I'm thinking that it''s been a quite a while since any linguist was adventurous enough to wake the old word 'mayhap' from its long slumber - excellent work Jago!
I grew up near Uxbridge and used it on occasion. TBH I was never fond of Uxbridge Station when I was younger, I always found it felt a bit dreary and honestly thought it was from the 60s. Although I’d probably appreciate it more now as an adult, especially given more knowledge of it. Got to thank those people who pushed for Ickenham though, I have family there so it has been extremely handy.
Ickenham and Uxbridge are my earliest Underground memories; Ickenham at that time had only a wooden hut perched up by the road-bridge. If you were lucky you got to ride in one of the Met (as it was called then) 'F' stock (referred to as 'Baker-Street trains') - very art-deco, with oval Pullman-style windows, though rather spartan inside. At first I believed that the side 'aisles' at Uxbridge were for the Piccadilly trains - when I first saw a 'Met' train in one, it was as if the foundations of the universe wobbled... Such a shame that the Met didn't run through at least to Vine Street station (GWR), which would have enabled easy connections through to Reading and the west of England. But I believe the GWR never ran anything more than an hourly service from Vine Street. Frequency is Important - a lesson which the Underground learned early, but which other railways have taken ages even to begin to try out.
One of my first memories of riding on the Met was taking a train with lovely oval windows at each end of the carriage from Rayners Lane to Baker Street. I was too young to know this was “F” Stock., then around 40 years old and coming to the end of its life. Magnificent trains, which when built were the fasted, with best acceleration on the Underground, which was wasted on the District Railway, where they first ran, and far more suited for the Met To Uxbridge, where they went in the late 40’s.
@@trevorelliston1 Thanks - I didn't know the F stock were first used on the District; there's not much about them on the web, considering their unusual nature...
@@ricktownend9144 I got my self a book from London Transport called From Steam to Silver” which covered the “surface stock” of the Met,District, Circle, etc. It has lots of information but is a bit nerdy discussing motors, brakes and their control systems.
Been to Uxbridge once, back in 1978, when I was in Air Cadets. Went for a weekend drill course at the R.A.F training centre ( is it still there?). At Baker Street the chap at the ticket window was really confused when we showed him our travel warrants. The train journey took ages, even with missing out many stops. On the Saturday evening we were allowed out of the base, and a few of us took the train to Ruislip to see a film that was supposed to be jolly good. It was Star Wars. Happy days.
Although RAF Uxbridge has gone, the Battle of Britain Bunker (11 Group Fighter Command) - as seen in WW2 films - is open to the public and has a museum on the surface.
Another quite nice episode, you can never post these fast enough for me. Thanks from the western plains of Oklahoma and the final home of the Rock Island Railroad!
Yet again, the quiet sophistication of the contemporary architecture of the Holden and Pick era shines through. It is modern with simple but beautifully proportioned masses and strong linear elements. Not only that, these stations have stood the test of time. They are still easy on the eye, unlike the monstrous, extravagant towers that now dominate a city that I used to think of as having fine buildings. You know the ones I mean. Thank you for showing that there are such examples of quiet good taste in this morass of brash ugliness that is today's London.
Thank you so much Jago. This is my favourite line. Born in West Harrow (my fave station) 64 years ago - and I still love flitting back and forth to Uxbridge and stations in between to this day.
I have two feelings about Uxbridge - 1) its a hell of a way to get to , and when you do get there you are still inside the M25, and that holds true for getting there by underground service, bus from Shepherds Bush or Driving along the A40. 2) The station feels as if it should be a through station - the line feels as if it should go on to Beconsfield and High Wycombe.
@@johnm2012 Yes, I know the Marylebone Route was one of the ways to get to High Wycombe ( and that place needs vid with all the Beeching cuts that were a mistake to make with the increase in housing there). Just felt from the inside of Uxbridge that it demanded extending to somewhere, its an odd design that is shown off, like Cockfosters, as a terminal , but somehow has a through station feel. Thinking about it if the District had run on from Ealing Broadway on the GWR's suburban stations (like it did on the eastern LTS ones), it too could have branched off after West Drayton up to Uxbridge(was that the old GWR route that is now the large road near Hayes and Harlington ? )
I lived on Belmont Road for a couple of years. I don't know about now, but the journey into Baker Street used to take quarter of an hour longer in the mornings, just from an extra 30 seconds or so to get people on at each stop along the way. And it was a hell of an endurance test getting back at night if you'd not emptied your bladder beforehand. At least on the night bus sometimes the driver would let everyone off to use the depot facilities somewhere around Ealing.
Great video! I worked in Uxbridge for a while in the 80’s and found it to be quite a nice little town, though, as I remember it, a bit run down. The station area and adjacent shopping mall were a highlight. Thanks for making this video, it is really interesting to know the history of these places. Roy.
Living where I do, if I go to Uxbridge I can use several stops on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines and where necessary a bus to get home. It seems the further south you go on both those lines, the more stations serve smaller areas.
I must beg to differ, slightly. The present Uxbridge station is indeed the second Metropolitan station. However the arrival of the Met was preceded by the GWR at Uxbridge Vine Street in 1856 (from West Drayton) and succeeded by another GWR branch at Uxbridge High Street in 1907 (from Denham). The intention being to join these two lines in a loop to the west of the town centre. Movement of the Met station to the more prominent position in the town centre put the kibosh on both of the GWR branches. I do hope I haven't spoilt your thunder for your next video Jago.
@@steveaskey A sad loss. One of the original platforms is, or was, still visible in the bushes on the north side of the sidings although not accessible to the public.
