Plus ça change in the bustling hurly-burly of Westbourne Grove
The chill winds are already blowing down Westbourne Grove as the recession takes hold. They would, wouldn’t they? The Grove is a peculiarly fragile and sensitive street, and has been ever since it was set up in the 1850s. At one time it was known as Bankruptcy Alley. The turnover in the shops and restaurants is allegro con brio. When we first came to live in our delightful little street, Newton Road, a quarter-century ago, the Grove was a pretty bedraggled place, only slowly emerging from the near-slummy grime which lasted from the Great Slump, through the war and into the Rachman era, the Monster operating not far from here.
In those days there were three greasy- spoon caffs in the Grove or nearby streets. I liked such places.
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