West Hampstead Life

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  • Making Music in West Hampstead and Kilburn

    Making Music in West Hampstead and Kilburn

    Our next book, ‘Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek’ will be published by The History Press in November 2013. This is the first history of Decca Studios, which were in Broadhurst Gardens from 1937 to 1980 and where thousands of well-known recordings were made. From 1961 until it closed in 1970, Klooks Kleek was the famous jazz and blues club run by Dick Jordan and Geoff Williams on the first floor of the Railway Hotel, next to the Decca Studios.

    This blog is the first of two stories about music in West Hampstead and Kilburn. The area has a surprisingly rich history of music. The first instalment looks at music production and the recording studios and record companies who operated here. The second, to be published later, will cover the many musicians who lived there.

    The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company
    Crystalate took over West Hampstead Town Hall in Broadhurst Gardens in 1928 and moved their recording studio there. That year the Crystalate Manufacturing Company appears at 165 Broadhurst Gardens for the first time in the phone book. Today the building is used by English National Opera.

    In August 1901 the Crystalate Company was founded at Golden Green (note, not Golders Green), Haddow, near Tunbridge in Kent , by a partnership of a London and an American firm. The British company had begun by introducing colours into minerals and making imitation ivory. The American company which had made billiard balls and poker chips started making gramophone records from shellac. In July 1901 the American George Henry Burt, applied for a trademark on the word ‘Crystalate’ for all their plastic products. The secret formula to make Crystalate substances was kept in a sealed iron box which required two keys to open it. Burt had one and Percy Warnford-Davis, the English director, had the other. It is said that Crystalate made the first records to be pressed in England in 1901/2; but there is no direct evidence of this apart from the 1922 recollections of Charles Davis, the works manager.

    In 1926 they moved their office and recording studio from 63 Farrington Road to Number 69 which was named ‘Imperial House’ after one of their record labels. In 1929 they moved again to 60-62 City Road which they called ‘Crystalate House’. T he company made records for some of the very early labels such as Zonophone, Berliner and Imperial. Crystalate also produced large numbers of records for Woolworths under various budget labels, including Victory and Rex. At first they cost a shilling which represented very good value for the enormously popular artists of the day such as Gracie Fields, Larry Adler, Billy Cotton and Sandy Powell. Also on the label were American stars: Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, and Cab Calloway.

    During the Depression many of the record companies ran into financial trouble and they were bought up by either EMI or Decca. In March 1937 the record side of Crystalate was sold to Decca for £200,000, or about £10 million today. The Crystalate engineers were very relieved when they found out Decca had decided to close their existing studio in Upper Thames Street and move to Broadhurst Gardens.

    Decca Studios, today used by English National Opera
    Decca Studios, today used by English National Opera

    Decca Studios
    The Decca studios were in Broadhurst Gardens from 1937 to 1981 and our new book will provide a detailed history. Stars such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Billy Fury and the Moody Blues were recorded here. On 1st January 1962 the Beatles auditioned at the studios, but after travelling down from Liverpool in a van, they’d gone out to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and their playing did not impress Decca. Other labels also turned them down until EMI Parlophone, Decca’s great rival, signed them in June 1962. The Beatles first single, ‘Love Me Do’ was released on 5 October 1962 and peaked at Number 17 in the charts.

    Gus Dudgeon, engineer and producer Lymington Mansions and Kings Gardens, West End Lane
    When he left school Gus (Angus) had several short-term jobs before he got a job as the tea boy and junior assistant at Olympic Studios near Baker Street. He was ‘blown away’ by the power of the studio speakers with their tremendous bass and treble ranges. Desperate to play with the controls he said ‘I was terrified at the idea of ever getting onto the recording console.’ But he managed to get a job as an engineer at Decca Studios in 1962. At the time Gus was sharing a flat at 2 Lymington Mansions in West Hampstead where he stayed until 1965. The blues singer Long John Baldry slept on a bed in the hallway.

    During his five and a half years at Decca Studios, Dudgeon engineered the Zombies’ hit ‘She’s Not There’ (1964) and the celebrated John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (1965), known as the Beano album from the cover, where Eric is pictured reading a copy of the comic. Early sessions included recordings for Marianne Faithfull with producer Andrew Loog Oldham and session guitarists Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, later of Led Zeppelin.

    His first co-production credit came in 1967 with the debut album of Ten Years After. A year later, encouraged by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, he left Decca to found his own production company. He worked on all the classic recordings by Elton John, including such hits as ‘Your Song,’ ‘Rocket Man,’ and ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’. In 1969, he produced David Bowie’s first hit, ‘Space Oddity,’ and later, albums by such artists as Chris Rea, Lindisfarne, and XTC.

    In the 70s Gus joined Elton John and formed Rocket Records. In the early 80s he built SOL Studios in Cookham Berkshire which he later sold to Jimmy Page.

    From 1967 till 1973 Gus lived at 3 Kings Gardens in West End Lane. He then moved to Surbiton. The record world was shocked in July 2002 when Gus Dudgeon and his wife Sheila were killed in a car crash.

    British Homophone, 84a Kilburn High Road
    This building was behind the present Sainsbury’s in Kilburn High Road. Before British Homophone opened their recording studio there in 1929, it was the site of a large house called St Margaret’s.

    The last owner and occupier of St Margaret’s was the builder Robert Allen Yerbury who rented the house about 1877. He soon bought the freehold as well as a large piece of land adjoining his grounds and built Colas Mews (behind the present Iceland store). He then used the garden in front of the renamed St Margaret’s Lodge as the site for a terrace of shops. Although completely hemmed in by the shops on the High Road, Yerbury was able to rent the house to a series of tenants.

    By 1903 a hall and conservatory had been added to the back of St Margaret’s Lodge. ‘Professor’ Sidney Bishop ran ‘The Athenaeum’ for dancing there from 1902 to 1914.   During WWI it was used as a forces recreation room and in the 20s the Hall became the Kilburn branch of the Church Army, with successive secretaries living in the old Lodge.

