London Trolleybus crossing the A3 at Shannon Corner, New Malden

Click on picture [293] for an enlarged version

From: "Tony Kerr" <kerr_tony@hotmail.com>

Shannon Corner, New Malden where Burlington Road bisected the Kingston-by-pass. This was in the days when you could have traffic lights on the A3! Nowadays there maybe a flyover but dense traffic often means that your journey is not that much quicker.

The amazing thing about these photographs is the sparseness of the traffic. I can remember that between New Malden and Kingston the trolleybuses would belt along hindered only by the compulsory bus stops.

From: "Andy Kyriakides" <anconky@yahoo.com>

What a fantastic site! Being from the Raynes Park area, and just the right side of 30, this was a great insight for me, I know Croydon well and especially knew the route that trolleybus 601 took, I've walked it enough times. It's amazing to see the changes that have taken place in such a short space of time.

The quality of your pictures is so good; it felt like I was there, only the old cars giving it away. I'm not really a bus enthusiast but I am a nostalgia freak, having vague memories of Shannon Corner without the flyover and the Rialto cinema in Raynes Park [now an office block for Eve Construction or something in that field], I ended up staying on your pages for 4 hours last night, such was the quality of it.

Who would have thought when you took those photos over 40 years ago, the effect they would have on complete strangers?

Notes by David Bradley

In picture 293, the public house forecourt sports a Police Box which was a common piece of street furniture from the early thirties throughout Britain. They were phased out, from 1969, with the issue to foot constables of personal 'walkie talkies'. The few boxes that survive today, in their original locations, are in Glasgow although in the 1990's a handful of boxes were re-introduced back into London.

In the 21st century it seems absurd that Police HQ contact with the beat bobby was through the flashing light on top of these boxes with the police constable using a whistle to summon urgent assistance from a nearby colleague.

More information: Police Boxes.

Pictures at this location 40 years later

Click on picture [1005] for an enlarged version

Click on picture [H1] for an enlarged version

Picture 1005, is the same position viewed in November 1999. The flyover maybe a huge benefit for travellers on the A3, but at a high cost to the general amenity to Burlington Road below. The graffiti enhanced concrete gas bunker, with ancient spoils from construction works long past, hardly makes this a nicely landscaped area for overnight guests at the Duke of Cambridge Public House. However, in early 2000, the flyover was refurbished with the area beneath the flyover used for a storage area for construction materials. With these works now completed, it is possible that the area beneath the flyover is now in a better state.

The construction of the flyover that followed soon after the demise of the trolleybuses meant the loss of much of the forecourt of this public house and indeed a foreshortening of the building itself; what a war time bomb failed to achieve a couple of decades earlier was overshadowed by a road 'improvement' programme!

Ian Howard's web site provides the picture of the public house as seen in December 2001. So much of the character of this public house has been lost over the years, with patrons now suffering from the constant roar of traffic on the A3 trunk road instead of yesteryear's gentle swish of a passing trolleybus.

Notice also, how mobile communications have swept away telecommunications street furniture replaced with today's forest of road signs and safety barriers. If trolleybuses ever returned to this area, so much would be spoken of the 'unsightly' overhead wires, but is this really justified when the area has already been disfigured so much?

From: "Richard Burmingham" <Richard.Burmingham@tfl.gov.uk>

As mentioned by your other contributors, the flyover carrying the A3 above Shannon's Corner has completely changed the nature of this busy junction.

Very recently the pub has been taken over by a Krispy Crème donut franchise, and Champion Timber & Builders Merchants, along with Tesco PLC occupy much of the land west of the A3 and north of Burlington Road. However, if I can refer you to picture 292, featuring a westbound route 605 trolleybus travelling towards Wimbledon, I think you will find that, if you begin counting from the corner, by the Police box, the fifth [or possibly sixth] westbound traction standard, is still in situ, complete with faded green paint, plenty of surface rust and the remnants of it's span wires, hanging forlornly down. As far as I can tell, some re-definition of public/private boundaries, has left this standard on private property, where it stands adjacent to the vehicle entrance of some business or industrial units in Burlington Road.

Again, thanks for a terrific and nostalgic [on many levels] site.

From: "Bill Pocock" <bill@blue-team.co.uk>

How brilliant is your site.

I was, innocently, looking for info on Shannon Corner and came upon your trolley bus photos. A picture can tell a thousand stories.

What I am trying to establish is the origins of the name Shannon for this corner of the A3 and Burlington Road. I have found the name Shannon Typewriter Company and feel this is perhaps it. I always remember Decca as the major land mark at this junction. Any thoughts?

Thanks for sharing your amazing photos with us.

Bill Pocock
Resident of Morden, but grew up in Wimbledon.

From: "JIll Truman" <jill.truman@btinternet.com>

Shannon Corner was so called because a company by the name of Shannon Systems was on the corner of the A3 and Burlington Road where B&Q is now.

The Shannon Building was a lovely Art Deco design [it would have been built in the Thirties] and should really have been preserved. It was surrounded by an attractive planted area.

Shannon Systems produced filing systems [possibly typewriters too at some stage] and I believe they one was a type of 'roladex' whereby you could quickly flip through cards to quickly find details of ones clients. Possibly Wikepedia may have more information on the company.