Just 474 more votes - writ large...

For too many weeks we have had to endure billboards of David Cameron and the Tory Party - funded from abroad...

I'm proud and delighted that local residents, friends of mine, supporters, people who live here in NW6, NW3 agreed to fund a specific number of billboards in support of our campaign for a new type of local MP.

The first of these has gone up in Hilltop Road, near Swiss Cottage and received quite a lot of comment judging by my e-mail in-box!

Enjoy! :-)

Ed

Swiss Cottage school's former occupant: raffish and a cad

This is one of those 'independent' plaques that springs up from time to time - but this one is on Swiss Cottage school.

It's not the most obvious site and when you realise it's the car mechanic Bentley you have great visions of the nature of either the grand rolling gated entrance house or of a sprawling garage laden house and grounds...

He had a long life and was married three times, his last wife only passing away in 1989.

Few of the on-line biographies give that much away to his character but I get a sense of a cad and a somewhat raffish type of chap - very much a person of the post Victorian Edwardian era - fashionable at the peak of the 1920's flappers, he won Le Mans race in 1924.

More on W.O. Bentley here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._O._Bentley

But for a better insight into the excitement of the lifestyle and fame he enjoyed: http://www.solarnavigator.net/automotive_directory/bentley.htm

The forgotten parish 13 of Hampstead

From worship to residence http://www.gumtree.com/london/21/33854121.html

That's the story of all Soul's Church in Loudoun Road, swiss Cottage. Of course the Estate Agents like to call it St John's Wood - others happy to describe it as South Hampstead (as per the Railway Station).

I've put in the large pic (right) to show the landscape of the station (it's the Euston Watford line) with the small tower block behind it which now dwarfs the church.

The church now is 8(?) flats!

The church dates from 1865 and in 1903 was parish 13 of the Hampstead Deanery. The parish was carved out of St Paul's, Avenue Road, St Mary's Kilburn, and All Saint's, Marylebone.

It has a pretty interesting history and was very much a local church for the area in South Hampstead - so a bit of background:

Founded by Revd. Henry Robinson Wadmore, asst. at St. John's Wood chapel in 1865 and he remained the incumbent until 1890
In 1901 G. F. Terry, was the Vicar until 1909. He was credited with revitalising the congregation and later went on to be canon of Edinburgh.
His brother (!) C. J. Terry, Vicar from 1909-19, increased the endowment.

Attendance in 1886 was recorded as being 274 at morning service.; 176 evening.
By 1903 it had little changed (but was sustained) 294 at morning service; 248 evening.

The church is built of stock brick with bands of red and Bath stone dressings, it seated 600. It is described as being apsidal chancel, aisled nave with bellcot, saddleback tower, and a vestry. Small asouthfacing porch was added in 1903. In 1905 an aditional aisle, tower, baptistery, porches, and choir vestry, giving 250 more seats, paid for by by Sir Charles Nicholson, Bt.

It had a chancel roof decorated like ancient choir roof of St. Albans abbey and the large oak altar installed as First World War mem.

The floor-plan was finally reordered in 1965: the altar was placed in front of the chancel steps, the font was brought forward, and the former chancel arranged as weekday chapel, and a baptistery added for exhibitions before the church closed in the 1970's(?).

A great place to now live in!

Swiss Cottage and the sculpture

This is one of those things that you walk past and don't really notice - I know I have passed it on literally hundreds of occasions - so I stopped and had a read.

The inscription reads:
"The Hampstead Figure
F E McWilliam 1964"

I'm not sure that I appreciated that it is in fact an abstracted female figure on a plinth!

So I undertook some digging and discovered that F.E. McWilliam (1909-1992) was an Irish sculptor from Banbridge, County Down.

A student at Belfast School of Art and Slade School of Fine Art in London. Intially he studied painting by soon turned to sculpture.

At fiurst he sculpted in wood and drew heavily on African art with primitive and simple forms. He then moved to surrealist forms and drew on the notion of exploring fragments and a sarcasm and a wit that was sometimes shocking.

