So pleased to hear that the archeologists didn't get run over by a train. After all, archeologists have enough on their plate as their careers always end up in ruins.
A few that I dont recall - maybe they are on the section to Tooting that was a little too far to walk. We used to walk across the wandle using the rail tracks in the 1960s, other folks have reported getting cab rides Merton Abbey to Merton Park in their young days, it never occurred to me to do that.
I find it fascinating to see cherished homes created from something once busy, mundane and unloved; like the station in this video. A dignified retirement for somewhere which has worked hard for ordinary people.
Great . I lived in the area as a school boy and remember the spur from Merton Abbey to Tooting Junction when it functioned as a pretty busy goods only line . A C2X goods engine worked itv. Merton Abbey was heavily industrialised in those days . “Tooting Junction “ was always Tooting Junction even though the junction points had been long gone .
Merton Park was home to the Mod-revival band, the Merton Parkas, notable for a ideologically dubious song, 'You Need Wheels' (1979), which claimed that "A man ain't a man with a ticket in his hand" suggesting that use of public transport is somehow less than masculine. Also on a musical note, at 05:45 we see a signpost for Amen Corner, a reference to the 1960s pop group notable for hit singles 'Bend Me, Shape Me' (1968) and '(If Paradise Is) Twice As Nice' (1969). However, the group wasn't named for the area and road junction in Tooting between Mitcham Rd, Rectory Lane, and Southcroft Rd, but for a Cardiff nightclub.
At which point we should also cue Citizen Smith. With the fantastic scene over the until recently still present massive footbridge at Wimbledon just south of the station.
Ah, another Sunday morning waking to the excellent Jago and his videos. As usual I found it really interesting and I spent quite a bit of time chuckling at your snippets of fun and jokes. Thanks once again.
Yes thanks very much. I must say that abandoned bit is also a route I have walked a lot. As well as taking both the Tooting line on occasions, and the Tramlink a fair few times. Though mostly the 57 bus!
I used to live on Station Rd as a small child and can remember the goods trains running the other side of the old flint wall with the triang factory beyond.
When all this Covid stuff is finally over, i hope Jago gets rewarded in the Queen's honours for services to people's sanity! thanks Jago, you are keeping people entertained even as far away as South Africa!
i love learning about railways that ended a long time back and only finding out it existed now especially if they end up like the one the trams are on currently
Tooting Junction. Know it well, as I used it a lot in the late 1960's and early '70's. I lived in Ashbourne Road, Mitcham, which runs parallel to the Tooting to Streatham line and backs onto the track, on the South side of the track. For several years, I used the third morning train out of Tooting - for Streatham - as my Alarm Clock.
I literally went for a walk down one of those footpaths today, and now I see this! Might not sound so amazing, but I'd never been that way before and was inspired to do it for no reason, and now I see this five hours later! Awesome!
I wanna be the first to say congratulations on 100k. Can’t be far away now! As someone who went to London and Streatham in Jan 2020, JUST RIGHT BEFORE the world went to crud, I love these videos. Thank you Jago!
Little known fact. The tooting railway fell out of favour after the age of the steam locomotive when it became a lot harder to manufacture tooting trains without access to a steam whistle. You can make an electric locomotive toot but it's really not the same.
I can remember steam trains running on that line from Tooting. A few years later when it was disused but still had tacks, we walked down there to Merton. Also on that footbridge I remember standing on it and saw Evening Star. It was doing final journeys around in it's last days.
Here in the US it has been very popular for the past decade to convert unused rail line into bicycle path. In Washington and Oregon states in particular it makes very fast convienent links from city to city to bike places. Back east they converted a rail line running north and south beside the Mississippi River that lets you ride from Memphis, Tennessee all the wat to St. Louis, Illinois. That is 291 mile/268km with about 60% of it on bike path and away from cars with camp grounds along the way.
Back in the 70's I found an abandoned railway. Cycling between Midsomer Norton and Chilcompton I saw a double track line climbing what looked like a ridiculous gradient. Turns out that a few other people had heard of my discovery. It was the S&DJR.. Thanks JH.
There is actually an important remnant of Merton Abbey in the form of the Chapter House, whose foundations were discovered some time ago. More recently, because they lie under a low fly-over of the A24, the opportunity was taken (enlightened architects working pro bono) to enclose it as a community space. You'll find it close to Sainsbury's car park, though at the moment I don't expect anyone will give you access. Worth a look in the future though. Incidentally, Merton was one of the great seats of learning in Europe. One of its alumni (ordained there) was Thomas Becket, he of 'Murder in the Cathedral'. Too much information?
Do you mean those that are visible in the pedestrian tunnel under the road that links Sainsburys (which will always be the Savacentre to me!) and the newer development which enveloped Merton Abbey Mills?
Enjoying Church/buildings history, as I do, thank you for this very interesting information. With such a history it is such a shame that there isn’t even still a church there to mark the spot particularly given one of its illustrious predecessors. It perhaps also explains why there is a Merton College at Oxford. I have often wondered where such a strange name had come from, is this perhaps it?
@@paultidd9332 When Henry annexed the monasteries Merton was quite quickly razed to supply stone to build Nonsuch Palace at Ewell, also now destroyed, but you can have a little walk in Nonsuch Park and find a stone or two. The Oxford College founder was Walter de Merton, who may have originated from Merton, but as far as the college is concerned he's a bloke, not a place.
@@andybaker2456 Yeah - that's the remaining bits of the Chapter house. There's also a few bits of the old wall dotted around - near the traffic lights between Savacentre and the Mills, and down by where Currys and the rest are.
Excellent video, I never knew there was a junction at Tooting. The run to Tooting is one of my favourite when I visit London, not least because of the model shop within 1 minute's walk of the station!
Thanks, I never knew about this line,even though I lived in Colliers Wood and Merton for a time. I moved out when the plans for Merton Mill complex were being put in place as I didn't want to loose that quite spot on the canal where I would sit and read and drink bottles of cheap wine in the summer sun ( my temporay piece of paradise). Ah nostalgia!
@@adonaiyah2196 Totta's Ing(e) (residence of Totta I think is Anglo Saxon),, Wibbas Dun (The Hill Settlement of Wibba - likewise) Mere Tun - the Settlement on / by The Water might also be or might be from the Celtic). Jago might note the link of Tooting and Far Tottering.
There was quite a goods yard at Merton Abbey and I understand that Triang were the last company to use it for their freight. Also near Merton Abbey was the factory of William Morris, the Victorian Arts and Crafts guy.
While visiting the market at Merton Abbey Mills, we happened on the Abbey being actually open, it was maybe three times a year. Bizarre to be standing under the road above and looking at the ruins below. The rest of the substantial ruins are under the Sainsbury's carpark - because this is how we roll. Too expensive to keep, no interest in saving.
@@JagoHazzard Did you actually mention that the Haydons Road sections gets a train or two supplied by Southern in peak hours to London Bridge? ( used to go to Holborn Viaduct via a different route to the more regular service). I think this is a hangover from the LBSCR and LSWR days of line sharing. I wonder if the changing the tooting end of the merton abbey section to a siding with a pair of buffer stops for the coal yard was to do with buisness rates in that sidings and single track less than running ones , no idea. ( though like your dublo hornby 2 rail stuff the idea of westbound trains on a loop get really headachy
Very interesting subject. When I was a youngster, my great interest was in walking disused railways (mainly Sussex, Kent & Hampshire). But it was extremely depressing, as much of what I saw was the result of the Beeching Plan (1963). So, smashed-up stations, plies of bricks and demolished bridges were regular sights. The 1960s were anti-railway; nowadays, most people are pro-railway, but it seems too unrealistic to expect many lines to be re-instated, because of redevelopment.
