Living in the area |
Accommodation, Demolition, Council Flats, Squats, Racism, Feminism, Notting Hill Carnival, Hare Krishna
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The Fool - accommodation and council house developments
Ruti Aury and Myrna with their children Laila and Nahem first lived on Westbourne Park Road in a rented dilapidated house which was later demolished alongside hundreds nearby to make way for new council house estates.
"There were 10 wild cats living in the basement," Nahem "We had a workroom on the first floor with a cutting table used sometimes for printing. One day Aury dropped a wad of money he had withdrawn from the bank to pay the machinists who worked from their own places. Everyone searched for it but none of us could find it amongst the piled high bits of fabric from off the cutting machine. By chance, about a month later, I bent down and there beneath my feet found it". Myrna
"There were 10 wild cats living in the basement," Nahem "We had a workroom on the first floor with a cutting table used sometimes for printing. One day Aury dropped a wad of money he had withdrawn from the bank to pay the machinists who worked from their own places. Everyone searched for it but none of us could find it amongst the piled high bits of fabric from off the cutting machine. By chance, about a month later, I bent down and there beneath my feet found it". Myrna
Myrna & Ruti - Opposite us on Westbourne Park Road were hippie community organisations that had sprung up.
Patchwork, The Bit cafe and Release and Gingerbread. These community organisation's premises were also demolished. So a rich community of people's lives were ruptured and uprooted. One of the rare times we ate out was at the community non profit BIT cafe for locals and down and outs. Myrna and Ruti volunteered to cook there. Clive Chabrier set up The Bit Cafe.
Patchwork, The Bit cafe and Release and Gingerbread. These community organisation's premises were also demolished. So a rich community of people's lives were ruptured and uprooted. One of the rare times we ate out was at the community non profit BIT cafe for locals and down and outs. Myrna and Ruti volunteered to cook there. Clive Chabrier set up The Bit Cafe.
Ruti - When we had to leave Westbourne Park Road as the area was being demolished we then took Shrewsbury Road over from a potter who rented the whole building again for an incredible low rent even for that time.
None of us were part of a consumer society. "Our kids clothes we got clothes from jumble sales, or they were hand me downs. There was a kind of pride in living simply. We furnished the place out from thrown out furniture left in the street or recycled. We didn’t go shopping. There wasn't a retro fashion trend. Beyond the current trend of Mary Quant and Biba who were the trend setters, we operated in a different way and mindset.
None of us were part of a consumer society. "Our kids clothes we got clothes from jumble sales, or they were hand me downs. There was a kind of pride in living simply. We furnished the place out from thrown out furniture left in the street or recycled. We didn’t go shopping. There wasn't a retro fashion trend. Beyond the current trend of Mary Quant and Biba who were the trend setters, we operated in a different way and mindset.
A story about the brilliant sculptor, artist Raghav Kaneria. Myrna and Aury met him at the Royal College of Art having won a chance in a lifetime scholarship to come the RCA He lived with us at Westbourne Park Road.
Iand cut many pieces. There were several fool designs. I had to survive so did the cutting with big scissors by hand 6 or 7 pieces at the same time. it was handloom cotton fabrics a gentleman from Africa Uganda was cutting before me. And I had a measurement on the wall on hooks. I had to work out repeating I remember Portobello Road Market. we used to cook Gujarati food . we used to have a feast, Raghav Kaneria
Iand cut many pieces. There were several fool designs. I had to survive so did the cutting with big scissors by hand 6 or 7 pieces at the same time. it was handloom cotton fabrics a gentleman from Africa Uganda was cutting before me. And I had a measurement on the wall on hooks. I had to work out repeating I remember Portobello Road Market. we used to cook Gujarati food . we used to have a feast, Raghav Kaneria
Victorian and Edwardian houses were destroyed for council estates to rise up from the ashes, changing the area forever.
Photos from RBKC
Accommodation 1970s - Squats
Squatting is uncommon today, but in 1970s and 80s in London squatting was a genuine option for many of those without the means to pay regular rent. Buildings were left empty, in unfashionable parts of the city that today would be worth millions and often councils turned a blind eye to their occupation.
Squatting is uncommon today, but in 1970s and 80s in London squatting was a genuine option for many of those without the means to pay regular rent. Buildings were left empty, in unfashionable parts of the city that today would be worth millions and often councils turned a blind eye to their occupation.
Peter Rachman bought his first property on St Stephen’s Gardens in the early 1950s, targeting newly arrived West Indian immigrants. Westminster council later acquired groups of run-down homes, rehabilitating some and replacing others with flats.
Westbourne Park was popular with hippies in the 1960s
Westbourne Park was popular with hippies in the 1960s
Snippets of anecdotes
I remember many black guys going around in 1979/1980s with massive Afros with Afro combs in their hair. Or having a hair in braids and beads in their hair, N
Everyone seemed to have bad teeth, Donald
I remember many black guys going around in 1979/1980s with massive Afros with Afro combs in their hair. Or having a hair in braids and beads in their hair, N
Everyone seemed to have bad teeth, Donald
Demolition - murals and graffiti art |
around the area of The Fool - photos from Yvonne (C)
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In 1974 houses in Westbourne Park Road demolished to built the council estates. J Barker photographs
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Yvonne - the riot that wasn't
Myrna with Maggie Tyler - stories of people from the Caribbean arriving in Britain, The Mother Country up to the 1970s and the situations they encountered.
https://fromhometohomepp.weebly.com/
https://fromhometohomepp.weebly.com/
