"British Rail sold the line to London Transport, which is astonishing when you look at how much an Oyster season ticket costs these days" - oh, I do like you. Thanks for another great video!
@@y2keef LMAO. Well, however he manages it I am really glad that he does. Been a LONG time since I was so entertained by a RU-vid presenter. But something about Jago and his videos has really hit the spot with me.
Books and libraries are great sources, as are archived newspapers and old maps. Youd be surprised at how many books have been written about all areas of the uk.
There is plenty of form in this part of London. Both West Kensington and Charing Cross Hospital are in Fulham, Clapham Junction is in Battersea, Wimbledon Parkside is (mostly) in Putney, and an entire park cum sports facility owned and managed by Wandsworth(Barn Elms) is located in Barnes (London borough of Richmond upon Thames), a bit like Guantanamo Bay.
@@mikesaunders4775 But Charing Cross Hospital was relocated to a new building adjacent to Fulham Hospital, when the whole complex was renamed. It was known locally as 'that new Higgs & Hill hospital', from the building contractors.
Being from "The Colonies" (Texas), but visiting London and relatives fairly regularly, I find the history of English Railroads fascinating. We don't have subways where I am from, only what you would call the "over ground" (?), Amtrac, and it is not used much in this part of the country. We much prefer to drive one of our cars or pickups wherever we go. Even if it does take 4 or 5 hours to get to the city where we are going, or an hour or more to get across town. First time I was in London I spent many hours just wandering around on the various lines, still not sure I have them anywhere near figured out. This series is really helpful, and fun to watch, so thanks and keep up the good work.
Hi, just to clarify terminology: UNDERGROUND (or "tube"): the rapid transportation system in London, most of which is under the ground in central London, but a great deal of which is above the ground outside central London (it virtually closed down after the Great Storm of 1987, because so many trees had been blown down on to the lines). OVERGROUND: a relatively recent invention by Transport for London, when it took over, from the national rail network, the running of some local (mainly suburban) train services in London (presumably, already having the "Underground", it seemed amusing to call this the "Overground"). MAINLINE: the national rail network, British Railways and then British Rail until it was privatised, sometimes referred to as National Rail or Network Rail, since it's not always clear, until you're actually catching the train, or unless you're familiar with the route, which private rail company is providing your particular service. METRO: rapid transportation systems in cities other than London (Newcastle, for example) Hope that's helpful!
@@davidw1518 You missed out that the Overground took over the eastern part of the Metropolitan Line, which of course is part of the Underground, so at that point the Overground runs underground. At the core of the Overground is a circular line, which is nothing to do with the Circle Line, which also is not a circle any more. (psst... he's American, you're allowed to tease him a little.)
@@nicktecky55 Good point about the Overground running under ground - I'd overlooked that! Now, are you teasing me as well? I haven't lived in London since the early 1990s, but I worked there until I retired, and, in normal times, I visit at least once a week because I am a member of one of the leading choirs / choral societies there. But this thing about the circular line at the core of the Overground: it is a tease, isn't it, or have I overlooked something else? Oh dear, suddenly I feel inadequate!!
@@davidw1518 Well, circular-ish, and relatively recently completed. Clapham Junction - Denmark Hill - Wapping - Dalston Junction - Highbury and Islington - Willesden Junction - Clapham Junction. Not operated as a full circle because you have to change at CJ. The south London section was the last converted. A great boon and very successful.
It's all down to population density and distance between cities. In the USA plane is usually quicker than train inter-city except in NE corridor. Passenger trains don't pay in most of the US wide-open spaces. But London would literally grind to a halt without them, they move over a million people a day (pre Covid) within a few square miles. I realised how big the USA was when I took a Greyhound across it in 1989. And Amtrak New York to Niagara, a whole day just crossing a single state!
Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopper, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid...never change, you're the best and your content is excellent
Jago, would there be any chance of a video in your London walks of any remnants of WWII infrastructure, you mention the pillbox on the bridge and I was thinking that the blitz still looms large in the city's psyche. you did that one with the cold war bunker. just a thought :)
Particularly that of the air-raid/civil-defence sirens - apparently there is a siren on a bridge pillar in London left/ignored by the authorities/MoD, and the Greenwich chemical works/factory have sirens as part of their fire alarm system - several years ago, they had a fire and the sirens sounded - (there is a video about that), and a water treatment plant in London that has a siren for chlorine spills/gas cloud. Interesting that most of us Brits think that these sirens are war-relics from the second-world-war, but they are still in use in particular circumstances. 😟
@@spaceskipster4412 😱 - Norfolk environmental agency must be one of those particular circumstances, at my beach holiday home in Essex - they used to have the sirens on the Essex coast but got rid of them and replaced them with phone/tv/radio warnings,
Talking of Hurlingham Park with the club in the middle. A few years back when I was working my London taxi around the area, I got a job off the radio from The Hurlingham Club. Nothing unusual about that as they used a lot of taxis, so I pulled up outside by the steps and waited. Then the doors at the top of the steps burst open and out came the bride and groom being showered with confetti. Good grief, I thought as they sat in the back for pictures, as I had not even brushed it out. Sorry if this story has nothing to do with LU and Putney Station Jago but as you can tell, 10 years after the event I am still suffering from PWPUSD, "post wedding pick up stress disorder!". I just thought how strange to get a taxi off the street, on your big day and I remember the groom complaining about the cost of the fare, considering he had just spent £££s on the wedding venue. Anyway thanks again Jago, always a very good watch.
At least there is some novelty value in getting a cab after your wedding. Gives you something to tell the grandkids, but in the Monty Python "we worked 26 hours a day down t' pit" kind of way.
Fun fact for those of a certain age and grew up in the UK. Mr Benn lived in Putney, just up from this bridge. The fictional "Festive Road" was/is actually Festing Road.
To this day, I can't understand how there were ony 14 episodes of Mr Benn. Did I not notice I was watching the same episodes again and again? Did I just not spend as much of my childhood watching them as I thought I did?
I used to run across the railway bridge from the Territorial Army Training Centre to Wandsworth Park and back again with some of my squad mates Wednesday evenings. I lived in Summerstown in the apartment complex where the old Wimbledon football club grounds used to be, so the Destruct Line was my local for 8 years, before I returned to NZ 3 years ago. Named it the Destruct Line mainly because for a long while, at least 3 days a week there would be delays due to signalling or a faulty train. The S-stock was a huge improvement over the D-stock during heatwaves!
Thank you for your wonderful videos. I live in Sydney and visit London regularly. I love the London transport system and use it extensively. Your stories really bring the transport system alive and I love visiting all your points of interest when I am there 😊
Omg, I’ve never seen this bridge shown on video!!!! I remember the day I found this bridge was able to be walked over, I jumped for joy, lol. I never knew it’s extensive history, but dang I’ll be sure to bore my friends to death with more interesting facts about bridges and trains! Also, amazing video, love the entire series!!! 🙃
from Fraser, husband of Leslie l well remember Putney Bridge Station, because my grandparents lived in Charlwood Road, Putney for 40 years from 1928, and my parents married in 1945 and then lived just around the corner from them in Lacey Road. I was born in 1946, and we moved to Aldermaston in 1950 but frequent visits saw us often use Putney Bridge Station as it was closer, and also had a more frequent service then, plus it was a pleasant walk of Putney Bridge. Yes, the now-disused platform was then in use, and when one arrived and had ascended to the platform, there was normally a train waiting for you. I still remember the "tonka-tonka-tonka" of the Westinghouse airbrake compressor ! However, my grandma always preferred the bus or trolleybus so that was our normal transport when we went off on a trip to somewhere in London. I was always fascinated by the Underground and still am despite now living in Crewe !
Another splendid underground conundrum simultaneously unearthed and solved! 🤔 You have certainly turned this into an art form sir! 😜 I think I have only been over that bridge in the dark en route to East Putney to go to a Marc Bolan Tribute gig at the Half Moon. It is rather splendid so I shall have to revisit it some time. And I shall certainly have to give Putney Bridge station a look over next time I am that way 😎
One of the most important things to expect from a great Jago Hazzard video, iiis that the first line of the script will contain a statement about the subject broken into two parts, separated by a pause and a drawn out ".... iiiiis that", and this is a very important feature of many great Hazzard works.