    The site was next adapted as a recording studio for the British Homophone Company Ltd. William Sternberg was the director of a company that had been selling gramophones under the trade name of Sterno for some years. They had used the masters and distributed records of the Homophon Company of Berlin since 1906, and also produced Sterno records from 1926 to 1935. On 24 May 1928 the Times announced that British Homophone was issuing a share capital of £150,000. In a contract dated 21 May 1928 , Sternberg put all his assets into the new company of British Homophone, for £37,500 worth of shares. They moved into 84a Kilburn High Road the following year.

    British Homophone advert, 1928
    British Homophone advert, 1928

    Lots of well known performers and dance bands of the time were on the Sterno label including Mantovani, Oscar Rabin, and Syd Lipton. The most important artist on the label was the pianist and band leader Charlie Kunz who was selling an astonishing one million records. He became the highest paid pianist in the world earning a £1,000 week. Born in America , he came to England in 1922, and during the 1930s he lived in Dollis Hill.

    Charlie Kunz record on the Sterno and British Homophone label
    Charlie Kunz record on the Sterno and British Homophone label

    In 1934 the BBC studios in Maida Vale sent recordings by telephone lines to British Homophone in Kilburn who recorded them onto wax discs. They were able to offer the BBC a quick turnaround of 12 hours for programme repeats.

    But like other companies in the Depression, British Homophone struggled financially and in May 1937 Decca and their rival EMI jointly purchased all the British Homophone masters for £22,500. When British Homophone left Kilburn in 1939, the ladies clothing chain, Richard Shops, who had been at Number 82 since 1936, took over Number 84 and probably the studio as well.

    William Sternberg lived at ‘Mondesfield’, in Exeter Road Kilburn, from 1924. When he died on 14 June 1956 , his addresses were Exeter Road and Seddscombe , Sussex . He was buried at the Willesden Liberal Jewish cemetery probably with his wife Eva who died in 1925. He was a wealthy man and left £19,379, today worth about £900,000.

    Sterno and Canned Heat
    As an interesting aside, Sterno was also the name of an American campsite cooking fuel made from jellied alcohol. During the Depression, and strained through cloth, it was used as a cheap substitute for whisky and popularly known as ‘Canned Heat’. The early bluesman, Tommy Johnson, wrote and recorded ‘Canned Heat Blues’ in 1928, and the famous American band Canned Heat, which was formed in Los Angeles in 1965, took their name from the song.

    The Banba
    The studio building was used from 1951 to 1968 by Michael Gannon who ran the famous and very poplar Irish dance hall there called ‘The Banba’ (taken from a poetic name for Ireland ). In 1971 the property was demolished with Sainsbury’s redevelopment of the entire site. Marianne can remember being taken to the Banba. She was bought a coffee made from Camp Coffee Essence, which Wikipedia describes as: A glutinous brown substance which consists of water, sugar, 4% caffeine-free coffee essence, and 26% chicory essence. She left it untouched after the first sip.

    British Homophone after the buyout
    Despite the 1937 buyout by Decca and EMI, the British Homophone name continued into the early 1980s, but was no longer based in Kilburn. By 1962 it was at Excelsior Works, Rollins Street, SE15, New Cross. The new company pressed some of the early records for Chris Blackwell’s Island Records about 1965. Edward Kassner the boss of President Records owned the pressing plant. Eddy Grant and ‘The Equals’ were signed with President Records. Eddy set up Ice Records and a studio called the Coach House and bought the pressing plant in New Cross from Kassner in the late 1970s, where he pressed his own records until the early 1980s, when he left England.

    Island Records, 108 Cambridge Road
    Island Records was formed by Chris Blackwell who was born in London, but grew up in Jamaica. In 1958 after trying various jobs and using money from his parents, he decided to record Lance Hayward, a young, blind jazz pianist who was playing at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay. The record was released in 1959, and this was the beginning of what would later become Island Records. The following year Blackwell had a hit with Laurel Aitken’s ‘Boogie In My Bones’. Using the money from the sales he set up a small office in Kingston.   In 1962 Blackwell moved to London and began selling records to the West Indian communities in London, Birmingham, and Manchester from the back of his Mini-Cooper.

    Blackwell took the name of Island Records from Alec Waugh’s novel ‘Island in the Sun’. Island Records Ltd began in May 1962 with four partners who invested a total of £4,000: Chris Blackwell, Graham Goodall, an Australian music engineer living in Jamaica, the Chinese-Jamaican record producer Leslie Kong and his brother.

    From March 1963 to 1967 Island Records had their office at 108 Cambridge Road , since demolished as part of the South Kilburn redevelopment plan. Originally a barber’s shop run by the Gopthal family, when accountant Lee Gopthal bought the house, he rented it out. Chris Blackwell converted the premises into offices managed by David Betteridge, who was later made a director of Island. Initially the records were pressed by British Homophone and then at the Phillips factory in Croydon. In 1962, the basement store at 108 had been a recording studio set up by Sonny Roberts of Planetone Records. Blackwell introduced additional labels such as Black Swan, Jump Up, Aladdin, Surprise, Sue Records and Trojan which was run by Lee Gopthal .

    Rob Bell describes his time at Island from 1965 to 1972 in a series of articles. See www.trojanrecords.com. He said that Island were releasing about half a dozen records a week. The new release sheets were printed by Mr Reed who had a small print shop a few doors up Cambridge Road. Rob said he and others used to eat at Peg’s Café over the road and drink at The Shakespeare pub next to the office. In 1968 when business picked up with the popularity of reggae, together with the compulsory purchase for the South Kilburn redevelopment, Island moved to the much larger Music House at 12 Neasden Lane.

