)
in 1840, extended to Hertford in 1843 and Cambridge
in 1845. It was taken over by the Eastern Counties in
1844. The Eastern Counties branch from Stratford
to Woodford and Loughton was opened in 1856
and extended to Epping and Ongar in 1865. The
railway works at Stratford is described elsewhere. (fn. 8)
The North Woolwich branch originated in 1846,
when the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction
railway, originally intended for coal traffic only, was
opened from Stratford via Stratford Bridge (later
Stratford Market) station to Barking Road, Canning
Town. In 1847 it was extended to North Woolwich
and opened for passengers. (fn. 9) A pier was built opposite
North Woolwich station from which there was a
steam ferry to Woolwich. The North Woolwich
branch was taken over by the Eastern Counties railway in 1847. When the Victoria Dock was built, its
entrance cut across the line, and a new line was
therefore built round the north side of the dock to
Silvertown, where it rejoined the original line. The
old line south of the dock, locally known as the
Silvertown tramway, was retained to serve the local
factories, and a swing bridge was built to carry it
over the dock entrance. (fn. 10) On the new line Custom
House station was opened in 1855 and Tidal Basin
station in 1858. Silvertown station was opened in
1863. When the Royal Albert Dock was built in
1880 the railway was diverted through a tunnel under
the cut between the two docks. The original highlevel line, carried over the cut by another swing
bridge, was retained as the property of the dock
company, and later passed to the Port of London
authority.
Several other lines were built to link with the
North Woolwich branch. A line between Hackney
Wick (Victoria Park) and Stratford was opened by
the Eastern Counties railway in 1854, connecting
the North Woolwich line with the North London
railway. A service between Hackney Wick and Stratford Bridge was worked by the North London until
1866, and jointly by that company and the Great
Eastern from 1866 to 1874. From 1874 the Great
Eastern alone operated the service. The Victoria
Park trains were extended to Canning Town in
1895. A branch from Custom House to Beckton was
opened in 1874 by the Gas Light & Coke Co., which
leased it to the Great Eastern; one from Custom
House to Gallions, opened in 1880 by the dock
company, was worked by the Great Eastern from
1896. Both were closed, after bombing, in 1940. The
completion of the new lines in Middlesex made it
possible, from 1880, to run trains from Palace Gates
to Stratford and North Woolwich. The line between
Palace Gates and Stratford was closed in 1963. (fn. 11)
The London, Tilbury & Southend railway was
opened in 1854 from Forest Gate to Tilbury, and
extended to Southend in 1856. A cut-off between
Bow and Barking, with stations at Plaistow and East
Ham, was completed in 1858. Additional stations
were built at Upton Park in 1877 and West Ham
(Manor Road) in 1901. (fn. 12) The line was electrified in
1961–2. The railway works at Plaistow is described
elsewhere. (fn. 13)
The Tottenham & Forest Gate railway, opened in
1894, with a station at Wanstead Park, provided a
new route from Barking to St. Pancras and Moorgate. The line, promoted jointly by the Midland
railway and the London, Tilbury & Southend, was
carried through the built-up area of Forest Gate on
a long brick viaduct. It aroused considerable local
opposition, which might have been more effective
if West Ham council and Leyton local board had
been able to agree upon a joint course of action in the
matter. (fn. 14) In 1970 the line was worked by diesel
electric trains. (fn. 15)
West Ham's first link with London's underground
system was made in 1902, when the District line was
extended from Whitechapel to join the London,
Tilbury & Southend at Bow, and its trains began to
work through to East Ham. The line was electrified
to East Ham in 1905 and to Barking in 1908. The
Central line extension was opened from Liverpool
Street to Stratford in 1946, from Stratford to
Leytonstone and Woodford in 1947, and to Hainault, Loughton, and Epping in 1948–9.
Many of the railway stations in West Ham were
enlarged or rebuilt from time to time to deal with
increasing traffic. Tidal Basin station, which had
been damaged by bombing, was closed in 1943.
Stratford Market station was closed in 1957. The
railway works at Stratford and Plaistow have also
been closed, but in 1967 an international freightliner terminal was opened at Stratford station.
The North Metropolitan Tramways Co. opened
a horse tramway from Aldgate to Leytonstone Road,
via Broadway, Stratford, in 1870–1, and in 1886
extended it to Leytonstone, with another branch
along Romford Road to Forest Gate and Manor
Park. (fn. 16) In 1886 also the company opened a line from
Canning Town along Barking Road to the Greengate,
Plaistow, with an extension to a depot in Tunmarsh
Lane. In 1877 it experimented briefly, in Leytonstone Road, with a Merryweather steam tram
locomotive. A further experiment, with a Beaumont
compressed air locomotive, was made on the same
line in 1881. (fn. 17) Battery-powered electric trams were
used on regular services between Stratford and
Manor Park in 1886–8, and on the Canning Town
line in 1889–92, but they were not a success. In
1903–5 the West Ham corporation took over all the
company's lines within the borough, extended and
electrified them. As part of the process a new road,
Tramway Avenue, was cut through from Stratford
Broadway to West Ham Lane. In 1937–40 the trams
were replaced by trolley buses, which remained in
use until 1960.
