Edith's Streets

Colne Brook The Colne Brook flows southwards Post to the east Horton Post to the south Wraysbury Station Bells Lane Little Court. Cottage from the 17th or earlier. It is Timber framed and brick clad Champney Close This housing was built on the site of a post war industrial site known as ‘The Paper Works’. This does not appear to be connected with the earlier paper mill in the area, and seems unlikely to be a paper making site. Foundry Lane Berkin Manor. The house was built in the mid 19th century on the site of previous house, supposed to have been that rented by Milton's father in 1632, and pulled down in the18th with the exception of a dovecote. Milton wrote early poems while living here for six years.  The house belonged to the Tyrell family and in 1945 was bought by the Rayner family. The house is now said to be derelict. Dairy.   Built in 1860 for Edward Tyrell. It is square, in red brick. There is a veranda and a cold store. Inside is a geometric-patterne...

The Colne Brook flows south westwards Post to the north Poyle Corner Post to the east Poyle Post to the west Horton Post to the south Wraysbury Reservoir Mill Lane Colne Bank Mills. New housing here and in Cherry Way on the site of Colne Bank Mills.  This is an ancient mill site and was noted in 1086 and in the 13th when it was a corn mill. In the 14th, William Blakemore, diverted a water-course and built a fulling mill.  In the 17th it was a paper mill and rags collected there brought plaque into the area and many died. In the 19th a shawl-printing business g to Messrs. Tippet & Co. Stanwell Road Moat south-west of the mills Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve. Opened in 1996, and named after a former borough mayor this reserve was formed on a series of derelict sewage sludge lagoons. These are now wetland habitats Poyle Poplars. This was taken over by the local authority in 2009 from Thames Water. Hybrid poplar trees were planted here for matchwood in the 1970's. F...

The Colne Brook flows southwards Post to the north Colnbrook Post to the east Poyle Post to the south Horton Drift Way This becomes a footpath running south to Horton Eric Mortimer Rayner Memorial Lakes. Rayner was a local farmer and a member of the family which has been prominent in the area for many centuries. The lakes are old gravel workings Fishing Lake Park Street Star and Garter .Pub built in the 17th or 18th. Outside is painted brick. King John’s Palace. Built 1600 with later alterations. It is a range of buildings round a  courtyard. There are a number of storys about King John staying locally when signing Magna Charta – but the building is considerably more modern than King John.  It is thought it was once a pub – but there are a number of buildings with this name around, most of them unexplained. Barn at the back of King John’s Palace. This is an 18th  weatherboarded, barn linked by a carriageway to no.6.  It was used by the Rayner, local...

The Colne Brook flows south westwards TQ 02480 77125 Very interesting stretch of the old Bath Road, now bypassed as the main road west. Busy local area with much linked to the airport Post to the east Colnbrook Bypass Post to the south Poyle Corner Bridge Street Colnbrook Bridge . With plain brick parapets and apparently old coping reused Boundary Marker on the bridge. This is dated 1777. There are panels on each side of the bridge with the date and county line. Other adjacent stones are inscribed "Bucks" and "Middx". There is also a cast iron plaque with the City of London shield and "24 and 25 VictCap 42". City of London coal post as a boundary marker at the south-east end of the bridge. This is a 19th cast iron bollard, with the City of London arms in a frieze and "24 and 25 Vict. Cap 42" Bridge House Old Village Hall . Known as the ‘Public Rooms’ until 1967. 19th painted brick crenulated building. A new village hall was built els...

The Colne Brook flows south westwards   TQ 02480 77125 Industrial area along the Bypass Post to the east Harmondsworth Post to the south Poyle Post to the west Colnbrook Colnbrook By pass Constructed as a single carriageway in 1929. The central reservations have been tarmacked and replaced with hatching and islands to prevent overtaking. It is thought that it originally had a parallel track which was used by the Road Research Laboratory for experimental road surfacing. In addition it is said that t he carriage was duplicated for a distance to allow a straight section for speed trials. The road available to the general traffic formeds a loop on the north side of the private roadway, but was too narrow for its purpose. It seems likely that this loop was that formed by Lakeside Road. Colne Brook Bridge. Cavenham House .  In 1965 Cavenham Foods Ltd was set up by entrepreneur James Goldsmith and this was their head office. Cavenham Confectionery Ltd was created out o...

The Colne Brook flows south and south west Post to the north Little Britain Post to the east West Drayton Post to the south Thorney M25 Thorney Lane South Tower Arms Hotel . The Tower Arms is said be named after former owners members of the Tower family. In the mid 19th it was the 1850 the Hare and Hounds Beer House and later the Fox and Hounds. It was the Tower Arms by 1874. Thorney Mill Road North Star . Pub Thorney Farm – stables in red brick Gravel extraction site between the Tower Arms Hotel and Thorney Farm. Important finds of iron age pottery Thorney Park Golf Course . Part of the site was an area of land restoration and the rest a market garden site. The original farm buildings are on the site and have been converted to luxury housing Hillside Mercers Farm Thorney Mill . Modern housing on the site of buildings marked as a factory as late as 1989. This is to the north of the road and appears to be the site of a 19th paper mill which was built over the Colne Br...