    In 1963 Blackwell decided to bring the fourteen year old Millie Small to London. Looking for a suitable song for her to record, he found a copy of American singer Barbie Gaye’s ‘My Boy Lollipop’ which he had bought five years earlier in New York. Recorded at Olympic Studios with a ska arrangement, the record was leased to the Phillips’ Fontana label and in 1964 it sold six million copies worldwide. It reached Number 2 in the UK and the US and became the first international Jamaican hit. Marianne heard Millie sing the song at one of the regular Saturday morning music sessions at the Kilburn State , held in their dance hall with an entrance in Willesden Lane.

    Other successful records followed with Jimmy Cliff and the Birmingham band, the Spencer Davis Group who had several hits leased to Fontana such as, ‘Keep On Running’ (1965) and ‘Gimme Some Lovin’. Building on these hits, Island moved to new offices at 155 Oxford Street. In 1970 they moved again to Notting Hill where they had established their own studio in a former church at 8 -10 Basing Street. From here they expanded massively, with artists such as Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Fairport Convention, Free, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Grace Jones and U2.

    In 1989 Blackwell sold his stake in Island and eventually resigned in 1997. His mother Blanche was Ian Fleming’s longtime lover and Blackwell now owns the writer’s house, Goldeneye, in Jamaica . He bought it from Bob Marley. For a beautifully illustrated book see, ‘The Story of Island Records’, edited by Suzette Newman and Chris Salewicz (2010).

    Ritz Records, 1 Grangeway
    Grangeway is the small road leading off the Kilburn High Road into the Grange Park. Mick Clerkin ran Ritz Records here which began in about 1981. They produced Irish records and had big hits with Joe Dolan and Daniel O’Donnell. Clerkin had previously worked as a roadie for the popular Mighty Avons Showband, and then in 1968 he set up Release Records. Ritz were still at Grangeway in 1996 but had moved to Wembley by 2000. The company went into liquidation in 2002.

    New building in Grangeway today, the site of Ritz Record
    New building in Grangeway today, the site of Ritz Record

    Master Rock Studios, 248 Kilburn High Road
    In January 1986 Steve Flood and Stuart Colman opened their studios in Kilburn High Road. Stuart Colman was a musician who produced hits for Shakin’ Stevens, The Shadows, Kim Wilde, and Alvin Stardust. He also worked as a presenter at the BBC before opening Master Rock Studios. Flood and Colman were soon joined by studio manager Robyn Sansone who came from New York. An amazing number of musicians were recorded here including: Elton John, Jeff Beck, U2, Eric Clapton, Roxy Music, Simply Red and Suede. The music for the film ‘The Krays’ was also recorded at Master Rock.

    They wanted the very best quality recording equipment so they bought a Focusrite console. Focusrite was founded in 1985 by Rupert Neve and the Forte console was developed in 1988. The idea was simply to produce the highest-quality recording console available at the time, regardless of cost. But the prohibitively expensive design limited the production to just two units, after which Focusrite got into financial difficulties. One console was delivered to Master Rock Studios in Kilburn and the other to the Electric Lady Studio in New York .

    The Focusrite Forte console at Master Rock Studios
    The Focusrite Forte console at Master Rock Studios

    Bernard Butler the guitarist with Suede who recorded at Master Rock said: “Master Rock Studios was originally haunted by buying one of the only custom made Focusrite consoles. It arrived several months late so left them without business for a long time and despite being used on everything after it arrived, I don’t think they recovered.”

    Bernard was right. Despite the Master Rock Studios being busy, there were financial problems and in 1991 the business was put up for sale. Douglas Pashley bought it and became the CEO in 1992. But problems continued and eventually they closed in June 2000. Number 248 Kilburn High Road has since been demolished.

    248 Kilburn High Road today, site of Master Rock Studios
    248 Kilburn High Road today, site of Master Rock Studios

    West Heath Studios, 174 Mill Lane
    The composer and conductor Robert Howes, who worked with Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson on the Alan Parsons Project, said he was doing lots of work in different studios and decided that he needed to build his own. He had previously lived in Welbeck Mansions and knew the West Hampstead area. He found a building in West Heath Mews which ran along the top of a row of garages, and set up his studio there at the end of the 1980s to record his music for TV. He did ‘Songs for Christmas’, the theme music for Kilroy and Rescue and lots of other programmes. Then he leased the studio to Eric Woolfson who later built his own studio in Cricklewood Lane . Woolfson had met Alan Parsons at the Abbey Road studios where Parsons had recorded Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.

    West Heath Studios, 2013
    West Heath Studios, 2013

    West Heath Studios is currently owned by Edwyn Collins who took it over in 1995. Edwin was born in Scotland and had hits with the Glasgow band Orange Juice. His major success was ‘A Girl like You’ which became a worldwide hit in 1994. After he and his wife Grace moved to Kilburn, Edwyn suddenly had a stroke in 2005 which left him paralysed. But he has since made a remarkable recovery and started to perform again. His cofounder and recording engineer Seb Lewsley kept the studio going. Edwyn’s friend Bernard Butler who lived locally in Fawley Road, recorded Duffy’s Rockferry album (2008) at West Heath. Edwyn recorded his latest album Loosing Sleep at the studio in 2010.

    Have a look at YouTube for some amusing episodes of ‘West Heath Yard’.

    Shebang Studio
    This was a small studio in Coleridge Gardens, a mews off Fairhazel Gardens, run by Nigel Godrich. Nigel is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with the band Radiohead. He has also worked with Paul McCartney, Travis, Natalie Imbruglia, U2 and REM. Bernard Butler said, “Nigel Godrich’s studio was off Fairhazel Gardens where it meets Belsize Road and was called Shebang. He shared it with Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns who later became Zero 7. They were all assisting / engineering at RAK Studios at the time, which is where Radiohead and I met Nigel.” RAK Studios is in St John’s Wood and was started by Mickie Most in 1976.

    The next blog story will look at the musicians who lived in West Hampstead and Kilburn.

