St Quintin Park - a history and stories

Table of Contents

1. St Quintin Park - history and stories
   1. Early History
2. Schooldays
   1. Oxford Gardens School 1905 to 1913
   2. Coronation at Oxford Gardens 1953
   3. OXFORD GARDENS PRE-SCHOOL NURSERY CLASS
   4. St Helen's School
   5. St Charles RC Primary School
   6. North Kensington Central School (St Mark's)
3. Around the Streets
   1. The St Quintin Estate
   2. St Helen's Gardens
   3. Kelfield - The Lancaster Road Wesleyan Church War Memorial Athletic Club
   4. Evelyn Fox Court, Kingsbridge Road
   5. LATIMER ROAD
   6. Saved from the Motorway
   7. Motorway Disruption
   8. Pangbourne Avenue, W10
4. New Housing for Overcrowded North Kensington
   1. William Sutton St Quintin Park Estate
   2. THE PEABODY BUILDINGS, DALGARNO GARDENS
   3. Princess Alice House
   4. THE COMMUNITY CENTRE NURSERY SCHOOL
5. Spiritual Needs
   1. My Church, St PIUS the X
   2. The Carmelite Convent.
   3. St Helen's Church
   4. Bethany Hall, Barlby Road
6. Wartime Memories
   1. Audrey Jones - War Time Memories
7. Keeping Healthy -Hospitals and Parks
   1. St Charles Hospital
   2. Princess Louise Hospital
   3. The Little Wormwood Scrubs.
   4. "CANAC"The Canalside Activity Centre

Motorway Disruption

In the mid 1960's construction started on the overhead motorway that linked the Western Avenue with the Marylebone Road. This caused a lot of disruption around the area.

My three children Keith, Paul and Susan aged between 10and 4 all attended Thomas Jones school which was situated at the bottom of Latimer Road, very close to the construction site. We would walk from our house in Balliol Road down Latimer Road to the school. Once the demolition started, the lower end of Latimer Road was closed off. This meant we had to walk the other way, pass Oxford Gardens School and down Bramley Road.

As you can imagine, it was a very messy walk, with building debris everywhere in Bramley Road. Lots of houses and shops were demolished and it was quite difficult to get through at times, especially if you had a pram or pushchair. Lots of parents were very concerned about this, and between them complained to the Local Education Authorities, who eventually provided us with a coach which picked the children up from the bottom of Highlever Road and made a tour of the local area collecting the children in the morning and bringing them back after school.

A local resident, Mrs Davies, who lived in Oxford Gardens and was employed by Thomas Jones School would travel with the children ensuring they were picked up and dropped off at the right places!