Emily Frith stands down as Lib Dem PPC

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I met Emily Frith last Monday at the local Area Action Group. She seemed rather nice, if perhaps a little timid. I am assured that she can turn on the steely politician-speak when needed.

Emily, centre stage, when she won the nomination

Were she to have had any chance of playing a meaningful role in the next general election then she’d certainly need to find that inner steel. As the Lib Dem PPC for Hampstead & Kilburn she was going to face an uphill battle. But now we’ll never know if she had what it takes as she’s had to relinquish the role as would-be MP just a month and three days after being nominated.

She released a statement this afternoon:

“It is with regret that I have to let you know that I am standing down as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn just a few weeks after I had the honour of being selected by Liberal Democrat members in the constituency.

This has come about because I have been offered a job in government in which I will be working to give the Liberal Democrats a stronger voice within the Coalition in key areas where I have expertise. However, as this job is politically restricted I will not be allowed to continue as a parliamentary candidate.

I am very sorry to be leaving the campaign at this stage, as I have enjoyed working with Hampstead and Kilburn’s excellent team of campaigners backed by the strong membership I have enjoyed getting to know in recent months.”

It’s a shame that she wasn’t able to be more specific about the job she’s taking on “in key areas where I have expertise”. One wonders what it says about her belief deep down of her chances of winning this seat. Remember that although the Lib Dems came third in 2010 here, Hampstead & Kilburn was the closest three-way seat in the country but at the moment pundits are calling the next election here a two-horse race.

Now the Lib Dems have to go through the selection process all over again – apparently it’s not as simple as just choosing the person who came second in their ballot. Cllr Keith Moffitt, who leads the Lib Dems in Camden said, 

“Obviously our members and supporters in Hampstead & Kilburn will be disappointed as Emily had impressed during the selection and was already working hard with local campaigners… We will be looking to advertise for a new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate shortly.”

One would think that the Lib Dems need to put up someone that already has a power base in the constituency if they are to have any hope of taking this seat.

Meanwhile, Conservative PPC Simon Marcus will be thinking that the start to his campaign couldn’t be going any better – as things stand he has no Labour or Liberal Democrat candidate to campaign against. This would be a great opportunity for him to set out his stall before the party apparatus falls into the negative campaigning that – whatever the protestations of candidates and party workers – seems to be an inevitable part of electioneering.

[update: http://www.westhampsteadlife.com/2013/02/shouting-into-empty-room-emilys-gone-0055.html]
[update: http://www.westhampsteadlife.com/2013/02/emily-frith-its-dream-job-0056.html]

Burst pipes, broken communication?

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Burst water pipes. They happen. It’s annoying. You might lose water for the day, which – depending on your needs – is either slightly or extremely inconvenient but it’s a day, and you’ll cope.

If the water pipe is under a main road then that road will probably have to be closed and dug up and naturally that adds to the inconvenience. These are day-to-day occurrences for the public and privatised bodies that deal with our utilities. It’s easy to see that for them it’s just another job number. But they must also surely recognise that for the residents involved this is a fairly unusual and disruptive state of affairs. It is not too much to expect, therefore, for them to do everything they reasonably can to minimise that inconvenience. Overall I think we can say that in this latest incident on West End Lane, this has not happened.

Aside from the large pipe that burst, this past week has seen a spate of other burst pipes in the area. It looks like we’re in for some lengthy upgrade works, which means more disruption. Again, this happens. Stuff breaks and has to be fixed. You don’t get the Victorian architecture without some Victorian infrastructure that needs repairing.

Newly painted road markings (via @RentalFlatsNW6)

The good news is that this latest batch of burst pipes should bump us a few places up the priority list for upgrade. The bad news is that although the original stretch of West End Lane should reopen today, the leak at Cleve Road is more complicated than it looks and this section of West End Lane may also need to be closed for a few days. Perhaps if that happens then we can learn the lessons from this past week’s somewhat farcical situation.

First, it’s still not clear why there was a gap of several hours last week between Thames Water turning up to examine the West End Lane leak and Camden closing the road so they could start work on it. On Twitter, Camden told me they were looking into this but I’m yet to hear any answers.

Second, although Thames Water repaired the leak reasonably quickly, fixing the road has taken an inordinate amount of time. I realise that they have to prioritise – which is why some leaks gets fixed immediately and others, which don’t cause loss of water supply or that risk damaging property, can take weeks. However, a busy main road that is on three bus routes is surely something of a priority? We were told on Wednesday that the road would be closed until Saturday, and that Camden then hoped to continue its own road resurfacing. Two days to fix a hole in the road – even a large hole – seemed reasonable. Problem was that not a lot happened on Friday. Then there was some activity on Saturday. But not a lot on Sunday. Today, Monday, it looks like it’s going to finally be fixed and reopen. But why did nothing happen on Friday and Sunday?

Do the budget cuts at Camden mean there’s no-one left to chase Thames Water? Do such things just fall through the cracks. Is there too much trust placed on the utility by the council? It’s true that Camden insisted that Thames make good the whole section of road in order to maintain the integrity of the road surface, which added time. But there was so much downtime on this job – or at least appeared to be – that they could have probably done the rest of the West End Lane while they were at it.

In the age of Twitter and the demand for greater transparency and information, these bodies need to up their game. Camden, Thames Water, and me(!) were being asked all day what was happening. Thames, which I think is generally ahead of the game in terms of using Twitter, was not hugely responsive; Camden presumably didn’t know – or at least the people manning the Twitter feed were too far removed from the people who knew the answers. I just felt like starting a “Is West End Lane open yet” websites that just showed a big “NO”.

What SHOULD happen is that people go to Thames Water’s neat interactive map that lets you check the status of reported leaks. Yet this simply isn’t up-to-date enough. People expect real-time information in 2013, and surely it’s not a major IT task to have status data uploaded from the senior person on-site into the database that underpins the map? Yet, if that’s supposed to happen, it does not. Right now the map says “We’re aware of a leak on West End Lane” – that’s the one they’ve already fixed. The Cleve Road leak doesn’t even get a mention.

Third, TfL dropped the ball. On Friday I bumped into a heavily pregnant woman on West End Lane at the corner with Broadhurst Gardens. She asked if I knew what bus to get to Kilburn. I had to tell her that her best option – short of a taxi – was to walk down Sherriff Road. TfL, generally fairly on the ball with dealing with closures, was saying on its bus countdown app that the buses were all running fine despite the fact that the road was impassable and all three buses – the 139, 328 and C11 – were on diversion. The full website has all the details, but surely there should be a trigger that can ensure the right information comes to our smartphones?

Sure, West Hampstead isn’t Oxford Street. Sure, residents had their water supply turned back on reasonably quickly. And sure, none of this stuff is the end of the world. But the knock-on effects are frustrating to say the least. This main leak has now taken six days to fix, and means another weekend of disruption as Camden will have to come back and do the original resurfacing work it had to cancel for this past weekend.

Everyone concerned can do better.

West End Lane should reopen this evening

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West End Lane is scheduled to reopen around 6pm today. One of the reasons for the delay (and there’s a separate post on this coming up net) is that Camden has insisted that Thames Water make full repairs to the road rather than just filling in the hole and tarmacing over it.

The leak further south on West End Lane at the junction with Cleve Road, is apparetntly more complicated than first thought. There is apparently a “significant void under the carriageway”, according to a Camden communication. I take this to be council speak for “a bloody big gap”, and reinstating the road here could mean closing West End Lane again. There’s a meeting tomorrow morning to assess the next steps. For more on the saga of West Hampstead’s burst pipes and broken communications, read this.

What have I missed since February 11th?

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On Tuesday evening, a large water pipe burst on West End Lane opposite the Bridge Cafe. Residents south of the tube station lost water or had low water pressure for almost 24 hours. Fixing the leak meant closing West End Lane, which remained closed for the rest of the week, causing enormous disruption to bus services, and clogging up surrounding roads.

This was followed by a burst pipe on Kingdon Road, another on West End Lane at the junction with Cleve Road , what looked like more problems outside Hidden Treasure, and another burst pipe on Mill Lane. Lets hope Camden is taking this up with Thames Water.

On the same day the original leak was being fixed, chemicals emanating from the back of a fridge in Cholmley Gardens brought the fire brigade out as the main leak was being fixed.

To add to the end-of-the-world feeling, an overhead cable came down around Radlett, which played havoc with First Capital Connect’s Thameslink services.

After months of silence on the Ballymore development at 187-199 West End Lane, it looks like construction will start in the summer. In the meantime, the parade of shops there is to be turned into a marketing suite for the development. Peppercorns is apparently moving into the site where the Chinese Herbal Clinic is at 260 West End Lane.

There are fears the money allocated for a lift at the Overground station could be taken away if work cannot be started by the agreed time.

Blue Daisy is closing its West Hampstead branch in the foreseeable future. New retailers wanted!

CRASH – the residents association for South Hampstead had all but evaporated, but it’s back with a new website.

The Daily Mail appeared to break the news to local councillors that the post office at Swiss Cottage was on a list earmarked for closure.

Monday’s Area Action Group meeting for West Hampstead & Fortune Green wards covered flood risk (appropriately for a week of burst water mains), policing, libraries and the Neighbourhood Development Forum.

Remember we found from the census that there was just one heavy metal worshipper in West Hampstead. Now, we know who he is!

This is 40 is NxNW6’s film of the week. We’ve tried a new style of local film listings this week – let us know what you think.

Simon Marcus, Conservative PPC for Hampstead & Kilburn, got his campaign rolling with the help of party chairman Grant Shapps. Meanwhile, it looks increasingly likely that Labour will draw up an all-women shortlist for candidates to replace Glenda Jackson.

Coming up
February
21st: Whampreview @ Hana SOLD OUT
21st: WHAT public meeting on local spending
25th: NDF meeting 7.30pm (venue tbc)
March
3rd: NW6 Film Club (details tbd)
28th: Whampgather XI

Tweet of the Week

@whampstead WEL road works added £4 to my cab fair last night. The cost of a bottle of Sainsbury’s Montepulciano or Pinot Noir.
— Naomii Chaplain (@NaomiiMay) February 16, 2013

Shops to become Ballymore marketing suite

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After several months of radio silence on the 187-199 West End Lane development, there is now an update on progress.

There had been a nice idea that the strip of shops from Café Bon to M.L.Estates might become pop-up shops while they lay empty (they will all close at the end of this month). Ballymore has other ideas and is applying to demolish them as soon as possible it seems and erect a temporary cedar and glass-clad “marketing suite” on the site for up to two years (i.e., until completion of the development).

No, i don’t know why the London Eye features either

There are new architects on the scheme. JTP, who designed the original scheme, has made way for WCEC, urban regeneration specialists. However, rumours that the developer Ballymore was no longer involved seem to be scotched by this latest planning application. Ballymore’s name is clearly on the submission along with WCEC.

The application states that “The Marketing Suite is to be erected at the earliest opportunity and will remain for the duration of the works on the site. The building is to be removed after this time.”

Frankly, this is not the worst option. What I think everyone wanted to avoid was the shops sitting empty for an indefinite period. If they’re going to be replaced with something else, especially something which hides at least some of the construction site, then that seems reasonable.

There is a lack of clarity over timing, however. The shops have been told to vacate by the end of February. The planning application says the site has been vacant since the end of January, while the Design & Access statement talks about existing tenants vacating in April, “at which point demolition will commence.”

“The Marketing Suite is to be constructed from three temporary cabins fixed together to create a space that is 12m x 7m x 3.2m high totalling 84m². The cabins were originally used for the Olympics and are now being effectively recycled for this development.

In order to improve the aesthetics of the building the front elevation, facing West End Lane, will be fully glazed with a curtain walling system with the pressure plates removed to give a seamless façade, there will also be a 300 x 300mm ppc aluminium feature nosing around the glazing in black. The front section of the North Elevation will also be glazed with the black feature nosing. The remainder of three sides facing into the site, behind the hoarding, will be painted white as these will not be visible from outside the site.

To either side of the building there will be 2.4m high hoarding which will be clad in cedar timber with a 300mm black band to the top to match that of the Marketing Suite. The hoarding will have both the name of the development and the Ballymore logo on them.

The area in front of the Marketing Suite and hoarding will be hard landscaped with feature paving and will have various planters dotted around.”

What’s happening to the shops
I have no news on Café Bon, Wired is likely to move out of the area temporarily but the owners are hopeful of returning once they can find premises. This was only ever meant to be a pop-up, but its success has encouraged them to establish something more permanent. Capital Car Hire will close, but has other offices in London. Peppercorns has a sign saying it plans to move further north on West End Lane, though it seems that it won’t be a seamless transition. AIT Computers is moving to a collect/delivery service based out of a house further south on West End Lane. Finally, M.L.Estates is moving to Mill Lane.

Found: West Hampstead’s Metal disciple

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We found the rock god. Or rather we found the guy who worships at the altar of heavy metal.

Remember the article about very local census data a few days ago? It concluded by showing that it’s possible to narrow down single data points to just a couple of streets. One person in West Hampstead had said in the census that his religion was Heavy Metal. That person had to live in Woodchurch or Acol Road. And now – thanks to Siân Llewellyn on Twitter – we’ve found them. Meet Alexander Milas.

Alexander, who has since moved from Woodchurch Road, isn’t just a worshipper of Heavy Metal though. Oh no. He’s the editor of Metal Hammer magazine. Better still… Alexander, together with his friend Rick who owns the Crobar in Soho, actually came up with the whole campaign to get people to put Heavy Metal as their religion. In total, more than 6,000 people nationwide signed up to the church of Metal (more than claimed to be Scientologists, or Druids, or even Taoists) thanks also to the efforts of Saxon’s singer Biff Byford, who agreed to be the ambassador for this new religion. Byford set out the stall for why Metal was truly a religion to be embraced:

“It’s not like pop music, where if the next song isn’t good enough then forget about it; with our music, people will allow you to be shit sometimes, and that’s one of the great things.”

It’s actually surprising that there was only one Metal devotee on the census. “It’s only fair we mention that it was actually a metal household,” said Milas. “My flatmate Duncan Wilkinson is actually in a band called Collapse and also very, very noise like myself.”

Water out most of day, road closed until weekend?

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A water main burst last night on West End Lane by West End Lane Cars. Many people south of the stations either have no water or low water pressure. The latest estimate from the workmen carrying out the repairs is that water will be restored by 5pm today.

The repairs to the pipe have meant closing the road. Apparently, one of the reasons for delay was coordinating with the council to close the road. More on that story as I get it.

As a very rough rule of thumb, properties on and to the west of West End Lane are worse affected than those to the east, although there are exceptions to this rule possibly based on how high up in a building you are. Thames Water is providing bottled water outside West End Charcoal Grill. I did see people taking water and heading north, when the problems are south. Seems a bit opportunist.

This is what water looks like

Starbucks and Costa have been struggling – the former is serving filter coffee, the latter is out of hot water. Wired has a large external tank and is still operating as normal. ML Estates decided to abandon any attempt at opening its office today.

West End Lane is closed between Blackburn Road and Iverson Road. National Express coaches, already diverted off Finchley Road (not sure why), are now having to head down Iverson Rd.

There was a tweet just now from Cllr Keith Moffitt saying that the road would be closed until Saturday “in order to ensure all remedial works are completed”. This does not bode well for traffic for the rest of the week – buses are of course on diversion, clogging up both Kilburn High Road and Finchley Road as well as side streets.

I’ve asked Keith whether he can find out whether the resurfacing work on West End Lane, which disrupted traffic and polluted the farmers’ market last weekend, will continue as planned or whether we’ll get some respite after three days of closure. [update 12:50pm: resurfacing work will go ahead, depending on progress of Thames Water’s works]

It is perhaps worth pointing out that there have been instances recently where the doom-and-gloom news of lengthy road closures have in fact not been that bad at all. Nevertheless, expect disruption and delays at the very least.

Here’s the latest from TfL on the bus diversions:

  • 139 Curtailed to Quex Road and stand Kilburn High Road. Depart via Kilburn High Road Left Belsize Road Right Abbey Road to normal route.
  • 328 towards Golders Green from Quex Road Right Abbey Road Left Belsize Road Left Finchley Road to normal route.
  • 328 towards Kilburn from West End Lane Right Iverson Road Left Kilburn High Road to normal route.
  • C11 towards Archway from West End Lane Right Iverson Road Left Kilburn High Road Left Quex Road Left West End Lane Right Broadhurst Gardens to normal route
  • C11 towards Brent Cross from Cleve Road Left West End Lane Right Quex Road Right Kilburn High Road Right Mill Lane Left Westbere Road to normal route.

Your views on local flood risk – yes, it exists.

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I started this article this morning with “Newer residents might find this a peculiar topic…”. By this evening, newer residents were suddenly all too aware of the flood risk in West Hampstead as West End Lane was transformed into a river after a pipe apparently burst. [update: here’s the latest on the impact on Wednesday morning: http://www.westhampsteadlife.com/2013/02/water-out-most-of-day-road-closed-until-0043.html]

Photo via @Veena_ju

Pipes burst all the time of course, but the water is supposed to drain away eventually. The challenge is that with so much hard surface and drains and gullies getting blocked by debris, and in the case of Blackburn Road tonight, mud from the construction site, this water has nowhere to go. This is when we see the fire engines getting involved, pumping water off the streets.

Move away from a single burst pipe to a rainstorm that drenches a much wider area and it’s clear that West Hampstead could have a problem.

There have been two major flood events in West Hampstead in the last 40 years: 1975 and 2002. Both of these were caused not by a burst pipe, or even the sort of relentless winter rain we’ve got at the moment but by freak summer storms. The risk is more to do with surface runoff and blocked drains than a rising water table.

Lymington Road in 2002 (Photo: Steve Berryman)

As chance would have it, just yesterday Camden launched a consultation on flood strategy. Nick Humfrey, from the council, was on hand at last night’s Area Action Group meeting to explain more about it.

After the 2002 flood, Thames Water invested in a large flood risk project in the area, known as the Sumatra Road scheme. This increased sewer capacity and added a holding tank and flood risk has reduced as a result.Nevertheless, two particular areas have been designated as potential flood risk locations: Cannon Hill and Goldhurst Terrace.

“While we have been able to develop a strong understanding of the flood risk in the borough through our modelling, records and the knowledge of our staff, there is always more information we can use and we’re keen to hear from you about areas in your neighbourhood which flood regularly or actions that have been taken which have had an impact on flood risk.

We are also interested in hearing your views on the proposed plans for managing and alleviating flood risk. While the plans are still at an early stage and the strategy is not able to go into detail for specific schemes, we’re very keen to hear of any issues that will need to be considered when the detail for these schemes is delivered.”

The whole draft plan can be downloaded here and below is the map of Camden showing streets that have suffered from flooding in the past.

If Nick thought he was in for a quick Q&A session last night he was sorely mistaken. Local residents had plenty to say about this topic – many with damp memories of both these previous major floods as well as smaller incidents.

The two biggest concerns were – aptly enough – the council’s clearing of street gullies, and the ever-thorny issue of the impact of the increase in basement excavations. The gullies are meant to be cleared around once a year, but locals claimed there were gullies that hadn’t been cleared in years. As for basements, this is becoming a major issue all over Camden – and beyond. Planning permission needs to be sought for such work, but it seems to be granted usually. The challenge may be that too many basements in one street or one area could mean that drainage is compromised causing localised flooding. There are many anecdotal examples of this. Surveys are required for each basement, but the cumulative impact seems to be proving harder for planners to prove or act on. One indignant woman last night seemed simply stunned that Camden could allow swimming pools in basements. I haven’t heard of too many of those in West Hampstead myself – such ironic development is surely confined to our NW3 neighbours up on the hill.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts on local flooding or have been the victim of even a minor flood event in your back garden or street, do fill in the survey. The more data Camden has, the more accurately it can model flood risk and then the flood relief measures it needs to implement will be as effective as possible.

What have I missed since February 4th?

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Could the post office move into the church? Negotiations are already well advanced.

The development of 63-65 Maygrove Road was given a conditional green light.

Here’s your chance to improve Kilburn Grange Park.

Property News: the market’s up, but does the money property owners make mean that no-one cares about fees?

More census data was released; now we can find the heavy metal worshipper.

The West Hampstead & Fortune Green Neighbourhood Development Forum entered its first consultation stage.

Byron Hamburgers opened in the O2 centre – I went to roadtest it on its first day.@e

Old Bridge – the eastern European deli/grocers on Broadhurst Gardens – is applying for an alcohol licence to offer “fine Croatian wines and premium Czech beer”. Meanwhile, the Black Lion on West End Lane is applying for a 1am licence on Fridays & Saturdays.

Glenda Jackson MP voted in favour of gay marriage, while Sarah Teather MP voted against. Teather explained why.

The first ever #whampart night was a great success – thanks to Camden Arts Centre for the guided tour.

West End Lane is being resurfaced. Classic “end of the budget year” stuff from Camden.

There are plenty of Valentine’s Day film screenings this week, including Casablanca. Check out the full local listings.

Camden police has a new borough commander.

The Good Ship hosted the launch of local author Robert Hudson’s latest book, Dazzle.

Diamond Geezer’s blog took a closer look at Kilburn Park tube station.

Vivi Nails on Broadwell Parade is being replaced by Be Lush, which opened Sunday.

This Sunday was also the 125th anniversary of St James Church, while Saturday was the first anniversary of Guglee’s West Hampstead branch.

Coming up
February
11th: Area Action Group, synagogue hall, Dennington Pk Rd
12th: Swiss Cottage police public meeting
13th & 14th Kilburn Grange Park improvements public sessions
21st: Whampreview @ Hana SOLD OUT
21st: WHAT public meeting on local spending
25th: NDF meeting 7.30pm (venue tbc)
March
3rd: NW6 Film Club (details tbd)
28th: Whampgather XI

Tweet of the Week
We haven’t had a crazy Kilburn TOTW in a while. So here’s a classic of the genre

Man getting arrested on Kilburn High Rd with his pants round his ankles swaying screaming my my my Delilah… Why did I ever leave Kilburn?”
— Emma Boom (@emmazentner) February 5, 2013

Maygrove Rd plan scrapes over affordable housing hurdle

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Last Thursday, Camden’s Development Control committee granted conditional planning permission for the development of 91 flats on 65-67 Maygrove Road.

It was a rather complicated debate. The issue was not one of architecture, nor about replacing offices with housing. Rather, it was about the low share of affordable housing and whether this should be reassessed earlier than would be normal.

CGI image: Looking west along Maygrove Road

The debate was a little hard to follow for those of us not overly familiar with the nuances of planning regulation and, at one stage, the boss of developer Regal Homes was so desperate to win councillors over that he pretty much got out his wallet and promised a large lump sum payment right then and there.

Lets start at the beginning. The idea of developing this site is relatively uncontroversial. Although Camden is rightly keen to keep employment space, the owner of Handrail House – the main existing building on the site – has struggled to find tenants for some time, and the housing need is acute as we all know. The full planning report is here.

Very wisely, given the enormous impact the new development will have on the Sidings estate, Regal Homes has been working hard to offer Sidings some incentives so that residents will support the development. During the consultation phase this strategy was met with scepticism by some.

It is unusual for Section 106 money (the contribution developers make to the local area to mitigate the impact of new residents) to be allocated to specific projects up front. This is partly because over the lifetime of a building project, priorities and projects can change. However, Cllr Risso-Gill pushed for it to be recorded in the minutes that some of the money should be ring-fenced for renovation of Sidings Community Centre, sports facilities and amenities in the Peace Park, and the overgrown area on Maygrove Road. Although this will not be written into the final formal agreement, it does seem likely that money will be spent on these areas.

CGI image: View from Brassey Road

The more challenging issue, and one that vexed several councillors, was that of affordable housing provision. Camden’s benchmark is that 50% of the floorspace of any new development should be dedicated to affordable housing. In practice this is rarely achieved and developers set out to prove that the development would not be viable at all if they conformed to this requirement as their profits would be too low. They can then be forced to make a financial contribution to fund affordable housing elsewhere in the borough.

This development proposes just 18% of floorspace for affordable housing – which translates to 12 flats out of the 91. In such cases the onus is on the developer to prove that this is the maximum viable number of units. The planning authority (Camden council) hires an independent assessor to look over these numbers. Here’s where it gets complicated. Large-scale developments take time to build. In a rising property market such as this one, the value at the time of sale could far exceed that at the time of assessment, which could of course mean that more affordable units would be viable.

In a rising market this should suit everyone. According to Camden’s independent assessors, a “modest 5% increase in sales values would improve viability by c£1.5 million.” In other words – more affordable housing could be built. In such circumstances, it’s become normal for councils to seek a “deferred affordable housing contribution” based on a re-appraisal of the scheme’s viability. However, when that reassessment takes place clearly matters. Three years is apparently standard, but can be brought forward – useful in a volatile market.

This is where the developer started to get twitchy. It felt that he saw the chances of permission being granted slipping away as councillors pushed hard on this issue. He explained that banks simply wouldn’t lend him the money if there was a lack of certainty over the return and more or less said that if the project was rejected or deferred today then it simply wouldn’t go ahead as he’d be unable to secure development finance.

In reality, it’s more likely that he could have appealed the rejection on the grounds that Camden officers had approved the plan, and had he won on appeal (I’m told this is quite likely) then other Section 106 money could have been lost as a result.

As councillors continued to push, Camden’s legal adviser explained that officers could go away and work on the wording of any permission to reflect the desire for a reappraisal closer to the completion point of the project than is usual. If the reappraisal of value determined that more affordable housing would be viable given the market value at the time, then Camden would be able to claim the money from the developer up to a capped amount based on a formula.

This is where Mr Eden, who left school at 16 and worked on market stalls before launching out into the property market, seemed to revert back to his trading roots. Clearly anxious about the direction the discussion was taking, he volunteered to add an extra £500,000 to his Section 106 money if the permission was granted tonight (see 1h58’30” in video)

Unsurprisingly, that’s not quite how development control meetings work – at least not in Camden. Frances Wheat, head of development control, explained that there was a statutory formula for calculating any deferred contribution, although this itself was capped. According to the planning documents, this could be as much as £7.7million for this development.

Finally, the vote was taken on whether to grant permission. This would be on the condition that the revisions to the timeframe for reassessing the viability of affordable housing met with councillors approval. This could happen as early as this week – if they are not approved, the whole application will come before the committee again. Eight councillors voted in favour, none against, and Cllr Risso-Gill abstained as she “was not comfortable with the application overall.” The full webcast of the meeting is below.

Of course none of this offers any guarantee that the build will take place. For all the permissions granted of late, it’s only the student block on Blackburn Road that’s making progress. Ballymore – developers of the 187-199 West End Lane strip of land – is proving difficult to pin down by anyone, even though those shops are going to shut over the next few weeks. Nor are there any signs of construction starting at the 163 Iverson Road site, where the architects told me in November that the project was on hold.

Census: Finding the rock god

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The headline aggregate census statistics were released last year but only at the local authority level, i.e., Camden-wide. As the data crunchers do their thing, the Office of National Statistics will start to release the numbers at the local level.

This allows us to start looking at West Hampstead in more detail.

It’s stats, which means methodology. Bear with me (or scroll down for the numbers). Census data is collated at the “output area” level. There are MSOAs, which correspond roughly to ward-sizes, LSOAs are one-size smaller, and OAs are at the street/postcode level. They all have numerical codes and it can be quite hard to find out what they actually correspond to on the ground!

However, it is possible to see that Greater West Hampstead roughly covers four MSOAs with the evocative names of Camden 005, 010, 013 and 016. This map shows the area they cover.

With more time you could play around with the LSOAs to get the “perfect” boundaries for the area you want to cover, but we’re going to stick with MSOAs for now. The great advantage of these areas over the ward boundaries is that they do not change as much, which makes comparison over time easier.

Right that’s your geographical stats lesson out of the way.

The latest release of stats gives us the total population at these lower levels, the ethnic make-up of the area, and the stated religious affiliation (or lack of one).

The population of West Hamptead is 33,751, up from 31,004 since the 2001 census – a rise of 8.8%. The bulk of this growth has been in the north of the area in Fortune Green and the “heart” of West Hampstead. These two MSOAs experienced population growth of more than 10%. Given all the building work slated for the next few years, the 2021 census should show even greater growth. The area as a whole though is broadly in line with national population growth rates and lower than the London growth rate of 14%.

Ethnic mix
Less than half of West Hampstead’s population consider themselves to be British in one form or another – 44.6% to be precise. Of the 94 ethnic categories in the census, only Punjabi, “Black European”, “Black and Chinese” have no representatives in West Hampstead, which is quite astonishing. Here are the other highlight numbers:

  • 4.9% “Other Western European” (seems to be almost everything apart from Italian); 
  • 4.8% to be African, 
  • 4.2% to be Irish, 
  • 3.6% Indian or British Indian, 
  • 2.77% “Other White”, 
  • 2.75% “European Mixed”, 
  • 2.1% Australian or New Zealander, 
  • 2.1% Bangladeshi, 
  • 1.7% North American and so on. 

Comparisons with 2001 are tricky as I simply can’t find the comparable 2001 chart. It’s possible to get the broad ethnic breakdown by each MSOA but if anyone can send me a link to the full dataset I shall be grateful

Religion
Just over a third of whampers (35.9%) class themselves as Christian, which is well below the national average of 59.3%). A quarter of people have no religion (this includes people who state “Jedi”), and a fifth didn’t asnwer the question.

  • 8.7% identify as Muslim
  • 6.5% identify as Jewish
  • 1.2% identify as Buddhist
  • 92 people identify as Jedi

Unlike the ethnic breakdown there are a lot of religions not represented in the area (there are 56 religions mentioned in the census). One of the delights of the very detailed output is that you can get quite precise about where these people live. So, for example, according to the data, the one Heavy Metal devotee probably lives on Woodchurch or Acol Road (or was staying there that night).

So if you’ve got a neighbour on those streets who plays heavy metal and you don’t like it, complain at your peril – you may not be able to infringe his or her right to worship 😉

Byron opens for business in the O2

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The O2 is undergoing something of a transformation, as we’ve discussed. Today was an important landmark in this evolution as Byron opened. Byron is a burger chain that began as an idea in 2007 and now has 27 locations in London and a few further afield.

Its main claim seems to be that it does a good straightforward burger and it does it well, in a nice atmosphere. I thought I’d go along to the latest Byron and check it out, while keeping my Twitter followers up to speed.

There was some surprise that I’d never been to a Byron before, but to be honest I don’t go to burger places that often. I like a good burger for sure, but almost never have one in this country that delivers the whole package. I’m fortunate (if that’s the word ) to have been to some strange off-the-beaten-track towns in the US and even in some out of the way holes, you can still get burgers that put most of the premium offerings here to shame (kudos to the first burger joint here that can put bison burgers squarely on the map).

Anyway, back to Byron. The wide frontage is inviting and the glitzy showbiz sign fits in rather well.


All in all, a decent first day for them. My waitress was particularly friendly and smiley. I did mention that my burger was bizarrely unevenly cooked (although as I said to them, I actually prefer burgers slightly underdone so it didn’t affect my enjoyment of it) and as the manager came over to get my feedback I was willing to share the good and the disappointing.

The cinema crowd will be a big part of their business, and I expect they will do a healthy lunch trade from local businesses and kids during the holidays. It’s not the cheapest burger place around – even with the discount, although throwing in a fairly generous tip, my bill came to £20. But it fills a gap in the market and the formula is clearly working well for the chain to expand at the rate it is.

Just one teeny thing… here’s the card they give you at the end (it’s a three of diamonds on the other side – dunno why).

Yeah, so, it’s like, not Finchley. Swiss Cottage, West Hampstead, Finchley Road, NW3… all acceptable. Finchley is a lot further north. Tsk.

I leave you with the video from Byron’s website. Not because they’re paying me to (they’re not), but because I actually rather like it and I had the same trouble getting ketchup out of the bottle. The little book from which the photo earlier was taken is the stills version of this video.

How much for this letter to the Corinthians?

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The possible move of West Hampstead’s post office into St James Church is at an advanced stage of negotiation. It would be one of the first church post offices in a major British city. Yet it seems very few people are aware that it might happen.

Google Street View June 2012

The franchise owner of the existing West End Lane post office – Mr Ajay Kukadia – has apparently decided that it’s time to call it a day after almost 25 years. He has other plans for the premises. However, he has said that he will not close the post office until an alternative location has been secured. Mr Kukadia approached local estate agents Dutch & Dutch to help find a new location and they tweeted this in mid-November. Almost immediately, Father Andrew Cain, vicar of St James and St Mary, replied.

We’ve been instructed to help the@whampstead Post Office relocate to a new shop. Ideas on a postcard..or better-‘tweetme’ #newpostoffice
— West Hampstead Agent (@Dutch_and_Dutch) November 13, 2012

@dutch_and_dutch @whampstead – how about thinking a bit wider. Church?
— Fr Andrew Cain (@churchnw6) November 13, 2012

@dutch_and_dutch @whampstead – does it have to be a shop?
— Fr Andrew Cain (@churchnw6) November 13, 2012

@churchnw6 I don’t believe so. I like your thinking!
— West Hampstead Agent (@Dutch_and_Dutch) November 13, 2012

@dutch_and_dutch ok. Lets talk.
— Fr Andrew Cain (@churchnw6) November 13, 2012

Talk they did and the process has now moved on. There are, as you can imagine, lots of legal loopholes to jump through. The church – on the corner of West End Lane and Sherriff Road – has been accepted as a suitable venue, but that’s just the starting point. Now the Post Office and the church both have to prepare detailed plans and a business case. The church also has to approve the necessary alterations. When i first heard about this, I assumed that the plan was to house the counters in the church hall on Sherriff Road. But apparently, the idea is to have it actually in the church itself.