His commisions are many and include:

• The Four Seasons for the Festival of Britain, 1951
• Father Courage for Kent University at Canterbury, New Zealand, 1960
• Hampstead Figure at Swiss Cottage, London, 1964.

He saw active service in India in the Second World War but returned to teach at Chelsea School of Art and at the Slade. He joined the London Group in 1949, RBA in 1950 and was elected an RA associate in 1959, resigning four years later.

His work is represented in many major national collections including the Tate Gallery, London and Museum of Modern Art, New York. Retrospectives held at Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1981 and Tate Gallery, 1989. Lived and worked in London.

It's worth noting that this is listed:

Location: (East side)
'The Hampstead Figure', Sculpture to north of Swiss Cottage LibraryStreet: Avenue Road
Grade: II
Reference No: 798-1-1007461
Date of listing: Aug 6 1999 12:00AM

Description:
Reclining abstracted female figure on plinth. 1964 by F E McWilliam. Bronze. Inscribed 'The Hampstead Figure, 1964' and signed. Commissioned as part of the group of civic buildings for the borough of Hampstead by Sir Basil Spence, Bonnington and Collins, with which it forms a close and complementery grouping. F E McWilliam (1909-92) was a noted and prolific British sculpture, whose public works have not survived well.

Tesco's hand-me-downs sound a tad hollow

For months the residents of South Hampstead and Swiss Cottage have been plagued by an ongoing battle with Tesco over the threatened planning application at the Loudoun Road roundabout for a new store. That battle is now drawing to close as there is a planning application aprroved and they have a licence - but there are conditions attached and they need to be respected.

For some people this is a real and immediate issue as they quite literally live above it, but now the building works are in full steam.

I noticed yesterday as I went past the sign up saying that Tesco wants to work with the community.

It's a great sign and a great claim, but it is now incumbent for them to actually prove that this isn't just a coporate hand-me-down and is in fact a real commitment.

One of the things they could do is have a real and genuine dialogue with the residents of Sheridan Court, they could make some reference to the previous uses of the site by saving for example the pub sign from the Britannia Pub that stood there until a week or so ago, and they could work with other local traders to ensure that in opening their shop they don't create a major hole in the immediately local market.

There could even by a discussion with TfL about having some refurbishment o the South Hampstead Railway station and providing some community notice boards and enhancements there...

Come on Tesco, don't play words with the community - be proactive and prove your worth.

To date it's been a bit lacking, perhaps this is the time to turn over a new leaf for South Hampstead.

Those Royal Crests on the walls of the underground stations

I was on Swiss Cottage tube platform yesterday and noted that the tiling on the walls was glistening which caused me to notice the details.

I know they are heraldic but does anyone out there know the reason/origin or local connection to the specific tiles? The horse is related to many a supporter in a crest, the Lion in a St Geroge's cross over water of the Thames, the Royal Swan with the crown round the neck and three blades are all clasic symbols from royal crests.

I think there are more embossed tiles than the four I have captured here (my train came along so i ran out of photography time!), but there is something curiously iconic about them.

I also realised that I have a penchant on this blog for Swiss Cottage - it features quite a bit:
http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/05/swiss-cottage-formerly-swiss-tavern.html

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/06/boxing-fights-at-swiss-cottage.html

I realise that they are all part of the amazingly iconic brand that makes up the London Underground - http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=224 - and I guess that there is no specific link with Swiss Cottage. That in fact in this instance they relate to the City - perhaps even stations and areas that this line passes through - but I also suspect that there is some very obscure and arcane reason that justified them in the first place. Anyone out there know?

The importance of ye olde community festival

For me the community is a crucial piece of philosophy - I believe that decisions are best taken at the lowest possible level to whom they affect, that activity and initiatives are instinctively best bottom up, that activism is a virtue...

