Tropic of Ruislip is a 1974 novel by British author Leslie Thomas. It explores the British class divide and themes such as wife swapping. The title refers to Ruislip, one of London's outer suburbs, but the book is set in another suburb, Carpenders Park.
The book sold well, although Thomas' later work never matched the success of his first novel, The Virgin Soldiers , published in 1966. [1]
The book is set in the suburbs of London, specifically "Plummers Park", which is apparently a fictional version of Carpenders Park, where the author lived in the 1960s. [2] Carpenders Park railway station is on a commuter railway line. In the book a railway line marks a physical and social divide between a council estate and middle class housing, mirroring to some extent the real-life division between Carpenders Park and South Oxhey.
Other locations in the book include Watford, where the male protagonist Andrew is employed by a local newspaper.
It was adapted for television in 1979 as "Tropic" with a cast including Ronald Pickup. [3]
The Central line is a London Underground line that runs through central London, from Epping, Essex, in the north-east to Ealing Broadway and West Ruislip in west London. Printed in red on the Tube map, the line serves 49 stations over 46 miles (74 km). It is one of only two lines on the Underground network to cross the Greater London boundary, the other being the Metropolitan line. One of London's deep-level railways, Central line trains are smaller than those on British main lines.
The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between Aldgate in the City of London and Amersham and Chesham in Buckinghamshire, with branches to Watford in Hertfordshire and Uxbridge in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line is 41.4 miles (66.7 km) in length and serves 34 stations. Between Aldgate and Finchley Road, the track is mostly in shallow "cut and cover" tunnels, apart from short sections at Barbican and Farringdon stations. The rest of the line is above ground, with a loading gauge of a similar size to those on main lines. Just under 67 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2011/12.
Northwood is an area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and 14.5 miles (23.3 km) from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.
Ruislip is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies 13.8 miles (22.2 km) west-north-west of Charing Cross, London.
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail, regional rail, commuter rail and rail freight traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for 399 miles (642 km) and was opened from 1837 to 1869. With additional lines deviating to Northampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects the WCML to Edinburgh, however the main London–Edinburgh route is the East Coast Main Line. Several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing links to more rural towns.
Watford Junction is a railway station that serves Watford, Hertfordshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains from London Euston and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between 16 and 52 minutes depending on the service used: shorter times on fast non-stop trains and slower on the stopping Watford DC line services. Trains also run to Clapham Junction and East Croydon via the West London Line. The station is a major hub for local bus services and the connecting station for buses to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. The station is located north of a viaduct over the Colne valley and immediately south of Watford Tunnel.
Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth.
Metro-land is a name given to the suburban areas that were built to the north-west of London in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex in the early part of the 20th century that were served by the Metropolitan Railway. The railway company was in the privileged position of being allowed to retain surplus land; from 1919 this was developed for housing by the nominally independent Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Limited (MRCE). The term "Metro-land" was coined by the Met's marketing department in 1915 when the Guide to the Extension Line became the Metro-land guide. It promoted a dream of a modern home in beautiful countryside with a fast railway service to central London until the Met was absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.
Leslie Thomas, OBE was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel The Virgin Soldiers.
The LNWR electric units were ordered by the London and North Western Railway for its suburban services in London. The first cars, made with Siemens equipment, arrived in 1914, and these were followed by two larger batches of units with Oerlikon equipment. The trains were formed into 3-car units, with first and third class accommodation in open saloons. Following the 1923 grouping and absorption of the line into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), similar LMS electric units, but with accommodation in compartments, were purchased to run with the Oerlikon units in 1926 and 1932. The trains were all withdrawn by 1960.
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London (Marylebone) and Birmingham, the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a 112-mile (180 km) route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The 6.5-mile (10.5 km) route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster Card and London fare zones. Its northern terminus in St Albans Abbey is located in the south of the city, around 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) away from the larger St Albans City railway station on the Midland Main Line.
South Hampstead railway station is on Loudoun Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is about 550 yards (500 m) south west of Swiss Cottage Underground station.
Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately 14 miles (23 km) northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residential development. The local council is Watford Rural Parish Council. The parish covers South Oxhey and Carpenders Park, which although part of the Watford urban area, are outside the borough of Watford. The parish was created in 1894 when the ancient Watford parish was split into urban and rural parishes. At the 2011 census it had a population of 20,867.
Carpenders Park is a railway station located between the Hertfordshire suburb of Carpenders Park and the South Oxhey housing estate, 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Watford Junction on the Watford DC Line. The station is an island platform reached by a subway. This has exits to both the Carpenders Park (east) and South Oxhey (west) estates. London Overground services from London Euston to Watford Junction currently serve this station.
London Overground is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greater London as well as the home county of Hertfordshire, with 113 stations on nine different routes.
The A4008 is a local road in south east England.
South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census South Oxhey's population was included in the Northwick Ward of Three Rivers Council.
Carpenders Park is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. It is bounded to the West by a railway line that separates it from South Oxhey, to the East by the A4008 Watford to Harrow Road, to the South by the B4542, Green Belt and the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow and to the North by woodland.
The Acton–Northolt line (ANL), historically known as the New North main line (NNML), is a railway line in West London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD to the Chiltern Main Line at South Ruislip, alongside the West Ruislip branch of the London Underground Central line, for a distance of around 11 miles (18 km).