The crescent frontage really gives a light and open impression to me, I think hard edges act to bookend things and make my eyes focus on the smaller area between them and distract my eyes from the whole.
The Belmont Road station was built in what is now a Sainsbury’s car park. Trackbed remains of the line into the demolished GWR station run alongside Cleveland Road near Brunel University. Have memories of bitterly cold winter mornings in Piccadilly Line train with its doors open waiting for 7.50am departure.
Indeed Uxbridge is nothing to do with with oxen, nor is there a "River Ux" - Uxbridge is the bridge of the Saxon Wixan tribe, presumably over the nearby River Colne. They also gave their name to Uxendon (near Harrow).
Growing up in the area, it's staggering just how many local books, literature and school lessons(...!) state the whole Oxen/River Ux/Ox thing as 'fact'. Then again, half the places in London (and indeed further afield) also suffer hazy/debated/"It sounds plausible so it must surely be true" supposed name origins. :)
'Back in the day', the pizza at the front of the station contained a D shaped road where you could immediately interchange with all the buses heading east, south and west, with a colourful mix of red London Transport and green London Country buses.
@@jonasnisse4257 No no, back in the day Uxbridge had a massive 20 foot wide dough circle covered in tomato sauce and cheese out front; Holden wasn’t keen on the idea but Pick insisted.
@@huggleton So glad I wasn't the only one who remembers those buses getting mired in the deep pan and leaving a trail of cheese and tomato all the way to Sherherd's Bush.
Fun fact. In the early 1970's, the Govenment at the time, was looking to construct a large Exhibition Hall Complex. Land at Ickenham made the shortlist, but in the end, an area on the Outskirts of Birmingham was chosen (what is now the NEC)
Since I’m from around the Uxbridge area, I never really considered how unique and historic the station really is. I suppose its neighbour station of Hillingdon is also worth checking out. It doesn’t really have much more history outside of what’s in this video, but its unique early-1990s design, built for the A40 expansion around that time, is probably worth checking out on its own.
Great to revisit a station I frequented with some regularity when I lived in Harrow-on-the-Hill and went to school in Hillingdon (1978 to 1980). The station looks the same but better now.
Absolutely agree that Uxbridge is an excellent station both inside and out. There is something very pleasing about the slight angles from the vertical for the roof ribs at Cockfosters and Uxbridge and the slightly angular arch thus created. Then there is the crescent sweep of the exterior. The stained glass windows and winged wheels top it off nicely.
Uxbridge is one of my favourite Underground stations, some of my earliest memories are from there going 'up to London' with my mother. There was always the question of where to change lines, Finchley Road or Baker Street, the latter was easier, Finchley Road seemingly wasn't, but passed a kiosk that had model/toy cars on display that I wanted to see and maybe get, but I never did! After all these years I still remember that after all these years. Thank you for reviving such lovely and simple memories that I treasure to this day. The architecture is just brilliant and the semi circular forecourt almost draws you into the station, which although some of the 'units' have changed in function over the years is pretty much as it was built back in more enlightened times?!
When I saw those two wheels above the entrance I was wondering what, if anything, was meant to go between them. I felt the space was crying out for some art-deco statue. A polar bear will have to do.
Another title for this video could be "Jago and The Temple of Zoom!" It must have been fun filming with such a great subject. It's certainly a fun and, um, enlightening video to watch.
Thank You Jago....Uxbridge has happy memories for me as I livef there and have worked there and went to college there and lastly met my beautiful wife there and during a rather daft stage of my life sold radical papers there to the disinterested commuters at the station. I have always liked the CH station which has not changed that much . It was once the location of a short scene in the 70s movie All the Right Noises with Olivia Hussey and the late Tom Bell....The original station on the Belmont Road was for many years something to do with fruit and veg as my sister worked there. I would imagine as with the other railway stations in Uxbridge it is long gone . But it was there the last time I looked.....thank you for your video as it brought memories flooding back......
The LU ‘totem’ sign out front of the station is stunning, one of the best on the Underground network! Visiting the station about a year ago I was intrigued to see not one, but two vintage cigarette dispensing machines (long since emptied) fixed on the wall of ‘Sweet Express’ just before the station exit. Promising ‘Day & Night Service’ for what appeared to be 10p a ciggy. There is - or was - a third machine by the street entrance to the shop itself… rare to find one still in situ these days, let alone three!
The outside facade is great with its arc being like an invitation to the station, but the platform and concourse concrete structure - I feel intimidated by the massive concrete beams and roof only the side bands of windows letting light in - like a factory. Maybe I'd have to see it myself to appreciate it more?
@@creamwobbly I live near the Cockfosters end of the Piccadilly line - the above ground Holden stations there, concrete or brick, are all at a point where they are lookng shabby, and yes, in need of a good pressure wash!👎
The name of the town is derived from "Wixan's Bridge", which was sited near the bottom of Oxford Road where a modern road bridge now stands, beside the Swan and Bottle public house. The Wixan were a 7th-century Saxon tribe from Lincolnshire who also began to settle in what became Middlesex. (cut and pasted courtesy of Wikipedia)
Thanks for a magnificent tour! You are the winged wheels to my love of art-deco. ⭐️ The buffet sign reminds me of a subject you’ve touched on: how does one deal with historical/heritage signage that is now obsolete? Does one preserve it authentically even if it is misleading? Does one correct it even if it means modifying a work of art? Thesus and his damn boat… And especially, what did they serve in the buffet, what did it cost, and how good (or bad) was the food? (There’s another subject for you: tube food.) The more I see Holden’s work, the more I see the inspiration for the architectural philosophy (sorry if that sounds grandiose) of Montreal’s Metro. A station should be the focal point for a community and something nice to look at and to be proud of.
