Looks like a disused trackbed but can't find any info?

[reduke]

Hi There,

 

I am always curious when I see an alignment on Google maps that looks like a disused railway - be it a cutting, line of trees etc - to find out what it was and it's history.

 

However, I came across something that looks very much like this in north London, but can find no evidence on-line that anything was there.

 

Any idea what this is/was?

 

I have marked what I can see here: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z6H5aOjUtn2o.kygJs1MAQVlA

 

The northern end I am not so sure about, but the cuttings/alignment for the rest look far too uniform to be a coincidence. I was wondering was it a rail line, canal, old road etc?

 

 

[phil-b259]

Whatever the reason its certainly not due to a man made construction such as a railway or a canal - they are all well documented (even the ones that never made it through Parliament). It could however be related to the presence to a natural watercourse or perhaps some form of historic trackway.

[Foulounoux]

Try the old maps.co.uk They solved an issue when we were buying our house. survey refered to a factory and old maps proved it to be an old school turns So good source to solve mysteries

[LNERGE]

Looking at it on a hybrid old 25k map/aerial view nothing is readily visible but it is uncanny, There is a definite line. A water main or large sewer perhaps?

[Lord Summerisle]

Could simply be an old boundary line between different landowners. I'd be intrigued to know the answer.

 

Just did a quick search, and found a reference to;

 

The water main from Kempton Park was shown on the pre-development OS maps as a line of posts. This is now a green corridor behind the houses 

 

on this website;

 

http://edithsstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/decoy-brook-golders-green.html

Edited August 1, 2014 by Lord Summerisle

[Pacific231G]

It might be an old property boundary- housing estates are often defined by old field boundaries as farmers sold their land but given its length I'd guess that it's more likely to be a long established water main. There is a well defined and still very much in use one that runs roughly east from a pump/valve house in Greenford, along the boundary between Perivale Park and Perivale Park Golf course in front of the Hoover Building and then along its own  clear right of way as far as the Alperton sports ground. That line and yours generally point towards one another though that doesn't mean they connected. On its course across Perivale Park there are several cast iron NRC marker posts indicating the New River Company as well as some almost as old marked MWB (Metopolitan Water Board)  If you continue your line down the Vale - which is a suspiciously wide road- and then on the other side of the tracks down Temple Road you'll see a linear green strip beyond the end of Temple Road and later around Neasden a couple of other linear features that don't link into the road or rail system.

[bbishop]

There are three disused railways near that line.  The GNR branch to High Barnet ran from Finsbury Park along "Parkland Walk" to Highgate.  The branch to Alexander Palace turned right at Highgate, skirted Highgate Wood and took a still visible route through Muswell Hill to Alexandra Palace.  The GER branch from Seven Sisters to Palace Gates is far harder to spot, but there are traces near Downhills Park and Park Avenue.

 

Bill

Edited August 1, 2014 by bbishop

[Mike Storey]

I was brought up very close to that line (near where it's marked "Big Wood"), from the late fifties, and I can assure there was never a railway line along the route you show. The nearest closed line would have been the old LNER Finsbury Park to East Finchley route, which crosses your marked line at its northern end, most of which I have walked.

 

I believe your line mostly marks the south eastern boundary of the original Hampstead Garden Suburb development, which was created out of an old landed gentry estate in the early 20th C - some connection with Lady Isobel Barnet I recall - and which had definite edges at one time. I guess it is possible that part of the line reveals the route of a contractor's temporary construction light railway, which was common for large scale works at the time, and would have logically been fed from sidings (now a car park and McDonalds) to the north of East Finchley station at the time, but I have never seen anything about that in the history of the area.

 

It is intriguing as I remember days in Cherry Tree Wood, to the east of East Finchley station, where there was a strange ridge around one part, that I recall seemed very odd.

[Gwiwer]

No, not a former railway and I will also support it being an ancient property boundary.  There are similar lines found in many places and with the benefit of aerial / satellite mapping now readily available these are readily spotted by any casual browser.  Quite often they turn out to be the former boundaries of landowner's estates.

 

The erstwhile Finsbury Park - Alexandra Palace line is clearly visible if one scrolls the linked view just slightly to the east.  The ECML can be made out with Finsbury Park and Harringay stations marked, (and the vastness of Hornsey depot very obvious) with the GOBLIN line tracking NE-SW and the Harringay Spur linking the two shown as a curved line of trees.  Immediately south of this the old route which used to cross the ECML on a bridge is now shown as a gently-curved grey line highlighting a swathe of green heading off NW-wards and with a "Parkland Walk" marker near the site of Crouch End station.  The route reaches Archway Road at Highgate station and originally connected to Golders Green with the Alexandra Palace branch swinging sharply right around the northern fringe of Highgate Wood.  

 

The curved marker indicating a path through Highgate Wood follows the actual path which is not on the old tracked at this point but a few metres in from it.  Careful inspection at the very edge of the Wood will reveal the actual course and even some railway ballast.  A clear curved line in the trees is also visible on the satellite view marking the actual course of the railway.  The route passes beneath Muswell Hill Road and continues on a northward curve across Muswell Hill Viaduct.  The last time I was up here the views were uninterrupted for many miles across the entire London Basin though I understand security fencing has now been fitted to discourage jumpers.  Although never a tube it was intended that the route would be a part of the Northern Extensions of the Northern Line under the 1935 New Works Programme.  This was delayed by WW2 and ultimately never happened but all the cable runs and ironwork for tube operation were installed and left in place.  

