Cockfosters

The lastest journey involved the end of the Picadilly Line. I actually found the history of Cockfosters far more interesting than the place.

It really is just a collection of houses with a few shops and eateries. Suburbia. And it's been that way its entire history. It started out as houses for the people servicing the large manor houses of what was to become known as Trent Park, which itself started out as a royal hunting ground. The Picadilly Line reached it in 1933. The station itself is a Grade II listed building.

Interestingly, it's only a couple of miles from the M25! Putting it, of course, smack dab in the middle of the Green Belt, the introduction of which apparently halted any further development. You might also note that Potters Bar is just on the other side of the M25. You may remember it as the scene of a rather terrible train crash a few years back.

Two other things of note about the area. In 1471, Monken Hadley village, King Edward 1V defeated Warwick the Kingmaker, who died on the battlefield, in a massive victory for the Yorkist army.

And, during WWII, German POWs were interrogated in Trent Park, in buildings now part of Middlesex University.

You wouldn't know it had such an interesting history by looking at it today:

My literary companion on this journey, was, in many ways, an exact opposite of the trip. Chronic City, by Jonathan Letham, is a story set in a sort of alternate universe NY. Highly, highly recommended, just maybe not while you're trying to experience specific parts of Britain.

This weekend, I may make good on my promise to go to Brixton. Which would require learning the name of the famous pizzeria there. Does anyone know the name of it?