Finsbury Park termini

London in microcosm - a detailed look at the changing terminal workings at Finsbury Park over the years. This north London station has been a transport hub since Victorian times and its narrow streets and low bridge have added complexity to its bus services. It also hosted no fewer than 4 red RF routes.

We have pieced together information from a wide range of sources for this item, but it is likely that there are errors and omissions - as ever, comments and corrections welcome.

The Great Divide. The low bridge at Finsbury Park Station over Stroud Green Road effectively divides services from the north-west from the rest of the network. Wells Terrace is under the bridge to the left, Station Place is to the left of the foreground. It must be emphasised that the 233 never ran under the bridge - RF486 in March 2005 has finished its run over the 233 and heads home. It is a few yards behind the location of RF433 in this mid-60s shot (John Hinson collection).

Photo © Peter Osborn

The railway station

Finsbury Park Station is on the east coast main line and opened in 1861, then being called Seven Sisters Road. A branch line to Edgware, with platforms either side of the main line, opened in 1867 and closed in 1970 (the pre-war plan to extend the Northern Line from Moorgate along this line to Highgate having been abandoned). Incidentally, an 1873 branch of this line, from Highgate to Alexandra Palace, passed under Muswell Hill by the weak bridge that caused much expense to London Transport, requiring the 212 to be single-decked.

The main line was joined by the Underground in 1904 when the Northern Line shuttle from Moorgate opened. The Piccadilly Line opened between Finsbury Park and Hammersmith in 1906 and was extended northwards in 1932, prior to which the resulting transport bottle-neck would have provided major traffic to the buses. The underground Northern Line terminus closed in 1964 and some parts of it were used for the Victoria Line, which opened in 1968. The former Northern Line from Moorgate was later rebuilt with an above-ground junction, opening as a British Rail line in 1976.

The main entrance to Finsbury Park Station as it is today, with the Station Place Bus Station. The old Majestic Ballroom survives in the background.

Photo © Kake Pugh

The railway line crosses both Seven Sisters Road and Stroud Green Road, the latter over a low bridge (12'9"). Perhaps for this reason, services from the Stroud Green direction have generally terminated west of the railway, with only a limited service joining east and west (and none since 1982).

The main entrance to the station is on the east side of the line, in Station Place (formerly Station Road). Additional entrances are sited in Wells Terrace, on the Stroud Green side of the station, and on Seven Sisters Road.

Coal

Before moving on to the bus services themselves, it is worth recalling the dominance of coal as a heating fuel in London's homes until the 50s and 60s - the first Clean Air Act was passed in 1956 after the severe 5-day smog of 1952 (the Mayor of London's 2002 report on air quality, precursor to the controversial London Low Emission Zone, has as its cover a striking picture of an RTW in the 1952 smog). It was only later that solid fuel generally gave way to gas- or electric-fired central heating.

There was a substantial infrastructure required to transport the coal that was used in London's homes and businesses. It was primarily carried by rail to local depots, with coal yards (such as the one in Muswell Hill) dotting the city. One such was adjacent to Finsbury Park Station alongside Clifton Terrace, served by a branch line that crossed Wells Terrace. This line closed in the 1960s and the bridge was removed in 1970.

RF453 on the 212 stand under the Smart's Coal Yard bridge in 1954. The 233 used the first (more distant) stand.

Photo © DF Parker, John Hinson collection

Maps of terminal workings

Click for a larger version

1919

1934

1947

1971

Map base © Streetmap.co.uk

Station Place

Whilst the majority of bus routes serving Finsbury Park run through along Seven Sisters Road, some services have always terminated in front of the station in Station Place, where there is now a new bus station. These have included Blackstock Road routes 4/4^A (introduced 1912 to Elephant & Castle), 106/106^A (to Poplar from 1915) and later the 141^A/179/179^A group, plus periodic use by Seven Sisters Road routes, including the 42 (before the war, when it used to run beyond Aldgate via Clapton and Stamford Hill), 39, 168^A, 253^A and 276. It also appears that the 19 group used Station Place between its extension to Finsbury Park in 1927 and its move to Plimsoll Road, possibly in 1930.

Hackney's RTL1499 runs up Mare Street, which it shares with a desirable Triumph twin, towards Finsbury Park Stn.

Photo © Paul Redmond

In more recent years, other routes have worked from Station Place, including N19 from 1989 and 153 from 1992.

Trolleybus routes 521, 621, 627, 629, 653, 659 and 679 used Seven Sisters Road and some of these used the turning loop at Finsbury Park for short workings. These are however outside the scope of this site!

The workings from Blackstock Road were originally direct to Seven Sisters Road, then clockwise into Station Place. This changed in 1926 to approach via Rock Street and St Thomas's Road.