This is not groundbreaking – but it is unusual, especially in London. In 2003, the parish centre in Hemingford Grey in Cambridgeshire took over the local post office. The first post office actually in a church opened in 2004 in the exquisitely named village of Sheepy Magna in Leicestershire – a parish with around 1,000 inhabitants. It was only open six hours a week. Sleepy rural backwaters, where demand is low and the pace of life slow, seem well suited to such co-located services and the local church often plays a more significant role in the community than it does in a busy multicultural setting such as north-west London.

Unsurprisingly, given the often arcane and prosciptive nature of some religious doctrines, there may be  challenges to overcome so that some members of non-Christian faiths can enter the church. For example, here are two counter-arguments from the Jewish Chronicle in 2008 about whether Jews can enter a church or not. According to the 2011 census data, more than 2,000 people in West Hampstead identify as Jewish, although the census does not of course tell us how many would side with the stricter interpretations of the Talmud.

Some Muslims also believe they must not enter a church because of the display of idols, although once again it’s possible to find arguments on both sides given that there would be no religious context to the post office other than its location.

There may be workarounds for the most orthodox of non-Christian believers, and pragmatism often wins out eventually given how much of sacred text is open to interpretation.

Back to the practicalities of our own post office being in the church. Father Andrew points out that there are no guarantees this will come to pass.

“If the business case is not strong, if the alterations cost too much, if the approvals are not given – all could stop this happening. If that were the case then I would be sad – it’s a great opportunity and there is currently no other venue suitable for the Post Office to move to – and that will probably mean no post office in West Hampstead. That would be a real loss to the community and especially for those too old or disabled to get up to Finchley Road or down to Kilburn.”

Father Andrew is also keen to point out that the motivation for this is not financial. “We have a strong financial base of our own, we run a good annual surplus and have a steady if small congregation. We are not going to make money out of this and indeed will have to invest a very large amount of our own money.”

The motivation instead is to preserve a vital community service and to improve other community services. If approval is finally granted, the church will set up a charitable trust to run the Post Office, along with a café and a small retail space. Any profit made after running costs and loan repayments will go to funding community support workers. “We hope to have a Citizens Advice Bureau-supported debt advice worker on site, to employ a family support worker and possibly a youth worker. We hope to run pensioners’ lunches in the café, provide parent and toddler groups and also youth facilities in the evenings when the post office is closed.”

The post office space would also be an obvious location for one of the proposed pop-up police counters that are expected to appear as the police station closes. It may also cause a small but noteworthy shift in West Hampstead’s centre of gravity and could be a boost for those businesses south of the tube station.

If all the necessary approvals from the church, the post office and the public consultation are gained then we might be looking at August or September for the grand opening. This is the 125th anniversary of St James’ church – could it give a new lease of life to the building at a time when only 36% of the local population identify as Christian – substantially lower than the 48% across London as a whole.

As for what happens to the existing post office… did someone say Foxton’s?

Of course, if nothing else comes of this, the whole story proves the importance of Twitter in West Hampstead! Oh, and Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians would cost him £1.66 in postage today or 87 pence if he wrote on both sides of airmail paper.

Neighbourhood plan: consultation time

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Regular readers will have followed the progress of the Neighbourhood Development Forum; while even sporadic readers may have spotted the signs that have gone up around the area about the consultation stage the NDF is in now. I thought I’d let NDF Chair James Earl tell you more about it so you can get involved and make sure your views are counted.

“The Fortune Green & West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum (NDF) was established in January 2012 in response to the government’s Localism Act. This gives communities the power to draw up Plans for their area and to outline how the area should develop in future. It’s a very new concept and it’s pretty much untried and untested, but with a positive outlook it’s hoped drawing up a plan for our area will have benefits.

As some people know, the part of West Hampstead around the stations is classified as a ‘Growth Area’ in the London Plan. The stated aim is that this area should provide a minimum of 800 new homes and 100 new jobs between 2010-2031. Obviously, this will bring big changes to the area and have a large effect on it. A Neighbourhood Plan can’t change these figures, but can try to be more specific about where the homes are located and what other measures are needed in the area to accommodate this growth. It’s also important to note that the Plan can’t call for less development, and also has to fit in with the existing policies in the national, London and Camden plans.

To find out what people living and working in the area want from Fortune Green & West Hampstead in the future, we spent part of last year seeking views. Some of you may have seen our stall at the Jester Festival – which had pictures of local buildings and asked people what they thought of them – and/or filled out our survey. The results of this – along with lots of other information about the NDF – are on our website: www.ndpwesthampstead.org.uk.

In order to have the legal authority to write a plan, we have to apply to Camden Council to recognise the Forum and the Area we cover. The Council is consulting on our application and comments have to be made by 15th March. You can find details about the consultation here.

To demonstrate to the Council that we have wide support, we are urging as many people as possible to respond. All you have to do is email ldf@camden.gov.uk to say you support the application and the area we cover (see map).

If our application is approved by the Council, we will be able to write a Plan. Once it’s finalised there has to be a further period of consultation, it has to be submitted to a planning inspector and then – finally – there is a referendum of all those living in the area. If a majority of those voting approve the Plan, it becomes a statutory planning document for the area.

The Forum welcomes anyone living or working in the area to get involved with our work and come to our meetings. You don’t have to have any expertise in planning issues – just a view about the area and what it should look like in future.

If you want to get in touch you can email: ndpwesthampstead@gmail.com or follow us on twitter: @WHampsteadNDF.”

Property News: Why sellers tolerate fees

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The start to the year has been very encouraging for the sales market in West Hampstead. It seems that the government Funding for Lending scheme, introduced six months ago, is starting to have an impact on the availability of loans while overall rates for borrowing are now at their lowest levels since the start of the recession.

It is hard to quantify exactly how much of an effect the scheme is having but there is no doubt that new applicant and viewing levels are up significantly from January 2012, and there’s an increased level of confidence in the market from agents and sellers alike.

Further good news for buyers is the government’s announcement that later this year it intends to allow empty office buildings to be converted into residential homes without the need for planning permission. This should relieve some of the upward pressure on sales and rental prices and is estimated to create an extra 100,000 homes across the UK.

This month I also wanted to raise the thorny subject of estate agents’ fees. According to the Guardian and Halifax Building Society, between 1959 and 2009 house prices have risen by 273% while real earnings rose 169%. Estate agent fees have not changed much in percentage terms over that time, so it would seem we are therefore earning more in real terms for the same job.

Is this what causes the ill feeling about estate agents? After all, in London we are talking about £40,000 (ex. vat) for selling a £2m property or even £10,000 (ex. vat) for selling a £500,000 flat (the price of an average 2-bed in NW6). On the face of it, not great value. Throw in the fact that ours is a largely unqualified profession governed by a mainly toothless Ombudsman scheme (although there are signs that it’s finding its bite) and even we can see why some of that negative sentiment arises. Fees for your estate agent far outstrip those for your conveyancing lawyer or RICS qualified surveyor. Hardly seems fair?

However, I suggest that there is a love/hate relationship between seller and agent and that although our fees seem high we can justify this and that secretly, sellers don’t really mind paying them.

This thought came to me while reading about Tesco’s failed venture into estate agency. Like many others, it invested into an online-only estate agency. The premise was that sellers, fed up with high fees, could advertise their properties online, take enquiries, conduct viewings and negotiate a sale all for a few hundred pounds. Other companies have tried various different versions of this model; some offering a negotiation and sales progression service and others a lower fixed percentage. None have yet succeeded.

It intrigued me that although sellers complain about estate agent fees when they were given the opportunity to pay less, they didn’t take it. I conducted some very basic market research: I emailed 25 of my friends and family and asked them to rank in preference what makes them decide who to appoint to sell their house: a) fees. b) local reputation c) recommendation d) personality/liked the agent or e) sold in my road.

Only one person replied that fees were the most important factor, and most placed it at the bottom of the list. It would seem that there is value in local knowledge and a track record, and that sellers do put trust in their agent to do the best job for them. I would argue this is because agents invest thousands in up front costs, creating a market place where property can be sold for the best possible price.

High street premises, newspaper advertising, expensive websites, numerous property search sites (whose prices go up exponentially each year), staff, sponsorship, marketing, petrol, cars etc.. are all up front costs designed to attract buyers for your property. This demand creates a market where you will be assured of achieving the market value of your property.

Another aspect of estate agents is that they have played a significant part (rightly or wrongly) in pushing up property prices over the last 50 years. Competition amongst agents and sellers’ desire to get the most money they can for their property means that every new instruction comes to the market at a slightly higher price than the last. This has contributed to huge amounts of personal wealth being made through the property boom of the last 50 years. Is part of the reason we accept the fees because the money we make is almost like Monopoly money that we have not seen and wouldn’t have made otherwise.

Property is usually a family’s single biggest asset and, naturally, when selling you want to be absolutely sure that you will be getting the best possible price. It seems that when it comes down to it, sellers do consider the agents the experts.

I would be interested to hear your views on this. Next month, we’ll look at the importance of development and consider whether homeowners and local authorities have too many rights to prevent it.

Darryl Jenkins
Associate Director
Benham & Reeves
West Hampstead
020 7644 9300
Follow @BenhamReeves

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Kilburn Grange Park: What’s the potential?

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Kilburn Grange Park is rather overlooked by West Hampstead folk. Yet, for those who live in the southern part of the area, it’s by far the nearest open space – and is substantially larger than Fortune Green.

So what could the park be used for to encourage more people to use it? Camden has asked London Sustainability Exchange to help. LSX is a charity that works with business, government and the voluntary sector to build sustainable communities.

LSX is kicking off this process by holding three “Listening Sessions” on February 13th and 14th. The sessions are for residents who live near the park to come and say what they would like to use the park for, whether their needs are being met, and what activities would draw more people to use the park. Participants will recieve £10 for their time, but places are limited so if you want to go then you have to register. Obviously, you also need to live reasonably near the park, or use the park, or want to use the park.

Wednesday Feb 13th: 9-10.30am @ Kingsgate Primary School
Wednesday Feb 13th: 6.30-8pm @ Belsize Room, Abbey Community Centre
Thursday Feb 14th: 1.30-3pm @ Kingsgate Community Centre
(the first and third sessions offer a childcare service).

To book your place, e-mail Ali Lin or call on 020 7324 9406.

Whampreview: Hana February 21st

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Ever since Montefiore closed some three years ago, 351 West End Lane has struggled to deliver a good restaurant. Now, there are new owners and new impetus. Hana has been open a few months serving Persian food. The owners had a successful restaurant in Temple Fortune but wanted to try cracking the West Hampstead market.

But is it any good? Only one way to find out – and meet a bunch of lovely locals at the same time. Come along to whampreview on February 21st.

What’s the deal?
We’re taking 24 people to Hana. Each table will get a selection of starters for £6/head, and then everyone can order their own main course. It is a meat-heavy main course menu, there’s one seafood main course and one vegetarian main – however, they are going to put an additional vegetarian main on for us so even if you’re not a meat eater there’ll be some choice, and most of the starters are vegetarian. Main courses vary from £8-13.

Whampreview basics
Dinner will be at 8pm and we’ll meet at The Black Lion on West End Lane for a drink from 7.15pm. During the evening, whoever is hosting your table (there’ll be three tables of eight people) will note down comments about the food/service/value etc., which will go into the write-up, but the evening is more about meeting people than being ultra-critical about restaurants. The bill is split equally between your table unless there’s been a large discrepancy in alcohol consumption. Any questions, just ask.

To put your name in the hat, simply before 5pm February 6th with your mobile number. Whampreviews are always oversubscribed, so I draw the names out of a hat and will contact everyone with a “yes” or “no” on the 7th.

The headmasterly bit
Please don’t commit on the offchance you might be free. Once I contact you to say you’re in, please check your diary and lock it in. Chasing round to fill last minute cancellations is, to be blunt, a pain in the arse that I could do without. I appreciate that sometimes people do need to cancel for a good reason – obviously the more notice you can give me the better.

What have I missed since January 28th?

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Yet another power cut hit the area. If you want to find out what’s being done to prevent these very frequent outages, call UK Power Networks’ customer relations team on 0800 028 4587

Local Conservatives elected Simon Marcus as their candidate for the next general election.

At a meeting about local transport the same night, there was support for Camden’s proposed 20mph limit.

One person enters West Hamsptead tube station every second during the peak of rush hour.

How is Camden doing in reaching the objectives of the Place Plan? I give a mid-term report.

Aldi, opening on Kilburn High Road this spring, is applying to sell alcohol from 7am-11pm.

The population of West Hampstead (as commonly understood) was 33,751 at the 2011 census.

The long-closed Bon Express, near the corner of Broadhurst Gardens and West End Lane, is opening as Pizzeria Naila (also serving “shawarma, subs, coffee”)

Swiss Cottage book group has spaces for new members – it meets the last Thursday of the month.

Silver Linings Playbook is the Film of the Week. Full local listings here.

What did NW6 Film Club make of Zero Dark Thirty last Sunday?

Artist Albert de Belleroche is the subject of the latest Kilburn History blogpost.

Coming up
February
6th: Whampart FULLY BOOKED
12th: Swiss Cottage police public meeting
21st: WHAT public meeting on local spending
March
3rd: NW6 Film Club (details tbd)
28th: Whampgather XI

Tweet of the Week

West Hampstead Place Plan: progress report

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The West Hampstead place plan, published last year, set out a lot of areas for action. Last week, Camden issued a two-page update on progress. Later in the year we’ll summarise progress against all the action points, but this is a good chance for a mid-term report.

The plan has five sections: Development, Economy, Environment, Services and Transport.

Development
The two key objectives:

  1. Work with the community to develop more detailed area planning guidance
  2. Involve the local community (where possible) in identifying priorities for how developer contributions are used.

On the first, the update refers to the Neighbourhood Development Forum, which is moving forward with its plan for the area and which the council supports through advice. The area covered by the forum is now under consultation (you may have seen some signs on lampposts to this effect).

This of course is not specific to the place plan – these NDFs are popping up all over the country and council support is part of the process. The update also says, “It is particularly important to establish more detailed planning guidance for the interchange area… as soon as possible. This is to ensure that if proposals come forward, the opportunities for a coordinated response to achieve the desired objectives are not missed”. Which is council speak for “lets not f*ck it up”.

This interchange plan has snuck under the radar a bit. I first heard about it at an NDF meeting late last year, although the minutes of the most recent meeting shed more light on it:

“Council officers would be carrying out work on this project; it’s mainly a technical piece of work to see how the West Hampstead Growth Area can accommodate the extra new homes and jobs as set out in the London Plan. They will work with the NDF on the detail of their proposals, although the Forum is not obliged to adopt its policies or recommendations. If both documents are approved, the NDP would sit above the framework as a statutory plan; the framework would be classed as ‘supplementary planning guidance’.”

In other words, it may not be of much concern (one might argue that it’s a waste of council time).

The second objective was getting community input on how to spend the money developers have to give for local improvements (the “Section 106” money). There is a meeting on February 21st, organised by WHAT, to discuss just this. It’s at the library from 7.30-9.45pm and is open to everyone. If you’re one of the people who grumbles that it’s the same few people always deciding what happens here, why not go along and have your say – you might be pleasantly surprised at the reception you get.

Development grade: A-

Economy
The three key objectives:

  1. Protect and promote the village character of the area
  2. Support West End Lane and Mill Lane shops and businesses
  3. Meet the needs of the people who live, work and visit the area

The update report cites the farmers’ market as an example of moving in the right direction, claiming (rightly) that it’s a great success and that it adds “variety to the shopping experience”.

Less clear-cut are the advances being made by the West Hampstead Business Forum. While the report suggests that it’s going from “strength to strength”, it doesn’t yet seem to have found its voice or even be quite sure what issues it needs to focus on.

I’ve reported already on the latest attempt of Mill Lane traders to coalesce into an active campaign group, and the council has been supportive to some extent. However, little seems to have been achieved yet in terms of encouraging landlords of vacant premises to fill them, or in terms of the traders themselves delivering against some of their creative ideas for the street.

The “look and feel” of the shopping area also falls under the Economy banner. Here, the place plan update refers to the council’s targeting the large billboards, such as those taken down from the bridge over the tube lines and says, “work is continuing to remove the remainder of the large billboards that do not have consent.” The council is also going to start targeting the the smaller signs – like all those A-boards that clutter the high street.

Economy grade: B-

Environment
The three key objectives:

  1. Provide new accessible open space to benefit the area
  2. Continue to improve open spaces, food growing, biodiversity and sustainability
  3. Maintain the valued quality and historic character of the area

The update makes no reference to any of these points and it’s hard to think what has been done in terms of open spaces although there is a move to improve Kilburn Grange Park (more on that over the next few days). The Friends of Fortune Green continue to drive improvements as phase two of the park’s renovation gets underway. This will include excavating the remains of a WW2 air raid shelter, refilling and re-turfing part of the green, replacing two noticeboards and adding a new one, landscaping a “children’s corner” and laying a ‘2012’ legacy running route.

(If you want to help out, then block out Sunday 3rd March (1-4pm ) to cut down the perennials and Saturday 16th March (also 1 to 4pm) for planting.)

Environment grade: D (higher grade could be available if you show your workings)

Services
The three key objectives:

  1. Continue to monitor the demand for school places and nursery provision
  2. Continue to support local voluntary sector organisations and investigate innovative delivery of services
  3. Negotiate with developers for ‘affordable’ provision of community space for local groups

Again, there’s no mention of progress here on the update. Extra primary places have been secured with the proposed Liddell Road school site (although work has yet to start on this), and Emmanuel School’s expansion also helps – although this predates the place plan. It’s not clear what else has been done under this section – or at least not clear what the council has helped facilitate.

Services grade: D- (again, show your workings)

Transport
There is just one objective:
Continue to improve how people move around and between the three stations
The update report refers to a drop-in session held in July, which threw up several proposals to address road safety and improve cycling. Work is already underway in consulting on or implementing these, which include alterations to speed bumps in Sumatra Road, and improving the junction at Inglewood Road and West End Lane.

“Other schemes potentially include looking at the loading restrictions along West End Lane, alterations to parking bays and opportunities for contraflow cycling.” The first would be widely welcomed by everyone apart from Tesco I’d imagine. The second could be popular with the local businesses who often cite parking restrictions as a barrier to a thriving weekday economy. As for contraflow cycling, there aren’t many one-way streets left that haven’t either become two-way for cyclists or that have been explicitly ruled out of such a change (e.g., Broadhurst Gardens).

Although the council have been quite active in this area, it doesn’t escape my attention that these issues don’t relate specifically to the area around and between the stations. The Legible London signs that have gone up are not a Camden-specific initiative.

Transport grade: B+

Overall, a mixed performance. We should perhaps remember that council resources are stretched at the moment, and that some of these issues will not be solved in six months. Nevertheless, it would be good to see the placeshaping team running through all the action points in the plan and giving us a quick update on all of them – or a timeframe for acting on those that cannot be quick fixes.

Morning rush hour: One person every second

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We all know that West Hampstead tube station is a busy place in morning rush hour. Elbows, rucksacks and briefcases are flying; the free papers are snaffled up; the tutting is audible as someone’s Oyster card fails to register. The entry gates act as a funnel for residents and commuters from further afield alike.

A data crunching firm decided to find out exactly how busy all the tube stations on the network were. They took data from weekdays in November 2010 to get average entry numbers to every station for 15 minute intervals.

This tells us that West Hampstead actually IS a busy station. Across the network, 8.15-8.30am is the peak time for people entering stations. An average of 863 people enter West Hampstead station at that time – that’s pretty much one person every second.

In fact, West Hampstead is the fourth busiest station on the Jubilee Line during these 15 minutes. However, the other stations: Waterloo (6,887), London Bridge (3,213) and Stratford (1,327) are all interchange stations and the data simply records numbers entering the tube in general, not for each line. It’s still reasonable to assume that for Waterloo and London Bridge, more than 863 of those people are boarding Jubilee Line trains – but Stratford is less clear cut, with the Central Line presumably accounting for a very healthy share.

The artist and his stepfather

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In 1912 an artist moved into ‘Glencairn’, 46 West End Lane, a large detached house between Acol and Woodchurch Roads. His name was Albert de Belleroche. Born in Swansea in 1864, Albert was the son of Edward Charles, the Marquis de Belleroche, whose family, one of the oldest Houses of Europe, was connected to the Royal Family of France. His Huguenot ancestors left France for Britain after the Revocation des Edit de Nantes in 1685. Albert’s mother Alice was the daughter of Desire Baruch of Brussels. His parents’ marriage was unhappy and they separated. Albert was only three when his father died and he was brought up in Paris by Alice and his stepfather, William Harry Vane Milbank whom Alice married in March 1871. Described as possessing ‘almost legendary beauty’, Alice entertained lavishly at their home in the Avenue Montaigne. 

‘The artist’s mother’, Mrs Milbank, lithograph by Albert Belleroche

Mrs Harry Vane Milbank, by John Singer Sargent

In 1882, Milbank had commissioned Carolus Duran, a noted portrait painter, to paint his wife. While the work was in progress, Alice gave a dinner party for Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales. At the party Duran saw sketches by the young Belleroche and suggested that he should study at his studio. However, Belleroche wasn’t happy with the formal structure provided by Duran, and he only stayed a short time. Albert believed that art could not be learned in schools but rather in museums among the masters. Botticelli, Vermeer, and Frans Hals were his favourite painters.
During that year, Belleroche attended a banquet given in honour of Duran by his students. It was here that he first met the American John Singer Sargent, a former student of Duran, whose early successes at the Salons were the talk of Paris. Belleroche and Sargent were to become life-long friends, and shared various studios in Paris and London. Their affiliation was one of mutual admiration, sympathy of taste and artistic direction. What Sargent was able to do drawing freely and spontaneously with charcoal on paper, Belleroche would go on to do with lithographic crayon on stone. It was Belleroche who encouraged and instructed Sargent in his experiments in lithography. Of the seven lithographs known to have been executed by Sargent, two are portraits of Belleroche, both done in 1905.
Albert de Belleroche, by John Singer Sargent, 1905
Ellen Terry, John Singer Sargent, 1887
The Café de la Rochefoucauld and the Restaurant l’Avenue were their favourite Parisian haunts until Sargent’s permanent move to London in 1886. Among their friends who used to gather there were Émile Zola, Oscar Wilde, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. In 1882, Belleroche painted Lautrec’s portrait as a souvenir of their friendship: they were both eighteen years old.
Albert Belleroche fits many of the romantic conceptions of an artist in Paris in the 1890’s. He had a studio opposite the Moulin Rouge, and like Lautrec, he enjoyed the freedom and life of Montmartre. Here he met Lili Grenier, the model made famous by Lautrec, but soon to pose almost exclusively for Belleroche and become his mistress for almost ten years. He painted such personalities of the quartier as the dancer Cha-U-Kao; femme fatale and spy Mata Hari; Olympia, the model immortalized by Degas, and the famous Japanese wrestler, Taro Myaki. 
Lili Grenier, by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, 1888
Belleroche was reserved, even critical of his own work; he discouraged visitors to his studio and he painted out of passion, not financial reward. He was of course fortunate not to need the money. Commissioned portraits never appealed to Belleroche. Given his social position and his special talent in portraiture, he could have enjoyed the fame of Helleu and Sargent, whose commissions were growing in demand. However, Belleroche believed that when an artist accepted a portrait on commission he risked becoming a slave to the sitter. And because Belleroche was financially independent, he could choose his subjects, selecting only personalities who appealed to him.
Lili with a feathered hat, Belleroche, 1907
The turning point in Belleroche’s career came in 1900 when he realised that instead of painting, lithographs were his true medium. His drawings on stone with a greasy wax crayon have the appearance of being literally drawings on paper. Belleroche produced his most creative work and he considerably advanced the technique of lithography. His hand was so sure that he did not need preparatory sketches, but could draw directly on the stone. By 1904, his work was receiving critical acclaim as well as the respect and admiration of his peers, such as Renoir. At that year’s Salon d’Automne an entire room was devoted to his work. Degas bought one of Albert’s lithographs and a painting was acquired by the Musée du Luxembourg.
Belleroche, then aged forty five, married the beautiful Julie Emilie Visseaux in 1910, at All Saints Church, St John’s Wood. She was twenty eight and the daughter of his friend, the sculptor Jules Edouard Visseaux. His previous lover Lili Grenier, was furious and tried to break up the couple, which helped Belleroche’s decision to leave Paris. He returned to England to live, as his mother had done before him, following the death of her husband. Alice took up residence in fashionable St John’s Wood, at 11 and then 22 Grove End Road, where she died in 1916. She lived well with seven servants. Alfred and Julie lived with her in 22 Grove End Road and then in 1912 they moved to 46 West End Lane, where they stayed for about six years. In 1918 they moved to a 13th century house at Rustington in Sussex where they raised their three children. His son William (1913-1969), became active in the art world as a painter and a writer. Belleroche continued to make lithographs, although after World War I he worked only intermittently and in seclusion.
Hampstead, by Belleroche, 1916 (Probably looking towards Christchurch)
In the 1930’s, Belleroche presented large collections of his lithographs to the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels; and the British Museum in London. A smaller collection was given to the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. In 1933, the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels held a major retrospective exhibition of 291 lithographs and published an extensive catalogue of the exhibition. In conjunction with this honour, King Albert of Belgium awarded Belleroche the order of Chevalier de l’Ordre de Leopold.
At the outbreak of World War II and the bombing of the coast, Belleroche moved his family north to Southwell in Nottingham where he lived a simple life in retirement. In a small rented room over an electrician’s shop, he kept a makeshift studio where he stored the work of his Montmartre days. No one was allowed in and this became his retreat, full of memories of his life in Paris. Belleroche died in 1944 at the age of eighty in Southwell, after a long illness.
His previous home at 46 West End Lane was one of the houses destroyed by the VI flying bomb in June 1944.
Harry Vane Milbank
Albert’s stepfather William Harry Vane Milbank had a very colourful life.
Generally known as Harry Vane Milbank, he was born in 1849, the son of Sir Frederick Acclom Milbank, M.P. After attending Eton, Harry held a commission as Cornet (2nd Lieutenant) in the Royal Horse Guards until the end of 1870. By the time he turned 21 on 29 December 1869, Harry was already in debt to the tune of £30,000. Around the time of his marriage to Alice on 1 March 1871, Harry went into voluntary bankruptcy, owing his many creditors over £76,000. An early report appeared in January when Harry was being pursued for money by a photographer. In early April, his bankruptcy by arrangement with creditors was agreed. At the time, the judge called it ‘a case of a young man with splendid expectations,’ able to raise the money to pay off his creditors in full, which he intended to do. Harry was expected to inherit what a friend called ‘pots of money’ on the death of his father and his grand-uncle, the Duke of Cleveland. Alice must surely have known about Harry’s financial problems. But was she aware he’d only recently tried to marry someone else? Harry owed over £1,000 to a Piccadilly dress shop, for clothes supplied to Mabel Gray between February 1870 and January 1871, when Mabel was ‘living under the protection’ of Milbank. The Times politely called her a ‘celebrity’ but in reality Mabel was a notorious ‘demi-mondaine’ of the 1860s, a lady supported by a number of wealthy lovers. Her real name was Annie King, and she’d worked as a shop girl in London’s West End before embarking on her new career. Mabel’s photographs sold in huge numbers, ‘a beautiful creature, tall, slender, elegant, refined, she wore outrageously costly but prefect toilettes and some of the best diamonds in London.’ It took the ‘robust intervention’ of his father and the Duke of Cleveland, to prevent Milbank marrying Mabel Gray. It was rumoured that they had bought her off with a large sum of money.

Mabel Gray
When Mabel died of tuberculosis in 1871, the papers recalled their alliance, without naming him:
‘At one time she was engaged to be married to the heir to one of the oldest English dukedoms, but by the strenuous interference of his friends, and the granting for life to her of a liberal provision, what would have been a gross mesalliance was fortunately prevented.’
But the reporters were also generous to Mabel:
‘Many stories are told of her eccentric extravagance, but let the soil lie lightly on her remains, for in times of biting distress Mabel Gray was a woman whose charity covered a multitude of sins.’
As well as spending money and gambling, Harry was a noted duellist, fighting 18 duels and killing four men. He came to particular prominence in the press in 1892 as the second of the American Hallett Alsop Borrowe who was challenged to a duel by James Coleman Drayton over his wife Augusta. 
By now, Harry had been ill for some time. He travelled to Switzerland hoping for a cure but died in Davos in October 1892, of a haemorrhage. He left only £100 in his will, a ‘nominal personal estate’ as one paper put it. It was said the reason the Duke of Cleveland left Harry none of his vast fortune was due to;
‘the sad tales of Harry Vane Milbank’s career on the Continent which from time to time reached home. Those who remember the fast society of Paris of 20 years ago will well recall the personality of the handsome, dashing officer in the Blues, who brought down to his duelling pistol more than one rash opponent.’
In addition to the tributes which might be expected, given the man and his lifestyle – Harry was a sportsman, a crack rifle shot and an accomplished huntsman – one paper noted he was also a keen scientist. Harry’s body was brought back to England for burial and Albert Belleroche attended the funeral. Alice’s floral tribute was a conical wreath over six feet in diameter, covered with white flowers and heliotrope.

Simon Marcus elected as PPC for Hampstead & Kilburn

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On Wednesday night the local Conservative group held an open primary to select their Hampstead & Kilburn parliamentary constituency candidate. Anyone could go along and vote for one of the three candidates, whether or not you were a member, or even supporter of the party.

I couldn’t make it, so local Tory voter Greg reported from the front line.

“More than 200 people attended the Open Primary to select the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the 2015 general election. Three candidates had been shortlisted and each had 30 minutes to convince the audience why they should vote for them.

Great turnout for the event

The candidates did not appear at the same time and lots were drawn to determine who would appear first second and third. All candidates were asked the same three questions by the moderator and then for the remaining time, the audience were able to ask a question. Strict rules ensured that once an issue had been raised, no further questions could be asked on that topic.

Apart from some obvious planted questions, topics ranged from local issues (saving the high street) to national (the economy, gay marriage, immigration and High Speed rail) and international issues (the EU, defence and international aid).

The moderator’s questions gave the candidates an early opportunity to declare their love for the area – what it stands for, its heritage and how it represents all that is great about London. Although Seema Kennedy lives in St Albans, she promised to start house hunting in the area the next day should she win. Simon Marcus believed he knows what it takes to win the seat, following his council by-election victory last September.

Each was asked to list an issue of party policy they disagreed with. Alex Burghart wanted to see the party go further on tax breaks for married couples, Seema Kennedy wanted the government to spend more on defence and Simon Marcus was concerned about the direction of policy for small businesses. As a small businessman himself, he wants to see less regulation and, as a last resort, legislation for state lending to boost jobs and growth. All were asked their views on Europe. The consensus was that David Cameron’s referendum on a negotiated settlement was the right way to resolve the issue.

Burghart: next government must address “social deficit”

Some of the highlights from the audience questions for Alex Burghart included one on who should be leader of the Conservative party if David Cameron does not secure a majority in 2015. Diplomatically, Alex suggested “the very best candidate.” He argued that the greatest challenge post-2015 would still be the economy but, relating to his day job, he spoke about the “social deficit”, which the next government must address. He argued that the council could do more to protect local business and cited an example in Westminster where there is an arrangement to protect petrol stations from closing. He would like to see private landlords sit round the table with the council to ensure the high street is not taken over by large chains.

Kennedy: uncontrolled immigration puts strain on public services

Seema Kennedy was asked about her views on immigration. As an immigrant herself, she said that much of the beauty of the area is down to it being a “melting pot.” However, she argued that uncontrolled immigration puts a strain on public services and so agreed with the government’s policy. She answered a tricky question on Article 50 of the EU’s constitution (the one relating to withdrawal). She was confident that David Cameron would secure the right result. She was also concerned that the high street was dying and listed business rates as a reason. She believed that business rates are and will continue to be a barrier to small businesses opening and talked of a friend in Kensal Green who was unable to extend her premises because of the extortionate rates.

Simon Marcus was asked what he would do in his first 100 days as the candidate. He explained how he would build on what he has done since September, try and achieve a solution for West Hampstead police station, talk to free school groups, residents associations and others. He received a round of applause when he answered that he agrees with the proposals on gay marriage, but also said it is important for religious organisation to have a choice and that freedom of choice has to be preserved. On reaching out to kids on the council estates he used his experience of setting up a boxing academy to ensure kids have a purpose. On reaching out to the wider community he said that he would knock on doors and target all areas through community meetings. He believes the way to win is to get the message out to as many people as possible.

Marcus: in favour of Boris Island

Marcus also said he would like to see the international aid budget reduced but made to work further, would like a chance to look study HS2 more closely, perhaps increase the National Minimum Wage, and if pushed would like to see airport expansion at Stansted – although he is a fan of the Boris Island proposal.

Counting the votes

Once the votes were cast, the moderator announced that Simon Marcus had won in the first round having achieved at least 50% of the vote. In his short acceptance speech, he didn’t want to get “schmaltzy”, but said it “was a dream come true.””

What have I missed since January 21st?

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Travel carnage last Monday meant this was the queue for the tube station.

The snow hung around, creating plenty of photo opportunities.

There was a double shooting in Kilburn.

Local councillors are concerned over Inglewood Road sell-off.

Interested in the Abbey estate regeneration. There’s an exhibition this week with more details.

The Kilburn History Blog had a tale of two safeblowers, while Richard Osley dug up the West Hampstead connection to HMV.

A car performed a spectacular parking manoeuvre on Dennington Park Road on Saturday.

We gave our verdict on Mill Lane Bistro after the previous week’s whampreview.