Hurlingham kind of was a place - at least it was the name of ward of the borough of Fulham the station was situated in. Parsons Green wasn't a ward though. Next point to ponder is why Imperial Wharf Station wasn't called Sands End ...
Never noticed that there was a Pillbox at Putney Bridge! I don't know about "Bridge of Lies" but Putney Bridge and the immediate area holds a lot of secrets. Who is/was "The Putney Bridge Pusher" and how, in broad daylight, with so many witnesses, and the event recorded on film - has the guy never been caught? Gowan Avenue (scene of another very high-profile unsoved crime) is just a few minutes walk away from there too.....
...and I'd not even noticed the third platform!! Mind you, it's many years since I was there, and I was a student at the time, so I'm going to blame a permanent drunken haze!!
The actual history of Platform 3 is that it was a through platform and 2 was the dead-end track. This was swapped which made Platform 3 disused as S stock trains are longer than C/D stock
"Putney Bridge: Bridge Of Lies" - Yes. If this was an underground railway offering a boat service, does that mean they used submarines, in keeping with being under something. Makes sense.
I like the fact that history is preserved so well all over the railway. That old platform sign for instance - someone could have ripped that out decades ago and put in a shiny new one, but they didn't. They kept it. Wonder how much of that has to do with saving money ;)
I lived in Putney a few years ago. Lovely part of London and super cheap council tax as it’s part of Wandsworth. East Putney station was a 2 minute walk to my flat. I often wondered why the 3rd platform wasn’t really used. And always believed that was a pill box at Putney Bridge station 🤗
The third platform was used. The middle platform was a terminating platform and had sand and buffers at the end near the bridge. All trains at Earl's Court that had "Putney Bridge" on them used to stop there. So when people arrived at Putney Bridge, and there was a train sitting at that middle platform, they had to decide which set of stairs to go up. (If you went up to the middle platform, a northbound train would cross the bridge and might go out before you. If you went up to the empty through platform, the train sitting on the middle platform might leave first. That pill box was never occupied, but, if the Germans had managed to invade mainland Britain in WWII, they would have put explosives on the bridge and there would have been people in that pillbox trying to make sure no Germans got across the railway bridge before it was blown up. (Note that there are only defences on the North side of the Thames, as this was there to stop German forces that would have already occupied Wandsworth from getting to North London.)
The bridge has been hit a couple of times by various boats over 20 years ago now. It remained closed to rail traffic for several weeks whilst remedial work was carried out. I remember driving rail replacement buses between Putney Bridge station and East Putney whilst the work took place.
@@spaceskipster4412 not sure how it is in uk but in most places like this in usa if a bridge is hit by boats of any size they have to have people dive and check the integrity of the bridge before allowing it to be used again
@@yearight6294 I expect if small boats just bumped into the piers, no problem. But a large Thames barge (fully loaded) is another story. But I was wondering if something was a little bit too tall and actually struck one of the Spans on the bridge.
@@spaceskipster4412 hmm i didn't think of either of those instances , here if any boat at all hit anywhere they are inspected , i think even if its something like the side of the boat brushing it .
I’m not sure “Putney Bridge” is an unreasonable name for “the station next to Putney Bridge” - you could say the same for “London Bridge” which is on the opposite side of the river to the City. Nice video though, I had never noticed the pillbox! ☺️
@@mikesaunders4775 so does Putney Bridge (and Kew Bridge) - my point is it is not unreasonable to name a station after a bridge, even if the place that the bridge is named after is on the other bank of the river!
That was an excellent video, well put together, great narration, and thanks for not blasting my ears off with crap background noise. I live in North Cambridgeshire, but originate from London, answering another posters question about "pill boxes", in the area where I live I have lost count of the amount of visible "pill boxes".
I drive the 85 or 265 bus to Putney Bridge Station on occasion. It's a job trying to find a stand in there as it's so small, and too many routes serving.
