Nicky Line - History

History

The main line from London to Birmingham which then led to the main industry cities of the time Liverpool and Manchester, opened in 1837, passed through Hemel Hempstead, but, due to vigorous lobbying by local landowners (including the eminent and well-connected surgeon Sir Astley Paston Cooper), it was routed on the other side of the River Gade and the Grand Union Canal some distance from the town. A station was built on this line at Boxmoor (named Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead) but no connection was provided into the town by rail.

The first proposal for a more convenient rail link for the townspeople of Hemel Hempstead was presented in 1862 by John Grover. His proposal was for a short spur from the main line to the lower end of the (old) town at Bury Mill End. At the same meeting, another (more ambitious) proposal was put forward, extending the line to Redbourn to link to the Great Northern Railway at Harpenden. However, Grover's design found a sponsor and following an Act of Parliament in 1863 the Hemel Hempstead and London & North Western Railway Company was formed to construct and operate the line. However, no construction work was undertaken due to difficulties with local landowners and problems agreeing the connection to the main line at Boxmoor, and after a number of years of stagnation the earlier proposals were re-examined. Parliamentary approval was obtained in 1866 and construction work began. Construction proceeded extremely slowly, the lower spur from Boxmoor to Hemel Hempstead only being completed by 1871, though the connection to Boxmoor was via an awkward turntable arrangement.

Eventually, the HH and L&NWR company ran into financial difficulties and it was the Midland Railway that came to the rescue, financing completion of the line and agreeing to operate it once it was built. The line was finally opened in 1877. It provided a link for the straw plait trade that existed in Hemel with the hat making centre of Luton, and this is reflected in the fact that the initial connection at Harpenden headed north towards Luton rather than south towards London. Passengers changed trains at Chiltern Green. The terminus for the new connection was a high-level station at Heath Park Halt, near what is now the former headquarters building of Kodak, on a viaduct extending across Marlowes. Passengers on the new train service were able to reach St Pancras in London faster than those who took a pony and trap to Boxmoor station travelled to Euston. A larger station, named Hemel Hempsted (the Midland Railway always spelt it this way) but known as the Midland Station, was the main passenger facility within the town. This stood on the site of a modern housing development, opposite the Midland Hotel, which still exists.

The straw plait trade declined, and in order to help the line pay its way the junction at Harpenden was realigned in 1886 so that it headed south instead of north, and passengers now changed trains at Harpenden Junction. Due to rivalry between the Midland and the L&NWR, which operated the main line at Boxmoor, no passenger trains operated between Midland Station and Boxmoor, though the connection was available for the odd goods train. In 1906 a passenger terminus was opened at Heath Park Halt in an attempt to compete with the L&NWR, which had started a bus service to transport passengers from Hemel Hempstead to the main line station at Boxmoor. The company rivalry grew intense, and on one occasion track was lifted by angry L&NWR workers at Boxmoor to prevent a goods train that had travelled along the Midland Railway from completing the journey to Boxmoor.