IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Felbridge Avenue, STANMORE, HA7 2BZ

A bus stop on Kenton Lane.

In the 1880s the village of Great Stanmore attracted the attention of the London hotel and restaurant magnate Frederick Gordon. In 1882 he bought the Bentley Priory estate with the intention of converting it into a country resort for his London hotel guests. He realised the project would not prosper without some improvement in railway communication. The Harrow & Stanmore Railway was authorised in 1886 from a junction with the up slow line at Harrow. The first train left Harrow for Stanmore on 18th December 1890. However, there was no sign by the early 20th century of any traffic potential. Gordon's enterprise at Stanmore failed and the line's business was very light. A few houses appeared near the station but the Bentley Priory hotel failed and Gordon moved in with his wife and 11 children. Gordon died in 1904. The country between Harrow and Stanmore remained almost entirely open until well into the 1920s. In response to house builders, a wooden halt was opened on 12th September 1932 called Belmont where the branch passed under Kenton Lane. With the building of low cost housing in the area Belmont became and remained the main traffic generator for the branch. The station was rebuilt by 1937. Sunday trains were permanently withdrawn from 27th July 1947. After 13th September 1952 the station at Stanmore saw only a daily freight train and these continued until August 1964 - track lifting started soon afterwards. Ordinary bookings from Belmont faded away almost completely from the early 1960s. Closure of the line from Belmont to Harrow & Wealdstone was included in the Beeching report and the last passenger train ran on 3rd October 1964. Belmont station was demolished in July 1966. The trackbed between Christchurch Avenue and Vernon Drive has now been made into a path called the Belmont Trail. This is where the route passed under Kenton Lane. The site of Belmont station was just beyond the bridge - see http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/b/belmont/ for more about the station and a history of the line.

View northward, towards Stanmore; Harrow & Wealdstone - Stanmore branch, closed Belmont - Stanmore (Village) 15/9/52 (goods 6/7/64); Belmont station (only opened 12/9/32) was closed 5/10/64 when line from Harrow was closed (completely).

This is taken from the same location on Kenton Lane as Ben's Image although with the closure of the railway the bridge must have been lowered. Just about the only common feature is the line of houses just visible through the trees to the left. Although the London & North Western Railway opened their line to Stanmore through here in 1890, Belmont's station was not built until 1932. In fact it only lasted for twenty years and three days before being closed to passenger traffic in 1952. The line lingered on with occasional freight trains to Stanmore but closed completely in 1964.

A fine parade of 1930s shops along the north side of the Circle, which is the focal point of the grid square. The OS 1940s map shows Belmont Station on the long since dismantled railway line to Stanmore immediately behind these shops.

The long-forgotten station at Belmont, from where a shuttle train would convey you to Harrow & Wealdstone on the main line to Euston. This branch railway had originally extended to Stanmore Village.

The station seen here from the track to the north. The loop line to the right was removed shortly after the date of this photograph and trains then used the other platform.

This photograph shows the station just after the down loop had been removed, so that all trains then had to use the other platform.

Looking along Beverley Gardens from Kenton Lane.