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 1905 the Wesleyan Methodists erected a corrugated iron church in Neasden Lane on the corner with Verney Street.    OS Map of 1912 showing the position of the iron church in Neasden Lane These could be bought as kits, and many were used as a temporary meeting place by the local congregation until money could be raised to build a permanent brick building. A major supplier was Humphreys Ltd who made churches, hospitals and other iron buildings.    Humphreys advert from 1902 In 1928 the lease on the land expired and the Wesleyans were offered a site on the eastern side of the newly-built North Circular Road. A contractor said he could move the intact church the short distance of a quarter of the mile along Neasden Lane and six men worked for a week preparing runners under the building.  On Wednesday 27 March 1928 it was towed by motor lorry towards the North Circular but it had only travelled a short distance when the church partly collapsed, slipped off the runn...

George Hibberd was born in Upper Cleveland Street Marylebone in 1833 and became a carpenter like his father. He joined the Navy as a carpenter in 1851 and fought in the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 between Russia and the allies of England, Turkey and France. George served on the 120-gun, three-deck battleship HMS Trafalgar from July 1851 to April 1855 and the 14-gun floating battery HMS Meteor from 1855 to May 1856. He was awarded two Crimean medals, one from England and one from Turkey. After he returned home, he married Lucy Hutson Hope in March 1858 and they had eight children, including a daughter Lucy who was born in 1869. In the 1870s they lived at 2 Peel Road Kilburn. The Salvation Army worked in the poor areas of Kilburn. They recognised the value of music in promoting the gospel and recruited and trained people to form bands. Popular tunes were adapted so that ‘Way down upon the Swanee River’ became ‘Joy, freedom, peace and ceaseless blessing’. They used a mission hall in Pembr...

The Cake Walk was a fairground machine invented in Warrington by Samual Plinston and his brother Frederick and patented in July 1907 by Walter Taylor from New Brighton Wallasey. It consisted of two walkways with handrails which fairgoers used as they tried to maintain their balance while the platform, powered by a steam machine, pitched and tossed. The first ride was built near Birkenhead and after being shown at venues in Cheshire, it was a great success at the Hamburg Fair in December 1908. The idea proved popular, and Cake Walks were operated in Earl’s Court, Crystal Place, Blackpool and Weston Super Mare.  The original machine from an advert in Billboard 9 Sept 1908 A limited company was set up in April 1910 with £5,000 in 10-shilling shares and an office at 94 Farncombe Street Bermondsey. The same year a factory was opened at the Kingsley Works, Grange Road Willesden Green. In 1911 the Plinston brothers were living nearby at 6 Lewington House, 150 Chapter Road.  Kingsley ...

Graham Young was born on 7 September 1947 in Neasden Hospital. Sadly his mother died from tuberculosis when he was about three months old and his father Fred was unable to cope with Graham and his eight-year-old sister. For now, Graham went to live with his aunt and uncle, and Winifred was sent to her grandparents. All the extended family lived near each other in Links Road, Dawpool Road and the North Circular Road.  Fred Young worked as a machine setter at Smiths Industries in Cricklewood, and he met his second wife there. In 1950 Fred married Gwendolyn (Molly) Petley and the family was reunited at 768 North Circular Road, opposite the Welsh Harp. Although things seemed alright on the surface, Graham hated his stepmother Molly, who often left him alone outside while she played the accordion in pubs. Google Map showing 768 North Circular Road 768 North Circular Road   Graham as a young boy Graham was a plump young boy and his family called him ‘Pudding’ much to his dislik...

John (Jack) Lemon Burton was born in 1911, the son of engineer John Lemon Burton senior whose unusual middle name came from his mother Charlotte Lemon. At the time of Jack’s birth John senior was living in 27 Hopefield Avenue Brondesbury but then moved several times before settling at 17 Cavendish Road Kilburn in 1930 where he died in 1954.  17 Cavendish Road in 2012 Jack in the garden with his home-made pedal car As a teenager, Jack sometimes drove his father’s car, and to hide his age, wore his father’s bowler hat while his father sat beside him wearing Jack’s Kilburn Grammar school cap. Jack was fascinated by Bugattis, and bought his first when he was aged 16. Later his father bought Jack the blue Type 37A which Sir Malcolm Campbell (the world land speed record holder) had driven in competition. Jack began racing Bugattis in Brookwood and broke the lap record in 1939.  Malcolm Campbell’s Bugatti owned by Jack Lemon Burton In 1927 with help from his father, Jack established ...