Zero Dark Thirty is NxNW6‘s film of the week. It was also the first film of NW6 Film Club this Sunday, which more than 20 people came to. Thanks all for coming. The next one should be the first weekend in March.

Learn more about what The Jewish Cultural Centre on Finchley Road will offer.

A van caught fire on Fortune Green Road, and was a write-off.

The confusing pedestrian crossing lights by the tube station were finally fixed.

Whampbooks was a great success – biggest turnout yet, despite the cold. Thanks to all who came. I’m sure there’ll be another!

Read about the WI in West Hampstead.

A man was hurt in a collision with a lorry on Broadhurst Gardens.

Here’s what Wagamama in the O2 centre will look like – “terrace dining” don’t y’know (aka “smokers’ area).

As time runs out for the businesses at 187-199 West End Lane, they’re finding new premises. AIT computers moves to 127 West End Lane for free call out service/collection and delivery, while M.L.Estates heads to 62 Mill Lane.

Places for whampart on Feb 6th went faster than a Rothko at Sothebys

Tom was confused by smoked salmon at La Brocca

Glenda Jackson finally confirmed the news that actually broke here almost three years ago – she will not stand for re-election.

Hampstead Cricket Club winter nets start in just under three weeks.

Coming up
January
28th: WH & FG NDF meeting @ Sidings 7.30pm
30th: Conservative PPC primary
30th: WHAT AGM & transport meeting
February
6th: Whampart FULLY BOOKED
12th: Swiss Cottage police public meeting
March
28th: Whampgather XI

Tweet of the Week
There were two “crime” contenders for Tweet of the Week this week, but this one shaded it.

JW3 centre nears completion

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Those of you living up around the Lymington Road/Finchley Road end of West Hampstead will be all too aware of the enormous construction project that’s been taking place on that junction.

The 35,000 sq ft complex is going to house JW3 – a Jewish cultural centre. Why JW3? Well, if you hadn’t worked it out then this video explains it so clearly that a tiny child would grasp it. The opening sequence also implies that it’s in Glasgow. But these jibes aside, it’s a good introduction into what this landmark buidling will bring to London’s Jewish community.

Monkey Music classes for babies and toddlers

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Eloise Trippier talks about Monkey Music classes in Hampstead

Come and join the award winning Monkey Music Hampstead team for some quality music classes for babies from 3 months to 3.5 years. Original songs and nursery rhymes, fantastic props, puppets, specialist percussion, hoops, parachutes, movement, bubbles, fun and giggles!

Monkey Music has been running for 20 years and introduces music to children in a way they can easily understand and enjoy. The curriculum is progressive and developmentally targeted at each specific age group. The teachers introduce new themes every two weeks which gives the children the opportunity to practice and build on what they have learnt from week to week. Classes are 30 minutes long and include a singing section, a section where the children play percussion instruments and a movement section.

The baby class – Rock ‘n’ Roll
Your baby will flourish in a stimulating musical environment, engaged through gentle songs, fascinating sights and sounds and absorbing activities. The class will also give you some more ideas of games and activities to play at home with your baby.

The toddler class – Heigh-Ho
Themed sessions with musical activities specifically chosen to develop the social skills and natural musicality of toddlers. Heigh-Ho specifically targets concentration and focus and as the term progresses, the toddlers learn the times to be quiet and the times to make some noise!

The class for 2-3-year-olds
The children develop a strong sense of rhythm and learn to accompany a song on percussion whilst playing a short rhythm and singing at the same time. At this age, the children have a longer attention span and can listen carefully to the teacher’s instructions and now start to ‘compose’ their own music.

Where? Classes take place on Monday mornings at St Andrew’s Church (top of West End lane, corner of Finchley Road & Frognal) or Wednesday mornings opposite Willesden Green tube station and Thursday afternoons at Huggle in Swiss Cottage.

Please come and try a FREE class and if you then decide to join, please quote West Hampstead Life, membership will be reduced from £18 to £1. Classes are £10 and you can join at any point in the term. Membership is for life and comes with a welcome pack which includes a 100% cotton t-shirt and a CD. You also join the online little Monkey Club where you can play games, print off the song lyrics and access discount vouchers for great children’s brands like Jojo Maman Bébé and Green Baby amongst others.

Sponsored post

Take a look at Abbey Area plans

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Next week, drop into the Abbey Community Centre to look at the designs and plans for the large-scale redevelopment of the Abbey Area estate.

As well as viewing the designs you should be able to ask the project team questions. The overall plan is to create approximately 260 new homes, as well as services such as a health and community centre and some retail facilities.

Click for full-size (map is aligned north)

The exhibition is on Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th January from 3.30–8pm 222c Belsize Road.

For more information see Camden’s website or read this:

New skills / new friends at West Hampstead WI

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I bet lots of you didn’t even know there WAS a WI in West Hampstead. But there is, and it’s thriving, and here’s Emma to tell you all about it:

How did you start your new year? I like to get out and do something a bit different in January, while still watching the pennies. So I was lucky that after a short stomp through the cold to Brioche at the beginning of the month, I got to spend a brilliant evening learning about puppetry. Watching a professional puppeteer demonstrate her exceptional talents for engaging an audience through this fun art form, I then began learning how to bring my own hand puppet to life. Plus there was time to meet new people from around West Hampstead and catch up on the local gossip with friends. This is why I love being part of my local WI.

The West Hampstead Women’s Institute recently celebrated its first anniversary, and we are looking for new members to join us.

The puppeteer at our January meeting was Ruth Walters of Curly Ru Puppets and she is typical of the diverse range of topics that make up our monthly meetings; all of which aim to entertain and inform our members and are a great way to make new friends.

What is the Women’s Institute?
The Women’s Institute is a national organisation and charity with branches across the country. It plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.

During the past year the West Hampstead WI has organised talks and Q&A sessions with local stage and film actors (such as Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter), readings and discussions with local authors, guided London walks, pub style quizzes, raffles, singing lessons and craft workshops.

When?
We meet on the first Thursday of the month at 7.30pm for a variety of talks, workshops and social events. These official monthly meetings are free for members, or you can join us as a guest for £3 up to three times.
We also meet during the month on a Wednesday morning at 10am for an informal coffee morning. There is no entrance fee for these morning meetings.

Our next meeting is on Thursday 7 February at 7.30pm and will be a hands on meeting about portraiture with artist and sculptor Barbara Beyer. Come and join our growing network!

Where?
All meetings, unless otherwise advertised take place in the Brioche cafe on West End Lane.

Membership: £33 for the year, and you can sign up at one of our meetings.

Upcoming events

  • February 7th – Barabara Beyer, artist and sculptor, will lead us through the details of portraiture – a hands on meeting
  • March 7th – Liz Astor will talk about the challenges of being a parent of a child with autism and preparing that child to enter the adult world.
  • April 4th – A social evening. Last year’s social evening was a real success, so we hope to have some more of that buzz
  • May 2nd – Senior midwife Jude Bayley, will talk about the state of midwifery today. Very topical as this year’s WI resolution is about supporting the recruitment of more midwives.
  • June 6th: An evening with local West Hampstead organisations including West Hampstead Life – A chance to find out what is going on around us.

Contact Details
Email us: WestHampsteadWI@gmail.com and join our mailing list
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WestHampsteadWI
Follow us on Twitter: @WestHampsteadWI
Check out the Women’s Institute Website: www.thewi.org.uk

We look forward to meeting you at one of our events!

Vicky, Jane, Dilys, Sue and Emma
The West Hampstead WI committee.

Councillors’ concerns over Inglewood Road site

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You may recall the recent consultation from Camden regarding the proposal to sell off small sites in order to raise capital. One of these was behind West Hampstead library on Inglewood Road.

According to our local councillors, three-quarters of people who commented objected to the proposal to sell it off, but it will go before the cabinet meeting next month with the council recommending approval.

The councillors have raised four specific issues (although I’m lumping three of them together because they are so interrelated):

Cumulative Impact / Housing / Alternative uses – the concern here is that this site has not been included on any of the development plans and the constant infill of land with housing “will have an adverse impact on local services”. I wonder whether the challenge here is not one of development but manner of development. We all know that housing is a priority (as is space for employment), but the idea of cramming in apartments that barely conform to building regulations (as I believe has been suggested by one developer) is clearly not the right solution. This plot has an excellent location in the heart of West Hampstead, but is not an ideal site given its narrow shape, hemmed in on all sides. The councillors suggest, and it seems a reasonable idea, that the plot should be given B1 commercial status so it could be used for small businesses. Lets see some imagination on the part of the council in what they’d like to see here, and then encourage the right sort of bidders.

Parking – a more legitimate concern as the site now has lock-ups, so the people who use those and the outdoor parking spaces will lose them. Apparently, no alternative parking has been offered. Parking is a controversial issue in the area with local businesses wanting more to encourage visitors, while residents generally seem to favour less traffic and insist that the public transport links here are good enough for people to be able to leave their cars at home. Nevertheless, to actively lose a garage or parking space is clearly massively inconvenient.

Lets see whether the councillors have been persuasive enough or whether the site simply goes to the highest bidder.

WhampArt: Guided tour at Camden Arts Centre

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STOP PRESS: This event is now full. If you’d like to go on the waiting list then by all means contact me, and leave a mobile number.

We’re a cultured bunch in West Hampstead, right? We know our Matisse from our Magritte, our Monet from our Manet, and even our Munch from our Munk if we’re very cutting edge.

So it’s time to push the boat out a little. Time to expand those artistic horizons. All you need to do is come along to #whampart at the Camden Arts Centre on the evening of Wednesday, February 6th.

This is our first collaboration with the Camden Arts Centre (but hopefully not last, so behave yourselves!). We’re getting a special guided tour of the Film in Space exhibition, and then we can retire to the rather nice café/bar for some wine and incredibly intellectual discussions about what we’ve seen. Or we might talk about the weather or kittens or US foreign policy in Obama’s second term.

Here’s a bit about the exhibition from the Camden Arts Centre’s website:

Film in Space is a group exhibition selected by British artist-filmmaker Guy Sherwin. The exhibition focuses on expanded cinema, a film movement which came to prominence in Britain in the early 1970s, at the time Sherwin started making films. The movement was closely associated with the London Filmmakers’ Co-operative, an organisation set up in 1966 by artist-filmmakers to exhibit and produce experimental film work which challenged mainstream cinema. Sherwin worked at the LFMC in its early years and was highly influenced by his experience. For Camden Arts Centre he has selected a number of key works from this period and is showing them along with works by younger artists who are continuing to experiment with the versatility of analogue media, as well as others who have started to take on board the advent of digital technologies. Throughout the exhibition there is an emphasis on film, light, and sound as material to be constantly re-worked, manipulated and experimented with.

I’ve seen the exhibition and it’s interesting but I think having the guided tour will really make it much more accessible. So even if you’re not sure that 1970s expanded cinema is your sort of thing, why not come along and learn a bit more about it. The Camden Arts Centre is such a great local resource but it’s underused by locals; here’s an opportunity to get to know it.

Sounds great! What do I do now?
We’ll need to meet in the reception area at 7.30pm promptly on Wednesday February 6th. The tour will be about 30 minutes and then we’ll head to the bar, which stays open until about 9pm.

We have 15 places and you’ll need to reserve your spot. It’s going to be first-come/first-served. As always, if you sign up then please don’t pull out at the last minute. It might be hard to get late replacements, and it’s not fair on the Arts Centre staff who are doing this especially for us.

To book your place you must with your name and mobile number. Max 2 places per person.

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Tom’s confused by smoked salmon at La Brocca

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Had a nice bowl of pasta in La Brocca last Friday; I was even more hungry than usual, and the idea of penne with smoked salmon in a cream and tomato sauce, was a heartwarming thought on a cold evening (the bar was nice and warm too – that’s important – no-one wants to eat in a cold room).

A most enjoyable dish. Although I’ve always been slightly confused by the idea of cooking with smoked salmon, (kind of feels like it’s being done twice – or perhaps one and a half times), it was splendid. The saltiness of the salmon seasoned the plate, and the sauce was very pleasing too – flavoursome, and rich enough to add depth, without being too heavy (though personally, I quite like a thick sauce with pasta anyway – gorgonzola and cream, for example).

All in all a very satisfying way to start off my weekend, especially as the portion size was enormous!

That reminds me…must retreat to the kitchen now for my fourth round of toast. That’s what happens when you try and get by with a salad for dinner.

Mill Lane Bistro: Un petit coin de France

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West Hampstead’s Mill Lane Bistro is unashamedly French, and the new menu has, if anything, gone even further down that autoroute. Frogs legs, snails and boeuf bourguignon all appear along with other bistro classics such as steak with dauphinoise potatoes. So is it France profonde, or Riviera rip-off?

Last Thursday, 32 of us took the place over to road test the menu for #whampreview, and – more importantly – have a convivial night of good chat over some wine. A healthy mix of familiar faces and whampvirgins gathered in The Black Lion before we braved the cold and trotted round the corner to be greeted by Cyril Blaret and his team.

We filled the main part of the restaurant and it was loud and warm and cosy in there. Mismatched tables had been put together, adding to the rustic charm, and we got down to the serious business of ordering while staving off our hunger with some sort of cheese choux buns that were universally loved.

Starters: Garlic abounds
The goats cheese salad (£7) was a popular choice. “As well dressed as Paris fashion week,” said Heather. Tom thought it was well balanced and Tony agreed it had the right “tang”. There was one voice of dissent on Nimet’s table: “over-garlicky”, while Sarah thought there was just too much greenery.

The frogs legs (£7) and snails (£7.50) were of course drenched in garlic – probably why they are so popular. Snails can be tricky to eat, can’t they, especially if you’re trying to prize them out of their non-existent shells. Cough. No names mentioned.

The well-seasoned rabbit terrine (£7.50) was a generous portion, although Shona speculated that it needed some sort of chutney alongside the cornichons. Matt was the only person who splashed out for the foie gras (£11), which he described as “very good and not too heavy”.

Two starters divided opinion. Nicky and Claire both thought the salmon tartare (£8) a little rich and creamy, while self-proclaimed “serious foodie” Shelley thought it was “delicious” and Nadia though the chive pesto worked well. Meanwhile, the French onion soup (£7) was deemed “good” by Nathan, who also liked the portion size, but Dexter was far less impressed and someone else said it was average.

The charcuterie board (£9.50) was a hit – hard to go wrong with loads of meat! My own tomato salad (£7) was better than I had expected with no single ingredient dominating.

Main courses: Hearty and rustic
Three of Sam’s table went for the ribeye steak (£18), and all gave it the thumbs up. On my table, Matt polished his off with aplomb while ranting about cheesey chips at Tasty Kebab on the Kilburn High Road. Steak was a popular choice on Nimet’s table too, and the accompanying dauphinoise went down a treat with everyone except Natasha who thought they could have been creamier. Everyone commented on the fact that the same distinctive salad dressing cropped up in both starter and main course salads. That’s forgivable at Little Bay prices, but here i think expectations were higher.

The oddly named “Vegetarian-style shepherd’s pie” (£14) intrigued more than excited. “Does it contain traces of uniquorn?” quipped Anna. She enjoyed it anyway, while Heather was a bit underwhelmed with hers. Nathan said his was “really tasty”. The other vegetarian main was risotto (£13), which came in for the most criticism “too cheesey, very salty and too liquidy,” said Dexter – the only person who had it.

The duck breast (£16) was described as “quacking” by Sam’s table, who were clearly having some sort of pun contest (honestly, I’m sparing you some of them). All three plates of duck on Tom’s table received lavish praise – “well cooked” and “good sauce”. Rosie described hers as “absolutely stunning.”

Rabbit in mustard sauce (£15) is one of my absolute favourite classic French dishes and was a popular choice. The rabbit was well cooked – it is prone to drying out – but the sauce lacked the mustard punch that I’d been hoping for. Sam and Nicky both thought it was too salty, while Claire described the baby spinach leaves hiding the rabbit as like a canopy of trees.

On a cold night, I thought the boeuf bourguignon (£15) might be a bigger hit, but only a couple of people chose this rustic dish. Not rustic enough for Sarah, but one of Nimet’s table described it as “very hearty and warming”. Tom agreed it was “hearty and satisfying”, and was delighted his side of greens were cooked in butter. The poached chicken (£15) received what must be the ultimate compliment: “grandmotherly” (not a compliment if you’d been cooked for by my grandmother, I have to say) and Eugene – still craving meat after his charcuterie board – was pleased with his.

The sea trout with blackberries (£15) sounded the oddest dish on the menu, and the one person who had it said the flavours didn’t go together (although she still ate it all!). The roast cod (£16) was “tender”. Moules marinières (£13) didn’t disappoint and both Shona and Dom admitted it was a “safe choice”.

Desserts: Reaching the climax
The final course was the undoubted success of the evening. The chocolate and berry tart (the tart of the day £6.50) was deemed “incroyable”, Tom was still talking about his a day or two later.

The tarte tatin (£6.50) – or “Tatatain” as Gregg Wallace calls it – was deemed a “tart for everyday” by Jo, “a highlight” by Karen, and “superb” by James. Dom was less excited, saying his was a little bland.

Crème brûlée was another hit. Rosie had a FRO (food-related orgasm) over hers, which was a bit disconcerting for Matt sitting opposite her and me next to her. He and I both had the profiteroles (£6.50) – mine with a birthday candle in, which was rather sweet and unexpected – which were good, “extra points for ice cream inside,” said Matt. “The nuts are not allowed though.” He’s wrong about the nuts.

Ged and Anna said they’d come back purely for the chocolate fondant (£6.50), while Sarah just scooped out the middle of hers. Claire, however, said it was a “NoFRO” for her. Sam’s Café gourmand (£7) proved what every customer knows, but too many restaurants have yet to grasp: you can’t serve ice cream on a slate.

History does not record what Tom’s table had for dessert, which translates as “Tom had had too much wine by then to take notes”.

Wine
For reds, everyone had either the Merlot (£16.50) or the Côtes du Rhone (£20) – the latter described by someone as having notes of a 19th century French library. The Sauvignon Blanc house white (£16.50) and the Marsanne (£17.50) both seemed popular for the whites. The wine list is a sensible length with plenty of choice and Cyril is very happy to help you choose.

The bills came to £40 a head or more on each table I believe.

Overall, it was a fantastic evening with some real culinary highlights: the duck and the chocolate tart being the stand-out dishes. The risotto was the only flop, although some dishes underwhelmed. Everyone heaped praise on the service and atmosphere. One table described it as “good value overall”, while others felt it was a little overpriced. This is a new menu, stripped down in terms of style of dish, and the kitchen may still be coming to terms with some of the plates. I got the impression that almost everyone would happily come back to give it another go. Mill Lane Bistro is certainly a major player in the local restaurant market – it sits up there with The Wet Fish Café and The Black Lion in terms of price, but offers very different food and atmosphere to both. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Scores:
Nimet’s table: 7.5
Jonathan’s table: 7.2
Sam’s table “I think we’d have given it 8”
Tom’s table “Apologies I forgot the scores”

Mill Lane Bistro
77 Mill Lane
London NW6 1NB
T: 020 7794 5577
W: www.milllanebistro.com

Mill Lane Bistro on Urbanspoon

Photos courtesy of Rachel (@rach_1511) and me
Thanks to Sam, Tom and Nimet for hosting tables

Safe blowers in West Hampstead

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What are the chances of finding two safe blowers in West Hampstead? Even more unlikely is the fact that they were both living there in 1955. But surprisingly, there is no obvious link between the men. 

At the end of the story you will find out all you need to know about blowing up a safe and how to make your sex life go with a bang! Read on.


At the beginning of February 1955 two separate gelignite raids took place.
The First Raid at Stanstead
On the night of 3-4 February thieves blew open the safe in the wages office of Skyways Ltd at Stansted Airport, and stole cash and National Health stamps. Leading from the safe to the door were two strands of wire, and in the passage the police found a live unused detonator.
The next day, presumably acting on a tip-off, detectives went to a house in West End Lane. The number was not given in the newspaper reports and it was rather oddly called a bungalow, but there’s no obvious house like this in the road. Edward Rice, aged 34, opened the door and said, ‘I have been expecting this. You are lucky because I was going to leave here tomorrow. Things were getting too hot.’One hundred and twelve one pound notes were found on Rice, together with other stolen goods. When charged, Rice simply said ‘I plead guilty.’
Edward Thomas Rice was a professional criminal, born in 1921 in Shoreditch. His father, Thomas Edward Rice, a printer, was an associate of criminals and Edward lived in a slum area for many years. In 1932 the family were at 45 Falkirk Street, Shoreditch, sharing a house with at least 13 adults. His mother, Mary Ann, died when Edward was 17 and soon after this his father turned him out of their home. Rice had several minor convictions before being sent to Wandsworth prison in 1940, where he wasn’t segregated as a first offender but mixed up with hardened criminals. On his release he was called up for the Royal Navy, but this did not suit him and he went AWOL on a number of occasions.
In March 1954 Rice was sentenced in Manchester to ten years imprisonment for housebreaking, wounding and conspiracy. In November he managed to escape from Strangeways prison with five other men. They’d been making coal bags in a workshop outside the main wall and escaped through the skylight, having previously sawn through one of the bars. Over the next few months a nationwide search was carried out, and all the men were caught apart from Rice, who remained on the run. That December on Boxing Day, four detectives were sure they’d found Rice when they arrested a man who was doing an old-time music hall act in a Nottingham pub. They said, ‘You resemble Edward Rice the escaped convict.’ The man replied, ‘Don’t be silly, I’m Henry Green.’ They found a revolver and four rounds of ammunition in his pocket. Asked about the gun, the man said, ‘I have a lot of enemies, but I am not Rice.’ This was true, he wasn’t Rice, but neither was he Henry Green. His real name was Leslie MaxleyEpstein, aged 32, a musician of no fixed abode.
On the night of 26-27 January 1955 a garage, belonging to Louis Alfred Yull, a land clearance contractor in Edmonton, had been broken into and gelignite and detonators, which he was legally using, were stolen. When the police searched the garden of the house in West End Lane they found five sticks of gelignite buried there. Rice later said ‘I got the jelly and dets off some fellows. Some of it came from the job in Edmonton.’ He had been renting the house under the name of Smith.
In March 1955 Rice appeared at the Old Bailey where he pleaded guilty to charges of receiving gelignite and detonators, and receiving tobacco and cigarettes stolen from British Railways while in transit. Rice admitted his guilt but refused to name the other men involved. He was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, to serve concurrently with his previous 10 years.
The Second Raid in Piccadilly: The Ferret and the Monkey
On Sunday night 6th February 1955, thieves broke into the strong room of Martins Bank at their prestigious branch in 23 St James Street. When the manager opened up on Monday morning he found the robbers had blown a hole through the 22 inch reinforced wall and used gelignite to blow open the safe, stealing over £20,600, (worth around £425,000 today). This was the first time gelignite had been used to blow open both a bank’s safe and its strong room which was covered in brick and plaster dust from the explosion. Two of Scotland Yard’s top detectives were put in charge of the case: Chief Superintendent Edward Greeno and Superintendent Herbert Sparks. It was evident the thieves had entered from the adjoining building, then squeezed through a window of the women’s toilet opposite the strong room. An iron bar across the window had been bent back using a crowbar allowing a small opening. Herbert Sparks thought that Alfred Fraser, known as ‘The Ferret’, had the expertise but more important, he was small enough to have got through the narrow gap. Fraser had just been released after serving a sentence for attempted safe-blowing at the Hounslow Labour Exchange. His address in Fordwych Road was put under observation.
Over the following weeks, Fraser bought a Daimler limousine and began negotiations for a greengrocer’s shop in Paddington. He was seen in the company of known criminal Howard Lewis, 29, nicknamed ‘The Monkey’, who’d also bought a new car and was spending a lot of money. When the police arrested 43 years old Fraser it was alleged that he said, ‘That bastard Lewis has been talking. Have the others been tumbled?’ Cash from the bank was found in his pockets and at his house. More banknotes were discovered when Lewis’s home was searched, some stuffed inside a gramophone horn. While the police were there the phone rang and after Lewis had answered, the police took the phone from him and heard Fraser’s wife saying, ‘What shall I do with the money?’ Forensic evidence showed that brick dust and glass shards from the bank were present in the homes of both men. A third suspect, Percy Horne, a scrap metal dealer, was charged with receiving stolen money.
The three men appeared at the Old Bailey in May 1955. They all pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ and gave alibis, claiming the forensic evidence had been planted by the police. The jury found Fraser and Lewis guilty, and they received sentences of ten years and seven years respectively. The jury could not agree about Horne and he was released. Fraser who was born in Marylebone in 1912, was a persistent criminal with seventeen previous convictions since 1927. During his wartime military service he had deserted four times.
Two years later Martins Bank took the unusual step of suing Fraser for the missing money. He defended himself at court in July 1957, again claiming the money found on him was a loan from Percy Horne to buy the greengrocery business and that the police had framed him because of his criminal past as a jewel thief. The jury did not believe Fraser and found in favour of Martins Bank, saying that he owed them £19,602. He had no money to pay but the costs of the trial were awarded against him.
Safe Blowing
Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Then in 1875 he found that a more stable form called gelignite could be made by mixing gun cotton with wood pulp and saltpetre or sodium nitrate. This putty-like explosive was widely used in WWII and became a particular favourite of criminals after the War.  In 1950 even school children in Dorset were playing with sticks of it which they had stolen from a quarry.
A website called the Peterman run by a Scottish safeman provides interesting information about gelignite and safe blowing. http://www.peterman.org.uk/

This photograph of a complete safe-blowers kit shows a stick of gelignite and two different types detonator: an aluminium one with a fuse attached, and a copper one which has two wires extending about 6 feet to a longer shot firing cable. A pen-light torch battery is all that is required to fire the detonator. The lolly stick is commonly used to tamp and shape the jelly. The other item really is a condom. A ‘packet of three’ was a common sight on the prosecution table in the High Court. They were pushed into the gap between the back of the safe door plate and the front of the lock cap. Through this is packed the charge with a detonator, and everything is then held in place with some plasticine.

What have I missed since January 14th?

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The Lib Dems announced Emily Frith as their Hampstead & Kilburn parliamentary candidate for the next general election.

Greene & Co. revealed its new fishtank office on West End Lane.

NW6 Film Club starts on Jan 27th with Zero Dark Thirty at the Tricycle

Django Unchained is NxNW6’s Film of the Week. Full local listings here.

WHAT hosts a public meeting about transport on Jan 30th.

Ben Brooks-Dutton, whose wife died in the West End Lane crash, was on the BBC Breakfast sofa talking about his “Life as a Widower” blog.

If you want to contribute for a plaque to commemorate Gerry Anderson you can.

Camden is consulting on mental heath day opportunities provision.

West Hampstead Life finally has a proper Facebook page – do go and like it, if you’re into that sort of thing

We had a great night at the Mill Lane Bistro for whampreview.

Coming Up
January
22nd: Whampbooks @ West End Lane Books
23rd: Kilburn ward AAGYa
24th: Swiss Cottage police drop-in surgery
27th: NW6 Film Club at The Tricycle
30th: Conservative PPC primary
30th: WHAT AGM & transport meeting
February
6th: Whampart at Camden Arts Centre
12th: Swiss Cottage police public meeting
March
28th: Whampgather XI

Tweet of the Week

NW6 Film Club launches

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This month we’re launching the imaginatively named NW6 Film Club – an informal meetup of local film buffs. It’s basically like a book club only with a screen instead of pages! Or is that what book clubs will be like anyway in a couple of years?

Enough biting satirical commentary. You need details:

When?
The first Film Club will be on Sunday 27th Jan (the plan is to do it on the last Sunday of every month). The exact time will depend on the film time but we’ll usually meet 45 minutes before the Sunday evening showing. This Sunday, that means meeting at 6.45pm.

Where?
Our first and usual venue will be the Tricycle Cinema on Kilburn High Road. If you don’t know it, this lovely cinema has a good screen, comfortable seats and usually shows excellent films.

It’s also good value compared to most London cinemas. Standard tickets are £9.50 and if you plan to go regularly then become a Tricycle member and get £1.50 off.

What films will we see?
Generally whatever is showing at the Tricycle; they usually show interesting films – not too blockbuster but not too “art-house” either.

The first film is Zero Dark Thirty – Kathryn Bigelow’s dramatisation of the capture of Osama bin Laden.

How does it work?
Just buy a ticket for 7.30pm showing on the 27th, and come and join us at the Tricycle Bar before the film. We’ll be there from 6.45.

After the film we’ll head across the road to the Black Lion to drink and chat about the film for as long as we want (or until we get thrown out).

We’re not arranging tickets – it’s much easier if you just buy your own. You can usually buy tickets on the night, but to be sure you might want to book in advance (online or at the box office). If it looks like its really filling up we’ll let you know via twitter.

The Tricycle has allocated us some seats so if you want to sit together with the group just mention the Film Club when you book over the phone. If you have your own favourite seat you’re welcome to sit there – we won’t be offended!

How to find out more?
The best way is to follow @NxNW6 on twitter and/or read this website. If you want to get in touch with us tweet @NxNW6 or @nathankw or if you’re not a tweeter you can email nw6filmclub@gmail.com.

It would be great to get a rough idea of numbers so if you can let us know if you’ll be coming that would be a real help.

Hope to see you there!

Mark, Nathan and Jonathan

WHAT focuses on transport

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Dennington Park Road is the place to be on January 30th. One one side of the road, the Conservatives are holding their US-style primary to determine who will be their candidate for Hampstead & Kilburn in the next general election. On the other, in the library, those good burghers of West Hampstead, WHAT (West Hampstead Amenities and Transport, for those of you who didn’t pay attention in class last term) are holding their AGM followed by a public meeting about transport. Who said West Hampstead wasn’t edgy?

There are a few transport updates to share with you, based on WHAT’s meeting with Camden late last year. There were four points on the agenda for that meeting:

  • The traffic lights at the Finchley Road/Fortune Green Road junction had been installed without consultation and have apparently made the junction even more dangerous as they confuse drivers. TfL has promised to “take action”.
  • The lights at the junction of Broadhurst Gardens and West End Lane are also deemed dangerous for pedestrians (As a regular user of these, the only danger I see is from the cars and cyclists who deliberately jump the lights). Camden is apparently going to install extra lights here. I’m not entirely sure how many more traffic lights that stretch of West End Lane needs?
  • The lack of a lift at the Overground station, despite funding being available.
  • General pedestrian congestion and safety in the area between the three stations (gold star if you knew that that is generally called the “interchange”).

After the meeting, Camden’s cabinet member for transport, Phil “20mph” Jones promised a separate transport meeting in the north of the borough for full airing of grievances. And it has come to pass. Phil will share the platform with Barnet & Camden London Assembly member Andrew “Colemanator” Dismore and a guy from TfL called Steve.

WHAT’s AGM runs from 7.30pm-8.15pm. There’s 15 minutes for refreshments and then the public meeting gets underway with a 9.45pm finish time. All are welcome.

Emily Frith is Lib Dem’s H&K candidate

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Last night, the local Liberal Democrats nominated Emily Frith as their candidate for the Hampstead & Kilburn seat at the next general election.

Frith is the first candidate from the main three parties to be named. The Conservatives will be choosing from a shortlist of three at the end of the month, while Labour are being much cagier and it may not be until the summer that we find out who will be the third name in the ring.

What do we know of Emily Frith. According to one of her two Twitter accounts (@EmilyFrith and @EmilyFrithHandK) she’s a “Blackheath mum”. As Richard Osley has already pointed out, this gives us the (outside) possibility of two consecutive Blackheath residents as MP – Glenda Jackson also lives there. I know lots of you feel strongly about such things.

The more politically focused account, describes her as “a comms advisor working for two national charities. I have over 10 years’ campaigning experience, for charities, community groups & the Liberal Democrats.” Her LinkedIn profile tells us that she’s had experience with the Prison Reform Trust, Driver Youth Trust (a charity for children with literacy problems), as well as for the Lib Dems themselves.

On her own website, emilyfrith.net, the Cambridge graduate explains why she wants to be an MP.

“I’ve seen the job of an MP first-hand, and I think its one of the best jobs you can have. Yes its busy, yes the hours are silly and you are doing at least two jobs – being present in your constituency and campaigning on its behalf in parliament, but the rewards are immense.

I want to be a really good backbench MP. Someone who helps individual families with their housing problems or campaigns on issues like transport or access to local schools. Yes I know casework can be frustrating, when progress is slow and the demands are high, but to actually succeed in changing someone’s life in such a fundamental way is a privilege.

I want to stand up for the issues I care about, which tend to be the kind of Cinderella services which are too often neglected by mainstream political debate – prison reform, children in care, mental health services and homelessness. I think that the intractable seeming nature of some of these problems is really down to a lack of political will to solve them. I want to be a voice for those people whose voices are so often ignored.”

So far, so fairly predictable.

Hampstead & Kilburn is a very high profile constituency, even more so after the incredibly close race in 2010 that saw her colleague Ed Fordham place third, just 841 votes behind Labour’s Glenda Jackson. Emily has a big task on her hands if she is to overcome the antipathy towards Lib Dems nationally and climb ahead of the two other parties. At least, while campaigning on Sunday, she saw at first hand some of the unique challenges of H&K:

“Spotted two celebrities at different times of the morning– James Corden and Matt Smith. This is such a glamorous constituency.”

Before she was selected as the candidate, Emily wrote that she would “Design a strategy to engage diverse groups such as young commuters, families and people from different backgrounds with key messages and different communication tools, e.g., Twitter and Facebook”. Now that she’s been chosen, does this mean we’re about to endure a social media onslaught? Glenda won without much recourse to social media, but Ed – by far the most active online of the three – no doubt garnered some votes because of his tweeting. Aside from the two Twitter accounts, there’s also a Facebook page already.