I live in New Zealand now, but in the early 1960's I used to commute from either East Putney or Putney Bridge to Victoria or St James Park stations, depending how late I was getting to my place of employment in Victoria. The platforms at Putney Bridge Station are configured differently to when I used the station. Platform 1 is the same for trains to London, but platform 2 was a terminus platform complete with a large hydraulic buffer stop embedded in a large concrete block at the south end of the platform, this platform was used for District Line trains terminating at Putney Bridge and returning to High Street Kensington. Platform 3 was the through platform for trains to East Putney and Wimbledon. In the early morning, it was a case of tossing a coin to guess which would be the first train to leave for the trip to town, the train arriving from Wimbledon at platform1, or the train sitting at platform 2, getting it wrong involved a spirited run down stairs to the booking hall and back up the stairs to the other platform, many a time I've missed both trains and caught a third one. Thanks for a nostalgic video.
Yes! Finally a Jago Hazzard covering East Putney! Possibly one of the most boring stations on the network, but finally I've seen him talk about it. That national rail extension goes right past my house. Great video.
The more I watch your videos the more I am aware about the fact that I slowly know more oddities about London than the oddities about the capital of both the country and the state I'm in, and also my hometown and the city I'm currently living in, combined.
I see the 'developers' are still shoving/prising 'deluxe' appartments into spaces right against the track. Million pound properties with the sound of trains in your ear.
I was going to say that! They only swapped it around and fenced off platform 3 about 5 years ago. I believe it was because the new trains were too long for platform 3.
@@lipkinasl I've always been amazed by the amount of space consumed by the sidings at Parson Green. Me thinks they could park the trains somewhere else, then sell of the land for housing devel. Fantastic, yuppy neighborhood. Lots of doh for TfL.
@@bobblue_west Highly unlikely - no trains stabled at Parsons Green would mean either very late first / early last trains from Wimbledon or some very expensive from an engineering works viewpoint of running trains on early / late current to/from either Lillie Bridge or Ealing Common depots. Only other half viable option would be stabling at Network Rail's depot at Wimbledon, which I would really consider to be unlikely. I think they would be better expanding the currently disused siding, which is behind the current westbound platform, to make it long enough to take an S stock.
There was an odd derailment at the end of the link line between Wandsworth Town and the District, because Network Rail and LU had different records of where the boundary was. There was an unmaintained piece of track in the resulting Fulham Demilitarized Zone. Neighbours eh?
I think it was the Wimbledon end. SWR service that uses the route to keep up Driver route knowledge for diversions. You are correct about the boundary records being different.
I'm really beginning to enjoy these jolly jaunts of yours. Please do another soon before I get withdrawal symptoms............Oh....Bridge of SIGHS.....I just fell in...... not into The Thames tho'...........you wish!
5:06 kind of counter-productive to share this video with my 'Rehab Support Group'... as we're all trying to quit watching this many good London Tube videos posted on RU-vid 😉😁✌🏻
Your shot of the pillbox caught my attention. My wife’s grandfather was an Army lieutenant posted to guard duty on Putney Bridge during the blitz, before he was deployed to North Africa. I wonder if he would’ve spent time in that pillbox.
Putney towards Teddington! That’s where Two Ton Ted lived who took out Milkman Ernie with a stale pork pie in their dispute over Sue at 22 Lindley Lane. Thanks for another super tale, Jago
Hi Rightmarker, rechecking the lyrics the rock cake did some damage, for sure, but the stale pork pie was the ‘coup de grace’ as they say in Franconia...
Only kidding, Genadenshoss in Franconia, coup de gras in Gaul, land of Asterix and Obelix. Just how bored can I get in lockdown? Still mustn’t grumble, first jab on Sunday then off with Ryanair somewhere warm and sunny 😎
@@martinross5521 - Good for you Martin 👍. Enjoy some sunshine. I’m waiting for my vaxx here in W. Canada. I used to live in an apartment overlooking Putney Bridge and the old Dukes Head pub. Happy days. Stay well.
Why worry about Putney Bridge station not being in Putney ? It's next to the bridge to Putney - so it makes sense. It's like proper road names. It's the road to the place not the road in the place.
Not a lie - the station was named after the bridge, hence the correct title "Putney Bridge". Nowadays, people seem to want to give Fulham precedence over Putney when naming things. The railway bridge between East Putney and Putney Bridge stations was called Putney Raiway Bridge when it was built, and for the following 100 years. It actually has no official name, but was known locally as "The Iron Bridge". When TFL had it refurbished at the end of the 20th century a sign appeared on the Putney side proclaiming it as Fulham Railway Bridge. That is the lie.
