In message , John Rowland
writes

I discovered Brent Terrace (the Cricklewood end) this afternoon. Most of the
east side has no houses. The houses on the west side are all built
backwards, with their back gardens facing the road, and their fronts facing
the railway. The only explanation I can think of is that there was
originally a road where the railway sidings are now, and when this old road
was removed, Brent Terrace was built as a substitute access for the already
existing houses. Does anyone know the real story?

Bacon's London Atlas (1923) shows the original name of the road as
"Midland Bren[t] Terrace" so I guess they were originally railway houses
facing the depot and built on Midland Railway property. Individual
houses in Midland Brent Terrace are clearly shown in this atlas, and
there is a railway shunting neck *very* close indeed on the railway side
- no room for a road there at all.

For a scan see: http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent1.JPG

Bartholomew's 1913 atlas (showing the area before the North Circular was
driven through) is less detailed, but shows no sign of an additional
road on the railway side:

http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent2.JPG

HTH
--
Paul Terry

Paul Terry wrote:
In message , John Rowland
writes

I discovered Brent Terrace (the Cricklewood end) this afternoon.
Most of the east side has no houses. The houses on the west side are
all built backwards, with their back gardens facing the road, and
their fronts facing the railway. The only explanation I can think of
is that there was originally a road where the railway sidings are
now, and when this old road was removed, Brent Terrace was built as
a substitute access for the already existing houses. Does anyone
know the real story?

Bacon's London Atlas (1923) shows the original name of the road as
"Midland Bren[t] Terrace" so I guess they were originally railway
houses facing the depot and built on Midland Railway property.
Individual
houses in Midland Brent Terrace are clearly shown in this atlas, and
there is a railway shunting neck *very* close indeed on the railway
side - no room for a road there at all.

For a scan see: http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent1.JPG

Bartholomew's 1913 atlas (showing the area before the North Circular
was driven through) is less detailed, but shows no sign of an
additional
road on the railway side:

http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent2.JPG


If you go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk and enter
523500,186512
in the search box and click on Coordinates, you get an 1873 map of the same
area. There are no houses, no road and no sidings. So the key period for
further investigation is 1873-1913.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...

http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent1.JPG

http://www.musonix.demon.co.uk/temp/Brent2.JPG

HTH

It does indeed, thanks a lot! It would appear that the road has always done
this.

I see that the Brent Reservoir has shrunk. I hope it's not going to go the
way of the Aral Sea ;-)

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

John Rowland:
I see that the Brent Reservoir has shrunk.

Stuart Johnson:
A number of references give the size of the reservoir at an early date
as being between 350 and 400 acres, most of these being published
between 1869 and 1913. ... Subsequently the size of the reservoir has
been decreased by infilling ... [eventually] to the present 125 acres.

One wonders if the depth has been increased.
--
Mark Brader | "Sir, your composure baffles me. A single counterexample
Toronto | refutes a conjecture as effectively as ten... Hands up!
| You have to surrender." -- Imre Lakatos

"Stuart Johnson" wrote in message
news

the size of the reservoir has been decreased by infilling

The mind boggles... They find the valley near London best suited for
damming, they dam it and flood it, and then they gradually fill it in! If
they no longer need all of the original reservoir, wouldn't it be cheaper to
just let some water out?

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

"Andrew" wrote in message
...
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"Stuart Johnson" wrote in message
news

the size of the reservoir has been decreased by infilling

The mind boggles... They find the valley near London best suited for
damming, they dam it and flood it, and then they gradually fill it in!
If
they no longer need all of the original reservoir, wouldn't it be
cheaper
to just let some water out?

IIf so, what would be wrong with leaving it in ?

You wouldn't be able to build on the land!

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

On Mon, 4 Aug 2003 13:53:33 +0100, Nick Pedley wrote:
Welsh Harp? Was there a station of that name nearby? I've heard about/seen
various pics of 'xxxx train passing thru Welsh Harp London-bound' but can't
find anything about it...

Yes. Welsh Harp Station opened in 1870 by the Midland Railway apparently.
http://www.brentres.com/history.htm

David