Metro-land
The "METRO-LAND" booklet was first published in 1915 by the Metropolitan Railway Company and then after the war annually from 1919 to 1932.
It was printed in duodecimo size and generally priced at 2d. Initially at 82 pages it increased in size to 150 pages by 1932. Always with a brightly coloured and attractive cover, the internal pages were printed in black and white with extra coloured leaves inserted showing images of "Metro-land".
The Metropolitan Railway started to consider expanding their development of surplus lands for housing, along the outer reaches of the line out from Middlesex to Hertfordshire and then Buckinghamshire, in 1910.
The scheme was initially proposed by their General Manager Robert Hope Selbie and a publicity booklet priced at 1d. entitled "Near & Far", attempted to attract middle class house purchasers to these districts of north London. A further booklet published in 1914 was called "Hedgerow & Hillside". Clearly these names did not catch the imagination of the public and in 1915 the Metropolitan Railway's advertising/publicity copywriter James Garland came up with "Metro-land" as an all encompassing title to crystallise their development initiative. The first "Metro-land" publicity booklet was published in 1915-1916 with a young lady holding cut flowers on the cover.
Due to the war, no "Metro-land" booklets were published in 1917-1918, but after armistice, on 7th June 1919 an independent company called the "Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Ltd." was set up by the Metropolitan Railway for the purpose of developing the railway's surplus lands. This enabled the first post-war "Metro-land" booklet to be published in 1920. The booklet featured a half timbered cottage with climbing roses on the cover and described the Garden City principles of their proposed residential developments.
From then on the booklet was published annually until 1932. The varied covers of these booklets are shown below. The 1924 edition cost 3d. and devoted itself to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, as well as the developing housing up the line to Amersham.
By 1925 the Metropolitan Railway had published "Where to Live" priced at 1/-, illustrating in 24 pages, detailed plans and illustrations of 11 different detached house designs already erected, some several times, on their Cedars Estate in Rickmansworth.
The end of "Metro-land" coincided with the disappearance of the Metropolitan Railway in 1933 and the establishment of the London Transport Board.
- Published by Norman Lucey - 
