Landsdowne Rd | >Re-PHOTO

*S. Gold & Sons, Gold House, 69 Flempton Road, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-43*

The name was Gold and the building was in a kind of pale gold colour and blue. The company was an independent wholesaler particularly in the music business, distributing records, CDs and videos as well as confectionery. It moved to larger premises at Uplands Business Estate on Blackhorse Road Walthamstow in 2001 and closed down suddenly in 2008 putting its 200 employees out of work.

It was a family business which began outside Sidney Gold’s delicatessen in Ilford in 1955 when his two sons began selling records from racks in front of the shop. From there the moved to a stall in Petticoat Lane before deciding to set up as wholesalers in Leyton.

*Lytham House, 19, Chelmsford Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-46*

Just an ordinary house in a long residential terrace but enlivened by decoration by a rather idiosyncratic resident. All the houses in this part of the street have tablets between the upper and lower bays, but this one has its name, Lytham House and decoration pointed out in red and green paint.

Probably the name was chosen by the first residents when this street was built in 1894-7, but the paintwork was rather more recent, and to me suggested a Caribbean influence. The house and wall have now faded to a rather duller appearance in keeping with its neighbours but still has its decorated windows.

Shandar, Lansdowne Rd, Queens Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-32 — *Shandar, Landsdowne Rd, 65, Queens Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-32*

Shandar is a Hini and Urdu adjective for something. It is Hindi and Urdu to describe something very impressive, excellent, grand, magnificent or beautiful, and used for this high quality takeaway. The render was scraped off the wall in 2008 and the wall re-covered and is now blank.

*Dyke Court, Gosport Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-33*

A mural on the wall of Dyke Court shows different colour youngsters many with very odd hairstyles lamenting the loss of their Markhouse Youth Club.

Jimmy's Fish Bar, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-36 — *Jimmy’s Fish Bar, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-101-36*

You could get a steak and kidney pie for £1 and 60p of chips for a filling meal at Jimmy’s back in 1994, though I think you paid a little extra to sit at the solid wooden table to eat it in rather than take it away. But the colour scheme made me feel a little queasy.

A traditional English café with a wide range of puddings listed for 55p and a little more. Every table with an ashtray. This could well have been in Walthamstow but might have been elsewhere on my journeys around London.

A much more limited menu for this smaller cafe located somewhere in London – and again it could be Walthamstow. Two lists give the prices for TAKE AWAY and TO EAT IN CAFE.

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Stanley Crescent, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1c-33-positive_2400 — *Stanley Crescent, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

When James Weller Ladbroke inherited his 300 acre largely rural estate on the western edge of London in 1819 he wanted to develop the area and employed landscape architect Thomas Allason to draw up a picturesque plan based on his visits to Italy and the London example of John Nash’s Regent’s Park. It was a plan that Ladbroke never found the money to build, but influenced some of those the estate sold land to and can still be seen in the map of the area, most of which was built up in the 1850s with large villas and terraces and in parts retained the communal private gardens between the streets.

Stanley Gardens, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1c-25-positive_2400 — *Stanley Gardens, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

Stanley Crescent and Stanley Gardens were developed by Charles Blake, who returned from running a highly profitable business in India and bought the area from Felix Ladbroke in 1852. He got artist and architect Thomas Allom to design the area based on Allason’s plans.

The streets were probably named after Lord Stanley who was Prime Minister in three separate short governments from 1852 on. In them he abolished slavery and reformed Parliment and created the modern Conservative party. Building began in 1853.

Stanley Crescent, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1c-13-positive_2400 — Stanley Crescent, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988

Allom was architect for the houses on the estate and, according to the Survey of London his designs broke away from the late Georgian restraint of earlier streets inn the area “in favour of a grand display in the latest taste … with scenic effect uppermost in his mind. The design of houses, streets, gardens and tree planting is seen with a painter’s eye, so that each turn and every vista is composed in a picturesque manner…”

Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1b-65-positive_2400 — *Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

Most of the houses remained in single ownership until after the First World War, when costs of upkeep became ridiculous and they were converted for multi-occupation and often allowed to deteriorate. By the time I took these pictures this process was in reverse, with houses being renovated and wealthier tenants paying considerably higher rents and some houses converted back to single family occupancy as the area became popular among the ultra-rich.

You can read a detailed account of the houses, many of which are listed on the Ladbroke Association web site.

Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1b-56-positive_2400 — *Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

Landsdowne Road was also a part of the Ladbroke Estate, built around 10 years earlier than Stanley Crescent in the 1840s, while the estate was still owned by James Weller Ladbroke. He let plots to various developers to build, and the road lacks the overall view of the later area, with some quite varied houses. This suggests that the name ‘Landsdowne’ comes from “the much admired Montpellier and Lansdown residential estates in Cheltenham, built in the first three decades of the 19th century”. Alternatively it might have been named for another prime minister, William Petty, Earle of Shelburne, who served briefly in 1782-3, after which he was made 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. His major achievement as prime minister was securing a treaty which lead to the end of the American War of Independence.

Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1b-54-positive_2400 — *Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

Again you can read a detailed account of the buildings on the street on the http://www.ladbrokeassociation.info/LansdowneRoad.htm Ladbroke Association web site.

Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988 88-1b-52-positive_2400 — *Lansdowne Rd, Notting Hill, Kensington & Chelsea, 1988*

When I was taking these pictures in 1988, information about this and many other areas of London was relatively hard to find. There was of course no World Wide Web and few books with any detailed description outside the City of London and some parts of Westminster. The volume of The Buildings of England by Cherry and Pevsner for this area was only published in 1991. In areas such as this, almost all I had to guide me was the A-Z and other street maps.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Tag: Landsdowne Rd

Leyton & Walthamstow Colour – 1994

Ladbroke Estate: 1988