Day 53
Kilburn - Kilburn High Road - Kilburn Park - Kingsbury
You see? No sooner have I got back into the saddle and set off all positive on a new series of tube travelling jaunts, than the weather starts playing silly buggers.
Up until today, the skies have been relatively blue and sunny (if crisply cold) but having decided that today would be a good day to go out wombling, the skies suddenly turn horribly grey and menacing and the rain comes down heavier than a herd of elephants parachuting from a lead balloon, each carrying a ton of bricks.
Nevertheless, a promise is a promise, and I've said I'll go out more often - and so I shall.
***
First up today is Kilburn (the area) and its three eponymous stations, beginning (not surprisingly) with Kilburn (the station).
This sits at the northern end of Kilburn High Road, which is in fact the modern incarnation of a small part of the ancient Roman road known as Watling Street, which stretched from Canterbury in Kent all the way up to Wroxeter in Shropshire. Despite only being a miniscule section of the whole, they obviously take a little pride here in being a part of it, as a commemorative paving stone attests:
I'm a little confused by the '900s' as even my scant knowledge of history tells me that the Romans were long gone from this part of the world by then. And the name Watling Street is surely a bit of a give-away - not sounding particularly Latin. It actually derives from the word Waeclingas (the people of Waecla) who were a tribe based in St Albans, a major point on the route.
I continue on my rather hurried walk down the High Road.
It's the sort of weather today where there's almost no point carrying an umbrella, as every 30 seconds or so a malicious gust of wind flips it inside-out and defeats the whole object of having it. To try and avoid this I have to hold it as low and as close to my head as possible, pointing it slightly down and forwards as I attempt to walk along with my eyes consistently glued to the pavement a few feet in front of me, hoping I don't bump into anything, or anybody. Today's descriptions of Kilburn may therefore be slightly limited by the fact that I've really only seen the bottom half of it.
I do see some very familiar sights as I pass Brondesbury Station, also on Kilburn High Road, which I visited way back in May 2014 (have I really been doing this that long already?!).
It struck me as odd at the time, and does so again today, to plonk down a station called Brondesbury slap bang in the middle of an area which so clearly likes to name its stations after itself, especially so close (a mere 200m to the south) to the 'big cheese' - Kilburn Station itself.
If you must have a station here, why not call it 'Kilburn Town', or 'Kilburn Central', or even perhaps 'Kilburn II: Son Of Kilburn (this time it's personal...)'
I Google the boundary maps of Brondesbury and Kilburn, and am even more bemused. It's true that boundary maps can sometimes be misleading, as London is divided up into both Boroughs and Electoral Wards, as well as postcodes and of course 'Norf' and 'Sarf'.
But using Electoral Wards as a basis, Kilburn Station is not actually in Kilburn Ward, while Brondesbury Station is. Or could be. Have a look at this map.
You'll see that, while Brondesbury Station is at the apex of both Kilburn and Brondesbury Park Wards, the station that is actually called Kilburn is at the apex between Brondesbury Park and Mapesbury Wards!
So perhaps the station called Brondesbury should be called Kilburn, and the station called Kilburn should be called Brondesbury (or perhaps Mapesbury would be better - just to avoid any unnecessary confusion...)
All of which nonsense occupies my mind as I sit in a café waiting in vain for the rain to ease off. Eventually though I give up the wait and venture forth once more.
The other two stations in Kilburn are similarly so close together as to render one or other of them seemingly redundant, with Kilburn High Road, being (obviously) on the High Road, and Kilburn Park around the corner on Cambridge Avenue.
It's true that, like Kilburn and Brondesbury, these two are on separate lines of the network, with the result that Kilburn is served by the Jubilee, Bakerloo and two different branches of the Overground Lines. You really are spoilt for choice if you want to get to this part of the world.
Sadly, I'm not quite sure why anybody would want to get to this part of the world.
As I mentioned on my last visit, I find it all a bit 'past its best'. The shops are tired and a bit decrepit, the streets dirty and littered, and the sign in a local café window proclaiming 'Peace In A Cup' only suggests to me that the sign-writer may have slightly misheard the café owner's foreign intonation...
As I retrace my steps northwards back to the Jubilee Line, I pause at the Tricycle Theatre, which for me is the only reason ever to return to Kilburn.
It's an intimate venue - 235 seats - with a well-deserved reputation for putting on powerful productions, a number of which I've seen over the years, and have always enjoyed. The cultural diversity of the area is often reflected in the productions mounted here, which hopefully serves to bring more people into the theatre from different backgrounds.