Based on this trawl of her online presence, Emily seems to be an enthusiastic candidate with a strong record of creating campaigns but it’s not immediately clear what many of these campaigns have achieved. This may just be a communication issue, but she does describe herself as a communications professional.

No doubt we’ll get to know more about her in the coming months – we’re still more than two years away from the election. At least we can be fairly sure that if she should surprise the early pundits and become the next MP for Hampstead & Kilburn, she’s unlikely to disappear off to the jungle. Here’s what she tweeted about Nadine Dorries’ recent escapade:

“Being on telly and eating insects is not a good enough reason for having a month off work. What does #nadine think she’s being paid to do?”

What have I missed since January 7th?

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Power cuts continued at the start of the week, and there’s snow forecast for Monday. Yes, it’s January in the 1970s.

West Hampstead’s favourite (ok, only) plastic chef made an apperance in Shit London

A landlady on Iverson Road has an asbo – but is that the best way to control rogue landlords?

A local teenager received a five year sentence for rape

There was confirmation of plans to close West Hampstead police station.

Closure of Belsize fire station, meanwhile, means response times in Camden will rise by more than anywhere else.

It’s been two months since the fatal West End Lane crash. How are Amy & Ben doing?

Still got that New Year’s Resolution? We do a round-up of all the local gyms.

BoConcept opened in the O2 centre, but Rossopomodoro won’t be open until November!

Learn more about Thunderbirds’ creator Gerry Anderson’s West Hampstead upbringing.

The tube turned 150 and the BBC showed a clip of West Hampstead in its footage.

Les Misérables is NxNW6’s Film of the Week – details of the first #nw6filmclub evening were also released.

There are also full details of #whampbooks on Jan 22nd on the website.

The Jester Festival is looking for helpers, artists and musicians.

Coming up

  • Whampbooks on the 22nd (see above)
  • The Kilburn ward Area Action Group meeting is on the 23rd- a chance to meet your councillors and hear the latest news from the area
  • The Swiss Cottage police team will holding a public access/drop in surgery on the 24th from 2 to 3pm at Swiss Cottage Leisure centre
  • Feb 6th is our first #whampart event at Camden Arts Centre (details soon)
  • March 28th Whampgather XI #fullvolume

Tweet of the Week

Amy and Ben – two months after the crash

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It was a fluke. I happened to see a tweet whizz through my timeline. It referred to a blog written by a widower. I thought it might have been the return of the chap in his 90s who’d briefly blogged his trip to Switzerland but had been overwhelmed by the response and abandoned it.

It was not.

The photo was the immediate giveaway although my eye took in the name underneath a split second later. There could only be one recently widowed husband of a woman called Desreen.

Life As A Widower is written by Ben Brooks-Dutton (he added “Brooks” to his and his son’s name after Desreen died – she had kept her name when they married, just 14 months earlier). His wife was killed in the collision on West End Lane last November.

The blog, which began on January 6th, documents his emotions and the enormous challenge of coping with overwhelming grief and a two-year-old son. This isn’t a diary as much as an anthology of memories and experiences. There must be an element of catharsis here, although my ignorant hunch would be that it’s too soon for that. There is certainly an element of wanting to share the experience, and hopefully to help others:

“I can’t help but think that some poor bastard will wake up tomorrow morning, realise their wife has gone forever and that it wasn’t just a nightmare, and search for someone who can relate to the hell that they are going through. Perhaps if I keep writing they’ll find that someone. Perhaps a few more blokes will be encouraged to open up about how they feel. Perhaps the process might act as catharsis and make things easier on me. Perhaps when the next bloke calls Care for the Family there will be a few more guys to talk to.“

More bluntly, Ben also says “I think opening up now is going to make living in my own head somewhat less difficult in the future. That’s what the books I’m throwing myself into say anyway.”

That last sentence hints at the humour in this blog. Does that sound odd? Read it, it’s not.

Ben explains his tattoo

Many of the entries are heartbreaking. It will be a harder person than me that doesn’t well up at the image of the toddler wiping away his father’s tears. As Ben says, “It’s just two guys trying to make each other feel better. One 2 and the other 33.”

Amy’s recovery
Meanwhile, across the pond, Amy Werner is having her own battle. The American postgrad who was badly injured in the same crash was put back together by St Mary’s in Paddington, before her parents decided to fly her back home to the US. These sort of medical flights don’t use long-haul aircraft, so Amy and her mother had to hop from London to Shannon to Newfoundland to Boston in early December. She spent a week in hospital in Boston and then she moved to a rehab clinic affiliated with Harvard.

She is making steady progress – her rehab work is both physical and cognitive. Every day she’s able to walk further using crutches, and her right leg – broken in the accident – is getting stronger. She’s also having speech therapy and other rehabilitation treatment to work on functions such as memory. At the moment, the cause for concern is the sight in her right eye, which has yet to return.

It’s going to be a long journey back for Amy, but her mother’s daily updates are full of optimism, and each one describes how Amy’s feisty attitude and determination is leading to demonstrable improvement in her abilities. I understand that Ben is also aware of Amy’s progress and hope that he can take some strength from her determination.

Both Ben and Amy had their lives turned upside down in a matter of seconds. If we can learn anything from either of them it’s to treasure what – and whom – we have; and that human beings are capable of remarkable acts when they find themselves at the very brink. I wish them well.

Camden’s fire response time sees biggest increase

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You’ll recall that back in November, Belsize fire station was on a list of likely candidates for closure. West Hampstead station was always safe, even in the drastic 31 station closure model.

No shock then to see Belsize on the final list of stations to close, announced by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) this week. The surprise is that this list runs to just 12 stations, five fewer than the minimum-impact model published in November. Seven of the remaining 100 stations will lose a fire engine, and four will gain one bringing the total number of appliances down from 169 to 151.

  • Closing: Belsize, Bow, Clapham, Clerkenwell, Downham, Kingsland, Knightbridge, New Cross, Silvertown, Southwark, Westminster and Woolwich.

  • Losing one engine: Chelsea, Chingford, Hayes, Leyton, Leytonstone, Peckham and Whitechapel.

  • Adding a second engine: Hendon, Orpington, Stanmore and Twickenham.
Could this be the fire service of the future?
(c) john-crane.co.uk

In my last article I discussed the impact on response times of the various proposals in some detail. The increase in times in some boroughs seems to have been one of the main reasons behind the decision to close fewer stations (this also means that the LFB still needs to find around £5 million in further savings). The “151/100” option will save £23.5 million and would mean “the deletion” (their words not mine) of 460 station-based posts. If I understand correctly, the remaining £5 million is likely to come from further staff reductions in the years ahead – but this is not clear.

The LFB has decided that it wants to see no change at all to average response times across London.

While one can believe that this might hold true for average times across London, clearly in some locations, it will take longer for a fire engine to get to a fire. As a friend of mine from the US said when I was telling her all this “if your house is on fire, keep some buckets handy”.

The LFB’s report on targets says that while response times need to be looked at at the city level, and it does not organise at the borough level (unlike the police), it understands that the public is concerned about the impact at the neighbourhood level (yeah, no kidding). You can read the (very lengthy) document that explains how this borough-level concern meant that tweaks were made to the model should you wish. Having tried to play down the borough stats, it then cites them to explain how the changes aren’t that bad really (unless you’re in Enfield, which is now half a minute outside the first appliance target).

Camden, as it happens, fares worse than any other borough in terms of increase in first appliance response time, with an increase of 45 seconds. To put this in context, this takes the average response time to 5’26”, still within the 6 minute target, and the 11th fastest in London. The average response time for the second vehicle goes up 26 seconds, the 10th largest increase, to 6’26” – 12th fastest in London down from 10th.

What of these 460 “deleted” jobs? Apparently, the LFB hopes that all of them (!) can be achieved through natural leaver rates and voluntary redundancies. Seems optimistic.

Members of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority will discuss the plan on Monday 21 January at 1400. A final decision on the plan is expected to be made at the Authority meeting on 20 June, following a public consultation. Here’s a full list of documents relating to station closures, performance statistics and the number of cats stuck up trees.

My two cents: everyone should want public services to run efficiently and effectively, and reassessing the needs of the population every so often is going to lead to sensible changes in coverage. Nevertheless, the numbers here are clear – response times are going to rise on average in London. Not by much, I accept, and from what is, by national standards, already a fast time. But still, it’s an increase. Obviously, no country has limitless funds and trade-offs between costs and public safety are inevitable – it just seems that the balance is tipping inexorably (and one feels irrevocably) in favour of cost. One also wonders whether as much time is going into the effort to close corporation tax loopholes worth billions as it has in the quest to save £25 million off the fire brigade’s budget.

Police station closure moves closer

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As was widely expected – and reported in these pages back in November – West Hampstead police station is indeed set for closure.

This week, the draft consultation document was released that outlines which of London’s police stations will be shut. The document originates from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. This body runs the “estate” of the Met, i.e., the bricks and mortar.

The Estate Strategy (2012-2016) is “To deliver a more efficient and higher quality estate which meets the operational needs of the MPS and is significantly lower in cost to run.” The actual numbers are a 32 percent drop from £205 million in March this year to £140 million by April 2016. You’ll recall that the total cut to the Met’s budget is £500 million, so this £65 million is a relatively small part of that.

In “financial and space terms” (ie, “this means”) the Met will need to:

  • “Enhance the opportunities for members of the public to meet with the police providing suitable access facilities in buildings that are already within the estate or local civic facilities, whilst also raising the profile of public facing properties through consistent standards of signage and corporate ‘look and feel’. [Yeeush. This is the “coffee shop police counters” bit]
  • Reduce the running costs of the MOPAC estate to £140m each year by 2015/16 – a 30% reduction on 2012 costs. [This is the “sell off the buildings” bit]
  • Reduce the amount of space occupied by 300,000 sq m by 2015/16. [see above]
  • Provide up to 950 modern cells, reducing the cost of the custody estate, and providing suitable facilities to support the reduction in the time it takes for a detainee being taken into custody to be processed. [This is the “centralise detention” bit]
  • To reduce the amount of residential accommodation owned by MOPAC to no more than 200 units whilst working with Residential Providers to provide affordable accommodation to officers and staff close to where they work.“ [This is the “force police officers to spend more time finding affordable accommodation” bit]

I’ve already discussed some of the broad principles here, but the core of the strategy as it relates to police stations is:

The Commissioner and the Mayor have committed to providing one 24 hour police station in each Borough and to not shutting any police station until there is a suitable alternative provision where the public can meet the police.

Camden’s 24hr station will be Holborn, Brent’s will be Wembley. Camden will also keep Kentish Town station open, although it will shift from being a 24hr station to a daytime station. West Hampstead, Albany Street and Hampstead stations will all close. Quite where the “suitable alternative provision” will be is not clear, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

It is debatable whether the closure of the front counter will have a major impact on most people. It’s not as if police officers are sitting at their desks waiting for someone to call 999 so they can jump in a car and hurtle to the scene of the crime. The impact of the larger cuts is likely to come more in the allocation of police resources across the regular officers, safer neighbourhood teams, and PCSOs rather than to the buildings.

We’re not in Dock Green any more

Skinny latte and a search warrant please
Back to those contact points. For those times when someone does want to walk into a police station, where will they go? Much of the press has gone big on the “coffeeshop coppers” angle, but are the police really going to use Starbucks and Costa as temporary front counters? Here’s what the consultation document says:

Many public sector organisations are now exploring opportunities to share the publicly owned/occupied estate. This not only reduces costs but creates a more engaging and vibrant use of facilities – it creates a more friendly face. 

Last time I looked, Starbucks in particular was not a “public sector organisation”. The document continues:

The MPS has recognised the need to enable the public to contact the police through a variety of different channels… The MPS describe this as ‘The Public Access Promise’. Since 2008, there has been a 20% reduction in crime reporting at front counters and a 32% increase in internet and email reporting. The Commissioner, for example, has committed that all victims of crime will be visited by a police officer if they wish rather than having to visit a police station – this benefits victims but also has a consequential effect on the need for police estate.

There’s no doubt that a Dixon of Dock Green style bobby waiting behind a front desk is both antiquated and probably largely (though not necessarily entirely) redundant. If Caroline Pigeon is right and one in four rapes are reported at front desks, then it would be interesting to know why that is so high. Surely, whatever the reason someone goes to a police station (voluntarily) they should have the right to a private room to explain their situation. That’s hard to find in a Costa, or outside a Sainsbury’s.

Not that the report appears to rule out completely working with the private sector (my emphasis):

As part of this estate strategy, MOPAC will further develop our relationships with other public sector bodies as well as private and third sector organisations specifically to find routes for the public to access the police in areas where they could access many other services.

Where might these places realistically be for us? The library is an obvious option. Perhaps the churches – St James’s is certainly looking to expand its role in the community. The foyer of the O2 centre is a regular spot for the Safer Neighbourhood roadshows, but could that replace a front counter?

The Public Access Strategy, which is being developed by the MPS, has highlighted that a number of front counters are underused. Once the strategy has been approved, following consultation initiatives, and the list finalised, those front counters will be replaced through the provision of ‘Contact Points’. The Contact Points will be in existing MPS and shared public buildings.

The pertinent question is then whether “shared public buildings” mean buildings owned by the public sector (libraries, sports centres) or buildings open to the public (shopping malls, cinemas etc.).

What I can’t understand is why Camden is apparently ruling out using the Safer Neighbourhood Base on West End Lane as a contact point? It’s an existing MPS building, it only needs to be manned whenever another contact point would be manned and the cost of making it accessible to the public would surely be fairly small – officers would have more resources on hand to deal with basic queries, there’s more privacy for members of the public, and even if a flat white was beyond officers’ ability I’m sure they could manage a milky Nescafé.

Will no-one think of the horses?
West Hampstead police station also houses some of the Met’s horses. It sounds as if their fate has yet to be decided:

The primary focus for the estate strategy is for the welfare of the animals and their proximity to where they are likely to be deployed. A review of this portfolio will be undertaken to assess the suitability of each property and location with the aim, if possible, to rationalise the number of buildings. Key Target: Opportunities will be considered for rationalising space into modern efficient facilities – delivering running cost savings of £0.5m each year.  

That’s from a total budget of £2.4m. Police horses are used at large events of course, so proximity to Wembley might help keep the horses here – perhaps we’ll get more. Having lost the Kings Troop last year, it would be a shame to lose the police horses too, for no other reason than the character they add. And the opportunity for photos like this one taken by Adam Wilson last May.

“Shocking images in West Hampstead as horse
eats policewoman’s head as she withdraws cash”

License landlords or resort to Asbos?

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This month Newham will become the first council in England to require private landlords to be registered. Meanwhile, Camden has already served the country’s first landlord asbo to a West Hampstead landlady and has sought this week to extend it in court. Over at City Hall, Boris is proposing a “new housing covenant“, which puts forward some changes to tenancy agreements in the favour of tenants under a London Rental Standard.

The idea of licensing is to root out and stiffly penalise rogue landlords – the sort of people who exploit tenants by cramming lots of people into poorly maintained houses and then charge them an extortionate amount of rent. It also means that people who decide to rent their property out for lifestyle reasons rather than for pure profit must also register – there are a lot of these people. Many in the industry think that the licence requirement is overkill and that there are more cost-effective ways of protecting tenants from rogue landlords.

Last year, Camden opted for a different approach. It served a two-year anti-social behaviour order on Catherine Boyle of 14 Iverson Road back in January 2011, and sought to extend it at the end of 2012 after she failed to comply with some of the court’s requirements.

Google Street View catches a pest control
vehicle parked outside 14 Iverson Road

Catherine Boyle lives in and rents out rooms at the property, at the Kilburn end of Iverson Road. It qualifies as an HMO (house of multiple occupancy). She has been banned from causing harassment, alarm or distress to her tenants, entering their rooms without their consent, and cutting off their gas and electricity supply. She was also fined £8,000 for failing to comply with fire regulations despite having been given more than six months to meet the requirements (more than half of this was to pay the council’s court costs). In August 2010, she was cautioned for assault against one of her tenants.

Asbos seem like a pretty drastic solution to tackle problem landlords. They remain practically unheard of – the only other example that comes up is in Plymouth, where the council is appyling for an asbo against a landlord that would prevent him from letting to anyone on housing benefit. Councils do already have considerable powers to fine landlords heavily, especially those letting HMO properties, and jail sentences are not unheard of. The council can also takeover the running of the property.

In Ms Boyle’s case, I understand that there was both bad behaviour, as well as non-compliance with regulation, which may have been why the order was sought.

What is not clear to me is why a licensing policy such as Newham’s need to be applied to all landlords. Reserving it for HMO landlords, or even those with multiple properties would save time and money for both the council and plenty of ordinary landlords. This might be combined with a compulsory training program.

The Mayor certainly argues against any additional regulation in his private rented sector (PRS) report:

The Mayor does not support top-down regulation as a way of achieving better management or more choice for tenants, not least because the GLA does not possess formal powers in this area. In any case, regulation is damaging for investment into the PRS and it should always be a last resort. The sector’s capacity for voluntary self-regulation has not yet been exhausted – indeed, with the support of the Mayor, boroughs and landlord organisations, voluntary accreditation can deliver the step change in standards that tenants are rightly seeking. It is also unfair to penalise the majority of law-abiding landlords because of the actions of a small minority.”

It does seem that the system of landlord accreditation could do with some consolidation.

What do you think? Should councils use the powers they already have to deal with rogue landlords or are licensing or asbos the way forward?

Jester Festival seeks acts (and helpers)

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The organisers of West Hampstead’s very own village fête, the Jester Festival, are already planning this year’s event.

They are looking for local artists and musicians who would like to participate over the weekend of July 6th and 7th. If you think you might fit the bill, then please e-mail Lyn.

The committee is also on the lookout for new members; so if you’d like to get involved in all aspects of organising the festival, do please e mail Jody .

Bookshop event January 22nd

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Whampbooks is back on January 22nd.

If you’re not familiar with this particular event, it’s really very simple. The lovely people at West End Lane Books open their doors for the evening for a night of bargains, booze and books. There’s 20% off all stock, (free) wine for all, and a chance to meet and chat with some lovely locals.

The fun kicks off at 7.30pm, but it’s all very informal. Come along when you can, there’s no ticketing or pre-booking or anything. I think this will be our fourth book event, and they’ve all been great fun. See you there!

Books galore – just needs you!

Which gym meets your budget and needs?

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The 2017 version of the West Hampstead gym guide is now available.

It might be a January cliché, but many people are looking to start a healthy regime after the excesses of Christmas, and gyms and fitness centres are all too aware of this. But which to join in NW6? I reluctantly left the comforting embrace of the sofa to do a tour of Kilburn and West Hampstead’s fitness facilities and find out who was offering what.

There are three price brackets: luxury, mid-range, and budget. There’s even some free options in there. Take a look and let me know if anything takes your fancy. Also, please let me know if I’ve missed any out! (You can leave feedback in comments section below or tweet me @ZENW6)

Luxury (£££)
Virgin Active, O2 Centre Swiss Cottage
Spacious and well-equipped, with multiple fitness studios and a pool, this is more “health club” than gym, and this is reflected in the membership cost. I can imagine just going for a dip in the pool followed by a spell in the sauna or steam room, and a rest in the café afterwards. Mmm. Not that I’m recommending this as a viable fitness regime, of course.
NB There’s also a Virgin Active in Cricklewood, for those based that side of West Hampstead.

Full Flexi Monthly (rolling monthly contract): £99/mth + £30 joining fee
Minimum 12-month contract: £89/mth
(Special offer: join now and get January free, with joining fee waived)

Gloves Boxing Club, Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead
Specialised one-to-one or group training in this friendly, unintimidating boxing gym. Read about my visit to the club. Prices vary depending on class package/ type of training.

Current offers include:
10x personal training sessions: £400 (usually £700)
Bantamweight package (3 classes/wk): £60 (usually £69)
Lightweight package (morning/ Sat classes): £69 (usually £75)
Heavyweight package (all classes) £99 (usually £125)

Movers and Shapers, West End Lane, West Hampstead
Positioned as an alternative to a conventional gym, Movers and Shapers offer 30-minute intensive classes in small groups using Power Plate machines. Free trials are available if you want to find out more (or look out for a review coming soon).

Minimum 3-month contract: Peak £125/mth; off-peak £99/mth. PAYG available.

Mid-range (££)
Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre, Swiss Cottage
A Camden-run sports centre with plenty of equipment – I visited on a Saturday afternoon and thought it was busy but didn’t notice queues for any machines. There are lots of classes too, though the popular ones get very booked up. Membership prices cover access to gym, classes and pool. There’s also a climbing wall, sports hall and squash courts, sessions in which can be paid for separately.

Monthly fee (no minimum contract): £49.80/mth (+ £40.25 joining fee)
Monthly fee with access to other gyms in the network and racquet sports within Camden: £53/mth  (no joining fee)

Bannatyne’s, Marriot Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road
Bizarrely, membership here is structured around whether or not you get a towel each time you work out. There was a huge stack of them behind the reception desk when I walked in, and very white and fluffy they looked too. There’s a gym, fitness studio and 25m pool. If you’re a Kilburn-based towel fetishist, this is the place for you.

Minimum 6-month contract (WITH TOWELS): £58/mth (+ £30 joining fee)
Minimum 3-month contract (NO TOWELS): £49/mth (+ £40 joining fee)

towels

My Fitness Boutique, off Mill Lane, West Hampstead
My Fitness Boutique, up by West End Green, offers around 50 classes a week including Zumba, spinning, yoga and circuits. All are pay-as-you-go, so if you like trying out different classes without having to commit to a contract, this is a good choice.

Example prices (from website):
Single class: £10
Introductory 5-class package (intro offer only): £25
30-day pack (unlimited classes): £55

Budget (£)
The Gym Group, Fortune Green, West Hampstead ()
No-frills budget gym open 24/7 with card entry.

£19.99/mth (+ £20 joining fee). No minimum contract.

It's not usually this quiet

It’s not usually this quiet

Fit4Less, Kilburn High Road
If you can see past the garish bright green walls, and aren’t bothered about classes or a swimming pool, this new no-frills gym might be for you. Friendly staff were on hand to answer questions on my visit, and personal training is available too. Initial feedback on Twitter has been positive.

£19.99/mth (+ £24.99 joining fee). No minimum contract.

Outdoor gyms, Kilburn Grange Park and Swiss Cottage.
I must admit I haven’t tried these, but they look like a great idea. According to Camden’s website, they are “suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels”, so give them a go next time you’re out for a run! Best of all, they’re free!

Gerry Anderson in West Hampstead

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You may have heard that Gerry Anderson, the creator of Thunderbirds, died on the 26 December 2012. What is less well-known is that he grew up in West Hampstead, in a ‘squalid house’ off West End Lane, according to his biography. When Dick spoke to him a few years ago, Gerry said he couldn’t remember exactly where he’d lived but it was at the top of a large house on West End Lane, with a tent-shaped glass roof over the front door. There was a garage with a driveway at the side. The family of four lived in poverty in one room, with a blanket hung up to separate the cooking area from the sleeping area. They shared a bathroom with the other tenants who included: a rather sinister ex-convict, an eccentric artist, and a woman who later Gerry realised was probably a prostitute.
Gerry went to Kingsgate Infants School. His mother would see him across West End Lane, then he walked by himself down Cotleigh Road to the school. He said he hated the afternoon rest period when the children were forced to sleep, resting their heads on the sloping desks. He was only five, but thought it was a ridiculous waste of time. After school he would climb back up the hill and wait at the main road. His mother would be watching at the window across West End Lane, then she would wave and come down to collect him. Gerry remembered the excitement of going to the cinema each week at the Kilburn State or The Grange. He and his mother would sit in the six penny front row stalls. Movietone News and The March of Time were followed by a couple of cartoons and two feature films – lavish Hollywood films and British B movies.
Using the Electoral Registers, Marianne and Dick have worked out for the first time exactly where Gerry lived in West Hampstead. His parents Joseph and Deborah Abrahams are shown at 50 West End Lane from 1929 to 1935. This was a large detached house on the corner of Woodchurch Road.
50 West End Lane, 1890s OS Map
Gerry Anderson was born Gerald Alexander Abrahams, on 14 April 1929, in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital. His parents, Joseph Abrahams and Deborah Leonoff, were married in the Rochford area of Essex, which includes Westcliff-on-sea and Southend, in 1921.
His grandparents, the Bielogovski family who came from Russia, took the name of Abrahams on their arrival in London’s East India dock in 1895. The family settled in Westcliff-on-sea. Their son Joseph worked as the manager of a clothing company for his brother Michael. At the company he met an attractive clerical assistant called Deborah Leonoff, who lived in Hackney, and she agreed to marry him. They moved to Willesden Green, but theirs was a stormy relationship with lots of rows. Joseph, an ardent socialist, argued with his brother about business and wealth. He left the clothing company and worked installing tobacco dispensing machines in private homes. A packet of 20 cigarettes cost one shilling and Joseph visited the customers on his bicycle, to fill the machines and collect the cash. But money was tight and the family had to move into the single room at the top of 50 West End Lane. Joseph was a classical pianist and they found space for an upright piano. The woman in the room below would complain about the noise, banging on the ceiling with her broomstick. When the ex-convict opposite moved, Deborah pleaded with Joseph to rent the vacant flat. He reluctantly agreed and they moved into three rooms and a small kitchen. But Gerry believed his father couldn’t really afford the higher rent. When Gerry was five he suffered from German measles and like many children at the time he was hospitalized for six weeks, followed by four weeks in a convalescent home. He was surprised when he came home to find some brightly painted lead cars and a set of traffic lights arranged in a street scene on a green baize card table. Deborah had bought them, with help from the prostitute neighbour.
In 1936 the family moved to 50A Clifford Way, Neasden. Three years later they moved again, to 198 Neasden Lane where they stayed for many years. In the years before WW2, Gerry and his mother experienced anti-Semitism. Gerry remembers being circled by boys in the Braincroft school playground who ridiculed him chanting ‘Jew Boy,’ until a teacher came to his rescue. When a laundry boy came to the house to collect the weekly washing and saw the name Abrahams on the bundle, he threw it back at Gerry’s mother shouting, ‘We don’t collect laundry from Jews.’ Gerry and hismother pleaded with Joseph to change their name and in November 1939 it was changed from Abrahams to Anderson. This was just a name that Deborah liked, but later it led some people to believe that Gerry had Scottish roots! When he became successful, Gerry spent over £3,000 on a new bungalow for his parents in Maidenhead, allowing them to leave their rented flat in Neasden Lane. Joseph Anderson died in Maidenhead Hospital in 1965. His mother Deborah died in Wrexham Park Hospital, Slough in the 1970s.
Gerry’s older brother Lionel was born in 1922 in the Westcliff-on-sea area. When War was declared, he joined the RAF aged just seventeen, and went to Arizona for training. Gerry remembered one of his brother’s letters talked about flying over an air base called ‘Thunderbird Field.’ This stuck in his memory and he used it for the title of his puppet series. Gerry was impressed when Lionel came home as a uniformed Flight Sergeant flying Mosquitoes with 515 Squadron. One day when he flew very low over the house, Gerry jumped up and down with pride and excitement. Lionel successfully flew 38 missions but he died on 27 April 1944, when his plane was shot down during an attack over Holland. He was 22 years old.
Gerry worked in the film industry and became famous for his TV puppet films, but he said he always wanted to make films with real actors.
50 West End Lane
Before Gerry Anderson lived there, the large corner house was built in 1881 for wealthy professionals. It was occupied until 1883 by William John Vereker Bindon, a doctor who called it ‘Appin’. He was born in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and did his medical training in Edinburgh. He married Jemima Downie in 1874. They came to London where he practised in Kilburn, living first at Elm Villas, Willesden Lane. Then in 1881 they moved to the newly built 50 West End Lane. In October 1882 William had an affair with one of his patients, Hannah Smith, the wife of the composer Edward Sydney Smith who lived at 28 Birchington Road. In 1883 Jemima sued William for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and adultery and was granted a divorce. At the trial Blanche Augustine Pinget, a French maid working for Mrs Smith said she’d seen Dr Bindon kissing Mrs Smith in her bedroom. There were two unhappy marriages, as Sydney Smith was having an affair with Blanche whom he married after Hannah died in 1886. Dr Bindon went to Australia where he died in 1891. 
50 West End Lane was put up for sale in 1883. The sale details give us a good description of the house:
For sale by auction. ‘Appin’, West End Lane, a superior family residence conveniently situated a few minutes walk from West Hampstead Station, on the Harrow branch of the Metropolitan Railway and the West End Station on the Midland Railway. The house, which is of pleasing elevation, is approached through a front garden, and has a spacious garden with a tennis court in the rear; it contains, on the two upper floors, nine principal and secondary bedchambers, a large studio, a bath room with hot and cold bath, a box room, housemaid’s closet etc; on the ground floor, entrance and inner halls, excellent lofty drawing room, dinning room, and library, a surgery, with separate side entrance from Woodchurch Road, lavatory, etc, also kitchen scullery, and pantry with serving hatch, and spacious cellarage in the basement.
It was bought by Albert Joseph Altman who changed the name of the house to ‘Elmira’. Altman was a wealthy sports and games manufacturer at Aldersgate Street who made croquet and cricket equipment. In 1876 as a City Alderman he became the Chairman of a Special Committee set up to consider the fifty designs for a new bridge over the Thames. When Tower Bridge was finally opened in 1894 he was knighted for his services. Altman was at the West End Lanehouse until 1890.
Other owners of the house were doctors and merchants. In December 1927, 50 West End Lane was sold at auction by Leopold Farmer and Sons for £3,150. At this point it became a lodging house let out in nine small flats or single rooms. It remained like this until mid-June 1944 when the first of ten V1 doodlebugs to hit Hampstead, exploded behind 42 West End Lane and destroyed the neighbouring houses. Seventeen people died and others were badly wounded. One woman was rescued alive after being buried for 48 hours. 
1944 Bomb damage, looking across West End Lane towards Gascony Avenue (Camden Local History Archives)
Michael Alpert, who lived just off West End Lane, remembers the day the VI fell and has written the following account:


When very early on a Monday morning in June 1944 that the VI crashed on West End Lane, I was awakened by the sound of breaking glass caused by the blast. My father was in the army and I was asleep with my mother in Smyrna Mansions, just off Gascony Avenue, which can be seen in the centre of the photograph above. I was eight years old.

My mother gathered me up and we went down to the street shelter opposite the Mansions. After a time we went back to the flat. My mother’s calm was amazing. She made up a bed for me in the large front room which looks over Smyrna Road and had been less affected by the bomb blast than the rooms at the back of the flat, while she sat doing the accounts for the milk bar which she ran in Kilburn High Road. 

It was mid-summer and the early morning was very mild and light. As soon as possible my mother got me ready to go to the weekly boarding school which I attended and to which I used to return on Monday mornings. Since we had no gas and probably no water from the bomb blast, my mother could not give me breakfast, so when we arrived she asked the matron to give me something to eat and drink. At morning assembly that day I said, with some exaggeration, that we had been ‘bombed out’, which was the expression used then.

I went to school by train in East Sheen, via Richmond, on what is now the Overground. I remember only one delay in all the years I travelled on that line, and once being held outside Willesden Junction during an air raid, when all trains had to stop lest they fall into a bomb crater.

From summer 1944 onwards as soon as you heard the ominous buzz of the flying bomb, followed by the motor cutting-out, you knew that the doodlebug would crash in about twenty seconds, so you made a dash for the street shelter, which was said to be proof against everything but a direct hit. At school we slept in a shelter covered with corrugated iron and earth in the garden. The smell of damp earth always brings the memory back. In the street shelter, of which there were two in Smyrna Road, each household had a little sort of cell with bunks. I think we continued to sleep in shelters until early January 1945. For a few weeks a more powerful and faster rocket, the V2, fell and caused immense destruction and loss of life. There was no warning of its arrival. Luckily the launching pads were overrun before life in Britain was nearly paralysed.

For many years afterwards we played in the bombed buildings, including those on West End Lane. It was, I suppose, dangerous to do so, because floors and stairs could easily give way, but it was great fun for a young boy.

The frontage of West End Lane between Acol and Woodchurch Roads remained a bomb site until the Council completed the 80 flats in Sidney Boyd Court in 1953. 
Sidney Boyd Court Today
Corner of Sidney Boyd Court, site of 50 West End Lane

What have I missed since New Year’s Eve?

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Happy New Year everyone 

Everyone’s first day back at work on Wednesday was heralded by an amazing sunrise. 

TfL is investing £300,000 in improvements to Kilburn High Road, at least partly to address safety concerns.

The O2 centre is getting set to welcome a host of new tenants.

On the offchance that you haven’t got rid of your Christmas tree yet, here’s all the info.

Charles Chilton, author, radio producer and West Hampstead resident, died aged 95.

The Tweet of the Year 2012 award was won by @misshkwilson.

Sumatra Road could get new speedbumps, but some locals want it made a one-way street instead.

Here’s a great photo of an old fire engine and what looks like a very early Indian restaurant on West End Lane.

A blown fuse in the electricity substation by La Smorfia knocked out power on Sunday night for many people in West Hampstead.

Twenty eight women from the West Hampstead Women’s Centre Somali women’s group received certificates for completing their NVQ level 2 and 3 in Health and Social Care.

Our Property News pundit sticks his neck out on where house prices will end up at the end of the year

Need advice from MP Glenda Jackson? Her surgery times for the first six months of 2013 are available.

The Impossible is NxNW6’s film of the week – also see the full local listings.

Virgin Media has said that NW6’s broadband problems will be fixed by January 10th. It’s made similar promises before.

