The extension of the Great Northern Railway and the opening of Highgate Station in 1867 caused a rush of development and in the next twenty years streets devoured most of the fields. Many local land owners sold out to builders; land that had cost £60-£70 per acre changed hands at £1000. So did the successors of Squire Jackson, for the construction of one of the railway tunnels. Nevertheless, the railway company made part of the site available for cultivation.
We take it for granted today that from the more northerly reaches of the HHS district it can take under thirty minutes to get to central London by tube. This was not always the case.
As we’ve seen, Parliamentary powers to build the Piccadilly Line extension were given in June 1930 and the first section of the extension from Finsbury Park to Arnos Grove opened for business in September 1932. Just over two years between conception and opening seems exceptionally speedy by today’s standards when large infrastructure projects seem inevitably to overrun. In fact, The London Electric Company (LER) under the stewardship of Frank Pick had been quietly working on the extension for many years.