Burnt Oak

 

The station opened as Burnt Oak in 1924 and then four years later was called Burnt Oak (for Watling) but reverted back to Burnt Oak in 1958. I was surprised to find one roundel showing the pre 1958 name all the others just have Burnt Oak on them. As I mentioned in my last post I am almost at the end of this Northern underground branch line and I am not expecting to find much here other than residential estates. This station was also built by Stanley Heaps, architect of the previous stations. 

The station is almost identical to previous stations designed by Heap with the spacious light filled ticket halls and black and white tiled flooring.

Always pleased when I find the Mark Wallinger labyrinth. There is a different one on every tube station.

Familiar Heap designed symmetrical station building with the art deco doors.

The Roundel for the station said 'Burnt Oak for Watling'. So I needed to find out what or where is Watling. Just a 5 minute walk from the station and I came to Watling Park with an explanatory board outside informing me that Watling Park is part of the Watling Housing Estate. This was a London County Council project 'to make London a slumless city'. Before World War One working London families lived in poor conditions. Between 1922 and 1928 the LCC built 120,000 new homes including three flagship estates, one of which is Watling. 

The first homes were occupied in 1927 and new residents could choose brick houses, timber house (manufactured in Sweden or Atholl steel houses. The Atholl houses were prefabricated steel dwellings constructed in Glasgow. 252 were erected on the Watling estate.Funding came from the Addison's Act which was passed after World War One to encourage councils to build 'homes for heroes'. The site here was deliberately chosen because of the newly completed tube station which provided a fast route into Central London.

The construction of this large estate wasn't without some controversy. In 'Municipal Dreams' 1914, one critic wrote 'the raw, red tentacles of that housing octopus, the London County Council Watling Estate are pushing their way through the green meadows, devouring everything in their path'

 Flats on Goldbeaters Grove.

The LCC purchased 387acres of farmland adjacent to the new Burnt Oak station. They split the land into 16 acres for schools and public buildings and 46 acres for allotments and parks. The rest of the land was allocated to housing. 4021 dwellings were complete by 1931 apart from 34 larger homes were added in 1936.

A 45 acre, green area was in the middle of the estate with the Silk Stream meandering through it. 

In 1929 Hendon council adopted the green area and laid it out as a park with a sand pit, tennis court, putting green and paddling pool.

The station exits on to a High Street with a number of fast food restaurants and shops. The restaurants and shops reflect the multi cultural mix in this area.

The first Tesco store opened here in Burnt Oak where this shop now stands. The founder of Tesco is Jack Cohen who started out with a couple of market stalls and then he deided to open his first grocery store here in 1929. The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. The name came from a shipment of tea that Cohen bought from Thomas Edward Stockwell. He used the initials of the supplier TES followed by the first two letters of his surname CO making the word TESCO. The first self service store opened in St Albans in 1956 with the first supermarket in Maldon 1956. Today Tesco has over 5000 stores throughout the world.

Another building on the High Street is the library an important centre of the community. Originally built by the borough architect in 1968 as a square design with a glass pymarid roof. It was refurbished in 2008 and a curved entrance was added.

Without an underground station arriving here in 1924 it is unlikely Burnt Oak would exist as a thriving community. I'm glad I found a few places of interest to write about and wonder if I will be fortunate at the last station on this branch line.

Colindale

 

This station opened in August 1924 on what used to be the Hampstead and Highgate Line. It is part of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line. The original station was designed by Stanley Heaps but it was severely damaged during WW2 bombing. In September 1940 it was hit by a huge bomb whilst two trains with 400 passengers between them were at the station. Thirteen people were killed with many more injured. A temporary station was erected which lasted until 1962. The station was here to serve the Hendon Aerodrome which was open from 1908 to 1968.

T. E. Lawrence (known as Lawrence of Arabia) regularly used the station when he was stationed at Hendon. He used the name 'Colin Dale' when he submitted articles to The Spectator during 1927-28. The opening of the station, as with many stations, was the beginning of development in this area.

