Latimer Road

This is the 31st station on the Circle Line but, of far more significance for me, it is the 100th station that I have visited on my 'Above the Underground ' challenge. When I first began this challenge  in the summer of 2014 I had no idea it would take me so long to complete and with another 170 stations to visit, I am beginning to have doubts that I will manage to complete it. Nevertheless, here I am with another new area to explore.

 At the end of the platform you can see the large Westfield shopping mall.

 What I hadn't realised before visiting this station was just how close it is to the fire damaged Grenfell Tower, which I mentioned in my previous post. As I walked through the ticket barriers I noticed a large poster which was asking people not to photograph the area. I then realised that this was going to be one station with very few photos. In all conscience I couldn't take out my camera. I took a couple of images on my phone, out of sight of the tower but I felt very uncomfortable. Whilst the tower still stands I cannot see the situation changing for years to come. My 100th station will be the one I remember for not photographing.



The station opened in December 1868 at a junction formed between two existing railway lines - the Hammersmith and City railway and the West London railway. Only trains on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines now use the station. The Circle line being extended onto this line in 2009. much work has been carried out to modernise this station within the last ten years resulting in its closure for a few months at a time. The station does not have a manned ticket office but fare machines and customer help points where you can communicate with the control room at Ladbroke station. Although the station is named Latimer Road it is no longer on that road. With the construction of new roads in the 1960s, Latimer Road's southernmost section, where the station is situated was renamed Freston Road. There has been a request that the station be renamed as a tribute to Grenfell Tower.


In the mid 19th century this area was known for its piggeries and shed housing. The station was given the nickname of 'piggery junction'. A Poor Law Commissioners' report of 1838 reads 'houses are built on top of pools of stagnant water, whose floors had sunk and rested at one end of the room in the stagnant pool, while at the other end, being still dry, contains the bed or straw mattress on which the family sleeps. Not much changed over the next 50 years as The Daily News claimed that it was the most 'hopelessly degraded place' in London. Even after the bombing of World War 2 the terraced victorian houses became slums and in 1958 was a focus of the Notting Hill race riots.

The Bramley Arms closed as a pub in the late 1980s and is now used as offices. It has been used as a location for the films Quadrophenia (1979) and The Lavendar Hill Mob (1951). It has also been used during the filming of the TV series the Sweeney

In the mid 70s, the Greater London Council planned to demolish much of the area and replace it with high rise flats and an industrial estate. The plans were delayed and squatters took up residence in the run down properties that had been left derelict for almost ten years. In 1977 the squatters found out that the demolition of the houses would be taking place within the next six months, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. Inspired by the film 'Passport to Pimlico', Nicholas Albery called a meeting of the squatters and suggested they declare the street an Independent Free State. And so the Free Independent Republic of Frestonia seceded from the UK on the 31st October 1977. The area consisted of two main streets Freston Road and Bramley Road.

Using a legal loophole about 120 of the squatters took on the surname Bramley so if the council evicted them, they would have to be rehoused as one family.
The media loved the story and it was covered by news teams from around the world. The furore forced the council to liaise with the squatters who had formed the Bramley Housing co-operative. Eventually the area was redeveloped and the first new houses were built in the early 80s.
 
  There are not many buildings still standing from that period. This is The People's Hall, built in 1901. Today it houses the Frestonian Gallery, the only evidence I could find of the name Frestonian.

The Phoenix Brewery on Bramley Road was built as a Victorian warehouse which then became a brewery and then the headquarters of Chrysalis Music publishing company before being renovated and converted into upmarket office space.

This is the Harrow Club on Frenston Road. The Harrow Club was started in 1883 by Dr Butler, the Headmaster of Harrow School. It began as a School Mission in Latimer Road with the aim of improving the lives of young people in the area.
The Harrow Club provides many opportunities for the young such as sailing, football, camping, and many other sports. Being so close to the Grenfell Tower it provided much needed support and continues to offer support to the many traumatised youngsters.  Extra finance has been raised by the Harrow School community.

It took just a few minutes walk for me to return to the station.

As the tube left the station I noticed this sculpture on top of a new housing development. Researching it when I got home I discovered the sculpture  was by Nathan Coley. The building of this  development of 112 flats began in 2015. One third of the properties were for sale, one third for rent and the remaining third to be managed by the Housing Association. Nathan Coley was commissioned to produce a sculpture. His design is based on an apple tree, a Bramley apple from the name of the road which was part of the Frestonian Republic. Coley made not only the steel and gold leaf sculpture but also 112 smaller trees which were given as a house warming present to the new residents. His idea was to connect new residents with the local history.