Are you living in a modern home...? : A. B. Reast, builder, housebuilder or developers advert : in : Middlesex : The County Handbook : E.J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. : nd [c.1936]

Whereas by the 1930s the idea of official guides and handbooks for individual local authorities, such as urban districts and county boroughs, were well established less common arr County guides; these only really come into prominence in post-WW2 years. However, some do turn up including this c.1936 Handbook for the County of Middlesex, the county to the north and west of London that has now vanished into Greater London. Issued by that doyen of guides and handbooks, E.J. Burrow, it was a consideration of the "industrial, commercial, holiday and sporting aspects of the County". At the time Middlesex, until the early Twentieth Century still a largely rural county, was rapidly vanishing under London's suburban growth. Driven by railway, and later road, expansion this was truly the county of "Metroland", suburban expansion that saw the rapid growth of once small country towns and villages into new suburbs, in this case aided by the Metropolitan Railway that became part of the new London Transport in 1933. In fact, London Transport's predecessors, the old 'Electric Tube' Group had also been busy extending lines into the county both north, to areas such as Southgate and Arnos Grove, as well as west towards Uxbridge, Ruislip and Ealing. This can be seen on the small scale map included in the handbook.

 

The handbook looks at the usual amenities, residential and commercial, that were provided by the various local authorities and the County Council and by whose "approval" the Handbook was issued. It also details industrial development and it is worth recalling that the County was in many ways quite industrialised; not just a dormatory county for London. Many were the new 'light' industries, such as electrical, and that grew rapidly in the '20s onwards in 'newer' areas rather than older industrial areas. The Handbook contains chapters on various topics, on the local towns and authorities. It also has a great many adverts for house builders and estate developers, each arguing the benefits of their construction and locations. Many give prices and are an indication of the wave of construction, suburbanisation and commuting that Middlesex saw at the time.

 

A.B. Reast was building modern homes, of distinctive designs, where work was less and much easier, in the north of Hampstead Garden Suburb where his address was 43 Midholm, N.W.11, telephone SPEedwell 7544.

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