History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

As suburbs developed and spread into the country round London, rural pastimes could conflict with streets and houses. So far as the late nineteenth century hunts described below were concerned, it appears the object was a chase, ending with the capture not the death of the deer. But pursuing a deer or stag was unpredictable so far as the direction an animal might take.                Feb 1850, stag hunt in Camden Town In November 1878, around 1pm on a Saturday afternoon, shoppers in Kilburn were alarmed by the sight of a fine stag, running full tilt down the High Road, followed by a pack of dogs and several huntsmen. The chase began several miles away in Hendon where the stag had been kept on Mount Pleasant Farm. The first run was towards Stanmore, then the stag turned towards Willesden, ending up on Willesden Lane before turning south down the High Road. It got as far as Belsize Road where it ran towards the railway station which then had its entrance opposite the Priory Tavern. The p

On 7 October 1946 ‘Dick Barton: special agent’ began broadcasting on the BBC Light Programme. The first review which appeared in The Daily Worker said: ‘It is so bad as to be almost beyond belief.’ But despite this, the audience for the show with its famous signature tune ‘The Devil’s Galop’, grew to an astonishing 15 million listeners who eagerly turned on their radio sets at 6.45pm every week day. Dick and his chums Snowey and Jock thrilled their fans by solving crimes, escaping from dangerous situations and saving the nation from disaster. The series ended after 711 programmes on Friday 30 March 1951 to be replaced by ‘The Daring Dexters’ a daily show about circus life, and then ‘The Archers’. In the first episode Captain Richard Barton MC, ex-wartime commando, introduced himself by saying: ‘Six years of battle, murder and sudden death just spoil you completely for a nice, peaceful office job. Don’t you agree, Snowey?’           From left to right, Dick, Snowey and Jock Dick Barton

Do you remember playing conkers at school? You drilled through a horse chestnut, put a knotted string through the middle and tried to hit your opponent’s conker with your own. The winner was the one who broke their opponent’s conker. It was a popular game, the chestnuts were free, and there was always a spare bit of string lying about, so what could possibly go wrong?  The fatal conker game On 14 October 1901, two school friends were playing the game after school in the street near their homes. 12-year-old Edward Churchill lived at No.14 Ariel Road and his friend Joseph Statham, also 12, lived at No.2 Loveridge Road, close to the corner where the boys were standing. Joseph aimed at Edward’s conker which he hit but it did not break. Unfortunately, the blow shattered Joseph’s own conker. Angry at the outcome, Joseph picked up a broken piece and without thinking, threw it across the road, as a horse-drawn van was passing by. The driver was Charles John Jones, aged 26, who worked for the S