EPW019235 ENGLAND (1927). Cassiobury Park and Watford Railway Station, West Watford, 1927

A view of the trimmed down Cassiobury Park taken during the same year when Cassiobury House was finally demolished and shortly after the November 1925 opening of the Watford Met Station, which itself is destined for closure in three years'time, when the new Croxley Link becomes operational.

Watford station was opened on November 2nd, 1925, and was originally served by Metropolitan electric trains and LNER steam trains to Marylebone. A frequent service of 35 trains each way to Baker Street was immediately implemented, with a similar number of LNER steam trains to and from Marylebone. However, the latter failed to attract many passengers and the service was withdrawn in May 1926, during the General Strike, and was never reinstated.



In the same year as this picture was taken, "Metro-Land", an attractive booklet issued annually by the Metropolitan Railway from 1915 until 1933, stated "The new station at Watford is admirably placed for the needs of a populous district which has sprung up within the last few years..." By the end of 1931, a total of 1511 houses had been built in the Watford Station catchment area. Despite all this favourable publicity, Watford Met Station has always suffered from its eccentric location within the expanding town (56,799 in 1931) and the line also had to compete with the LMS trains to Euston and Broad Street from the more conveniently situated Watford Junction and Watford High Street stations.



Cassiobury Park remains a precious amenity for the enjoyment of the local population, despite all the housing construction which has taken place since the 1920s. As my 1932 Edition of "Metro-Land" succinctly states, "The Watford Town Council, with sound judgment and public spirit, bought 25 acres of the park for the purpose of a public park and recreation grounds, to which it is ideally suited, and the railway station itself stands on ground which was part of the demesne". The sale of the old mansion in Cassiobury took place in 1922 and, after several years of dereliction, the building was finally demolished in 1927.

The joint L.N.E.R. & Metropolitan Railway Station at Watford, which eventually became the terminus of L.T';s 'Metropolitan' Line. This station will close when the link giving access to Watford Junction Station via the ex-L.M.S. Croxley Branch at 'Two Bridges' round-a-bout.