1.
London Underground
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The London Underground is a public rapid transit system serving London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, the 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track, despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, the current operator, London Underground Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares, the Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, to prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar to London. This test tunnel was used for two years in the development of the first underground train, and was later, in 1861, the worlds first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, the Metropolitan District Railway opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an underground inner circle connecting Londons main-line termini. The Metropolitan and District railways completed the Circle line in 1884, built using the cut and this opened in 1890 with electric locomotives that hauled carriages with small opaque windows, nicknamed padded cells. The Waterloo and City Railway opened in 1898, followed by the Central London Railway in 1900, the Metropolitan Railway protested about the change of plan, but after arbitration by the Board of Trade, the DC system was adopted. When the Bakerloo was so named in July 1906, The Railway Magazine called it an undignified gutter title, by 1907 the District and Metropolitan Railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines. In January 1913, the UERL acquired the Central London Railway, the Bakerloo line was extended north to Queens Park to join a new electric line from Euston to Watford, but World War I delayed construction and trains reached Watford Junction in 1917. During air raids in 1915 people used the stations as shelters. An extension of the Central line west to Ealing was also delayed by the war, the Metropolitan promoted housing estates near the railway with the Metro-land brand and nine housing estates were built near stations on the line. Electrification was extended north from Harrow to Rickmansworth, and branches opened from Rickmansworth to Watford in 1925, the Piccadilly line was extended north to Cockfosters and took over District line branches to Harrow and Hounslow. In 1933, most of Londons underground railways, tramway and bus services were merged to form the London Passenger Transport Board, the Waterloo & City Railway, which was by then in the ownership of the main line Southern Railway, remained with its existing owners. In the same year that the London Passenger Transport Board was formed, in the following years, the outlying lines of the former Metropolitan Railway closed, the Brill Tramway in 1935, and the line from Quainton Road to Verney Junction in 1936
2.
Boston Manor
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Boston Manor was one of the ancient manors of Middlesex. It has now been assimilated into the London Borough of Hounslow west London and its Jacobean manor house of 1622 still stands in what is now Boston Manor Park. The earliest reference to Boston was around the 1170s and it may mean Bords tun or farm by the stone. It was situated towards the end of the Manor Boston. The lord of the Manor is recorded as Ralph de Brito, there is no record as to where he built his manor house. He founded a chapel at the end of the Manor called St. Lawrence on a site that is now derelict. The ecclesiastical boundary under this chapel was — or became over time — conterminous with that of the manor boundary. Today, this boundary would have been approximately to the east side of Boston Manor tube stations railway sidings, turning south, it followed the Brent down to the Thames. After a very short distance east, it turned north following Half Acre Road, then up along Boston Manor Road, the northern extent of the manor was marked by a boundary stone. Later a tree to the west of it came to be the local Gospel Oak, here the old pagan custom of blessing the field and crops took place whilst beating the bounds. Thus, the boundary of chapelry of St. Lawrence not only coexisted with that of the manor but was also a subdivision of the Parish of Hanwell, then in about 1280 King Edward I granted this area of the township to the prioress of St Helens Bishopsgate. It is at point that one can consider that it becomes a district in its own right. For under the system, lands could be divided up according to use, ownership, possession. The prioress received what amounted to both constructive possession and ‘ownership, things stayed this way until 1539 when under Henry VIII the convent was dissolved and these manor holdings returned to the Crown. It passed out of the control of the Crown in 1547 and into the hands of Edward Seymour and he went on to found the Royal Exchange. As Gresham died without issue, the property went via his wife, to his stepson Sir William Reade, as Reade resided in nearby Osterley, he too had to obtain a Patent of Possession from James I so that he could legally administer the estate. He married Mary Goldsmith and immediately after his death she built Boston Manor House in 1622/3 and she then married Sir Edward Spencer of Althorp. As Sir William’s second wife he didnt let her inherit the legal ownership, instead she came into possession of the property
3.
