I often as an ex "lundner" forget how green Greater London is I grew up "sarf" of the river poorly served by TfL but Improving beyond belief now I still remember playing in Shooters Hill woods feeling very much Robin of Loxley Thank you sir for stirring happy memories of childhood on remembrance Sunday So I hope this doesn't sound crass if I say Lest we Forget
Jago on the Northern Heights: been waiting for this! Great shots of the Dollis Hill viaduct, the most interesting architectural and engineering feature of the area I grew up in.
Jago timed it right for his visit as when I went in September, you couldn't tell from the train when you were on the viaduct because of all the greenery, and even from below there wasn't a clear view of the brickwork until you were right underneath it. Like a lot of lines where since the disappearance of steam trains the foliage has gradually grown along the edges undisturbed by hot cinders. In this case it's had 80-odd years to grow.
In 1960's lived in Hendon. Would occasionally use a train to Mill Hill East, then walk past Hendon golf course to Great North Way and up to our house at top of Sunny Gardens Road. Had an odd childhood roaming that part,,, It was, living in a village that slowly became the city
Sunny Gardens, that's a blast from the past. I lived in Rowsley Avenue for a while and used the P.O. in (IIRC)Sunny Gardens Parade. I seem to remember a Sunny Gardens Park too, which kind of lived up to it's name. Our nearest(ish) pub was The Greyhound, serving some rather good Wethered's Bitter. A fairly recent return visit found the pub still there but not the beer.😒
@@2H80vids Yup, Rowsley was just around the corner from our house. We lived overlooking that park... Been back a lot of years, until Mom sold the house. The land there was just fields until 1920's ours was built 1899... Greyhound was one of our pubs, as kids... Midland Arms maybe more? A lot of pubs there, now all closed and gone. The Odeon was a grand old cinema. Which saw the England Team prior to Cup win in 66.. Cheers!
Lived in Mill Hill for years when growing up. I never knew the viaduct was the highest point above ground level on the entire system. Neither have I ever walked that route where the line was going to be built to Edgware. Fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
It did go to Edgware, as the video explains, but it was abandoned. The deepest part below ground is also on the Northern line, though on the other branch at Hampstead.
I grew up in the '50s in the area, and the formation beyond Edgware was kept open, the incomplete arches beyond on the way to Brockley Hill were visible and, of course, the Aldenham car sheds had been converted from aircraft production to overhauling LT's family of RT buses et al. A real treasure of mine is 'By Tube Beyond Edgware' by Tony Beard (Capital Transport 2002), lavishly illustrated with artist's reconstruction of the projected stations, photographs and aerial photos of the projected route.
The path west from Mill Hill East past Copthall is a very pleasant walk, far less known about than the Parkland Walk from Highgate to Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park. What puzzles me is how much it undulates, as you'd have expected an ex railway route to be more or less flat.
Even though it's short it's probably the most fascinating bit of the Tube to me. The fact the two northern branches of the Northern could have been connected; the fact the Mill Hill branch was built first and looks as if it should be the main line from Finchley; the fact the barracks are what saved Mill Hill East but somehow it still survived even after the war, when the rest of the line didn't... it's an enigma.
Inglis Barracks? Lived there for a few months while my Dad was studying Turkish in Istanbul. We then moved to Germany. Was 4 years old and went to a school run by nuns. Can’t remember the name. Th nuns terrified me though.
@@thomasm1964 Nuns think that they're better than the rest of us because they're all "Brides of Christ". Their behaviour towards unmarried mothers and their children suggests otherwise though.
Always amazed that when anyone does a video on the Northern Heights or New Works programme that they totally over look the fact that the tube depot for the extensions was built ...and became probably London Transport's most important engineering works...once the New Works programme was abandoned the 'depot' was converted and extended to become Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works opening as such in 1956. Prior to this during the war the building was also put to use by LT as part of the London Aircraft consortium to build Halifax bombers...
......and , apart from Mill Hill East's existence being justified by employees needing transport to get to/from the empty tube depot with its new role building bombers, there was also a military establishment nearby, too, with the same needs. There is a book on the subject, "By Tube beyond Edgware" by Tony Beard. I suspect it's out of print, but abe books/ebay websites and other sources might source a copy.