To that extent, I can heartily recommend paying it a visit - and you'll certainly have no difficulty finding a train to get you here...
***
Having ticked off three stations within a mile of each other I'm feeling fairly chipper when I emerge from the train at Kingsbury - even more so because the rain has finally dissipated and I can take my photo of the station without having to juggle both camera and umbrella at the same time.
As I've probably mentioned already, I invariably have a quick look on Google Maps before visiting an area - just to get a feel for the geography of a place and the sorts of establishment I might find there.
I urge you to do the same - as you might sometimes be surprised by the businesses whose names pop up as you zoom ever closer into the map. Now, let's be clear about this, this is a form of advertising for these businesses. They have gone to the trouble of creating a 'Google My Business' profile, presumably in the hope that people like you and me, hovering digitally above their location, will spot them and think to ourselves; 'Gosh, that's just the sort of place I'm looking for! And so close too! I think I'll go and give them a lot of money for something!'
And this is all fair enough.
But sometimes, and today is an example, I find the choices they make in how to label themselves a little, shall we say, odd...
For example, a few doors down from Kingsbury Station is an ordinary run of the mill jewellery shop, called 'Jyoti Jeweller's'. From the street it has the usual window display full of earrings and necklaces and so on, and a few notices informing us of some of the services it provides.
On Google Maps, however, you won't see a label for 'Jyoti Jeweller's' until you've zoomed in to the maximum magnification. Instead, and you'll hardly have to zoom in at all for this to leap out at you in all its horror, the self-same business is labelled quite clearly and distinctly as 'Baby Ear Piercing'.
Sometimes I despair of the human race.
For many, ear piercing (or indeed any form of bodily 'adornment') is something to be discouraged, vetoed, or downright forbidden by concerned parents until one is "old enough" (by which, presumably, they mean "old enough to make an informed judgement, being fully aware of the potential consequences, rather than being led by peer pressure or fashion or whatever the latest girl/boy band has done to themselves"). Annoying, when you're a teenager of course, but generally a source of relief when you look back and think "thank god I didn't get that tattoo of a My Little Pony/SpongeBob Squarepants/'I Love Zayn Malik' across my buttocks..."
Quite how old "enough" is, can of course vary enormously from family to family (and let's face it, sometimes we're never old enough not to make silly arses of ourselves). But I would have thought that the minimum requirement would be an age at which you actually have the physical and mental capability to communicate your choice to whomever it may concern - or in other words, when you're old enough to have learned to speak!
Jyoti's insistence, as given on their website, that 'your baby must be three months old or more' before they can be pierced seems disingenuous to say the least. Of course, in this case it's the parents who are having their children perforated in the name of decoration. And the only reason I can think of for doing so is as some kind of social status symbol - the equivalent of a blinged-up mobile phone case.
If I'm wrong, and there's some deep-rooted religious or cultural significance to the practice, and I've inadvertently offended anyone, I apologise (with the proviso that even some deep-rooted religious or cultural practices really do need to be given a long hard look at in the 21st Century - FGM anyone?)
Seriously - think about it - you are PUTTING HOLES IN YOUR CHILD!!!
The child has no say in this whatsoever. And until they are able to say 'yes please' or 'no thank you' (which as I say, is to me the minimum requirement!) then leave the poor mites alone! Otherwise it must surely be tantamount to abuse.
OK, I'll get off my soap-box now, but really.....
***
Anyway, back to Kingsbury.
The main street on which the station stands is Kingsbury Road, and is much like many others of its ilk. Various fast-food eateries, coffee shops, jewellers (grrrr...) and other small businesses crowd along either side of the busy road, and provide a hub for the locals to shop, eat, drink and chat.
Some distance away to the south is Fryent Country Park, a designated nature reserve, which covers 103 hectares. I see a smattering of be-wellied dog-walkers on the rolling hills in the distance, but after this morning's rain the whole place is very much a quagmire, and I turn back as soon as I see the state of the footpaths.
Instead, and continuing a theme I seem to have started last week, I head north of the station to a road called Princes Avenue.
Last week I visited the location of a seventies TV comedy classic. This week it's the turn of a seventies TV children's classic - Grange Hill.
The exterior school shots for the first two series were taken outside Kingsbury High School on this road, although I have to admit I get no sense of familiarity, despite being an avid viewer in my childhood.
