IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
St. James Road, SUTTON, SM1 2BA

The straight line leads to Cheam, the sinuous one to West Sutton on the Thameslink route. I know next to nothing about such matters, but the latter looks to me to be unusually steep for a railway. Could it explain some of Thameslink's delays? I'm certainly surprised they've never tried that one on. Taken from the aptly-named Bridge Road, looking in the opposite direction to this photo: Image

This is just west of Sutton station and is seen from Bridge Road. The left hand pair of lines lead to Cheam and were opened in 1847. The right hand lines belong to the Wimbledon to Sutton line. This was first proposed in the early 1880s with the intention of stimulating house building across the clay pastures between the two towns, which up until then had remained largely untouched. It can be seen going into a steep-sided, narrow cutting. As the area was fully built-up by the time of the line's construction, the chalk cutting had to be lined in places with concrete to reinforce its steep sides and so minimise the land take. The Wimbledon to Sutton line was designed for electric trains, with many inclines and sharp curves, although it hardly justified the drivers' nickname for it: "Wall of Death".

The Secombe Theatre, named after Sir Harry Secombe, is located in Cheam Road. The theatre was opened by Sir Harry, who lived in Sutton for over 30 years.