Rackham Street, western end (1950)
Photographed just after the Second World War, this is the bombed-out Rackham Street, London W10 looking down from the junction with Exmoor Street.

Rackham Street ran off Ladbroke Grove, roughly along the line of the modern Bruce Close.

Credit: Kensington and Chelsea library
A bombed-out Rackham Street, looking down from the junction with Exmoor Street.

The huge bomb crater which actually had its epicentre on the north side of St Charles Square, one block south, can be seen. This one bomb fell in September 1940 and caused so much destruction that it was decided, after the war finished, to redevelop the whole area. Most of the street plan was changed utterly.

return to article