 Recently it has been rebuilt again with the new entrance just opened in Jan 2025.

It has a large, light entrance and ticket hall.

The whole area is being regenerated with thousands of new homes being built. Since 2009 the population of Colindale has grown by 70% and station usage by 88%. The design of the entrance was inspired by the aerodrome so I thought my first visit to Colindale needed to be the RAF Museum on the site of Hendon Aerodrome.

It is about a 10 minute walk from the station to the museum which is free entry.

The history of Hendon goes back before the formation of the RAF in April 1918 with the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. In 1909 a local company, Everett and Edgcombe built an aeroplane and a shed to accommodate it at the end of Colindale Ave.  A year later a large area had been cleared and other organisations were using the airfield including a school founded by Louis Bleriot, the first person to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel.

Claude Grahame-White bought the land and it became the London Aerodrome in 1911. Air displays and races were held here. In 1912 the first Aerial Derby, an air race around London started and finished at Hendon and was watched by an estimated 500,000 spectators.

The Grahame White Aviation Company began making aircraft. During World War One, the factory was building aircraft for the Admiralty and the War office. Pilots were trained at Hendon for both the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying Corps. After the war air displays began again. However, Hendon was now controlled by the RAF and the Grahame White factory was closed down. In 1925, compensation was paid and ownership was passed to the RAF. In the 1930s the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York kept their aircraft at Hendon, this became the forerunner of the modern King's Flight

During WW2 a number of fighter squadrons used the airfield. Runways were built for heavier aircraft. The building of more  huts to accommodate the increase in staffing went alongside requisitioning  local houses and hotels. RAF Hendon was attacked in August 1940 which caused damage to one of the hangars and local housing. In 1944 more V1 flying bombs caused death and destruction.

On 15th September 1945 Hendon held one of the first post war displays. Over 20 aircraft took part in a flying display watched by thousands of spectators. In the mid 1950s the US Navy left as did the last of the RAF squadrons. There was still some flying at Hendon by a gliding school. In 1968 the last aircraftto to use Hendon, a Blackburn Beverley, flew in and was put on display. Most of the site was sold off for housing. In 1972 the RAF Museum was opened here by Queen Elizabeth II. Although the museum site looks large it is only a small part of the original RAF Hendon airfield. There are still some of the original buildings on site.

I had a very quick look around as I soon realise another day would be needed to come and visit it at leisure but today, I wanted to finish looking around the rest of Colindale.

Just a few photos but sorry I can't match up the photos with the correct information boards!

Colindale tube station is the closest station to Hendon Police College. It was opened in May 1934 in the former  buildings in Hendon Country club, Hendon aerodrome clubhouse. It became the primary training school for London Police. When the RAF left Hendon in the 1960s, the Metropolitan Police decided to rebuild the college and rename it The Peel Centre after Robert Peel, twice prime minister and creator of the Metropolitan Police. It had forensic science laboratories, detective training facilities and a police driving school. The formal training of recruits ended in September 2007, though the site is still a main police hub. 

Walking back from the Police college I passed this interesting sculptural frieze on the front of a semi drelict building I but could find no information about it.

There are many new developments which have been built on land once owned by the airfield.

This is the Silk Stream which runs through Colindale and WEst Hendon where it joins the Brent reservoir. The stream is approx 2 miles long. It looks quite pleasant from this photo but from other views the banks are strewn with rubbish.

Close by is the newly built Jain centre. This will be a major place of worship for the Jain community.

The UK Health Security centre is also on this road. This is the main centre for the protection of the public's health by preparing for and responding to infectious diseases and environmental hazards.

Although Colindale has a retail Park I didn't find a central shopping area. I was amazed by the number of new housing developments which had their own few shops and cafes. It seems a popular place to live with a direct underground line into London and what more could you want than a 24hr McDonalds!