The Oxford to Cambridge rail line was cut many years ago and large parts of the old route built on. Also sections that were left were down graded over the years. Now they are recreating that link and having to find interesting division routes to avoid those areas. Massively increasing costs at the same time of course.
@@tinplategeek1058 Good comments. The “Varsity Line” wasn’t even included in the original Beeching Plan. I think the problem was that once the mass closures got under way, the momentum increased and extra lines were axed.
On the other hand, a lot of what Beeching closed was lines where they were maintaining a whole railway just for five or six people a day. Even today, few would propose reopening those lines because they're just not viable: they're exactly the sorts of places where a bus is the right solution. (Of course, having replaced the railway with a bus service, they then took away the bus service, but that's a different issue.) Some may be viable today but that's generally because of changing population patterns that really couldn't be foreseen sixty years ago. Where Beeching definitely went too far was removing lines that were supposedly redundant: the "We don't need two lines between Sometown and Othertown, so we'll close one of them" argument that ignores the people who live between the two.
@@beeble2003 I ‘ll try not to say too much! Thanks for your comments, though I don’t agree with much. Let’s put it this way; before Beeching ( in power, 1961-65), Great Britain had the most comprehensive railway network of all the major states. After the closures, which went on into the early 1970s, we ended up with a skeletal system, apart from London and a few major cities. Also, 70% of trains now start or terminate in London. Beeching was known by the time of his 1961 appointment to be anti-rail. He and the worst Transport Minister of all time, Ernest Marples ( one of the chiefs of Marples-Ridgway, which supplied concrete for many of the motorways) worked together to massively reduce the railway industry. A colossal number of railwaymen lost their careers, and the country has ended up with very large areas of Scotland, Wales, the West Country and East Anglia devoid of railways. The most efficient railway route on British Railways (the ‘Great Central,’ Marylebone- Nottingham -Sheffield- Manchester + its additional connections) was mainly abandoned in 1966. There’s a different attitude to railways by politicians and environmentalists today, but it seems too late to be able to restore much.
@@robertweissman4850 Yes, the Great Central is a prime example of the folly of removing "redundant" routes, and it's a perpetual frustration of people outside London that the rail network these days is primarily set up to get people to and from London (with HS2 continuing the trend). On the other hand, the areas you list as being devoid of railways are exactly the most sparsely populated areas where railways are very expensive to maintain and serve few people.
Geoff Marshall done videos of abandoned stations. But this is so interesting and how London did have stations which is now abandoned and replaced by new apartments and development. Interesting stuff.
I couldn't care less about the train lines but Jago's sense of humour is brilliant. I love the dry sarcastic pun loaded humour. Trains running over archaeologists had me in stitches.
As a kid I really loved searching for old train tracks, tunnels and bridges in the South Downs and I still am fascinated by old lines (train, tram and underground). Can't way 'till Covid is gone, so I can visit good ol' Britain again.
I'm beginning to discover that I'm rather fond of trams. I can't think why; I haven't been on one for about forty years but I'm glad you've awakened the old affection in me. It's like remembering an old girlfriend... Excuse me now, I seem to have a bit of grit in my eye.
I dont think I'll ever get to Europe, but if I did I'd like to see these kind of regular non-tourist kinds of places. I like to get a feeling of how the locals see their environment.
It's one of the more obscure joys of travelling. I even find it fascinating how different cities can look when approaching them by air, depending on the country.
Awww, that’s quite sweet Wade! Where are you? I live right by where the video talks about and travel on the trains and walk around the area all the time, but this info was new to me. I love travelling to other countries and I love it when people love my country.
@@wadeguidry6675 New Orleans is on my bucket list when the CV nonsense is over! I came to Florida in 2019, & California in 2017, but I’d love to see some of the Southern States! The places you see on the video are south west London and they’re all pretty close to where they play the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Not too much else famous around here, just an ordinary suburban residential area! We have a nice big Sainsbury’s supermarket though, right on top of the site where there used to be a medieval abbey where Thomas a’Becket (killed by king Henry’s men) was ordained (in the 1100’s, so very old).
I used to live near this area and I found the street called "Station road". Which runs parallel to A24 and near Abbey Mills. I looked around though there was no train station. So, I knew a bit of this history though, enjoyed your video showing the area today. Also next to the Abbey mills, where now Premier Inn and restaurants are, there was a large bus depo and training field, until early 2000s. L plate bus drivers were practicing.
That was the former sidings and coal yard of merton abbey, boot sales at the weekends. Station Road as exists now had been known over the years as Abbey Lane, and Church Path.
No, Nelson Trade Park was Foster's Transformers. Tri-ang was on the Jubilee Trading Estate ( as tri-ang went the way of liquidation ish in 1974 and the new site built for homebase wicks and others in 1977 ish)
Cutting the link has shades of what happened to the Abbeyhill loop in Edinburgh. The North British Railway created a new line to Granton in 1868, coming off the ECML at Abbeyhill Junction, just east of Calton Tunnel. This Granton line also joined onto the ECML at Piershill junction, just north of Craigentinny Depot, and another line was put in place from Abbeyhill at London Road Junction to the Granton line at Lochend Junction, thereby creating a triangle, and of course, a very handy loop line. There were stations at Abbeyhill and Piershill, which were served by suburban trains, as well as services to Musselburgh and North Berwick. When the Musselburgh branch closed in 1964, passenger services on the Abbeyhill loop also ceased. However, freight traffic continued to ICI Westshore at Granton, although in the early 1980s these operations ceased, and the Granton branch was cut back to the former Powderhall station, where Edinburgh had a waste depot. In 1986 the Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, and a new station was built on the loop; Meadowbank Stadium. The triangular junction at this time was also very useful for turning HST power cars. In 1988 however, work began on electrifying the ECML, and the loop was skewed at Abbeyhill and Piershill Junctions. What was then Edinburgh District Council and local residents asked for the track to be retained, which it was for a while, in the hope of resurrecting the Abbeyhill Loop for reopened suburban services. This was given an apparent boost when the Granton branch was rejoined to the ECML at Piershill Junction, for trains of household waste going to landfill. These trains used old Freightliner containers, and were affectionately known as "bin liners". Sadly, in more recent years the track through Abbeyhill has been lifted, and in our environmentally friendly days, the now City of Edinburgh Council now burns household waste in an incinerator power station at Millerhill. Thus the former Powderhall waste depot has closed, and the Granton branch along with it. I hear that Sustrans have already shown an interest in it. I personally think abandoning the Abbeyhill Loop was extremely short sighted. It often made a useful diversionary route to free up room for express trains on the ECML. Indeed, when the Golf Open was being held at Muirfield in 1980, I was round the loop a few times on North Berwick trains.
I was told once by a railwayman that railways had to pay a kind of business rates tax for points and sidings, so there was an incentive to remove them if unused. Worn out unused junctions and signalling are cheaper to remove than replace. There was always an incentive to remove track quickly on closed lines in the UK as the steel rails were worth a fair bit of money as scrap and it would help stop pesky local demands for reopening. In Germany, I seem to recall, there were laws prohibiting the removal of rail infrastructure on closed lines for 30 years or something. This meant that lines could more easily reopened if needed.