An aerial photography van was spotted around the streets of West Hampstead

Coming up
Put January 22nd in your diaries for the next #whampbooks event at West End Lane Books.

Tweet of the Week

Tom explains cod at the North London Tavern

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Enjoyed a splendid night of food and wine (a very addictive Malbec) in The North London Tavern, Kilburn, over the festive period. It’s been one of my favourite boozers for a few years now, somehow combining a bit of everything into a warm, buzzing-but-mellow atmosphere, without ever appearing contrived at all.

I’d planned on trying the gnocchi, but that wasn’t on the menu on this occasion, so I opted for baked cod on garlic mash, with green beans and salsa verde. With gastropub style food – and prices – it has to deliver, and I’ve had plenty of discussion over this issue; one does encounter inconsistency even within the charms of NW6. Thankfully, this was a delicious plate of hangover-busting food. How would you explain perfectly cooked cod, to an alien, I mused later that night, after a substantial amount of port back home. The texture, the way it flakes off, the subtlety of the flavour – really nicely done.

The mash was as smooth as one of my chat-up lines a night of jazz in La Brocca, and the green beans al-dente. Also important to note the quality of bread, which I’d requested as a side. None of that powdery, lifeless rubbish here – this was proper bread! Chewy, a bit stretchy, wonderful crust.

If looking for any blips, then I’d certainly have eaten double the size of cod fillet, but at least there was plenty of mash. And some butter, by default, for both bread and vegetables, is always nice. That reminds me – a side of curly kale was excellent too (I love the stuff) – generous portion, piping hot and cooked very nicely. OK, it’s just kale, but how often do diners get over/undercooked veg? Often!

I’d have managed dessert, but none on the menu for some reason, so I had another glass of that Malbec instead. Suppose I should have had a festive sherry… I wonder if NLT still sells that Pedro Ximénez?

Overall, good work, trusty Tavern. I’m looking forward to some warming gnocchi very soon. 

Is Wagamama highlight of new O2 tenants?

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As the O2 centre’s refurbishments draw to a close, there’s been much excitement about who’ll be moving into the space alongside the existing tenants.

This week, thanks to someone pointing me in the direction of this brochure, we got to find out some of the answers.

Noodle purveyors Wagamama, pizza & pasta restaurant Rossopomodoro, Danish furniture retailer BoConcept, and Tiger Stores – which sort of defies classification (see below) – are all moving in.

They will join hamburger joint Byron, which already has signs up, and Paperchase and Oliver Bonas, which have already opened. Of the others, only BoConcept is being trailered on the shopping centre’s website.

According to Nash Bond, which is letting the units on behalf of the centre’s owner Land Securities, there are two units still available. One large unit on the first floor (£190,000 annual rent) and one smaller one on the ground floor (£75,000 annual rent) tucked round the corner by the road to and from the car park.

£75,000 a year for this unit

The existing operations you know and (at least in the case of Camden councillor Tulip Siddiq and Nando’s) clearly love are all staying put although Sparkle Bar & Lounge will be no more – it was always a pop-up.

Yo! Sushi has already moved out of its unit to take up space between the escalators and the lift. Its existing restaurant spot will be occupied by Wagamama. Rossopomodoro will take the place of Sparkle (formerly Zuccato) and Byron is taking the designated burger spot of the Fine Burger Co.

The three anchor tenants are Sainsbury, Virgin Active, and Vue cinemas. It would be interesting to know how Habitat feels about BoConcept’s arrival, although furniture shops do tend to cluster together. One also wonders about Zizzi and Rossopomodoro sitting so close together, and lets not forget there’s a small Pizza Express just down the road too.

Is this a good thing for us? I would argue yes. I don’t think any of these operations are putting any plucky independents at risk. The O2 has always had chain tenants as you’d expect, and they compete with each other more than with anything further afield (and even less with businesses in the heart of West Hampstead). The attempt at an infographic that’s meant to lure retailers in talks about Swiss Cottage but makes no mention of West Hampstead, which is a bit surprising given that the centre clearly pulls people in from the West End Lane area.

Click for full-size

Whether some of the other noodle options on Finchley Road, especially Oriental Star, might find Wagamama too hot to handle remains to be seen. Credit should also go to Land Securities for trying to make innovative use of the empty space as and when it came up, with various pop-up ideas, especially in what used to be Zuccato.

Here’s where everyone’s going to end up

Which brings us back to Tiger.

Reaction to Tiger Stores moving to the O2 Centre

Storified by West Hampstead· Sat, Jan 05 2013 09:41:53

The "Tiger" moving into the old Walkabout at the O2 is in fact NOT a bar but a retailer selling, er, stuff http://www.tigerstores.co.uk/West Hampstead
@WHampstead Tiger is brilliant and you will not say a word against it.Nathan Hamer
@WHampstead the shop Tiger is brilliant. My friend gets fab stuff from the one in Harrow ;)Ruth
@WHampstead It’s actually got some rather handy stuff in. Kind of like Muji.Ruth
@WHampstead @njhamer I’ve heard good things too! Do we know when it opens?Paramount Properties
@WHampstead @njhamer fabulous, because there is a ‘build your own straw’ kit I want to get my hands on… whatever that actually is!Paramount Properties
@WHampstead @njhamer perhaps even some type of #whampchallenge… they have balloon modelling kits too, you see.Paramount Properties
@WHampstead I see. I’ve been to the one in Hammersmith, has some quite good/useful stuff.Jane Ennis
christ – i’ve unleashed some sort of Tiger Stores fan club outrage with that mild description. Thank god I didn’t say "pointless"West Hampstead
@WHampstead they sell some of the most pointless useless crap you could ever want.Lizzie
@WHampstead I guess that space is doomed to mediocrityPatrick Hurley
Further research seems to suggest that it’s a poundshop for the middle classes (Bearnaise Sauce for £1, 24 Danish flag stickers for £1)West Hampstead
@WHampstead Bearnaise Sauce for £1…? Stay well clear of it…!TheCrystalShip
@WHampstead really? Just what we don’t need!!Rach
@WHampstead I like ‘THIS IS A WEBSITE NOT A WEBSHOP’. Alright, alright, I wasn’t going to buy your crap anyway.Fiona Barrows
@WHampstead I want to take stickers saying ‘THIS ITEM IS FOR SALE’. Just in case people get confused and need to know how a shop works.Fiona Barrows
@WHampstead I would order them online but IT IS NOT A WEBSHOP.Fiona Barrows
@WHampstead bored housewives might like the look of this… http://pic.twitter.com/abi5fZKFHeather
@rach_1511 @WHampstead I was laughing at my desk so had to explain to my colleague. Sent her the link. She genuinely likes some of the stuffFiona Barrows
@fbarrows @whampstead but its not a web shop&some of things she likes might not be available!How ridiculous.I really can wait til it opens!Rach
@WHampstead They sell Tiger cornflakes and you can then make the box into a puppet theatre. JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED.Fiona Barrows
@WHampstead But do they sell actual tigers?Davies
@WHampstead I can afford 329 things in there or one thing from Habitat next door. It’s a bizarre (bazaar, if you will) shopping experienceLewis Hill
@WHampstead @daviesinthecity I honestly think that shop looks brilliant and I will be visiting at my earliest convenience.nicky j
@WHampstead They do socks for £1 each. Something odd there.Phil Lunn
@WHampstead I own a harmonica purchased at the Tiger in Hammersmith. It doesn’t sound very good, but I’m 90% sure that’s my fault.Sam Wong
and on a similar theme:
@WHampstead poundland has a sale on, presumably to entice those people who thought a quid was a bit steep…Jen

Property News – What will 2013 bring?

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As homeowners and buyers we all have an opinion on what property is worth in our area. Indeed, many people have made a fortune by speculating or even just by staying put while prices have risen.

In previous decades this was a hot topic of dinner conversation, but since the advent of the internet, property prices have become very transparent. You can now find your address on zoopla.com, fill in a few details and be told in an instant what your house or flat is worth.

What is now more difficult to predict is what might happen next. Lets take a look at the factors affecting house prices and demand in West Hampstead for the next 12 months and I’ll give you my best guess on where we could be at the end of this year.

Successive governments have promised the end of ‘boom and bust’, but none have been able to deliver. House prices have ebbed and flowed with the economy, gone pop when the bubble has burst, and then recovered to start the whole pattern again. But, as a nation fixated on home ownership, we have all willed prices ever upwards and this longer-term trend has almost become predictably reassuring. After all, despite the ups and downs, London prices doubled every five years up to 2007.

This time, however, I think things are a bit different. There is now a huge difference between London and the rest of the country. Legal and General predicts that the UK market has now hit bottom but prices will not start to recover until 2017. Prices in London, meanwhile, have already far outstripped their 2007 peak and in some prime areas they are already 50% higher! The difference is that this price increase is being fuelled by the high demand for the relatively few available properties – transaction levels remain half of what they were in 2007.

West Hampstead sellers must face the decision of whether to hold out for another 12 months in a rising market, or whether to sell and pre-empt the possible bursting of the bubble. Buyers of course are hesitant to commit at prices that might tumble, but are more anxious about not eventually paying more for the same property if they wait, especially if they have to move. Lenders are cautious for the same reasons and require more security and certainty. These factors, together with overseas buyers looking for a safe haven for their cash, have all driven the increase in London house prices since 2010.

The big question is how long can London prices keep going up? The answer seems to be for quite a while longer. There is no indication that the factors affecting prices will change in 2013. Supply will remain low and demand high. Recent news regarding increased lending at lower rates will create more room in the market for price rises, and the levels of investment in new-build housing remain at record lows. The only threats to further price rises would seem to be a sudden interest rate rise or the impact from another global economic shock.

In their recent forecasts, Knight Frank, Hamptons and Savills all predict a levelling off of prices in London with small rises of between 1% and 2% in 2013. This seems cautious to me (they said 2–5% last year) so I shall stick my neck out and say we should expect to see rises of between 5% and 10% in West Hampstead in 2013. The basic economics of supply and demand is my reasoning.

Thanks for all your comments and feedback from last month, please keep them coming. Next time, I’ll look at how estate agents work and raise the sometimes controversial issue of fees!

In the meantime, I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2013.

Darryl Jenkins
Associate Director
Benham & Reeves
West Hampstead
020 7644 9300
Follow @BenhamReeves

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Drop in on Glenda Jackson for advice

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Hampstead & Kilburn MP Glenda Jackson holds advice surgeries in the constituency several times a month. If you’ve got anything you want to ask her or want help with, you can just turn up. She’s less able to help with recycling or local planning – those are issues to raise with your local councillors; but topics such as benefits or immigration issues, she’s the person to go to.

And for those of you who complain you never see her in the area, here’s your chance. It’s interesting that she doesn’t hold any of these surgeries in Hampstead itself. Which is either because she believes that the people of Hampstead need less help than those of Kilburn, or perhaps because the prospect of listening to the well-heeled of NW3 complain about their #firstworldproblems would be enough to drive anyone mad.

Anyway, all the dates and locations are below (click image for larger version).

Encouraging slower speeds on Sumatra Road

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Are “sinusoidal” speed bumps the way to reduce traffic speed, or should West Hampstead’s Sumatra Road become one-way?

Last year we had cycle permeability, 20mph zones, and debates over “table humps” to slow traffic. As 2013 hoves into view, Camden is launching a consultation on how to reduce traffic speeds on Sumatra Road by converting the existing speed cushions into sinusoidal road humps.

A speed cushion

Sinusoidal speed bump

Ok, lets get it out of the way: sinusoidal definitely sounds like a medical condition. In fact, a sinusoidal road hump has a less severe profile than old-style speed bumps but apparently is also effective at reducing speeds.

The speed limit on Sumatra Road was reduced to 20mph last year. A raised junction was also built at the junction with Glenbrook Road. During the consultation for this, some residents told Camden they felt the existing speed cushions were not bringing car speeds down enough, and the idea of turning Sumatra into a one-way street was mooted.

Indeed, I was cc’d on a chain of e-mail correspondence between one Sumatra resident and the council. The first mail, from Septmeber 2012, was trying to cultivate support for making Sumatra Road one-way to control speeding traffic.

“There is a children’s playground on our road and the number of speeding cars and large lorries is a danger to children and families that live on this residential street,” went the argument. “There is also only room for one car on Sumatra Road and traffic often builds up as cars refuse to reverse to let others through.”

The resident reckoned that a one-way sign placed at one end of the road would be a “cheap and common sense solution to this problem of public safety.”

Back in October I received a similar mail from another local.

“As someone who drives around [Sumatra Rd and surrounding streets] a couple of times a week they’re certainly narrow and it’s difficult to see round the corners because of all the parked cars. I think if there was a way to make them one-way it would be more useful than a 20mph limit, but I guess that’s also more expensive.”

Camden’s response to the one-way idea:

“In general it is against our policy to introduce one way streets as these often lead to increased speeds as vehicles do not have to deal with any opposing traffic and hence can speed up.

Making the road one way could potentially increase the volume of traffic as more drivers would find it an attractive option given they would not face any opposing traffic. In addition, traffic would potentially be displaced to nearby streets as they would not be allowed to use Sumatra Road in one direction.”

The change in type of speed bump is partly a reaction to these complaints. The road accident data shows that in the three years to the end of February 2012,there were six accidents along Sumatra Road, of which two resulted in serious injuries.

The proposal is therefore to convert the speed cushions into these sinusoidal road humps along the full length of Sumatra Road.

There’s also a plan to convert an existing 15 metre shared use parking bay into a 15 metre pay & display only parking bay outside the Solent Road Health Centre. This follows a request from the clinic to provide short-term parking facilities for visitors. The proposed pay and display parking will operate Mon–Fri 08:30–18:30 and would mean permit holders will not able to park in these three spaces during these hours.

If agreed, all this will happen in early 2013 and will be funded by TfL.

To give Camden your views, complete this questionnaire and return it by 25th January 2013 to: London Borough of Camden, Culture and Environment Directorate, Transport Strategy Service, FREEPOST RLZH–UEYC–ACZZ, Argyle Street, London, WC1H 8EQ. Or send a separate response to each question to tabrez.hussain@camden.gov.uk (you must include your postal address though).

Tweet of the Year: We have a winner

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Thanks to the 345 of you who voted in the Tweet of the Year competition.

In the end it was a two-horse race, but the winner, coming from behind on the very last day of voting, was Heather Wilson with 82 votes

Overheard conversation in WHampstead: a little boy saying to his Nan “I’m 9th fastest in the class, but I know what I’m best at: politeness”

In second place was Lauren with 76 votes:

Last night at a local tweet-up a nice lady said to me “I can’t be the only one who thought this was going to be a naked dogging thing”

And in third place, back on 46 votes was Simon:

Just visited West Hampstead Post Office. LOVE the whole “Communist Russia” theme they’ve got going on

Congratulations to Heather who’ll get her prize as soon as possible. Thank you all for voting.

What have I missed since Christmas Eve?

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Well, you missed Christmas for one thing. I thought I’d sneak in one last weekly round-up before the New Year.

Gerry Anderson died. The creator of Thunderbirds grew up in West Hampstead and Kilburn. There’s talk of a plaque already.

On Christmas Day, Camden had to take down the disused footbridge that links the Abbey estate across the railway lines.

Are the new Legible London street signs a good thing or a waste of money?

A murder investigation was launched in Kilburn after a man was found dead in a flat.

Apparently some people don’t realise Sherriff Road is one-way. The council is going to adjust a few signs and add road markings to clarify.

Jack Reacher is NxW6’s Film of the Week.

ZENW6 reviewed Gloves Boxing Club.

Tom got festive at Spiga.

Votes are pouring in for Tweet of the Year – make sure you vote if you haven’t already.

Here’s a full review of all the local news this year – some good, some sad, some funny and some downright odd.

And here are the ten most-read stories.

And finally – a round-up of the events we’ve held over the past 12 months.

Whampreview is back – you’ve got a couple of days left to put your name in the hat for January 17th at Mill Lane Bistro.

Coming up
New Year’s Eve – lots of activity in West Hampstead on Monday night.

Tweet of the Week
In honour of the Kilburn Kid’s knighthood (you knew it had to crop up somewhere)

Legible London signs aren’t perfectly placed

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I first noticed the Legible London signs in West Hampstead when I almost walked smack into one that is inconviently in the middle of the entrance to the farmers’ market.

The signs popped up so stealthily that several people wondered if they’d been there all along and they’d just never noticed them.

The signs are a TfL initiative but are co-branded with Camden’s logo. Camden adopted the scheme back in 2008 and rolls it out across the borough when funding is available. However, the signs in West Hampstead were apparently funded by TfL to help with the interchange.

One of the ideas behind the signs is to encourage people to walk more. They give estimated walking times to transport links and some other arbitrary destinations (I confess to my shame that I’ve never heard of the Hampstead School of Art, which features prominently on our signs). There is also a wildly inaccurate and crude “5 minutes” circle, which is based on absolute distance from the sign and does not relate to street layout or terrain in any way whatsoever. Still, I’m all for people walking more if they can.

In central London these signs are extremely useful for visitors. They are oriented in the direction you’re facing rather than automatically north (though personally I find that more confusing).

But what of their location in West Hampstead. Are they really in the most sensible spots? Do we need so many? Who decides which destinations are highlighted? According to Camden council, it’s ultimately down to the Transport Policy and Design team to decide where the boards go, but there are several standard guidelines that are normally followed:

  • Outside pedestrian entry points – mainly tube and train stations.
  • Along high streets
  • At key decision points – main junctions
  • On footways with high pedestrian footfall
  • Other factors affect where boards are placed such as footways widths and vehicle sight lines (ie. not blocking them)

I did a recce of the signs and I’m not at all sure they are in the optimum locations. Neither local councillors nor WHAT (West Hampstead Amenties & Transport) were consulted on the location, which seems a gratuitous oversight.

From the south, the first sign is on the corner of Hemstal Road and West End Lane, which seems rather a long way from the interchange. I guess if you’re walking to or from Kilburn then it might be useful, but people who don’t know the area are more likely to go the extra stop on the Jubilee Line or Overground, and if you’re on the Thameslink then you’d use Iverson Road to travel between Kilburn and West Hampstead.

A beacon of info on Hemstal Rd
Five minutes as the crow flies not as the pedestrian walks
Hampstead School of Art??

Apparently there is supposed to be a sign installed at the top of Blackburn Road, which is the most obvious place to put one although the pavement is already quite narrow and crowded there. There is of course a map just inside the tube station anyway. The sign would hopefully replace this corrugated plastic sign that I suspect most people don’t even notice.

A basic (and largely redundant) sign high
on a lampost at the top of Blackburn Road.
Here’s the other side looking north

There are two signs on Iverson Road. One on the corner with West End Lane, and one outside the Thameslink station. It seems unnecessary to have two so close together.

Austrian tourists peruse the Iverson Road map
The times don’t tally with those from the previous sign
This Thameslink board is about 20 seconds
from the Iverson Road/WEL one

The next one is outside the library, and is in the ultra-thin format.

The last one is tucked away by the bus stand by West End Green (and not at the junction with Mill Lane as the councillors seem to think). This is perhaps the most bizarrely located sign of all. You can’t get on or off a bus here, it’s just where the 139 waits before starting service. Kate Goodman, from Camden’s placeshaping initiative, told me that as part of the place plan and the need to raise awareness of the Mill Lane shops, she had liaised with the transport officers to get Mill Lane on the signage. This has happened on this northernmost sign, although there’s no mention of shops.

Handy for, er, no-one?

While I was looking at this one, I got chatting to a woman. She was in two minds as to whether the whole idea was a waste of money or genuinely useful but was adamant that it would take her more than five minutes to walk up to the junction of Bracknell Gardens and Frognal Lane.

“Five minutes to the Finchley Road? Not with that hill!”

It’s true that the pavement is very wide here, so the sign is not impeding anyone. But surely the sign should be either nearer the bus stop or preferably at the West End Lane / Mill Lane junction, where it’s also fairly wide. There could be an argument I suppose about sight lines at this busy junction, but it’s hard to imagine there couldn’t be a solution.

Wide pavement at the corner of Mill Lane / West End Lane

Overall, as I guess comes across, I think these signs have been plonked on our streets with not enough consideration given to their purpose or location. Having more streetmaps available is a good thing, although in another five years even more of us will be used to using our smartphones to navigate around unfamiliar areas. One wonders therefore whether the cost of designing and installing them in less touristy areas such as West Hampstead justifies the benefits. No-one seems able to tell me what the cost actually is – at least it’s coming from TfL and not the council’s tightly stretched budget.

Pulling no punches: Gloves Boxing Club review

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Everyone laughed when I announced I was off to a personal training session at Gloves Boxing Club. Aside from any concerns or prejudices about women participating in combat sports, I don’t think people see me as particularly tough or aggressive. “What’s lighter and girlier than fly-weight?” mused my sister. “You’re probably powder-puff weight.” Ignoring the mockery, and inspired by Nicola Adams’ Olympic gold for Team GB, I figured when better than 2012 to step into the ring.

Suitably fired up, I flounced off to the club on Broadhurst Gardens. It’s housed in what was the ticket hall of the original West Hampstead Metropolitan Line station. The building has a cool industrial vibe with exposed brickwork and other original features; but I wasn’t here to admire the architecture, I was here to train like a boxer.

Ben – my trainer for the afternoon – took me through a set of exercises based on the different classes that Gloves offers. This was a great introduction to the various disciplines they teach, and gave me an insight into the club’s philosophy. You can train here to compete in “white collar boxing” events, but many club members are happy to stick to non-contact boxing training.

Gloves founder, Tony Riddle, has an impressive boxing CV having travelled the world and worked with big names such as highly-regarded coach Kenny Weldon, who himself worked with world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. This year, Carrie Barry from the US women’s boxing team trained at the club while recovering from a knee injury.

One of Tony’s core beliefs is that good training starts with your feet. There’s a large poster of a bare footprint on the wall, and my trainers were quickly cast aside as my whole workout was barefoot.

If shoes are bad, I soon learned that many other modern-day vices are even worse for encouraging unnatural movement and posture, such as spending a lot of time sitting down. “Chairs are the enemy,” declared Ben, as he ordered me to do about a million squats. Ouch.

We then spent time on toe drills, involving balancing (somewhat painfully) on broom handles to find where to put my weight. With regular practice, these exercises apparently help prevent bunions as you learn to avoid putting pressure on the toe joints. We also did some wrist exercises, beneficial for people like me whose wrists are weakened by daily typing on keyboards.

Then on to some kettlebell exercises and animal movements. I felt slightly silly crawling like a cat and emulating the movements of a frog, but apparently this is all part of getting back in touch with natural human movement patterns, which we’ve gradually lost since our hunter-gatherer days.

Finally, after this preparatory training and a warm-up, it was on to some boxing. It was quite exciting having my hands wrapped and putting the gloves on. I was instantly transformed into a fearsome-looking pugilist. As you can see from the picture. Ahem.

Ben’s first job was to banish any Wii Sports perceptions of boxing, which leads people to tire their arms quickly with aimless punching. Instead, he showed me how to move efficiently, shift my weight and use my body’s natural momentum to throw the perfect punch. Footwork plays a big part in this (it’s back to the feet again).

I was soon adopting a passable stance and moving with light springy motions as instructed. I’m not sure I quite managed to look as effortlessly graceful as Ben, who is also a Parkour and free running practitioner. Finally, after much practice, I managed to land a few satisfying punches on a punch bag.

I was curious about how many women use the gym. Tony reckons the male-female split is about 60/40. More women than I’d expected. He also said that it’s often easier to train women as we tend to have a “better, quicker grasp of the movement patterns,” though of course this is a generalisation!

The session was over. I felt exhausted but also exhilarated. It had been very satisfying to train in a meaningful discipline and learn real sporting skills instead of performing dull repetitions on a gym machine.

The only downside for me is the cost. Access to professional coaches and specialised training doesn’t come cheap, and this is reflected in the membership prices. There are various packages depending on whether you opt for one-on-one coaching or join in group classes. The ‘Heavyweight’ membership, which lets you attend unlimited timetabled classes, is £125 per month (although there’s a special offer price at the moment of £99). The ‘Bantamweight’ package, for three classes a week, will set you back £60 (usually £69).

I feel this is good value, but you’d really have to commit to attending regularly and build it into your lifestyle. This might be a stretch for those of us who have guiltily neglected gym memberships in the past. However, unlike a conventional gym, you might just develop a passion for honing your skills in “the sweet science”, which may motivate you to return.

If you’re considering investing in personal training, then this boxing regime might be the way forward – and it doesn’t have to mean facing an opponent in the ring. As the Gloves motto says, “Training like a boxer is different to training to be a boxer.”

Books, bbqs, Batman: 2012 whampevents

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Another year, and lots more West Hampstead locals have met each other at the various events we’ve organised. It very much feels that this year, the events have moved well beyond a collection of tweeters and have become more – dare I say it – mainstream. And that’s no bad thing at all.

Way back in January, we held Whampgather VIII at The Priory Tavern. More than 100 people turned up, making it the biggest yet. We had live music for the first time (though we perhaps should have done a soundcheck) but best of all we raised more than £500 for The Winch through the raffle. The bar had been set high for future events.

We followed up immediately with the second bookshop “lock-in” at West End Lane Books. On a cold night, a literary crowd of locals turned up for some free wine, discounts and lively conversation. We ran the night again in August with quite a lot more people and there should be another one coming up in the New Year.

In March, whampreview turned its attention to Little Bay. This was the biggest headache whampreview I’d attempted with 32 of us taking over the conservatory of the Belsize Road restaurant. Lots of new people came along, which is always great to see. Once we’d got used to having red pepper sauce served with everything, the evening became very enjoyable indeed.

April saw 24 of us at Guglee on West End Lane, only in its third month of operating. Sachin and his staff looked after us extremely well and the Sev Puri Chat provided quite the ice breaker. If you haven’t tried them yet, i’ll just say that you need to tackle them in one mouthful.

If anyone needed some good ice breakers it was the 30 lovewhampers who bravely signed up to the first ever singles night, organised by Katie. After being carefully matched up based on complex algorithms and a rigorous questionnaire (cough), our 15 couples headed off to various local restaurants to see if love was in the air. It wasn’t for most, but there were a couple of couples who didn’t return – and at least one walk of shame the next morning. So, that’s a result right? Think we might be doing this again in 2013.

The final whampreview before the summer break was our poshest yet. Just 16 of us trotted down Abbey Road to One Blenheim Terrace. Lots of new faces again, and some excellent food if slightly slow service.

In June we held the summer #whampgather. In keeping with previous years, this was a daytime family-friendly affair that rode on the coattails of the Team Sunday Lunch adventures earlier in the year. Fifty of us filled up the front of the pub to enjoy the various roast offerings of the revamped pub. There was some torrential rain that lunchtime, so many new people had to introduce themselves while pretending they liked looking like drowned rats.

The awful weather in the first part of the summer meant we feared the worst for the second WHampBBQ. In 2011, we’d ended up choosing the hottest day of the year. That seemed like a distant hope in 2012. Yet, astonishingly. the Gods of the Grill shined down on us and in late July more than 60 people descended on Chris’s lovely flat on a warm sunny Sunday for more meat, salad and Pimms action than NW6 has seen since.. well, since the same time last year.

We actually held two events in July as it was our first Whampfilm night at the Odeon in Swiss Cottage. We managed to get 27 tickets for the opening night of the Dark Knight Rises at the Imax screen (and get a glass of wine thrown into the bargain). There were a few logistical problems, which we were able to learn from when we had the second film night for Skyfall in October.
It wasn’t technically a whampevent, but I was heavily involved in promoting yet another event in July when the Friends of Fortune Green held their first ever outdoor film screening. This had been postponed a couple of times already due to the weather, but finally a large crowd of around 200 people came to watch Breaking Away and get bitten to smithereens by mosquitoes. A second screening was held in late September and the FoFG hopes to get this up and running again in 2013.

Aside from the Bond night, October was quiet, but we were saving ourselves for November. First up was Whampsushi at Feng Sushi. This was a whampreview with a difference as we took over the whole restaurant for a special set menu devised by co-founder and managing director Silla Bjerrum. Silla was also on hand to give us some sushi demonstrations. Given all the clamouring there’s been over recent years for sushi events, this had proved a surprisingly hard sell, but the night itself was really excellent – both the food and atmosphere lived up to billing. It was also sadly the first time we had no-shows for a whampreview – hopefully the last, as it messes up table arrangements, deprives people of a place, and screws the restaurant.

A week later was the biggest event of the year. No, not the Olympics. No, not the Jubilee. No, not the Leveson enquiry. Bigger than all of those. Whampgather X. We changed locations (we’re running out of large enough pubs) and took over The Alliance for the night. In total, 160 people turned up – lots and lots of new people alongside the familiar faces. It was a great night, and lovely to see DJ Stoney providing the music. He had been at the very first whampgather back in October 2009, when I’d thought that perhaps if it went well I might do a second.

Christmas drinks were relatively informal again this year, but it was nice to raise a glass with all those who turned up.

Twelve months of events – thank you to everyone who came along to any of them. A special thank you to my able helpers: particularly Tom, Mark, Nicky, Lauren, Jen, Brad and Katie. Thank you also to all the businesses who have donated raffle prizes or worked with us to offer good deals at events. It’s all much appreciated and I hope that locals reciprocate with their custom.

If you’ve never been to a whampevent but think that you might want to meet some friendly locals, then do sign up. They sell out quickly, and the restaurant events are always oversubscribed so don’t be disheartened if it takes a couple of attempts to come along to one. In 2013 I’m going to try and organise more whampreviews, there’s a monthly film club starting very soon, lovewhamp should return, and of course Whampgather XI is already looming on the horizon!

I’m going to give the last word to @tommyjames, who tweeted the morning after Whampgather X: “I went along to #whampgather on my own, took a risk and made some friends.”

That’s what it’s all about.

See you next year.

Whampreview Jan 17: Mill Lane Bistro

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On January 17th, whampreview returns. It’s our first of 2013, and our first repeat visit to a restaurant. We visited Mill Lane Bistro in May 2010, but new owners have since taken over so it’s time to go back.

Banish the blues / Allez les bleus
Mill Lane Bistro serves classic French food and is one of the slightly more expensive restaurants in West Hampstead. Starters average £7.50, mains are around £15, and desserts £6.50

There are 24 places available. The event is already oversubscribed*, so names will be drawn out of a hat as is tradition! The draw will be on January 4th. To put your name forward tweet me @WHampstead before January 4th or .

If your name is picked, I will need a mobile number and active e-mail address from you. Please don’t commit on the offchance you might be free. Once you’re in then it’s a restaurant reservation so please check your diary and lock it in.

The low-down
Dinner will be at 8pm and we’ll meet at The Black Lion on West End Lane for a drink from 7pm. During the evening, whoever is hosting your table (there’ll be three tables of eight people) will note down comments about the food/service/value etc., which will go into the write-up, but the evening is more about meeting people than being ultra-critical about restaurants. The bill is split equally between your table unless there’s been a large discrepancy in alcohol consumption. Any questions, just ask.

Read more about whampreview.

*how is it oversubscribed before I’ve written about it? Because people who’ve signed up to the mailing list hear about all events first!

I’m going to party like it’s 2013

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Nothing screams party like a Monday night in West Hampstead. But this Monday is New Year’s Eve so all of a sudden it’s party central in NW6. Or something.

Personally, I’ll be getting in a bottle of vodka and enough Haribo to sink the Bismarck and watching Jools Holland in my Christmas onesie, but no doubt the rest of you aspire to more sociable activities.

The Gallery: “Anything Goes”. Get your £15 tickets at the bar (but they’re selling out fast apparently). Fancy dress preferred but not mandatory. DJ until late.

The Alice House: “Madhatter’s Tea Party” [see what they’ve done there? No, not the typo]. Tickets also £15 (or £25!! on the night). DJ, special cocktails “and more”. I don’t know what that implies either but for £25 I’d want quite a lot more.

La Brocca: Open until 2am. Party in bar, restaurant also open. Normal menu + some “delicious New Year specials”. Normal price – no cover charge

The Black Lion (West End Lane): ‘Glasses or Moustaches’. Tickets are £10 in advance or £15 on the door, which includes a glass of Black Lion punch. Soul & funk music from 10pm. You can hire their booths as well.

The Alliance: “Lots of music and a party ’til the early hours”. I heard good things about last year’s NYE bash here, so if you’re up that end of town worth checking out I’d say.

The Priory Tavern: DJ from 10pm, glitter shots (I predict coughing), a special cocktail menu (remember, these guys are serious about cocktails), fireworks at midnight(ish). Tweet, call, or drop in to put yourself on the free guest list. Otherwise fork out a fiver after 10pm.

North London Tavern: Two options here – one with a four course dinner and the one without. Both end up in an 80s party. Dinner will cost you £40 (here’s the menu), while entry to the bar is just £5 after 10pm when the DJ starts. Open ’til 2am.

The Good Ship: “Something Serious NYE Extravaganza”. “Party into the small hours recapturing the wonderful summer when everyone came together before waking up with a hangover in 2013 and realising that we’re all absolutely done for.” Nice. That’s the sort of pessimism that made this country great. Something Serious apparently play indie, pop, rock n roll with a dash of electro as the sprinkles on top. They “guarantee to make you dance until your feet smoke.” If that’s not worth the £10 ticket price alone then I don’t know what is.

Betsy Smith: “Saints & sinners”. The evening kicks off at 7.30pm and 2-for-1 cocktails last until 9. There’s a £50 bar tab for the best dressed. So that’s another two cocktails. It also advertises “shot girls” and a “torture chamber”. Just to reiterate that you will be paying for this. But then there are confetti canons, and who doesn’t love a confetti canon. DJ Louisubsole is on the decks. £10 in advance (which is actually pretty decent for around here) or £15 on the door. Call 020 7624 5793.

