Unless I happen across any more in the depths of my photographic archives these are the last eight of my colour slides of the Streets of London, produced in September 2008. I scanned them today.
At the corner of Chepstow Villas and Ledbury Road, new road surfacing was being carried out.
Major renewal of Water works was being carried out in and around Bayswater at this time. Here, Westbourne Grove, at the corner of Garway Road W2, was barred to traffic. Shops were intent on continuing their businesses for several months.
‘In England and Wales, the emergence of the first private water companies dates back to the 17th century. In 1820, six private water companies operated in London. However, the market share of private water companies in London declined from 40% in 1860 to 10% in 1900. In the 1980s, their share all over England and Wales was about 25%.[9] The tide turned completely in 1989 when the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher privatized all public water and sewer companies in England and Wales. In Scotland local governments dominated by the Labour party kept water systems in public hands.’ (Wikipedia)
On the barrier in the Garway Road picture, a notice urges cyclists to dismount. The owner of this one chained his steed to the railings in Kensington Gardens Square beside a restaurant in the above-mentioned Westbourne Grove.
‘Pickering Mews is part of Westminster City Council’s Bayswater Conservation Area. Developed over the space of about 70 years, the townscape is uniform despite being composed of several distinct areas and is made up of a regular composition of streets and squares in an Italianate style. An important aspect of the street pattern are the several mews, some quite intimate and others so large that they appear to be a development of their own. The contrast of scale provided by these mews is a crucial aspect of the overall area’s character.
The Mews has painted and rendered brickwork, one and two storey buildings with a mixture of flat, parapet and gable roof styles. The garages present are intact and surrounded by a cobbled road surface.’ https://everchangingmews.com/mews/pickering-mews/
Rede Place, W2 is tucked away behind Chepstow Road.
This corner of Notting Hill’s Pembridge Square W2 gives a whole new meaning to refuse collection.
This corner of Chesterfield Hill and Hay’s Mews lies in the heart of Mayfair. You don’t want to know what this house would cost to buy.
Polly Food and Wine, on another rather less salubrious corner plot – that shared by Meyrick Road and Willesden High Road NW10 – may be rather more affordable. Polski Sklep which translates as Polish Shop is defined by https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=polski%20sklep
as ‘[a] store selling exclusively Polish products, mostly food but can also include newspapers, magazines, seasonal goods. These have sprung up all over the UK in recent years with the huge influx of Poles, even in those areas where they are outnumbered by other ethnic communities, (such as Tooting in London).
They all mostly stock the same sort of products, which unfortunately means that the more businessmen get in on the act the smaller the profits. Well known products include polish bread, pierogi, danio yogurts, kielbasa, sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers to name a few.
As well as being frequented by Poles, there are a fair share of British consumers who venture into a Polski Sklep.”God, I can’t believe yet another polski sklep has opened onTootinghigh street, theres already one about 10 metres down the road”
“Kumpilam te wysmienite ogorki w polskim sklepie na ealingu”#polska#polski#pierog#pierogi#polskisklepby Morela April 26, 2008′
We swapped Ian for Jacqueline at our dinner table this evening. Becky’s husband returned to Emsworth just for one night, and my sister stayed with us after having visited Mum in her care home. Our meal consisted of Jackie’s splendid beef in red wine; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots and cauliflower; and tender green beans. I drank more of the Fleurie; Jackie and Jacqueline drank Casillero del Diablo Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2017.