Westway, W10

Road in/near Notting Hill, existing between the 1970s and now

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Road · * · W10 ·
JANUARY
4
2022
Westway is the A40(M) motorway which runs on an elevated section along the W10/W11 border.

On 28 July 1970 the Westway, A40 Western Avenue Extension flyover between White City and Paddington, at two and half miles, the longest elevated road in Europe at the time, was opened by Michael Heseltine, the parliamentary secretary to the transport minister. The opening ceremony was famously accompanied by a protest over the re-housing of the last residents alongside the road. As demonstrators disrupted the ribbon cutting, a banner was unfurled on Acklam Road, looking on to the flyover, demanding: ‘Get Us Out of this Hell. Re-house Us Now’.

When the Portobello farmhouse was painted in 1864, shortly before its demise, the only other building on the lane north of the newly opened Hammersmith and City railway line was the Notting Barn Lodge at the future junction of Cambridge Gardens. Florence Gladstone wrote in ‘Notting Hill in Bygone Days’: ‘There seems to be a natural break where the railway embankment crosses Portobello Road. At this point the old lane was interrupted by low marshy ground, overgrown with rushes and watercress.’ But within a few years of the painting the last remaining fields of Portobello farm would become the streets of the Golborne ward.

Alongside the railway line boundary of the Golborne and Colville wards, Acklam Road was built in the late 1860s and stood for a hundred years, before being demolished to make way for the Westway flyover in the late 1960s. The road took its name from the Acklam village, now in Middlesborough, which like Rillington and Ruston is close to the Yorkshire country seat of the North Kensington developer Colonel St Quintin.

The old street featured the Duke of Sussex, an HH Finch pub on the corner of Portobello Road, on the site of the open-air market area by the entrance to the Acklam Village farmers market. At the beginning of the 20th century, on Charles Booth’s ‘Life and Labour of the People of London’ map, conditions on Acklam Road were assessed as fairly comfortable. In the 1914 street directory the south side was occupied by a laundry, coal dealer, loan office, greengrocer and general dealer, bootmaker and news vendor. On the north side there was a timber merchant, builders, French polisher, bricklayer, chandler’s shop, confectioner, beer retailer and tobacconist. In the 1930s there was the Pembroke Athletic Club boxing gym by the railway footbridge, and by the 1960s the scrap merchants Acklam Metals were established at number 20.

During the four years of construction work, for the remaining inhabitants of the north side of Acklam Road and the other surviving terraces close to the flyover, ‘continuous noise and dirt from heavy lorries and machinery became a familiar and unwelcome part of life.’ The sound of the Westway being built was described by Eileen Wright in ‘Taking on the Motorway’: “There was a terrible noise for weeks when they were pile-driving. They started at 6 O’clock in the morning – sometimes it went on all night. You think the whole city is being bombarded beneath you.”

From 1968 through the 70s, the wall alongside the Hammersmith and City line beneath the Westway between Portobello Road and Westbourne Park featured graffiti by the Situationist King Mob group that read: ‘Same thing day after day – Tube – Work – Diner (sic) – Work – Tube – Armchair – TV – Sleep – Tube – Work – How much more can you take – One in ten go mad – One in five cracks up.’

As 47,000 vehicles a day began ‘cruising through the rooftops of North Kensington’, negotiations between the Motorway Development Trust and the Council resulted in the inauguration of a new trust with a half-Council/half-community management committee in 1971. Anthony Perry, the first director of North Kensington Amenity Trust, was a former film producer who had worked on the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’.

The North Kensington Amenity Trust is now the Westway Development Trust and was founded in 1971 to reclaim and develop the area beneath Westway for local community use. Since 2000 local charity Urban Eye has initiated a programme of cleaning, painting, and lighting to brighten up and improve the safety of the areas under the flyover structure.



