History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This intriguing story takes us off our usual area to Stonebridge Park. In 2017, Nick Grealy, CEO of London Local Energy (LLE), applied for a fracking licence to drill for shale gas on the old White Heather Laundry site at Stonebridge Park . Not surprisingly, this caused considerable opposition from local environmental groups. Brent Council along with Sadiq Khan the mayor of London , were also against the idea, and it does not appear to have gone any further. LLE was registered at Companies House on 9 May 2017 and dissolved on 16 October 2018 . But why did LLE choose the site? The White Heather Laundry was established in Alric Avenue in 1898, apparently by three young men from Oxford or Cambridge University (newspaper reports differ). In January 1911 they sank a well to supply water for the la undry on their two and a half acre site. At 2,225 feet this is one of the deepest artesian wells ever drilled in this country, and is reflected today by the name of a road on t...

Clive Donner was born in the Priory Nursing Home at 43 Priory Road West Hampstead, in January 1926. He grew up in 31 Peter Avenue, Willesden Green, where his parents Alex and Deborah Donner, lived for most of their lives. Alex was a concert violinist and Deborah ran a dress shop. Clive attended Gladstone Park junior school and Kilburn Grammar school. He became interested in film when he accompanied his father to a studio recording session. While at Kilburn Polytechnic he made an 8mm film about a boys’ sports club. In 1942 he was working as a shipping clerk when his father who was recording the music for The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), asked Michael Powell the director, if he could find a job for Clive at Denham Studios. After several rejections he got a job as a junior assistant editor for the Sydney Box film On Approval (1944). He gained experience and formed a close friendship with Fergus McDonell, who later edited several of Donner’s films. Clive wa...

The streets of Kilburn and West Hampstead were home to literally hundreds of actors, actresses and musical hall artistes. A handful were very successful, but the majority were hardworking performers who made their living touring the country. They used professional newspapers to advertise their ‘availability’ often giving a friend or relative’s address where they could be sure of receiving a letter, as their nomadic lives made it hard and expensive to maintain a permanent home. When they rented accommodation, it was generally for a few months at a time, to fulfil a local engagement. Actress Mrs Bernard-Beere was successful enough to afford a permanent London home that she left empty when touring. In 1883 she was at 63 York Terrace, Regent’s Park; by 1890 her home was a cottage on Marylebone Road. She next moved to West Hampstead, renting No.8 Carlton Mansions in West End Lane, from April 1899 to 1902. The block of flats was newly built and today is the Francis Gardner Hall for...