Guest Blog - Mill Hill's Railway Cottages - By Chris The MillHillian

Older residents of Mill Hill will recall Station Road in Mill Hill, before the M1 was built. There were buildings on both sides of the road and where the M1 is now, there were what were Midland Railway Cottages, These old railway cottages were built by the Midland Railway Company to house staff. They were demolished to make way for the M1 Motorway. They were inhabited by railway workers up until they demolished around 1964. The Mill Hill Historical society tweeted these pictures.

Some images of Midland Cottages. once on Station Road, Mill Hill where the M1 is now. They were built to house workers on the London Midland and Scottish Railway line which came to Mill Hill in 1868. pic.twitter.com/vuatEzQOoY

— Mill Hill Hist Soc (@MHHistSoc) January 25, 2019

A glimpse can be found in old pictures as well as a 60’s film called Hand in Hand. I was fascinated to discover these plan drawings of the cottages. I thought Mill Hillians may be interested to see them! 

These old drawings were held in the storage of the planning offices in Barnet when I discovered them. whilst searching for another old property in the same road.  I took a picture to show my Dad. I had forgotten about them until I recently discovered my old photos. The road has changed beyond all recognition. After the drawings got put on microfiche most were destroyed but some still exist in the London Metropolitan Archives including drawings of the Railway Hotel in Edgware.

If anyone has a picture of the station entrance by the bus terminus in Station Road it would be great to see it. I recall walking from our house in Langley Park through the station under the old subway and into station Road to catch the 140 bus to St Vincent’s School. The subway was a wet brick tunnel with poor lighting and when the express passed over it rumbled like an earthquake it was bricked up when a new one was built so it’s lying there like a time warp. We would occasionally bump into old Paddy the porter who was a grumpy old thing who seemed to think the subway was only there for the convenience of the rail passengers.
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