History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This is the story of two tragic events from the 1960s and 1930s which occurred near to each other in Willesden. The Willesden Plane Crash At 7.10 on the evening of Wednesday 29 May 1963 people saw a light aircraft flying erratically low over Willesden. It attempted to climb before it suddenly plunged, and with a loud explosion and tremendous flash crashed into a large three-storey block of flats called Marlow Court at 224 Willesden Lane.  The emergency services quickly sent eight fire engines and three ambulances to the scene. They found the aircraft had crashed on the roof, breaking through the ceiling of Flat No.31. The fuselage of the red and white Auster was embedded in the lift shaft, leaving the tail intact. Firemen had to use a portable crane and cutting equipment. It took over an hour to reach the two passengers who tragically had died on impact.    Photo on the roof of the flats (Getty Images)  Fortunately, the occupant of Flat 31 had just gone out for dinne...

In the summer of 1905, Mrs Treadwell the wife of a plumber at 74 Granville Road South Kilburn, packed some sandwiches for her ten year old daughter Ethel and eight year son old William, who were going out to play in a local park. They left their house and met up with eight other children all aged between six and ten who lived in the same poor part of Kilburn.  Instead of going to the park they decided to play on the grass in front of Brondesbury Park Mansions, a small block of flats at 132 Salusbury Road. Brondesbury Park Mansions, Salusbury Road today. It was a hot day and they were thirsty, so they knocked on the door of flat No.9 to ask for a drink of water, but there was no one home. Then led by ten year old James Wilkins, they broke a window at the back of the house and climbed in. They went into the kitchen and found a large cake and some bacon which they ate. Then they consumed the whisky in a decanter. In a bedroom they found jewelry and a wardrobe full of clothes. After th...