Place Name
Running alongside the London Underground and Chiltern Railways line, this street was named after the Great Central Railway which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name on August 1, 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. It was masterminded by general manager, and later chairman, Edward Watkin, a dynamic leader who sometimes allowed personal vanity to drive his priorities, which included the first ever attempt to built a Channel Tunnel. On New Years Day 1923, the company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway.