I find that tax claim very unlikely -- does anybody have a citation for it? The reason for removing unused junctions is that junctions require more maintenance than straight-through track and, if you get that maintenance wrong, trains crash and people die (Potters Bar and Grayrigg, for example). Also, in areas that use third-rail power, junctions force a gap in the third rail.
Oddly, there's a branch off the Inverness - Aberdeen line near me which was goods only for decades but hasn't seen a train in over 30 years. It's massively overgrown but the track's still there for about four miles. No idea why it's not been lifted.
@@iana6713 I wonder if it's disconnected at the main line. I'm not sure what the procedure is for closing freight-only lines; it's possible that the line is technically still open but just doesn't have any trains. Or maybe they didn't lift the lines immediately, for whatever reason, but now the track's in such bad state they can't run a PW train on it and it's too expensive to access with road vehicles.
Haydons Road was briefly my commuting station, then served by all-rail-blue 2-EPB units with slam doors and very loud brake compressors which were always trying to hammer a hole in the floor beneath your feet. You could get to it via a disused waterworks next to the Wandle, a haunted landscape of buddleia and brambles reminiscent of scenes on a Black Sabbath album cover.
Hello Jago and everyone and great 7:35 video thanks as I’ve always lived in the southwest London area and I’m well aware of current and former railways but I admit that I learned something and I always enjoy your videos so thanks for reading take care stay safe and cheerio
Brings back a few memories as I use to live close to Tooting station and travel from there to London bridge for work. Was working for British Railways at Bricklayers Arms repair depot in Old Kent road until it closed completely.
3:35 "..build a block of flats..." If only that were true ! More like to (hopefully) deter knife-wielding thugs ! Great video, btw. I used to work out of Merton Bus Garage, driving double-deckers, which sort of overlooks Colliers Wood. I always hated that station, the escalators are far too steep and long ! I used to drive the 44 and 159, and 157 154 93 from Sutton Garage. Many moons ago !
Another nice video, it always helps when you add maps to the video as those of us that are not familiar with the area sometimes have have difficulty visualising where you are.
Merton park used to be my local station many moons ago. Lovely it was, like going back in time to an old country station. Great video as always, thank you
Try www.Railmaponline.com to see the course of old railway lines in UK, Ireland and the Western part of USA. A nice touch is that you can select different types of maps as the background.
My grandparents lived in Marsh Court - the tall block at 4:58. Often wandered along the track from there to Merton Abbey station in the early 1970s. I went to school in Rutlish Road and often used Merton Park station to go one stop to Wimbledon.
For a couple of years from 1979, I lived a few minutes' walk from Haydons Road station. In those days, trains towards Tooting ran on to Holborn Viaduct or London Bridge. But my journey was to Charing Cross via Wimbledon, Waterloo and Waterloo East. We'd stand on the platform at Haydons Road waiting patiently and, about eight minutes after the train was due, all give up and do the fifteen minute walk down to Wimbledon station. No real-time information in those days - it was only recently that the old wooden fingerpost destination signs had been taken out of use at Wimbledon. Those cancelled trains only happened on about ten occasions in two years, and the walk wasn't that far, but I had to be in work by 9am and this would make me late.
Would you not be quicker walking to Tooting Broadway ? ( the bus service on the 493 via plough lane has only been introduced in recent years and getting Plough Lane to tooting was really difficult)
@@highpath4776 Far too long ago for me to remember :-) But it was useful for Victoria, ChX, Holborn Viaduct, London Bridge, etc. as well as Waterloo. I've got a feeling we could use it for intermediate stations as well - no gatelines then.
I'm always on the lookout for new places to go meander, and I live round the corner from this and never even knew it existed! I'll be over there later if the weather holds. Thanks!
Being born and living in Merton Park I can well remember many of the things spoken about in this presentation . When I started work I travelled each day to Mitcham from Merton Park The fare was one shilling return -early sixties ] and I would ride the two coach EPB units . As a young lad interested in trains it was great to chat to the engine drivers when they stopped at Merton Park station .The engines were nearly always C2X 0-6-0 ,they worked freight along to and shunted on a siding adjacent to the toy factory .A good view of this could be seen between the trees that were then at the back of Nelson Gardens . Merton Park had a signal box next to the line in Kingston Road and its junction with Hartfield Road .Back in the old days a policeman would cycle down from Wimbledon ,park his bike by the signal box then set about controlling the traffic with his hand signals ,.When a train was due the signalman wold reach out of one of the windows and ring a brass bell to let the officer know to stop all traffic and let the crossing gates close I remember the goods yard at Merton Abbey ,you could get a really good view of it from the Christchurch Road bridge . Even in my day there were only about 2-3 freight trains a day there . Many times I rode the EPB units to Croydon, back then the line was almost like a rural backwater in places ,running over the River Wandle and across Mitcham Common . To the west of Mitcham station was another sizeable set of sidings ,again often shunted by a C2X . The sidings seemed to be the home of a large breakdown crane the sort big enough to lift carriages ,I only ever saw it move once ,thank goodness as it was in the main used in rail crashes . The whole area was /is very interesting and well worth further study of it's history .
Did you spot the apiary next to Merton Park? I used to keep a hive there and enjoyed the bemused expressions on the faces of tram passengers when they spied a wisp of smoke, a gleaming white suit and hood and a vortex of angry Apis as they passed by.
You didn't mention that you can see the remains of Merton Abbey under the road next to the KFC in your video. Obvs its closed at the moment due to C19 but you can look through the windows.... (I do love your videos btw... and your delivery style... great stuff)
I've been on a binge watch of Jago recently, and mighty fine it's been. Greetings from Queensland (done some commuting to London from Chatham many moons ago, an experience never to be repeated).
Just subbed after listening to a few of your videos whilst preparing dinner. I'm not a train spotter, fan, interested in stations or anything like that...yet I found your videos alright 👍
When I was going to high school (Ottawa, Ontario) in the early 80s I used to hang out in the library and read international magazines including British railway mags. THey had articles about the abandoned railways in London. In the 1990s I bought them at magazine stores and read about them being converted to Docklands and other uses. Now I love going to London and retracing these routes. On another note, I used to live in Los Angeles and used to go to parties in Brentwood and have chatted to the author of Crazy Train, Ozzy. Small world.
As a true-born Yorkshireman (living in Sweden) I have to admit that I have a deep prejudice against London but I do find your videos so interesting, instructional and entertaining. I don't know enough about the megalopolis to suggest subjects for future videos but I hope that you'll keep them coming.
I love that detail about naming the trains after the destinations. Anyone nowadays would find that just as confusing. Board the Mitcham for Tooting, the Tooting to Wimbledon, and in 5 mins, you can also climb on the Wimbledon to Wimbledon stopping at Mitcham.
ladiorange Here’s a clue. Over 1 billion people in the world regularly source music from a certain popular video sharing site ...that doesn’t only feature train videos.😉
Thank for listening to requests. You're wonderful, railway informative and funny. There seems some sad irony that both the railway and Mr Morris went by the wayside.
