History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

TE Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, was a controversial Army officer and diplomat.  For more information about him see Wikipedia .   Lawrence’s exploits and his work in British intelligence was largely unknown until the American war correspondent Lowell Thomas launched a 1919 lecture tour recounting his assignment in the Middle East. His photographs and films of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ transfixed the public and transformed the British colonel into both a war hero and an international celebrity. Lawrence left military service in 1935, and two months later on 13 May, he was fatally injured in an accident riding his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle near his cottage in Wareham Dorset. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on bicycles and as he swerved to avoid them, he lost control and was thrown over the handlebars. Six days later he died on 19 May 1935, aged 46. In 1962 David Lean directed the famous film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ starring Peter O’Toole. This stor...

This strange story moves over both time and place. It begins on an evening in April 1950 when two rival gangs met outside the West Kilburn Baptist Chapel in Canterbury Road. An argument broke out, and suddenly there was a fusillade of five shots. The crowd scattered, leaving Patrick Twomey of Malvern Road lying on the ground. He was hit by several bullets, and one had severed an artery in his leg. He was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital where he needed a blood transfusion. A newspaper pointed out this was the area where scenes from the film ‘The Blue Lamp’ starring Jack Warner and Dirk Bogarde, had recently been filmed. 1950s OS map showing where the shooting took place West Kilburn Baptist Church 2013 (Geograph, David Martin) A few hours later the police arrested Teddy Boy Kenneth Fromant, an 18-year old labourer, at his home 179 Saltram Crescent in South Kilburn.  Luckily, Patrick survived and gave evidence in court. His clothes were produced to show the bullet holes and his ration ...

This story takes us to Queen’s Park, Kilburn, Cricklewood and Colindale. It started when I came across an account of the Talkyphone in the Evening Standard of May 1913. I was intrigued as I had never heard the name before. The reporter had visited the International Electric Company (IEC) at 111-115 Salusbury Road in Queens Park. The factory was near the corner with Lonsdale Road but has now been replaced by a modern office block. The short newspaper article described the process of manufacturing the new domestic telephone. After the raw materials arrived, they passed to the machine shop with a ‘myriad of presses, punches, drills, milling and stamping machines’ which turned out ‘the hundred and one parts of the telephone’. These go to the plating and polishing shops, and the lacquering ovens. Finally, male and female staff assembled the completed instruments. It is not clear how well the Talkyphone sold as we could not find further references in the online newspapers.  Our research ...