  • NW6 School campaign: Camden vs. parents

    NW6 School campaign: Camden vs. parents

    The debate over whether West Hampstead does or doesn’t need an additional school – likely a free school – has been raging on for some months. I have found the claims and counter-claims hard to track and harder to verify as both sides draw on various sets of data to prove their point.

    The story took an unnecessarily personal turn on the front page of the Ham & High a couple of weeks ago when an unnamed Labour source described the parents campaigning for a free school as “snobs”. The argument was that Hampstead School, which is to the north-west of our area, is a perfectly good school and parents who wanted a state education for their children should send them there.

    Rather than wade into the debate myself, I thought I’d let the two most important people have their say on these pages. First, Dr Clare Craig. Dr Craig has been the most public face of the NW6 School campaign team. After she sets out her stall, Cllr. Angela Mason, Camden’s cabinet member for children, explains why the council believes there is no need for an additional school. (If you’re familiar with the story, you can jump straight to the debate in the comments section).

    The campaigners

    Dr Clare Craig

    After being called “middle class, church-going snobs” in the Ham & High last week by a ‘well placed Labour party source’, I would like to explain the real reasons we are going to open a new school and why it needs to be at the heart of West Hampstead. The unnamed source implied that we put the needs of our own children above that of our community. This could not be further from the truth. Ours is a large group of concerned parents, from all walks of life, and from varied religious backgrounds and ethnic groups, who recognise a problem that Labour does not seem to want to acknowledge: there simply aren’t enough secondary school places to go around.

    Only a handful of constituencies have fewer secondary school places than Hampstead and Kilburn across the UK. Against this background we can add two straws which will break the camel’s back: the first is a dramatic population boom that will launch us into the top 20% of constituencies for number of 11 year olds by 2016, and we’ll still be climbing that league table thereafter; the second is the arrival of new children due to the unprecedented level of housing developments planned in and around our area.

    Current situation
    The Hampstead and Kilburn constituency has only three state secondary schools: Hampstead School, UCL Academy and Queens Park Community School. They are all oversubscribed and the latter two have tiny geographical catchment areas. Brent and Camden Councils are responsible for ensuring enough schools across their boroughs but both have neglected our area. The distribution of Camden schools shows the black hole that has been allowed to develop.

    Camden schools. click for larger version
    Schools in the Hampstead & Kilburn constituency

    The result of this shortage is that in 2010 49% of state school children from West Hampstead, Fortune Green and Kilburn wards found places out of Camden. There are no good schools just over the borough borders and children end up travelling a long way to attend Barnet grammar schools or church schools elsewhere.

    The opening of the UCL Academy reduced the proportion travelling to 36% for the year in which it opened. However, the already tiny catchment area shrank further this year and is likely to continue doing so: It thus offers no practical solution for children from our three wards.

    Our population explosion
    The next few years will see a frighteningly sharp increase in the number of children searching for a secondary school place. Across Hampstead and Kilburn there are 1106 11 year olds this year. This will rise to 1300 in 2016 and 1380 by 2019, without taking into account additional children arriving from the many new housing developments. By 2016 we estimate there will be 184 extra children looking for a school place from population growth alone.

    In terms of provision, there will still be only three schools in the whole constituency – the average London constituency has six. These three have places for 590 children (rising to 600 from 2016 with a slight expansion of Queens Park Community School). Brent Council, which is responsible for 35% of Hampstead & Kilburn’s intake, now sees this as a problem; Camden, by contrast, is responsible for 65% of constituency’s children (and 80% of the forecast increase), and yet senior councillors deny that there is a problem.

    No. of 11-year-olds* No. of state school places** No. currently finding alternative schooling Deficit
    2013 1,106 590 516 0
    2016 1,300 600 516 184
    2019 1,380 600 516 264
    *These figures are calculated by modeling population changes between the 2001 and 2011 censuses and assuming a constant drop out rate for each age cohort, over the next 10 years.
    **Hampstead school has 210 places, UCL Academy 180 and Queens Park Community School has 200 increasing to 210 in 2016.

    Camden is predicting that the number of secondary school places in our area is about to peak and will then flatten off. Camden secures its planning data from the Greater London Assembly. Camden officials agree that the population is rising rapidly; but they believe that the GLA’s formula works well for predicting the proportion of children who will take up a state school place. Camden seems to think that the extra children are a ‘problem’ that must be addressed by the private sector and not by Camden. So what are parents who can’t afford to send their children to private school supposed to do?

    We believe the Council’s analysis of provision outside state schools is flawed and shockingly complacent for a number of reasons:

    First, it is unrealistic to expect the private sector to add places for a growing number of Camden families – instead, we are likely to see prices increase, with little if any additional capacity. Contrary to perception, the proportion of children attending private schools within our campaign’s target area is in fact lower than the Camden average (26% vs. 31%). Also West Hampstead has not become more wealthy between the two censuses unlike other inner London areas

    Camden should not be relying on the private sector as an opt-out from its responsibilities, and in the current economic climate it is reprehensible to take the view that ever more parents should pay twice for their children to receive an education. It seems doubly bizarre for this reliance on the fee-paying sector to come from Labour councillors, many of whom have long opposed the very principle of private education on ideological grounds.

    Secondly, the projections assume that a constant proportion of places will be provided in neighbouring boroughs, when in reality the well-publicised shortages across London mean that out-of-borough provision is likely to shrink and has already started shrinking for our three wards from 39% of all children, in 2010 to 32% in 2011 and 24% in 2012.

    Thirdly, the benefit from the opening of the popular UCL Academy is highly localised, and offers little to address the problem in the most under-supplied parts of the borough.

    Finally, the GLA formula has been shown to fail when a new school is built and is supported by the whole community. It is fair to assume that the GLA formula will also be less effective at times of dramatic, rather than gradual population growth.