Lyndhurst Park (which is adjacent to the road which house Mill Hill The Hale) has various bits of railway infrastructure (posts etc...) buried in the undergrowth of the wood part of it. You can also see the bricked up tunnel that the line used to run through. The section from Page Street to Mill Hill the Hale has been built over but funnily enough if you go down Bunns Lane along the vague former route, you actually pass an abandoned Motorway slip road too, which you can sometimes access depending on whether a security gate is open or not. So you get two bits of transport geekery for the price of one!
My word, that sparked a neuron. That slip road was the southern end of the M1 for some time, as I recall. I can remember seeing the final bit being built to Staples Corner from the train on the Midland Main Line. I'd forgotten that, thanks.
It was unlocked yesterday in fact but it was too dark for a proper wander. There was a proposal to turn it into a linear park that's been kicked into the long grass unfortunately. So it's mostly a homeless encampment now :-/
Lovely video Mr H on 'The Overgrown". To quote @GeoffMarshall London's Lost Railways - Mill Hill East to Edgware "the rest of the line is now: a bridge over nothing, this footpath no one ever uses, another bridge over nothing, and this nature reserve I'm currently trespassing on!"
I think what London needs is an Outer Circle line, perhaps following the line of Zone 4 on the Tube map. It's relatively easy to get from the outskirts to the centre, but travelling around the edge often means going in, changing to the Overground (mostly in Zone 2) and then changing again to go out. If only things were done for convenience and not for profit! Always remember that transport, much like banks, is there to make a profit and not to make the lives of its customers (whom they hate and would much rather we all went away) easier.
In the sixties, Mill Hill East served Inglis Barracks which was the Home Postal Depot for the Navy Army and RAF. My wife worked there as an RLE (registered letter enclosure) clerk working on BFPO ships. It was manned by the WRAC and the Royal Engineers.
Thanks for that. The Mill Hill abandoned railway you showed looks a lot like the Highgate/Hornsey Parkland Walk. Even the remaining concrete posts you filmed are the same.
Ah, where I grew up! I wish the tube had been built there, I lived in mill hill broadway in those flats where the hale station was, and went to school in East Finchley, a journey that took an hour on buses or on foot 😂
I think we need a Camden Town video (apologies if you've already done one and I've missed it). It's a complicated junction and it's entirely underground so there's not a lot for the camera to see.
The station itself is apparently the reason the Northern line hasn't been split in two yet. Needs massive reconstruction to cope as an interchange, so might be worth getting a record of it as it is now!
I once saw a photo taken in a railway modeller's home of an electric controller and two wires disappearing between the floorboards. This purported to shew his model undergound railway. A daft image but I've never forgotten it.
You should come to Los Angeles. There are hundreds of paths like these going up to 40 miles outside the city. There were no fewer than eight lines belonging to four railway companies just connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena (today it’s just one).
@@SamAronow "There were no fewer than eight lines belonging to four railway companies just connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena .... " One of which inspired this well-known song: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3pBTmHQSMG0.html
When I lived in London I walked or cycled the route many times, there’s a splendid view across London from a viaduct along the old Ally Pally section, as for the incline from Ally Pally Croydon trams manage a pretty steep climb over the Addiscombe hills
I know there are drawbacks to an amateur (me) suggesting tube extensions that professional transport planners can see significant problems with. However, I wonder how difficult it would be to extend the Mill Hill East Northern Line Branch a little way along the old alignment, adding one new terminus station to serve Barnet Copthall Leisure and Sports Centre, Copthall and Dollis schools, and Allianz Park (home of Saracens Rugby Football Club). It would make the branch much more useful.
That has been mooted in the past. Bear in mind though that usage at Mill Hill East will probably increase over the next few years, with all the development taking place in the vicinity.
I've had the same thought. A new terminus station could be provided at Page Street. Apart from a few homes on the old alignment just beyond Mill Hill East Station, a short extension looks feasible. The overbridge at Devonshire Road is still there. Would probably have to be in conjunction with property development of the area to attract funding.
