1.
London Underground
–
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.
Eastcote
–
Eastcote is an area established around an old village in the west of Greater London and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot, the name came from its position to the east of the parish. While no historically significant events have taken place in Eastcote, there are links to past events in the history of Britain. One such example is of Lady Mary Bankes, who lived in Eastcote for a time, Eastcote also housed an outstation of the Bletchley Park codebreaking activities during the Second World War, with several codebreaking computers in use. This operation became the precursor to GCHQ, which remained in Eastcote after the war until the department moved to buildings in Cheltenham in 1952. By the turn of the 20th century, the population was around 600. The town is referred to in its postal address as being part of Pinner. Eastcote was originally recorded as Ascot, one of the three medieval tithings of the parish of Ruislip, along with Westcot and Norwood. Norwood, in the north of the parish, became Northwood, Westcot, in the west became Westcote, the Hawtrey family moved to Eastcote around 1525 after Ralph Hawtrey married Winifred Walleston. She lived in a cottage named Hopkyttes, which the moved into. A dovecote was built by their son John, without applying for a licence from the manor, after his death in 1593, his nephew Ralph Hawtrey applied for the licence, which was approved. Ralph Hawtreys only daughter became Lady Mary Bankes when she married Sir John Bankes, as a Royalist, she defended their home in Dorset, Corfe Castle, against the Roundheads in 1643 at the time of the English Civil War. A plaque on the wall of St Martins Church in Ruislip commemorates her heroic act. Lady Bankes had also lived at Haydon Hall in Eastcote, in 1565, a land survey was completed which recorded 62 houses in Eastcote, of which four were ruined. The first Haydon Hall was built in 1630 for Lady Alice, Lady Alice lived at Harefield Place, and purchased the land on which the hall was built from the Haydon family. The family appear in records from 1394 until 1562 when they sold a house on the site of Haydon Hall to William Nicholas. Highgrove House was built in the 18th century but was destroyed by fire, winston Churchill stayed there during his honeymoon and the Queen of Sweden was resident during the First World War. At the turn of the 20th century, Eastcote was a community with around 120 cottages
3.
Listed building
–
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
4.
Tramlink
–
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
5.
Greater London
–
London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks
6.
Metropolitan line
–
Coloured magenta on the tube map, the line is 41.4 miles in length and serves 34 stations. Unlike the tube railways, the tunnels are just below the surface, just under 67 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2011/12. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street, from the end of the 19th century, the railway shared tracks with the Great Central Railway route out of Marylebone. The central London lines were electrified by 1907, but electric locomotives were exchanged for steam locomotives on trains heading north of Harrow, after the railway was absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 the line was cut back to Aylesbury. Steam trains ran until 1961, when the line was electrified to, the Hammersmith & City line was shown on the tube map as part of the Metropolitan line until 1990, when it appeared as a separate line. The current S7 and S8 Stock trains entered service between 2010 and 2012, the track is mostly underground between Aldgate and Finchley Road, save from Barbican and Farringdon as well as the Baker Street platforms. Baker Street is the terminus for some trains not continuing on to Aldgate. The disused Metropolitan line platforms at Willesden Green and Neasden are still in place despite Metropolitan line services having been withdrawn in 1940. The Watford branch is due to be diverted to Watford Junction by 2020, resulting in the closure of Watford station, the extension will link up with the London Overground Watford DC Line and would provide an interchange with the West Coast Main Line. The Metropolitan Railway was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933 and it opened on 10 January 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, the worlds first underground railway. In 1871, when plans were presented for a railway in Paris. The modern word metro is a form of the French word. The railway was extended from both ends and northwards via a branch from Baker Street. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street, from the end of the 19th century, the railway shared tracks with the Great Central Railway route out of Marylebone. Electric traction was introduced in 1905 with electric multiple units operating between Uxbridge, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Baker Street, to remove steam and smoke from the tunnels in central London, the railway purchased electric locomotives, exchanged for steam locomotives at Harrow from 1908. In 1910, a silent film recording was made showing large portions of the journey from Baker Street to Aylesbury and Uxbridge. The film survives and is publicly available, unlike other railways in the London area, the Met developed land for housing, thus benefitting from the increase in the value of its land caused by the building of the railway. After World War I it promoted its housing estates near the railway with the Metro-land brand, to improve services, more powerful electric and steam locomotives were purchased in the 1920s
7.
Piccadilly line
–
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
8.
