Why are old signs better?

I've been noticing just how much better, more attractive, more stylish the old features of the local area are - it's really curious - I saw an old picture of the first Ian Drury and the Blockheads first album cover (apparently taken outside Woolworths on the Kilburn High Road) and even that makes the shop look better than it does now!

So I caught these two images - one is a small label road sign above a road name in Hampstead and the other is a old street frontage from Kilburn Lane, Brent.

The first (first pic) is a stret sign pre 1964 (i.e. before the creation of Camden) when Hampstead was it's own Borough.

The lettering is old fashioned, perhaps it is out of date, but to me there is something that is inherently attractive about it and that adds to a locality. If I recollect correctly it's Rosecroft Avenue (Frognal and Fitzjohn's ward).

The sense of detail and the individual lettering gives residents a real sense of pride, that their Borough matters and that their Council cares. It's good that Camden still repairs and restores these old signs, but perhaps more of a shame that where new signs go in they are the standard metal formulaic signage.

The second is taken at the other end of the constituency on Kilburn Lane (where it meets Chamberlayne Road) in Queen's Park ward. It's an old shop front - lying empty and there is this old mosaic from when the shop was Craven Laundry.

The more I find things like this I can't help but think there should be some kind of historic audit of an area that seeks to save, enhance, promote these sorts of features.

Perhaps this is one of things that residents associations could be mobilised for? I spent much of tonight in a residents association and one of the discussions was about the formal role - maybe there should be a remit of environmental responsibility - identifying features, assets and historic hangovers.

Oh, and just to make my point even better the shop front (albeit closed) has the old mosaic protected by a set of old railings (granted, they are prob post WWII) but they do add character and charm.

Twelfth Night or 2nd February?

In former times people would leave their decorations up until 40 days after Jesus's birth - i.e. 2nd Feb.

It was the Victorian traditions that settled on 12th Night as the definitive end of christmas decor.

Tradition now says twelfth day is the last day for decorations to be taken down. It thought bad luck to take decorations down after this date, though decorations may be kept up until the next Christmas to avoid this bad luck.

Those who forget to take down their decorations before the twelfth day never keep them up all year round.

I spent a slightly sad night taking down our decorations tonight - having a real tree with the lights and baubles has been really good - I realised tonight just how much I love the Christmas celebrations and when the weather is as bright, crisp and clear as it was this morning I realised how much I love the season itself.

To ease the taking down of decorations and in line with the green agenda here in Camden we have places around the borough where you can take your old christmas tree - one such much used and appreciated in on Fortune Green in West Hampstead (pic above left).

It's pretty busy on twelfth night and councillors Russell Eagling (pic left) and Flick Rea are pretty proud of the service...

Westbere Copse - an idyllic spot worth pausing in...

Hidden away - it's not that hidden, but it naturally lies along Westbere Road - is Westbere Copse.

At one time the land was farmed, but in the 1860's the arrival of the Midland Railway changed the landscape for good.

Over the years the site has been used for a railway signal box, public toilets and allotments - but since 1988 it has been a local nature reserve.

There is a nice pathway through the site and it's great for photography of nature and especially to capture trees and leaves. It is laden with wildlife - especially bird, insects, frogs and foxes and has a lot of fungi and natural tree growths.

When I popped down there the other day - I pass the site a lot as I'm a governor at Hampstead School just along the road - there was a lovely big hedgehog negotiating the steps. It was a beautiful moment to pause and watch - a great part of North London...

Collapse of the cemetery wall

The collapse of the cemetery wall on Harrow Road is causing a stir, so I popped down at the weekend to have a look around with one of the local residents. It looks very dramatic but it is clear that the cemetery authorities have the matter in hand and indeed I have subsequently learnt that the residents association are on top of the issues.

They can be looked up on their pretty impressive residents association site: http://www.ktra.co.uk/ Kensal Triangle Residents Association.

This bit of Brent and indeed of Hampstread and Kilburn is right on the border - but for me that makes it all the more interesting. So I headed into the William IV pub (great food!) and sure enough it is named after the King which broadly co-incides with the opening of the cemetary - and the pub is reputed to have been the drinking hostelry for the cemetary construction workers.

However, I was struck by some of the adjoining street names: Pember Road, Warfield Road, Berens Road and so when home dived into my local history books...

William Warfield was the landlord of the William IV from 1895-1901, he extended the site of the pub, and so the road next to it bears his name... it's pretty appropriate therefore that the KTRA gathers in an upstairs roon there for it's meetings. Yet to work out Pember and Berens...

Sad passing of Councillor Jane Schopflin

Today I attended the cremation service for councillor Jane Schopflin - it was beautifully done by her three daughters. I was able to visit Jane just before she passed away and today was a lovely send off for her. A fuller tribute service will be organised later in the spring. This obituary is drawn from the illuminating and eloquent tribute given by Jane's eldest daughter Julia:

Jane Schopflin (1936-2007)

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fortune Green WardJane Schopflin sadly passed away in the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, on the morning on Sunday 30th December after a long battle with illness.