Great video as always... now I am going to search and learn a thing or two about pill boxes for protecting bridges, we don’t have them in my country... pillboxes... we do have a few bridges though
🤔 hmm this was quick... so what I learned is that I have to invest more time in polishing my English language skills... never thought there are more words for bunker then... bunker! Ok, there is a difference in size and shape but still the pillbox is a bunker... or other way round... so yes, we do have them here, now as it’s cleared I can search for another Jago video about whatever, you have a gift to make a story... cheers 🍻
Interesting. I went to Putney Bridge station a couple of years ago when I was staying at the nearby Premier Inn. Station full of character with a nice waiting room on the London platform. I was wondering about the disused platform and the tracks at Parsons Green.
The Pillbox could be good for something, like a hotdog stand - l avoided the obvious which would be a pharmacy (ie: 'Pill' box). l'm cringing already...
There are/were lots of ... Road stations, meaning by a road to … So Putney Bridge station, meaning by a bridge to Putney makes perfect sense. Also the bridge you would walk over to get to Putney from the station is Putney Bridge, it is the rail bridge that has another name.
This is nice, I learnt some things I didn't know, and have always wondered about the name, but I thought it would be about Putney Bridge, not Fulham Railway bridge. I offer some fun facts: Putney bridge has as interesting history, and was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who also designed London's sewer system. It has a medieval church at each end of it which is rare. The church on the Fulham side is the one where Patrick Troughton's unfortunate priest got impaled by a lightning rod in the film The Omen. :)
I'm a bell ringer at All Saints (the church on the Fulham side). On boat race day All Saints and St Mary's Putney (the church on the other side) are supposed to fly various flags - chequered dark and light blue before the race, then the colour of whichever university is on that side of the river, then (20 mins later) the flag of the winner. Further complicated by the ladies' and men's races taking place on the same day and close in time - and this year we couldn't find our Oxford flag. However, this year Cambridge won both ...
Lovely vid. ..I lived, worked, and was schooled in Putney, for 54 years (I've since moved to a village in Surrey) To get that Village atmosphere that Putney once had..(nothing stays the same forever) These scenes are as familiar to me as my own reflexion in a mirror. Putney is still in my heart.. And when I'm gone...my Ashes will be scattered there.. I was lucky to have been brought up there..And anyone who lives there, are lucky too..never missed the Boat race..although it was never really about the race itself, but more about the day out, and the pubs, where we would end up watching the race on the TV. Thanks
I think you might need to pin a message about the disused platform at Putney Bridge Station, Jago, as you are getting multiple people telling you that is wrong. :-) Here is a RU-vid video from 2012, showing all three platforms in use, that shows the big buffers at the middle terminating platform: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fQA1Pl8mXSE.html If you compare that video to your video, you can see that removing that gigantic buffer at the south end of the middle terminating platform, and closing the old through platform, allowed them to extend the platform further south (towards the bridge). As well as making it easier to fit longer trains on the new through platform, this also got rid of the "mind the gap" hazards on the platform-train interface on the old through platform. It's much easier for wheelchair access to and from the trains...we just need TfL to install lifts. You should hopefully have some footage of the new flower bed that TfL put in to discourage people from trying to get to the pill box or look over the side of the bridge onto the street. Back before that middle platform was closed, it was one of two ways that trains would terminate at Putney Bridge. The other way was for trains on the (now disused) through platfom to detrain passengers, drive out onto the railway bridge and then stop. The driver would then walk through the train and reverse the train north onto the northbound platform. I only ever saw that happen once or twice. Usually when it was late and they were sending trains into the sidings at Parson's Green to go to bed for the night. (And I was hoping to get through Putney Bridge, so I could get to my own bed.) One of the frustrating things about the old three-platform layout, was that the terminating platform was next to the southbound platform...instead of the northbound platform. There used to be a "next northbound train" sign downstairs, with arrows that could point left or right. But the trains on the middle platform would sit there for 10-15 minutes while the driver had a break and you could never know how long the train would take to leave, if it was on that platform. If you picked the train sitting on the terminating platform, a through train from Wimbledon might arrive and leave while you sat in it. And if you went up the the through platform, you might watch the train on the terminating platform leave.