Main source: It’s Your Colville
Further citations and sources


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NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
3 Acklam Road From the 19th century up until 1965, number 3 Acklam Road, near the Portobello Road junction, was occupied by the Bedford family.
Acklam Road protests Acklam Road was the centre of much action during the building of the Westway.
Albert Hotel The Albert Hotel stood on the corner of All Saints Road and Westbourne Park Road.
All Saints Notting Hill All Saints church was designed by the Victorian Gothic revival pioneer William White, who was also a mountaineer, Swedish gymnastics enthusiast and anti-shaving campaigner.
Corner of Rackham Street, Ladbroke Grove (1950) The bombing of the Second World War meant that some whole streets were wiped off the future map. Rackham Street, in London W10, was one of them.
Duke of Cornwall The Duke of Cornwall pub morphed into the uber-trendy "The Ledbury" restaurant.
Kensington Park Hotel The KPH is a landmark pub on Ladbroke Grove.
Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove is named after James Weller Ladbroke, who developed the Ladbroke Estate in the mid nineteenth century, until then a largely rural area on the western edges of London.
Ladbroke Grove (1950) Ladbroke Grove on the corner of St Charles Sqaure taken outside the Eagle public house, looking north, just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
North Kensington Library North Kensington Library opened in 1891 and was described as one of London’s finest public libraries.
Orme’s Green Ormes Green was the former name for this part of Westbourne Park.
Political meeting (1920s) Meeting in front of the Junction Arms situated where Tavistock Road, Crescent and Basing Road met.
Portobello Farm Portobello Farm House was approached along Turnpike Lane, sometimes referred to as Green’s Lane, a track leading from Kensington Gravel Pits towards a wooden bridge over the canal.
Portobello Green Portobello Green features a shopping arcade under the Westway along Thorpe Close, an open-air market under the canopy, and community gardens.
Rackham Street, eastern end (1950) The bombing of the Second World War meant that some whole streets were wiped off the future map. Rackham Street, in London W10, was one of them.
St Charles Square ready for redevelopment (1951) Photographed in 1951, the corner of St Charles Square and Ladbroke Grove looking northwest just after the Second World War.
St. Joseph’s Home St Joseph's dominated a part of Portobello Road up until the 1980s.
The Apollo The Apollo pub was located at 18 All Saints Road, on the southeast corner of the Lancaster Road junction.
The Crown Acklam Road was the centre of much action during the building of the Westway
The Eagle The Eagle is on the corner of Ladbroke Grove and Telford Road.
The Mitre The Mitre was situated at 62 Golborne Road on the corner with Wornington Road.
The Prince of Wales Cinema The Prince of Wales Cinema was located at 331 Harrow Road.
Weston’s Cider House In 1930 Weston’s opened their first and only cider mill on the Harrow Road.
Windsor Castle The Windsor Castle dates from the 1820s but its main incarnation was as a classic Victorian public house, seminal in 1970s musical history.