"The second [design] was of a man driving oxen over a bridge, which it turned out *wasn't* the origin of the name." No indeed. In fact Uxbridge gets its name from the common nickname for England's two great Universities.
What an excellent looking station! I've seen a photo of it before but definitely didn't see everything it had on offer; never used it either, being tucked away in the far west of London. Great video!
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Lived in and around Uxbridge, Hillingdon in the early 90s. Went back to Uxbridge recently. Haven’t changed at all. Hope you noticed the Cigarette Machine 😆 on your way out. Feel very nostalgic and have a soft spot for the Station. Looks beautiful and stands out from other Stations. 🚝🚞🚂🙏🙏🙏
I also very much like the station at Uxbridge, together with its “cousin” at the far end of the Piccadilly. NB, binge watching your channel today is proving just the thing today whilst I recover from a cataract op!
Part of a reply from a resident who I sent the video link to :- "What he hasn't mentioned, even "in passing" (sorry), is that there used to be two other stations in Uxbridge, both part of the Great Western Railway. The original GWR Bristol - London main line doesn't pass through the town. This was undoubtedly much to the detriment of the former agricultural industry here, and the place stagnated, or really went backwards economically, for most of the rest of the nineteenth century. The nearest point on the GWR main line was West Drayton, and eventually (1856, I think) a branch line was built from there to a terminus at Uxbridge Vine Street. This was reasonably successful in a quiet way, but gradually declined through the twentieth century with increasing use of, first, buses and, later, cars. The coming of the Metropolitan Line didn't help, either! It's service to London was hardly any quicker, but soon became very much more frequent and generally convenient. The Vine Street branch closed to passengers in 1962 (not a Beeching cut, this was just before them), goods and parcels traffic, of which there was quite a lot, continuing for another couple of years. The GWR built another main line, towards Birmingham, much later, early twentieth century. This passed a couple of miles or so north of Uxbridge and again a branch line was built, to a terminus at Uxbridge High Street. This was highly unsuccessful. Passenger traffic ceased as an economy measure in the 1914-18 war, resumed afterwards, ceased again for the 1939-45 war, and did not resume. A small amount of coal traffic continued up to 1964. This might have been very different - there were many plans to link the Vine Street and High Street branches to create a through south-north route linking the two main lines and perhaps continuing to Watford. Some work on one of these schemes was started and if you really know what you are looking for you can still see a few traces of it, but in the event nothing ever got anything like completed."
My goodness, Mr H, but you have just produced another simply splendid video. A very long time ago (when I was just a lad) I used to use the Met to go from Hillingdon to the City. And even earlier I used it to travel to an audit client (Gregorys of Uxbridge, for those with an enquiring mind). Hillingdon (for those unfamiliar with the area) is the first stop towards London and boasts a large car-park. Although, to be fair, I've never personally heard it boasting. Enough of my rambling. Thank you Mr H. Simon T
Sadly when I was there in 2005 I was late for an event at nearby classic Pinewood Studios so I had no time to enjoy the station. Thanks for this look at it in a more relaxed way.
Uxbridge,is a bit like Grand Central,and what old Penn Station was like,before the demolition,fairly light and airy,and a bit like an aircraft hangar,or closer to a dirigible hangar,but that was prevalent during the 30's,any way,only a comment! Thank you,Jago,always an interesting commentary 👍!!
I always liked the sense of a grand termini that is Uxbridge.. It still gives the sense that the Metropolitan line is a Railway rather than just another Underground line.
Also of interest in Uxbridge is the Battle of Britain Museum at RAF Uxbridge, headquarters of No.11 Group, Fighter Command (and also Brunel University, a choice one for connoisseurs, as I know Jago is, of concrete brutalist architecture)
The Battle of Britain Museum is in Hawkinge in Kent, The RAF MUseum is in Hendon (and Cosford, Shropshire) - the Battle of Britain Bunker is in Uxbridge!
My next ride on the UndergrounD must be from Cockfosters to Uxbridge. These cathedrals of stations bookending the line . That must make the Piccadilly Line unique in that way .
The platforms appeared to be wet under what appears to be a solid canopy roof, why is this? Thanks, being unable to travel far this is a great way to see places of interest.
I remember being there almost a decade ago; they were playing a Haydn symphony on the tannoy, for reasons unknown. How civilized I thought, but I didn't have time to stand and listen.
They still do that. It was initially done because it apparently drives off teenagers who'd otherwise loiter in the entrance, but they ended up keeping it because people actually enjoyed the music.
Same thing at Edmonton Green bus station - playing classical music from the speakers = a TFL thing to repel youths from loitering inside it, assuming the amplifier has an FM/DAB radio plugged into it = tuned to BBC Radio 3/a MP3 player with classical music “stuffed” into it
@@kabelsalad8380 There was a tale of another city where they had trouble with teenagers hanging around in the central precinct - they played organ music there over the PA and they disappeared equally quickly.
Blimey, Jago Hazzard on my home turf in Uxbridge - to think, I cut thought the town centre many days, I couldv'e caught a glimpse of the mysterious maestro himself and not even realised it! Uxbridge station is often my gateway to my history-exporing ventures into London (although most time I'll just ride there up the canal). Half surprised you didn't feature the famous(ish) shot of Churchill standing in front of the station, during his 'Victory' election efforts of 1945.
Ah excellent! I was born in Hillingdon and lived right on the edge of Uxbridge from birth until 1989. Is the old cigarette machine still in the foyer on the right as you go into the station? It was still in situ when I was last there in 2011.