However, in early days, Station Place was also used by services from the north-west. Introduced in 1914, route 111 to Muswell Hill (which became the 212) ran under the Stroud Green Road bridge to Seven Sisters Road and looped into Station Place (then Station Road) to terminate. This changed in 1919 when the terminal working became Stroud Green Road, Wells Terrace, Fonthill Road, Seven Sisters Road, Station Road (stand), Stroud Green Road. Perhaps the change was to enable inbound passengers to alight and access the station via the Wells Terrace entrance, but in 1922 the former working was re-introduced. This service was single-deck operated due to a weak bridge on Muswell Hill, but in 1921 the General were fined for operating double-deckers on the route. These would have been open-top, and therefore able to pass under the low bridge in Stroud Green Road, but we must assume that outside passengers were warned by the conductor to duck! In 1926, the Wells Terrace terminus became operational and the 111 no longer passed under the railway.

Holloway's RT2686 heads up Rosebery Avenue, bound for Finsbury Park Plimsoll Road.

Photo © Paul Redmond

Two routes operated by Enfield garage ran from Seven Sisters Road under the bridge to terminate at Stroud Green. The 201 was introduced in 1927 and withdrawn south of Turnpike Lane in 1933. Independent Redburn's route 538 was taken over by the General in 1926, received LT Scooters in 1931 and was withdrawn in 1938, at which point the 236 (already single-deck) was extended to Stroud Green. This remained the only route to link the two halves of Finsbury Park until its withdrawal from this section in 1982.

Rock Street

In 1926, alongside other changes to Station Place workings, came the use of Rock Street as a terminus itself - perhaps because Station Place was becoming too busy. Independent route 550 to Islington was introduced in January 1926, working from Rock Street. This route lasted until April 1930, when it was taken over by the General and replaced by the 273 to Roehampton (itself renumbered 73^C in 1934). The 273 terminus moved to Plimsoll Road in (or by) November 1930. New route 263 (which became the 236) from Leyton to London Fields was extended at the end of 1926 to Finsbury Park Rock Street, where only one bus was permitted to stand. Again, this inadequate location lasted only until 1930, when the Plimsoll Road stand came into use.

Havelock Motors was one of the independents that operated on the 263 (later 236) in the 1920s. Dodson-bodied Dennis 2½-ton YO8392 shows the destination 'Finsbury Park Empire'.

Photo David Ruddom collection

At the junction of Rock Street and St Thomas's Road stood the Empire Theatre (which later on featured stars such as Tony Hancock and Cliff Richard & the Drifters). This was the named destination for some services, including some independent operators on the 263.

Plimsoll Road

It is unclear whether it was in use earlier, but by November 1930, the 19 group (presumably including the short-lived Sunday 119 to Croydon Airport) and the 263 (renumbered 236 in 1934) were using the stand in Plimsoll Road, accessed via Prah Road after setting down in Rock Street. Buses returned to service via St Thomas's Road and Seven Sisters Road. Passengers were carried to the stand. The 273 (renumbered 73^C in 1934) also used Plimsoll Road from 1930 until its withdrawal in October 1935.

Leyton's TD92 lays over in Plimsoll Road, west of the Prah Road junction, suggesting that it has run in direct from Blackstock Road. Whilst official working was always via Rock Street, it is reported that certain journeys accessed Plimsoll Road direct via Monsell Road. Does anyone know whether this occured only if buses were empty?

Photographer unknown

In addition to being a stand, Plimsoll Road was provided with a small LT canteen (on the south side of the road) and was the crew-change point for Tottenham crews on the 236 (see Pat Spencer's Memories). The 236 was joined by the Holloway (J) workings of route 19, but not Battersea's, which turned at Highbury Barn and changed crews at the garage. The exception was during 1969 to 1971, when the Battersea workings on the 19 were replaced by the 19^A, which ran to Plimsoll Road.

Whilst the stand was officially on the left (south) side of Plimsoll Road, buses frequently spilled onto the offside. Here RF433 has run in in snowy weather and been abandoned for the warmth of the canteen.

The Sundays-only 106^A (but not the weekday 106, which continued to use the station) changed its terminus from Station Place to Plimsoll Road in 1964. When replaced by the 106 in 1971, the route used a different terminus on Sunday from during the week.

This stand continued in use until about 1984, when a new bus station and canteen were built in Station Place.

Wells Terrace

On the north side of the railway, the destination has always been given as 'Finsbury Park Wells Terrace'. This belies a series of changes over the years in the terminal workings, which needed to combine access to the station with stand space for several very frequent routes.