NEARBY STREETS
Acklam Road, W10 Acklam Road was the centre of much action during the building of the Westway (Notting Hill)
Alba Place, W11 Alba Place is part of the Colville Conservation Area (Notting Hill)
Aldridge Court, W11 Aldridge Court is in Aldridge Road Villas (Westbourne Park)
Aldridge Road Villas, W11 Aldridge Road Villas is a surviving fragment of mid-Victorian residential development (Westbourne Park)
All Saints Road, W11 Built between 1852-61, All Saints Road is named after All Saints Church on Talbot Road (Notting Hill)
Angola Mews, W10 Angola Mews, one of the lost mews of North Kensington, was demolished to make way for the Bevington Road School (North Kensington)
Athlone Place, W10 Athlone Place runs between Faraday Road and Bonchurch Road (North Kensington)
Basing Street, W11 Basing Street was originally Basing Road between 1867 and 1939 (Notting Hill)
Bevington Road, W10 Bevington Road is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (North Kensington)
Blagrove Road, W10 This is a street in the W10 postcode (Notting Hill)
Bonchurch Road, W10 Bonchurch Road was first laid out in the 1870s (North Kensington)
Buckshead House, W2 Buckshead House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Cambridge Gardens, W10 Cambridge Gardens is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (Notting Dale)
Caradoc Close, W2 Caradoc Close is a street in Paddington (Westbourne Green)
Chesterton Road, W10 Chesterton Road is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (North Kensington)
Clydesdale Road, W11 Clydesdale Road is a street in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Colville Houses, W11 Colville Houses is part of the Colville Conservation Area (Notting Hill)
Combe House, W2 Combe House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Convent Gardens, W11 Convent Gardens is a street in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Cornwall Road, W11 Cornwall Road was once the name for the westernmost part of Westbourne Park Road (Notting Hill)
Courtnell Street, W2 Courtnell Street is a street in Paddington (Westbourne Green)
Culham House, W2 Culham House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Dainton House, W2 Dainton House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Daley Thompson House, W11 Daley Thompson House is a block on Colville Square (Notting Hill)
Dartmouth Close, W11 Dartmouth Close is a street in Notting Hill (Westbourne Green)
Derrycombe House, W2 Derrycombe House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Devonport House, W2 Devonport House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Dunworth Mews, W11 This is a street in the W11 postcode area (Notting Hill)
Edenham Mews, W10 Edenham Mews was the site of a youth club and day nursery after the Second World War until demolition (Kensal Town)
Edenham Street, W10 Edenham Street was swept away in 1969 (Kensal Town)
Edenham Way, W10 Edenham Way is a 1970s street (North Kensington)
Elgin Mews, W11 Elgin Mews lies in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Elkstone Road, W10 Elkstone Road replaced Southam Street around 1970 (North Kensington)
Fallodon House, W11 Fallodon House was planned in 1973 to replace housing between Tavistock Crescent, Tavistock Road, and St Luke’s Road (Westbourne Park)
Faraday Road, W10 Faraday Road is one of the ’scientist’ roadnames of North Kensington (North Kensington)
Fermoy House, W9 Fermoy House can be found on Fermoy Road (West Kilburn)
Folly Mews, W11 Folly Mews is a street in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Golborne Mews, W10 Golborne Mews lies off of the Portobello Road, W10 (North Kensington)
Golborne Road, W10 Golborne Road, heart of North Kensington, was named after Dean Golbourne, at one time vicar of St John’s Church in Paddington (North Kensington)
Golden Mews, W11 Golden Mews was a tiny mews off of Basing Street, W11 (Notting Hill)
Great Western Road, W11 The name of the Great Western Road dates from the 1850s (Westbourne Park)
Great Western Road, W9 Great Western Road’s northernmost section was created after a bridge was constructed over the canal (Maida Hill)
Hanwell House, W2 Hanwell House is a block on Great Western Road (Westbourne Green)
Harrow Road, W9 Harrow Road is a main road running through Paddington, Willesden and beyond (Maida Hill)
Hayden’s Place, W11 Haydens Place is a small cul-de-sac off of the Portobello Road (Notting Hill)
Hedgegate Court, W11 Hedgegate Court is a block on Powis Terrace (Notting Hill)
Hormead Road, W9 Hormead Road was named in 1885 although its site was still a nursery ground until 1891 (Kensal Town)
Kensal Place, W10 Kensal Place ran from Southam Street to Kensal Road (Kensal Town)
Keyham House, W2 The twenty-storey Keyham House is on Westbourne Park Road (Westbourne Green)
Ladbroke Crescent, W11 Ladbroke Crescent belongs to the third and final great period of building on the Ladbroke estate and the houses were constructed in the 1860s. (Notting Hill)
Ladbroke Grove, W10 Ladbroke Grove runs from Notting Hill to Kensal Green, and straddles the W10 and W11 postal districts (North Kensington)
Lancaster Road, W11 Lancaster Road has been called London’s most Instagrammable street (Notting Hill)
Lavie Mews, W10 Lavie Mews, W10 was a mews connecting Portobello Road and Murchison Road (North Kensington)
Leamington House, W11 Leamington House was built by 1962 (Westbourne Park)
Leamington Road Villas, W11 Leamington Road Villas is a street in Notting Hill (Westbourne Park)
Ledbury Road, W2 Ledbury Road is a street in Paddington (Westbourne Green)
Lionel Mews, W10 Lionel Mews was built around 1882 and probably disappeared in the 1970s (North Kensington)
Malton Mews, W10 Malton Mews, formerly Oxford Mews, runs south off of Cambridge Gardens (Notting Dale)
