Westbourne Park was served by the Hammersmith and City Railway from 1866 but a couple of houses were damaged due to the vibrations from the trains. A new station was built on this site in 1871. The name Westbourne originated from a small river that rises in Hampstead and flows for 12 miles southwards into the Thames near Chelsea. The river is mainly underground now but whilst at Sloane Square station, also on the Circle Line, I saw evidence of the river which was transported via a large pipe inside a metal box structure, which carries the river above the platforms.
As I left the station I noticed the Victorian post box embedded in the wall, as further evidence of the date of the building.
Having now travelled out of Zone 1 of the Underground which is basically Central London I immediately noticed a difference in housing being much denser, with more residential estates and social housing. By social housing I mean homes for those on low incomes. At the end of the road I turned left passed the Brunel Estate.
Built on derelict railway land the estate was begun in the 1960s and completed in 1974. The Estate is built in a triangular shape with a playground in one point of the triangle and a day nursery in another. It is a densely populated estate that includes tower blocks.
On the other side of the road is St Stephen's school. The large engraved stones above the doorways tell of a previous era. I can just imagine the children having to recite these quotations and woe betide them if they got it wrong.
St Stephen's National School
Boy's entrance
These schools are erected to promote religious teaching. Jesus said Feed my lambs. St John 21:15
True religion is an habitual recollection of God and intention to serve Him and this turns everything to gold: Isaac Newton
Example teacheth. Company comforteth. Emulation quickeneth Glory Raiseth: Bacon
Girls entrance
These schools built by the self denial of church people were opened by the Right Reverend Mandell Creighton on the thirtieth day of October 1897 being dedicated for ever to the cause of education based on the definite religion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who said
Feed my lambs. St John 21:15
Continuing along this road would take me to the previous Circle Line station at Royal Oak. When I saw this footbridge I decided to cross over the the numerous railway lines.
It was a much longer footbridge than I imagined.
The footbridge didn't just take me over the railway lines but also under Westway, the elevated section of the Great West Road.
Space beneath Westway has not been wasted but used for five a side football pitches for the adjacent school, which I realised was Westminster College .
As I neared the end of the footbridge I came out by the side of Westminster College, which was where I had left the Grand Union Canal towpath when I was looking around the Royal Oak area of the previous station.
I returned to the towpath to do the next section. Not such a picturesque part of the canal with rubbish piled up on benches and graffiti everywhere.
After going under the very low bridge I decided to leave the towpath at the next exit.
The exit took me out through Meanwhile Gardens onto Elkstone road.
Another brutalist building in the shadow of Trellick Tower is Holmfield House. Its geometric blue tiling helps to break up the greyness of these brutalist buildings. Built in the late 1960s it is now a children's centre.
This is the Golborne Railway Bridge which was renovated in 2013 using ideas from the community to improve the lighting and general appearance of the bridge. It was also decided to create an art installation, to decorate the corner at the Trellick end of the bridge, led by local arts group Brown Baby.
The installation is a new set of steps with tiles made by Kensington and Chelsea College design students.
Free workshops were held for local people to create their own tiles as part of the installation.
The steps have a brief timeline engraved with world and local events.
I crossed the bridge and walked down Golborne Road. Lots of different shops, many of them with a mediterranean influence. When the Spanish Civil War ended in the 1930s a number of Spanish refugees settled in this area so there are a few Spanish shops and tapas bars here.
A very colourful mural. I then realised there was much artwork to be seen along this part of the Portobello Road.
The Portobello Wall art project is an annual art commission for a 100m stretch of wall that links the markets of Golborne Road and Portobello Road. This year's winner is Anastasia Russa with a piece of work based on Connection.. Her mural represents characters and events that have shaped this area. Here are just a few sections of this very long 100m mural.
On the opposite side of the road, on the wall of the Spanish school are these sketches by Fiona Hawthorne. Her work celebrates 150 years of Golborne and Portobello markets.They were all sketched from life in the Portobello and Golborne area during July 2015.
Turned off Portobello Road onto Tavistock Road with its multicoloured row of houses.
This whole area of Notting Hill was rural until the early 19th century when London began to expand westwards especially with the arrival of the railway. The main landowner was James Weller Ladbroke and from the 1820s he began to develop the Ladbroke estate as a fashionable suburb of London, by building these large houses. We will see more of the estate from the next station, Ladbroke Grove. During the 20th century this area changed completely. As middle class families no longer employed servants, the large Notting Hill houses were split into rental flats with multiple occupation. Caribbean immigrants from the 1950s were drawn to the area because of the cheap rents. Many were exploited as racial prejudice was rife and it wasn't easy for immigrants to have a choice of accommodation. The infamous landlord Peter Rachman owned a number of slum properties in the area. Using violence and intimidation he overfilled his slum properties with newly arrived immigrants and prostitutes. He was convicted twice for owning brothels but died in 1962 before the extent of his empire had been investigated. His name lives on in the Oxford English Dictionary, Rachmanism meaning the exploitation and intimidation of tenants by unscrupulous landlords.