So for me the Jester Festival is a crucial piece of life for my local community - we (local Liberal Democrats) have a cake stall (also selling bagels, jams, books, homemade lemonade) - but it's a chance for people to come together, socialise and chat.

The selling of the cakes is a great fundraiser, but it's also a great piece of team glue.

We have a great team locally, they are committed, fun, vibrant and it's festivals such as this that help that notion grow and cement itself...

So roll on Kilburn Festival, Swiss Cottage Festival and Belsize (?). It's the year off for South End Green.

A time to dawdle in south and west hampstead

Usually I'm full of praise of the natural environment or the pure design - but I'm really struck by the late victorian brickwork of West Hampstead/South Hampstead - it's actually incredibly ornate and deeply impressive.

I'm no historical architect by it feels like much of it was the work of one firm - both in style and in type - but considering we are looking at bricks it has a flair that is unexpected and impressive.

We're looking at a period of about 1882 - 1894 - the ones here are illustrated with date plaques that give them precise dates of 1887 and 1889 - and I reckon they are not just the sme style but in fact by the same craftsman - that certainly would fit with the perception. That teams of men (often Irish labourers) were crewed together and worked in areas for period sof 5-10 years during the construction.

Considering the buildings are four stroises high, often with basements too, you get a sense of just how laborious they would have been - and the intensity of the development is amazing - the streets would have been busy, packed and at times highly congested. It made me think, as I had heard that on some estates such as this the brick kilns were constructed on site to save the time. My instinct here though is that due to the good transport links the brick kilns of the midlands in fact serviced these building sites and there would not have been much local generation.

The speed of growth of the South Hampstead estates was pretty impressive so it should come as no surprise to find this quality of workmanship.

Tkae awalk down any of these streets - Canfield, Broadhurst, Goldhurst - there is so much to see and enjoy - I find it one of the most pleasurable dawdles around...

The Titanic comes to Swiss Cottage

It was a bright sunny day and was an excuse to take the picture - love it or loath it you have to accept it's quite dramatic.

Locally known as The Titanic this is the new development at Swiss Cottage with panoramic views across London. It's actually called The Visage and is quite an impressive little self-contained unit with all amenities within the building or in the case of the sports centre and library all within one minutes... and on the jubilee line too.

Interesting on a trivial level to have a glance at the pre-build advertising pictures of the same building
http://www.foxtons.co.uk/newhomes/the-visage/

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment use it as a case study:
http://www.cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=2047

Boxing fights at Swiss Cottage...

When we were kids, my sister and I always knew when we were close to our relatives cos we had reached Swiss Cottage - either on the bus or in the car. It was for us the landmark that we had reached London.

By nature of the colours, decor, design and signage I always had some sort of image that it had been the early retirement project of a former swiss guard, that a swiss person had one lived there... all good daydream stuff.

The current site of the pub is not quite how many local folk remember it - it was fronted by a grill and pub until the 1960's - now you can sit outside and enjoy the road of the vehicles that circle the giratory system. :-)

The 'cottage' appears to date from about 1804 or 1805 and the pub from the 1840's and was The Swiss Tavern, now Ye Olde Swiss Cottage - it's architecture is pretty amazing especially given the increasingly high rise nature of the local area what with the Swiss Cottage development itself around the Library and Sports Centre and also the residential blocks of the Finchley Road.

It seems it's more mundane and more connected with the pub and musical hall traditions and is in fact named after an opera of the 19th century.

The pub and music tradition is often overlooked and pubs were often drinking holes at which the stars of the stage were discussed and championed - the Lillie Langtree in Kilburn for example (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillie_Langtry).

Former champion boxer Frank Redmond was the landlord of the pub in the 1840's and is attributed with being the first landlord. he was a public figure and used the pub as a venue for running races and outdoor boxing events.

Notable jewish fighter Barney Aaron won £50 when Frank Redmond forfeited their bout in August 1827. Two months later, on October 23, Barney defeated Redmond in 1 hour and 12 minutes, in a bout that went 42 rounds.