The North London Railway turns south westwards Post to the east Willesden Junction This square only covers the north east corner of the square Channel Gate Road A new street driven through the railway cottages estate, demolishing the School in Old Oak Lane, and 8 houses in Goodhall and Stephenson Streets. It provides access to a Channel Tunnel Freight Depot Crewe Place Housing for London North West Railway employees built in 1889 in a remote corner of North Acton. Originally, the whole estate was the private property of the railway company and thus called Railway Cottages. The former Borough of Acton may have named the streets when they were adopted; choosing names Stoke for their railway associations. Notice saying ‘Any person leaving the gate open will be liable to pay 40 shillings’ Enterprise Way Trading and industrial area on the site of old allotments Goodhall Street Housing for London North West Railway employees 76-78 clubhouse . This was a private club and in...

North London Railway. The railway coming from Kensal Rise Station turns south westwards Post to the north Willesden Junction Post to the west Willesden Junction This posting covers only the north west corner of the square Brunel Court Flats built on the site of a large block of stables facing onto the Harrow Road Enterprise Way Industrial and Trading Units built on the site of the Borough Transport Dept Fortune Way Industrial and Trading Units built on the site of the Borough Transport Dept Harrow Road College Park Hotel . Closed in the 1990s, it is now housing – but still has ‘Saloon and Luncheon Bar’ signage. Railway bridges –between Harrow Road and Harlesden High Street the road passes over a series of railway lines on the North London Railway in its Hampstead Junction Extension. Leaving Kensal Green Junction, west of the site of the defunct Kensal Green and Harlesden Station up and down City Goods lines were built to bypass low level platforms at Willesden  ...

North London Railway The North London Railway running from Kensal Rise Station proceeds westwards Post to the east Kensal Green Post to the south Willesden Junction This post covers only the south west corner of the square Furness Road Furness Primary School . Opened in 1908 as a council school and reorganised in 1925. It was partly destroyed in Second World War bombing and later rebuilt. High street Harlesden Church of God Prophecy . This was built in 1888 as a church for the United Free Methodists Leghorn Road 33 Rebirth Tabernacle . This was originally opened by Harlesden Evangelical in 1905. It became a Baptist chapel in 1933. Rucklidge Avenue 154 In the 1890s this was the Hygienic Hospital, set up by Dr. Thomas Allinson (developer of the wholemeal bread). It was “Established for Treating the Working Classes on Hygienic Principles. As we have no funds, a charge of 10s. is made a-week to patients to help to make up a deficiency in our income. We treat our pati...

The North London Line from Kensal Rise station runs westwards Post to the east Kensal Rise Post to the west Willesden Junction This posting covers only the south west corner of the square All Souls Avenue Relates to local land ownership by All Souls College, Oxford St Mark's Church . The church was founded in 1914 Holland Road Elmwood Green – the area bounded by All Souls Avenue, Holland Road and Buchanan Gardens and known locally as this since the 19th was once farmland with an avenue of elms. It has been the site of a tennis club since the late 19th. Elmwood Tennis Club . The club has 6 courts, a clubhouse and a large green Wrottesley Road Harlesden Green stretched from here to All Souls Church and the road was called Green Lane Kensal Green and Harlesden Station. This station opened in 1861and closed in 1873.  It was on the north side west of the Wrottesley Road rail bridge Sources Clunn. The Face of London Connor. Forgotten Stations Elmwood Tennis Club. We...

The North London line running from Kensal Rise Station continues south westwards Post to the east Kensal Rise Post to the west Kensal Green This posting covers only the south east corner of the square Bathurst Gardens Library - originally a reading room opened by Mark Twain on 27th September 1900. At the ceremony, Mark Twain gave the Library Committee Chairman five of his books and a signed photograph.[4]  By 1904 money from the Andrew Carnegie Trust allowed a proper library to be opened on a site donated by All Souls College. In 1994, the interior was refurbished in a Neo-Edwardian style but the library has now closed. Clifford Gardens The housing was built in 1896 by Langler and Pinkham. College Road Relates to local land ownership by All Souls College, Oxford 161 College Green Children’s Centre. 161 Doyle Nursery 161 College Road School . This was a special needs school which had moved here from Leinster Road where it had opened in 1912.  It closed after 1...

The North London Railway running from Brondesbury Park goes south westwards Post to the north Brondesbury Park Post to the west Kensal Rise This posting covers only the south east corner of this square Chamberlayne Road Chamberlayne was a separate manor named after Richard de Camera, prebendary and rector of St.Mary, Willesden, who was given it in 1215. Later leased to the Roberts family. This area built up by developers Charles Langler and Sir Charles Pinkham, of Middlesex County Council. This road was built by All Souls College on the line of an existing footpath. Church of the Transfiguration . This was an old Methodist chapel to which the Catholics moved in 1977. It is a red-brick building Methodist Church . The Wesleyan Methodists had met until 1886 in a Kensal Rise house and later opened a tin chapel. In 1900 the opened a brick chapel in Gothic style with tower and spire here. It was sold to the Roman Catholics in 1977 and the Methodists met in the adjacent hall Kensa...