Rayners Lane tube station
–
Rayners Lane is a London Underground station in the district of Rayners Lane in north west London, amid a 1930s development originally named Harrow Garden Village. The station is on the Uxbridge branch of both the Metropolitan line, between Eastcote and West Harrow stations, and the Piccadilly line, between Eastcote and South Harrow stations, the station is located to the west of the junction of Rayners Lane, Alexandra Avenue and Imperial Drive. It is in Travelcard Zone 5, just to the East of the station the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines tracks join for services to Uxbridge and separate going towards Central London. The Metropolitan Railway constructed the line between Harrow on the Hill and Uxbridge and commenced services on 4 July 1904 with, initially, Ruislip being the only intermediate stop. At first, services were operated by trains, but track electrification was completed in the subsequent months. Rayners Lane opened as Rayners Lane Halt on 26 May 1906, on 23 October 1933, District line services were replaced by Piccadilly line trains. To the west of the station, there is a siding between the running tracks and, during the day, half of the Piccadilly line service reverses here. Two sidings are located south of the station but these are no longer used, there is no connection with the running lines. Between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge there is no Piccadilly Line service before approximately 06,30 and 08,45, archived from the original on 2014-01-26. Platforms at Rayners Lane station,1934 One platform shows a London Underground style roundel name board, new station building,1938 View of platforms,1938
9.
Metropolitan Railway
–
Its first line connected the main-line railway termini at Paddington, Euston, and Kings Cross to the City. It opened to the public on 10 January 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, the line was soon extended from both ends, and northwards via a branch from Baker Street. Harrow was reached in 1880, and the line extended to Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles from Baker Street. Electric traction was introduced in 1905 and by 1907 electric multiple units operated most of the services, unlike other railway companies in the London area, the Met developed land for housing, and after World War I promoted housing estates near the railway using the Metro-land brand. On 1 July 1933, the Met was amalgamated with the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, former Met tracks and stations are used by the London Undergrounds Metropolitan, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly, and Jubilee lines, and by Chiltern Railways. In the first half of the 19th century the population and physical extent of London grew greatly, only Fenchurch Street station was within the City. The congested streets and the distance to the City from the stations to the north, none were successful, and the 1846 Royal Commission investigation into Metropolitan Railway Termini banned construction of new lines or stations in the built-up central area. The concept of a railway linking the City with the mainline termini was first proposed in the 1830s. Charles Pearson, Solicitor to the City, was a promoter of several schemes. The scheme was rejected by the 1846 commission, but Pearson returned to the idea in 1852 when he helped set up the City Terminus Company to build a railway from Farringdon to Kings Cross. Although the plan was supported by the City, the companies were not interested. The Bayswater, Paddington, and Holborn Bridge Railway Company was established to connect the Great Western Railways Paddington station to Pearsons route at Kings Cross, a bill was published in November 1852 and in January 1853 the directors held their first meeting and appointed John Fowler as its engineer. After successful lobbying, the company secured parliamentary approval under the name of the North Metropolitan Railway in the summer of 1853 and this dropped the City terminus and extended the route south from Farringdon to the General Post Office in St. Martins Le Grand. The route at the end was also altered so that it connected more directly to the GWR station. Permission was also sought to connect to the London and North Western Railway at Euston and to the Great Northern Railway at Kings Cross, the companys name was also to be changed again, to Metropolitan Railway. Royal assent was granted to the North Metropolitan Railway Act on 7 August 1854, construction of the railway was estimated to cost £1 million. Initially, with the Crimean War under way, the Met found it hard to raise the capital, while it attempted to raise the funds it presented new bills to Parliament seeking an extension of time to carry out the works. In July 1855, an Act to make a connection to the GNR at Kings Cross received royal assent
10.
Harrow-on-the-Hill station
–
Harrow-on-the-Hill is a London Underground station served by trains on the Metropolitan line and National Rail, in Travelcard Zone 5. It is located between College Road and Lowlands Road in the Greenhill area of Harrow, about half a mile north of the locality from which it takes its name and this is where the branch from Uxbridge joins the main line and where fast and slow lines are divided. Services to Watford leave the Main Line to Amersham at Watford south junction near Rickmansworth, the London Underground service at Harrow-on-the-Hill is provided by the Metropolitan line. The adjacent Underground stations are Northwick Park, Moor Park North Harrow, the Metropolitan line operates a varied pattern of trains and not all trains stop at all stations. Fast and semi-fast services do not stop between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Finchley Road, the Fast line at stations between Harrow and Wembley Park, and between Harrow and Moor Park have no platforms. Trains to London go to either Aldgate or Baker Street, all Aldgate trains run via Baker Street. Trains from Amersham, Chesham and Uxbridge generally terminate at Aldgate, with a 4tph service from Watford to Baker Street, the station was opened as Harrow on 2 August 1880, when the Metropolitan Railway was extended from its previous terminus at Willesden Green. Its name was changed to Harrow-on-the-Hill on 1 June 1894, the station is at the heart of Metro-land. The National Rail service at Harrow-on-the-Hill is provided by Chiltern Railways, services operate between Marylebone station and Aylesbury using the separate Network Rail tracks from London to Harrow and sharing London Underground tracks between Harrow and Amersham. Chiltern Railways started operating in 1996 after the privatisation of British Rail and this service began as the Great Central Railway on 15 March 1899. The GCR ran on the former Great Central Main Line, an intercity trunk route and provided services from Harrow to destinations such as Rugby, Leicester, Nottingham, the passenger service north of Aylesbury ceased in 1966 due to the Beeching Axe. There was a yard, which closed on 3 April 1967. The station building is ground with the six platforms in a cutting. The station has two entrances, one on Station Approach and one on College Road, the Station is popular as a through route, as it is possible to walk from one entrance to the other without passing through the ticket barrier. During opening hours it also acts as a footbridge between Lowlands Road and College Road. A pedestrian tunnel connected all platforms to the adjacent but now closed and semi-derelict Post Office sorting office to enable collection, the Lowlands Road entrance has the fewer steps. There is a bus station located next to the station offering London Buses services right across North London
11.