The swiss theme was made popular by the opera Le Chalet which was performed in 1834, first in Paris and later in London (but untraced).

The architectural swiss theme certainly had popularity in the victorian era and whilst it stands out now as being slightly eccentric it had currency then: http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/london/swiss.shtml

Swiss Cottage is also one of five underground stations named after nearby pubs...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/05/swiss-cottage-formerly-swiss-tavern.html

England's Lane to Hampstead Theatre...

Just walking around the patch is a joy and Eton Avenue is no exception - until 1800 it was pretty much a farmland estate and then was carved into the wide avenues it is today by a series of developers and business interests - and the architecture reflects the spread of ambition.

But I was really stuck by the grandeur and range of the gateposts - and within 100 yards or so captured these four great pictures.



If we have any modern understanding of what makes a place good, what makes a place special, what enhances people's pride and activity in maintaining an area it is this mix of quality in design and construction.

At either end of Eton Avenue is the England's Lane shopping area - seriously good range of local independent traders and at the other end Hampstead Theatre, Swiss Cottage Farmers Market and the Swiss Cottage Community Centre, Library and Leisure Centre. It's great to live here!

Ed Fordham

If you down to the market today...

Gwan, gwan, gwan - it's Swiss Cottage farmer's market today...

Quite a good passing trade in a great location - just by Hampstead Theatre and the main tube entrance.

When such facilities aren't provided people always say they want them and when they are there they don't use them enough.

Well, it's back and there's no excuse - nip out there, buy your bread, cheese, meat - it's all far better quality than the supermarket, it cuts out the middle-man profit margin, supports independent traders and producers and it just so so much better for our sustainability.

Food policy is important stuff - too often disregarded and much of the worlds' problems hinge on the knotty issue of food provision - this market is a small but highly significant piece of the jigsaw and today you have a chance to play your part.

So, boycott the supermarket for just today, and go to the farmers market - your diet will be the winner and your family and community will gain benefits too. (Oh and tell others! Please.)

Swiss Cottage - formerly The Swiss Tavern

Swiss Cottage is one of the significant landmarks of London - not least because it is the traffic landmark for many people arriving in London. Certainly when travelling down to see aunts and grandparents as a young boy, we knew we were close when we got to Swiss Cottage.

Now the main landmark is the pub and the tube station - I was discussing yesterday with a friend whether anyone actually lives in 'swiss cottage'. It's also an administrative district for elections - Swiss Cottage Ward in Camden - but as a residential area...

In the Swiss Cottage ward many people consider themselves to live in West Hampstead, South Hampstead, Primrose Hill - the actually definition of Swiss Cottage as a geographic area is very small.

Now Swiss Cottage tube station is a London Underground station at Swiss Cottage. It is on the Jubilee Line, between Finchley Road and St. John's Wood. It is in Travelcard Zone 2.

This picture captures what I think is the great 20s/30s architecture of the tube station escalator... it's really stunning and has actually been well matched by the modern architecture of much of the rest of the jubilee line (esp. at Westminster Station).

Opened on November 20, 1939 on the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo Line, Swiss Cottage station was transferred to the Jubilee Line in 1979. The station was originally called The Swiss Tavern (after the pub which is early 19th century), but was soon changed to Swiss Cottage.

Swiss Cottage has always been a major transport hub and in the early 19th century saw a couple of parliamentary bills on the Finchley Road toll road (1835).

The Victoria County History records this in full:
"Omnibuses routes were pushed farther north with the spread of building and opening of suburban railway stations after 1855. By 1880 they not only stretched along Kilburn High Road to Brondesbury but also served Kilburn and West Hampstead by way of Abbey Road and the area north of Swiss Cottage by way of Finchley Road as far as Finchley Road station. Later omnibuses were extended along Finchley Road to meet others from Edgware Road along West End Lane, continuing north to Childs Hill in Hendon."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Cottage_tube_station
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cottage
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22632&strquery=swiss%20cottage