The North London railway continues from Brondesbury Park Station to run south westwards Post to the east Brondesbury Park Post to the south Kensal Rise TQ 23835 83586 Residential area around Queens Park This posting covers only the north east corner of this square Ayleston Avenue Queens Park Community School . This opened in 1989 as an amalgamation of three schools – South Kilburn High School (Percy Road School), Aylestone Community School and Brondesbury and Kilburn High School (Kilburn Grammar School). The school has a new block opened by Ken Livingstone and there is a commemorative plaque. The school is a specialist business and enterprise school with a City Learning Centre and is an academy St Laurence Close St.Lawrence Church . Built by the Cutts Brothers and later amalgamated with St.Anne in Salusbury Road. Replaced by flats. Church Hall adjacent. Also now site of flats Tiverton Road Tiverton Green . Tiverton Green is a six acre public open space owned and man...

North London Line The North London Line from Brondesbury Station runs south westwards TQ 24231 84000 Residential area around and including Queens Park.  The area also includes some interesting industrial sites. Churches and buildings used for religious purposes demonstrate how faiths change as populations change. Post to the north Brondesbury Post to the west Brondesbury Park This posting covers only the north west corner of this square Brondesbury Park Road This is still marked as parkland on the Ordnance Survey map of 1904. The road is said to have been built as a spine road through the area but on some older maps it is called ‘Brand’s Causeway’ Brondesbury Park Station . Opened in 1908 as the ‘youngest’ station on the line it now lies between Brondesbury and Kensal Rise stations on the North London Railway.  The platforms were rebuilt in 1996. Chevening Road The road was built by the Church Commissioners in the mid 1880s as one of the approach roads to Queen...

The North London line from Brondesbury Station runs south westwards TQ 23611 84580 Residential area where some posh houses are used by institutions Post to the east Brondesbury Post to the south Brondesbury Park This posting covers only the south west corner of this square Brondesbury Park Brondesbury College . This is an Independent (private fee paying) Secondary School for boys. It has a traditional English curriculum with selected Islamic subjects. The main building was originally a house and was used to set up Islamia Primary School as a kindergarden in 1983. This then relocated and the College opened here in 1996. Mission House . The house was originally called Restormel. In the early 1900s this was the home of Solomon Barnett, a Polish born lead and glass merchant, who became a local developer and political activist. It was later renamed The Mission House and belonged to Revd Dr Herbert Vaughan and was the Headquarters of the Catholic Miss...

North London Line. The North London Line, coming from West Hampstead Station runs south westwards TQ 24625 84278 Residential area, which is nevertheless lively with theatres and pubs down Kilburn High Road Post to the north Kilburn Post to the west Brondesbury This posting only covers the south east corner of this square Dyne Road Willesden Town Hall . The offices of the Willesden local board were established here in 1891 and later were enlarged as Willesden Town Hall. When the area became part of the London Borough of Brent, all administration was transferred to Wimble, and the town hall was demolished in 1972. There are now flats on the site.  There were also a number of works departments and yards associated with the local authority – opposite and adjacent to the town hall. All these are now the site of flats and offices. 1a Foundation House . Institute of Contemporary Musical Performance. Founded in the mid 1980s and provides courses relevant to modern music Kingd...

The North London Railway (Hampstead Junction Railway) leaves West Hampstead Station and runs south westwards. Post to the east West Hampstead Post to the west Kilburn This posting covers only the north west corner of this square Iverson Road The part of the road from West End Lane to Maygrove Road was built by Midland Railway. The rest was built by the British Land Company 202-220 These are probably Heysham Cottages built in the site of West End House for railway workers. West End House. The big house around which the hamlet of West End grew. In the 1ate 18th it was owned by the Beckford family - although it is not thought that either Alderman Beckford or his scandalous son William lived there.  The house was bought by the Midland Railway in 1866 and let to the railway contractors, it was later used as accommodation for railway workers. Some of it - called the Old Mansion - became the station master's house for what was then West End Station. The rest was bought by the ...

The North London Line continues in a south westerly direction from Finchley Road and Frognal Station Post to the west West Hampstead Post to the east Swiss Cottage This posting  covers only the north east corner of this square Billy Fury Way In 2010 Camden Council, London, named a small formerly nameless road Billy Fury Way in honour of the 1950s rock and roller. He had recorded at the nearby Decca Studios. The alleyway was decorated with a large mural of his face, which was unveiled and blessed in, 2011. Blackburn Road. 1869. Named after Mr. Blackburn, the builder and planned by 1885. 3 F. R. Napier, had opened a plating shop behind West Hampstead fire station in 1919, took the site for his Hampstead Plating Works, which was founded in 1940 and survived with four employees in 1986. Cadbury Bros depot from 1933 14 Builder Depot Canadian Building - this building, has included a number of Canadian business organisations since the 1930s led by the Canadian government's...