Eastcote

Family commitments and winter weather have meant that it has been a few weeks since I last made a visit to an underground station. I also think I am put off by the distance I need to travel to complete the Metropolitan Line. However, a few days ago on a dry but cold Sunday morning . I decided to make the effort to visit Eastcote station. Due to engineering works, I had to get a train to Charing Cross, the Bakerloo line to Marylebone rail station; a train to Harrow on the Hill and from there I picked up the metropolitan line to Eastcote! I just hoped I would find something more than just a housing estate.

Eastcote station serves both the Metropolitan and the Piccadilly lines. Originally there wasn't a station here but a halt stop which opened in 1906. This attracted numerous day trippers from London who arrived to enjoy not just the countryside but a visit to one of the local tea gardens.  At the beginning of the 20th century the population of Eastcote was just 600. By 1939 the population had increased to 15,000. The halt just couldn't cope with the increase in passengers and a station was needed.

I was delighted to see that Eastcote station was designed in 1936 by Charles Holden who designed a number of Underground stations. His station designs followed similar patterns and he created an identity which included benches, lighting and shelters as well as the buildings. Almost 90 years after he designed this station, the design still looks good and fulfills its purpose.

I liked the large windows in the waiting room. 

The signs, advertising space and lighting are combined into single units. 

The ticket hall is above the tracks and the platforms are accessed by stairs on either side of the ticket hall. The hall is a double height brick box with a flat roof. On the platforms he uses concrete to create cantilevered roofs providing shelter for the passengers. The station has been little altered and still has the original doors, platform clocks and signage.

On either side of the ticket hall are large metal framed windows which flood the hall with natural light.

From the outside the main entrance has two separate sets of doors and is set back from the single storey shops with their large curved glass windows. Above each shop is a large pole mounted Underground roundel. The station was awarded Grade II listed status in 1994.

I was surprised when I left the station as I was expecting just a few shops but it was a very long,wide high street full of shops and cafes. 

Some of the shops had maisonettes above with a walkway overlooking the high street.

When this pub was refurbished recently they changed the name to The Ascott which was the medieval name for Eastcote dating back to the 14th century.

Every village has some form of war memorial. This one is dedicated not only to those who died in WW1 and WW2 but also all Eastcote men who served in HM Forces, volunteers and the wounded who passed through Eastcote VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) hospital.

As I mentioned in my previous couple of posts on the underground, this area is often referred to as 'Metroland'. With the extension of the Metropolitan Line out this way there was a need to increase the number of houses which in turn meant the need for churches and schools.

St Thomas More Catholic church opened in 1937

Eastcote Methodist church replaced the Wesleyan chapel in 1951

St Lawrence church opened in 1933. Five new schools opened in the 1950s.

My impression of Eastcote was of an affluent area with its mature tree lined streets and neat housing estates rather than blocks of flats. 

I walked through the town and onto Eastcote gardens. Eastcote House which stood in these gardens from around 1507 until it was demolished in 1964, was the principal residence of the Hawtrey Deane family. During the 19th century the family were the largest landowners in the area. All that's left now is the walled garden, dovecote and stables.The stables  on  the left were part of a group of outbuildings surrounding the courtyard behind the house. All the other outbuildings were demolished with the house in 1964. The council bought the whole site in the 1930s. As part of the 2014/5 restoration work, the building was repaired and the front entrance relocated to its former position. The building is now used as a community hall.

The smell of freshly cooked bacon followed me around the garden but the seating inside the cafe was very limited and it was too cold to sit outside. 

The walled garden was where fruit and vegetables would have been produced for Eastcote House. It was very much in its winter state but signs of life were beginning to emerge. 

There has been a dovecote or pigeon house on this site since Elizabethan times. The present one dates from the 18th century. Doves and pigeons provided a source of food as well as manure for the garden.

Running through the park was the River Pinn. On a pleasanter day I may have been tempted to follow the riverside path which is 12 miles long but has a number of places enroute to leave the path and return by public transport.

Across the road from Eastcote gardens is this traditional pub. Originally a 17th century building, it was refurbished in the 1930s to give it a more rural interior. It has a very unusual name: 'The case is altered'. The phrase was first used by the lawyer Edmund Plowden (1518-85). It referred to the effect of new evidence on the case he was dealing with in court. Apparently there are a number of pubs throughout the country with this name and it is said that it is often a local legend to do with some legal case or other,  that is the origin of the name.

The pub is next to the Eastcote Cricket Club.

On my way back to the station I stopped in one of the cafes on the high street for a hot drink and sausage roll. The glass teapot was accompanied by a timer with three different times. I was told the correct coloured timer for the tea I had ordered. 

I had enjoyed my time in Eastcote. Many people I passed greeted me with a smile and 'good morning'. I obviously need to get out of London a bit more.