Brighton Road, Purley: 1981

Image: © Dr Neil Clifton Taken: 13 Jun 1981

The most southerly point of the London tramway network was exactly here, where a double track with scissors crossover was provided. The trams came off here in 1950, and consequent upon this was a large reorganisation of bus routes in the area. The main new route was the 109, Purley to Embankment, running over exactly the same route as the 16/18 trams had done. But the 190 was another new route introduced at the time, partly to cover the withdrawal of the Route 42 trams from Thornton Heath. The southern terminus of the new 190 was at Old Coulsdon. In about 1968, Routemasters replaced the RT buses on this route, and one of these is seen here. In modern times, the Old Coulsdon route is covered by Route 60 which also runs past the point above.

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