    Camden have told us that there is a strong possibility that some of our children would be able to get a place at some of the state schools in the east of the borough. They don’t seem to realise that parents want to know their child can get into a school, not just have an increasing possibility of doing so. What we really want is a local school where a cohort of children from the local primaries move on to secondary together. What we have now is a scattering of our primary children all over London and a breaking up of the strong community bonds that have formed.

    The Travis Perkins building
    Since our campaign for a school started, Camden has been falling over itself to sell off the most obvious site for placing a secondary school.

    The Travis Perkins building has commercial leases running until December 2016 yet Camden will be taking bids for the freehold up until 19th September 2013.

    This site would be ideal because it:

    • is at the heart of the gap in schools
    • is council owned
    • is big enough
    • has plenty of social housing nearby
    • has neighbouring public open space including a sports court
    • is by the railway sidings reducing the objections in the planning process
    • already has a large building that could be adapted.

    We believe this shows that Camden’s real intentions are to obstruct any thoughts of new schooling on purely ideological grounds.

    We are trying to create a school for the whole community in a part of London that has always been neglected for schooling. We are working hard to identify the best educational partners to will help us to achieve this vision. In the meantime, you can help by telling parents of school-aged children that we need their support. We need parents to give us their emails so we can contact them, once we have a concrete plan, to ask if they would send their child to the new school. You can do that here.
    NW6 School Campaign team

    * * *

    Camden council

    Cllr. Angela Mason

    There has been a lot of discussion in the area and in the pages of the Ham and High about whether a new secondary school is needed in the north west of the borough. I know what an important issue this is and I have been increasingly concerned that the true position is being lost amongst the welter of publicity. It is particularly important that parents have the right information in arriving at the choices open to them as part of the 2014 secondary school admissions process, the closing date for which is 31 October.

    As I understand the position, a group of parents from NW6 is concerned about securing places in a local secondary school. They are concerned that they will be forced either to go out of borough or to leave the area. They do not believe that Camden’s school place planning takes into account housing development in Camden or neighbouring boroughs. They also believe that historically a high proportion of children from NW6 have attended private schools and that this may decrease in the future with insufficient provision within Camden’s maintained schools to accommodate them.

    School place planning projections
    It is important to start with what the Council is required to do in law. We must ensure that there are sufficient school places in the area. For secondary education, the area is defined as the borough of Camden. We fulfil this duty by comparing the availability of places in our schools with the need for places expressed by parental preference. Parents, for a whole host of reasons, choose to send their children to different schools, some in Camden, some in other boroughs and some to private schools.

    We use data provided by the Greater London Assembly (GLA) team that collates information across London to arrive at projections of the need for school places in each London borough. The basis of these projections is the past patterns of admission to schools, based on the preferences for schools that parents have shown. We take this information and check it with our own local data. The sources of information include all known housing developments within Camden, so the additional growth that the campaigners talk about is taken into account in our projections.

    Our neighbouring boroughs go through the same process and are also making plans for dealing with population growth in their own areas.

    What the analysis shows is that will be sufficient school places in the borough until 2022/23, including the NW6 area. Our detailed analysis is set out in our annual school place planning report.

    It is important to stress what the place planning projections and the Council’s duty don’t do. We can’t provide for unlimited choice. Indeed we are not allowed in law to propose schools where there is no need for a school. If we did, there would be schools with large numbers of vacancies and this would not be a good use of public money, particularly in the current climate.

    Review of admissions’ information
    We have also looked at information about admissions in response to the concern from parents about getting a place in a Camden school.

    To set the scene, wherever you live, you may apply for a place at a state school in any London borough or other area. Parents can name up to six schools that should be listed in preference order on the application form.

    It should be noted that the definition of the NW6 area used by the campaign changes, dependent on data/information available. The campaign has used two definitions: first, those Camden residents with an NW6 postcode (parts of Fortune Green, Kilburn, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead wards) and second an NW6 ‘proxy’ based on Fortune Green, Kilburn, and West Hampstead wards in their entirety i.e. not Swiss Cottage.

    It is not disputed that only a proportion of NW6 Camden residents are offered a Camden secondary school. Using three wards above as a proxy, 63%, 54% and 45% for 2012/13, 2011/12 and 2010/11 respectively of applicants from these wards are offered a place in a Camden school. These figures reflect the fact that many NW6 residents put out of borough schools as a higher preference than a Camden school. If they obtain their higher preference place in the out of borough school they are not then considered for their lower preference Camden school.

    A number of parents opt for nearby schools in Westminster, particularly Quintin Kynaston which is on the border and St. Augustines CofE Secondary and St Georges RC school.

    Analysis of Year 7 applications from NW6 residents shows that a high percentage have been offered one of their top three preference schools whether inside or outside the borough. For 2012/13, 56% of NW6 applicants received their 1st preference school and 84% received one of their top three preferences by September 2012 with comparative figures for all Camden resident applicants (59% and 81% respectively).

    It is not true to say, as the campaign suggests, that NW6 residents don’t obtain Camden places because of a shortage. In the latest admissions round for September 2013, 103 of the 190 Camden residents from NW6 (using NW6 postcode) have been offered places at a number of Camden schools, based on parental preference. However, of the total of 190, all 68 applicants from Fortune Green and West Hampstead wards could have been accommodated at Hampstead School as they are closer to the school than many of those non-Camden residents being offered a place. Furthermore, the majority (if not all) of the 122 NW6 applicants from Kilburn and Swiss Cottage could have been accommodated at one of the five non-denominational schools in the north of the borough, including the UCL academy.

    If parents had made a local Camden school a higher preference, the likelihood is that they would have been successful in obtaining a place in a Camden school. My job as Cabinet Member is to work with schools to get the message out there of the really good education in Camden’s existing schools so that more NW6 parents choose to send their children to Camden schools, where we have enough places to provide an excellent education for them.
    Angela Mason

  • Waitrose coming to West Hampstead

    It’s been the most persistent rumour in West Hampstead since I’ve been running this website… Pizza Express is closing and Marks & Spencer is moving in. It had such traction that I wrote to Pizza Express a few years ago to see if it was closing down. I was reassured that this was one of its more profitable branches and no closure was imminent.