District Railway
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The Metropolitan District Railway was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete the circle, an underground railway in London. The Metropolitan Railway operated all services until the District introduced its own trains in 1871, the railway was soon extended westwards through Earls Court to Fulham, Richmond, Ealing and Hounslow. After completing the circle and reaching Whitechapel in 1884, it was extended to Upminster in Essex in 1902. To finance electrification at the beginning of the 20th century, American financier Charles Yerkes took it over, Electric propulsion was introduced in 1905, and by the end of the year electric multiple units operated all of the services. On 1 July 1933, the District Railway and the other UERL railways were merged with the Metropolitan Railway, today, former District Railway tracks and stations are used by the London Undergrounds District, Piccadilly and Circle lines. In 1863, the Metropolitan Railway opened the worlds first underground railway, the line was built from Paddington beneath the New Road, connecting the main line railway termini at Paddington, Euston and Kings Cross. Then it followed Farringdon Road to a station at Farringdon Street in Smithfield, the Mets early success prompted a flurry of applications to parliament in 1863 for new railways in London, many competing for similar routes. The House of Lords established a committee that recommended an inner circuit of railway that should abut, if not actually join. Proposals to extend west and then south from Paddington to South Kensington, initially, the District and the Met were closely associated and it was intended that they would soon merge. The District was established as a company to enable funds to be raised independently of the Met. The District also had permission to extend westward from Brompton station and, on 12 April 1869. There were no stations and this service initially operated as a shuttle. By summer 1869 additional tracks had been laid between South Kensington to Brompton and from Kensington to a junction with the line to West Brompton, during the night of 5 July 1870 the District secretly built the disputed Cromwell curve connecting Brompton and Kensington. East of Westminster, the section ran in the newly constructed Victoria Embankment built by the Metropolitan Board of Works along the north bank of the River Thames. The line was opened from Westminster to Blackfriars on 30 May 1870 with stations at Charing Cross, The Temple, the Met initially operated all services, receiving 55 per cent of the gross receipts for a fixed level of service. The District were also charged for any extra trains and the Districts share of the income dropped to about 40 per cent, the Districts level of debt meant that merger was no longer attractive to the Met and its directors resigned from the Districts board. To improve its finances, the District gave the Met notice to terminate the operating agreement, on Saturday 1 July 1871, an opening banquet was attended by the Prime Minister William Gladstone, who was also a shareholder
4.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
5.
Tramlink
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Tramlink is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in London since 1952 and it is owned by London Trams, an arm of Transport for London, and operated by FirstGroup. The Tramlink is the fourth-busiest light rail network in the UK behind Manchester Metrolink, Tyne and Wear Metro, in 1990 Croydon Council with London Regional Transport put the project to Parliament and the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 resulted, which gave LRT the power to build and run Tramlink. In 1996 Tramtrack Croydon Limited won a 99-year Private Finance Initiative contract to design, build, operate, TCL was a partnership comprising FirstGroup, Bombardier Transportation, Sir Robert McAlpine and Amey, and Royal Bank of Scotland and 3i. TCL kept the revenue generated by Tramlink and LRT had to pay compensation to TCL for any changes to the fares, TCL subcontracted operations to CentreWest Buses. One of the leading to its creation was that the London Borough of Croydon has no London Underground service. There are four routes, Route 1 – Elmers End to Croydon, Route 2 – Beckenham Junction to Croydon, Route 3 – New Addington to Wimbledon, and Route 4 – Therapia Lane to Elmers End. Route 2 runs parallel to the Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction line of the Southern network between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction – the National Rail track had been singled some years earlier. At Woodside the old station buildings stand disused, and the platforms have been replaced by accessible low platforms. From Woodside to near Sandilands and from near Sandilands almost to Lloyd Park, Tramlink follows the former Woodside and South Croydon Railway, including the Park Hill tunnels. The section of Route 3 between Wimbledon and West Croydon mostly follows the single-track British Rail route, closed on 31 May 1997 so that it could be converted for Tramlink, a partial obstruction near this point has necessitated the use of interlaced track. A Victorian footbridge beside Waddon New Road was dismantled to make way for the flyover over the West Croydon to Sutton railway line, the footbridge has been re-erected at Corfe Castle station on the Swanage Railway. In March 2008, TfL announced that it had reached agreement to buy TCL for £98m, the purchase was finalised on 28 June 2008. The background to this purchase relates to the requirement that TfL compensates TCL for the consequences of any changes to the fares, in 2007 that payment was £4m, with an annual increase in rate. In October 2008 TfL introduced a new livery, using the blue, white and green of the routes on TfL maps, the colour of the cars was changed to green, and the brand name was changed from Croydon Tramlink to simply Tramlink. These refurbishments were completed in early 2009, the tram stops have low platforms,35 cm above rail level. They are unstaffed and have automated ticket machines, in general, access between the platforms involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. There are 39 stops, most being 32.2 m long and they are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than 2 m
6.
