Cranley Gardens railway station was a station in the

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

area of north

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It was located between

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

and

stations, at the junction of Muswell Hill Road and Cranley Gardens. Nothing remains of the station today and its site is now occupied by housing and a school. In the 1930s, plans were made to electrify the line and transfer the mainline service to London Underground's

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

, but these were abandoned after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The station closed for passengers in 1954 and for goods in 1957.

History

Extract of 1900 Map showing Edgware Highgate and London Railway

The branch line from the Great Northern Railway's (GNR's) station at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

was built by the

Muswell Hill Railway The Edgware, Highgate and London Railway was a railway in North London. The railway was a precursor of parts of London Underground's Northern line and was, in the 1930s the core of an ambitious expansion plan for that line which was thwarted by ...

(MHR) and opened on 24 May 1873. Cranley Gardens station opened on 2 August 1902. In 1911, the line was taken over by the GNR. After the 1921 Railways Act created the ''Big Four'' railway companies, the line became part of the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

(LNER) from 1923. The LNER closed the station on 1 December 1930 and reopened it in July 1932. In 1935, the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

(LPTB) planned, as part of its "

Northern Heights plan The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

" to take over the line from LNER together with the LNER's routes from

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

and

High Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

. The line was to be modernised to use electric trains and amalgamated with the Northern line. At Finsbury Park, the line was to be connected to the Northern line's Northern City branch so that services from Cranley Gardens would have continued to

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

. Works to modernise the track began in the late 1930s and were well advanced when they were halted by the Second World War. Works were completed from Highgate to High Barnet and

Mill Hill East Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...

and that section was incorporated into the Northern line. Works on the tracks between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace were halted and the LNER continued to be operate the line. In 1942, LNER services through Cranley Gardens were reduced to rush hour only operations. After the war, no work was carried out as maintenance works and reconstruction of war damage on the existing network had the greatest call on LPTB funds. Funds for new works were severely limited and priority was given to the completion of the western and eastern extensions of the Central line to

West Ruislip West Ruislip is a station on Ickenham High Road on the borders of Ickenham and western Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon in Greater London, formerly in Middlesex. It is served by London Underground (LU) and National Rail trains on ind ...

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

and Hainault. Despite being shown as under construction on underground maps as late as 1950, work never restarted on the unimplemented parts of the Northern Heights plan.

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

(the successor to the LNER) closed the line temporarily from 29 October 1951 until 7 January 1952, before the last passenger services ran between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace on 3 July 1954. The line continued to be used for goods services until 18 May 1957, when it was closed completely. The track was subsequently removed and the buildings were demolished. The station buildings and platforms remained until demolished in the late 1960s and a school now occupies the site. Sections of the trackbed between Muswell Hill and Finsbury Park is now the

Parkland Walk The Parkland Walk is a linear green pedestrian and cycle route in London, which follows the course of the railway line that used to run between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, through Stroud Green, Crouch End, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It ...

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links