The local horse bus services were not harmed,
and in some cases were even stimulated by the
coming of the railways. In the 1850s and 1860s buses
ran every 10 minutes from Stratford to London,
and there was also a service from Stratford station
to Leyton and Walthamstow. (fn. 18) With the arrival of
the tramways the horse buses declined, but motor
bus services started in West Ham by 1906 and were
rapidly extended. (fn. 19) In 1933 West Ham's trams and
buses were taken over by the London Passenger
Transport Board. (fn. 20)
A Thames ferry was established in 1811 between
Charlton (Kent) and Plaistow Level (the present
Silvertown), from which Prince Regent Lane was
built across the marshes to Barking Road. (fn. 21) It
survived until 1847, when the steam ferry was
opened from North Woolwich.
Letters were being delivered and collected twice
daily at Stratford and West Ham village in 1692, and
once daily at Upton, Plaistow, and Green Street. (fn. 22)
In 1794 there was a receiving and sorting office at
Stratford, and a receiving house at Plaistow. (fn. 23) There
were 4 post offices in the parish in 1848, and 9 by
1856. (fn. 24) When the London postal area was divided
into districts in 1856, West Ham parish was included
in the eastern district (Stratford and Canning Town
sub-districts). (fn. 25) There were various changes in the
sub-districts in the later 19th century. Of the numbered sub-districts formed in 1917 four lay wholly
or mainly in West Ham: Stratford (E. 15), Plaistow
(E. 13), Forest Gate (E. 7), and Victoria Docks and
North Woolwich (E. 16). (fn. 26)
By 1829 Stratford had a main post office and two
other offices. (fn. 27) In 1856 Stratford was constituted a
sub-district. (fn. 28) The main office was in Broadway
c. 1848–80 and in Martin Street 1880–97; it became
a branch office in 1880. (fn. 29) The present branch office,
at no. 413 High Street, was opened in 1897. (fn. 30) Telegraph services were available at Stratford railway
station by 1868 and at three of the post offices by
1870. (fn. 31) The National Telephone Co. opened an
exchange at Stratford in 1896. (fn. 32) The area is now
served by the Maryland exchange, opened in
1922. (fn. 33)
The Plaistow office, then in Balaam Street, was in
1856 included in the Stratford sub-district; the
Plaistow sub-district was formed in 1872. (fn. 34) From
1857 until the Second World War the main office
was in High Street. (fn. 35) The present branch office, so
designated about 1949, is on the corner of Balaam
Street and Barking Road. (fn. 36) Telegraph services were
available by 1872. (fn. 37) The telephone had been extended
to Plaistow by 1905. (fn. 38) The area is now served by
the Grangewood, Clocktower, and Albert Dock
exchanges.
Forest Gate was in Stratford sub-district from
1856 until 1880, when it became a separate subdistrict. (fn. 39) Since the 1880s the main office has
occupied various sites in Woodgrange Road. (fn. 40) It
became a branch office in 1921. (fn. 41) The present
branch was built in 1958 as part of Telephone House,
Woodgrange Road, which is the headquarters of the
eastern area of the London telecommunications
region. (fn. 42) Telegraph services were available to the
public at Forest Gate railway station by 1868, and at
the post office by 1879. (fn. 43) The telephone was available
by 1905. (fn. 44)
The Victoria Docks and North Woolwich subdistrict (E. 16) is larger than its name suggests, since
it includes most of Canning Town. In 1856 the
Canning Town sub-district comprised offices at
Canning Town, Victoria Docks, and North Woolwich. (fn. 45) In 1872 the Victoria Docks sub-district was
formed, with a branch office at Tidal Basin, and an
office at Canning Town, while North Woolwich
became a separate sub-district. (fn. 46) The two subdistricts came together again in 1917. In the Victoria
Docks sub-district a second branch office was opened
in 1881 at the Royal Albert Dock. (fn. 47) The North
Woolwich sub-district included Silvertown, where
the first office was opened in 1878. (fn. 48) A branch
office in Barking Road, Canning Town, was designated about 1949. (fn. 49) There were telegraph services at
Canning Town by 1870. (fn. 50) The Albert Dock telephone exchange was opened by the National Telephone Co. in 1897. (fn. 51)