Brentford
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It has formed part of Greater London since 1965. Brentford has a shopping and dining venue grid of streets at its centre. The name is recorded as Breguntford in 705 in an Anglo-Saxon charter, the name of the river is Celtic and means holy one and the -ford suffix is Old English. The ford was most likely located where the road crossed the river. New Brentford is recorded as Newe Braynford in 1521 and was known as Westbraynford. Old Brentford is recorded as Old Braynford in 1476 and was known as Estbraynford. The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain, and thus pre-dates the founding of London itself, many pre-Roman artifacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as Old England. Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found in sites in Brentford. The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a point for pre-Romanic tribes. The Celtic knot pattern on this item has been copied for use on modern jewellery, Brentford is the first point which was easily fordable by foot on the tidal portion of the River Thames. Partly for this reason it has suggested that Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames here during his invasion of Britain in 54 BC. In his own account, he writes that he crossed the river 80 miles from the sea and he further states that the river bank was protected by sharp stakes. During the building of Brentford Dock many such oak stakes were discovered, dredging the river uncovered so many more that they had to be removed, for they were a hazard to navigation. Although his descriptions are compelling, there is as yet, no proof that this was indeed the spot where he. It must also be kept in mind that Julius Cæsars own accounts suffered in some part, there are, however, two other historically accredited battles of Brentford in 1016 and 1642. A local town fair, called the Brentford Festival, has held in Brentford every September since 1900. The building of Brentford Dock was started in 1855 and it was opened in 1859. The dock yard is now a Marina and housing estate, a notable family from Brentford was the 18th/19th century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks
7.
Hanwell
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Hanwell is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, west London, England. Hanwell is about 2.5 km west of Ealing Broadway and it is the westernmost location of the LONDON post town. The earliest surviving reference is AD959 when it is recorded as Hanewelle in pledge, the origin of the name is uncertain, various suggestions have been put forward. Near to the old Rectory and close to Hanwell spring is a stone of about a ton in weight. In Anglo-Saxon the word Han denoted a boundary stone and this juxtaposition of these two natural features could have given rise to the name Han-well which dates back to before the Domesday Book. The original borders of the parish stretched from the bend of the River Brent at Greenford and its geography, before the draining of the marshes, formed a natural boundary between the different tribes of the south east of England. This gives some support to the suggestion that Han came from the Saxon han for cockerel, if so, the name is derived from Han-créd-welle. Han-créd or cock-crow meant the border between night and day, and is neither one nor the other, so Hanwell would mean well upon the boundary. For more see, River Brent, Hydronymy, the only other Hanwell in Britain is a small parish in Oxfordshire on the boundary with Warwickshire. The Uxbridge Road was turnpiked between Uxbridge and Tyburn in 1714, the revenue from tolls enabled an all-weather metaled road surface of compacted gravel to be laid down. This constant movement of people along the road, brought about the establishment of coaching inns along the road as it crossed the River Brent and passed through the parish of Hanwell. In these inns, travellers could stable their horses, place their carts or goods in storage and secure board. The first inn on crossing the River Brent is The Viaduct which is on the north side, named after the Wharncliffe Viaduct, its original name was the Coach and Horses. At the back of the pub, some of the stable building can be seen. Early in the 20th century, The Viaduct received a new faïence façade which Nikolaus Pevsner succinctly described as a jolly tiled Edwardian pub, unfortunately, today the profusion of street furniture detracts somewhat from the original impact that these rich mid-browns and mid-cream glazed tiles gave the building. Next was the Duke of Wellington which lay approximately 400 m closer to London on the side of the road. However, this had been demolished by the 1920s and was not rebuilt, established in the 18th century, it has been subsequently rebuilt in the Tudorbethan style. The next pub occupies the site of what was probably the very first inn to be established on the Oxford Road as it ran through Hanwell and it lies on the south side of the road
8.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
9.
