St John’s Wood is at the North West end of Regents Park in the area of Westminster. According to the map I obtained from Charles Booth Online Archive, this area is mainly inhabited by the wealthy. There are mainly red and orange markings signifying upper to middle class. I was not surprised to see there was not much crime in this area according to Old Bailey Online. There were only a few thefts and did not report any major crimes. This goes along with more of the upper class neighborhoods in London, however in the poor areas the crime is higher simply due to people trying to survive.

Looking at the map of St. Johns Wood Road there are not many businesses to note. There is a Children’s Hospital and a Women’s Orphanage, but other buildings are not notated on the map leading me to believe they are residences.

When doing research I found that St. Johns station was opened in 1849, it was a single island platform with just two tracks but it did not have a station house. It normally only serves trains to and from Cannon Street. By 1865 the railway had two more tracks but still did not have a station. During its inception there were many fatalities at this railroad. During the construction a landslip occurred causing 80 tons of debris to come down and bury four of its workers. Two of the men survived, but the other two could not be saved. The accidents that happened once the railroad was in operation was mainly due to fog. In 1898 a fatal accident occurred at St Johns station where the signalman could not see very well, he thought the train had gone and he signaled for the next one to come. The train in fact was still sitting at the platform and the oncoming train collided causing many fatalities. In 1873 The St. Johns Station was finally built was named after a large nearby church. It has since become more stable with not as many fatalities and running smooth.

In Sherlock Holmes story, Irene Adler lives in St. John’s Wood on a fictitious street called Serpentine Avenue. Looking up the word serpentine, it means “of, characteristic of, or resembling a serpent, as in form or movement.” I can say she is representative of a snake in both form and movement. She moves around quite slyly and does so, often unnoticed. She had the smarts enough to outwit not only her ex the King of Bohemia but the infamous Sherlock Holmes. She followed him home dressed as a man to see if it was indeed him. She was told if the king were to employ anyone it would be Sherlock Holmes to find this picture. Once she realized it was him she replaced the desired photo with one of herself. She keeps this photo of her and the king to have the upper hand if he wants to try and torture her any more than he has.

 

http://www.londonreconnections.com/2013/accidents-and-islands-a-history-of-st-johns-station-part-1/

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/serpentine

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/London-life19th.jsp