Muswell Hill-based Green Line 6Q6 Q229 on the 210 heads for the Wells Terrace stand, past West Green's Q142 on the 233 stand nearest to the Stroud Green Road bridge, 25 Jun 52. Neither bus survived the introduction of RFs.

The first Wells Terrace stand came into use in 1926, when the existing 111 (later to become the 212) ceased using Station Place and the 154 (later 233) was introduced. These services turned right from Stroud Green Road to terminate along Wells Terrace. It is believed that the 110 (later 210) did likewise. On departure, they passed under the coal-siding bridge and turned right into Clifton Terrace, right into Lennox Road and left back onto Stroud Green Road. Later in 1926, the 154 working was reversed so as to terminate in Wells Terrace facing Stroud Green Road. In 1930, this was reversed again, so that all services terminated on the station side of Wells Terrace.

In 1947, the stand arrangements in Wells Terrace were changed, presumably as the road had become too congested. The 210 stand was moved forward to the south end of the road, so that on departure buses turned into Fonthill Road then Lennox Road. The 233 stand was nearest Stroud Green Road and the 212 was under the rail bridge.

Contrary to some suggestions, the coal-siding bridge did not preclude the use of double-deckers; the coal yard branch line left the main line south of the station and had time to climb to a sufficient height. In 1955, double-deck working was introduced on short journeys of the 233, and in 1960 the whole of the 212 was double-decked. John Hambley's London Transport Buses 1960 has a picture on page 27 of two RTs in the road at Finsbury Park under the coal-siding bridge.

RF434 was new when photographed on the 233 in Wells Terrace - note the absence of a horizontal rail across the passenger windscreen.

In 1961,all terminal workings were reversed to anti-clockwise and Clifton Terrace became the stand for the 210 (nearest Wells Terrace), 212 Express and 233 (the latter two boarding on stand), with the 212 standing and boarding in Wells Terrace (Stuart Perry notes that the high-frequency 212 had very short layovers). The 210 boarded in Wells Terrace closest to Stroud Green Road. Note that the boarding for 212 and 212 Express was some distance apart, so you couldn't queue for both.

Following this reversal of working, there is a note in the March 1963 Central Road Services Traffic Committee minutes that, following accidents arising from passengers crossing Wells Terrace to reach Clifton Terrace, the Traffic Commissioners had ruled that passengers may board only in Wells Terrace after the buses have come off the stand in Clifton Terrace, although how this avoids the problem isn't clear as they still had to cross Wells Terrace. However, a proposal for a petrol station [unspecified, but perhaps on the corner of Stroud Green Road and Wells Terrace?] meant that the Wells Terrace stop would have to be moved and the boarding point move back to Clifton Terrace. There was therefore a proposal to reverse the working again, i.e. back to clockwise, but with passengers still boarding in Clifton Terrace, now on the offside, so creating a new risk. The Committee therefore decided to explore the possibility of acquiring disused railway land in Clifton Terrace.

Two versions of the 233 in May 1958. RF486 waits on the stand in Clifton Terrace in front of RTL1430, which is on the short working to Alexandra Park.

The upshot of this discussion appears to have been the new bus station that opened in Wells Terrace in 1974, after the coal-siding bridge had been removed in 1970. This allowed all services to terminate here, namely the 210, W2 (which replaced the 212 Express as far as Alexandra Park), W3 (which replaced the 233) and W7 (which replaced the 212). Meanwhile, for a brief period during the removal of the coal-siding bridge, services were diverted from Clifton Terrace, right into Wells Terrace then Fonthill Road and Lennox Road back into Stroud Green Road.

Part of the redevelopment of the coal yard involved the building of Morris Place, joining Clifton Terrace with Stroud Green Road. In 1982, inbound journeys to Wells Terrace were rerouted to use Morris Place instead of Lennox Road. The Wells Street bus station was rebuilt in the mid-2000s, requiring temporary use of Lennox Road (inbound) and Morris Place (terminus and outbound).

Postscript

The minutes of the Traffic Committee in 1964 describe the replacement bus service required to cover the closure of the Drayton Park to Finsbury Park section of the Northern City Line during the Victoria Line construction. They calculate that 27 OMO coaches are required for a 2 minute service in the peaks, but haven't a hope of finding them or (more critically) the crews, so they agree to put the contract out. The working described is Wells Terrace (west end, pick up), Fonthill Road, Isleden Road, Tollington Road, Hornsey Road, Benwell Road, Bryantwood Road (stand at east end), Drayton Park, Gillespie Road, St Thomas Road, Station Place, Stroud Green Road, Lennox Road, Clifton Terrace, right into Wells Terrace to stand. Does anyone know whether this operation actually ran in this form? - please let us know.