I went to Uxbridge on Saturday the 19th...it was some of the best architecture..I have seen...I look at other stations...Chiswick Park was also nice...but can any one tell me where Ickenhams labyrinth has been placed as I'm trying to get photos of them all..
The semi-circular sweep at the front of these station buildings was very much in vogue at the time - Exeter Queen Street (now Exeter Central) that was rebuilt around the same time has a similar grand curve (albeit of a traditional design)
ah dude, i fancy myself as someone who looks out for this sort of stuff, completely missed everything lol cheers for distilling it all. incidentally, if you are in london and reading the comments on a jago video, you may well see the point of going to uxbridge on the met line, walking the canal to rickmansworth (c8 miles) and returning on the other arm. nice walk.
Knowing how self absorbed architects can be, Pick's assertion that 'the architect' didn't get the recognition he deserved might easily have been a snipe at the style of Cockfosters being recycled...
My favourite you tube channel. Very interested in watford high street station. When I went to school some 100 years ago ! Some times if I was lucky we would get a under ground train from Watford West and Croxley Green instead of the usual dc train why did this happen surely the 38 underground stock didn't normally go on this route? Also watford high street must have been a very expensive line to build as it involved a long viaduct. Keep up the good work.
I like how Uxbridge station looks so posh and Victoria. And with its large canopy in the middle. And the town itself is very quaint. And Uxbridge as it’s in Greater London and in the London Borough of Hillingdon which at one time might of been in Middlesex or in Buckinghamshire. As Uxbridge isn’t too far from Buckinghamshire and of course The Chilterns.
If you like Concrete Trainsheds try Leeds Central - the passenger concourse which was formerly part of the adjoining station reconstructed in the 1930s
Not Leeds Central. That was demolished decades ago. It was the original LMS/Midland terminus station of Leeds City, that had the L&Y/NER station adjacent to the south. For years the Art Deco concourse was neglected , and the platforms behind it turned into a carpark; more recently it has been reincorporated into the main station and nicely restored,
Shows dedication that you seemingly went back to record the footage a second time with the Christmas decs gone... Although I can't help but feel sorry for the polar bear, bet he feels a bit snubbed!
I did consider just using the Christmas footage, but then I realised I’d just wind up having to answer questions about it every time I used it in a video. Anything for a quite life…
I misheard "dismissal" and thought you said "this missile" and was really confused why you'd fire heavy ordnance at architects who don't have time to work for you
This recalls the scene in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens" where an American dignitary's wife is giving birth at a hospital run by an order of nuns and his security detail is concerned to learn that there are missals in the building.
At 3:11 you have a shot of two trains on parallel tracks. The size difference is striking. Perhaps you can explain this phenomenon in a future episode.
The smaller one is ‘deep level tube’ stock with much smaller tunnels than the larger ‘sub surface stock’. Jago talks about this a lot through his videos.
"You are the wheels beneath my wings." My fave end-of-video-simile so far.
I'm thinking that it''s been a quite a while since any linguist was adventurous enough to wake the old word 'mayhap' from its long slumber - excellent work Jago!
I thank you. I just think there are a lot of fun words we don’t use any more.
The architecture at Uxbridge has always been some of my favourite.
I grew up near Uxbridge and used it on occasion. TBH I was never fond of Uxbridge Station when I was younger, I always found it felt a bit dreary and honestly thought it was from the 60s. Although I’d probably appreciate it more now as an adult, especially given more knowledge of it.
Got to thank those people who pushed for Ickenham though, I have family there so it has been extremely handy.
Ickenham and Uxbridge are my earliest Underground memories; Ickenham at that time had only a wooden hut perched up by the road-bridge. If you were lucky you got to ride in one of the Met (as it was called then) 'F' stock (referred to as 'Baker-Street trains') - very art-deco, with oval Pullman-style windows, though rather spartan inside.
At first I believed that the side 'aisles' at Uxbridge were for the Piccadilly trains - when I first saw a 'Met' train in one, it was as if the foundations of the universe wobbled...
Such a shame that the Met didn't run through at least to Vine Street station (GWR), which would have enabled easy connections through to Reading and the west of England. But I believe the GWR never ran anything more than an hourly service from Vine Street. Frequency is Important - a lesson which the Underground learned early, but which other railways have taken ages even to begin to try out.
One of my first memories of riding on the Met was taking a train with lovely oval windows at each end of the carriage from Rayners Lane to Baker Street. I was too young to know this was “F” Stock., then around 40 years old and coming to the end of its life. Magnificent trains, which when built were the fasted, with best acceleration on the Underground, which was wasted on the District Railway, where they first ran, and far more suited for the Met To Uxbridge, where they went in the late 40’s.
@@trevorelliston1 Thanks - I didn't know the F stock were first used on the District; there's not much about them on the web, considering their unusual nature...
@@ricktownend9144 I got my self a book from London Transport called From Steam to Silver” which covered the “surface stock” of the Met,District, Circle, etc. It has lots of information but is a bit nerdy discussing motors, brakes and their control systems.
So good to see you in my hometown Mr J . Uxbridge has great architecture art deco at its best . And in its day Franks cafe was the best around
Been to Uxbridge once, back in 1978, when I was in Air Cadets. Went for a weekend drill course at the R.A.F training centre ( is it still there?). At Baker Street the chap at the ticket window was really confused when we showed him our travel warrants. The train journey took ages, even with missing out many stops. On the Saturday evening we were allowed out of the base, and a few of us took the train to Ruislip to see a film that was supposed to be jolly good. It was Star Wars. Happy days.
Air base closed;. In this galaxy Star Wars released 1977
Although RAF Uxbridge has gone, the Battle of Britain Bunker (11 Group Fighter Command) - as seen in WW2 films - is open to the public and has a museum on the surface.
