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Book: London and Its Environs, 1927
Chapter: 58 From London to St Albans

Railway from London to St Albans

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58. FROM LONDON TO ST. ALBANS. In addition to the routes by RAILWAY and the direct MOTOR ROUTE described below St. Albans may be reached by MOTOR OMNIBUS No. 84 from Golders Green plying every + hour on weekdays and every 10 minutes on Sunday in summer, or by TRAMWAY No. 19T from Euston Road to Barnet and thence by omnibus 84. A. BY RAILWAY VIA HENDON AND MILL HILL. 20 miles. London Midland & Scottish Railway from St. Pancras in 30-50 minutes (2 or 3 trains hourly; 4/2, 2/6). Beyond the suburban stations of Kentish Town, Haverstock Hill, Finchley Road, West Hampstead, and Cricklewood, we reach (7 miles) Hendon at West Hendon. The old village (Hendon Hall Hotel; Brent Bridge House), with a picturesque churchyard and the Hendon Central station on the Hampstead Tube, lies 1 mile north-east. The London or Hendon Aerodrome is circa 1 mile north. Hendon Hall (now a hotel) was purchased by David Garrick in 1756 and still retains some relics of his residence there. At (9+ miles) Mill Hill (Wentworth Hall Hotel) are a well-known boys' school (founded in 1807) and St. Joseph's Missionary Society, founded by Cardinal Vaughan in 1866. Edgware lies 1+ miles west. At (12+ miles) Elstree we enter Hertfordshire. 15+ miles. Radlett lies 2 miles north-east of the 13-16th century church of Aldenham. 20 miles. St. Albans (City Station). B. By RAILWAY VIA WATFORD. 24 miles. London Midland & Scottish Railway from Euston in 55-65 minutes (4/2, 2/6). Carriages are changed at Watford Junction. Watford may be reached also by direct trains from Marylebone, from Baker St., or from Broad St., or by the Bakerloo Tube. We quit London via Willesden Junction and Wembley. 10 miles. Kenton. 11+ miles. Harrow & Wealdstone is the junction for (2 miles north-east) Stanmore, near which is Bentley Priory, where Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV., died in 1849. Beyond (13+ miles) Hatch End we enter Hertfordshire, a favourite county of Charles Lamb. 16 miles. Bushey & Oxhey. Bushey has a school of art established by Sir Hubert von Herkomer (died 1914). 16+ miles. Watford (High St. Station). 17+ miles. Watford Junction. Watford (Clarendon; Essex Arms, Room & Breakfast 8/; Rose & Crown, Room 7/6), on the Colne, is a thriving town (45,910 inhabitants) with several breweries and the London Orphan Asylum (1869). The Essex Chapel in St. Mary's Church contains fine monuments, some by Nicholas Stone. Cassiobury Park (open to the public), + miles north of the town, was formerly the seat of the Earls of Essex. Close by is The Grove, a Queen Anne mansion added to later, which once belonged to the Earl of Clarendon. From Watford Junction the main line goes on to Crewe and the north and a branch diverges west for (4+ miles) Rickmansworth. The St. Albans branch runs north-east up the valleys of the Colne and the Ver. 18 miles. Callowland; 21 miles. Bricket Wood; 22+ miles. Park Street & Frogmore. 24 miles St. Albans (Abbey Station).