From your merantun way vantage point , if you were standing on the north side foot path you were loosley in the foundry of TI Crown Merton (pots and pans), next door or close by was a memorial stone placed by Col Bidder marking a location of the altar at Merton Priory, then British Rototherm (later used by Pye / PRT Records when Rototherm went fully to South Wales. A Lot of industry was banned by the Labour Govt for expanding in London being encouraged to move to the deprived areas of Wales and the North. Tri-ang Too was affected by this with a new facility being opened in the Welsh Valleys mainly for the blown plastic ranges, this made management difficult of the enterprise. Merantun Way itself covers about half of Station Road - the section from The Wandle (well slightly east thereof) to Christchurch Road was LSWR / SR owned property and not a public highway, with gates that could - and were - closed during out of traffic for the rail times. The Eastbound Platform about up to the midline of Merantun way east of the existing roundabout. Pizza Hut is about where the refectory of the Priory is thought to have been.
Jago, I love your videos but none more so than this. I grew up in Colliers Wood and used to play on the line at Merton abbey around the coal yard sidings in 1958 when the line was virtually abandoned. later in '63 I used to use that footbridge past the original station to catch the train to Holborn Viaduct and in '75 to Streatham. Please keep 'em coming and thank you.
I was researching this only the other week. By Merton abbey the read splits as it it was about to go up and over a fly over which was never built. Turns out the railways ran where the road is now so it’s taken that shape
When the road overbridge was taken away, that seemed rather silly as the relief road could have used and ran through that, it also changed the profile of Nelson Gardens.
The main photos of Merton Abbey with trains in are few , mostly a couple of RCTS tours, with some taken of, and by, Lens of Sutton. Others include some of the RAF and Aerofilms arial shots, and a rather murky pre 1920 Coal yard view in Merton Libraries collection with some LBSC lettered low height round ended trucks.
One photo of the Tri-ang siding in about 1957 has recently been added to Facebook by the photographer, which is nice (we its a derailment incident, involving an 08 shunter some mineral wagons and a brake van
I discovered your channel while moving out of my old house a couple of weeks ago, and now here you are standing on the bridge that is literally right next to my new place. How strange.
Hey Jago, I work for network rail specially Wimbledon S&T, as such I really enjoy all the local history that you bring up. Btw, in a previous video you mentioned east putney and a piece of track that links to the LSWR route to Waterloo via barnes. That's known as the putney reversible and it's used for SWR trains to move from the Windsor lines after the peak to Wimbledon traincare depot via the LUL as it's near impossible to cross over without it, passengers trains rarely run over the reversible but they rarely do either early in the morning or late at night. Keep up the good work.
You should check out the Flitch way from Braintree in Essex. It has loads of old stations and there's some really interesting history and people are currently campaigning to open it.
Nothing better on Sunday morning than an abandoned railway on another continent, eh Jago? I, and my dad who isn't as familiar with London as me, but with whom I watch your videos, appreciate the maps in this video, and wish you'd include them more often. I'm not opposed to opening Google Earth and looking at the places you refer to, but it's not as nicely integrated with the video that way.
Thank you for making this video, now I know so much more about my local area and why we have these unusual walking paths in Colliers Wood. The silk printing works is where William Morris had his workshop in Merton Abbey.
No it is not. William Morris' works were on Merton High Street. Littlers (later Liberty's) Print works are the silk printing works whose buildings etc remain generally extant)
So pleased to hear that the archeologists didn't get run over by a train. After all, archeologists have enough on their plate as their careers always end up in ruins.
Don't forget your coat.
@@ThereIsOnlyTheOnePJC that would have been my reaction as well.
When you're in a hole, stop digging...? 🤔 👌🏼 😂
🤦♂️
Definitely on the right track!
I've never been more entertained by a person talking about something I know nothing about.
And will probably never visit?
Don't you watch documentaries?
@@TheMijman there’s documentaries... but then there’s Jago. 😉
@@stevebluesbury6206 The Jago Seal of Quality
Never underestimate master Jago
he knows the powers of the tube 😁
As someone who lives within this area I literally recognise all the shots.. lol
Crazy to think I've walked along these old lines.
I was just thinking this. I've lived in Morden all my life and cycled basically the whole of this abandoned line without realising what it was!
Maybe you're really Jago, but hadn't realised! 😱
Ditto
A few that I dont recall - maybe they are on the section to Tooting that was a little too far to walk. We used to walk across the wandle using the rail tracks in the 1960s, other folks have reported getting cab rides Merton Abbey to Merton Park in their young days, it never occurred to me to do that.
Love it: “In London you have to guard any empty space 27/7. Because if you don’t, someone will build a block of flats on top of it”😂
I would like to have your days. I could really use the additional 3 hours. 😉
27/7: It's just a sneaky way of filling out your time card to get an extra 3 hrs dosh. 06:00 to 33:00. The computer gags and pays 27 hrs.
I also laughed at that 🤣
😂😂😂😂
Thank you for clarifying; I was starting to be concerned for the archeologists. Now I can relax.
I’ve got a friend who’s an archeologist, I can say that I dig archeologist’s. 😂😂😂😂
Rest easy my friend
I find it fascinating to see cherished homes created from something once busy, mundane and unloved; like the station in this video. A dignified retirement for somewhere which has worked hard for ordinary people.
Ordinary? I was just looking up the property prices in Rutlish Road, where Merton Park station was, which is now a tram stop.
Great . I lived in the area as a school boy and remember the spur from Merton Abbey to Tooting Junction when it functioned as a pretty busy goods only line . A C2X goods engine worked itv. Merton Abbey was heavily industrialised in those days . “Tooting Junction “ was always Tooting Junction even though the junction points had been long gone .
Merton Park was home to the Mod-revival band, the Merton Parkas, notable for a ideologically dubious song, 'You Need Wheels' (1979), which claimed that "A man ain't a man with a ticket in his hand" suggesting that use of public transport is somehow less than masculine. Also on a musical note, at 05:45 we see a signpost for Amen Corner, a reference to the 1960s pop group notable for hit singles 'Bend Me, Shape Me' (1968) and '(If Paradise Is) Twice As Nice' (1969). However, the group wasn't named for the area and road junction in Tooting between Mitcham Rd, Rectory Lane, and Southcroft Rd, but for a Cardiff nightclub.
At which point we should also cue Citizen Smith. With the fantastic scene over the until recently still present massive footbridge at Wimbledon just south of the station.
@@michaelgreen1515 [This sort of cultural referencing makes the comments section all the more worthwhile!]
The weird thing is American breed also did a cover of bend me shape me with ever so slightly different lyrics
Amen Corner also provided the title song for horror classic "Scream and Scream Again."
I'm a simple man, Jago Hazzard uploads a video and I watch it and enjoy it
Ah, another Sunday morning waking to the excellent Jago and his videos. As usual I found it really interesting and I spent quite a bit of time chuckling at your snippets of fun and jokes. Thanks once again.
You’re very welcome!
Yes thanks very much. I must say that abandoned bit is also a route I have walked a lot. As well as taking both the Tooting line on occasions, and the Tramlink a fair few times. Though mostly the 57 bus!
I used to live on Station Rd as a small child and can remember the goods trains running the other side of the old flint wall with the triang factory beyond.
