History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This small shop in Exeter Parade, Exeter Road was next to the Kilburn Underground Station from 1955 to at least 1974. It was run by Ray ‘Professor’ Foxley, a quietly spoken and very talented New Orleans style pianist who played with the Mick Mulligan, Ken Colyer and Chris Barber jazz bands. His nickname of Professor was a tribute to New Orleans stride pianists such as ‘Professor Longhair’. Ray was born in Birmingham and after the War he led bands in the Midlands before coming to London in the 1950s. Ray and his wife Doreen lived at 68 Whitefriars Avenue in Harrow for many years. He died in London in 2002. My friends and I would go to the shop regularly on a Saturday to listen to records in the tiny booths which were covered with acoustic pinboard walls. I bought my first jazz records by the Modern Jazz Quartet and Gerry Mulligan there. My friend Dan Shackell remembers getting Gene Vincent’s ‘Lotta Lovin’ in 1958.           Site of Foxley's Exeter Parade in ...

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. The First Raid at Stanstead On the night of 3-4 February 1955 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, Detective Superintendent Tom Bradford and members of the Flying Squad 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 is no obvious house like this in the road. Eddie Rice, aged 34, still dressed in pyjamas, 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’...