Another quite nice episode, you can never post these fast enough for me. Thanks from the western plains of Oklahoma and the final home of the Rock Island Railroad!
Might fine line so I heard
Yet again, the quiet sophistication of the contemporary architecture of the Holden and Pick era shines through. It is modern with simple but beautifully proportioned masses and strong linear elements. Not only that, these stations have stood the test of time. They are still easy on the eye, unlike the monstrous, extravagant towers that now dominate a city that I used to think of as having fine buildings. You know the ones I mean. Thank you for showing that there are such examples of quiet good taste in this morass of brash ugliness that is today's London.
Thank you so much Jago. This is my favourite line. Born in West Harrow (my fave station) 64 years ago - and I still love flitting back and forth to Uxbridge and stations in between to this day.
I have two feelings about Uxbridge - 1) its a hell of a way to get to , and when you do get there you are still inside the M25, and that holds true for getting there by underground service, bus from Shepherds Bush or Driving along the A40. 2) The station feels as if it should be a through station - the line feels as if it should go on to Beconsfield and High Wycombe.
It's the Central line that was intended to go to Denham and potentially to High Wycombe. The line in this video runs perpendicular to that.
@@johnm2012 Yes, I know the Marylebone Route was one of the ways to get to High Wycombe ( and that place needs vid with all the Beeching cuts that were a mistake to make with the increase in housing there). Just felt from the inside of Uxbridge that it demanded extending to somewhere, its an odd design that is shown off, like Cockfosters, as a terminal , but somehow has a through station feel. Thinking about it if the District had run on from Ealing Broadway on the GWR's suburban stations (like it did on the eastern LTS ones), it too could have branched off after West Drayton up to Uxbridge(was that the old GWR route that is now the large road near Hayes and Harlington ? )
@@highpath4776 The District did run services beyond Ealing Broadway for a while, as far as Windsor on occasion, in fact.
@@johnm2012 yes, using the GWR lines. I wondered if they could have extended on a different line (I suppose not, which forms another capacity problem)
I lived on Belmont Road for a couple of years. I don't know about now, but the journey into Baker Street used to take quarter of an hour longer in the mornings, just from an extra 30 seconds or so to get people on at each stop along the way. And it was a hell of an endurance test getting back at night if you'd not emptied your bladder beforehand. At least on the night bus sometimes the driver would let everyone off to use the depot facilities somewhere around Ealing.
Great video! I worked in Uxbridge for a while in the 80’s and found it to be quite a nice little town, though, as I remember it, a bit run down. The station area and adjacent shopping mall were a highlight. Thanks for making this video, it is really interesting to know the history of these places. Roy.
My old home station. And, to be blunt, Uxbridge is still standing still.
Living where I do, if I go to Uxbridge I can use several stops on the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines and where necessary a bus to get home. It seems the further south you go on both those lines, the more stations serve smaller areas.
I must beg to differ, slightly. The present Uxbridge station is indeed the second Metropolitan station. However the arrival of the Met was preceded by the GWR at Uxbridge Vine Street in 1856 (from West Drayton) and succeeded by another GWR branch at Uxbridge High Street in 1907 (from Denham). The intention being to join these two lines in a loop to the west of the town centre. Movement of the Met station to the more prominent position in the town centre put the kibosh on both of the GWR branches.
I do hope I haven't spoilt your thunder for your next video Jago.
I was shopping on the site of the original Metropolitan station this very morn.
@@steveaskey A sad loss. One of the original platforms is, or was, still visible in the bushes on the north side of the sidings although not accessible to the public.
@@steveaskey Good old Sainsbury's :-)
Yes; poor old Uxbridge Vine Street deserves a mention!
The crescent frontage really gives a light and open impression to me, I think hard edges act to bookend things and make my eyes focus on the smaller area between them and distract my eyes from the whole.
Wow this takes me back nearly 40 years...lovely to see the town (and station) again, Thanks Jago...
The Belmont Road station was built in what is now a Sainsbury’s car park. Trackbed remains of the line into the demolished GWR station run alongside Cleveland Road near Brunel University. Have memories of bitterly cold winter mornings in Piccadilly Line train with its doors open waiting for 7.50am departure.
Indeed Uxbridge is nothing to do with with oxen, nor is there a "River Ux" - Uxbridge is the bridge of the Saxon Wixan tribe, presumably over the nearby River Colne. They also gave their name to Uxendon (near Harrow).
Growing up in the area, it's staggering just how many local books, literature and school lessons(...!) state the whole Oxen/River Ux/Ox thing as 'fact'. Then again, half the places in London (and indeed further afield) also suffer hazy/debated/"It sounds plausible so it must surely be true" supposed name origins. :)
'Back in the day', the pizza at the front of the station contained a D shaped road where you could immediately interchange with all the buses heading east, south and west, with a colourful mix of red London Transport and green London Country buses.
Piazza, Arthur. Piazza
And trolleybuses.
@@jonasnisse4257 No no, back in the day Uxbridge had a massive 20 foot wide dough circle covered in tomato sauce and cheese out front; Holden wasn’t keen on the idea but Pick insisted.
The pizza at the front was left over from the station buffet.
@@huggleton So glad I wasn't the only one who remembers those buses getting mired in the deep pan and leaving a trail of cheese and tomato all the way to Sherherd's Bush.
Fun fact.
In the early 1970's, the Govenment at the time, was looking to construct a large Exhibition Hall Complex.
