- And welcome to Wealdstone, Harrow and Wealdstone.
You might know it as the top end,
the northern terminus of the Bakerloo line,
but today for me, it's the start
of a walk to discover London's lost railway that runs
from here through Belmont to Stanmore.
(birds tweeting)
The Harrow and Stanmore Railway was opened in 1890
as a branch from Harrow and Wealdstone
to a stop called Stanmore Village.
An intermediate stop at Belmont was later opened in 1932,
where a passing loop was also later added
to allow trains to cross over here.
Passenger usage
on the line though was never very high though,
even less so when the London Underground opened
up their own railway with direct trains
to London without having to change at Harrow
and the line was closed to passengers by 1952
and after a few years of freight operation,
closed completely in 1964.
So what's left of the railway to see today?
The first thing that you can see
of the old railway is the disused platform
that it used to use at Harrow and Wealdstone Station.
It sits alongside platform six now overgrown with grass
and one of the best views of it is from the road bridge,
looking down onto the station
and then you head off on the two mile walk to Stanmore
on a path that's officially known of the Belmont Trail.
Although the first section isn't walkable at all,
what with it being an industrial estate and a housing area,
but then you come out to the main road
where you discover this marvellous staircase
of old sleepers that takes you
up to the path.
The path, by the way
that's named the Belmont Rattler by a local walking group,
as that's what the train service was known
as when it used to run.
As you would expect for an old railway,
the path is flat, but slightly curves.
It's not that picturesque, although it does back
onto the rather pleasant Willstone Cemetery,
but if you're on the lookout for any signs
that this was actually an old railway, you're in luck.
I found two of them.
First of all, I stumbled
upon this gradient marker, which looks just fabulous,
followed shortly afterwards by this post
which denotes that you're 3/4 of a mile away
from or going to, of course, Harrow and Wealdstone Station.
The trail has got these markers on posts along the way,
even though they're clearly not needed
as it's obvious which way to go.
Be careful though,
as it can be a little muddy in places, if it's been raining
and then eventually you get to a built up area again,
as you approach Belmont.
This colourful underpass here marks the point where
the railway used to go under the road.
And this means that you've reached Belmont Circle.
Essentially, that's a large roundabout with a parade
of shops.
And behind that row of shops, I'm standing
in the exact location of where Belmont Station is.
It is now just a car park.
It's just the car park.
There's nothing here except for a car park.
And the trail carries on that way.
Keep on walking beyond Belmont
and the path carries on until, oh, that's a shame.
You come out onto a road here where there's a gate
and a side path that actually leads to a dead end.
And that's because we've just reached Stanmore Golf Course,
through which there is no access
and you can't walk across it.
And the rest of the area is now all built up with houses
which means you'd have to walk
down this extremely nice residential road
in the back streets of Stanmore.
And then I'm going to cut down this alleyway.
And that brings you here where I'm walking exactly now
in September Way, although you can come at any month
of the year.
It's exactly where the tracks would have been
and the end of the line is just ahead.
This is Gordon Avenue
and the station location is now a private residence.
It's the original building,
but refurbished with a modern roof.
There's a plaque on the front
of the house with an inscription that refers
to the Harrow and Stanmore Railway.
The only clue left that you'll see here
that there was once a railway here.
And that brings us to the end.
And that is how you walk the railway
between Harrow, through Belmont,
to here at Stanmore Village.
This has been episode two of London's Lost Railways.
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Thanks for watching.