I forget what you call the when you’re talking at the end before you fade to black but loved it on this one I don’t know if it’s the same as everytime I suspect no, I think this is maybe the second or third of your vid’s of watched. I found everything about London rail weather above ground below ground half and half absolutely confusing even though I know where a lot of the above ground goes to and comes from mostly above ground rail stationss figuring out the tube stuff Oy vey. I was there for two days sometime between 1980 and 1985 yeah we rode the tube. I was supposed to be there six months ago but hell the plague happened.
hmm...I start to suspect London is not London but was renamed in the 1890tis from Woombly to London to make it more attractive as a centre for an Empire
Its another one with distanced roundels - one on Kings Road one on the north of Putney Bridge. At least the terminating buses say Putney Bridge Station.
Good point! Edit: I thought you were talking about Kew Bridge (mainline) station, which is in Chiswick (or Brentford?), not Kew. Sorry if your comment was an ironic response to JH's reference to the railway bridge crossing the river, and I didn't get it!
Of course it's both. This is London. They'd rather have an automatic voice saying "mind the gap" instead of building a proper platform, with a train so small that it would just be about comfortable for a hobbit to stand upright.
It would be nice if you could revisit Putney Bridge Station to make a mention of the building that is now a Territorial Army/cadets headquarters. It was previously a tram or trolley bus depot. Beneath the arches beside the station there is (or used to be) a black cab repair garage and an interesting art shop (Jacksons) in the former ticket office. Jacksons used to possess one of the original enamel route maps of the railway serving the station - meandering and non-schematic.. Maybe Jacksons still have the map. A kiln of the old Fulham pottery is nearby on New Kings Road. There is and old ramp near the station, next to Riverside Gardens that was used by lightermen and Ferrymen from the days before the first permanent Putney Bridge was built (The corresponding ramp is there on the opposite bank too)
Many years ago (about 42 to be precise), I started a job for Britain's Computer company ICL. They owned three buidings adjacent to Putney Bridge. I had a training day (or two) there and yes, got out at Putney Bridge station. Not knowing which building was which I went into one of the closest two on the North side...only to find out I should be in the slightly taller building on the south side. ICL has long since disappeared into the annals of history but the buildings are still there. One is part of a Premier Inn, the other looks like it belongs to Scott Dunn. On the south side the building is now behind the Putney wharf tower (not sure who owns it ). They were all known as ICL Putney ....
Putney Bridge isn't in Putney? Well... to be fair, neither Edgware Road station is in Edgware; and Caledonian Road station isn't anywhere near Scotland. But I agree: the name would make more sense if the railroad bridge were called Putney Bridge, instead of the road bridge.
It's not a lie, though. It's named after the bridge that's less than a minute's walk away (trust me on the timing: I've missed the 85 bus coming out of the station and then caught the same one on the bridge so many times). I do miss living in SW15, so thanks for bringing back some happy memories (except the ones about having to get the train on the day of the Boat Race).
I have only just noticed the onscreen logo in the bottom-right corner. Does this represent Jago Hazzard in silhouette ? Perhaps it is Sherlock Holmes (with his deerstalker ear-flaps flapping, and no pipe)?
What you said about Kew bridge set me thinking. Not, for once, about pedantry over namings but but about what is called what. I assumed Kew bridge was a road bridge, I thought it was that one that I was crossing on my way to work (I work at Kew, co-incidentally) but a commemorative plaque on it it says Edward VII bridge. However I have never heard it called that or seen it marked as such on a map and even the strava segments for that bit of road refer to it as Kew bridge. But in this video it is clearly a railway bridge. Are there two Kew Bridges?
Thanks for sharing🙂🐿 It’s kind of weird because if you’re not familiar with the location, and you’re trying to get to a particular place by train then naming it something that it’s really not.....well it’s all very confusing isn’t it?
Very interesting. You mentioned that you were always looking for new subjects. How about the end of the Northern Line at Morden ? It does not connect for passengers or physically with Morden South (National Rail) station; I understand that this was a deal struck between the Underground and the Southern Railway at the time of building and there is even an Act of Parliament preventing it. Why not have a short link from the car sheds at Morden to a new station called Morden Sports opposite the Sports Ground so people could transfer easily between the railway and tube without bother. This would help local transport within LB Merton and beyond. Is the Act still in place ?