Land at Ickenham made the shortlist, but in the end, an area on the Outskirts of Birmingham was chosen (what is now the NEC)
In the early 1970s my parents took (young) me on a protest against some local building project but I am vague about what it was.
Jago starting his video with, "I like this station," So much I start to wonder if Jago have station he hate
Since I’m from around the Uxbridge area, I never really considered how unique and historic the station really is. I suppose its neighbour station of Hillingdon is also worth checking out. It doesn’t really have much more history outside of what’s in this video, but its unique early-1990s design, built for the A40 expansion around that time, is probably worth checking out on its own.
Did you know, an anagram or Uxbridge is “Big Durex” and as I lived there I can confirm it’s true
The stained glass is beautiful, but that's as far as I am prepared to go.
Great to revisit a station I frequented with some regularity when I lived in Harrow-on-the-Hill and went to school in Hillingdon (1978 to 1980). The station looks the same but better now.
Second underground station maybe, but one of four stations that the town had over the years....
Always been curious about the end of the lines. Thanks for showing me!
I travelled there a few years ago for business and was very pleasantly surprised by the station design and presentation.
Absolutely agree that Uxbridge is an excellent station both inside and out. There is something very pleasing about the slight angles from the vertical for the roof ribs at Cockfosters and Uxbridge and the slightly angular arch thus created. Then there is the crescent sweep of the exterior. The stained glass windows and winged wheels top it off nicely.
Uxbridge is one of my favourite Underground stations, some of my earliest memories are from there going 'up to London' with my mother. There was always the question of where to change lines, Finchley Road or Baker Street, the latter was easier, Finchley Road seemingly wasn't, but passed a kiosk that had model/toy cars on display that I wanted to see and maybe get, but I never did! After all these years I still remember that after all these years. Thank you for reviving such lovely and simple memories that I treasure to this day. The architecture is just brilliant and the semi circular forecourt almost draws you into the station, which although some of the 'units' have changed in function over the years is pretty much as it was built back in more enlightened times?!
When I saw those two wheels above the entrance I was wondering what, if anything, was meant to go between them. I felt the space was crying out for some art-deco statue. A polar bear will have to do.
Another title for this video could be "Jago and The Temple of Zoom!"
It must have been fun filming with such a great subject. It's certainly a fun and, um, enlightening video to watch.
Jago-ana Jones and the Temple of Zoom
Who else lives there and wish they knew you were coming. Like me
Would have brought you a drink
Love your channel
Thank You Jago....Uxbridge has happy memories for me as I livef there and have worked there and went to college there and lastly met my beautiful wife there and during a rather daft stage of my life sold radical papers there to the disinterested commuters at the station. I have always liked the CH station which has not changed that much . It was once the location of a short scene in the 70s movie All the Right Noises with Olivia Hussey and the late Tom Bell....The original station on the Belmont Road was for many years something to do with fruit and veg as my sister worked there. I would imagine as with the other railway stations in Uxbridge it is long gone . But it was there the last time I looked.....thank you for your video as it brought memories flooding back......
I was born and lived in Uxbridge. I now live in the US and still miss my town sometimes. Thanks for this video.
The LU ‘totem’ sign out front of the station is stunning, one of the best on the Underground network!
Visiting the station about a year ago I was intrigued to see not one, but two vintage cigarette dispensing machines (long since emptied) fixed on the wall of ‘Sweet Express’ just before the station exit. Promising ‘Day & Night Service’ for what appeared to be 10p a ciggy. There is - or was - a third machine by the street entrance to the shop itself… rare to find one still in situ these days, let alone three!
The outside facade is great with its arc being like an invitation to the station, but the platform and concourse concrete structure - I feel intimidated by the massive concrete beams and roof only the side bands of windows letting light in - like a factory. Maybe I'd have to see it myself to appreciate it more?
@@creamwobbly I live near the Cockfosters end of the Piccadilly line - the above ground Holden stations there, concrete or brick, are all at a point where they are lookng shabby, and yes, in need of a good pressure wash!👎
@@creamwobbly at first I thought this was innuendo 😂
I love that the Buffet signs are still there.
The name of the town is derived from "Wixan's Bridge", which was sited near the bottom of Oxford Road where a modern road bridge now stands, beside the Swan and Bottle public house. The Wixan were a 7th-century Saxon tribe from Lincolnshire who also began to settle in what became Middlesex. (cut and pasted courtesy of Wikipedia)
Thanks for a magnificent tour! You are the winged wheels to my love of art-deco. ⭐️
The buffet sign reminds me of a subject you’ve touched on: how does one deal with historical/heritage signage that is now obsolete?
Does one preserve it authentically even if it is misleading? Does one correct it even if it means modifying a work of art? Thesus and his damn boat…
And especially, what did they serve in the buffet, what did it cost, and how good (or bad) was the food? (There’s another subject for you: tube food.)
The more I see Holden’s work, the more I see the inspiration for the architectural philosophy (sorry if that sounds grandiose) of Montreal’s Metro.
A station should be the focal point for a community and something nice to look at and to be proud of.
Knowing railway catering of the era, I can’t imagine the food was great.
"The second [design] was of a man driving oxen over a bridge, which it turned out *wasn't* the origin of the name." No indeed. In fact Uxbridge gets its name from the common nickname for England's two great Universities.
Hence the Uxbridge English Dictionary😎😁
Uxfurd and Cumbridge, that's right.
@@psammiad My favourite entry being "midwifery - To be halfway through breaking wind". :D
@@cargy930 My favourite is Stephen Fry's definition of _countryside_
@@qwertyTRiG I'd repeat it here but I don't want to offend anyone by discussing P*** M****.
Never thought I'd be saying this but "Must go to Uxbridge"
Wheels beneath my wings. Love it!