    How times have changed.

    There is a small sign up next to the door that announces in a rather oblique way that Waitrose, not Marks & Spencer, is applying for an alcohol licence. The licence application can’t yet be viewed online.

    According to a local resident, James Leslie, the staff at Pizza Express have confirmed that Waitrose will be taking over the premises in the next three to six months. Surveyors have also apparently put a mirophone on the roof to measure the current sound levels. Could this be in advance of planning nighttime deliveries?

    The application signs were also on nearby lamp posts and railings yesterday, but were removed last night.

    This would give us four metro-format supermarkets, with another one set to open in West Hampstead Square. Ballymore had namedropped Waitrose, as well as Marks & Spencer, and the less well-known “grocer to the royals” Partridges. M&S would now seem to be the prime candidate for that location.

    Waitrose is expanding fairly rapidly. According to its website, “This year we have set our sights on opening up to ten new supermarkets and ten new ‘little Waitrose’ convenience shops.”

    Reaction on Twitter was fairly predictable:

    @WHampstead Great news. My quality of life has just gone up a notch.
    — Marc Fink (@martifink) August 24, 2013

    @WHampstead there go my savings.
    — Joshua Green (@JoshuaCGreen) August 24, 2013

    @WHampstead Best. News. All. Week.
    — Philip Hewlett (@PhilipHewlett) August 24, 2013

    @WHampstead Yay, fingers and toes crossed!

  • Tom’s entertained by antipasti

    Like a scary hoard of genetically modified locusts, 24 of us descended on La Brocca for the first #whampdinner, via a quick meet-up and drink first in the Alice House.

    Legendary Brocca owner David had kindly put in place some Prosecco and canapés, which gave everyone some extra mingling and introduction time in the bar. I did what any good co-host should and immediately hogged the comfy leather sofa at the back whilst checking I got a drink before any of the guests.

    We had a brilliant evening. It was nice to see some people experiencing La Brocca for the first time, taking in the character of both the bar and basement restaurant. The staff were on fine form too, adding to the fun.

    The chefs did a grand job; we shared entertaining antipasto misto starters of salami, Parma ham, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives, mozzarella and hummus, with bread.

    Mains appeared, and it was pleasing to see people trying various things from the customised #whampdinner menu. I decided to break the habit of a lifetime and have the fried gnocchi – my excuse for the predictable order was the robust twist of wild boar sausage slices that accompanied it. Regular readers will know my fondness for gnocchi and I think the idea of frying to give a nice, textured coating is a great idea. The sausage was very rich indeed, and highly flavoursome.

    The sea bass proved popular both off the menu and off the plate, while a seafood risotto was devoured at the other end of my table. I was pleased that people also chose pizzas, as La Brocca does a really excellent pizza – some places are a little complacent with them these days; they can be underseasoned and too soft and flabby.

    Chef Will’s home-made beef and red wine pie with mashed potato & green beans was going down a storm next to me; I know barman Adam speaks highly of this dish, and it did look very appetising indeed, with the colours making me want to recreate it in a painting. Or just eat it, given I can’t paint.

    Those of us greedy enough to tackle desserts found the usual gems on offer, including an excellent Eton Mess, and for me, the apple and caramel crumble.

    Rather typically, and foolishly, I can’t remember the wine we were drinking, probably due to the quantity consumed. Possibly a Chilean merlot; perhaps I’ll have to pop in one evening and try a glass of everything in order to prompt my memory.

  • Tom doesn’t leave Hidden Treasure hungry

    A rowdy local foursome set sail for Hidden Treasure last week – and had a typically quirky time in what’s known to be a very characterful restaurant. It’s an amusing, upbeat, slightly chaotic place, and there was a little issue with our table not being ready, or even in existence, solved by some Tetris-style furniture re-arranging from the friendly staff.

    I liked my smoked salmon gnocchi in a pink sauce; the heavier, less ‘cheffy’ variant is fine for people like me with big appetites, and the flavours were big enough to keep me quiet for a while (about 5 minutes).

    Two pasta dishes, one with prawns (which seemed excellent) and one with sausage, were very well-received, the sausage one requiring a ‘nosebag’ to take leftovers home in. (Recently noticed that the word ‘sausage’ contains ‘sage’ by the way – one of those strange moments of confused enlightenment I get on occasion – admittedly usually well into my second bottle of Malbec).

    Not so convincing was a lobster dish that was insubstantial, accompanied by some less than pleasing fries. Such things matter; I had a brilliant seafood dish in The Akeman, Tring, last week, which included some divine hand-cut but slim-shaped fries. An eatery in West Hampstead, London, should surely be able to compete!

    Side salads couldn’t match La Brocca’s, but ripe avocado was a plus, as were strips of carrot – adding a bit of crunch. Wine list a little short and priced in steep increments; we chose the house white which was refreshing and absolutely fine.

    My dessert of dark chocolate tart was an absolute peach, though! (Not literally, obviously). A thick, firm layer of dark choc delight, with an equally thick, highly satisfying biscuit base. A generous portion, and all-round fantastic. I asked the waitress if she’d tried it, and she laughingly replied “oh, yes, yes” as if to say “what an incredibly stupid question!”

    Overall, we perhaps didn’t discover the rarest of culinary gems, but we did have a jolly time which only left one of us all at sea, and I might well be tempted by their ‘best seller’, the seafood tagliatelle, in the not too distant future. 

  • Wealthiest renters in West Hampstead?

    Wealthiest renters in West Hampstead?

    I was lucky enough to be given a guided tour of the new student accommodation on Blackburn Road a couple of weeks ago.

    Bedroom in shared flat

    The building opens on September 1st, though the majority of students move in to West Hampstead a fortnight later. Contrary to my assertion some months ago, there are some British students, though as of two weeks ago the split was about 50/50. There is also a high share of postgraduate students taking up spaces.

