Well good on you for that, and long may it continue.As Northerner I don't suffer from this L/SE obsession with house prices, but now you make me think of it my - how shall I put it? - compact - South Ealing home has probably increased in numerical price (as opposed to real value, which can't have changed much) fifteenfold in my 30 years here. Key reasons for choosing it were accessibility (to local shops and services as well as public transport), seclusion from nearby main road, and general atmosphere of surroundings. Plenty of space means plenty of upkeep liability happy to do without IMHO, thoughn a garage or hardstanding would have been useful (particularly in the past when I had to spend a lot of time under cars before driving them) but impossible here.Re junctions, your thesis is wrong, or only a small part of the truth - with the exception of a very few (mostly long-vanished and mostly remote) examples (Trent, Dukeries Junction, Dovey Junction....) junction stations provide dual or multiple train services for the local townships or communities they are in or next to, and thereby generally superior accessibility to a wider range of destinations than an equivalent simple one-line station. The interchanging travellers do not actually detract from that; on the contrary they are additional custom which enhances the viability of the services - where would Heathrow airport be in world rankings and service levels without the huge interlining custom (people changing planes and moving on without going out of the airport) it has contrived to attract?
Chris Veasey ● 4731d