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Commercial Road.

Our school is located right near Commercial Road. Commercial Road was built between 1803 and 1810. Much of the land on either side of the road was fields. Commercial Road was the third busiest stage coach route to London in 1825. Today, Commercial Road is still a very important road.



Cars, buses, motorbikes, bikes and taxis crowd the road. There’s loads of traffic controlled by lights. We need to press the button, cross at the lights, and make sure there are no cars coming. There are traffic islands in the centre of the road to help you cross safely.



These are pictures of Butcher Row. The first one was taken in the year 1830. The second was taken in 2005. When we look at a picture of Butcher Row, off Commercial Road, it looks so much different than it looks today. In 1830 it was easier to cross the road, because there were no buses and cars. The only thing you had to watch out for were horses and carriages.



There are still problems with the traffic on Commercial Road, but they are quite different now than they were in 1895. The vehicles and sounds are different. Look at the buildings and the tram lines. Trams are like buses on rails. Trams and horses and carriages shared the road.



In 1897, the new Blackwall Tunnel was open. It hooks up Commercial Road with the other side of the Thames. The Prince of Wales came to the opening and crowds of people came to watch. When the tunnel was built it was mainly for horses and carriages. Mr. Webb, a teacher at our school, said that the Blackwall tunnel isn’t straight; it has bends in it. If the tunnel was straight, the horses would see the light at the other end and run madly towards it. This would have caused accidents. The bends are not really appropriate for traffic today, but it would be too expensive to build it again.
Historical Images Copyright London Borough of Tower Hamlets 2005 (Bancroft Road Local History Library/Archive)

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