The buildings haven't changed that much though...
Having taken a quick snap of the building, and hearing a horde of pupils returning along the street from their lunch break, the potentially negative interpretation that might be put on a middle-aged man taking photographs outside a school suddenly occurs to me. I hastily put my camera away (no doubt confirming my nefarious status to anyone who happens to be watching) and make my way, finally, back to the station and home.
Up until today, the skies have been relatively blue and sunny (if crisply cold) but having decided that today would be a good day to go out wombling, the skies suddenly turn horribly grey and menacing and the rain comes down heavier than a herd of elephants parachuting from a lead balloon, each carrying a ton of bricks.
Nevertheless, a promise is a promise, and I've said I'll go out more often - and so I shall.
***
First up today is Kilburn (the area) and its three eponymous stations, beginning (not surprisingly) with Kilburn (the station).
 |
| Kilburn |
This sits at the northern end of Kilburn High Road, which is in fact the modern incarnation of a small part of the ancient Roman road known as Watling Street, which stretched from Canterbury in Kent all the way up to Wroxeter in Shropshire. Despite only being a miniscule section of the whole, they obviously take a little pride here in being a part of it, as a commemorative paving stone attests:
 |
| So now we know - this is what the Romans ever did for us... |
I continue on my rather hurried walk down the High Road.
It's the sort of weather today where there's almost no point carrying an umbrella, as every 30 seconds or so a malicious gust of wind flips it inside-out and defeats the whole object of having it. To try and avoid this I have to hold it as low and as close to my head as possible, pointing it slightly down and forwards as I attempt to walk along with my eyes consistently glued to the pavement a few feet in front of me, hoping I don't bump into anything, or anybody. Today's descriptions of Kilburn may therefore be slightly limited by the fact that I've really only seen the bottom half of it.
I do see some very familiar sights as I pass Brondesbury Station, also on Kilburn High Road, which I visited way back in May 2014 (have I really been doing this that long already?!).
It struck me as odd at the time, and does so again today, to plonk down a station called Brondesbury slap bang in the middle of an area which so clearly likes to name its stations after itself, especially so close (a mere 200m to the south) to the 'big cheese' - Kilburn Station itself.
If you must have a station here, why not call it 'Kilburn Town', or 'Kilburn Central', or even perhaps 'Kilburn II: Son Of Kilburn (this time it's personal...)'
I Google the boundary maps of Brondesbury and Kilburn, and am even more bemused. It's true that boundary maps can sometimes be misleading, as London is divided up into both Boroughs and Electoral Wards, as well as postcodes and of course 'Norf' and 'Sarf'.
But using Electoral Wards as a basis, Kilburn Station is not actually in Kilburn Ward, while Brondesbury Station is. Or could be. Have a look at this map.
You'll see that, while Brondesbury Station is at the apex of both Kilburn and Brondesbury Park Wards, the station that is actually called Kilburn is at the apex between Brondesbury Park and Mapesbury Wards!
So perhaps the station called Brondesbury should be called Kilburn, and the station called Kilburn should be called Brondesbury (or perhaps Mapesbury would be better - just to avoid any unnecessary confusion...)
All of which nonsense occupies my mind as I sit in a café waiting in vain for the rain to ease off. Eventually though I give up the wait and venture forth once more.
The other two stations in Kilburn are similarly so close together as to render one or other of them seemingly redundant, with Kilburn High Road, being (obviously) on the High Road, and Kilburn Park around the corner on Cambridge Avenue.
 |
| Kilburn High Road |
 |
| Kilburn Park |
It's true that, like Kilburn and Brondesbury, these two are on separate lines of the network, with the result that Kilburn is served by the Jubilee, Bakerloo and two different branches of the Overground Lines. You really are spoilt for choice if you want to get to this part of the world.
Sadly, I'm not quite sure why anybody would want to get to this part of the world.
As I mentioned on my last visit, I find it all a bit 'past its best'. The shops are tired and a bit decrepit, the streets dirty and littered, and the sign in a local café window proclaiming 'Peace In A Cup' only suggests to me that the sign-writer may have slightly misheard the café owner's foreign intonation...
As I retrace my steps northwards back to the Jubilee Line, I pause at the Tricycle Theatre, which for me is the only reason ever to return to Kilburn.
It's an intimate venue - 235 seats - with a well-deserved reputation for putting on powerful productions, a number of which I've seen over the years, and have always enjoyed. The cultural diversity of the area is often reflected in the productions mounted here, which hopefully serves to bring more people into the theatre from different backgrounds.