 

It is necessary to divert around a modern school below Muswell Hill and little remains of the final section to the terminus but the route can be walked, with the exception of Highgate tunnels and the immediate station area, all the way from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace.  The present link line from the Northern Line station at East Finchley to Highgate Woods sidings uses the original LNER alignment.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Gwiwer

[Lord Summerisle]

This might be of further interest; There is a photo which matches where your alignment crosses Corringham road.it mentions 42 and 48 inch watermains, as well as a watercourse called the Decoy Brook.

 

http://middlesexcountycouncil.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=27

Edited August 1, 2014 by Lord Summerisle

[Griffin Road]

It always astounds me what is on the interweb . Had a read at the link and the google satellite view . Certainly looks right for what was asked .

 

Incredible what is out there .

 

Mike b

[Mike Storey]

This might be of further interest; There is a photo which matches where your alignment crosses Corringham road.it mentions 42 and 48 inch watermains, as well as a watercourse called the Decoy Brook.

 

http://middlesexcountycouncil.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=27

 

Really interesting site - many thanks. However, I am not sure he has got Decoy Brook correctly. I always knew Decoy Brook as the brook which ran behind our house on Falloden Way, and which could be followed, almost entirely in the open from near Archway right through to Brent, much of which I cycled next to in my youth. Perhaps there were two spurs, and I never knew about the water course he describes, which is far prettier in places than was the brook I knew - more or less an open sewer. We played in it as kids on hot summer days, happy as Larry. When i went back for a nostalgic visit some ten years ago, there were signs all along it warning of severe health hazards!!

[brigo]

Hi Folks,

 

First post !! Here goes,

 

What you are looking at has already been alluded to. It is the course of a water main that runs from Cricklewood Pumping Station to a large underground reservoir near to East Finchley. Cricklewood Pumping Station is situated just below the railway line on the southwest leg off the triangle above Cricklewood Staion. The underground reservoir is situated about 0.5 mile east of East Finchley Underground. The top of the reservoir is used by the aptly named Aquarius Archery Club.

When the water main was installed much of the area was still open land.

 

Best place to look for old OS maps is now the National Library of Scotland

 

http://maps.nls.uk/

 

Click on Series Maps and select the 6 inch series of England and Wales.

 

Brian

[Mike Storey]

Really interesting site - many thanks. However, I am not sure he has got Decoy Brook correctly. I always knew Decoy Brook as the brook which ran behind our house on Falloden Way, and which could be followed, almost entirely in the open from near Archway right through to Brent, much of which I cycled next to in my youth. Perhaps there were two spurs, and I never knew about the water course he describes, which is far prettier in places than was the brook I knew - more or less an open sewer. We played in it as kids on hot summer days, happy as Larry. When i went back for a nostalgic visit some ten years ago, there were signs all along it warning of severe health hazards!!

Just for completeness, I stand corrected - the brook behind our house was Dollis Brook, not Decoy Brook.

[The Lurker]

Hi Folks,

 

First post !! Here goes,

 

What you are looking at has already been alluded to. It is the course of a water main that runs from Cricklewood Pumping Station to a large underground reservoir near to East Finchley. Cricklewood Pumping Station is situated just below the railway line on the southwest leg off the triangle above Cricklewood Staion. The underground reservoir is situated about 0.5 mile east of East Finchley Underground. The top of the reservoir is used by the aptly named Aquarius Archery Club.

When the water main was installed much of the area was still open land.

 

Best place to look for old OS maps is now the National Library of Scotland

 

http://maps.nls.uk/

 

Click on Series Maps and select the 6 inch series of England and Wales.

 

Brian

what a great link to the OS maps, thanks

[CarriageShed]

There are three disused railways near that line.  The GNR branch to High Barnet ran from Finsbury Park along "Parkland Walk" to Highgate.  The branch to Alexander Palace turned right at Highgate, skirted Highgate Wood and took a still visible route through Muswell Hill to Alexandra Palace.  The GER branch from Seven Sisters to Palace Gates is far harder to spot, but there are traces near Downhills Park and Park Avenue.

 

Bill

I realise that this is a bit of an old thread now, but it's worth noting that the GNR Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace line is document in its modern condition in this railway walk:

http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/RailwayWalks/Britain/FinsburyPark_AlexandraPalace/FinsburyPark_AlexandraPalace01.html

 

And the Palace Gates line is also included here:

http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/RailwayWalks/Britain/SevenSisters_PalaceGates/SevenSisters_PalaceGates01.html

 

Modellers of either line may find one or two items of use in the photos.

[Gwiwer]

As the topic has been reawakened I can record that further to my post above there are still uninterrupted views from Muswell Hill Viaduct which does not have, and never has had, the suicide-prevention fence which was suggested in at least two newspaper articles.  My 2015 visit proved that.  It is still a fascinating walk for railway historians, lovers of urban parkland or just those wishing to exercise themselves and their dogs.  

[keefer]

re: the railways in the area

 

some coverage of them here: http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/ (scroll down to the overground lines, north london)