Jago your knowledge & commentary is first rate. Thanks again
When all this Covid stuff is finally over, i hope Jago gets rewarded in the Queen's honours for services to people's sanity! thanks Jago, you are keeping people entertained even as far away as South Africa!
i love learning about railways that ended a long time back and only finding out it existed now especially if they end up like the one the trams are on currently
Tooting Junction. Know it well, as I used it a lot in the late 1960's and early '70's. I lived in Ashbourne Road, Mitcham, which runs parallel to the Tooting to Streatham line and backs onto the track, on the South side of the track. For several years, I used the third morning train out of Tooting - for Streatham - as my Alarm Clock.
Love the comment about the flats it is so true great video for a Sunday morning
I literally went for a walk down one of those footpaths today, and now I see this! Might not sound so amazing, but I'd never been that way before and was inspired to do it for no reason, and now I see this five hours later! Awesome!
I love this sense of humour. And a perfect note to a day spent walking a semi-abandoned line.
It’s a little scary when he makes a comment that I was just thinking - I may have watched too many 😉
I love that the station was converted into a house, so many times, buildings are just demolished!
There's something singularly melancholy about an dismantled railway, even one with a name thought could be onomatopoeia the trains running on it.
I wanna be the first to say congratulations on 100k. Can’t be far away now!
As someone who went to London and Streatham in Jan 2020, JUST RIGHT BEFORE the world went to crud, I love these videos.
Thank you Jago!
You’re very welcome!
I live round here and have my entire life love hearing things i never knew :). love the videos
Little known fact. The tooting railway fell out of favour after the age of the steam locomotive when it became a lot harder to manufacture tooting trains without access to a steam whistle. You can make an electric locomotive toot but it's really not the same.
Heyoooo!
They should probably put it out to tender.
Stealing that
However, the railways through Honking have really taken off since the end of steam.
That really honks.
Never would have thought tonight could get even better. Then I saw a new Jago video!
There's nothing nicer than railway history and a sausage and egg sandwich on a Sunday morning.
Not for a vegetarian
@@simcahazeman8863 You can get vegetarian sausages, you know! :D
Haydon's Road used to be my local station. I lived on Clarence Rd. Those were good times, thanks for the interesting video!
I remember
As a Yank I find myself really interested in how rail developed in England. Jago talking with his normal wit and sense of humor also helps lol
I can remember steam trains running on that line from Tooting. A few years later when it was disused but still had tacks, we walked down there to Merton. Also on that footbridge I remember standing on it and saw Evening Star. It was doing final journeys around in it's last days.
Here in the US it has been very popular for the past decade to convert unused rail line into bicycle path. In Washington and Oregon states in particular it makes very fast convienent links from city to city to bike places. Back east they converted a rail line running north and south beside the Mississippi River that lets you ride from Memphis, Tennessee all the wat to St. Louis, Illinois. That is 291 mile/268km with about 60% of it on bike path and away from cars with camp grounds along the way.
Back in the 70's I found an abandoned railway. Cycling between Midsomer Norton and Chilcompton I saw a double track line climbing what looked like a ridiculous gradient. Turns out that a few other people had heard of my discovery. It was the S&DJR..
Thanks JH.
I commuted from Sutton to London via Wimbledon and Stretham for about 8 years. This is the first time I have ever heard of this railway!
There is actually an important remnant of Merton Abbey in the form of the Chapter House, whose foundations were discovered some time ago. More recently, because they lie under a low fly-over of the A24, the opportunity was taken (enlightened architects working pro bono) to enclose it as a community space. You'll find it close to Sainsbury's car park, though at the moment I don't expect anyone will give you access. Worth a look in the future though. Incidentally, Merton was one of the great seats of learning in Europe. One of its alumni (ordained there) was Thomas Becket, he of 'Murder in the Cathedral'. Too much information?
Do you mean those that are visible in the pedestrian tunnel under the road that links Sainsburys (which will always be the Savacentre to me!) and the newer development which enveloped Merton Abbey Mills?
Enjoying Church/buildings history, as I do, thank you for this very interesting information. With such a history it is such a shame that there isn’t even still a church there to mark the spot particularly given one of its illustrious predecessors. It perhaps also explains why there is a Merton College at Oxford. I have often wondered where such a strange name had come from, is this perhaps it?
@@paultidd9332 When Henry annexed the monasteries Merton was quite quickly razed to supply stone to build Nonsuch Palace at Ewell, also now destroyed, but you can have a little walk in Nonsuch Park and find a stone or two. The Oxford College founder was Walter de Merton, who may have originated from Merton, but as far as the college is concerned he's a bloke, not a place.
@@andybaker2456 You may be right - it's a couple of years since I was there. They have a website for you to check.
@@andybaker2456 Yeah - that's the remaining bits of the Chapter house. There's also a few bits of the old wall dotted around - near the traffic lights between Savacentre and the Mills, and down by where Currys and the rest are.
Excellent video, I never knew there was a junction at Tooting. The run to Tooting is one of my favourite when I visit London, not least because of the model shop within 1 minute's walk of the station!
For many a year it was Tooting Junction and the loop that you see shown at the beginning was known as the Tooting pear!
People still call the station Tooting Junction despite it being clearly not.
Always really enjoyable to see such well-made (and amusing!) videos about the railways in my metaphorical backyard. Great stuff as always!
Thanks!
Thanks, I never knew about this line,even though I lived in Colliers Wood and Merton for a time. I moved out when the plans for Merton Mill complex were being put in place as I didn't want to loose that quite spot on the canal where I would sit and read and drink bottles of cheap wine in the summer sun ( my temporay piece of paradise). Ah nostalgia!
"Tooting, Merton & Wimbledon" You really can't get a much more English railway line name than that. Maybe Titfield & Mallingford
And for once the order of listing is in a directional order.
If you've ever been to any of them would you say its English
@@adonaiyah2196 Totta's Ing(e) (residence of Totta I think is Anglo Saxon),, Wibbas Dun (The Hill Settlement of Wibba - likewise) Mere Tun - the Settlement on / by The Water might also be or might be from the Celtic). Jago might note the link of Tooting and Far Tottering.
There was quite a goods yard at Merton Abbey and I understand that Triang were the last company to use it for their freight. Also near Merton Abbey was the factory of William Morris, the Victorian Arts and Crafts guy.
I love when you do videos around Wimbledon and Merton it's so nice to know more about the area I call home
While visiting the market at Merton Abbey Mills, we happened on the Abbey being actually open, it was maybe three times a year. Bizarre to be standing under the road above and looking at the ruins below.
The rest of the substantial ruins are under the Sainsbury's carpark - because this is how we roll. Too expensive to keep, no interest in saving.
I have eagerly awaited a vid on the former TM&W railway and as always, it didn't disappoint.
Excellent! It’s one I’ve wanted to do for a while, and lockdown gave me the perfect motivation to actually knuckle down and make it.
@@JagoHazzard Silver linings eh... Your endeavour and efforts are much appreciated Jago.
@@JagoHazzard Did you actually mention that the Haydons Road sections gets a train or two supplied by Southern in peak hours to London Bridge? ( used to go to Holborn Viaduct via a different route to the more regular service). I think this is a hangover from the LBSCR and LSWR days of line sharing. I wonder if the changing the tooting end of the merton abbey section to a siding with a pair of buffer stops for the coal yard was to do with buisness rates in that sidings and single track less than running ones , no idea. ( though like your dublo hornby 2 rail stuff the idea of westbound trains on a loop get really headachy
Very interesting subject. When I was a youngster, my great interest was in walking disused railways (mainly Sussex, Kent & Hampshire). But it was extremely depressing, as much of what I saw was the result of the Beeching Plan (1963). So, smashed-up stations, plies of bricks and demolished bridges were regular sights. The 1960s were anti-railway; nowadays, most people are pro-railway, but it seems too unrealistic to expect many lines to be re-instated, because of redevelopment.
