Kilburn History Festival 2011

The Kilburn History Festival will take place from Wednesday 6th – Sunday 10th July 2011 – a series of talks, walks and guided tours round interesting and significant local buildings.

More and more Kilburn residents have been making enquiries about the local history of the area – often triggered by the knowledge that the Kilburn High Road is the route of the ancient Roman Road, Watling Street.

The history festival comprises a series of 3 history talks, a guided history tour of the Kilburn High Road (repeated 3 times) and a series of local interesting old buildings that will be open for guided tours.

Programme of events July 2011

The talks on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday are all being held in St Mary’s Church, Abbey Road, NW6

• Wednesday 6th July
  Ancient and Medieval Kilburn by Ed Fordham



• Thursday 7th July
  The Development of Kilburn by Michael Alpert and Dick Weindling



• Saturday 9th July
  Lived here and Loved it. (famous people of Kilburn) by Dick Weindling

(we would like to ask for a donation towards raising money for the Historic Kilburn Plaque Scheme)

Sunday 10th July
History tours of Britain’s oldest road – Kilburn High Road

• 11am meet Kilburn Park Tube Station (Bakerloo Line) to Kilburn (Jubilee)



• 1.30pm meet Kilburn (Jubilee) to Kilburn Park Station (Bakerloo Line)



• 3.30pm meet Kilburn Park Tube Station (Bakerloo Line) to Kilburn (Jubilee)
  

(The tours are free of charge, but if you enjoy it any donation will be given towards the Plaque Scheme)

As most people know Kilburn is divided between Camden and Brent local authorities and in part in Westminster Council as well. This has had the effect of splitting the historical records – whilst Willesden and Hampstead, for example, have been well documented and researched Kilburn has been neglected.

This festival, working in conjunction with the Historic Kilburn Plaque Scheme, seeks to raise the profile of the ancient, diverse, and rich historical tapestry that exists in the local area.

Working with Camden Local Studies & Archives Centre and Brent Archives and Museum

The finest illustrator of his day...

We're still here in Belsize - in Chalcot Gardens just off of England's Lane.

It's a truly lovely house and I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that interesting and famous people by definition live in interesting and lovely houses.

Arthur Rackham is pretty unknown by name and yet widely and extensively recognised by his art and art-genre.

He is most famous for his work of book illustrating and his works of Alice in Wonderland and various Grimm borthers works are now considered to be style-setting in their significance.

He is a classic illustrator of the post Victorian, late gothic style and is very much of the turn of the 20th century edwardian era. Some have used his work as a fantasy illustration of the dark clouds before the first world war...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rackham

In addition there is an Arthur Rackham Society http://www.angelfire.com/ar/ArthurRackhamSociety/

and a great range of information on his pre-eminence in that pre-war era http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/rackham.htm

This plaque went up in 1981 as part of the English Heritage blue plaque scheme
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1494

Arthur was the third surviving child of Alfred and Annie Rackham (nee Stevenson). On 16th July 1903 he married painter Edyth Starkie in Hampstead and they one daughter, Barbara, in 1908. Barbara married to become Barbara Edwards.

During their marriage, Arthur and Edyth maintained separate studios in their home in Chalcot Gardens. In Barbara's memorial article about her father, she commented that her father often used her as a model for form or shape, asking her to "'bend down and imagine you're picking an apple off the ground' or 'try to look like a witch!'"

At home with George Orwell

I have posted before about the shop in South End green where George Orwell worked - well of course, if he worked there - he must probably have lived nearby?

And sure enough up on Parliament Hill is the answer...

This house right at the top of the road is the house - currently a multi-occ house. it got me thinking about what it was like when orwell lived there - was it a student house, rented to 6-8 people who didn't really know each other, who just perched here in one of london's many student houses... he would have been 30-32 years old.

Of course the plaque is great - I'm a great supporter of commemorative plaques but it doesn't record the nature of the stay and I'm reminded the several houses of John Constable, from a time when he moved around a lot and they effectively reflect his summer haunts.

This is the house where he is credited with writing 'Keep the apidistra flying' and the plaque at South End Green hints at my hunch that this was a place of residence for say 9-18 months before he moved on...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/02/keep-aspidistra-flying.html