H.Wileman and Sons - builders and decorators on Wornington Road

This was a firm of builders and decorators whose premises were at 112 to 114 Wornington Road for about 60 years. It was founded by Henry Robert Wileman who lived from 1871 to 1940 and his two sons, Henry Robert (Bob) and Leonard Charles(Len) continued in the business with Bob looking after the administration and estimating and Len looking after the practical side. The firm remained in business until it was compulsorily purchased for the building of housing by Kensington Housing Trust at the beginning of the 70s.

There was a yard and an office entered through an archway between two houses and lying behind number 114 and the next few houses, finishing at the edge of the school grounds. The northern boundary was the Great Western Railway line from Paddington.

At the east end was a two-storey building. The ground floor housed the stock such as timber, plaster board, cement etc. and the upper storey had work areas for the carpenter and plumber as well as a store for small hardware such as screws, nails etc. The office was also on this level. An open wooden staircase lead to the upper floor, at the foot of which was rather basic toilet.

A garage went part of the way along the North wall. This contained the car which was shared by the two brothers but not often used. Further along were open stores for sand and ballast and then another 2 storey building, the ground floor of which had a large baize-covered table for cutting glass.

For some time the firm had two yellow painted lorries which were garaged in the open yard; it was quite a feat to be able to get the lorries in and out of the yard through the narrow arch with a narrow right angled turn into the yard. They also had some barrows with wooden wheels which the men used to transport building materials.

The brothers maintained the business throughout the war as Len was not fit enough to be called-up due to a knee problem but Bob received his call-up papers and plans had to be made to close the business. While this was happening, however, building work was made a reserved occupation so Bob served in the Home Guard instead and spent evenings on Wormwood Scrubs looking out for enemy aircraft. The firm spent the rest of the war doing bomb damage repairs and the business continued to prosper until it was compulsorily purchased.
A.J. 2009

Ladbroke Grove and Barlby Road junction

Left, the shops on the east side of Ladbroke Grove that have been demolished.(photo:RBK&C)

Right, the parade on the west side as it is now and is described below.

LADBROKE GROVE
At the junction with Ladbroke Grove, we stood at the top of the steps of the recently closed pub ‘The Cowshed’ and looked south down Ladbroke Grove, comparing the view with a photo taken at the turn of the century and photos taken in the 1960s.

D.M. remembered the terrace of shops on the right hand side of Ladbroke Grove (still there).

To the right of the junction stood a parade of shops, about six or seven. This brought back memories of my childhood. I remember two of the shops quite clearly. The corner shop was demolished to make room for a wider road on the corner was a baker’s run by a German family. The other was an Italian ice cream shop about two doors up run by Polo Lisi. His granddaughter Margaret, was in the same class as me at St Charles School. The ice cream was made on the premises – vanilla, strawberry, chocolate – there were few flavours at the time, but they were all delicious in a cornet or wafer. Sadly the shop closed down sometime in the fifties. Looking at a photograph taken in 1870 brought back memories.
D.M. 2008

Across the road from these shops, the street layout has changed with redevelopment. There is no longer any road access from Ladbroke Grove to Portobello Road and Wornington Road. All that is left is pedestrian access through the northern edge of the Wornington Green Estate built in the 1980s

'Laundry' cottages in Southern Row

On our walk quite a few of the old terraces were seen alongside an enormous variety of properties designed or adapted for industrial and commercial purposes. These were juxtaposed twixt blocks of flats of assorted period, age and style.

The last of the earliest “cottages” disappeared about 1911, whereas Trellick Tower went up (and up) in 1970s so might be regarded as the beginning of another phase of development which involved demolition of rows of housing.

In Southern Row these properties were once laundries.

The last of the earliest “cottages” disappeared about 1911, whereas Trellick Tower went up (and up) in 1970s so might be regarded as the beginning of another phase of development which involved demolition of rows of housing .

Many of the more individual properties were combined work places as well as living accommodation as seen in “44” above and “Nautilus Press and Paper Mill” seen above.

This mid-terrace also forms part of Southern Row but on each side the end-terrace has been reconstructed.




E.E. Godin : 2008

LADBROKE GROVE - ACROSS THE BRIDGE

Photos: left, iron bridge over the railway, Ladbroke Grove, 2008,
right: Construction of Kensal House, 1936.(RBK&C )


'BARTLE' BRIDGE

We walked north up Ladbroke Grove, crossing the railway line by the iron bridge.
A.J. found out that:

The track of the Great Western Railway runs south of the canal and was opened in 1838, running from Paddington to Bristol.

Up to 1870s both the canal and railway were crossed and ferry via footpaths to Kensal Green Cemetery which had been opened in 1833. All funerals had to use the Harrow Road. The footpath was a continuation from the convergence of Portobello Road and Wornington Road. This later became Ladbroke Grove Road and ultimately Ladbroke Grove.

A bridge must have been built during the 1870.

“It was widened in 1881 to 1883 to the designs of H. Vignoles, the contractors being Messrs. Nowell & Robson of Kensington. It may be noted that the iron founders who supplied the materials were J.M.Bartle & Co. a local firm with premises in Lancaster Road.” (Survey of London, Volume 37 p.333 – 339ref.7)

This must be the reason why the bridge is now known as Bartle Bridge.

Bartle’s foundry was situated at the end of Rillington Place. This subsequently became Ruston Close following the Christie murders and when the road was rebuilt it was named Bartle Road.
A.J. 2009

KENSAL HOUSE (Ladbroke Grove)



Photos:
Kensal House exterior in 1946.

