Ladbroke Road, W11

For this post, we are going to take a brief foray down one of the more select roads in Notting Hill. Select that is despite the presence of a local police station which saw many a miscreant’s face in its time.

James Weller Ladbroke inherited a great deal of Notting Hill land after the death of his uncle in 1819. In those early days, it was mostly farmland and he employed the services of a Mr Thomas Allason, a surveyor-architect who set about creating a grand plan for the future development of the area.

Ladbroke Road was one of the streets in the plan for the Ladbroke estate drawn up in 1823. Nothing however was actually built in the new road until the 1840s. The road was originally called Weller Street East and Weller Street West, after the middle name of its owner.

Thus, some seventeen years after being laid out, James Weller Ladbroke gave a lease of the land around what is now the intersection of Ladbroke Road and Kensington Park Road to the developer William Chadwick. The latter began, as developers so often did, by building a public house, the Prince Albert, in 1841, before moving on to erect a number of houses at the southern end of Ladbroke Road.

That’s enough history – let’s start our tour…

We begin where Ladbroke Road meets Ladbroke Grove and we are following in the footsteps of an unknown photographer who took a tour in 1969.

That’s the local police station on the right, still there as “Notting Hill Police Station” at time of writing. In the distance the first street to cross Ladbroke Road is Ladbroke Terrace and the one after that on the right is Victoria Gardens where the London Electricity Board offices were.

As a brief aside, before Ladbroke Grove received its final name, it was also known as Ladbroke Road in its northern stretches in North Kensington. After that it became Ladbroke Grove Road for a while before Ladbroke Grove was applied to its whole length.

 

Corner of Ladbroke Road and Ladbroke Grove

Corner of Ladbroke Road and Ladbroke Grove, 1969

 

 

Some 64 years earlier, another photographer stood nearly on the same spot but rotated the position 45 degrees or so:

Notting Hill Police Station, 1905.

Notting Hill Police Station, 1905.

One can look back now at 1969 and see how relatively easy it was to park a car compared with now. But it was even better in 1905 since horses on the whole could not be simply “parked”. Photos from those days show a lot of street life unhindered by the clutter of vehicles. Nobody in this photo though!

14 Ladbroke Road, 1905

14 Ladbroke Road, 1905

Shown above, no. 14 Ladbroke Road. was home of Punch illustrator. Lance Thackary, whose cartoons often included jovial policemen based on those working at the station next door.

We are going now on a bit of a wander leaving the area immediately around police station area.

Ladbroke Road - Pembridge Road c1904

Ladbroke Road – Pembridge Road c1904

In about 1904, we can see the turn into Ladbroke Road from Pembridge Road.

Ladbroke Arms, 1904

Ladbroke Arms, 1904

Along Ladbroke Road, and still in 1904, we find The Ladbroke Arms. Mrs Trott was the landlady at the time – it says so on the signage along with the al it sold from Watney, Coombe and Reid.

Ladbroke Road from Wilby Mews

Ladbroke Road from Wilby Mews

Either our 1904 photographer crossed the road to stand just outside the Ladbroke Arms. Or another snapper came along the same time to take a photo from Wilby Mews which ran just beside the pub.

 

Corner of Ladbroke Road and Ladbroke Grove, 1969

Corner of Ladbroke Road and Ladbroke Grove, 1969

And finally, we will return to 1969, where our original photographer has crossed the road to stand on the other corner of Ladbroke Grove.


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