Iverson Road in 1940
This morning I was sent a scan of an unfinished drawing of Iverson Road. It was found in the Kilburn High Road offices of MP Moran – the plumbing supplies merchant – and on the back it reads “18th March 1940. Unfinished due to police interference.”
This was of course less than a year into the war, but before the first bomb fell in the area (that happened in August 1940).
The viewpoint is from west of the railway bridge looking back towards West Hampstead. The land to the left where the truck is parked is MP Moran’s West Hampstead yard, which may explain why the drawing found its way into the company’s Kilburn High Road office.
If anyone knows any more about this, or can shed light on the signature bottom-right, do please let me know. I shall try and pop out tomorrow and take a photo of what the site looks like today – or you can look at the Google Street View image.
How interesting that the artist recording the scene should have been prevented from doing so by the police. In time of war that's perhaps understandable. But today, in a time of settled peace, many police (still) seem to believe that photography by individual members of the public of public spaces is somehow unlawful (despite the very widespread coverage of CCTV).