The Battleship Building, Paddington

Wall’s Ice Cream magazine ad, circa 1974

From a time when taking ice cream treats home for the freezer was a new thing, in fact for a great many in the UK, having a ‘deep freeze’ was a luxury.

Most of these Wall’s products are long gone now, sadly.

(image resourced from Carter Collectables – @CarterColectab )

Colindale – From High Flyers to High Rises

I’ve added some more images to this article I wrote on Colindale and its part in World War One.

Past<Rewind

This article was first published in ‘Best of British’ Magazine in August 2014.

High Flyers to High Rises Colindale and the Aviation Industry

Colindale in North London these days doesn’t seem much to write home about , it is just another part of the Capital’s sprawling urban growth. Currently it is seeing a rebirth with hoards of apartment blocks rising up with bizarre names like ‘Pulse’. However just under a century ago it was a very small community in the Middlesex countryside, unspoilt by modernity and blissfully unaware of the huge changes that were to change it beyond recognition.

Colindale got its name from a family called Collin who lived in the area in the 16^th century, in basic terms the ‘Dale of the Collin’s’ , and very little existed there apart from a manor house, a farm and some cottages. By the late 19^th century land…

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The Aladdin Works, Northolt

On the A40 motorway near Northolt,West London is a remarkable industrial survivor-the Aladdin Works.
The building was opened in 1931 as the UK factory of the Aladdin company of America, to manufacture paraffin lamps and heaters.
It would appear that the factory closed, like so many in the 1970s. It was the left empty until being taken over by B&Q DIY, as an outlet. much of its 1930s interior was lost during this period.
The building is a wonderful example of a showpiece 1930s factory, much like those built by other US companies in London (Hoover just down the road in Perivale, Firestone and Gilette in Brentford on the Great West Road).