Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. Softcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> The village of Great Stanmore on the north-en outskirts of Middlesex was registered as having a population of around 1400 in the 1880s but had no direct rail connections with London. However around this time the dis-trict came to the attention of wealthy hotelier Frederick Gordon who in 1882 purchased the nearby Bentley Priory which was once the home of Queen Adelaide. He acquired this building for the purpose of converting it into a country retreat for his well-heeled hotel guests but transport links needed improvement! Various railway Bills deposited in Parliament which would have served the area had failed. There were two in 1881 the Edgware Stanmore & Harrow Railway and the Edgware & Harrow Junction Railway. There was also the Ealing Harrow & Edgware Railway which was promoted in 1884 but again proved unsuccessful. So Gordon had to promote his own railway if he wanted to succeed. Initial resistance from Lord Wolverton of the Glyns’ banking family was overcome when the hotelier pur-chased a fair sized portion of his estate. Part of this land was used for the Stanmore Golf Course which opened in 1893 and still func tions today. The Harrow & Stanmore Railway was incorporated by an Act of 25th June 1886 with Frederick Gordon as Chairman. The branch as authorised would have fol lowed a somewhat different course from that which was actually built however. Although the scheme envisaged the same route out of Harrow the formation would have turned north-west near the present Grasmere Gardens and pursued an almost straight line for some way ahead. (LL)