Notes: Cranley Gardens station was a later addition to the line, opening on 2 August 1902 although the adjoining goods depot had been in use since 29 June 1897. The station had a timber single-storey booking office with a hipped slate roof at street level on the west side of Muswell Hill Road. At the back of the booking office a bridge spanned the line with ramps down to the platforms. Each platform was provided with a similar timber building with a flat roof that incorporated a canopy. The canopies had a deeply fretted wooden valance around three sides. The up platform buildings comprised waiting rooms and toilets, with the gents' at the west end; it was somewhat longer than that on the down platform.

The goods yard was on the up side of the line and comprised three sidings, two of them running either side of coal bins. A number of coal merchants' offices were sited between the entrance to the yard and the booking office on Muswell Hill Road. There was a weighbridge just inside the entrance to the yard. Rail access was controlled by a signal box on the down side opposite the entrance to the yard.

In 1906 a number of down sidings were laid to the west of the station for use by contractors during the construction of the Fortis Green reservoir. Once this was completed in 1908 the sidings were shortened for use during the construction of the Fortis Green pumping station. They are not shown on later maps so are assumed to have been lifted once the construction had been completed.

There was a short period of closure to passengers between 29 October 1951 and 7 January 1952 (see history below). After final closure to passengers in 1954 the station remained open for coal traffic until 18 May 1957. The track was lifted by 1958.

The station buildings were demolished over several years in the mid 1960s. The west end of the station site was cleared during the construction of the St James' Primary School which opened on 11 June 1968. The east side of the station including that end of the platforms survived until summer 1970 when the site was cleared during the construction of the Cranwood Care Home, which closed in 2013.

The Muswell Hill Road bridge is extant and is now part of the Parkland Walk footpath which continues over the viaduct almost to the site of Muswell Hill station.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FINSBURY PARK TO ALEXANDRA PALACE LINE
The Edgware, Highgate & London Railway obtained an Act in 1862 to build a line from a junction with the GNR at Seven Sisters Road station (now Finsbury Park) to Edgware. The following year the Midland Railway received authority to build a line between Bedford and St Pancras which would provide a quicker route into central London from the Mill Hill area. To improve the prospects of their Edgware line the EH&LR proposed a branch from Highgate to Muswell Hill serving the new Alexandra Palace and its pleasure grounds – a ‘leisure complex’ in modern idiom - and an extension of the main line from Edgware to Watford.



Both proposals were approved by Parliament in 1864 as was a further branch from Finchley to High Barnet in 1866. In 1866 a further Act was obtained by the independent The Muswell Hill & Palace Railway to extend the branch from Muswell Hill to a terminus adjoining the Palace.

Suburban growth on the main line as far as Finchley began in the 1860s and a further station at Stroud Green was opened on 11 April 1881. Residential traffic between Muswell Hill and Highgate was also improving, and an additional station at Cranley Gardens was opened in 1902, but Alexandra Palace station continued to be underused.

In 1911 the Muswell Hill & Palace Railway was purchased by the GNR, and although passenger numbers had improved this was halted by competition from the new, more convenient, tram services. Through trains to central London outside the rush hour were withdrawn during WW1 when a weekday shuttle between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace was introduced. Although the full weekday service was restored at the end of the war the branch never fully recovered and passenger numbers at all stations between Highgate and Alexandra Palace markedly declined.

In 1935 the London Passenger Transport Board announced their 'New Works Plan' which included a proposal to take over the ex-GNR line between Finsbury Park and Edgware and High Barnet, including the Alexandra Palace branch. These would be incorporated into the Northern Line, with a new connection with the Northern City line at Finsbury Park providing a fast and frequent service of electric trains into central London.

The plan was adopted and shortly before the start of WW2 the lines began to appear on underground maps. It was expected that Northern Line trains would be running into Alexandra Palace by 1940. Work on the electrification and new infrastructure started alongside the steam service which continued to operate. With the start of WW2 the service was once again reduced. Although work on the electrification of the Alexandra Palace branch ceased in 1940 some work continued north of Highgate on the Edgware and High Barnet lines.

London Transport had every intention of completing their New Works plan and although several lines, including the Alexandra Palace branch, were shown to be 'under construction' on some underground maps until 1950, work was never resumed. On 3 July 1939 the existing northern line service was extended from Archway to East Finchley where it surfaced alongside the LNER line from Finsbury Park just south of the station. The steam train service which formerly served High Barnet and Edgware was cut back to East Finchley, and after March 1941 all trains were diverted to Alexandra Palace instead; but this improvement in the service was short-lived as all through trains were withdrawn and, once again, a limited shuttle replaced them.

Through services to Kings Cross were reinstated after the war but were suspended to save coal between 29 October 1951 and 7 January 1952. After local pressure a peak hour-only service using Victorian locomotives and ancient rolling stock was reinstated, but it was clear that final closure was inevitable. It was announced in 1953 that the line would close as the number of passengers did not justify its electrification – not that electrification of the main line from Kings Cross was itself being seriously considered.  A shuttle service continued until 3 July 1954 when all stations closed to passenger traffic.

Freight traffic continued to serve Muswell Hill until 14 June 1956, and Cranley Gardens until 18 May 1957 after which date the line north of Park Junction was abandoned. The conductor rails were removed between January 1954 and February 1955 and the track north of Park Junction was lifted by early 1958. The section of line between Finsbury Park and Highgate remained open to freight traffic with Highgate and High Barnet remaining open until 1 October 1962 and Edgware until 1 June 1964

The line was also used for a weekly transfer of tube stock between Drayton Park and Highgate Wood sidings until 29 September 1970, with trains being hauled by LT battery locomotives. This eventually ceased because of the condition of a bridge and the flyover above the main line north of Finsbury Park. The reaming track was lifted in January 1972. 

Before final closure the line had been used as an unofficial walkway. The section between Cranley Gardens and Alexandra Park, including the St James Lane viaduct, was adopted as a Parkland Walk by Haringey Council in 1976 and the section between Finsbury Park and Highgate was similarly adopted a few years later. The Parkland Walk was officially opened in 1984 following extensive re-surfacing and improvements to access. The 3.9 mile walkway and cycleway is divided into two sections - Finsbury Park to Highgate and Cranley Gardens to Muswell Hil -l and is now London's longest nature reserve and is incorporated into the 78-mile ‘Capital Ring’

Main historical source: London Railway Record No's. 6 & 7 (January & April 1996) published by Connor & Butler.

Further reading: Northern Wastes by Jim Blake and Jonathan James published 1987 by North London Transport Society ISBN 0 3267304 02

Other web sites: Northern Heights - includes many pictures of the line in April 1970
Piccadilly line.org.uk web site, Underground History web site, Abandoned tube stations web site,
Urban 75 web site & A wander along the Northern Heights.


Tickets from Michael Stewart, Bradshaw from Nick Catford. Route map drawn by Alan Young.

To see other Stations on the Finsbury Park - Alexandra Palace line click on the station name: Finsbury Park, Stroud Green, Crouch End, Highgate, Muswell Hill & Alexandra Palace