Middlesex
–
Middlesex is a historic county in south-east England. It is now entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and its area is now also mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in other neighbouring ceremonial counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons, the largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest county by area in 1831. The City of London was a county in its own right from the 12th century and was able to exert control over Middlesex. Westminster Abbey dominated most of the financial, judicial and ecclesiastical aspects of the county. As London grew into Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the city boundaries into the county, in the 18th and 19th centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East End and West End of London. From 1855 the southeast was administered, with sections of Kent and Surrey, the City of London, and Middlesex, became separate counties for other purposes and Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in 1199. In the interwar years suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport, after the Second World War, the population of the County of London and inner Middlesex was in steady decline, with high population growth continuing in the outer parts. Since 1965 various areas called Middlesex have been used for cricket, Middlesex was the former postal county of 25 post towns. The name means territory of the middle Saxons and refers to the origin of its inhabitants. The word is formed from the Anglo-Saxon, i. e. Old English, middel, in an 8th-century charter the region is recorded as Middleseaxon and in 704 it is recorded as Middleseaxan. The Saxons derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known, the seax has a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which feature three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word Saxon, there were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county. Middlesex was formerly part of the Kingdom of Essex It was recorded in the Domesday Book as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow, Ossulstone and Spelthorne. The City of London has been self-governing since the century and became a county in its own right. Middlesex also included Westminster, which also had a degree of autonomy. Of the six hundreds, Ossulstone contained the districts closest to the City of London, during the 17th century it was divided into four divisions, which, along with the Liberty of Westminster, largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named Finsbury, Holborn, Kensington and Tower, the county had parliamentary representation from the 13th century
12.
District line
–
The District line is a London Underground service that crosses Greater London from east to west. From Upminster, the terminus, the line runs through Central London to Earls Court before dividing into three western branches, to Ealing Broadway, Wimbledon and Richmond. There is a branch that goes from Earls Court to Kensington. A branch also runs north from Earls Court to Edgware Road via Paddington, the track and stations between Barking and Aldgate East are shared with the Hammersmith & City line, and between Tower Hill and Gloucester Road and on the Edgware Road branch with the Circle line. Some of the stations are shared with the Piccadilly line, unlike Londons deep-level tube railways, the railway tunnels are just below the surface, and the trains are of a similar size to those on British main lines. The District line is the busiest of the lines as well the fifth busiest line overall on the London Underground with over 208 million passengers in the year 2011/12. The original Metropolitan District Railway opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an inner circle connecting Londons main-line termini. Services were operated at first using wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, electrification was financed by the American Charles Yerkes, and electric services began in 1905. In 1933 the railway was absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board, in the first half of the 1930s the Piccadilly line took over the Uxbridge and Hounslow branches, although a peak-hour District line service ran on the Hounslow branch until 1964. Kensington has been served by the District line since 1946, the trains carried guards until one-person operation was introduced in 1985. The signalling system is being upgraded, and the current D Stock trains are to be replaced by new 7-car S Stock trains by spring 2017, the Metropolitan District Railway was formed to build and operate part an underground inner circle connecting Londons railway termini. The first line opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster, by 1871 when the District began operating its own trains, the railway had extended to West Brompton and a terminus at Mansion House. Hammersmith was reached from Earls Court, services were extended to Richmond over the tracks of the London and South Western Railway and branches reached Ealing Broadway, Hounslow, as part of the project that completed the Circle line in October 1884, the District began to serve Whitechapel. Services began running to Upminster in 1902, after a link to the London, electric multiple-units were introduced on other services in 1905, and East Ham became the eastern terminus. Hounslow and Uxbridge were served by 2 or 3-car shuttles from Mill Hill Park, some also served South Acton. Services were extended again to Barking in 1908 and Upminster in 1932, in 1933 Piccadilly trains reached to Hounslow West, the District continuing to run services with an off-peak shuttle from South Acton to Hounslow. Most of the cars on the District line were the 1904–05 B Stock type with wooden bodies. The off-peak District line services on the Hounslow branch were withdrawn on 29 April 1935, following bombing of the West London Line in 1940 the LMS and the Metropolitan line services over the West London Line were both suspended
2.63 million[1]
London transport portal
London Underground
