Harlesden town web site: April 2015

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

The Guardian: "Brixton's anti-gentrification protest: identifying the problems is one thing, fixing them is another"

"The Reclaim Brixton demonstration expressed fears that the area's character is being diluted and displaced. But the Foxtons estate agent is unlikely to go away, and the people it sells houses to won't stop coming, argues Dave Hill"

Link to web site

"On paper, stopping gentrification is easy. At last Saturday’s Reclaim Brixton demonstration in south London, a list of solutions was written on three wide lengths of the stuff, taped to a wall in Windrush Square. Most focused on housing and the policies of local, Labour-run Lambeth Council:

"Build more houses for working people"

"Rent caps"

"Lambeth to stop evictions"

"[Lambeth to] Prioritise repair of estates over regeneration"

"Someone expressed the wish for a council scheme to protect small businesses deemed representative of 'the community'. There was also an assertion, echoed throughout the day, that 'Lambeth is not for sale'.

"These missives expressed the views of specific local campaigns, but also illuminated the force fuelling anxieties about gentrification in many parts of the capital – the rising value of property and land, and the rapid social changes this is driving."

Sunday, 26 April 2015

Railway Archives: "Euston Station 1968"

1968: "A colour brochure marking the completion of the controversial new station at London Euston as part of the West Coast Electrification project. The station replaced the former London & North Western Railway shed, and resulted in the demolition of the famous Euston Arch."

Link to web site

1966: "A promotional book for the recently-completed London - Manchester/Liverpool West Coast Electrification scheme. The book includes adverts by contractors, details of the project administration and technical innovations, as well as a look at the cities which the new network would reach. Also included are colour impressions of the new Euston, Manchester and Wolverhampton stations."

Link to web site

1974: "A promotional booklet for the recently-completed second stage of the West Coast Electrification, from Weaver Junction to Glasgow. Includes a potted history of the route, the development of electrification systems from 1500V DC to 25kV AC, and details of the infrastructure and rolling stock changes introduced for the May 1974 timetable."

Link to web site

Monday, 20 April 2015

The Harlesden Bypass: The latest version

Comments submitted to Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation:

"... Willesden Junction needs a ticket hall on the A404 High Street Harlesden, and the 'high-level' platforms resited to that straighter section of track."

...

"... East-west links will no longer be poor with a Harlesden Bypass.

"But will this just absorb the low-level of vehicle traffic generated at Old Oak and Park Royal, or displace other existing traffic from the A404 Harrow Road, and thus be continually congested?

"That is for you, the Development Corporation, to research, and avoid.

"One reason a north-bound motorist might stay on the A404 would be the less-than-straightforward connection at the North Circular Road, to continue on the A404 towards Wembley. But the Harlesden Bypass might be an attractive route for northbound motorists joining the A406 North Circular Road, for either direction."