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NOSTALGIA: Cyclist v tram in 1930s Portsmouth hill climb

Pictured in the early 1930s we see a tram passing over the bridge which crosses Southwick Hill Road at Cosham.

By The Newsroom
Sunday, 18th February 2018, 8:00 pm
The junction of Southwick Hill Road and London Road, Cosham, with a tram passing over the bridge. Not a traffic light to be seen. Picture: GA Tucker
The junction of Southwick Hill Road and London Road, Cosham, with a tram passing over the bridge. Not a traffic light to be seen. Picture: GA Tucker

The massive abutments hold back the embankment supporting the tramway. On the other side of the tramway bridge was a footbridge running parallel with it.

Only a lonely cyclist makes his way up the A3 London Road towards the summit of Portsdown Hill.

As someone who takes hundreds of photographs of the streets of Portsmouth, the ‘today’ picture is what I would call a nightmare scene. Traffic lights, street furniture, bollards and railings mar any photograph.

NOW: A street photographers nightmare. The same scene at the junction today. Eight sets of traffic lights and street furniture mar the scene.

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The bridge was removed in 1944 for scrap and the abutments removed in 1952 to widen the road, although not much.

The footbridge remained in use for many years after but that has also since been removed. Trees and shrubs have since softened the scene

• I wonder if any postmen out there can help with the location of the picture of the tram? The houses must still be there and the road widened since those far off days.

It shows a Portsdown & Horndean Light Railway tram car somewhere on London Road.

A Portsdown & Horndean Light Railway tram car somewhere in London Road. Does anyone recognise the location?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

• Below it is a scene in Greywell precinct, Leigh Park. It was opened by the comedian Sid James in 1966.

It was an extension to Park Parade, the original shopping centre opened 10 years previously to look like a high street.

So many people from the estate who had arrived from Portsmouth missed the shopping in the city so the council built the long parade of shops in 1956.

The Greywell Precinct, off Park Parade, Leigh Park

Several of the larger companies like Woolworth’s and Sainsbury’s moved from their original locations in Park Parade to larger premises in Greywell.

NOW: A street photographers nightmare. The same scene at the junction today. Eight sets of traffic lights and street furniture mar the scene.
A Portsdown & Horndean Light Railway tram car somewhere in London Road. Does anyone recognise the location?
The Greywell Precinct, off Park Parade, Leigh Park