Dartford Tunnel, RM19

The original (western) Dartford Tunnel opened in 1963.

Tunnel boring machine being used in the western Dartford-Purfleet tunnel (1936).

This was a compressed air driven pilot tunnel - the main tunnelling work would not take place until 20 years later.
Credit: Ministry of Transport/Highways England

An idea of a tunnel crossing was proposed by the Ministry of Transport in 1924. Initial reports suggested a crossing between Tilbury and Gravesend, but this was rejected in favour of a route further upstream, near Dartford. By 1929, the total cost of building the tunnel was estimated at £3 million. The tunnel was planned to be part of a general orbital route around London and was provisionally known as part of the ’South Orbital Road’.

The first engineering work to take place was a compressed air driven pilot tunnel, drilled between 1936 and 1938. Work on the tunnel was delayed due to World War II, and resumed in 1959. The two-lane tunnel opened to traffic on 18 November 1963 with the total project being £13 million. It initially served approximately 12 000 vehicles per day.

Main source:	Wikipedia
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Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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Toll booths at the Dartford Crossing (2011) Credit: Wiki Commons/Darren Meacher TUM image id: 1686923201 Licence: CC BY 2.0	A map a day for the month of May This early map by Lea in 1690 shows the marshy banks of the River Thames. The north bank is solid marsh from Silvertown to Tilbury. Much of the south bank is too, but this has not been depicted so much by the cartographer. TUM image id: 1713790188 Licence:	“Englishmen read the Sunday Dispatch" (1935) Erich Salomon was a German photographer born in Berlin. A pioneer of modern photographic journalism, he was one of the first to use small format cameras (Leica). In 1944 he was sent to Auschwitz, dying there along with his wife and his son Credit: Erich Salomon TUM image id: 1713273355 Licence:	A map a day for the month of May Political map of the County of London (1930). That section of Woolwich north of the Thames, surrounded by Essex was quite an interesting anomaly. The borough had inherited these two exclaves from Kent when the borders of the new County of London had been drawn up in 1888. They continued to make no sense whatsoever until 1965 when the arrival of the Greater London Council abolished them, assigning them to Newham. TUM image id: 1713790993 Licence:	Scene outside a London school (1950s) The Frederick Wilfred Facebook page showcases the work of this wonderful London photographer operational between 1955 and 1965. https://www.facebook.com/Frederick.Wilfred.Photography Credit: Frederick Wilfred TUM image id: 1710790328 Licence:
Worst Alphabet Book Ever TUM image id: 1697488449 Licence:	Marvellous new cars - these 1960s Vauxhalls Credit: Vauxhall Motors TUM image id: 1682607809 Licence:	Lost Roomba Credit: Wiki Commons TUM image id: 1673366832 Licence:	An almost empty carriage on a Central Line train on August Bank Holiday 1955 TUM image id: 1669414074 Licence:	A matter of geometry TUM image id: 1713792388 Licence:
Officers of the Women Police Service, led by Inspector Mary Allen (a former suffragette) London, May 1916. Later in life, her politics tended towards the authoritarian side TUM image id: 1710790162 Licence:	Beware the 31st October TUM image id: 1698052068 Licence:	On off-topic Tuesday we feature this atmospheric image of the monumental dockyards at Birkenhead - opposite Liverpool - featuring the construction of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in 1950. The ship took around five years to build, and the photograph captures her near completion but still surrounded by cranes. The image was published with the title ‘Where Great Ships are Built’. Chambré Hardman set up a photographic studio in Liverpool in the early 1920s. With the help of his wife Margaret it went on to become a thriving business, specialising in both studio and street photography. The photograph is part of a large and outstanding collection, and Chambré Hardman’s studio and home at 59 Rodney Street in the centre of Liverpool are owned and run by the National Trust. Credit: Edward Chambré Hardman/National Trust TUM image id: 1686040121 Licence:	Unusual angles - Tower Bridge Credit: IG/julianontheroute TUM image id: 1679251171 Licence:	George V old penny. Before 1971, the UK had a pre-decimal currency. The pound was split into 240 pence. Credit: Wiki Commons TUM image id: 1610990686 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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Toll booths at the Dartford Crossing (2011)
Credit: Wiki Commons/Darren Meacher
Licence: CC BY 2.0

“Englishmen read the Sunday Dispatch" (1935) Erich Salomon was a German photographer born in Berlin. A pioneer of modern photographic journalism, he was one of the first to use small format cameras (Leica). In 1944 he was sent to Auschwitz, dying there along with his wife and his son
Credit: Erich Salomon
Licence:

Scene outside a London school (1950s) The Frederick Wilfred Facebook page showcases the work of this wonderful London photographer operational between 1955 and 1965. https://www.facebook.com/Frederick.Wilfred.Photography
Credit: Frederick Wilfred
Licence:

Worst Alphabet Book Ever
Licence:

Marvellous new cars - these 1960s Vauxhalls
Credit: Vauxhall Motors
Licence:

Lost Roomba
Credit: Wiki Commons
Licence:

An almost empty carriage on a Central Line train on August Bank Holiday 1955
Licence:

Officers of the Women Police Service, led by Inspector Mary Allen (a former suffragette) London, May 1916. Later in life, her politics tended towards the authoritarian side
Licence:

Beware the 31st October
Licence:

On off-topic Tuesday we feature this atmospheric image of the monumental dockyards at Birkenhead - opposite Liverpool - featuring the construction of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in 1950. The ship took around five years to build, and the photograph captures her near completion but still surrounded by cranes. The image was published with the title ‘Where Great Ships are Built’. Chambré Hardman set up a photographic studio in Liverpool in the early 1920s. With the help of his wife Margaret it went on to become a thriving business, specialising in both studio and street photography. The photograph is part of a large and outstanding collection, and Chambré Hardman’s studio and home at 59 Rodney Street in the centre of Liverpool are owned and run by the National Trust.
Credit: Edward Chambré Hardman/National Trust
Licence:

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