Maida Vale
Coordinates: 51°31′39″N 0°11′24″W / 51.5274, -0.1899
| Maida Vale | |
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  Maida Vale shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | TQ255825 |
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| London borough | Westminster |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | W9 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| European Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Regent's Park and Kensington North |
| London Assembly | West Central |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large Edwardian blocks of mansion flats. It is also home to the BBC Maida Vale Studios.[1]
In Maida Hill in the south, the Paddington Basin, a junction of three canals with many houseboats, is known as Little Venice. It starts off the Edgware Road (or A5) from Kilburn, near Kilburn High Road station running south-east, past Maida Vale tube station, through the district known as Maida Vale.
Just to the east of Maida Vale is St John's Wood and Lord's Cricket Ground. Where it meets St. John's Wood Road, Maida Vale reverts to the name Edgware Road.
Developed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the early 1800s as middle class housing it took its name from a public house named after John Stuart, Count of Maida, which opened on the Edgware Road soon after the Battle of Maida, 1806.[2][3]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Maida Vale was a predominantly Jewish district, and the area contains the 1896 Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (a Grade II listed building) and headquarters of the British Sephardi community. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, lived within sight of this synagogue on Warrington Crescent.[4] The pioneer of modern computing, Alan Turing was born a few hundred yards further down this same road.[5]
Maida Vale tube station was opened on June 6, 1915, on the Bakerloo Line.
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BBC Studios
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Main article: Maida Vale Studios
Maida Vale is home to some of BBC network radio's recording and broadcast studios. The building is in fact one of the BBC's earliest premises, pre-dating Broadcasting House, and was the centre of the BBC radio news service during the second world war.
The building on Delaware Road houses a total of seven music and radio drama studios, and most famously were home to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Education
- For education in Maida Vale see the main City of Westminster article.
Little Venice
Maida Avenue, Warwick Crescent and Blomfield Road, the streets in the south of Maida Vale overlooking Browning's Pool,[6] are known as Little Venice. The name is believed to have been coined by the English poet Robert Browning.[7] who lived here from 1862 to 1887. Browning's Pool is named after the poet, and is the junction of Regent's Canal and the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal.
South Maida Vale is one of London's prime residential areas, and it is also known for its shops and restaurants, as well as the Puppet Theatre Barge, the Cascade Floating Art Gallery, the Waterside Café and the Warwick Castle pub. It is possible to take canal tours from Little Venice eastwards around Regent's Park, past London Zoo and on towards Camden Town.
Blue Plaques in Maida Vale
- Edward Ardizzone (1900 – 1979), artist, has an English Heritage blue plaque in his honour at 130 Elgin Avenue. This is where he lived and worked from 1920 to 1972.
- Alan Turing (1912-1954), code breaker and pioneer of computer science was born at 2 Warrington Cresent.
- William Friese-Greene (1855-1921), pioneer of cinematography, at 136 Maida Vale.
- Ambrose Fleming, (1849-1945), English electrical engineer and physicist, at 9 Clifton Gardens.
- David Ben-Gurion, (1886-1973), the first Prime Minister of Israel, at 75 Warrington Crescent.
- Andreas Kalvos, (1792-1869), Greek writer, at 182 Sutherland Avenue.
Notable local events
St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, situated in Maida Vale, was the school of which Philip Lawrence was head teacher at the time of his murder in December 1995. A year later, 16-year-old local gangster Learco Chindamo was found guilty of Mr Lawrence's murder and sentenced to indefinite detention. In 2008, it was alleged that Chindamo had been released from his West Sussex prison and given a secret identity and residence; but this has been officially denied. However, it is clear that because he is half-Italian (as well as half-Filipino) he cannot be deported; legal proceedings have been determined in his favour.
References
External links
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