End of the Line Ep.17 - Watford

We're headed to the top of the Metropolitan line out in Zone 7, to see how Watford station isn't actually anywhere near Watford ...

[peterclucas]

Years ago I arrived at Watford Met with my "All Zones" travel card. The guy on the gate said, without a hint of irony: "This isn't a zone mate, this is Watford"

[peterflegg]

As a Watford-born person now living in Perth Australia you have no idea what thrill I got watching this video which brought back many memories.

[chrisobrien]

Geoff, I'm sure you'd love to know that the little newsagents attached to the building is often shortened to the 'Met Shop'!

[quintuscrinis]

Used to love the walk from here via the Grand Union Canal to Uxbridge.

Also the mini railway in the Casiobury Park.

[marthaanderson]

what a beautiful station. When you showed the elevator buttons I had an instant return to my childhood where a panel like this was used in a department store in downtown Seattle. I can feel those buttons

[RoboticRaindrops]

Watford Met is surrounded by 'Terry and June' or 'Margot and Gerry' style houses, with beautiful roses in the gardens giving off a lovely aroma as you make your way to the Park.

[Sampara]

Geoff, I'm disappointed you never got to see the miniature railway in Cassiobury Park! It's a wonderful ride there.

[DavidShepheard]

i suspect that one of Geoff's brain cells was shouting "I need to go back on the one day of the year the side door is open, before I release the video" all the time he was doing the editing.

[bazangelopoulos]

I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada and am not that interested in the Tube stations in London but because of your enthusiasm I love your channel. It started with your race to visit all Tube stations.

[heckelphon]

Great info as always! I lived just round the corner from the Met Sta from the mid 1950s to mid 1970s and I certainly never knew it had once had a lift. Back then in the 50s of course we still had slam doors and Ladies Only compartments with the white on green window transfers on the trains until the new stock arrived around 1960. There was also a steam shunter possibly into the 1960s which worked freight movements on the line and some non LT sidings south of the Met Sta back to Croxley. But the station itself looked much the same. It could then be reached by a ridiculously wide "Station Approach" private road from Rickmansworth Road, which had all been part of making the station in the 1920s more grand than it could ever be, and half that road width had been dug up for allotments during the War, and then re-concreted over.

[davidhamm]

I used to use Watford Met to go to the football when I lived in Chesham (many many years ago!). It’s a good 15-20 minute walk from the ground but better than going into London and out again.

[garethd]

As an ex-resident, great to see sunny Watford Met 😎🚂
Should have gone to see the originally intended 'end of the line' on the High Street, which is now Weatherspoons 🍻🚂

[leestoddart]

Lovely video as always. Nerdy behind the scenes addict here... reference back to Choo Choo Chat No8 - you explained the technique you "borrowed" from news packages - a cutaway to something like a bush in the foreground with soft focus, relevant, content in the background - in this video it is immediately before the wipe to the bingo card at 3:20

[peteryoung]

I used to use Watfordmet quite a lot and it's a lovely station. Another oddity is the gents are on the platform but the ladies up in the foyer. It's also unusual that engines can around their rolling stock.

[mistie]

Actually, the one and only time I ever visited Cassiobury Park, the weather wasn't particularly brilliant. I was on my way to Knebworth and I got off at the Watford Met then walked through the park to get to the centre to pick up my onward journey. The weather got worse as I and my companions got closer to Knebworth and by the time we got into the venue, it was mud city! I came up with a quick idea to turn a bin bag into a poncho to keep some of the rain off by then! (It was the Deep Purple "Perfect Strangers" tour, if you are curious!)

[rickyzuc]

I’ve been using Watford a lot recently. Particularly late services as the Overground last train is at around 11pm only. The Watford Met last train that connects is about 00:10. If TFL are reading we want later services from Watford!

[michaeldwyer]

Great video, Geoff. I'm surprised nobody's enquired whether the one mile hike between Watford Met and Watford Town is what cartographers refer to as the Watford Gap.

[stuarthall]

Great video, Geoff - as always! Cassiobury Park IS beautiful and also has the Grand Union Canal passing through it. (Just thought that I'd add a "plug" for a G.U. towpath walk - great for a similarly hot day!)

[henrychealtv]

My Grandad was raised not far from here before the war - I loved exploring around here. It is much nicer because of the park being nearby. Great video, Geoff.

[MS-bhte]

You are lucky to get to Watford on a hot day. Last year, when the heatwave was 40 C temperatures, we made our way towards Watford. It was really hot, and at a certain point, there was an announcement, that the train will go to Rickmansworth. We learnd from your previous videos, that the Met line splits at the end, so we knew Rickmansworth is bad for our journey. We got off at Moor Park, and took a taxi to our destination. (We are tourists, not Londoners). So, we never made it to Watford, and now have the chance to see it in your video.