The Italian Job pub. I think this is the first time I've seen an Italian craft beer pub. First established as a pub in 1832. One of its previous names, The Pelican can still be seen at the top of the building. It closed as The Pelican in 2010 to become the Red Lemon and closed again before becoming The Italian Job in 2017.
I stopped here for lunch in The Tin Shed. It was a lovely cafe with a small menu but very tasty food.
The road led me into a pedestrian square with All Saints church. Doctor Samuel Walker planned the building of the church as a memorial to his parents and intended to finish the building with a tall spire. But before it could be placed on the tower it was discovered that the marshy ground on which it had been built wouldn't be able to take the weight. Dr Walker became bankrupt before completing the church. With no windows or furniture it had to be boarded up and became known as Walker's Folly or All Sinners in the mud. It was finally finished in 1861. In more recent times it is known as the church that is always open during the Notting Hill Carnival making its facilities (including toilets) available to all.
A short distance from the church is Powis Square. In the 1900s this upper middle class garden square went into social decline with a large multi cultural population of Asian and Jewish residents. By the 1950s Rachman owned a number of houses which were in desperate need of renovation but instead were let to immigrants.
On the north side of the square is the Tabernacle. The building opened in 1888 as the Talbot Tabernacle a place of Christian worship. During the 'swinging 60s' many hippies moved into the area and the building appeared in the film 'The knack'. It is reported that the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd rehearsed here. Quite possible as Brian Jones (1942-1969) a former member of the Stones lived in Powis Square in the early 60s.. The tabernacle ceased to be a church in 1975 and the building was taken over by the council for demolition. It was saved by a group of campaigners who managed to get it a Grade II listing. Twenty years later it received a large grant from Lottery funding so that it could be converted into a community arts centre. In 1998 it reopened with a new hall, bar, studios, gallery and restaurant.
In the foyer of the tabernacle is a sculpture by Carl Gabriel depicting a man playing the Steel Pan.
From Powis Square I made my way back to Westbourne Park station via Chepstone Road.
On my way back I decided to go up to one of the walkways leading to the flats closest to the station. It gave me a good view over the railway lines.
It is such a short walking distance between stations (less than 10 minutes) so I am keeping my walks quite short on this part of the line. Anymore than 5 minutes in any one direction then I am encroaching on the surrounds of another station.
Quite awalk around though not as picturesque as other parts of London
ReplyDeleteI wondered if there was a connection between James Ladbroke and gambling but it seems not. I didn't know the history of the Notting Hill Carnival. Trellick Tower looks very odd with its external lifts and services. In Sydney there was a notorious social housing tower block with almost a permanent police presence. I think it too has improved since its lowest point but it is still rented social housing.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post and you covered a lot in your "short" walk. Lots of contrasts and good to see the artwork and community areas/buildings. I didn't know the history of the carnival either.
ReplyDeleteSt Stephens does look very austere doesn't it, from another era and I'm sure education back then was a very bleak thing.
ReplyDeleteSmall menu and easy food sounds good to me. I think I am about to return to train travel to get to work - far too long each day in traffic.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
I really like the idea of more and more cities are coming up with community garden program.
ReplyDeleteWorth a Thousand Times
I was impressed by the watercolours by Fiona Hawthorne. I hope you bagged one? Must say that I didn't know of Italian pubs as the Italians are famed more for things like football and red wine. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to see what you find in the neighborhoods around the various stations.
ReplyDeleteHello, this looks like a lovely station and neighborhood. I like the various housing complexes, cafe and the footbridges are nice. Pretty murals. Happy Monday, enjoy your day! Wishing you a great new week ahead!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite stop today? The Tabernacle!
ReplyDeleteFive minutes in each direction brought you all this amazing history, architecture, an outdoor art show, a good lunch, at least two community garden areas, and oh so much social change to contemplate. Amazing stuff.. Only in London!
ReplyDeleteI love all the splashes of colour.
ReplyDeleteWow, such resarch you do. Amazing. I love how in several instances the local populace took matters into their own hands.
ReplyDeleteStation 29! Good for you! Those tiles are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteLove the look of the cafe you dined in
ReplyDeleteWonderful and creative series of photos ~ love the artwork displays and great tour! thanks!
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteIt's Chepstow Road, not Chepstone.
The elevated road is not the Great West Road but an extension of Western Avenue from Shepherds Bush to Marylebone Road.
Thank you
Delete