Palmers Green, Broomfield Park c.1960

Photo ref: P295019

More about this scene

AT the start of the Victorian era, all the roads around Enfield had been turnpiked. These were under the care of the Commissioners for Turnpike Roads, who charged a uniform toll of 3d. This system lasted for another 30 years. In 1864 an Act was passed whereby from 1 July 1872 the turnpikes disappeared and the turnpike roads came under the care of the local boards of health. This applied to all parts of Enfield, whose Local Board of Health employed a local surveyor to ensure that the condition for funds was satisfied. The reason for this was that the money would come from the metropolitan counties. Just before the enforcement of this Act, a connection was finally made to Chingford. Up to 1869 there had been no road link for seven miles west to east from Waltham Abbey to Water Lane. This put a burden on the merchants, as a hefty toll was levied. Some public-spirited people raised firstly £500, then £700, to build an extension to the road which had ended at the River Lea; the new extension took it into Chingford. This road is still in use today - it is now known as the Lea Valley Road. It would be another twelve years before the road system saw any further changes. Up to 1881, public road transport was provided by local coaching firms and the national stagecoach network. A company known as the North London Suburban Tram Company eventually, after some difficulty, ran a service operated by horse-drawn trams; but after some poor results, which it blamed on the weather, the company went into receivership. (They had wanted to use steam trams, but were not allowed to do so, because the steam trams caused a spate of broken rails.) They were eventually taken over by the North Metropolitan Tramways Company in 1901.