6:42 There's a polar bear on the roof. Does it commute from North Pole Depot?
The Metropolitan Railway went to the North Pole at one point
What an excellent looking station! I've seen a photo of it before but definitely didn't see everything it had on offer; never used it either, being tucked away in the far west of London.
Great video!
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Lived in and around Uxbridge, Hillingdon in the early 90s. Went back to Uxbridge recently. Haven’t changed at all. Hope you noticed the Cigarette Machine 😆 on your way out. Feel very nostalgic and have a soft spot for the Station. Looks beautiful and stands out from other Stations. 🚝🚞🚂🙏🙏🙏
I also very much like the station at Uxbridge, together with its “cousin” at the far end of the Piccadilly. NB, binge watching your channel today is proving just the thing today whilst I recover from a cataract op!
This is a awesome station and you make awesome videos.
I agree, it's a fine station. The way it blends in with the high street is very clever
Part of a reply from a resident who I sent the video link to :-
"What he hasn't mentioned, even "in passing" (sorry), is that there used to be two other stations in Uxbridge, both part of the Great Western Railway. The original GWR Bristol - London main line doesn't pass through the town. This was undoubtedly much to the detriment of the former agricultural industry here, and the place stagnated, or really went backwards economically, for most of the rest of the nineteenth century. The nearest point on the GWR main line was West Drayton, and eventually (1856, I think) a branch line was built from there to a terminus at Uxbridge Vine Street. This was reasonably successful in a quiet way, but gradually declined through the twentieth century with increasing use of, first, buses and, later, cars. The coming of the Metropolitan Line didn't help, either! It's service to London was hardly any quicker, but soon became very much more frequent and generally convenient. The Vine Street branch closed to passengers in 1962 (not a Beeching cut, this was just before them), goods and parcels traffic, of which there was quite a lot, continuing for another couple of years.
The GWR built another main line, towards Birmingham, much later, early twentieth century. This passed a couple of miles or so north of Uxbridge and again a branch line was built, to a terminus at Uxbridge High Street. This was highly unsuccessful. Passenger traffic ceased as an economy measure in the 1914-18 war, resumed afterwards, ceased again for the 1939-45 war, and did not resume. A small amount of coal traffic continued up to 1964. This might have been very different - there were many plans to link the Vine Street and High Street branches to create a through south-north route linking the two main lines and perhaps continuing to Watford. Some work on one of these schemes was started and if you really know what you are looking for you can still see a few traces of it, but in the event nothing ever got anything like completed."
My goodness, Mr H, but you have just produced another simply splendid video. A very long time ago (when I was just a lad) I used to use the Met to go from Hillingdon to the City. And even earlier I used it to travel to an audit client (Gregorys of Uxbridge, for those with an enquiring mind). Hillingdon (for those unfamiliar with the area) is the first stop towards London and boasts a large car-park. Although, to be fair, I've never personally heard it boasting. Enough of my rambling. Thank you Mr H. Simon T
Sadly when I was there in 2005 I was late for an event at nearby classic Pinewood Studios so I had no time to enjoy the station. Thanks for this look at it in a more relaxed way.
I really love this station
Uxbridge,is a bit like Grand Central,and what old Penn Station was like,before the demolition,fairly light and airy,and a bit like an aircraft hangar,or closer to a dirigible hangar,but that was prevalent during the 30's,any way,only a comment! Thank you,Jago,always an interesting commentary 👍!!
The Uxbridge English Dictionary is also superb!
Yes, and like the station it is also online.
I always liked the sense of a grand termini that is Uxbridge.. It still gives the sense that the Metropolitan line is a Railway rather than just another Underground line.
Also of interest in Uxbridge is the Battle of Britain Museum at RAF Uxbridge, headquarters of No.11 Group, Fighter Command (and also Brunel University, a choice one for connoisseurs, as I know Jago is, of concrete brutalist architecture)
The Battle of Britain Museum is in Hawkinge in Kent, The RAF MUseum is in Hendon (and Cosford, Shropshire) - the Battle of Britain Bunker is in Uxbridge!
@@johnusher1921 yes, that's right!
Brunel University was used in A Clockwork Orange, The Sweeney & The New Avengers Tv shows.
My next ride on the UndergrounD must be from Cockfosters to Uxbridge. These cathedrals of stations bookending the line . That must make the Piccadilly Line unique in that way .
The platforms appeared to be wet under what appears to be a solid canopy roof, why is this? Thanks, being unable to travel far this is a great way to see places of interest.
excellent. have you thought about doing a video on the stations that were modernised and had spare plateforms for lines that were never built?
Ahh! My home town and the Underground station I'm most familiar with. Nice to see it's all still there, since I've been away for many years now 😀
I love the winged wheels!
I remember being there almost a decade ago; they were playing a Haydn symphony on the tannoy, for reasons unknown. How civilized I thought, but I didn't have time to stand and listen.
They still do that. It was initially done because it apparently drives off teenagers who'd otherwise loiter in the entrance, but they ended up keeping it because people actually enjoyed the music.
Same thing at Edmonton Green bus station - playing classical music from the speakers = a TFL thing to repel youths from loitering inside it, assuming the amplifier has an FM/DAB radio plugged into it = tuned to BBC Radio 3/a MP3 player with classical music “stuffed” into it
@@kabelsalad8380 There was a tale of another city where they had trouble with teenagers hanging around in the central precinct - they played organ music there over the PA and they disappeared equally quickly.