Malton Road, W11 Malton Road is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (Notting Dale)
McGregor Road, W11 McGregor Road runs between St Luke’s Road and All Saints Road (Notting Hill)
Modena Street, W9 Modena Street was swept away in the late 1960s (North Kensington)
Moorhouse Road, W2 Moorhouse Road is a street in Paddington (Westbourne Green)
Morgan Road, W10 Morgan Road connects Wornington Road and St Ervans Road (North Kensington)
Munro Mews, W10 Munro Mews is a part cobbled through road that connects Wornington Road and Wheatstone Road (North Kensington)
Murchison Road, W10 Murchison Road existed for just under 100 years (North Kensington)
Norburn Street, W10 Norburn Street is one of the streets of London in the W10 postal area (North Kensington)
Orchard Close, W10 Orchard Close is one of the streets of London in the W10 postal area (North Kensington)
Oxford Gardens, W10 Oxford Gardens is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (North Kensington)
Portobello Road, W10 Portobello Road is split into two sections by the Westway/Hammersmith and City line (North Kensington)
Portobello Road, W11 Portobello Road is internationally famous for its market (Notting Hill)
Powis Gardens, W11 Powis Gardens is a street in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Powis Mews, W11 Powis Mews is a street in Notting Hill (Westbourne Green)
Powis Square, W11 Powis Square is a square between Talbot Road and Colville Terrace (Notting Hill)
Powis Terrace, W11 Powis Terrace is a street in Notting Hill (Notting Hill)
Pressland Street, W10 Pressland Street ran from Kensal Road to the canal (North Kensington)
Raddington Road, W10 Raddington Road is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (Notting Hill)
Rendle Street, W10 Rendle Street ran from Murchison Road to Telford Road (North Kensington)
Roseland Place, W11 Roseland Place was a short mews located at what is now 224/226 Portobello Road (Notting Hill)
Ruston Mews, W11 Ruston Mews, W11 was originally Crayford Mews (Notting Dale)
Sappertone House, W2 Sappertone House is a block on Westbourne Park Road (Westbourne Green)
Shottsford, W2 Shottsford is one of the buildings of the Wessex Gardens Estate (Westbourne Green)
Silvester Mews, W11 Silvester Mews was a mews off of Basing Street, W11 (Notting Hill)
Southam House, W10 Southam House is situated on Adair Road (Kensal Town)
Southam Street, W10 Southam Street was made world-famous in the photographs of Roger Mayne (Kensal Town)
St Andrews Square, W11 St Andrews Square is a street in Notting Dale, formed when the Rillington Place area was demolished (Notting Dale)
St Charles Place, W10 St Charles Place is a street in North Kensington, London W10 (North Kensington)
St Columbs House, W10 St Columbs House is situated at 9-39 Blagrove Road (North Kensington)
St Ervans Road, W10 St Ervans Road is named after the home town of the Rev. Samuel Walker (North Kensington)
St Joseph’s Close, W10 St Joseph’s Close is a cul-de-sac off of Bevington Road (North Kensington)
St Lawrence Terrace, W10 St Lawrence Terrace runs parallel with Ladbroke Grove, one block east (North Kensington)
St Lukes Mews, W11 St Lukes Mews is a mews off of All Saints Road, W11 (Notting Hill)
St Luke’s Road, W11 St Luke’s Road is a street in Notting Hill (Westbourne Park)
St Michael’s Gardens, W10 St Michael’s Gardens lies to the south of St Michael’s Church (North Kensington)
Stonehouse House, W2 Stonehouse House is a block on Westbourne Park Road (Westbourne Green)
Sunderland House, W2 Sunderland House is sited on Westbourne Park Road (Westbourne Green)
Talbot Road, W11 The oldest part of Talbot Road lies in London, W11 (Notting Hill)
Talbot Road, W2 Talbot Road straddles the W2/W11 postcodes (Westbourne Green)
Tavistock Crescent, W11 Tavistock Crescent was where the first Notting Hill Carnival procession began on 18 September 1966. (Notting Hill)
Tavistock Mews, W11 Tavistock Mews, W11 lies off of the Portobello Road (Notting Hill)
Tavistock Road, W11 Tavistock Road was developed in the late 1860s alongside the Hammersmith and City railway line from Westbourne Park station (Notting Hill)
Telford Road, W10 Telford Road is one of the local streets named after prominent nineteenth century scientists (North Kensington)
Thorpe Close, W10 Thorpe Close is a redevelopment of the former Thorpe Mews, laid waste by the building of the Westway (North Kensington)
Trellick Tower, W10 Trellick Tower is a 31-storey block of flats designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger, completed in 1972 (Kensal Town)
Truro House, W2 Truro House is a block on Westbourne Park Road (Westbourne Green)
Twisaday House, W11 Twisaday House is a block on Colville Square (Notting Hill)
Westbourne Park Road, W11 Westbourne Park Road runs between Notting Hill and the Paddington area (Westbourne Park)
Westbury House, W11 Westbury House was built on the corner of Westbourne Park Road and Aldridge Road Villas in 1965 (Westbourne Park)
Western Mews, W9 Western Mews is a street in Maida Vale (Maida Hill)
Westway, W10 Westway is the A40(M) motorway which runs on an elevated section along the W10/W11 border (Notting Hill)
Wheatstone Road, W10 Wheatstone Road was the former name of the eastern section of Bonchurch Road (North Kensington)
Windsor Gardens, W9 Windsor Gardens is a street in Maida Vale (Maida Hill)
Woodfield Place, W9 Woodfield Place is a street in Maida Vale (Maida Hill)
Woodfield Road, W9 The first section of Woodfield Road seems to date from the 1830s (Maida Hill)
Wornington Road, W10 Wornington Road connected Golborne Road with Ladbroke Grove, though the Ladbroke end is now closed to through traffic (North Kensington)


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