    It’s impressive inside, as it should be – the students are paying top-whack to live amongst us whampers. There’s also a rather nice courtyard area, which in good weather should be a good place to sit/lie out with a book.

    I was shown, unsurprisingly, one of the nicest flats – on the north-east corner of the building with tall glass windows in the communal area. These flats are shared by eight people, each of whom has an en-suite bedroom while they share the living room/kitchen area.

    There are also studio apartments with a self-contained kitchen area. I much preferred these myself. The one I saw, which was a larger one, was actually pretty spacious although it was unfinished!

    Weekly rents start at £199 and go up to £259 for the “penthouse”. More than many people’s mortgages, though that includes concierge, secure bike parking, communal areas, a screening room and the all-important superfast broadband. TV licences are extra (and of course streaming television content through your laptop requires a licence). Cleaning services are also available at an extra charge. Using the power of Twitter I’ve put together some top tips for the students, although my definitive top 10 tips are going into their Welcome Pack, so I won’t spoil the surprise for any students reading this now!

    Dining area in large flat
    There’s another identical kitchen unit out of sight
    The view of the Travis Perkins yard
    Courtyard chess

  • Student living – the West Hampstead way

    The first students move into the new Blackburn Road block on September 1st, with the majority coming on the 14th. I asked people on Twitter to come up with some top tips for them, and here’s the result!

  • Scene and heard – live music in West Hampstead & Kilburn

    Scene and heard – live music in West Hampstead & Kilburn

    Francesca Baker, music blogger, promoter and recent arrival in West Hampstead, takes a look at why our local area isn’t as buzzing as it could be when it comes to live music.

    Music. NW6. The two aren’t generally associated, but is that fair? We’ve already revealed West Hampstead and Kilburn‘s musical legacy and the impressive list of bands who’ve tuned up and rocked out in the area: The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Cream, U2, Joy Division, The Smiths, Nirvana, Blur, Suede – even Adele!

    Anyone who’s recently walked past the billboards on their way to Kilburn Park station will see the vintage ticket stubs and posters that are testament to a once buzzing music scene. Where is it now, and can it be revived?

    Music culture and creativity does continue in the area. Bands play in Kilburn most nights, there’s regularly jazz of various hues on West End Lane, Folkies, an ‘Aladdin’s cave of musical instruments’ does a roaring trade (for an independent store) and, of course, the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance attracts talented musicians to study on its many courses.

    So far, so fertile. But a bunch of sporadic gigs doesn’t make a thriving humming music scene. Do West Hampstead and Kilburn have what it takes to be uttered in the same breath as Camden Town or Shoreditch when it comes to London music?

    My generation
    A music scene implies a community, a group, a shared feeling. This all helps generate the “longevity and consistency” that Simon Whiteside, local jazz musician, believes creates a scene. Ultimately, it is people – the right people – not history.

    Matt Churchill, another musician who’s cut his teeth at local venues, thinks that the culture can transform quickly if the right mix of passionate people are there. This is what has driven the success of places such as Walthamstow, with its thriving art trail and mini festival Stowfest. It proves that a lot can happen when like minded people “start making some noise…and people who are interested start paying attention.”

    Matt Churchill (photo (c) Howard Key)

    I used to live in Ealing and, fed up of getting the night bus back home from central London and constantly bemoaning the lack of gigs closer to home, I decided to put on my own nights in a local pub. Lo and behold, I was not the only music lover in the area. A lack of music doesn’t mean there’s no demand; more likely it means the demand isn’t being heard or acted on.

    Everyone wants to be in a gang and once something starts to develop it often spirals driven by the excited members’ willingness to spread the word, entice new people, and welcome them in.

    You can’t always get what you want
    A cursory glance at listings reveals alarmingly few gigs in the area. A prerequisite for a thriving music scene must be a range of good quality venues in which to perform (and rehearse).

    There are venues of course. The Good Ship, which opened in 2005, delivers quality acts almost every night and attracts people from across London. Owner John McCooke asks that all Londoners ‘consider us an extension of your front room with a jukebox in,’ which in many ways is exactly what a venue should be: comforting and creative. The Good Ship has managed to attract a regular crowd due to its consistency, but this sort of thing does take time – and commitment

    Carnegie Hall was real fabulous, but you know, it ain’t as big as the Grand Ole Opry.

    Patsy Cline

    Across Kilburn High Road is Powers, a smaller and darker venue-cum-bar owned by music impresario Vince Power but run by his son Patrick. Down the other end of the road there’s Love & Liquor, which has garnered attention for having Idris Elba (aka “Stringer Bell” aka “Luther”) as a guest DJ.

    Up in West Hampstead the focus is more on jazz than ‘boys with guitars’, but it’s still individual venues doing their own thing rather than any sense of collaboration to drive the music scene. A jazz festival is in the offing, which might help unite the venues – most of which are cafés, bars or restaurants rather than dedicated gig venues.

    Crosstown traffic
    There are more than 60 live music venues across Camden, but the majority are in Camden Town and Kentish Town. Both have the larger venues that attract big-name bands, such as The Roundhouse or Koko. Is our part of London too far from Camden Town to pick up from its gravitational pull; yet too close to compete?

    If you’re not a new-music addict, it is easier to go and see a well-known band than take a risk on a new and upcoming artist in a local pub. By the same token, bands and artists are more likely to gravitate towards bigger venues with a solid reputation rather than magnanimously attempt to kickstart a new scene. If it’s a choice between the chance of bumping into A&R in the Old Blue Last or Shackelwell Arms or playing a small gig to friends and family on a rainy Tuesday in Kilburn, well… need I go on?

    Come together
    The ease with which music can spread across the world means that local scenes don’t have time to develop like they used to. It is possible for bands to succeed without playing local gigs, and the allure of working hard to build a local following fades when challenged by the glamour and allure of a worldwide audience. The venues meanwhile find it hard to make much of a profit, and this means that the people involved generally have to be doing it for the love rather than for a lucrative return.