Still waiting to hear back from: The Railway, The Alliance, Kilburn’s Black Lion, and the Lower Ground Bar. Will add those as I get them so keep checking back.

Top 10 stories of 2012

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After the epic review of the year, I thought it would be interesting to see what were actually the most read stories of 2012 on the website*.

  1. Fatal accident on West End Lane. This tragedy happened in November but still garnered far more attention than anything else in 2012. It was pleasing to see that so much of that interest was translated into a desire to support the families involved.
  2. Wiggins puts Kilburn roughly on the map. He’s been the man of the year, and has just been made Sir Bradley. This article, originally written after his Tour de France win, had several waves of interest following the Olympics and his Sports Personality awards.
  3. Sunday lunch in West Hampstead & Kilburn. The first installment of our roast dinner endurance event has proved a big hit. We also reviewed pubs on the periphery of West Hampstead in a separate entry, which is where you’ll find the results table!
  4. Goldhurst Terrace assault: man arrested. Another sad story that got plenty of coverage, partly because the capture of the alleged assailant played out in real-time over Twitter, so interest was high. Tragically, the victim eventually died of his injuries.
  5. All change by West End Green. It wouldn’t be West Hampstead without an article about retail! This was the piece that promised a butcher but sadly delivered nothing.
  6. A Tale of Two Lions. When The Lion reopened as The Black Lion confusion ensued what with there already being a Black Lion in NW6. This slice of local history attempted to unravel the nomenclature.
  7. Spot a celeb? Think before you tweet. This piece on Robert Webb caught people’s attention – there were plenty of comments with opinion divided over Webb’s decision to reply to the guy who originally tweeted him.
  8. Farmers’ market – it’s official. This was undoubtedly the major local good news stories of 2012, with follow-up articles also proving popular.
  9. Neighbourhood Development Forum moves forward. The only outright planning story to make the list, this report from March contains the minutes of the second meeting and the first discussion of what would prove to be the thorny issue of the southern boundary.
  10. Is this Virgin suicide? Another article to have several waves of interest, this piece reflects the enormous problems faced by many Virgin broadband customers in the area. Lots of people are amazed Virgin has kept these customers at all.

*where stories had multiple articles, such as the farmers market or the car accident, I’ve simply taken the article with the most views to represent the story.

Roast beef at The Gallery – one of the hits of our Sunday Lunch review

2012 review: What have I missed since Jan 1st

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Did someone say bandwagon?

Like any publication worth its salt, this website is not immune to the allure of churning out a review of the past 12 months. So here are the crime-fighting vicars and the organic cauliflowers that made up 2012 for West Hampstead.

First, the stories you may have missed, then a fuller round-up of the bigger news of the year.

January: During a siege far away in Child’s Hill, it was necessary to explain to some in West Hampstead how helicopters work. The Kings Troop left their barracks in St John’s Wood, which meant no more parades up West End Lane. Police carried out a sting operation to rescue a kidnapped dog held to ransom.

February: West Hampstead’s crime fighting vicar Andrew Cain got plenty of attention from the press after he apprehended a thief. A man was evicted after building a microlight and a boat in his flat. Virgin broadband customers were told problems would be sorted out by mid-March.

March: We began the Herculean task of testing all the Sunday lunches in the neighbourhood.

April: Vince Power shelved his ambitious (did someone say ridiculous?) plans for a festival in Kilburn Grange park that would have lasted throughout the Olympics. The Netherwood Day Centre received another – more lasting – reprieve from council cuts.

May: We launched NxNW6 for local film listings. Virgin broadband customers were told problems would be sorted out by mid-September. Luton fans caused chaos at the Thameslink station.

June: Twitter power got a potentially dangerous hole in a railway fence fixed very quickly. It really isn’t just about Stephen Fry and photos of breakfasts y’know.

July: Kilburn High Road flooded spectacularly. There was the first of two outdoor film screenings on Fortune Green. Some residents complained about having to look where they were driving. A man bought a bag for £20 in a West End Lane charity shop that was worth a small fortune.

August: Local celeb Robert Webb got miffed when a fan told him via Twitter that he’d spotted him in the pub.

September: The Met Line ran its last old train. George Orwell’s son read from his father’s Bookshop Memories essay in West End Lane Books. Developers offered a free Mini if people bought one of the Mill Apartments on an open day. Virgin broadband customers were told… well, you get the idea.

October: The Blackburn Road student building had its topping out ceremony. Camden proposed a 20mph blanket speed limit.

November: The tenth whampgather set new records for attendance and money raised. We learned the West End Lane post office will close, but only when new (co-located) premises have been found.

December: We launched ZENW6 for health & fitness news and reviews, and Property News. The third Christmas market was a success once again. We learned there were 704 Jedis in Camden (but only 9 Scientologists)

Bet you didn’t remember all that?

But what about the issues you did remember?

In the market for produce?
News that we might get a market first emerged in April. Back then we were told that the Iverson Road site would not be big enough for an accredited farmers’ market. Readers were asked to say what sort of market they’d like to see instead. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of a food market.

Good time then for Hampstead Butcher & Providores to announce its plans to open in West Hampstead. After two years of tweeters clamouring for a butcher, it seemed as if their prayers had been answered. A month later, we learned that the butcher had “postponed” its decision to move to the area. We’re still waiting.

In June, we discovered that London Farmers’ Market – the group that runs multiple markets in the city, including the large one in Queens Park – was in negotiation with Network Rail and that a proper farmers’ market was looking likely. It was not until August, and a false start, that we finally had a firm opening date for the farmers’ market and a cow to prove it. The cow stood next to a short-lived hot dog stand and Mr Whippy van.

Finally, on September 22nd, while I was fast asleep in a hotel in Denver, Colorado, the market opened. There was joy, there was laughter, there were some quite expensive vegetables. I awoke to a deluge of tweets about it. It has since been described by several people (not all of whom are Cllr Risso-Gill) as being “the best thing to happen in West Hampstead for years.”

After trading for a couple of months (and having an amazing run of luck with the weather), the market required planning permission. An overwhelming 284 people wrote to the council in favour of the market, with just four objections. No surprise then that permission was granted.

February: the much-loved (but too seldom-frequented) Rotisserie on Fortune Green closed, while on West End Lane, Guglee opened after revamping the short-lived Costello’s.
March: Sushi Kou opened in the Rotisserie’s spot.
April: Walnut and Bon Express – at the opposite ends of both West End Lane and the culinary spectrum – both shut their doors. The latter remains empty. Karahi Master, which had been refused a late licence, also closed. Kebab options in West Hampstead were dwindling fast. Meanwhile, the Lion became the Black Lion (again) to confuse everyone.
June: Grilled O Fried opened where Karahi Master had been. Was it a typo, or was it Portuguese? Feng Sushi took over from Walnut, bringing the number of sushi outlets in the greater West Hampstead area to seven. Millennium Café in Broadhurst Gardens closed with a whimper.
July: The smallest of those seven sushi bars closed – Sushi Gen was no more.
August: Picasso opened where Sushi Gen was – oddly, given that Picasso was a Spanish artist who lived in France, Picasso served Italian food.
October: Elephant Walk and J’s both closed.
November: Wired, a pop-up coffee shop, opened, as did Hana, taking over from the much-maligned Sea Lantern.
December: Bella Luna opened where J’s had been, and Grilled O Fried’s short-lived operation shut up shop.

Star of stage and screen
When you’re blessed with natural beauty and talent, it’s no surprise to find yourself thrust centre-stage. I should know, there was a whole paragraph about me in GQ earlier this year. Oh yes.

January: Maxine Peake was in the Wet Fish Café filming legal drama Silk. Across the road in West End Lane Books, Warwick Davis and Karl Pilkington were filming for An Idiot Abroad.
March: Vanessa Feltz grumbled about parking in West Hampstead on her BBC London radio show. A lively debate ensued online.
May: Keith “Plays Pop” Chegwin was spotted around Fordwych Road filming for a PR company
June: That episode of Silk aired, and the West Hampstead police stables were mentioned in a short BBC World film about Hampstead.
July: The Abbey Area estate was the setting for a BBC/Film 4 short film featuring Noel Clarke that polarised opinion [I liked it]
August: West Hampstead popped up in The Guardian, thanks to me, and in the Evening Standard, thanks to Robert Webb. It also featured on Samantha Womack’s edition of Who Do You Think You Are?
September: The police stables appeared again, as ITV reported on a performing horse joining the Met.
December: On the same day, Wired appeared on the One Show, and Flowerstalk featured on This Week. Later in the month West Hampstead was a pointless answer on Pointless, got a mention on Graham Norton and flashed by in archive footage in a piece about 150 years of the tube.

Plan of action
Perhaps the biggest stories of the year have been forged in Camden’s planning department. Not everyone gets excited about planning news, although as soon as building work begins you can guarantee a surge of interest and misguided accusations of a lack of consultation.

The most dramatic and controversial of all the planning decisions was that for 187-199 West End Lane aka West End Square aka the Ballymore scheme. Consultation for this sizeable residential development ended in mid-February. There were vocal objections to the scale, especially the 12-storey tower that would form the high point of this six-block plan. Nevertheless, in March, Camden passed the proposal on the grounds of the housing shortage and Ballymore’s amendments to its initial plan. City Hall also had to pass it, which it duly did. In September, the strip of shops on that land – from Café Bon to M.L.Estates – were given six months’ notice to quit.

West End Square proposal

Consultation also closed in February for the residential development at 163 Iverson Road where the garden centre once stood. The original plans had been watered down and although there were still objections, Camden passed the proposals in the summer. There is no word on when building will start.

Gondar Gardens sounds like a location in The Hobbit, and the saga has certainly dragged on like a Tolkein novel. In May, Camden rejected developer Linden Wates’ second proposal for this site even as an appeal over the first rejection was underway. That appeal was upheld by the national planning inspector in November. Then in early December, to many people’s surprise, Linden Wates also decided to appeal against the second refusal as well. Hedging their bets, or simply trying to recoup costs?

West Hampstead has been earmarked as an “area for intensification” in the London plan, with the bulk of that increase in population destined for the area around the train lines. The neighbourhood is therefore likely to undergo significant change over the coming years, and thus – using powers under the new Localism Act – a Neighbourhood Development Forum was set up in January, and is drafting a Neighbourhood Development Plan. Over the course of the year, it unveiled locals’ attitudes to architecture and to West Hampstead in general. Alongside this sits Camden’s own Placeshaping plan. This initiative was launched in 2011, and finally published its report in June.

Education isn’t a topic covered often in these pages, but schools did feature in planning news this year. South Hampstead High School was granted permission to build temporary classrooms on the Lymington Road sports ground (which it owns) while a two-year rebuild and refurb of its existing site in Hampstead is carried out. Meanwhile, Liddell Road industrial estate has been identified as the probable site of a new primary school that will operate under the aegis of Kingsgate primary school.

Emmanuel School opened a new building across the road from its existing property. Lots of locals moaned about the choice of grey brick rather than the more traditional red. Finally, a small private school could move in to the empty ground floor unit of Alfred Court on Fortune Green.

With so much activity, I added a “Planning news” menu option for the website and compiled an annotated map of all large local developments that will be kept updated throughout 2013 – a year that could see construction start at 187-199, and will definitely see the Abbey Area development begin.

Dial 999
It is sadly inevitable that over the course of a year in an area as densely populated as West Hampstead there will be crime and tragedy. In 2012, much of this seemed to be concentrated in the last two months of the year.

On Saturday November 10th a car hit two pedestrians on West End Lane. Desreen Brooks, from south London, was killed as she left the house of some local friends. Amy Werner, a postgrad from Vermont, was extremely badly injured. Her parents flew over immediately and she spent a month in an induced coma. A couple of weeks before Christmas she was able to fly back to the US where she is now in a rehab centre recovering slowly but steadily. Police are still piecing together what happened and no arrests have been made.

Desreen Brooks, with husband Ben Dutton

Later in November, Douglas Hutchison, a 60-year-old visually impaired man, was seriously injured in what is believed to be an unprovoked attack in broad daylight outside his home in Goldhurst Terrace. His attacker was immediately arrested following a police chase through the streets of South Hampstead. Mr Hutchison, who was more commonly known by his nom de plume, Professor Whitestick, died from his injuries in December.

There were two serious house fires in December. The first was in West End Court and sadly resulted in the death of the elderly woman who lived in the flat. The second was in Maygrove Road; thankfully fire crews were able to rescue all four people inside. There was also an unusual fire on West End Lane that thankfully caused no injuries but knocked out power for some residents.

What of the emergency services themselves? West Hampstead fire station looks secure for the time being, although Belsize is set to close. The local police station, however, has been earmarked for closure. In December, we learned that PC Ruth Marshall from the local Safer Neighbourhood Team will be returning to Northamptonshire police in early January.

March: A security van was robbed on West End Lane, which caused a few wags to speculate on how a speedy getaway would work given all the traffic.
June: Following a spate of attacks, the Ham & High reported on the pressure on Camden to improve security on the Black Path.
August: A dispersal zone was created around the Lithos Road and Lymington Road estates. Strangely it was removed in November with no consultation.
December: There were two West End Lane accidents in one day, one in the morning involving a police car and one in the evening when a pedestrian appeared to have been knocked down on a zebra crossing.

Sporting triumphs
For London, the Olympics was the year’s single biggest story. West Hampstead may not have held any events itself (although we learned it has some Olympic history) but we were not immune from the Games (and at least two locals performed in the opening ceremony).

There were fears that TfL had underestimated the impact the Olympics would have on the interchange between the three stations, especially with Lords and Wembley being close by and with two of the three lines heading straight to Stratford. In the end, West Hampstead coped remarkably well, and Kilburn even hosted the Trinidad & Tobago cultural house.

Sports person of the year (officially and unofficially) was Tour de France winner and Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins. His local connection first came to the fore in an interview with Sky Sports, and from then on the media dubbed him the “Kid from Kilburn” (even though he’s lived in the north-west of England rather than London for quite some time). There are still murmurings about getting him to do a victory parade up Kilburn High Road, or naming something in his honour; and there was a lot of unnecessary quibbling about where exactly he came from.

L’Equipe identifies Kilburn
(photo via @mascart)

A year is a long time in politics
It was a relatively quiet year politically for West Hampstead. In the Mayoral elections in May, West Hampstead voted to keep Boris as mayor, but resoundingly kicked out Assembly Member Brian Coleman – as did the rest of his Barnet & Camden constituency. The Lib Dems, who hold all six of the West Hampstead and Fortune Green council seats, took a battering at the ballot box.

In October, the Boundary Commission presented its revised proposals for parliamentary constituencies and returned Fortune Green to Hampstead & Kilburn.

It was confirmed that all three main parties will field new candidates in the next general election, although none is yet to declare its candidate. The Conservatives have at least drawn up a shortlist, while speculation is rife as to who will assume Glenda Jackson’s mantle for Labour.

The end of the year as we know it… and I feel fine
There you have it – all the news that’s old and approved as Adrian Kronauer would have said if Good Morning Vietnam had had a slightly flippant review of the year. Hope you enjoyed following along on West Hampstead Life this year. For a weekly round-up of local news delivered to your inbox, just sign up to the newsletter. You’ll also be the first to hear about upcoming whampevents.

Best wishes for 2013.

Tweet of the Year: Vote now

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Forget the Oscars, the BRITS, the Golden Globes or even Sports Personality. There’s only one annual award worth winning. The West Hampstead Life Tweet of the Year award. It’s here. It’s now. It’s competitive.

Below are the eight tweets I’ve shortlisted. Vote for your favouite – please vote only once, and I shall be on the lookout for people trying to cheat! The poll closes at midnight on New Year’s Day

There is an actual prize for the winner, so lets see who will follow in the footsteps of the inimitable Jon Kelly who won in 2011. He got posted to Washington DC recently – that’s the impact that having Tweet of the Year on your CV can have.

Off you go!

UPDATE: Winner announced

What have I missed since December 17th?

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There were two accidents on Tuesday – one at the start,and one at the end of the day. Thankfully, no-one was seriously hurt.

On Wednedsay, four people were rescued from a house fire on Maygrove Road.

Police have released CCTV images of “vital” witnesses to the the crash on November 10th that killed Desreen Brooks and badly injured Amy Werner.

A substation explosion knocked out power for some 18 hours for residents around Woodchurch Road/Priory Road this weekend.

What were NxNW6’s films of the year?

West Hampstead had another week of media exposure. First it was a pointless answer on Pointless! Then it appeared in this clip commemorating 150 years of the tube. And finally, it made it into The Graham Norton Show on Friday.

A Londis is opening on Fortune Green Road.

The Aldi that’s opening on Kilburn High Road has applied for an 8am-11pm alcohol licence.

Have a Merry Christmas – next week will be a review of the year rather than just the week!

Tweet of the Week

Tom gets into the Spiga seasonal spirit

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Nice little gathering to try Spiga’s Christmas menu the other day. As ever, appetising, with lots of their usual favourites on show. The pasta and gnocchi proved popular starters for some, but I tried the baked goats cheese on grilled aubergine and peppers, with balsamic. I’m not usually overly keen on the latter, but this was great! Excellent texture to the cheese, and the sweetness of the dressing worked well with the tanginess of the dish. The smoked salmon looked nice too, with asparagus (which – *important newsflash* – I have just heard is great for avoiding hangovers!) and a poached egg.

Mains were a hit too; there was turkey, a “bang-on” cod (marinated with herbs, in ginger, garlic and chilli sauce), and a baked, layered aubergine dish with tomato and basil sauce, mozarella and rocket, which looked superb – always impressive when a restaurant makes the effort to create really good veggie dishes. I had the sun-dried tomato crusted salmon with a saffron and prosecco sauce – the crust added a subtle extra dimension and the sauce packed lots of flavour. Lovely!

Chocolate tart with strawbs to finish – rather greedily I had one and a half of those, but don’t tell anyone. Don’t want to get a reputation as a glutton. What? Too late you say??

Wine of the evening was a Côtes du Rhône which seemed to impress all who tried it – excellent drop of festive medicine. I’ve been drinking a lot of these throughout 2012, and will probably manage one or two more before the year’s out.

Off to the North London Tavern tonight; must pick up a decent handful of asparagus on my way home…

Have a fantastic, food-festive new year! 

Can CCTV images help solve fatal crash puzzle

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Today, police released three CCTV images from the night of November 10th. That was the Saturday of the car crash that killed Desreen Brooks and severely injured Amy Werner.

Police believe these are all vital witnesses in their attempt to find out exactly what happened at about 8.30pm that night.

The first is a moped rider who was heading southbound on West End Lane before doing a u-turn and riding in the direction of Finchley Road. It could be a fast food delivery moped, so if you’re a local business that uses delivery people, do look closely to see if you know this person.

Second, police want to speak to the driver of this silver BMW that stopped opposite the Overground station.

Finally, police also wish to speak to this man waiting outside the Overground station. He looks like he’s checking his phone.

Anyone with information should call the Road Death Investigation Unit on 0208 842 1817.

Four rescued from Maygrove Road fire

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This morning I saw a tweet saying “Small house fire on Maygrove Road”. Shortly after, the London Fire Brigade tweeted “20 firefighters are tackling a house blaze on Maygrove Road”. Not such a small fire after all.

After an hour, the fire at No.39 was out. According to the fire brigade, part of second floor flat, a staircase between the first and second floors and a ground floor hallway were damaged in the blaze. Fire crews rescued a woman and a child. The woman suffered burns and smoke inhalation and the child suffered smoke inhalation. A further two men were led to safety by fire officers wearing breathing apparatus. All were taken to hospital.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

This comes two weeks after an elderly woman died in a fire in West End Court on the corner of Priory Road and Greencroft Gardens.

Cordon tape from the West End Court fire
Photo via Jon Foster

Two accidents on West End Lane

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Yesterday was topped and tailed by two road traffic accidents at either end of West End Lane.

In the morning there was a collision involving a police car at the junction with Dynham Road (right by where the fatal car accident was last month).

Photo via Tim Blackwell
Photo via Chris Padfield
(I’m intrigued as to how that van parked in the driveway behind in the meantime)

According to local resident Yiannis Assiotis, the police car was heading north up West End Lane with its sirens on when it hit the Toyota, which appears to have been turning out of Dynham Road. The police officers got out of the car and helped the driver of the other car out from the passenger seat as the driver’s door was blocked by the police car. Yiannis reported that everyone seemed to be in one piece.

The VW you can see next to the bus was apparently already parked there. One reader, reported that when he walked past at 7am, it seemed to have been abandoned having hit the wall and badly dented the left front wing. Had the police car had to swerve to avoid it?

Camden police’s twitter account simply told me “A police car was involved in a minor collision with another vehicle… There were no injuries”

At around 6pm, a man appears to have been knocked down at the zebra crossing by Hidden Treasure at the northern end of West End Lane. Locals reported that it was just over an hour before an ambulance turned up although the man was being looked after by police officers and firemen. He was eventually taken away in an ambulance.

This time, @MPSCamden told me “officers attended an RTC [road traffic collision]… one male was taken to hospital with minor injuries.” I don’t know whether anyone has been charged.

Photo via Joseph Knight

If I hear more on either story I’ll be sure to keep you posted

NxNW6 Film Review of 2012

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I have been writing this column for eight months and have been blown away by the local appreciation and passion for film. North-west London is a genuine oddity in cinema terms. How many other neighbourhoods (outside of the West End)  can boast seven cinemas (five independent) all within walking distance of each other?

I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank the 60 of you who came to our first #whampfilm events for Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises. It was very much appreciated and we plan to run similar events in early 2013. We’re also starting a monthly film club night at the Tricycle. However, as you all know, the first rule of film club is that you can’t talk about film club, so I’ll stop talking. More on that later!

There is a slight change in format for this week’s listings. Along with the Film of the Week, US musical comedy Pitch Perfect is the only other new release in the area, so I’ve taken the opportunity to compile my personal list of the films that I thought were outstanding in 2012 – please let me know your favourites as well (either in the comments below or via Twitter @NxNW6).

Have a great Christmas one and all and keep loving cinema.
Mark

Film of the Week

Life of Pi
(2012, adventure drama, 127 mins, PG)
The first Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger) film for three years tackles the much loved Yann Martel novel. The 3D rendering is apparently excellent and this is very likely to become a staple of the awards season.
  • Everyman Maida Vale 2D
  • Everyman Hampstead 3D
  • Finchley Road Vue 2D & 3D
  • Swiss Cottage Odeon 3D

Films of the Year
(in no particular order)

Films that just missed the cut: Damsels in Distress, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Shame, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Dredd.

And, for balance, here are my worst five: Battleship, John Carter, Rock of Ages, Wrath of the Titans and The Lorax.

Listings back to normal next week!

COMING SOON
Dec 26 – Jack Reacher, Midnight’s Children, Safety not Guaranteed.
Jan 1 – The Impossible, Quartet, Playing for Keeps, Texas Chainsaw 3D
Jan 11 – Les Miserables, Gangster Squad, Jiro Dreams of Sushi
All times correct at time of publication.
*new release.

Contact Mark via Twitter or .

What have I missed since December 10th?

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Douglas Hutchison, the man attacked on Goldhurst Terrace on November 29th, died in hospital. He was better known to many as “Professor Whitestick”.

PC Ruth Marshall will be leaving the West Hampstead Safer Neighbourhood Team in the New Year.

The dispersal zone that covered the Lymington Road/Lithos Road area was wound up in November,  apparently without any consultation with relevant groups.

There was a fire outside Sainsbury’s on West End Lane that also caused a power cut.

What did Tom make of new West End Lane restaurant Hana?

La Brocca and Cycle Surgery were both broken into and West End Lane Books had an attempted break in on Thursday night. La Brocca also hosted a carol concert on Saturday with four tubas – it raised £265 for a homeless charity.

The latest release of census data revealed all sorts of facts about Camden, including the number of Jedis in the borough.

Cyclist Bradley Wiggins, the “kid from Kilburn”, won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The O2 lost its revolving doors but gained a minimalist Christmas tree.

The three Tories on the final shortlist for Hampstead and Kilburn are Simon Marcus, Seema Kennedy and Alex Burghart.

I rather like the new look West End Lane Cars sign.

Alan at West Hampstead Overground was awarded Metro’s “deed of the day“

Wifi is now available inside Swiss Cottage tube.

What are the quantifiable benefits of spending in local businesses rather than chains?

Do you think money should be spent on improving West Hampstead’s library facilities?

A new no frills gym opened in Kilburn.

Paramount won Best Single Agency London at the annual estate agents awards bash.

Grilled O Fried seems to have closed for good.

Cllr Theo Blackwell responded to Cllr Gillian Risso-Gill’s accusation that Camden is taking the easy option when it comes to finding new commercial tenants.

A new exhibition – Film in Space – opened at the Camden Arts Centre

Check out all the Hobbit options, plus some Christmas movie offerings via @NxNW6

Coming up
Monday: Santa’s dropping in to Blue Daisy in the afternoon.
Monday is also the end-of-year special at Good Ship Comedy.
Wednesday: Jacky Hyams will speak at the “a.m. club” at the library on “Bombsites & Lollipops“

Tweet of the Week

Tom purrs at Hana’s Persian food

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On a chilly evening, I was grateful to be invited along with Jonathan to try outHana, the new Persian restaurant at the West End Green side of town. The venue has gone through a series of changes over the last few years, and the latest incarnation is thankfully quite different to Le Petit Coin, our second ever #whampreview destination some three years ago.

Happily, the neat, clean, nicely-lit room was warm; at this time of year it’s really awkward when you walk into a restaurant, then realise it’s freezing cold and quickly have to decide whether to make an about-turn or not. (There is one method I personally recommend to help warm up: try The Black Lion’s mulled wine as I did on this occasion – it’s fantastic).

Having been warmly welcomed by the delightful duo of manageress Alicia, and her very able waitress Pamela, we were guided through the menu. As usual, I was distracted by the wine list and took little in. Starting off with four dips, I was pleased to be warned that the hummus contained a lot of garlic. As @Sparklegirl21 correctly tweeted recently, there’s no such thing as too much garlic. Predictably, this was our favourite, but all four were good, one with spinach, another with cold chicken, and a warm aubergine dip.

The dips came with very thin flatbreads coated in sesame seeds. This thinness allowed them to be devoured without eating too much before mains arrived. When they did, they were well presented and immediately appetising. Jonathan noted that his enjoyable Ghafgazi mixed skewer (£12) – chunky cuts of marinated lamb fillet and chicken – arrived well-grilled, and I thought it had an elegant simplicity to it, with its colourful grilled tomato and perfect saffron rice.

I was drawn towards the Khorosheth Gheymeh, invitingly priced at £7.95. This stew of diced lamb in tomato sauce, split peas and sun-dried limes, topped with finely cut potato chips and rice (I took up the option of adding aubergine for £1), was delicious, and perfect for an icy-cold evening – though I don’t recall the chips being present for some reason! The various elements were warming and blended very well together; well-seasoned, with sweetness, sourness, and a healthy dose of cinnamon. The lamb was tender and flavoursome, and all in all this was an uplifting dish, cheerfully served in an authentic little pot. It’s a dish I’d like to have again. Our wine, a Tempranillo, also proved a sound choice.

Some excellent saffron ice cream arrived, accompanied by another plate that is a little hard to explain – a sort of sponge-pancake hybrid wrapped around a soft, sweet, creamy centre, which was quite enjoyable. Having recently mocked me for buying myself some Thornton’s chocolates to enjoy one night, Jonathan now seemed to find it gleefully amusing when I likened our dessert to that traditional family favourite, Arctic Roll!

Hana is something different for West Hampstead. It offers good value, and is only round the corner from plenty of other popular haunts – so I hope plenty of people will make the effort to get along there. Expect smiling, enthusiastic service, and a well thought-out menu that also includes some great-sounding seafood options by the way.

I suggest using the current bone-numbing weather as a very good reason to try Hana, enjoy interesting food in a nice environment, and reminisce about Arctic Roll. And if you’re still cold when you leave, pop in to The Black Lion for that piping hot mulled wine.

Happy Christmas, diners – the Port and cheeseboard are not far off now! My advice is to eat, drink, and be merry – and then repeat several times. Cheers!

Keep it in the neighbourhood: The benefits of buying local

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Many of us generally, if not obsessively, like to shop at local independent places if we can. Often we can’t, or convenience (or price) dictates we go elsewhere. We may simply not care.

However, a study in the US has actually quantified the economic benefits to a neighbourhood of giving your trade to the locals rather than the chains. The principle may not be too surprising, but the data is definitely interesting.

A group called Civic Economics has been crunching the numbers for 10 US towns and cities over a decade. These are generally significantly larger urban areas than West Hampstead mind you. Nevertheless, the findings are always more or less the same: money spent at independent outlets is more likely to stay local than that spent at a chain.

In Louisville, Kentucky, researchers found independent stores recirculate 55.2% of revenues compared to 13.6% for big retailers. In other words they put four times as much back into the local area, relatively speaking. This is not the same as saying they recirculate four times the amount of money, but it does imply that the more consumers choose to shop local, the greater the benefit for the local economy. Studying restaurants revealed similar, though less dramatic, findings. In Louisville, independent restaurants put just over twice as much of their revenue back into the local economy as the chains. I note from Wikipedia that Louisville is the headquarters of both Papa John’s and the world’s largest fast food company by units, Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell!

Louisville’s answer to West End Lane Books

(Louisville’s Independent Business Alliance (a co-sponsor of the study) cites a bunch of reasons for spending local. Number one is “To keep it weird”, and the organisation’s website is in fact keeplouisvilleweird.com)

Across the 10 cities studied, spending at local businesses generated on average 3.7 times more local economic benefit than spending at chains. Naturally, money staying in the local economy fuels that economy.

“The extra dollars in the local economy produce more jobs for residents, extra tax revenues for local governments, more investment in commercial and residential districts, and enhanced support for local nonprofits. In short, these businesses create better places.” Louisville study

The study is not without holes – it’s sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, which has an agenda to promote local retailers. It doesn’t look at very many chain operators (Barnes & Noble, Target, Home Depot and Office Max are the only four), and it’s the same ones in each city. Nor does it look at the price differential between chains and independents. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting guide to the value of shopping local.

Perhaps the best stat to come out of the Louisville study is that a market shift of just 10% from chains to independents would, based on these numbers in this city, generate an additional $416 million for the local economy off total retail sales of $10 billion. Whether that’s enough to get Papa John’s and Pizza Hut employees to buy independent pizza anytime soon remains to be seen!

Goldhurst Terrace assault victim dies

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The very sad news broke this morning that the man who was attacked at the end of last month in Goldhurst Terrace has died in hospital.

Douglas Hutchison, 60, who suffered from severe visual impairment, was better known to many by his pseudonym Professor Whitestick. His blog and Twitter account were widely read and his views on the arts held in high regard.

He and I had chatted on Twitter a few times, largely about accessibility issues at West Hampstead’s stations. He was always engaging. I hadn’t realised he lived so close by.

Tributes came in on Twitter, including one from the Royal Academy and another from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Tim Sommer, 18, of no fixed abode, was arrested for the attack in the immediate aftermath. He was originally charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody to reappear in court in February. I understand that the death of Mr Hutchison means that Mr Sommer is likely to be rearrested for murder.

Video: West End Lane fire

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Last night around 4.30pm, smoke was spotted seemingly coming out of the ground outside Sainsbury’s on West End Lane in West Hampstead.

About the same time, a few businesses and residents across the road reported a power cut. Perhaps unsurprisingly it turned out the two were related. Apparently there was a small electrical fire in the cabling that runs under the street (some reports said TV cable), and this was causing smoke to rise quite dramatically from West End Lane.

The fire brigade arrived pretty quickly – not exactly a long way for them – and the fire was extinguished, but it was quite some hours before power was restored to parts of West End Lane.

Wayne Nixon captured some of the drama on video.

Update 4.45pm The Ham & High’s report

Cinema listings Dec 13th-20th: Hobbit Special

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The Tricycle ¦ Everyman Belsize Park ¦ Everyman Hampstead ¦ Everyman Maida Vale
Finchley Road Vue ¦ Swiss Cottage Odeon

There’s only one game in town this week: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released on Thursday and is showing in five of our six local cinemas in a mind boggling four different formats. As well as the standard 2012 dilemma of deciding whether to see the film in 2D or 3D, there is also the option of seeing it in a higher frame rate of 48fps (24 is the standard). Screenings at the HFR all tend to be in 3D, are limited to the multiplexes and tend to be more expensive. As always, do tweet me your thoughts on this or anything else cinematic @NxNW6.

Film of the Week

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(2012, adventure fantasy, 169 mins, 12A)
Early reviews have been split down the middle. Some have called it tedious and have criticised the decision to make three films from the one text, others say it is a worthy prequel to the Lord of the Rings films.
  • Tricycle 2D £9.50, £6 (£4.50 for Brent residents) on Mondays.
  • Everyman Maida Vale & Belsize Park – 3D only £15
  • Finchley Road Vue 2D £11.80, 3D £15 and 3D HFR £17.50
  • Swiss Cottage Odeon 2D £11.50, 3D IMAX HFR £14.50 week, £16 weekend (only HFR IMAX screening in London)

Hampstead Film Society
Hampstead Town Hall – 213 Haverstock Hill, £7
The Artist (2011, comedy romance, 100 mins) Tue 18th 7pm. Hampstead Town Hall.
The Best Picture winner is a crowd-pleaser, so if you missed it during all the hype now would be a great chance to settle back and enjoy this gem of a modern silent film. And yes, the dog really does steal the show.

