Bacon's Atlas of London & suburbs, c1912 : Wembley
A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.
Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.
This, the eastern section of plate 4, shows Wembley and surrpounding areas that shows, along with the various railway lines that include the LNWR west coast mainline along with the Metropolitan Railway and the extension of the District (now Piccadilly line) through Alperton. The map shows that although some development had already started around stations much of this part of Middlesex was still farmland and open fields. This would change enormously in the inter-war years. One thing does stand out - Wembley Park, the 'pleasure grounds' that had been set out to accomodate the Tower, London's answer to Paris and Blackpool, that never got above the first stage and was subsequently demolished. The site was, of course, to be developed for the 1924 Empire Exhibition and the Wembley Stadium that is still located here.
Bacon's Atlas of London & suburbs, c1912 : Wembley
A page from the wonderfully detailed Bacon's Atlas of London & Suburbs, this being dated from c1912 by one of the 'special maps' bound in at the front of the atlas. The bulk of London is covered in a series of map sheets at 4" to the mile and is very detailed giving a clear indication of the pre-WW1 city, in its full Victorian and Edwardian splendour but before the massive inter-war expansion into 'Metroland' and similar suburbs.
Bacon's was formed by one George Washington Bacon (1830–1922), an American who set up business in London producing atlases and maps of the capital in about 1870 after a series of business failures. G W Bacon prospered and in c1900 were acquired by the Scottish publishers and cartographers W.& A.K. Johnston of whom they became a subsidiary.
This, the eastern section of plate 4, shows Wembley and surrpounding areas that shows, along with the various railway lines that include the LNWR west coast mainline along with the Metropolitan Railway and the extension of the District (now Piccadilly line) through Alperton. The map shows that although some development had already started around stations much of this part of Middlesex was still farmland and open fields. This would change enormously in the inter-war years. One thing does stand out - Wembley Park, the 'pleasure grounds' that had been set out to accomodate the Tower, London's answer to Paris and Blackpool, that never got above the first stage and was subsequently demolished. The site was, of course, to be developed for the 1924 Empire Exhibition and the Wembley Stadium that is still located here.