The Oxford to Cambridge rail line was cut many years ago and large parts of the old route built on. Also sections that were left were down graded over the years.
Now they are recreating that link and having to find interesting division routes to avoid those areas. Massively increasing costs at the same time of course.
@@tinplategeek1058 Good comments. The “Varsity Line” wasn’t even included in the original Beeching Plan. I think the problem was that once the mass closures got under way, the momentum increased and extra lines were axed.
On the other hand, a lot of what Beeching closed was lines where they were maintaining a whole railway just for five or six people a day. Even today, few would propose reopening those lines because they're just not viable: they're exactly the sorts of places where a bus is the right solution. (Of course, having replaced the railway with a bus service, they then took away the bus service, but that's a different issue.) Some may be viable today but that's generally because of changing population patterns that really couldn't be foreseen sixty years ago.
Where Beeching definitely went too far was removing lines that were supposedly redundant: the "We don't need two lines between Sometown and Othertown, so we'll close one of them" argument that ignores the people who live between the two.
@@beeble2003 I ‘ll try not to say too much! Thanks for your comments, though I don’t agree with much. Let’s put it this way; before Beeching ( in power, 1961-65), Great Britain had the most comprehensive railway network of all the major states. After the closures, which went on into the early 1970s, we ended up with a skeletal system, apart from London and a few major cities. Also, 70% of trains now start or terminate in London. Beeching was known by the time of his 1961 appointment to be anti-rail. He and the worst Transport Minister of all time, Ernest Marples ( one of the chiefs of Marples-Ridgway, which supplied concrete for many of the motorways) worked together to massively reduce the railway industry. A colossal number of railwaymen lost their careers, and the country has ended up with very large areas of Scotland, Wales, the West Country and East Anglia devoid of railways. The most efficient railway route on British Railways (the ‘Great Central,’ Marylebone- Nottingham -Sheffield- Manchester + its additional connections) was mainly abandoned in 1966. There’s a different attitude to railways by politicians and environmentalists today, but it seems too late to be able to restore much.
@@robertweissman4850 Yes, the Great Central is a prime example of the folly of removing "redundant" routes, and it's a perpetual frustration of people outside London that the rail network these days is primarily set up to get people to and from London (with HS2 continuing the trend).
On the other hand, the areas you list as being devoid of railways are exactly the most sparsely populated areas where railways are very expensive to maintain and serve few people.
Geoff Marshall done videos of abandoned stations. But this is so interesting and how London did have stations which is now abandoned and replaced by new apartments and development. Interesting stuff.
I couldn't care less about the train lines but Jago's sense of humour is brilliant.
I love the dry sarcastic pun loaded humour.
Trains running over archaeologists had me in stitches.
Not sure why I find videos from half way around the Earth from where I live so interesting but keep up the good work. I truly enjoy watching.
Another interesting video, thank you Jago. I love disused railways and often walk/cycle my local one, Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden.
As a kid I really loved searching for old train tracks, tunnels and bridges in the South Downs and I still am fascinated by old lines (train, tram and underground). Can't way 'till Covid is gone, so I can visit good ol' Britain again.
I'm beginning to discover that I'm rather fond of trams. I can't think why; I haven't been on one for about forty years but I'm glad you've awakened the old affection in me. It's like remembering an old girlfriend... Excuse me now, I seem to have a bit of grit in my eye.
I dont think I'll ever get to Europe, but if I did I'd like to see these kind of regular non-tourist kinds of places. I like to get a feeling of how the locals see their environment.
It's one of the more obscure joys of travelling. I even find it fascinating how different cities can look when approaching them by air, depending on the country.
Awww, that’s quite sweet Wade! Where are you? I live right by where the video talks about and travel on the trains and walk around the area all the time, but this info was new to me. I love travelling to other countries and I love it when people love my country.
@@louisewalker9074 I live about 45 minutes away from New Orleans.
Somehow I ended up for a weekend in Gelsenkirken, its a bit like Sheffield. It has trams too.
@@wadeguidry6675 New Orleans is on my bucket list when the CV nonsense is over! I came to Florida in 2019, & California in 2017, but I’d love to see some of the Southern States! The places you see on the video are south west London and they’re all pretty close to where they play the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Not too much else famous around here, just an ordinary suburban residential area! We have a nice big Sainsbury’s supermarket though, right on top of the site where there used to be a medieval abbey where Thomas a’Becket (killed by king Henry’s men) was ordained (in the 1100’s, so very old).
I used to live near this area and I found the street called "Station road". Which runs parallel to A24 and near Abbey Mills. I looked around though there was no train station. So, I knew a bit of this history though, enjoyed your video showing the area today. Also next to the Abbey mills, where now Premier Inn and restaurants are, there was a large bus depo and training field, until early 2000s. L plate bus drivers were practicing.
That was the former sidings and coal yard of merton abbey, boot sales at the weekends. Station Road as exists now had been known over the years as Abbey Lane, and Church Path.
I would think Haydons Road was busiest was on match days when Wimbledon FC played at Plough Lane.
It may do again as the new ground is due to open soon.
@@cr0nin I heard from a friend that they are back so lockdowns permitting.
When you say was busiest, are you referring to their old stadium closed around 1998 or new stadium that opened around Nov 2020?
@@ladiorange Old Plough Lane.
Yep, used to "bunk" over at Tooting (end of Bruce Rd.)& travel to the games . It was too busy at Haydons Rd. to check for tickets !
The Triang factory was at the other end of Merantun Way at what is now the "Nelson Trade Park"
No, Nelson Trade Park was Foster's Transformers. Tri-ang was on the Jubilee Trading Estate ( as tri-ang went the way of liquidation ish in 1974 and the new site built for homebase wicks and others in 1977 ish)
And Hamleys had a storage facility next door to Triang.
Cutting the link has shades of what happened to the Abbeyhill loop in Edinburgh.
The North British Railway created a new line to Granton in 1868, coming off the ECML at Abbeyhill Junction, just east of Calton Tunnel. This Granton line also joined onto the ECML at Piershill junction, just north of Craigentinny Depot, and another line was put in place from Abbeyhill at London Road Junction to the Granton line at Lochend Junction, thereby creating a triangle, and of course, a very handy loop line.
There were stations at Abbeyhill and Piershill, which were served by suburban trains, as well as services to Musselburgh and North Berwick. When the Musselburgh branch closed in 1964, passenger services on the Abbeyhill loop also ceased.
However, freight traffic continued to ICI Westshore at Granton, although in the early 1980s these operations ceased, and the Granton branch was cut back to the former Powderhall station, where Edinburgh had a waste depot.
In 1986 the Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, and a new station was built on the loop; Meadowbank Stadium. The triangular junction at this time was also very useful for turning HST power cars.
In 1988 however, work began on electrifying the ECML, and the loop was skewed at Abbeyhill and Piershill Junctions. What was then Edinburgh District Council and local residents asked for the track to be retained, which it was for a while, in the hope of resurrecting the Abbeyhill Loop for reopened suburban services. This was given an apparent boost when the Granton branch was rejoined to the ECML at Piershill Junction, for trains of household waste going to landfill. These trains used old Freightliner containers, and were affectionately known as "bin liners".