The Tricycle Cinema
£9.50 adult, £8.50 concessions, Mon £6 adult, £4.50 Brent resident
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (see film of the week)

The Everyman Cinemas
Prices vary, but expect to pay ~£13 (~£10 for a concession). Booking advised.
Belsize Park
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* 3D (see film of the week)

Hampstead
Seven Psychopaths (2012, crime comedy, 110 mins, 15)
The follow up to the modern classic In Bruges, sees a struggling screenwriter become entangled in the LA underworld. The cast includes Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell. I found it to be deriative of Quentin Tarantino’s films, and Charlie Kaufman’s writing, misogynistic and ultimately a disappointment.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012, romantic comedy, 122 mins 15).
Ignore the terrible marketing campaign and the confusing title – this is being talked up very seriously as the rom-com of the year. Don’t be surprised if it picks up Oscar nominations across the board, not least for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. Perfect date movie material, and has received very positive local word of mouth reviews.
Argo (2012, thriller, 120 mins, 15).
Great slice of American cinema. Limited screenings only (Sat, Sun, Thu).
Life of Pi (2D from Thurs 20th only – more next week).

Maida Vale
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* 3D (see film of the week)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, family comedy, 85 mins, U).
Classic Muppet caper based on the Dickens novel gets a timely re-release for its 20th anniversary. Difficult not to love.
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi (2D from Thurs 20th only – more next week).

Finchley Road Vue 
(click here for pricing)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* 2D, 3D 3D HFR(see film of the week)
Seven Psychopaths
Rise of the Guardians
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!
The Silver Linings Playbook
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Argo
Skyfall
Other films show in Kids Club slots

Swiss Cottage Odeon
(click here for pricing)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* 2D 3D IMAX HFR (see film of the week).
Rise of The Guardians 2D 3D
Great Expectations (limited)
Argo (club)
Skyfall

COMING SOON
Dec 21 – The Life of Pi, Pitch Perfect.
Dec 26 – Jack Reacher, Midnight’s Children, Safety not Guaranteed.
Jan 1 – The Impossible, Quartet, Playing for Keeps, Texas Chainsaw 3DAll times correct at time of publication.
*new release.

Contact Mark via Twitter or .

Smart and diverse – the Camden census

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Camden census – some highlights

The Office for National Statistics released its first set of data today from the 2011 census for England & Wales. I waded through the spreadsheets to find some of the more striking figures relating to the London Borough of Camden and tweeted some of them. It’s too early for ward-level analysis yet.

Storified by West Hampstead · Tue, Dec 11 2012 05:51:29

Population

#whampcensus Camden’s population 220,338 49m/51f, that’s up 18k from the (revised) 2001 populationWest Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has the 8th densest (steady…) population in the country at 101.1 persons/ha. (Islington is the densest 138.7) *cough*West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has Inner London’s 2nd highest absolute number of people 65+ living alone.West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has highest % of flats in converted houses in the country (7th for purpose-built)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden 6th highest level of private rented accomm. (top 9 are all in Inner London), 3rd lowest ownership (excl. Isle of Scilly)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has the lowest % of people living "in a household" in Inner London (96.4% vs. avg 98.4%)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has an average household size of 2.2, but an average number of bedrooms per household of 2.1West Hampstead
#whampcensus worth thinking about today: 3,406 households in Camden don’t have central heating. That’s 3.5%, above inner London average 3.2%West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has 5th highest % of single mother households as % of single parent households (K&C is #1)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has Inner London’s 3rd and UK’s 4th highest number of registered same-sex civil partnershipsWest Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has country’s (and London’s) 6th highest % of single person (never married) households 42.9%West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden ranks 10th for % of people born outside the EUWest Hampstead
@WHampstead #whampcensus Camden ranked 6th highest nationally in % of households with no carEllen

Ethnicity

#whampcensus Camden has 5th highest % "any other white" popn in country (at local authority level). Brent the 2nd lowest "White British"West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has country’s 4th highest % White Irish population; Brent is No1 unsurprisingly. 3.2 and 4.0% of total popn respectivelyWest Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden ranks 2nd (behind the often anomalous City of London) for "Irish and British only" identity, and 4th for "Irish only"West Hampstead
#whampcensus 44 people in Camden identify as Cornish only.West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden ranks 4th for mixed-ethnicity partnerships (this would include eg. 1 x White Irish and one 1 x White British I assume)West Hampstead

Employment & Education

#whampcensus Camden people work long hours – we rank 6th for % of people working 49+ hrs a week, 5th if you just take womenWest Hampstead
#whampcensus is it surprising that Camden ranks 343rd (out of 348) for % of economically active popn. who are employed part time?West Hampstead
#whampcensus 62 people in Camden work in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. Who knew!West Hampstead
#whampcensus Those 62 people working in Ag & Fish are split exactly 50/50 male/female.West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden ranks 3rd however for Professional, Scientific and Technical activities (behind City of London and Islington)West Hampstead
Camden also ranks 2nd for "other" (which includes actors).Oddly, Forest Heath comes top, perhaps due to the 2 USAF bases there?West Hampstead
#whampcensus 2,232 people work in "real estate activities". It is believed 2,231 one of them are based within 100 yards of West End LaneWest Hampstead
#whampcensus Unemployment rate in Camden was 4.5% (vs. inner london average of 5.6%).West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden 2nd lowest proportion of people working in manufacturing (behind the City of London, where they just manufacture money)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden ranks 9th for % of single parents not in employment (51.3% of all single parent households)West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has 5th highest % graduate population in country. Over half of 16+ popn. have at least an undergraduate degree.West Hampstead

Religion

CORRECTION: #whampcensus Camden had the highest % of people not stating a religion (and came 180th for "no religion").West Hampstead
#whampcensus Camden has the 3rd lowest % Christian popn. in England and Wales at 34% (Tower Hamlets 27.1, Leicester 32.4% are lower)West Hampstead
@WHampstead I’m one of the 0.4% Sikhs locally. The rest are all my relatives #takingover #whampcensusSimi
#whampcensus Camden is in the ONS’s lowest bracket for Christian % popn (0-45.9%), and has 5th highest Jewish % popn. (4.5%)West Hampstead
#whampcensus 704 Jedis in CamdenWest Hampstead
#whampcensus One person in Camden belongs to the Church of All Religion. Hedging their bets there a bit.West Hampstead
#whampcensus 9 Druids, 6 Heathens, 1 Mystic, 2 Occultists, 13 "own belief system", 143 Pagans, 6 Satanists, 2 Shamanists, 23 WiccansWest Hampstead
#whampcensus 54,759 Camdeners put "no religion", just 269 actually wrote atheist, and 264 agnostic, 2 wrote "Free Thinker", 18 "Heavy Metal"West Hampstead
#whampcensus Amused that Heavy Metal followers outnumber Scientologists in Camden. OK – enough religion now.West Hampstead
#whampcensus 45,276 didn’t fill in the religion box at allWest Hampstead

Web chat with Mike Katz

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The We are Camden website seems to have struggled to gain traction since it launched some 18 months ago. The idea was to provide a community forum on a ward basis, but posts are sporadic at best. It’s slightly surprising that the venture has lasted this long, at a time of cuts.

Perhaps one way of drawing people to the site is to make it more interactive. So, on Friday, Councillor Mike Katz (Kilburn ward) will be doing a live webchat for an hour from midday om how Kilburn can be improved. You can ask him questions directly then, or mail Nick.Kimber@camden.gov.uk with questions in advance.

Cllr. Mike Katz

If you can’t make the webcast live, it will be up on the site for a while.

What have I missed since December 3rd?

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It was a bad week for First Capital Connect with some horrendous delays that forced several commuter trains to terminate at West Hampstead. From this week, there are timetable changes. There’s also a “Meet the Director” online forum at 1pm on Friday 14th  December.

Meanwhile, locals who live along the train line are in for sleepless nights this week as foliage is cleared from the embankments.

West Hampstead largely avoided the snow that lightly covered other parts of London, but there was a brief moment of winter wonderland on West End Lane.

West Hampstead Farmers’ Market recevied planning permission after Camden received a staggering 284 letters in support (and 4 against). Meanwhile, estate agents battle to be your preferred Bag for Life, with Paramount, Chelsea Square and Alexanders all getting in on the act.

The Christmas market was a success on Saturday as it went from empty to full.

Read how new correspondent @ZENW6 got on at the Yi Dao clinic on Mill Lane with a Tui Na massage.

House prices in West Hampstead are up, so why are all players in the property market so stressed?

West Hampstead featured twice on the BBC this week. First Wired was on the One Show (watch here), and then Flowerstalk was on This Week. And if all that wasn’t enough, a rom-com was being filmed at The Private Space.

Developers Linden Wates are to appeal their second Gondar Gardens proposal, even though their first proposal has been given the all clear.

Byron Hamburger joint is opening in the O2 where Fine Burger Co. was.

Fortune Green may achieve a royal designation, while a school might be moving in to Alfred Court, overlooking the Green.

Amy Werner, the American student badly injured in the car crash a month ago, finally flew back to the US this week. She has also taken her first steps and continues to recover.

Is Camden serving West Hampstead entrepreneurs well?

Check out the full local cinema listings for the week.

Dick Barton – beloved of schoolkids from a bygone age – had a West Hampstead connection.

A new café has opened in Kingsgate Community Centre.

Learn more about the Marquis, Mrs Peters and Kilburn Grange.

There’s a lovely Christmas tree outside Buckingham Mansions.

Coming Up
All week: a Winter Print exhibition at Kingsgate Studios.
Wednesday: The Movers & Shapers Xmas Party (6-9pm)
Thursday: #whampxmasdrinks downstairs at The Gallery – just turn up!
Friday: live webchat with Kilburn councillor Mike Katz

Tweet of the Week
One of the survivors of Tuesday’s FCC debacle gets the nod this week

Are West Hampstead entrepreneurs being short-changed?

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Is Camden council doing enough to help new businesses in West Hampstead? Local Lib Dem councillor Gillian Risso-Gill thinks not, and had a hefty swipe at the council in a letter to the Ham & High this week to say just that:

“Empty retail and business units have been allowed to stay empty for years, enquiries are rebuffed, premises are not marketed and then put up for auction.”

I have heard stories like this from local businesses – indeed there was one last month that happened on Twitter:

Cllr Risso-Gill also writes: “There is a woeful lack of available business premises in the area and units and sites are still being allowed to change from commercial to residential use.” This is also true, although one prominent example, Handrail House on Maygrove Road, has apparently been empty for some time as the landlord simply can’t find businesses to occupy it. From a residents’ perspective, it is important to remember that the local economy is not just about shops and restaurants, but business services and (light) industry too. What are the conditions they need to operate profitably?

Gillian Risso-Gill at the opening of the first Farmers’ Market

Many of you will be aware that Rock Mens’ Salon has moved from its premises in the death-row strip of shops from 187-199 West End Lane. John, the owner, was able to move fast and take the Broadhurst Gardens site that had been the Millennium Café. Yet he was also able to strike a deal with Network Rail, which still owns those premises, and open the new coffee shop Wired thereby taking advantage of the empty space. Yet, the car hire premises next door remain empty and the leases on all the units there expire in the spring. It is far from clear that building work on that site will start then however, so will the sites remain empty? Cllr Risso-Gill again:

I have asked the council for help to secure temporary tenants in the retail units currently being vacated on the 187-199 West End Lane site, to prevent the area becoming blighted prior to development, but resources are not available.

Of course, Camden’s resources are stretched under the current budgetary regime, yet there is an argument that lack of attention here is depriving the council of revenue from business rates. Lib Dem Risso-Gill finishes her letter with a direct attack on the Labour-led council:

We have a Labour administration that cannot be bothered to manage its assets to generate income and… takes the easy option of mothballing and then selling off every available site [while] the local business community and entrepreneurial spirit that could boost the local economy and create jobs, is being neglected.

Camden’s finance chief Cllr Theo Blackwell responded on Twitter:

What do you think? Should this be a priority at a time when public services are being cut back? Is the money that would come from renting out small premises sufficient to justify the extra cost?

Gondar Gardens appeal saga drags on

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Planning law is a strange beast.

Let me refresh your memory. Linden Wates recently won an appeal to build very low-impact homes on the resevoir site in Gondar Gardens. In a considered review of the application, the Planning Inspector believed that any negative impact on the open space would be offset by the benefits of this development.

GARA – the local residents association – which has long campaigned against developing this site, was naturally disappointed.

It seemed as if that was the end of the story. But there was a rumbling subplot. After Camden had initially rejected this plan, the developer submitted a second plan. This was arguably less controversial than the first – it was a street-frontage plan rather than one that would develop the green space itself. Camden rejected this one too.

Now, despite having won the first appeal, the developer is appealing against this second decision too. This has thrown everyone for a loop. What is Linden Wates objective? They can’t build both developments, and surely if the first one had passed first time they’d have moved forward with it.

Street-view of second plan – now being appealed

Either they think the first scheme is less profitable than the second, and having won the first appeal are confident in the second. Or perhaps they hope that a successful appeal with this second plan would give them the leeway to propose an even more ambitious third scheme.

Strikes me that this is a waste of public money – if a developer has a plan approved for one site through appeal to the national inspector, that should be the end of it for at least the amount of time that planning permission lasts.

Royal status for Fortune Green?

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Fortune Green is on the up. QEII status beckons. Which could mean some funding and additional planning protection. The Friends of Fortune Green are excited.

Phase one of the major improvements to the green took place two years ago: resurfacing paths, expanding the dog-free area, improving the entrance by the bus stop and new planting. Phase two will include excavating the remains of a WW2 air raid shelter (in the quadrant near the playground) and returfing that area, adding new noticeboards, creating a small children’s landscaped area and a running/exercise trail starting at the green, winding through the surrounding streets and finishing back on the Green. These improvements will involve fencing off part of the park over the winter.

All this has led Camden to nominate Fortune Green as a “QEII field”, all part of the Jubilee celebrations. Fields in Trust (formerly the National Playing Fields Association), a charity dedicated to protecting and improving outdoor space for sport, play and recreation, has set up the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge to add protection to community recreational facilities.

Consultation is imminent, but naturally the FoFG are strongly in favour.

A hands-on experience: Tui Na at Yi Dao

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In the first of a regular new West Hampstead Life column, my health & beauty correspondent @ZENW6 investigates an alternative to a sports massage at a new Mill Lane clinic. Over the coming months, ZENW6 will look at everything from hair salons to fitness studios in and around West Hampstead. Do with any comments or suggestions for articles.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I was invited to the Yi Dao clinic for a complimentary Tui Na massage. Google had helped get me up to speed: it’s a traditional Chinese physical therapy encompassing eastern body movement principles such as Tai Chi. But that wasn’t very detailed, so I was slightly apprehensive. Much as I enjoy a relaxing massage, was this the latest extreme health fad that I’d soon see endorsed by Madonna in the pages of Grazia? Would there be chanting?

Husband and wife team Zarig Cooper and Conny Duxbury, who took over the clinic (formerly The London Health Clinic) on Mill Lane around three months ago, were on hand to explain more. Both passionate and knowledgeable about eastern healthcare techniques, they talked me through the treatments they offer. They are both experienced Tui Na practitioners who have studied and trained in Chinese hospitals. Conny also specialises in acupuncture. I got to look at some interesting photographs of their last visit to China, including pictures of dedicated Tui Na massage wards; apparently it’s a very mainstream treatment offered in hospitals there and Conny’s dream is to make Tui Na therapy mainstream here in the UK.

“When people suffer from back pain they don’t need to automatically reach for painkillers or anti-inflammatories, or in extreme cases undergo unnecessary surgery,” she explains. Having been a Tai Chi teacher for 10 years (and with the enviable posture to prove it), she firmly believes that most people’s muscular aches and pains are caused by inefficient movement and bad posture, which put undue stress on the body over time.

What’s different about Tui Na from massage techniques we’re more familiar with? Zarig and Conny argue that it’s not a quick-fix solution for specific aches and pains that can then recur later, but more a way of living and moving. So, although they use Tui Na therapy to treat injuries, for example as an alternative to conventional sports massage, Yi Dao’s wider mission is to analyse people’s lifestyles and observe their breathing patterns and movements to help them break ingrained “patterns of tension”.

Zarig showed me around the clinic – there’s a nice softly-lit treatment room for western-style oil based massage but the Tui Na room was a little more austere and clinical, though still comfortable. My session started with a consultation to talk through my problems – I often suffer from a stiff neck caused by long hours sitting in front of a computer screen. Zarig demonstrated how limited my movement is; for example, I couldn’t touch my chin to my collarbone. We also discovered I have a chronic inability to relax; after a long day at the office, my back muscles were tense just lying on the massage table. There was a lot of work to be done here.

The massage wasn’t all relaxing; the tension in my back and shoulders meant that at times it was slightly painful and a bit ticklish. When I got used to the pressing / rolling movement it became much more enjoyable and soporific and I started to believe Zarig’s claim that some regular clients fall asleep mid-massage. I liked the fact that this massage can be carried out fully-clothed; there was no awkward disrobing or oil transferred onto your clothes.

Zarig’s style is down-to-earth. He was quick to reject any talk of “mystical energy flow” or any of the other unconventional terms often associated with alternative medicine. Rather, he believes that stress contributes to many conditions and that this manifests itself in physical terms. In short, the cumulative effect of tension and stress leaves the body in a tense and weakened state. I suspect it may be unrealistic for some to commit to incorporating these principles into their daily life, in which case the effect of the massage alone is not unlike a conventional sports massage or osteopathy session.

Would I go again? Yes, probably. I certainly left the clinic feeling more relaxed, calm and healthy than I had for a long time, and with a new found superpower of being able to turn my head to the right. Tui Na wouldn’t be for everyone – those expecting an indulgent treat may come away disappointed – but I liked the straightforward, scientific approach and think it would be a good treatment for those with sports injuries, or for anyone with ongoing mild aches and pains caused by the stresses of everyday life. If you’re looking for Christmas presents, you can get £30 vouchers for an hour’s Tui Na massage or oil massage (both normally £50). There’s no chanting.

The Magnificent Marquis!

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Most people reading this blog will have heard of Kilburn Grange Park, but not everyone will know there once was a large house called ‘The Grange’, facing Kilburn High Road. The present Park covers what remains of its grounds. Dick and Marianne have been researching the history of Kilburn and West Hampstead for over thirty years, and a chance discovery of a book in a second-hand store revealed a reference in the index to ‘Mrs Peters of Kilburn’. They knew she was a very wealthy widow who lived at The Grange. But why was she included in a history of the Romano’s Café on the Strand? It turned out Romano’s was a favourite hangout of her lover, the Marquis de Leuville.

Many books and articles refer to this property’s great age and past glories, but all these claims are wrong. The Grange was a purpose built mansion, completed by January 1831 on a site never before used for building. 1843 saw the arrival of the Peters family, who owned and added to the house over sixty years. Thomas Peters was a wealthy coachbuilder who made coaches for Queen Victoria. Following his death in 1862, his eldest son, John Winpenny Peters took over and married Ada Britannia Beckers the following year. Ada was much younger than her husband and inherited the property when John died in 1882.
The Grange, Kilburn (Camden Local Studies Archive)

The Marquis and Mrs Peters met for the first time in August 1885. She was holding a garden party at The Grange, and he wasn’t a guest, but hired for the occasion to help entertain the many people who came to enjoy her hospitality. During the evening he recited two poems: Robert Browning’s ‘How they brought the good news from Ghent’ and some lines written by one of the guests. Ada entertained the guests and played the harp.
The Kilburn Times reported on the event:
Favoured by splendid weather, Mrs Peters had a delightful garden party on Saturday afternoon. Nearly 300 invitations had been sent out. There was the best opportunity for enjoyment by all, whether in the exercise of the lawn tennis ground, or in promenading within sight of Dan Godfrey and his band of Grenadier Guards, or in roaming about the ample and beautiful grounds, or in quietly sitting within the shelter of the numerous umbrella tents that skirted the lawn. Many of the company took the opportunity of viewing the choice collection of works of art and mementoes of visits to Italy and other parts of the Continent. In the evening, a concert was given under the able direction of Mr Sidney Smith, (another Kilburn resident). 
Ada Peters at her harp

The Marquis was a tall, good looking, charismatic man and Ada was very attracted by him and they began a long affair. The Marquis didn’t get involved in many local events, other than playing an increasingly prominent role in social events at The Grange. He also supported Ada’s campaign to prevent the Kingsgate Road School being built on the edge of her property.
Why didn’t the Marquis marry his Kilburn widow? To under stand this, it’s necessary to back track to 1870, when John and Ada’s daughter Pauline fell ill with scarlet fever. This was highly contagious and at the time, usually fatal. Children were kept isolated, and their toys burned for fear of spreading the infection. Pauline was nursed at The Grange where she died on the 26th April, only six days after contracting the disease. Pauline was destined to be the couple’s only child and John was particularly affected by her death. When Ada was widowed, she inherited a small fortune, along with a large empty house and nothing to do with her time. But under the terms of John’s will (quite common among wealthy families), Ada occupied the property as a ‘tenant for life.’ This meant she could enjoy it so long as she didn’t remarry. If she did, almost everything reverted to the Peters family. So she took the Marquis as her lover.
The more we researched de Leuville, the more we wanted to write his life story. We found out he was a Victorian poet, adventurer and lover of women. Given half a chance he’d issue a challenge to a duel over an insult to a lady. Chivalric values informed his life. Interesting conversationalist or pompous fool, fascinating companion or opinionated dandy, it all depended on who you were, and what you wanted from the Marquis. But he was never, never boring. Famous during his lifetime, he took the secret of his identity to his grave.

 After many years of research our biography, ‘The Marquis de Leuville; a Victorian Fraud?’ is now published as an ebook by The History Press, and we can reveal his fascinating story and who he really was.
The ebook can be downloaded to Kindle and the I-Pad. With a free Kindle Ap or Mobi Reader it can also be read on a PC or other computer. The ebook is available now from Amazon and other ebook sites.

Property News – Stressed in NW6

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Welcome to the Property News section of West Hampstead Life. Local estate agent Benham & Reeves will be writing about the local sales market over the coming months, giving you some sales and prices statistics for the area as well as encouraging debate around estate agent practices, development and other areas of the property sales market in West Hampstead (comments will be moderated).

Even though these articles are being written by an estate agent, I’m making sure it’s honest comment and criticism of the industry! Here’s what Darryl Jenkins, manager of Benham & Reeves’ West Hampstead office, says about the venture:

The concept has been developed in conjunction with West Hampstead Life as a way of encouraging a dialogue between local residents and mistrusted estate agents. Hopefully, it’s refreshingly different with some (though perhaps not all) stereotypes being broken along the way.

So, with that, let me hand over to Darryl for December’s Property Sales News

Stressed in NW6

The start of this venture marks the end of another challenging year of property sales in West Hampstead. Challenging for buyers, sellers and agents alike.

Buyers have faced ever-stricter lending criteria for mortgages and only the very best candidates with at least 20% deposits are being accepted. There are signs that this is starting to ease though. According to recent figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the number of first-time buyers taking out a mortgage to buy a property in London between July and September was the highest for three years, although still far short of 2006/07 levels. Ownership in London remains, at 50%, the lowest in the UK.

In the West Hampstead office we have seen about the same number of new buyers registering in 2012 as in 2011 with an increase over the last few months mirroring the CML data. There are also signs that mortgage deals have become more competitive with private banks entering the market – some of whom are offering 1.99% fixed for 2 years with a 30% deposit.

Fewer offers, and offers below asking price also indicate a lack of confidence in the continued rise in prices and a reluctance to meet sellers’ price expectations, which are being buoyed by the lack of property on the market and the constant message from estate agent marketing that demand is strong.

Naturally, buyers want to buy at the lowest price and sellers want to sell at the highest price but I cannot remember a time when there have been such conflicting messages. Every day, the press highlight the challenging national and international economic situation, yet households are also receiving a constant stream of ‘record price achieved, more property required’ leaflets through their doors.

For example, we recently marketed a garden flat in West Hampstead at the vendor’s asking price of £1.5m, which 12 months ago would have been valued at £1.3m. After 30 or so viewings, we had received several offers all around £1.35m. The owner was reluctant to agree a sale at this level as he really believed the value to be a lot higher even though the market had found the level lower. After months of more viewings we have eventually agreed a sale just below £1.4m. This demonstrates the widening gap between vendor and buyer expectations. Both want to build in more of a financial cushion against the uncertainty of the market.

The next hurdle for buyers has been finding a suitable property to buy. Prices in West Hampstead are up roughly 10% this year so we’re seeing that sellers are more likely to hold onto their property in this rising market rather than sell. This is compounded by the fact that sellers are usually also buyers who have been put off by the new stamp duty increases and the general economic uncertainty of job security.

Apart from the difficulty of finding your next home, owners of property in West Hampstead have enjoyed good capital appreciation in the last 12 months. If a property has come to market at a sensible price we have found a buyer within a couple of weeks at what is normally a record price for the road or block. The difference is that the buyer is more likely to be an overseas investor than a local owner or renter trading up or buying for the first time.

This market also brings new challenges for estate agents. A recent count on Primelocation.com showed 106 separate agents advertising property for sale in NW6! Whilst I don’t expect too much sympathy (years of raking it in etc..etc..) every agent is having to work twice as hard just to stand still. Fewer properties on the market and even more agents trying to sell them has inevitably put downward pressure on fees (to be covered in a future article). This is good news for sellers but also explains why you’re getting more marketing material through your door as we all fight for our share.

This unique market, where lenders are reluctant to lend, sellers are thin on the ground, prices are rising and transactions are down has bought new levels of anxiety and stress for all. Agents have indicated record levels for the percentage of agreed sales that have fallen through this year – normally we’d expect 1 in 3, but this year it’s more likely to be 1 in 2. Lenders are taking twice as long (in some cases up to three months) to approve mortgages and surveyors and lawyers are taking longer and being beyond thorough (there’s always more litigation in economic slumps) All this means that estate agents are becoming more skilled at counselling than valuing! Holding a transaction together is now harder than any of the other sales processes, so when choosing an agent consider their life experience and people skills as well as their expensive marketing.

All in all, whether you have been a buyer, seller or agent in 2012 you are probably feeling more than 12 months older than you did in January. It’s been a stressful year.

What will happen in 2013 and beyond is clearly tricky to predict, but that won’t stop me having a go next month!. Please let me know your thoughts on the year ahead or any other comments about either the macro or micro issues of the property market.

Darryl Jenkins
Associate Director
Benham & Reeves
West Hampstead
020 7644 9300
Follow @BenhamReeves

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School to move in to Alfred Court?

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Abercorn School is a three-site private school based in St John’s Wood and Marylebone that takes children from 2 1/2 to 13. Each site takes a different age group.

Now, the school is seeking to open a school for 7-13 year-olds in the vacant unit of Alfred Court (also known locally as the Sager Building) on Fortune Green Road. It’s always been an oddity that this unit hasn’t been sold, but I don’t think many people would have predicted a school to try and move in.

Alfred Court from across Fortune Green
Photo via CZWG architects

The school would need to apply for a change of use from Camden and it’s likely that residents in the area will have questions about the implications for traffic, parking, and noise.

The High Mistress (which sounds more a title you’d find at Hogwarts rather than Grange Hill) Andrea Greystoke has already been in touch with the Neighbourhood Development Forum, and there will be a public exhibition on the site on December 17th and 18th that locals will be able to attend.

One Show visits Wired

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Turn on BBC1 tonight for early evening magazine programme The One Show to see West End Lane’s very own Wired make an appearance.

A One Show researcher contacted me yesterday trying to track down a number for Wired (hint: you need a website guys!), and the crew and a reporter turned up this morning at 9 o’clock to chat to co-owner Tom about whether the recent adverse publicity surrounding Starbucks has had any impact on business.

Watch (or iPlayer) the show from 7pm tonight to find out what Tom had to say about independent coffee shops.

Photo via @cyberdonkey
Photo via @cyberdonkey

What have I missed since November 26th?

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The Neighbourhood Development Plan published its draft core policies, which were discussed at a meeting last Thursday.

There was a violent assault on Goldhurst Terrace on Thursday.

A woman died on Sunday morning in a fire in a flat in West End Court on the corner of Priory Road and Greencroft Gardens.

Fire station cuts will affect Camden, but West Hampstead may be safe.

There’s a new tree on West End Green . Meanwhile another tree nearby was cut down after it was found to be diseased.

Amy Werner, injured in the car accident a few weeks ago, is still recovering in hospital. Her parents hope they’ll be able to fly her home on Wednesday.

A “romantic drama” was aired, featuring some prominent local inhabitants.

An escaped prisoner made his way to the area, but was caught by police on Saturday.

Boris rules out step-free access to West Hampstead tube station.

How well is South Hampstead’s contraflow cycle scheme working?

Mill Lane businesses are trying to reinvigorate the street.

Wired, the new coffee shop on West End Lane, had a launch event with live jazz and joined Twitter.

Central European deli Old Bridge opened, and also joined Twitter.

Tom went wild at La Brocca a couple of weeks back.

Paperchase and Oliver Bonas have opened in the O2 centre.

Sightseers is NxNW6’s film of the week. Check out the full local listings.

Aldi is opening next to TKMaxx on Kilburn High Road.

West Hampstead screen prints are now for sale.

Keep an eye out for ATMs on West End Lane eating your card. There was a Lebanese loop scam week before last.

A series of major drug arrests were made at a Kilburn snooker club.

There’s a new toddlers group at Hampstead Synagogue.

The problems with Virgin broadband reared their ugly head again.

An independent school is thinking of moving into the vacant units in the Sager building (the newish block of flats on Fortune Green Road).

Coming up
Tuesday: West Hampstead Business Association social at The Gallery
Wednesday: West End Lane Books hosts Horologicon author Mark Forsyth
Also on Wednesday, Camden decides whether to proceed with the borough-wide 20mph scheme.
Saturday: West Hampstead Christmas market
And don’t forget #whampxmasdrinks on December 13th at The Gallery

Tweet of the Week

Assessing the cycling contraflow scheme

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A little over a year ago proposals came forward to allow more contraflow cycling in South Hampstead. Some people thought this was madness, but it went ahead anyway.

One thing that seemed clear was that for it to work safely, the signage both in terms of road signs and on-road markings, would have to be exemplary.

With this in mind, Camden Cyclists, a lobby group, set out to explore the streets in immense detail and document their findings in order to suggest improvements.

Their full report is incredibly detailed but as with so many things, this is where its value lies. I hope Camden reads it carefully as some of the recommendations could help prevent road accidents and they are by and large easy to implement.

Perhaps a quick recap of where cyclists can now cycle on one-way streets would be helpful.

Camden Cyclists’ map of contraflows (accepted and rejected)
Click for larger version

Priory Road and Fairhazel Gardens are now both two-way cycling throughout. Fairhazel Gardens is now fully two-directional for cyclists (some sections were changed a few years ago). Greencroft Gardens has been made two-way for cyclists as has Messina Avenue, which gives a link through to Kilburn High Road.

Looking back up Greencroft Gardens from Fairhazel Gardens
“The contraflow facility is useful, but does require some confidence to use.
Note the contraflow cycle logo half-way up the road –
this is barely visible/legible to road users.”
Photo: Camden Cyclists
Looking west down Greencroft Gardens towards Fairhazel Gardens
The ‘No Entry’ on the road is misleading and the ‘No Entry’ sign on the left
is hidden in a tree; the sign on the right is unhelpfully placed.
An entry lane should be marked and the little cycle logo could be bigger!
Photo: Camden Cyclists

Camden Cyclists are still pushing for some additions to the contraflow system.

Compayne Gardens, which is two-way, is preferred by cyclists and is marked with cycle logos. But it fails as an eastbound route because it joins the one way Canfield Gardens before reaching the junction with Finchley Road. We very much regret that LB Camden has so far been unable to provide this link.

These contraflow routes are called “light”, which means they don’t require marked contraflow lanes but use signs and road markings. The Camden Cyclists page explains that last year the Dept. for Transport allowed the use of No Entry signs with “Except Cycles” subplates. “Other relaxations in regulations now allow contraflow cycling without lanes provided that traffic speeds and volumes are low.”

Camden Cyclists’ overall conclusion is that the scheme generally works well: “For the most part, the signage at the end of the roads is of a high standard.” The group does, of course, have some suggestions for improving legibility, especially so drivers are aware of the scheme. You can see all of the recommendations on its website.

NDP: Tall buildings and affordable business premises

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It was a relatively small group that assembled in the creche room of Emmanuel Church last night. Thankfully a heater was blasting away (the church is apparently investing in underfloor heating at some point – very fancy), keeping the cold at bay.

Under discussion was the second draft of the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), and I was pleasantly surprised that progress through the agenda points was relatively brisk.

In light of the overwhelming vote from WHGARA residents to be part of the NDP area, it was quickly decided that the boundary would match the West Hampstead and Fortune Green ward boundaries. Having cleared this hurdle, the application for formal recognition of the NDP can be submitted to Camden. There is unlikely to be any objection from Camden – planning officers have been involved with the process from the outset – so once accepted there will then be a six-week consultation process. This is all before the plan itself is finalised.

James Earl, chair of the Neighbourhood Development Forum, threw the discussion open to the floor (all 9 of us) regarding the core policies (recapped below) for comment.

Building height
One topic dominated the discussion. At the moment, the draft plan has blanks for the proposed maximum building height inside and outside the intensification area (roughly the area around the three stations).

John Eastwood, from WHGARA, put forward the idea that the maximum height should be the same across both wards, with no differentiation for the intensification area. He mooted four or five stories as the limit. This would seem to be too low to be enforceable. West End Lane already has plenty of five storey buildings and given the housing demands we face, it’s impossible to imagine that a sympathetically designed six-storey building wouldn’t be looked at favourably.

