William Friese Greene - Kilburn as the home of cinema?

So, does Kilburn have the claim to be the home of William Friese-Greene and cinematography? There are certainly enough traces and claims that are fairly easy to track down.

The Tricycle Theatre has a plaque on it's wall for the grand opening that pays tribute to Friese-Greene's work.

But none of the biographies I have found to date suggest or confirm a north london connection and not yet a Kilburn link... other than the Kilburn plaque...

Well in fact at the bottom of the Kilburn High Road, where it becomes Maida Vale I found Friese-Greene House - nothing special or flashy but very much there...

So clearly the rumour, the story, the myth and the tradition that he was Kilburn has some credence, supporters or validity.

It is suggested that Kilburn High Road was the location for Friese-Greene's studio's - and that the Tricycle is on the site of the those. These were not successful cinema's and Friese-Greene's role in the development of cinematography. His supporters suggest that he in fact effectively invetned the moving picture and that Thomas Edison secured the patent... other suggest that he was heading on the right lines but his lack of success, business acumen and inability to secure the patent that took off means his reputation has been dimmed and then controversial.

In tradition with all great inventors (it would seem) he died in dramatic circumstances whilst addressing a convention of film enthusiasts so his place in history has been at least noted and enhanced.

The main claim to his story lies with Brighton who are very keen to secure him: http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__5718_path__0p117p157p344p.aspx

But there is one further piece in the Kilburn claim... just down the Kilburn High Road, a few yards from the Tricycle there is a row of late victorian buildings that has some stone tracery - in the form of film rolls! Now I am not suggesting that this is some kind of subliminal tribute to Friese-Greene, though it is possible (esp. given the lilely operational dates in Kilburn of 1888-1891), but I am saying that it feels like it adds some voracity to the claim that Kilburn has a cinematic tradition. It might be all those cinema's, but it might be the film experiment and development studios... any insights out there?

More on William Friese-Greene can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Friese-Greene which is a pretty balanced account.

The things you see and take for granted

I found time to pause and look up along the Kilburn High Road the other day and have now sorted out and picked out what I think are this illuminating set of pics - nothing much, but just little insights into the vibrancy and history of the area.

Picture 1:
GW & AE Thomson Ltd
CASH LENT
JEWELLERY DIAMONDS
It's a great old metal sign from an age now slipping out of view - magnificently the shop beneath is still a jewellers - I do think that this needs either the building owner to leave the sign up or to take it down now and put it in the Museum of Kilburn (whenever that comes about! - perhaps Kilburn Library or one of the archive offices should take the sign now with the owners agreement?)

Picture 2:
The Tricyle Cinema and Theatre has a landmark status now for the area leading on Irish and Black traditions, drama and culture. The Theatre opened in 1980 in the old Forresters Hall (the Forresters shop front still survives in full operational status) before being burnt down in 1987 and rebuilt opening in 1998. The sign on the KHR is just great and I love the tricycle mechanism just inside this open hallway also (well worth a look if passing) - and has a great little coffee bar inside.

Picture 3:
The Black Lion Pub is just an architectural masterpiece of it's type - great street presence, well maintained, and inside - well, it just takes our breath away. It has the best of pub architecture and probably my best and favourite pub for aesthetics. I have other critieria such as atmosphere, beer quality, fond memories etc. that put other pubs high up my list. But the long and short is if you haven't been in this pub you are really missing something.

Pic 4:
Vacancy board on the High Road. This dates back to a time when the High Road was identified as the heart land of temporary and indeed very packed bed and breakfast boarding. I suspect that it was areas such as this that generated the definition of 'garret' in old parlance. I'm told that this sign is the last one of what used to be one on every building advertising vancies - the Old Bell used to have boards showing vacancies and that this little sign is one of the last vestiges of the need for hundreds of rooms for rent from the days of the thousands of Irish workers who moved into the area and were very mobile and transient when they first got here...

Picture 5:
The old sign advertising the newspaper of record: THE KILBURN TIMES. Founded in 1867 the Kilburn Times has outlived all of the other newspapers of Kilburn and area. papers it has seen off have included Kilburn & Queen's Park Post, Kilburn Free Press, and Kilburn News and the Kilburn Post. I'm told that this sign dates from the 1970's and has been updated at various times.

Picture 6:
My favourite: the old cigarette wall painting advert - previously covered in the blog and reproduced here because it is my favourite picture.