The Croydon Canal

The houses along Davids Road are said to be built on the bed of the canal

Forest Hill - The Davids Road elevated walkway

Looking south east towards the Dartmouth Road junction in Forest Hill

New Mural in Davids Road The canal route in Forest Hill, as mentioned previously, runs along Davids Road approaching the environs of Forest Hill via a raised pavement which is a descendant of the former towpath itself. The houses were built on the canal bed. In 2003 the local council had part of the Davids Road footpath wall rebuilt as a mural featuring the different phases of transport systems through Forest Hill over the centuries. As well as trams, and trains, the canal is depicted with a traditional hump-backed bridge through which a barge is passing - in some respects it seems a copy of the British Waterways logo! Three large descriptive plaques relate local history and also the canal itself (below) and the footway is acknowledged as having had its origins in the Croydon Canal.

 

This is a view looking north west along Davids Road. The new mural and plaques can be seen on the wall.
The hill in the background is 'One Tree Hill' which the canal's route has skirted around since the location of Honor Oak top lock.

This throughfare used to be called Canal Road at one time! The Forest Hill swing bridge was about where the traffic lights are. The route from the Thames came from the right and ran across the picture leftwards towards Croydon. Forest Hill station is out of sight on the left - but its sign is easily seen. About where the sign is the canal route passed between the brick building (WH Smiths) and the white building (William Hill's) as seen more closely in the Through Forest Hill section