History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

An Act of Parliament was passed in July 1863, authorising the Midland Railway to build an extension from Bedford to a London terminus on Euston Road at St Pancras.  The company acquired a large amount of land along the route, near the village of West End (later, this became West Hampstead). There was no local station when the line opened to traffic in 1868. ‘West End’ station was a later addition, opening on 1st Match 1871 in a converted villa on Iverson Road. Access to trains was via a footbridge over the lines. Despite the absence of a passenger service, the original construction work included building a large area of sidings to the west of West End Lane, to store or tranship goods in wagons. Appropriately, they were given the name of West End Sidings and could hold around 900 wagons. The job of moving wagons and goods was undertaken by railway workers known as ‘shunters’, men assigned to specific sidings. 1915 Map showing West End Sidings and the surrounding stree...

The recent commemoration of the centenary of the First World War has focused many people’s thoughts on the service men and women who fought, died and survived the conflict. But millions of animals and birds also died alongside the troops. The memorial to ‘Animals in War’ in Park Lane was unveiled on 24 November 2004. An inscription reads, ‘They had no choice.’ However, Kilburn is home to a much earlier memorial to the nation’s service animals.  The Kilburn Clinic at 10 Cambridge Avenue (Dick Weindling)   H orses, dogs and donkeys were the most commonly used animals – mainly for transport and haulage, but camels, elephants, pigeons, bullocks, dogs and goats were all pressed into service. They suffered from exposure, lack of food and disease, dying alongside their human companions. The Park Lane memorial was the fulfilment of an idea that dates as far back as the early 1920s when the RSPCA proposed a memorial for animals that had served in WWI. A commi...