Maida Vale
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| Maida Vale | |
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  Maida Vale shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| 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.
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[edit] History
The area was developed by the Church Commissioners in the early 1800s as middle class housing.[2] The district acquired its name from the Hero of Maida, a public house which opened on the Edgware Road soon after the Battle of Maida, 1806.[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.
[edit] BBC Studios
Maida Vale Studios is home to some of BBC National Radio's Recording and Broadcast Studios (specialising in music & drama) , used primarily by BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, & BBC Radio 3. The studios were also home to most of John Peel's BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, a regular slot in which a current popular band would record a set of four songs exclusively for the show. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was based here from 1958 until the Workshop was shut down in 1998 by BBC management. The pioneering EMS Delaware synthesiser took its name from the studio's Delaware Road address. The studio is nicknamed "Maida Vegas" by Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe when he uses the studio for his show. Their future is uncertain; in July 2007, the BBC announced plans to close the studios and sell the building to property developers.[1]
[edit] Education
- For education in Maida Vale see the main City of Westminster article.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Notable local events
St George's Roman Catholic Secondary School, situated in Maida Vale, was the school of which Phillip 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. As of 2007, he is still in prison but awaiting the outcome of his application for parole.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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