    A venue that built a reputation as a high-quality (if eccentric) bastion of the independent music scene was The Luminaire in Kilburn. Yet, despite all its credibility and big-name acts, the owners closed it in 2010 as it became harder to meet their financial obligations.  If such a successful venue still couldn’t be profitable enough to survive then what hope is there?

    Perhaps the answer lies in alternative uses of space. The Albert in Queen’s Park is a pop-up creativity hub that runs music and arts events, and there are some lovely alternative venues in West Hampstead itself, such as The Wet Fish Café, Brioche or La Brocca.

    Simon Whiteside performs regularly at La Brocca as well as Ronnie Scott’s

    A scene requires a network of people – fans – beyond the musicians and the venues. There needs to be a buzz. The Good Ship’s heavy use of social media to spread the word means it is well known in the music world, but McCooke believes that Brent Council should do more to help to encourage the scene to thrive in the community. He says that there is, for example, no night time culture featured in the Brent Magazine.

    A support network could mean radio stations such as Shoreditch Radio, or a large student population. Local blogs, radio stations, and dedicated music media are all necessary to keep enthusiasm bubbling for longer than one night. Support and exposure are the real drivers, whilst passion, and a genuine belief in an area’s potential, can ensure longevity.

    Kilburn’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance attracts and turns out quality musicians. It was once home to The Vaccines, Daughter, and The Robbie Boyd Band. But, according to its Industry Liaison Officer Giaco Bridgett, it too is “crying out for somewhere that has great production, cool nights and attracts cutting edge talent to the area.” We come back to the venues.

    Where the streets have no name
    Sometimes, it’s only after a few bands have emerged that a music scene is defined. The Happy Mondays were famously ignored in Manchester until ‘Madchester’ was coined. The Manchester scene was far more than a marketing ploy, but perhaps building a Kilburn Crawl or Whamp & Blues nights might get the ball rolling. Perhaps.

    There’s enough activity bubbling along to suggest there is potential for a thriving music scene here, but the challenges that face music across the country are always exacerbated in London with high rents and stiff competition. The situation is, in the words of McCooke, by ‘no means terminal’, but it’s certainly in need of some love and attention, some great venues, and some excited people. Is that you?

  • How clean are West Hampstead restaurants?

    Congratulations to all those West Hampstead restaurants, cafés, bars and takeaways that have scored a maximum 5/5 on their Food Standards Agency inspections. A pleasingly high number of our local establishments have received top marks, with a similarly healthy number falling just one point short.

    Five offenders were awarded just one point (Gung Ho, Cafe Plus, Pizza Micco, Bombay Nights, and Cafe Bon), and one – Roni’s – scored a worrying zero.

    View West Hampstead food hygiene scores in a larger map
    Red: 0-1, Orange: 2-3, Green: 4-5

    What do these numbers actually mean?
    0 – Urgent improvement necessary
    1 – Major improvement necessary
    2 – Improvement necessary
    3 – Generally satisfactory
    4 – Good
    5 – Very good

    According to the government’s website,

    “The food safety officer inspecting a business checks how well the business is meeting the law by looking at:

    • how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored
    • the condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities
    • how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.”

    It is always important to see when the inspection was made. Inspections are supposed to be fairly frequent (as often as every six months in some cases), however, Starbucks in West End Lane was last inspected in August 2008!

    How concerned should you be by a low-scoring business? Here’s what The Guardian (who published the data on which this map is based) says:

    “Anything less than a score of three out of five constitutes a fail. Businesses given ratings of 0 or 1 are those that need to make urgent or major improvements – but they’re not closed down. That only happens if the food is so unsafe for the public to eat that there’s an imminent risk to health.”

    Quite a lot of new businesses haven’t been rated at all – you can see those in white on the map.

    For the most up-to-date information, check out the FSA’s own searchable list, and there are Android, iPhone and Windows apps too. Scores on the Doors also publishes the same information.

  • Tom finds Guglee very appealing

    Excellent impromptu dinner at Guglee the other night. I’d thought I was in need of booze-absorbing pizza but went with the majority and soon got into the swing of things. I like the design of Guglee and its airy, bright feel – a lively, happy place to eat.

    First, wine. I’ve babbled on about the remarkable Indian Shiraz previously, and again I wished I possessed the palate to identify the tongue-teasing nuances. My advanced tasting notes are thus: fruit…with some spice, or something. Interestingly, the vineyard is based in Sula, which is in or around owners Sachin and Nikhil’s home town.

    As for grub, I was quickly tempted by the prawn kadai. I like curry dishes described as being cooked with peppers, onions and tomatoes, and am particularly keen on bell peppers with prawns, and especially that little twist of flavour that the green ones give out. I like the chunky textures in a dish of this type, and always prefer a Rogan Josh when the tomatoes, onions and things are not cut too finely.

    This kadai was faultless; lots of it, with magnificent prawns (huge, fresh and fleshy – possibly the best I’ve eaten this year) and, as usual in Guglee, tremendous intensity of flavours with just the right heat. A side of ‘veggie veggie 5’ arrived; I’m not sure why it has ‘veggie’ twice in its name (if more than once, why not five times?), but I rather like that and might use it as a song title, though it sounds a bit reggae which I’m not a natural at. Anyway, this little veg dish would go well with anything. Rather like Tiffin Tin’s delicious veg curry (which I order as a side), it has its own character and flavour – it’s no token-gesture side dish and is a superb accompaniment.

    Not much more to add. Guglee is slick and professional, with real drive and passion behind it. For the many of us who love Indian food, it’s always reassuring to know there are reliably brilliant options just down the road.

    All in all, a corkingly good meal – and whilst that might be a word I’ve made up, when you consider how well the wine goes with the food, it seems apt, does it not?

    Guglee? Howzat!