@@iankemp1131 Yes, they are called tunnels. Or vary the route slightly. Just joining it to Edgware would give a secondary route in case of disruption or engineering work. Remember that the tube is getting busier every day and the RRBS is not that viable an alternative.
@@hairyairey OK, I was hoping for something above ground. Any new tunnel tends to multiply the cost x10 especially with approach gradients. I'm tempted by the idea of a connection at Mill Hill Broadway and a second route to Edgware, but very much doubt that they would give a tangible enough result to meet cost-benefit analysis. Look at the Croxley Link which is a complete no-brainer and just a few hundred yards long, yet it has fallen through countless times over the last 100 years.
"...thriving colony of slow worms" LOL!!! I lived within spitting distance of this Mill Hill East for a couple of years and never got round to exploring - I feel ashamed that I haven't see that wonderful peaceful countryside now!
@@rjjcms1 - I had quite a few living in my compost bin a few years ago (which is great as they eat slugs and snails!) They tend to be found on sandy soil.
Good on ya! Instead of alluding to the northern heights Illuminate it with your incomparable wisdom and editing skills , look forward to seeing it , keep up the good work . 📽️📺🤨
When I first visited Mill Hill East on a London Transport Twin Rover ticket (probably late 50s or early 60s) there was a single colour light signal with a red aspect at the Edgware end of the platform. The track beyond was still in place then. Very sad that that line was abandoned and even sadder about the Alexandra Palace branch which would have been useful to me at that time. The New Works program would have been great if completed as I am sure it would now be well patronised, so I look forward to your coverage of the Northern Heights
I remember The New Vaudeville Band got it right with their lyrics "Finchley Central, is ten long stations, from Golders Green on the Nothern line (substitute "Change at Camden Town" for "on the Northern Line" in the second chorus). They must have been studying their 1960's tube map!!!!
Well done jago ! The northern heights is sure my favourite subject ,i have a model brockley hill , elstree south , you could at one time walk up brokley hill to almost the M1 and see remains of brick piers, and were the filled in tunnel portals were , a whole program is needed here !!
When looking into the tube, you really think knowing about the northern heights would be the deepest part of the iceberg. Really the deepest part of said iceberg is laughing wherever Yerkes popped up because you're used to Jago videos.
It is funny that I was born in Edgware in xxxx but apart from a visit many many years ago have never returned. This said I was driven to the DH viaduct a few years back (I get off on viaducts you see and this is partially the reason that I live in East Kent ....Folkestone and Ramsgate viaducts mmmm) . Thank you for this video as it was like visiting my home town which I was too young to remember ....Trusting that you enjoyed the colours of the rare butterflies.....SMO
Excellent stuff! I've been walking the Northern Line in stages and only have the Edgware branch and the little Mill Hill East bit left to do. This is exactly what I need to get between them.
I think a video that's an overview of the Northern Heights Program, as well one that's an outline of the entire New Works Program, would be as refreshing and rewarding as a stroll on a former rail line and not an overgrown effort at all!
I have no idea why I watch these videos! However, I enjoy them immensely. They are very informative and interesting. Oh, I just realised why I keep watching your videos. Thank you for another great one from Sydney Australia. Also, greetings to Simon Winter if he reads this.
I've lived in Barnet for over 35 years but never knew before that you could walk parts of the abandoned Northern Heights project. I really should get out more often !! 😎😱😱
Ridiculously excited that you visited here! I find the old bits of the railway here endlessly fascinating, it's a shame some areas (the old Hale platform for instance) are so neglected.
There are so many extremities of the Tube network I have never been to. I went to Uxbridge once on the Metropolitan line, and once I went to Morden. Would love to have a free weekend to go to these exotic destinations in Jago's videos.
A Northern Heights video would be great you might even have to make several to cover it all. Just one comment though. I appreciate it when you show maps but please show them for a little longer as I always find just when I am beginning to understand one when shown it disappears. Keep up the brilliant videos.
Ooooh! I was the first to 'like' this (although, of course, not the first to like it). Thank you, Mr H, for a refreshing Sunday morning stroll through leafy parts. Good value as always. Simon T
To my mind the Northern Heights project would have completed the Underground network in an area which is well served by busses, but has all the problems associated with traffic congestion.
