Lower Place Changing Face

My next walk for the Old Oak Park Royal Development Corporation  tomorrow is fully booked! It helps that it's free and publicised by the Mayor of London organisation!


It's January 2019 and I've come back to this post to add some pictures which show the places we saw on our route. I took them in February 2018 when preparing my first walk for the OPDC. Preparing walks is a long process. It involves several visits to the area, approaching local businesses and organisations as well as doing research online, visiting libraries and going through my own 'archives'.
As requested, last December I organised a walk of the same area as in February so the route was quite similar. We met at Harlesden Station and walked to see the large two-piece mosaic before visiting The Old Sub-Station Makers.


This place has changed big way since a decade ago when I used to come to teach ESOL and NVQ to the agency employees at a big food factory that had replaced the allotments by The Grand Union Canal.

Even within these ten months between my walks, there have been changes at the OSS. Some craftspeople have left, others have joined this collective space. On both occasions it was a really good experience to meet the people who run it and those who use the space.


Now, these two pictures are very special and I hope you can zoom them in to find out about the lost community of Lower Place.

If you cannot do that, there is a remedy. Visit The Grand Junction Pub by the canal in NW10, Park Royal, London. This is where they were installed by the members of this community. One of them, born in Lower Place came on my fisrt walk and has been coming on the other ones whenever he could.

 Everyone knows that the London housing problem is dire so no wonder someone has arranged an outdoor lounge by the canal towpath.

 I was very lucky to have a personal tour of the Machine Shop studios. I also found out for them what was the original purpose of their premises! That was good fun and engaged a lot of people who used to live in Lower Place and Harold Wesley Estate. How so? Long ago I found and joined their group on social media!

I cannot add pictures from the popular Middle-Eastern sweet shop called Sweetland. We were treated to some baklava there!