A couple of us also pointed out that developments such as the student block on Blackburn Road and indeed the Ballymore 187-199 West End Lane proposals were using the fact that the ground slopes away from the road to increase building height with less impact on the roofline. In other words, site context is an important component of determining maximum heights.

The sloping land means the Ballymore 12-storey tower block won’t have
quite as much impact as it would on West End Lane

I know that there are readers of this site who look more favourably on high rise than others. The NDF’s survey on this did, however, show a sizeable majority of residents are opposed to high-rise. Finding the right balance between housing need and height will take some careful wording of the plan. The view was put forward that the “errors of planning” that led to Ballymore’s 12-storey block, or the much older Ellerton building on Mill Lane, should not be taken as a new benchmark height for the area.

There is a secondary point here in that the NDP also takes a stance on the type of housing that is needed – specifically recommending a housing mix that includes more 3- and 4-bed flats. For developers to deliver that sort of housing profitably, they will need to build high. The plan needs to ensure it’s not pushing contradictory agendas that would allow developers to exploit loopholes.

The issue of uniformity across the ward is a more interesting debate – again, I can’t see that this would be workable. However, there is a sense among some in the south that the north of the area will feel very little of the direct impact of the growth in population and housing density, even though the rhetoric is one of a larger community that spans the two wards. It is too late to change the growth area, but those in the northern reaches may need to accept that there will be development across the wards that requires an increase in housing density along some of the side streets as well as around the stations and railway tracks. Otherwise the sense of divide between the south and north of West Hampstead is only going to intensify.

Affordable business premises
The council beats the housing drum very loudly, but economic development is also a vital part of a successful community. However, it feels as if West Hampstead is losing jobs rather than creating them – especially if the Liddell Road school is built, which will mean the loss of several businesses on that industrial estate.

One of the NDP’s draft core policies is that development should also be focused on providing new jobs and attracting new businesses. Existing businesses, and the land they occupy, should be protected and encouraged. Sounds very laudable but, as Brigid Shaughnessy pointed out in the meeting, the council has no provision for “affordable business” in the same way it does for “affordable housing.” This struck everyone as rather a good point. Planning officers can encourage developers of mixed-use developments to have smaller retail or office units, which encourages independent businesses but there’s not a lot it can do about the rents charged, even if it can offer rates holidays. It seems like a point worth exploring – if a development needs to have a certain share of affordable housing to be approved by Camden, then why not also insist on a share of affordable business premises. These would clearly need some covenants to ensure that they didn’t just mean that a national chain could operate with an even bigger profit margin.

Any other business
Aside from these two issues, a few other topics came up. Basement excavations was one (apparently there are eight happening in Kylemore Road alone), although it’s not clear what sway the NDP might have here as the issue seems to be one of Camden enforcement.

Clarity is also needed on what exactly Camden’s West Hampstead Interchange Planning Framework is going to involve. This catchy sounding concept popped up out of nowhere recently, but no-one seems to have a sense of what it is trying to achieve, how it will fit in with the NDP, or indeed whether it’s necessary in the first place given all the other planning frameworks that apply to the area.

Recap of core policies (draft)

  1. New development should be focused on providing a range of housing and housing types, including social and affordable housing and 3-4 bedroom homes for families. The vast majority of new housing and development should be located in the ‘West Hampstead growth area’.
  2. Outside the growth area, new development should be on a much smaller scale.
  3. New buildings in the growth area should be no higher than xx storeys; outside this area new buildings should be no higher than xx storeys.
  4. New developments should promote high quality design which fit in with their surroundings, especially in terms of height, appearance and design.
  5. Conservation areas should promote high design standards and have policies which are strongly enforced.
  6. Development in the Area should also be focused on providing new jobs and attracting new businesses to the Area. Existing businesses, and the land they occupy, should be protected and encouraged.
  7. There is an urgent need for ongoing improvements to public transport in the Area, particularly the three rail stations.
  8. Future development should protect, preserve and enhance existing green/open space and provide new green/open space in new developments.
  9. Provide as much space as possible for pedestrians and promote ease of movement through the Area.
  10. Protect the existing public services and community facilities in the Area and provide new services/facilities as the population of the Area grows.
  11. Provide an environment that is suitable for a mixed community, including young people, old people, families and those from a range of social backgrounds.
  12. In all developments, there should be a presumption in favour of preserving the look, feel and views of the Area.

‘Dick Barton’ in West Hampstead

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On 7 October 1946 ‘Dick Barton: special agent’ began broadcasting on the BBC Light Programme. The first review which appeared in The Daily Worker said: ‘It is so bad as to be almost beyond belief.’But despite this, the audience for the show with its famous signature tune ‘The Devil’s Galop’, grew to an astonishing 15 million listeners who eagerly turned on their radio sets at 6.45pm every week day. Dick and his chums Snowey and Jock thrilled their fans by solving crimes, escaping from dangerous situations and saving the nation from disaster. The series ended after 711 programmes on Friday 30 March 1951 to be replaced by ‘The Daring Dexters’ a daily show about circus life, and then ‘The Archers’.

In the first episode Captain Richard Barton MC, ex-wartime commando, introduced himself by saying: 
‘Six years of battle, murder and sudden death just spoil you completely for a nice, peaceful office job. Don’t you agree, Snowey?’

From left to right, Dick, Snowey and Jock

Dick Barton was played by Noel Johnson, Snowey was played by John Mann and Jock was Alex McCrindle.

It’s not widely known that Noel Johnson was a local, living in a flat at 1 Woodchurch Road, West Hampstead, from 1948 to 1958.

Johnson was born in Birmingham in 1916, and after leaving school he took up acting in local repertory. At the outbreak of War he volunteered for the Royal Army Service Corps. Injured and evacuated from Dunkirk, he spent a year in hospital before being invalided out of the Forces in 1941. He returned to local rep and married Leonora Peacock, a theatrical scenery artist, in 1942. He joined the BBC Drama Repertory Company in 1945.

Norman Collins, the controller of the new Light Programme, asked his assistant John McMillan to research the idea of a daily ‘cloak and dagger’ soap opera. McMillan wrote the synopsis and biographies of the main characters. Noel Johnson was paid £18 a week and given a trial run of six programmes. The anticipated adult audience never materialised. Instead, ‘Dick Barton’ became essential listening for school boys. The BBC bowed to pressure and released a code of conduct which the hero – and the writers – had to abide by. This was published in the Daily Telegraph in January 1948.

The 12 rules of Dick Barton

  • Barton is intelligent as well as hard hitting. He relies as much upon brains as upon brawn.

  • He only uses force when normal, peaceful means of reaching a legitimate goal have failed.

  • Barton never commits an offence in the criminal code, no matter how desirable the means may be argued to justify the end.

  • In reasonable circumstances, he may deceive but he never lies.

  • Barton’s violence is restricted to clean socks on the jaw.

  • Barton’s enemies have more latitude in their behaviour but they may not indulge in actually giving any injury or punishment that is basically sadistic.

  • Barton and his friends do not wittingly involve innocent members of the public in situations that would cause them to be distressed.

  • Barton has now given up drink altogether. Drunken scenes are barred.

  • Sex, in the active sense, plays no part in the Barton adventures.

  • Horrific effects in general must be closely watched. Supernatural or pseudo-supernatural sequences are to be avoided – ghosts, night-prowling, gorillas or vampires.

  • Swearing and bad language generally may not be used by any character.

  • Political themes are unpopular as well as being occasionally embarrassing.

(The inclusion of ‘gorillas’ in rule 10 seems a bit bizarre – perhaps this was a throwback to the movie ‘King Kong’?)

In a later interview Johnson commented; ‘Barton was a proper character at first. He drank; he smoked and had a girl friend. As soon as the producers cottoned on to the fact we had a youth audience, they felt they had to become moral guardians.’

Adults criticised the show. Miss Marion Seddon informed readers of The Illustrated London News that; ‘children have no business listening at the homework hour to the exploits of Dick Barton and other characters leading abnormal lives.’
 
A letter to The Times said: ‘The BBC seems bent on turning children into a new kind of drug addict. They grow more concerned from day to day about what Dick Barton may do next than about their futures or the future of England.’

Despite what some adults said the popularity grew. On one occasion, when the show was not broadcast because of technical problems, all telephone lines to the BBC were jammed and large numbers of children traveled to Broadcasting House to see if Dick was in trouble and needed help.

Rather oddly, at first people did not know who was playing the part. Only when the omnibus edition was introduced on 4 January 1947, did the world discover that Noel Johnson was Dick Barton. The huge audience made Noel Johnson a star. His son Gareth said: ‘Dad was being asked to open fetes, to do things left, right and centre, which were all to do with Dick Barton. In kind of a way it coloured his career, for better and for worse.’ 

But Johnson felt type-cast and some producers refused to hire him. In 1949 at the height of his fame, when the BBC refused to give him a rise, he resigned. He went straight into a West End play, but as he said; ‘needless to say it flopped.’ The BBC tried to get him to change his mind and asked him how much he wanted. ‘They asked me to name my price. I said, 100 pounds a week.’  They said, ‘it sounds like you want danger money.’  Johnson replied, ‘that’s precisely what I want – and that was the end of it.’

So the BBC had to find a new Dick Barton. Over 1,000 people applied for the role, from policemen to dance band managers. A seven-year-old boy wrote on a postcard,‘I want to be Dick Barton, I have a gruff voice and I can shout.’ The role was eventually given to explorer Duncan Carse and then to Gordon Davies. 

1950s book from the BBC
Within two years Noel Johnson was staring as ‘Dan Dare’ in Radio Luxembourg’s adaptation of the Eagle comic character. This was a series which ran for five days a week from 2 July 1951for five years.

Johnson had a very long acting career in films and then TV, playing over 100 parts. Rather oddly, in a 1982 BBC2 play ‘The Combination’ he played a magistrate who admonishes two ten year old boys in court: ‘If I had to point the finger at any single responsible body, it would be the BBC for churning out Dick Barton every solitary night of the week. If anything was guaranteed to warp the spirit of the young, it’s that perverted rubbish!’

Towards the end of his career he appeared in the radio adaptation of ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ by Anthony Powell. His numerous films included ‘Withnail and I’ (1986) and on TV ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’, ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘A Touch of Frost’. He died aged 82 in a small village outside Cardiff on 1 October 1999.

There is a short interview with Noel Johnson and his wife Leonora, at his home in Woodchurch Road on Pathe News in 1948. This appears from 2.00 mins to 3.00 mins into the clip.

You can hear all of the famous ‘Devil’s Galop’ signature tune by Charles Williams at:

There are several episodes of the original Dick Barton on YouTube, including:

Dick Barton has been most recently parodied by Mitchell and Webb’s Sir Digby Chicken Caesar. There are lots of episodes on YouTube

Goldhurst Terrace assault: man arrested

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[updated 2.15pm]

Following heavy twitter activity about a major police incident on Goldhurst Terrace yesterday afternoon, it transpires that an 18-year-old German man has been arrested in connection with an unprovoked assault on a 60-year-old man who was found unconscious and is still in a critical condition in hospital. The German may have mental health problems, apparently. He grabbed the pram that is now cordoned off at Kings Gardens and walked up Acol Road in order to avoid being spotted, but was then arrested at Kings Gardens.

There are police cordons around parts of Kings Gardens as well as on Acol Road where the nursery is closed off. Aberdare Gardens, Priory Road and Woodchurch Road were also cordoned off at times and police are still preventing some Goldhurst Terrace residents from entering their homes.

Swiss Cottage ward councillor Don Williams
tweeted this photo of Goldhurst Terrace earlier today

Anyone with information or who witnessed the assault is asked to call Camden Police on 101; if you wish to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

West Hampstead screen prints for sale

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Many of you will remember an article back in July about artist Martin Robertson who was interested in finding out what we thought symbolised West Hampstead.

Many of you gave your thoughts on this and Martin went away to work on his interpretation.

Lots of West Hampstead landmarks there – bonus points for spotting the Czech chef, and the #whamp hashtag!

You can order the black & white screenprint or the colour versions directly from Martin.

Boris puts kybosh on tube station lift

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Navigating between the three West Hampstead stations is already challenging, with narrow pavements, crowds of people and at least one road to cross whichever change you’re making.

Now imagine that you’re not so good at walking – or can’t walk at all. That minor hassle becomes a major hassle. Or would be if it was even worth attempting given the lack of step-free access to the platform.

The Thameslink station does now have proper step-free access (though god help you if there’s one of those pesky short-notice platform changes). The Overground station doesn’t have a lift at the moment, but will get one, perhaps in 2014, having successfully been awarded £1m by the Department for Transport.

Which leaves us with the Jubilee Line station – arguably the most useful of all for day-to-day travel in London.

No-go area for wheelchair users

Lib Dem London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon recently asked the Mayor:

Do you agree that West Hampstead station, which sits on both the Jubilee and London Overground lines, is a good candidate for being made step free?

Boris provided a written reply (I doubt he wrote it himself, there isn’t a single classical reference in there), of which here is an abridged version:

Regrettably there is no funding to undertake works at the Tube station. Aside from the funding question, the Underground station would not be an easy location at which to install step-free facilities. This is because the small ticket hall sits on a road bridge above the tracks carrying the Jubilee, Metropolitan and Chiltern lines. The station is also surrounded by various separately owned properties and there is no space for a lift.

Customers in the West Hampstead area who require a step-free route to central London or need to access the Tube network can use Thameslink services to a number of stations in zone 1 including King’s Cross St Pancras, Farringdon, Blackfriars and London Bridge, all of which are now fully accessible.

Local resident and wheelchair user Shannon Murray certainly doesn’t mince her words in response:

Regrettably they don’t have the funding to undertake the works, well regrettably I don’t have the ability to undertake walking. I can’t use Boris bikes nor can I use the buses or navigate most pavements independently. It’s easy for politicians and decision makers to distance themselves from the implications of access issues because they don’t really impact their lives.

It is a valid point that there are engineering challenges with the Jubilee Line station and these would push the costs of installing a lift even higher. But it is beyond the wit of man to find some innovative solution to this challenge? I fear that step-free access across the Underground network will never become a reality but, at a major interchange like West Hampstead, dismissing the idea so readily feels like a missed opportunity.

Tom goes wild at La Brocca

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La Brocca’s “Wild Weekend” sounded intriguing, so I raced down there as soon as I could only to find it wasn’t some kind of seedy NW6 orgy after all. (That was happening at Lower Ground Bar next door). Instead, this was Brocca’s celebration of “the best of wild autumn foods from our sea and forests; game, fish and vegetables including pheasant, venison, wild boar, rabbit, and wild porcini mushrooms” – wonderful.

So, holed-up in the characterful basement restaurant, which I’ve always liked, we browsed the menu, eager to see what it was all about. The specials were appetising; game, fish, soup… something for everyone.

I chose the sea bass, caper butter and wild mushroom risotto, sacrificing a starter in order to gorge myself on some very decent (and varied) breads, and marinated olives. The risotto was nice, but the sea bass superb – crispy skin to absolute perfection. One point deducted for cold plates and a couple of errors caused by the waiter not writing down our order, but strangely this seems the norm in restaurants these days – can anyone explain why?

As usual, I requested a salad on the side, as I know from experience that chef has a deft touch and knows how to dress leaves with respect. I also love the addition of avocado – one of those magical and quite unique ingredients.

Across the table, Jonathan dived into a vibrant wild mushroom, white wine and garlic sauce starter [J: it was absolutely delicious], then the hunter’s game pie on mash with green beans and gravy – which also proved to be a success, though he noted it was perhaps centred solely around venison rather than a combination of game. We both agreed the Chianti was a winner; smooth, soft, but with a subtle, bitter twist, not lacking a finish, and just very satisfying indeed.

On this occasion, I didn’t opt for a dessert – perhaps I’ll have two of them next time. The apple crumble is a particular favourite of mine.

The evening ended on a rather uncharacteristic note, however, when I returned to the upper bar and ordered . . . a glass of water. Yes, I acknowledge this was bizarre and rather worrying behaviour – however as I type I am enjoying a complex Crozes Hermitage; rumours of my liver’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Give me time though! 

Christmas market returns to West End Green

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On December 8th, West End Green will host the third successive West Hampstead Christmas market.

It starts at 10am and there’ll be stalls on the green. In previous years these have been a mixture of local crafts, some food (hot and cold), and a couple of community groups. It’s not a German-style market, which I know has disappointed a few people in the past.

The market in 2010

This year there is also a full programme of indoor events in Emmanuel Church, with a focus on events for kids, but with enough to keep adults occupied too. Many of these aren’t necessarily traditional Christmas activities although there’s the opportunity to make wreaths, and there’ll be a choir singing in the afternoon. But there’s also zumba, karate and yoga. These have been arranged by the Community Association for West Hampstead and the Friends of Fortune Green.

The market is still looking for volunteers to help on the day. If you’d like to be part of it, please call Jody Graham on 07765 214867.

Alexanders Estate Agents is the main sponsor this year, and it’s interesting to note that the other sponsors are a diverse bunch of services, only one of which appears to be located in West Hampstead. It would be good to see more local businesses getting behind the Christmas market, which might help elevate it from the village fête feel it has had the past couple of years to more of a destination market that might attract people from further afield.

Full programme
10-12 Make Wreaths & Bird Feeders
11–12 Intros to Knitting
11.30–12.00 Street Dance by children
11–1 Art Project for families
12-12.30 Zumba
12.30-1 Karate for kids,
12-3 Slap-London Face Painting
1.00-1.15 Children’s Indian Dancing
1.15–2.00 Storytelling for families
2–3 West Hampstead Choir
2-4 Art Project for Families
3-3.30 Performing Arts by kids
3:30–4:00 Yoga for Adults

Will response times slow under fire station proposals?

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West Hampstead police station may be for the chop, but is our fire station safe from the latest round of cuts? The most recent proposal to close stations in London puts Belsize station on the chopping block, while West Hampstead is neither slated for any changes, nor has the security of being on the protected list.

West Hampstead fire station – 111 years old
Photo via @Tetramesh

In October, a leaked document appeared to show that 17 stations were going to be closed in response to the Mayor’s call for the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to find £65 million in savings over two years. The 17 stations included Belsize. This certainly isn’t set in stone, but is believed to be the preferred option. To understand what this means for response times, I’m going to have to show the workings.

The sexily titled Operational efficiency work in progress Fifth London Safety Plan Supporting document No.17 Pre-consultation draft is a 44–page discussion of London’s fire station needs published by the LFB. It’s actually very readable and has loads of London-wide statistics. For stats at the borough level, I recommend reading LFB in Camden 2012/13, which shows even more clearly that the number of incidents is falling (it also shows that Camden has the second highest number of false alarms in London). You can even monitor fires at the ward level, and month by month if you really want to dig into the data.

Aside from the financial savings, is there any evidence that the LFB has scope to cut back services? In terms of number of call-outs and looking across London, then yes.

  • The brigade attends 35% fewer incidents than 10 years ago; some stations have seen the number of call-outs drop by two-thirds;
  • 24 fire stations attend two incidents or fewer a day;
  • False alarms make up almost half of all the calls attended;
  • Total number of fires (27,000 in 2011) is lower than at any time in the last 40 years;
  • Fewer people are dying in fires: 56 in 2011 compared to nearly 80 a year between 1991-2001;
  • Even the busiest fire engine (Soho) is occupied for less than 17% of the time;
  • The average firefighter attends 195 incidents a year; of which 101 will be false alarms and only 8 will be the more significant incidents. Some firefighters attend 10 or fewer fires a year

The document points out that although the risk of fast-spreading fires and of domestic deaths and injuries has greatly reduced, it has been replaced by what it terms “new risk”, which is now a very prominent aspect of the Brigade’s work. These new risks (by which I think it means more large-scale incidents) mean that the LFB is much more complex than the old model of stations with one or two fire engines (“appliances” in fire brigade parlance). London hosts a raft of specialist teams such as urban search and rescue teams and high volume pumps.

Of course, one of the reasons that the numbers of fires and fire-related deaths is falling is that fire officers spend more time in the community, making visits to houses and schools. If one thinks of fire crews more like all-round police officers, who have both a community role and an emergency response role, then it is clear that simply looking at the number of times the sirens are wailing through the streets will not paint the whole picture of fire safety in the capital.

What does it cost?
Here are the figures across London:

“We spend around £270m on station-based emergency response. Of that, £229m is spent on firefighters’ salaries and allowances; £21m is spent on the upkeep and running of fire stations; and £20m is spent on equipment, including fire engines.”

Salaries are clearly the big component here, though the document points out that consolidating fire stations can also create substantial savings without reducing coverage. Which brings us to the issue of response times.

Fire! Fire!
London-wide response time targets are:

  • Average arrival time for the 1st appliance: 6 minutes
  • Average arrival time for the 2nd appliance: 8 minutes
  • 95% of incidents must have a 1st appliance arrival time of 12 minutes or less

Camden’s four fire stations perform well against these. In fact, response times are among the fastest in London at just over 4 minutes 40 seconds on average for the first appliance and 6 minutes for the second. There isn’t much doubt that arriving quickly is important when it comes to a serious incident. However, the report says that there are complexities in balancing the desire for speed with the the fact that demand is extremely low in some parts of London.

To determine whether there could be a better and more cost-effective configuration, modelling was carried out based on finding £25m and £50m in savings. Several configurations for each were modelled. The report goes into a lot of detail on this, so do read it if you’re interested.

The option that was leaked back in October is shown below (you’ll need to click for the full-size version):

In terms of the impact on Camden, the two £25m options published both propose closing Belsize and adding an extra pump at Euston. In this scenario, average borough response times drop for the first appliance but are the same or faster for the second vehicle. All are still within the London-wide targets.

In the first of the £50m saving options, Belsize closes, Kentish Town loses an appliance, while Euston and West Hampstead remain unchanged. Appliance one now arrives in 6’00” and Appliance 2 at 7’03”. A marked increase in response time.

The second of the £50m options actually mirrors the £25m options, at least in Camden; i.e., Belsize closes, Euston gets an extra pump, and Kentish Town and West Hampstead remain unchanged. Other changes outside the borough mean response times for both appliances are now effectively the same at 5’57” and 6’00” respectively.

These are all just proposals, although Belsize gets closed in all of them.

Mill Lane must get creative to attract visitors

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There’s a new momentum on Mill Lane. This motley collection of independent shops has tried before to unite behind some self-promotion but these efforts have largely come to nothing. Now, the West Hampstead street that’s often seen as West End Lane’s poor relation has some impetus behind it thanks partly to the arrival of Monsters of Art and the youthful enthusiasm of co-owner Abby Wells.

Several of the businesses on Mill Lane held a preliminary meeting this month to discuss how to boost the street’s profile. Since then, Abby has met with Kate Goodman from Camden Council (Kate ran the place shaping initiative that many of you will remember from earlier in the year), and more of the businesses have piled in with ideas.

What’s the problem?
Mill Lane has a few related challenges to overcome: it suffers from relatively low footfall; the popular businesses are spread out along the street so there’s no focal point; it has one of the highest vacancy rates in the borough (18% in June 2010); and many people, especially those new to the area or passing through, simply don’t know that there are shops down there. Glance down the road from Fortune Green Road and you would be forgiven for thinking it was a predominantly residential street. Yet, as the star prize at whampgather proved, there are enough businesses on the street to create an amazing hamper of goodies. From The Tiffin Tin to The Alliance, Mill Lane has plenty of gems.

Isn’t this the council’s job?
Camden’s West Hampstead placeshaping document, published earlier this year, recognises the pressures facing Mill Lane and sets out ways in which the council could help. It explains that the council cannot fund direct business support, and that its role now is to act “as an enabler to small businesses through signposting them to national and regional growth support organisations.” This also includes pointing retailers to information and providing support to trader groups.

There are some specific actions in the placeshaping plan that refer to Mill Lane.

  • Facilitate engagement with local landowners and landlords to consider how the private sector can help to support a thriving shopping area and reduce the vacancy rate in Mill Lane.
  • Investigate opportunities to carry out further public realm improvement works to the northern part of the town centre and Mill Lane.
  • Lobby TfL to include Mill Lane neighbourhood centre shops on the Legible London signs, to help increase footfall to the area.

This may sound a bit like throwing a life jacket into the ocean, but it’s better than nothing and if it helps the businesses coalesce into one group that can form a consensus on what would most benefit the area then that alone is a big step in the right direction.

The relatively new West Hampstead Business Association could have a role here. However, a separate Mill Lane group that collaborated with the WHBA might be more effective than the WHBA acting as an umbrella group for all local businesses, given the different needs of West End Lane and Mill Lane.

The latest draft of the Neighbourhood Development plan also singles out Mill Lane as in need of its own section. Specifically, it suggests the following six policies should be applied to developments in Mill Lane:

  • A presumption in favour of preserving the look of shop-fronts.
  • A presumption in favour of rejecting proposals to convert retail space into residential use.
  • Encourage a more diverse range of shops and businesses.
  • Improve pavements, signage and traffic calming; remove street clutter.
  • Co-ordinate the developments on the north side of Mill Lane where they back onto properties on
  • Hillfield Road.
  • An urgent need to level the pavements on the north side of Mill Lane.

All this tell us that the problems of Mill Lane are widely recognised. But at a time of limited (read: non-existent) public resources to help tackle them, the onus falls on the existing businesses to overcome these obstacles. Which brings us back to the latest wave of energy washing over the street.

At the November meeting there was broad agreement that public awareness of Mill Lane’s offering was too low, and that the lack of a cohesive feel to the retail units hindered the appeal of the street as a shopping destination. Beyond that, the more ambitious challenge was to do something economically viable with the empty shops

Raising awareness
The immediate solution proposed was to get the council to implement better signage (which would partly fall under the Legible London signage action above), at the West End Lane end of Mill Lane, on West End Green, and outside West Hampstead tube station. Since that meeting, Kate Goodman has said that extra signage to the north of West End Lane will be installed, but played down the idea that there’d be tube station signage too.

The idea of preparing a small brochure to hand out has also been raised, although it’s not clear who would fund this. Camden have broadly supported this idea though, and may be able to help with some of the distribution logistics. Prod from Mill Lane Barbers, whose enthusiasm is also hard to beat, has suggested a caricature poster capturing the essence of the Lane and the businesses on it as well.

One idea that’s likely to prove popular is a late-night Christmas shopping event. It may even be possible to get some footprints laid on the pavement to draw people in from West End Green. Those businesses at the West Hampstead Christmas Market on December 8th could also help promote the street more generally, and there’s talk of having a board at the market showing the press coverage that some of them have received over the past couple of years.

One Lane
The shops also saw that Christmas would be a good opportunity to work on the look and feel of Mill Lane and try and make it a more unified shopping district. Something as simple as having the same Christmas lights in as many of the shops as possible could achieve this – these could be officially switched on at the Christmas shopping event.

An idea that I particularly like is that businesses up and down Mill Lane ‘donate’ parts of their property, (e.g., a back door, shutter, or any outdoor area), to professional artists who will then jointly produce a piece of street art. This concept has worked brilliantly in Middlesex Street E1. It has the potential both to improve the look of Mill Lane and attract visitors.

Breathing life into empty premises
Maximising the use of the empty (or almost empty) shops on the street with pop-up projects (galleries, retail space etc.) was a popular idea. This would help animate Mill Lane, and provide more of a continuous stretch of retail operations along the street. One idea was to collaborate with artists who might rent units for a short period for gallery and/or workshop space. Kate Goodman was in favour of the pop-up shop idea, and apparently there are nine empty shops on Mill Lane that could possibly by used. She is going to find out who owns/manages these properties and forward on their details – a good example of where the council can support these initiatives.

Both the pop-up idea and the street art idea certainly tie in with my own belief that Mill Lane would be well served by becoming an explicit artisan/art quarter. In the immediate term, the local business owners recognised that coordinating so many things popping up is a lot of work and perhaps would be too time consuming for them to tackle (after all they do still have their own businesses to run). A stop-gap measure would be to use the shop fronts as art installations, or hang something in empty shop windows.

Mill Lane needs a bit of love, so why not have a wander along there this weekend and refresh your memory as to what’s available. From carpets to cupcakes, you might be surprised at the shops and services you find.

Ambitious scope for local development plan

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We’re inching nearer to a final Neighbourhood Development Plan. There’s a meeting this Thursday to discuss the second draft plan.

At the time of writing the draft, the issue of the southern boundary had not been resolved. Since then, however, the results of the WHGARA (West Hamsptead Gardens Area Residents Association) vote on the matter have been released and 75% of people were in favour of being part of the plan area rather than sitting outside it. This is almost certain to mean that the area covered will exactly match the ward boundaries of West Hampstead and Fortune Green.

156 West End Lane – one of the sites up for development

The draft plan is very much a work in progress, and still has some gaps. Nevertheless, two things are worth looking at even at this early stage. The first is the overall scope of the plan, the second is the introduction of the core policies.

Scope
If you read the write-up of the public meeting back at the end of October, you’ll know that Neighbourhood Development Plans can vary enormously in scope from all-encompassing town plans to single-issue plans. The West Hampstead & Fortune Green plan certainly drifts closer to the first idea. Broadly, it seeks to influence building development (location, form, use of Section 106 money), business and economic development (retail mix, high street feel), street environment (roads, parking, cycling, pedestrians), public transport, environment (green space, trees), community, and public services (schools, healthcare). Some of these area are easier to influence than others – some lie firmly within Camden’s remit, other are the purview of larger bodies such as TfL or City Hall. But it would be hard to argue that the plan lacks ambition.

Policies
The draft plan outlines 12 core policies. Many of these are not especially controversial and only the hard core members of the “flatten everything to build more houses” brigade are likely to object to limitations on building height, or a presumption that green space is a good thing.

It is worth reiterating the message of policies 1 and 2 – namely that the bulk of dense housing development should be in the designated growth area (that is broadly the area between and around the stations and railway tracks), while the rest of West Hampstead is allowed to retain its current feel. Whether this will lead to two very distinctive town centres developing – one to the south and one to the north end of West End Lane – and whether this is desirable is up for debate. I can well imagine the good burghers of Fortune Green grumbling about how busy it is around the interchange while they enjoy the peace and quiet of the leafy suburbs the rest of the time.

  1. New development should be focused on providing a range of housing and housing types, including social and affordable housing and 3-4 bedroom homes for families. The vast majority of new housing and development should be located in the ‘West Hampstead growth area’.
  2. Outside the growth area, new development should be on a much smaller scale.
  3. New buildings in the growth area should be no higher than xx storeys; outside this area new buildings should be no higher than xx storeys.
  4. New developments should promote high quality design which fit in with their surroundings, especially in terms of height, appearance and design.
  5. Conservation areas should promote high design standards and have policies which are strongly enforced.
  6. Development in the Area should also be focused on providing new jobs and attracting new businesses to the Area. Existing businesses, and the land they occupy, should be protected and encouraged.
  7. There is an urgent need for ongoing improvements to public transport in the Area, particularly the three rail stations.
  8. Future development should protect, preserve and enhance existing green/open space and provide new green/open space in new developments.
  9. Provide as much space as possible for pedestrians and promote ease of movement through the Area.
  10. Protect the existing public services and community facilities in the Area and provide new services/facilities as the population of the Area grows.
  11. Provide an environment that is suitable for a mixed community, including young people, old people, families and those from a range of social backgrounds.
  12. In all developments, there should be a presumption in favour of preserving the look, feel and views of the Area.

The next meeting of the Neighbourhood Development Forum is at 7.30pm at Emmanuel Church on Thursday. It’s open to all, so why not come along and find out more.

What have I missed since November 19th?

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Is West Hampstead police station set to close completely?

The latest fire station closure proposals were published. West Hampstead is neither slated for closure nor on the protected list.

Amy Werner, the student injured in the car accident a couple of weeks ago, could be flown back to the US on Friday.

A Croatian deli is opening on Broadhurst Gardens.

Richard Osman & Alexander Armstrong signed copies of their Pointless book at West End Lane Books on Monday.

The West Hampstead Christmas market is looking for volunteers to help on the day. Please contact Jody on 07765 214867

A new tree was planted on West End Green in honour of the Jubilee, sponsored by Chelsea Square

West End Lane flooded after Thursday night’s heavy rain, but the water was quickly pumped away.

West Hampstead’s newest coffee shop, Wired (where Rock Men’s Salon was – Rock has moved round the corner) garnered a flurry of good reviews in its first week.

The limited edition screen print of West Hampstead is now available to buy.

The Tricycle is hosting the Irish Film Festival, details of that and all other local listings courtesy of @NxNW6.

#whampgather X broke all the records.

Read about our excellent evening at Feng Sushi.

Local tennis player Harriet Dart reached her first senior final.

A cat was found dead by a speed bump in Canfield Gardens

Coming up
The Neighbourhood Development Forum convenes on Thursday to discuss the second draft plan.
Advance notice of Sidings festive songs on Wednesday Dec 12.

Tweet of the Week

A new tree in West End Green

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Last Monday a small but select group of locals stood around in the bright sunshine to watch a tree being planted. This is the first tree in West End Green for more than 100 years – the previous one, in the middle of the park, commemorates the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.

Cllr Flick Rea and Chelsea Square’s Ray Jacobs

Councillor Flick Rea had the idea that it would be nice to mark the Diamond Jubilee with a tree, while Chelsea Square – the estate agents on the west side of West End Lane just by the Green – had expressed an interest in doing something for the community. Camden has no tree budget at the moment, but will provide the staff to carry out the planting if someone else stumps [sorry] up the money for the tree itself.

The tree is a Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’. If you don’t know what that is, then here’s a picture of what it will look like when it’s in full leaf. It’s rather attractive I think.