Had never seen nor heard of the Dollis Brook Viaduct until now so thank you for that Jago. It bears a striking resemblance to Chappel Viaduct - built some 15 years before it - which is a magnificent structure.
Mill Hill East was my stop home when I was doing teacher training at the London University Institute of Education 1994-5. There was a decent pub just near the station where I would gather my hoard of books from the University library, spread them all out and make endless notes. I'd have a couple of pints to accompany the process, then wobble off back to my digs just down the road. Happy times, but sometimes it was tricky getting the branch line home. Love and peace.
Although long moved out to an arm's length from the London sprawl,ditto. I worked in an office several floors up that block next to Edgware station for a while in the long hot summer of 1997,and one day the caretaker or security chap took us up to the stand on the very top and take in the panoramic view it provided.
I've always been fascinated with the disused would have been Northern Line. Such areas of natural beauty too thanks to Green belt legislation. The long running 240 bus was the alternative from Edgware to Mill Hill East, there was 2 of them 240 and 240A and now there is the 221
One pecularity of both Edgware stations is that they were both designed as through stations, not termini. The original line had running rights to Watford Junction. The Underground decided to use these running rights to also push on to Watford Junction (initially Bushey Heath), just with a slight amendment at the Edgware end as the new station is a few hundred yards east of the old station. BTW, the 'old' hotel you showed is a mock-Tudor from the 1930s, and a listed building.
Oh, and the same is true for nearby Stanmore, as the Metropolitan wanted to push on to Watford Junction too, and High Barnet was supposed to push on to Potters Bar (which actually would be sensible, giving GNR a second route to London, via the Moorgate line, from Potters Bar)
Rolling back the years by about 10 when Beardyman's brother was waxing lyrical about Northern Heights. The good old 114 bus route to Bunns Lane music studios and smoking a J down that old path! I guess that's what the purpose of the 240 and 221 bus is now these days! I miss the old school run to Mill Hill from Edgware
All that beautiful greenery, but Mill Hill Broadway is literally built into a bridge under the M1 and a contender for the ugliest station in London. If not the world.
The Sheppard Line of the Toronto, Canada Subway is a strong contender for ugliest stations. The budget was so small that the station walls are bare concrete instead of tiled.
Leaving the Northern Heights electrification unfinished always seems to me such a waste and a missd opportunity. Fair enough there was no need to go to Bushey Heath, but the rest of It would be very useful today. Getting around north London by public transport (as opposed to getting in and out of Central London) is so difficult. Still, the walks and nature reserves are indeed nice to have.
Great video, it was a shame the Northern Heights program never came to fruition, it would have made a useful cross north London network and reduced the need for going into and out of central London. With the interchange at Mill Hill it would have seen a lot more commuter traffic these days
Love your youtube channel, and I live in The Hale part of Mill Hill, have walked both parts of the old line a few times, my local pub is the Railway Tavern and I thought it must have some relation to the Northern Heights project.
The flats on the site of The Hale station were only built about 10 years ago, and now, sadly, prevent a railway ever taking that course again. You would have thought that, when they were doing that, they would have also removed the narrow bridge carrying Bunn’s Lane across the course of the railway, but no, this is the UK, so infrastructure is never developed logically in tandem with housing, and the road, with inadequate footways and no space for cycling, remains constrained by the walls of a bridge that does nothing, next to the new flats blocking the old route.
The train lines that were planned, were probably superceded, eventually by buses, because Edgware now has a bus station. Two new bus routes were created in the Seventies to connect Edgware to more southern parts of North West London. They were the 79 and 79a. Some years ago the 79a had its route slightly altered and it became the 204. So clearly LT now TFL thought buses were a better fit for the area. However the 79 has always had a lousy service. LT ran it badly and the current company running it for TFL, are just as bad. You might as well get the tube if you can. 😁
Cool video, the 3rd I've seen on the subject after Jay Foreman's Unfinished London series and Geoff Marshall's Disused London Railways series (or whatever it's called)