An only child, Jane came from humble origins in Glasgow: her father, a committed Communist, had worked in the Clyde shipyards and her mother was a seamstress. She won a scholarship to the prestigious Hutchesons Girls Grammar school. At a time when most girls left school at 15, her teachers encouraged her to stay on and take her higher exams. Her parents agreed, she always said that if she’d had brothers, she’d never have had this opportunity.She went on to win a place at the University of Glasgow - again on a scholarship.

She was involved in the debating society, which was - and still is - taken very seriously at Glasgow University. She was also active in the Labour students’ society, where she was a contemporary of the late John Smith and Donald Dewar.After graduation, she trained as a journalist at the Glasgow Herald, before moving to London working as a researcher at the Labour Party HQ, Transport House, and then joining the BBC as a radio news producer.

Jane developed an interest in housing, from her time at Transport House. In many ways, it became her life’s work, writing and consulting about housing for - amongst others - New Society magazine, Local Government News, the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust, the housing charity Shelter, the Personal Social Services Council and the GLC.

After a brief time in Surbiton, she moved to a flat in Strathray Gardens in Swiss Cottage before moving to Chester Road, Highgate in 1967.

Always politically active Jane canvassed for Labour in the two elections of 1974 (with her eldest daughter in tow). She campaigned for a yes vote to EEC membership in 1975 and although no fan of Conservative politics, raised a glass to Margaret Thatcher as the first woman prime minister. However, she became increasingly disenchanted with the politics of the Labour Party and became a founder member of the Social Democratic Party in 1982. As she became more involved with the SDP and then the merged Liberal Democrats she took the step of putting herself forward for election to Camden Council.

In 1990 she joined Flick Rea as the second Liberal Democrat councillor in Camden, both representing Fortune Green ward. Jane used to say that Flick was Group Leader and she was Deputy Leader and Chief Whip. A Labour councillor suggested that she and Flick should hold Group meetings in a phone box, She had the last laugh: she saw the Liberal Democrat numbers grow , culminating with the party’s becoming the largest group on the Council in 2006 and taking the Leadership of the Borough.

Jane had an unfaltering belief in the old fashioned concepts of public service and the welfare state. She loved being a councillor for the opportunities it gave her to help those less fortunate than herself. She took great pleasure if she helped re-house a constituent and was devastated if she was unable to stop someone being evicted. With the Liberal Democrats in power she hoped to play a greater role in the Council’s housing decisions when her health improved.

Jane is survived by her 3 daughters, Julia, Sophie and Katherine and 2 grandchildren Max and Zoe.

More advertising walls - by popular demand...

Who would of thought that this would trigger so much traffic on the issue of old local wall advertising - not the bill board type, but the old painted wall adverts.

It was kicked off with this one in West Hampstead

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/11/save-old-visible-painted-wall-adverts.html

followed up with this one in Kilburn, on the High Road

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2007/12/promotional-adverts-for-smoking.html

I've now been contacted by a local residents in Dyne Road pointing out that there is in fact another hiding on Kilburn High Road, literally next to the Black Lion... (pic left - not the Leftovers advert!)


Part of me likes the neatness of the grey concrete skim, more of me is hoping that the cold weather will lead to more of the skim cracking, falling off to reveal the old advert - smoking or matches I assume :-)

This is perhaps the most intriguing so far and is the one that of course raises the question about whether these old adverts merit 'saving' - my instinct is that they should not be consciously saved, but that a dialogue with land-owners about not deliverately removing them and obliterating them as they contribute to the ambiance of an area is a dialogue that would be worth having...

But more intriguingly, but much less colourful, and I'm grateful to the resident on Harrow Road who contacted me on this one, is this washed out ghost of an advert (pic right).

At first glance I thought it was in fact just the shadow from where a board had once hung, but as the resident points out "I reckon it must have been a painting, first is the shading on the white wash which you can just see, and second is the bevel indent corners which show that it was a design feature of the advert."

The resident goes on to tell me that they have looked for old postcards of this bit of Harrow Road (Queen's Park) but have not so far come up with anything. Any leads appreciated...

Tomorrow sees me exploring another tip off I have had from a reader - an advert that has apparently been staring me in the face and I have missed! More to follow.

West End Green at Christmas

What is it about Christmas lights? They illuminate, they cheer, they sparkle and they just make an area look great.

And this year on West End Green is no exception. At the junction of West End Lane, Lyncroft Gardens, Mill Lane and Fortune Green Road this little green is really charming.

Well done to councillors Flick Rea, Keith Moffitt and Janet Grauberg who have made sure this sort of thing happens and is considered important - shame my camera (or use of it) isn't better able to capture the image - though I do think this captures the sparkle!

Ed