Sadly, in more recent years the track through Abbeyhill has been lifted, and in our environmentally friendly days, the now City of Edinburgh Council now burns household waste in an incinerator power station at Millerhill. Thus the former Powderhall waste depot has closed, and the Granton branch along with it. I hear that Sustrans have already shown an interest in it.
I personally think abandoning the Abbeyhill Loop was extremely short sighted. It often made a useful diversionary route to free up room for express trains on the ECML. Indeed, when the Golf Open was being held at Muirfield in 1980, I was round the loop a few times on North Berwick trains.
I was told once by a railwayman that railways had to pay a kind of business rates tax for points and sidings, so there was an incentive to remove them if unused. Worn out unused junctions and signalling are cheaper to remove than replace. There was always an incentive to remove track quickly on closed lines in the UK as the steel rails were worth a fair bit of money as scrap and it would help stop pesky local demands for reopening.
In Germany, I seem to recall, there were laws prohibiting the removal of rail infrastructure on closed lines for 30 years or something. This meant that lines could more easily reopened if needed.
I find that tax claim very unlikely -- does anybody have a citation for it? The reason for removing unused junctions is that junctions require more maintenance than straight-through track and, if you get that maintenance wrong, trains crash and people die (Potters Bar and Grayrigg, for example). Also, in areas that use third-rail power, junctions force a gap in the third rail.
Oddly, there's a branch off the Inverness - Aberdeen line near me which was goods only for decades but hasn't seen a train in over 30 years. It's massively overgrown but the track's still there for about four miles. No idea why it's not been lifted.
@@iana6713 I wonder if it's disconnected at the main line. I'm not sure what the procedure is for closing freight-only lines; it's possible that the line is technically still open but just doesn't have any trains. Or maybe they didn't lift the lines immediately, for whatever reason, but now the track's in such bad state they can't run a PW train on it and it's too expensive to access with road vehicles.
Lots of lovely Jagoisms for a Sunday morning breakfast. Thanks Jago...! 👍🏼
Haydons Road was briefly my commuting station, then served by all-rail-blue 2-EPB units with slam doors and very loud brake compressors which were always trying to hammer a hole in the floor beneath your feet. You could get to it via a disused waterworks next to the Wandle, a haunted landscape of buddleia and brambles reminiscent of scenes on a Black Sabbath album cover.
The footpath and stupidly low bridge are still there, but access to the platforms is only from Haydons Road itself alas.
Hello Jago and everyone and great 7:35 video thanks as I’ve always lived in the southwest London area and I’m well aware of current and former railways but I admit that I learned something and I always enjoy your videos so thanks for reading take care stay safe and cheerio
Brings back a few memories as I use to live close to Tooting station and travel from there to London bridge for work. Was working for British Railways at Bricklayers Arms repair depot in Old Kent road until it closed completely.
Thank you Jago for bringing the word 'scuzzy' to RUclips
3:35 "..build a block of flats..." If only that were true ! More like to (hopefully) deter knife-wielding thugs ! Great video, btw. I used to work out of Merton Bus Garage, driving double-deckers, which sort of overlooks Colliers Wood. I always hated that station, the escalators are far too steep and long ! I used to drive the 44 and 159, and 157 154 93 from Sutton Garage. Many moons ago !
yeah, measure the lead in to the escalator down and compare to other inner london stations I am sure its one step less
Another nice video, it always helps when you add maps to the video as those of us that are not familiar with the area sometimes have have difficulty visualising where you are.
Merton park used to be my local station many moons ago. Lovely it was, like going back in time to an old country station. Great video as always, thank you
The map was actually a really nice addition. Thanks!
Try www.Railmaponline.com to see the course of old railway lines in UK, Ireland and the Western part of USA. A nice touch is that you can select different types of maps as the background.
I remember the Merton Abbey dig.
My Dad worked at the Board Mills close by.
My grandparents lived in Marsh Court - the tall block at 4:58. Often wandered along the track from there to Merton Abbey station in the early 1970s. I went to school in Rutlish Road and often used Merton Park station to go one stop to Wimbledon.
For a couple of years from 1979, I lived a few minutes' walk from Haydons Road station. In those days, trains towards Tooting ran on to Holborn Viaduct or London Bridge. But my journey was to Charing Cross via Wimbledon, Waterloo and Waterloo East. We'd stand on the platform at Haydons Road waiting patiently and, about eight minutes after the train was due, all give up and do the fifteen minute walk down to Wimbledon station. No real-time information in those days - it was only recently that the old wooden fingerpost destination signs had been taken out of use at Wimbledon. Those cancelled trains only happened on about ten occasions in two years, and the walk wasn't that far, but I had to be in work by 9am and this would make me late.
Would you not be quicker walking to Tooting Broadway ? ( the bus service on the 493 via plough lane has only been introduced in recent years and getting Plough Lane to tooting was really difficult)
Not an option in 1979. I had a British Rail season ticket between Haydons Road and London Terminals. No Oyster in those days!
@@webrarian was that a few pence cheaper than the Underground seasons ?
@@highpath4776 Far too long ago for me to remember :-) But it was useful for Victoria, ChX, Holborn Viaduct, London Bridge, etc. as well as Waterloo. I've got a feeling we could use it for intermediate stations as well - no gatelines then.
I'm always on the lookout for new places to go meander, and I live round the corner from this and never even knew it existed! I'll be over there later if the weather holds. Thanks!
Great video! I did chuckle when you said;..."the line ran over, not ran over the archaeologists! " 😅 x
Being born and living in Merton Park I can well remember many of the things spoken about in this presentation . When I started work I travelled each day to Mitcham from Merton Park The fare was one shilling return -early sixties ] and I would ride the two coach EPB units . As a young lad interested in trains it was great to chat to the engine drivers when they stopped at Merton Park station .The engines were nearly always C2X 0-6-0 ,they worked freight along to and shunted on a siding adjacent to the toy factory .A good view of this could be seen between the trees that were then at the back of Nelson Gardens .
Merton Park had a signal box next to the line in Kingston Road and its junction with Hartfield Road .Back in the old days a policeman would cycle down from Wimbledon ,park his bike by the signal box then set about controlling the traffic with his hand signals ,.When a train was due the signalman wold reach out of one of the windows and ring a brass bell to let the officer know to stop all traffic and let the crossing gates close
I remember the goods yard at Merton Abbey ,you could get a really good view of it from the Christchurch Road bridge . Even in my day there were only about 2-3 freight trains a day there .
Many times I rode the EPB units to Croydon, back then the line was almost like a rural backwater in places ,running over the River Wandle and across Mitcham Common . To the west of Mitcham station was another sizeable set of sidings ,again often shunted by a C2X . The sidings seemed to be the home of a large breakdown crane the sort big enough to lift carriages ,I only ever saw it move once ,thank goodness as it was in the main used in rail crashes .
The whole area was /is very interesting and well worth further study of it's history .
Again and again you gave us an excellent story... Thank you...
This video actually contains a map! Well done Mr Hazzard!
your voice is amazing for this work
Did you spot the apiary next to Merton Park? I used to keep a hive there and enjoyed the bemused expressions on the faces of tram passengers when they spied a wisp of smoke, a gleaming white suit and hood and a vortex of angry Apis as they passed by.
