Vintage Pictures of Archway, Holloway Road, and Highgate Hill

In our office on the wall we have some framed pictures, and the other day we took a closer look and even scanned them.

Some of these pictures are from 1906-1907 or even earlier, taken in the area where Sparks and Lights showroom is, on Holloway Road!

That is amazing! After a short search online to see what Holloway Road and Archway tube station used to be, we stumbled over the Transport for London Collection of London Transport Museum vintage pictures.

We were amazed - wow, seeing the area which looks so busy, modern, and packed with both well-established shops and ever-changing fast-food places, this whole area used to look so different before!

So we thought we should take a look at some of these pictures and post them here on the blog, including a link where you can see more about their history, when were they taken and on what occasion, and other impressive facts.

Most of the pictures below are found at the LTMcollection.org.

Archway Tavern - Highgate Hill and Trams

Outside the Archway Tavern - right at the foot of Highgate Hill (see horse buses and trams in front of the tavern). This picture reflects the area before the electrification of the tramway into Highgate village (picture taken around 1870-1890). [source]

A view of Archway Road from Highgate

Here's a view of Archway Road from Highgate (in the 1880's) - it shows the first attempt at an underground in London. Impressive! The archways are still there, just up the hill from Archway tube station! [source]

Archway Tube Station in 1944

This picture is from 1944 - Archway Highgate tube station, designed by Charles Holden (the north entrance, enclosed by a baffle wall). It looks similar to what Archway tube station looks like today... [source]

View of Highgate Hill Road in 1920

Just up the hill from Archway, here's a picture taken in 1910-1920 of a view looking up Highgate Hill from the Whittington Stone public house - you can see several passing pedestrians, a horse and a cart, an E/1 class tram heading down, etc. [source]

Inside Archway Tube Station in 1907

A picture taken in 1907 of the Highgate tube station (now Archway), on the Northern Line. The platform looks similar, but in those days there were decorations with bands of colored tiling on the walls and ceilings... [source]

Holloway Road and Sparks and Lights shop in 1907

A picture of Holloway Road taken in approx. 1907 (which we purchased a couple of decades ago from a vintage shop and framed it). Do you see the "Lipton" vertical inscription on the wall?

That's where Sparks Electrical Wholesalers Ltd showroom is now today! [source: purchased by us a while ago and in our showroom]

Note: we do not intend to have any copyright infringement on all these photos - please click on the provided links to get to the source. We are simply appreciating and amazed at the rich history and vintage pictures of the Holloway Road, Archway, and Highgate Hill area...