Anerley

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type = Greater London
region= London
population=
official_name= Anerley
london_borough= Bromley
constituency_westminster= Beckenham
post_town= LONDON
postcode_area = SE
postcode_district = SE20
dial_code= 020
os_grid_reference= TQ345695
latitude= 51.4147
longitude= -0.067

Anerley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located approximately 8.5 miles south east of Charing Cross and contains the former site of The Crystal Palace.

History

Anerley has never existed as an independent entity, but rather as a general area. Prior to the enclosure and the relocation of The Crystal Palace to Penge Place at the top of Sydenham Hill, Anerley was an unoccupied part of Penge Common.
Penge, including the Common, became the Penge Urban District of Kent as a result of the London Government Act 1899 and became part of the London Borough of Bromley in 1965.

With the demise of the local government ward of Anerley, the name Anerley is mainly applied to the area in the proximity of the railway station, to the top of Anerley Hill Road and down to the Birkbeck station border divide with London and Kent. The SE20 London postal district was officially named Anerley but covered Anerley, Penge and parts of Beckenham.

The telephone exchange [ [http://ukphreak.blogspot.com/2004/11/crystal-palace-bt-telephone-exchange.html Image of the telephone exchange] ] built in Crystal Palace Park Road, Penge to cover Anerley, Penge and Sydenham was named SYDenham as the dial locations for PENge had already been allocated to the RENown exchange in Fulham. The dialing code for SYDenham (01 793) was changed to 01 778 (eventually becoming 020 8778). The other unit in the same the building was called CRYstal Palace (01 279). This became 01 659 (eventually 020 8659). When a TXE4 was added it had the dialing code 01 776, (now 020 8776). This dialing code is shared with West Wickham. When a System X exchange was added, a new dialing code 01 676 (now 020 8676) was added.

Railway development

The London and Croydon Canal was built across Penge Common (with remnants remaining in Betts Park in Anerley and in Dacres Wood, Sydenham).The Croydon Canal was closed and in 1839 much of its course was used to lay the London and Croydon Railway. The railway deviated from the canal course entering a new cutting near what is now Anerley railway station. William Sanderson made land available in return for the creation of the railway station.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel built an Atmospheric railway along this course in 1845, but it was short lived. The inability to include points on an atmospheric railway resulted in the construction of flyovers one of which runs through Anerley between Crystal Palace railway station and Sydenham railway station. A train collision was reported to have occurred at Anerly(sic) on 5th October 1844

Notable residents

* Thomas Crapper, notable plumber, on his retirement lived in Thornsett Road.
* Walter de la Mare, famous poet and author of ghost stories, resided at 14 Thornsett Road during the 1920s.
* James Busby, authored the Treaty of Waitangi and introduced vines to Australia

Transport

Buses

Anerley is served by London buses routes N3, 75, 157, 197, 249, 354, 358 432 and bus 356. The 432 now terminates at Anerley Bus stand, behind the Station on Anerley Station Road.

Road

Two A roads, the A213 and A214 pass through the area. During the late 1960s and 1970s the A214 was to be part of the London Ringways project. The A214 was to become Ringway 2 and it would have passed through much of Anerley, and have followed the railway line from Birkbeck station and travelled north. The construction of the A214 into the planned London Motorways network (much like the A2 or Hammersmith flyover London section today), would have seen a lot of destruction of property in Anerley and a great increase in noise pollution. After much consultation and Government dithering the various London Ringway projects were cancelled, including the A214 section.

Rail

* Anerley railway station, Southern operate trains to London Bridge and East Croydon or West Croydon
* Birkbeck station, Southern also operate from Birkbeck to London Bridge and London Victoria (Mornings only).

The other nearest stations are:
* Crystal Palace railway station
* Penge West railway station
* Elmers End railway station
* Norwood Junction railway station

Transport for London has begun work on the southern extension of the East London Line. To be rebranded as the London Overground East London Railway, this will bring services to the Docklands and Shoreditch through Anerley to connect with the North London Line, opening in 2011. [cite press release |title=Transport Commissioner visits East London Railway |publisher=Transport for London |date=2006-11-15 |url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=934 |accessdate=2007-01-28] .

Trams

In the era of street trams, a tramway ran down Anerley Road, turning into Croydon Road. It joined the main tram network at West Croydon. In the early days a stationary engine was needed to haul trams up the steepest part of Anerley Hill. Later models were able to climb unassisted, but special gearing was designed exclusively for this route. The tramway was replaced by trolley buses on route 654 which operated until 1959. [cite press release |title=Tram to Bus|publisher=Buses at work |url=http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/tb-replace.htm|] .

Transport for London has proposed the extension of Tramlink services from Harrington Road tram stop to the bus station on Crystal Palace Parade via Anerley Road and a consultation exercise finished in December 2006. [cite press release |title=Have your say - Croydon Tramlink extension to Crystal Palace |publisher=Transport for London |date=2006-10-19 |url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=919 |accessdate=2007-01-28]

Nearest places

* Beckenham
* Penge
* South Norwood
* Sydenham
* Upper Norwood

References

External links

* [http://www.virtualanerley.com/ Virtual Anerley]