Blimey, Jago Hazzard on my home turf in Uxbridge - to think, I cut thought the town centre many days, I couldv'e caught a glimpse of the mysterious maestro himself and not even realised it! Uxbridge station is often my gateway to my history-exporing ventures into London (although most time I'll just ride there up the canal). Half surprised you didn't feature the famous(ish) shot of Churchill standing in front of the station, during his 'Victory' election efforts of 1945.
Ah excellent! I was born in Hillingdon and lived right on the edge of Uxbridge from birth until 1989. Is the old cigarette machine still in the foyer on the right as you go into the station? It was still in situ when I was last there in 2011.
It was still there a year or so ago. I haven't visited Uxbridge since then -it's full of mutants.
Yes, still there.
Still there, yes.
🤨 - I thought those had been banned, assuming it doesn’t work
@@samuelfellows6923 I don’t think it has worked in decades!
I went to Uxbridge on Saturday the 19th...it was some of the best architecture..I have seen...I look at other stations...Chiswick Park was also nice...but can any one tell me where Ickenhams labyrinth has been placed as I'm trying to get photos of them all..
It’s a beautiful Art Deco station. The stained glass reminds me of Maastricht Station in The Netherlands which has it on a larger scale.
I love the stained glass.. Like the exterior of the station but.. thd interior? Not so sure..
It reminds me of Newbury Park and it's bus shelter
The semi-circular sweep at the front of these station buildings was very much in vogue at the time - Exeter Queen Street (now Exeter Central) that was rebuilt around the same time has a similar grand curve (albeit of a traditional design)
I know the Georgian lads were very fond of it. I wonder if later architects were influenced by them.
Very interesting. Uxbridge/Ickenham resident since 1961.
Jago you forgot to mention the stub of the line to the old station is still in use as sidings.
Thanks Jago 👍 Keep safe.
ah dude, i fancy myself as someone who looks out for this sort of stuff, completely missed everything lol cheers for distilling it all.
incidentally, if you are in london and reading the comments on a jago video, you may well see the point of going to uxbridge on the met line, walking the canal to rickmansworth (c8 miles) and returning on the other arm. nice walk.
Knowing how self absorbed architects can be, Pick's assertion that 'the architect' didn't get the recognition he deserved might easily have been a snipe at the style of Cockfosters being recycled...
My favourite you tube channel. Very interested in watford high street station. When I went to school some 100 years ago ! Some times if I was lucky we would get a under ground train from Watford West and Croxley Green instead of the usual dc train why did this happen surely the 38 underground stock didn't normally go on this route? Also watford high street must have been a very expensive line to build as it involved a long viaduct. Keep up the good work.
One of my local stations. I love it but it needs a damn good clean with a pressure washer!
I've been to Uxbridge. It's good. 👍🏾
I like how Uxbridge station looks so posh and Victoria. And with its large canopy in the middle. And the town itself is very quaint. And Uxbridge as it’s in Greater London and in the London Borough of Hillingdon which at one time might of been in Middlesex or in Buckinghamshire. As Uxbridge isn’t too far from Buckinghamshire and of course The Chilterns.
those winged wheels are rather nifty. large illuminated polar bear, less so.
Not entirely sure that was an original feature ;)
Jago - what about a series on listed parts of the underground?
One of your best videos.
Beautiful.
If you like Concrete Trainsheds try Leeds Central - the passenger concourse which was formerly part of the adjoining station reconstructed in the 1930s
Not Leeds Central. That was demolished decades ago. It was the original LMS/Midland terminus station of Leeds City, that had the L&Y/NER station adjacent to the south. For years the Art Deco concourse was neglected , and the platforms behind it turned into a carpark; more recently it has been reincorporated into the main station and nicely restored,
Shows dedication that you seemingly went back to record the footage a second time with the Christmas decs gone... Although I can't help but feel sorry for the polar bear, bet he feels a bit snubbed!
I did consider just using the Christmas footage, but then I realised I’d just wind up having to answer questions about it every time I used it in a video. Anything for a quite life…
I misheard "dismissal" and thought you said "this missile" and was really confused why you'd fire heavy ordnance at architects who don't have time to work for you
Because it's a start.
This recalls the scene in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens" where an American dignitary's wife is giving birth at a hospital run by an order of nuns and his security detail is concerned to learn that there are missals in the building.
Love, love, love. Thank you!
Never been to Uxbridge but that's a beautiful station.
Your videos are brilliant.
I don't think I've ever travelled on the Uxbridge branch of the Tube. I'll have to remedy that error soon ....!! 😎
Excellent video, very interesting
At 3:11 you have a shot of two trains on parallel tracks. The size difference is striking. Perhaps you can explain this phenomenon in a future episode.
The smaller one is ‘deep level tube’ stock with much smaller tunnels than the larger ‘sub surface stock’. Jago talks about this a lot through his videos.
Can you do a video on the history of Ealing Broadway please
Colonel Mellow sounds a laidback kind of chap.
I've always wondered just what a Civic Dignitary is. Victorian Britain seems to have been infested with them.
This Frank Pick seems to have had too many fingers in too many pies.
Better him than the dreaded Yerkes! In fact, perhaps Pick is Batman to Yerkes' Joker?
@@rodjones117
Frank Pick was Batman or Robin to Lord Ashfield.
@@thomasburke2683 Pick Batman to Ashfield's Commissioner Gordon?
6:41 Christmas reindeer, polar bear and...penguins?
As an American, the word “Uxbridge” always reminded me of Professor Umbridge from the Harry Potter series whenever I saw it on the Tube map 😆
Technically, this is Uxbridges fourth station. The Great Western also had two stations at Vine Street and High Street in the town before this arrived.
Great station design and stained-glass window, but sad that the toilets and nearly all the shops on the station are closed!