I take it tha it was the bee's knees?!
Hello jago, would I be able to suggest the woodside and South Croydon railway?
Yeah I want him to do a video at the Spencer road halt.
@@snubby4624 I made a video sort of in jagos style about this line and I went to Spencer Road halt
@@AzureOtsu Nice Ill give that a watch.
I'm planning on going down there after lockdown has ended.
It’s not a line I’m familiar with, but I’m always willing to learn!
@@JagoHazzard Another station another mile did a good video about the line where you can see platforms from the street.
You didn't mention that you can see the remains of Merton Abbey under the road next to the KFC in your video. Obvs its closed at the moment due to C19 but you can look through the windows.... (I do love your videos btw... and your delivery style... great stuff)
I've been on a binge watch of Jago recently, and mighty fine it's been. Greetings from Queensland (done some commuting to London from Chatham many moons ago, an experience never to be repeated).
Just subbed after listening to a few of your videos whilst preparing dinner. I'm not a train spotter, fan, interested in stations or anything like that...yet I found your videos alright 👍
There should be one up covering merton abbey mills
Excellent!
Woohoo, I'm from Wimbledon as well, and recognised almost all the roads
I enjoy Sunday mornings a lot with your videos .
My old neck of the woods. Waves of nostalgia so intense, I could barely watch. Thank you.
I lived in Merton Park in the 70s when I was a (Geography) student. Parts of it were excellent. But it did leave a general impression of 'Meh'.
When I was going to high school (Ottawa, Ontario) in the early 80s I used to hang out in the library and read international magazines including British railway mags. THey had articles about the abandoned railways in London. In the 1990s I bought them at magazine stores and read about them being converted to Docklands and other uses. Now I love going to London and retracing these routes. On another note, I used to live in Los Angeles and used to go to parties in Brentwood and have chatted to the author of Crazy Train, Ozzy. Small world.
As a true-born Yorkshireman (living in Sweden) I have to admit that I have a deep prejudice against London but I do find your videos so interesting, instructional and entertaining. I don't know enough about the megalopolis to suggest subjects for future videos but I hope that you'll keep them coming.
Ill never get over the fact that the name Tooting exists. Nonetheless, hell yeah another abandoned video.
With "ing" being an old genitive suffix, Tooting was apparently built on the land of... someone who tooted all the time?
beans, beans, the musical fruit
the more you eat, the more you toot
I guess the beans are never off in Tooting!
@@Quasihamster Suppose so... had to be one hell of a prank!
I’m surprised nobody quoted Citizen Smith. Wasn’t he a Tooting lad? “Up the workers” and “when our time comes you’ll be against the wall”. 😂😂😂
I love that detail about naming the trains after the destinations. Anyone nowadays would find that just as confusing. Board the Mitcham for Tooting, the Tooting to Wimbledon, and in 5 mins, you can also climb on the Wimbledon to Wimbledon stopping at Mitcham.
"A man ain't a man with a ticket in his hand" --- the Merton Parkas
How do I get a copy of their music?
ladiorange Here’s a clue. Over 1 billion people in the world regularly source music from a certain popular video sharing
site ...that doesn’t only feature train videos.😉
@@ladiorange "You need wheels if you wanna make deals"
Thank for listening to requests. You're wonderful, railway informative and funny. There seems some sad irony that both the railway and Mr Morris went by the wayside.
Morris moved to Walthamstow where the water was cleaner.
@@highpath4776 plus some work to South East London too. He believed in work as a life; not work for a living.
I don’t know why, I find your videos fascinating and addictive!
From your merantun way vantage point , if you were standing on the north side foot path you were loosley in the foundry of TI Crown Merton (pots and pans), next door or close by was a memorial stone placed by Col Bidder marking a location of the altar at Merton Priory, then British Rototherm (later used by Pye / PRT Records when Rototherm went fully to South Wales. A Lot of industry was banned by the Labour Govt for expanding in London being encouraged to move to the deprived areas of Wales and the North. Tri-ang Too was affected by this with a new facility being opened in the Welsh Valleys mainly for the blown plastic ranges, this made management difficult of the enterprise. Merantun Way itself covers about half of Station Road - the section from The Wandle (well slightly east thereof) to Christchurch Road was LSWR / SR owned property and not a public highway, with gates that could - and were - closed during out of traffic for the rail times. The Eastbound Platform about up to the midline of Merantun way east of the existing roundabout. Pizza Hut is about where the refectory of the Priory is thought to have been.
Jago certifies that no archeologists were killed or injured in the making of this video. But he informs us that your funny bone will be tickled! 😊
Jago, I love your videos but none more so than this. I grew up in Colliers Wood and used to play on the line at Merton abbey around the coal yard sidings in 1958 when the line was virtually abandoned. later in '63 I used to use that footbridge past the original station to catch the train to Holborn Viaduct and in '75 to Streatham. Please keep 'em coming and thank you.
This is the sort of English up with which I'm prepared to put. Anytime. Thank you yet again.
Interesting... But why so interesting?
Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.
I was researching this only the other week. By Merton abbey the read splits as it it was about to go up and over a fly over which was never built. Turns out the railways ran where the road is now so it’s taken that shape
When the road overbridge was taken away, that seemed rather silly as the relief road could have used and ran through that, it also changed the profile of Nelson Gardens.
The main photos of Merton Abbey with trains in are few , mostly a couple of RCTS tours, with some taken of, and by, Lens of Sutton. Others include some of the RAF and Aerofilms arial shots, and a rather murky pre 1920 Coal yard view in Merton Libraries collection with some LBSC lettered low height round ended trucks.
One photo of the Tri-ang siding in about 1957 has recently been added to Facebook by the photographer, which is nice (we its a derailment incident, involving an 08 shunter some mineral wagons and a brake van
I discovered your channel while moving out of my old house a couple of weeks ago, and now here you are standing on the bridge that is literally right next to my new place. How strange.
Yet another wonderful, insightful video. great work as always.
Hey Jago, I work for network rail specially Wimbledon S&T, as such I really enjoy all the local history that you bring up. Btw, in a previous video you mentioned east putney and a piece of track that links to the LSWR route to Waterloo via barnes. That's known as the putney reversible and it's used for SWR trains to move from the Windsor lines after the peak to Wimbledon traincare depot via the LUL as it's near impossible to cross over without it, passengers trains rarely run over the reversible but they rarely do either early in the morning or late at night. Keep up the good work.
That’s useful to know - I’d like to talk about that bit of track in more detail when I get around to East Putney.
@@JagoHazzard Awesome, happy to help
Infoemation and humor packed as always - love your videos 👍👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Thanks!
You should check out the Flitch way from Braintree in Essex. It has loads of old stations and there's some really interesting history and people are currently campaigning to open it.
Nothing better on Sunday morning than an abandoned railway on another continent, eh Jago?
I, and my dad who isn't as familiar with London as me, but with whom I watch your videos, appreciate the maps in this video, and wish you'd include them more often.
I'm not opposed to opening Google Earth and looking at the places you refer to, but it's not as nicely integrated with the video that way.
Thank you for making this video, now I know so much more about my local area and why we have these unusual walking paths in Colliers Wood. The silk printing works is where William Morris had his workshop in Merton Abbey.
No it is not. William Morris' works were on Merton High Street. Littlers (later Liberty's) Print works are the silk printing works whose buildings etc remain generally extant)