The art deco buildings in North West London are quite striking. You see white semi-detached houses, detached houses and bungalows noticeably in Kenton where it runs into Hendon.
In the High streets you see entire blocks of shops with the dates above, 1932 or 1933.
The first one I noticed was Hatch End Broadway. Look for the date above the shops by the old telephone exchange which is unfortunately empty. You see the words The Broadway and the date.
In Kenton along Kenton Lane and Kenton Road you see elaborate brickwork. Round windows have a frame of bricks painting out like sun rays. Along the walls above the shops are brickwork columns.
Being a passenger in a car is such a joy. You would be able to admire the buildings in the main streets from the lower or upper decks of a bus if you sat on the window side. My favourite houses are the white ones with the green tiled rooftops. But I just noticed and started to like the red brickwork buildings.
Now look at this picture I took in Hendon. At ground level, you see small, rather ordinary shops, before 9 a.m. as you drive to work, the food shops not yet open, maybe not until lunch time, in newer styles than the old building above. But from the passenger street, stopped at a traffic light, I have the chance to admire the building above the shops.
The first thing which caught my eye was the very top, a little globe with sharp points, like a sputnik from a later era.
Then my eye travelled down to the windows of the flats over the shops. A delight.
Looking side to side, I can see one building owner has painted their section white, which I like, nice and clean, although it obscures the decorations. Another has left the brickwork orange, red London clay bricks, like they were originally.
A third has brown brickwork but painted white on the arches over the tops of the windows. The effect is to draw attention to the contrasting details.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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