To that extent, I can heartily recommend paying it a visit - and you'll certainly have no difficulty finding a train to get you here...
***
Having ticked off three stations within a mile of each other I'm feeling fairly chipper when I emerge from the train at Kingsbury - even more so because the rain has finally dissipated and I can take my photo of the station without having to juggle both camera and umbrella at the same time.
 |
| Kingsbury |
I urge you to do the same - as you might sometimes be surprised by the businesses whose names pop up as you zoom ever closer into the map. Now, let's be clear about this, this is a form of advertising for these businesses. They have gone to the trouble of creating a 'Google My Business' profile, presumably in the hope that people like you and me, hovering digitally above their location, will spot them and think to ourselves; 'Gosh, that's just the sort of place I'm looking for! And so close too! I think I'll go and give them a lot of money for something!'
And this is all fair enough.
But sometimes, and today is an example, I find the choices they make in how to label themselves a little, shall we say, odd...
For example, a few doors down from Kingsbury Station is an ordinary run of the mill jewellery shop, called 'Jyoti Jeweller's'. From the street it has the usual window display full of earrings and necklaces and so on, and a few notices informing us of some of the services it provides.
On Google Maps, however, you won't see a label for 'Jyoti Jeweller's' until you've zoomed in to the maximum magnification. Instead, and you'll hardly have to zoom in at all for this to leap out at you in all its horror, the self-same business is labelled quite clearly and distinctly as 'Baby Ear Piercing'.
Sometimes I despair of the human race.
For many, ear piercing (or indeed any form of bodily 'adornment') is something to be discouraged, vetoed, or downright forbidden by concerned parents until one is "old enough" (by which, presumably, they mean "old enough to make an informed judgement, being fully aware of the potential consequences, rather than being led by peer pressure or fashion or whatever the latest girl/boy band has done to themselves"). Annoying, when you're a teenager of course, but generally a source of relief when you look back and think "thank god I didn't get that tattoo of a My Little Pony/SpongeBob Squarepants/'I Love Zayn Malik' across my buttocks..."
Quite how old "enough" is, can of course vary enormously from family to family (and let's face it, sometimes we're never old enough not to make silly arses of ourselves). But I would have thought that the minimum requirement would be an age at which you actually have the physical and mental capability to communicate your choice to whomever it may concern - or in other words, when you're old enough to have learned to speak!
Jyoti's insistence, as given on their website, that 'your baby must be three months old or more' before they can be pierced seems disingenuous to say the least. Of course, in this case it's the parents who are having their children perforated in the name of decoration. And the only reason I can think of for doing so is as some kind of social status symbol - the equivalent of a blinged-up mobile phone case.
If I'm wrong, and there's some deep-rooted religious or cultural significance to the practice, and I've inadvertently offended anyone, I apologise (with the proviso that even some deep-rooted religious or cultural practices really do need to be given a long hard look at in the 21st Century - FGM anyone?)
Seriously - think about it - you are PUTTING HOLES IN YOUR CHILD!!!
The child has no say in this whatsoever. And until they are able to say 'yes please' or 'no thank you' (which as I say, is to me the minimum requirement!) then leave the poor mites alone! Otherwise it must surely be tantamount to abuse.
OK, I'll get off my soap-box now, but really.....
***
Anyway, back to Kingsbury.
The main street on which the station stands is Kingsbury Road, and is much like many others of its ilk. Various fast-food eateries, coffee shops, jewellers (grrrr...) and other small businesses crowd along either side of the busy road, and provide a hub for the locals to shop, eat, drink and chat.
Some distance away to the south is Fryent Country Park, a designated nature reserve, which covers 103 hectares. I see a smattering of be-wellied dog-walkers on the rolling hills in the distance, but after this morning's rain the whole place is very much a quagmire, and I turn back as soon as I see the state of the footpaths.
Instead, and continuing a theme I seem to have started last week, I head north of the station to a road called Princes Avenue.
Last week I visited the location of a seventies TV comedy classic. This week it's the turn of a seventies TV children's classic - Grange Hill.
The exterior school shots for the first two series were taken outside Kingsbury High School on this road, although I have to admit I get no sense of familiarity, despite being an avid viewer in my childhood.
 |
| Kingsbury High School |
The buildings haven't changed that much though...
 |
| Grange Hill High School (Photo copyright BBC) |
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