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9
be expected of him, and the road was taken off his hands by the
Board. A similiar question arose as to the road in Ladywell Lane,
up to the Cemetery, but the amount involved not being so heavy it
was more easily disposed of. The roads over the Mid-Kent Railway
at Ladywell and Catford Bridge have also been the subject
of several references to the General Purposes Committee, and they
were not accepted, as complying with the arrangements referred
to in the previous report between the Board and the Company, until
March last, when several improvements were made by the Contractors,
for which they were not strictly liable, and on that consideration
other things were waived which might have been insisted
on, and they were relieved from the onus of their further repair.
The question of the encroachments on the Highways, referred to
in the former report, has not been revived, but the Board have
several times prevented further encroachments being made, viz., in
front of Mr. Kingsford's premises, Lower Sydenham; near the
Lewisham Station of the North Kent Railway at the side of the
Plough Inn, where too large an enclosure was being made to form
a stable yard; in front of Mr. Hazeldine's premises, on the top of
Sydenham Hill; opposite Mr. Chapman's premises, Eliza Place,
Forest Hill; and near Sir Joseph Paxton's premises, Rock Hills.
These instances are not, however, adduced invidiously, as several,
if not all of them, occurred from the ignorance of the parties as to
their precise rights.
Of the proposed Railways, of which notices were served upon the
Board in December, 1856, as mentioned in the former report, one
has not been proceeded with, and the other, the Dartford Junction,
has been thrown out in Committee. A renewed attempt was made
in the present Session of Parliament to obtain an Act for the latter
with some alterations. It was proposed to carry this line directly
across the Village of Lewisham, near Mr. Brown's premises,
branching off to the right to join the North Kent Line near the
Parish boundary, at the back of Ellerslie House, and to the left to
join the Mid Kent Line at Ladywell Bridge, and the Bridge across
the main road to have been 16 feet high, and about 70 feet in width!
It is difficult to conceive a greater eyesore than such a work would
have been, and the proposed embankments across the valley on the
West of the Village would have materially increased the evils of
inundations. The Board were therefore prepared to make a
strong opposition to the Bill unless extensive modifications were
made in the proposed works, and they sought the professional
assistance of James McNair Harkness, Esq., C.E. (whose services
they had retained with advantage on a previous occasion), to direct
them as to the requirements to be made of the Company, and the
alterations in the works on which they ought to insist. Again,
however, the Bill was thrown out in an early stage in the