Kitchen, with the latest gas water heaters, 1937.





On our left we passed Kensal House known in the past as ‘the Gas Flats’. Built by the Gas, Light and Coke Company in 1937, the flats were a unique project tht not only promoted the wonders of gas technology, but also was ground breaking for its design as an 'urban village'. The architect was modernist Maxwell Fry and he worked with Elizabeth Denby, a pioneering housing consultant. Kensal House was planned with shared facilities, its own nursery and playground, clubrooms for adults and young people, resident caretaker and a tenant's executive committee.
However after the war, ownership was handed over to the London County Council and Kensal House deteriorated badly and by the late 1980s, then in the hands of Kensington & Chelsea it was in a sorry state of repair and very run down.

Since then work has been done to bring the flats up to date.

We walked around to the back of the building to see the Nursery that has now been totally refurbished and was officially opened on 29 June 2005. It was interesting to see how the design echoed the circular shape of the gasholder that had been on the site previously.

Footsteps to Southern Row

FOOTSTEPS TO SOUTHERN ROW
Across the road we could see the steps leading down into Southern Row and Kensal New Town. We did not have an old photo of this part of Ladbroke Grove but people spoke of a large tenement block called Victoria Dwellings that went from the steps to the corner with Kensal Road.

DARK DOORWAYS

Our walk around the Kensal area was fascinating, a collection of old and new sitting cheek by jowl; original, Victorian houses alongside modern day flats and businesses. Even those reflect the various designs and traits of their times and yet they all seemed to blend happily together.

As child I am certain that I never ventured into Kensal Road but we used to visit my parents’ friends in Harrow Road and in the Avenues and did so via Ladbroke Grove.

We would walk across the iron bridge and pass the “gas flats” but opposite there was Hamrax, the motorcyclists‘ emporium, and next the black painted tobacconists cum sweet shop. Beside this were, and still are, the Dickensian steps leading down to wherever they went. After that came some flats, high, dark, ominous buildings looking more like “dwellings” to me rather than homes.

These flats were entered through dim, arched door ways which lead on to stone stairways, heading both up and down to the flats beyond. The insides of these arched entrances were tiled in beautiful, dark coloured Victorian tiles each panel portraying a scene of working people. Despite being grubby they had a richness about them which was attractive.

It seemed a pity that they were destroyed when the flats were demolished but I doubt if anyone considered them worth preserving at the time.

J.G. 2008

The Canalside Activity Centre

On the Canal Bridge
We stood on the canal bridge looking west towards the
Gasworks and Sainsbury’s. Next to the canal on the left was a centre for canal based sporting activities.

CANALSIDE ACTIVITY CENTRE.

Canoeing developed in Kensington on the Canal at Meanwhile Gardens operating out of some old buildings. Meantime, three sites were becoming increasingly derelict in the north of the Royal Borough, to the west, off Ladbroke Grove, south of Harrow Road namely - Kensal Green Cemetery, Western Gas Works, and Great Western Railway shunting yards, not to mention the neglected state of the Grand Union Canal itself.

One of the groups set up round about 1980 by local residents was The North Kensington Canalside Trust to provide better facilities for water sport in the Gas Works

Canoeing developed in Kensington on the Canal at Meanwhile Gardens operating out of some old buildings. Meantime, three sites were becoming increasingly derelict in the north of the Royal Borough, to the west, off Ladbroke Grove, south of Harrow Road namely - Kensal Green Cemetery, Western Gas Works, and Great Western Railway shunting yards, not to mention the neglected state of the Grand Union Canal itself.

One of the groups set up round about 1980 by local residents was The North Kensington Canalside Trust to provide better facilities for water sport in the Gas Works “Large Basin”.

After many years, construction began on the Boathouse in 1994, but only using the “Small Dock”. The block was on four levels, comprising flats on the top two, one shared floor beside the towpath, but the Workshop, Stores and Changing Rooms etc. at water level.

During 1996 the sixteen fully accessible flats were all occupied by people with physical disabilities and CanAC opened, with a Sports Hall, Teaching Room, Gymnasium, Coffee Bar, Admin. Office, Control Room, and Boat Sheds.

E.G. 2008



The Electricity Pumping Station
The strange blue building on the left in the photo is a pumping station built in the 1980s for the huge electric cables that now run under the canal towpath. Before the 1980s the towpath was not paved and very muddy. There is a power station on the canal at St John's Wood.

Edinburgh Road

We approached Ladbroke Grove from Barlby Road, pausing to look at the few remaining terraced housing on the left as we approached the junction and the Cowshed pub.

EDINBURGH ROAD

Today’s maps no longer show Edinburgh Road, whereas it is clearly marked on the Deeds of houses in Barlby Gardens. These were built in 1916. It ran from the top end of Barlby Road, near Ladbroke Grove, beside the railway lines towards Old Oak Common .
Today the start of Edinburgh Road can still be seen in Barlby Road, but it used to be of cobbles and tarmac whereas now it is part of a small concreted car park for the occupants of these houses.
The cobbles were still in place in the 1980s and the road was used to carry lorries on to the site behind Barlby Gardens to warehouses storing Fyffes bananas. Their large advertising hoardings could be seen easily from the road.
This warehousing was removed about 1992 when the area was developed by British Rail for milling/cleaning sheds for Eurostar trains. In turn, with the opening of St. Pancras in early 2008 these sheds themselves are no longer in use.


J.G. October 2008