Piccadilly line
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The Piccadilly line /ˌpɪkəˈdɪli/ is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fourth busiest line on the Underground network on the basis of the number of passengers transported per year with 210,000,000. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with a number of surface sections and it is named after the road above it between Hyde Park Corner and Piccadilly Circus. Some of its stations are shared with the District line and some are shared with the Metropolitan line and it is the second longest line on the system, after the Central line, and has the second most stations, after the District line. The GN&SRs and B&PCRs separate routes were linked with a section between Piccadilly Circus and Holborn. A section of the District Railways scheme for a tube line between South Kensington and Earls Court was also added in order to complete the route. When the GNP&BR was formally opened on 15 December 1906, the line ran from the Great Northern Railways station at Finsbury Park to the District Railways station at Hammersmith. On 30 November 1907, the branch from Holborn to the Strand opened. In 1905, plans were made to extend it the distance south under the River Thames to Waterloo. Although built with twin tunnels, single track shuttle operation became the norm on the branch from 1918 on, on 1 July 1910 the GNP&BR and the other UERL-owned tube railways were merged by private Act of Parliament to become the London Electric Railway Company. On 10 December 1928, a rebuilt Piccadilly Circus station was opened, There had been deputations made to Parliament asking for an early extension of the line either towards Tottenham and Edmonton or towards Wood Green and Palmers Green. The early 1930s was a time of recession, and in order to relieve unemployment, government capital was made available, the chief features of the scheme were an extension northwards from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. However, a Ventilation station, in architectural style to tube stations of the time was provided at the site. There was also opposition from the London and North Eastern Railway to the line. The extension began from Finsbury Park to a point a little south of Arnos Grove, a Parliamentary report of 1919 recommended through running to Richmond and Ealing. By the end of the 1920s the priority had shifted to serving the areas around Hounslow and north, construction of the linking sections started in 1930, and the services opened as follows. To Uxbridge, the District Railway had operated services to Uxbridge since 1910 and this influence can be seen in the bold vertical and horizontal forms, which were combined with the use of traditional materials like brick. Many of these Holden-designed station are listed buildings and this idea was eventually rejected due to the inconvenience to passengers that would have been caused during rebuilding, as well as the costs of the new tunnels
10.
Osterley tube station
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Osterley (/ˈɒstəli/ is a London Underground station in Osterley in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, the station is located on Great West Road close to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park. It is in Travelcard Zone 4, the current Osterley station was opened on 25 March 1934 adjacent to the Great West Road which had been opened in 1925. The station was designed by Stanley Heaps in the modern European style used elsewhere on the Piccadilly line by Charles Holden, the design uses brick, reinforced concrete and large areas of glass and features a brick tower topped with a concrete obelisk. It was served from its outset by trains from the District and Piccadilly Lines, Osterley station was a replacement for an earlier station, Osterley & Spring Grove, located about 300m to the east on Thornbury Road, which was closed when Osterley opened. The old station is now Osterley Bookshop, the archway to the platforms is still visible inside the bookshop, but is now bricked off. The platforms are still in place, and the station may be viewed from a passing train. Osterley & Spring Grove station and the tracks through the current station were opened by the District lines predecessor, on 21 July 1884 a branch was constructed from shortly north of Hounslow Town to Hounslow Barracks. The branch line was constructed as single track and initially had no stations between the terminus and Osterley & Spring Grove. Until 31 March 1886 passengers travelling west from Osterley & Spring Grove could go to either Hounslow Barracks or Hounslow Town, on that date Hounslow Town station closed and a new station, Heston & Hounslow, opened to the west. Electrification of the DRs tracks took place between 1903 and 1905 with electric trains replacing steam trains on the Hounslow branch from 13 June 1905. When the branch was electrified, the track between Osterley & Spring Grove and Heston & Hounslow was closed and a new loop was opened from Hounslow Town back to Heston & Hounslow. Trains would run from Osterley & Spring Grove to Hounslow Town then reverse and this method of operation was unsuccessful and short-lived. On 2 May 1909 the track between Heston & Hounslow and Osterley & Spring Grove was reopened with a new Hounslow Town station located about 300m west of the loop to the old station, the old Hounslow Town station and its two loop tracks were closed for good. Piccadilly line services, which had been running as far as Northfields since January 1933 were extended to run to Hounslow West on 13 March 1933, London Buses route H91 serves the station. Osterley is the closest station to British Sky Broadcastings offices near Gillette Corner, Sky jointly runs a non public minibus service with Harrods to and from the station every 15 minutes during extended office hours for visitors and staff. The bus may be labelled Sky or Harrods, archived from the original on 2014-02-10. Osterley Park & Spring Grove station,1932 Osterley station under construction, archived from the original on 2006-02-07
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