Metropolitan Line
 

PRESTON ROAD FOR UXENDON

(1908 - 1931/2)

The Metropolitan line to Harrow and beyond was opened through the farms and fields of Preston in 1880. A halt (request stop) was opened at Preston Road in 1908 when the Lancaster Shooting Club at the nearby Uxendon Farm was selected to host the clay pigeon shooting competition as part of the 1908 Olympic Games, held in London.

The surrounding area was still rural when the halt was opened, the area not being significantly developed until after the first world war. A replacement station was built in 1931; the southbound opened on 22nd November 1931, the northbound on 3rd January 1932.

 


 

 

The area where the original Preston Road station was. Being of wooden construction, it is not surprising that nothing remains of it. The station and road/bridge were rebuilt in 1931 and the replacement located on the other (west) side of the road. Presumably, the only reason for relocating on the opposite side of the bridge was to allow continuous service.

(photo: © 2009 Harri Cini)

 

 

 

The raised section in front of the signal is an air-raid shelter for Station / P/Way staff, dating from the late 1930s. The entrance can be seen on the third photo [the photo below], identifiable from the wooden boarding across the top of the stairs being a lighter red than the rest of the structure.

(text: Robert Shemilt)

(photo: © 2009 Harri Cini)

 

 

 

View from the southern side of the tracks.

(photo: 2008)

 

 

 

Aylesbury - Verney Junction (Metropolitan Line)