Looking north to Latimer House (centre) from New Cavendish Street. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

The University of Westminster has announced that it wants to redevelop part of its Cavendish Block to create a new student experience centre, and is holding an initial public consultation on the designs.

Cavendish Block is situated in Fitzrovia West and is bounded by New Cavendish Street, Hanson Street, Clipstone Street and Cleveland Street.

It consists of three large buildings linked at ground floor level, containing various educational departments and working spaces, including the library serving the University’s campus.

A fourth building, the presently closed Tower Tavern, is also part of the block which the University is “currently exploring options” for its future but is saying very little about it at the moment.

In this month’s announcement the University says it has “ideas for the future of our Cavendish block” and as part of this intends to turn Latimer House “into a new Student Hub facility, bringing together student support services and learning spaces under one roof”.

Latimer House was built in 1938 as a dormitory for boys learning trades in the area. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

Latimer House, which fronts on to Hanson Street, is currently empty. The NHS vacated the site several years ago, and it was recently occupied by squatters.

The brick building with steel-framed windows was originally constructed in 1938 to designs by Seth-Smith, Monro & Matthew as a dormitory for boys learning trades in the area.

It is the last of the buildings on the Cavendish Block remaining from before the University acquired the site in the 1960s. All the other buildings on the block were redeveloped in the 1960s, with the Copland Building on the corner of Clipstone Street and Hanson Street replacing the former early and later 20th century commercial buildings in 2005.

The fate of the somewhat austere but otherwise handsome Latimer House now lies in the hands of the University which plans to demolish it because it says it has a “poor quality facade that is in need of updating to ensure it can continue to positively contribute to the surrounding area”.

Initial proposal for Latimer House on Hanson Street, as viewed from Clipstone Street looking south. Image. University of Westminster.

“The Student Hub will create a ‘one-stop shop’ for students already on campus under one roof to study, learn, and relax,” says the University.

According to the publicity materials for the new design, the significantly taller building will be “highly sustainable” with “leading operational sustainability credentials” as well as feature “urban greening and a new roof terrace”.

Refurbishing and retrofitting the existing building does not appear to be under consideration.

An exhibition of the proposals and a webinar are taking place this month.

Cavendish Block Consultation. In person: Wednesday 15 May, 4pm – 7pm Room C1.03 in the Cavendish building, 115 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6UW. Online event: Monday 20 May, 6pm – 7pm. Please send an email to the team to register for the webinar. [email protected]

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/10/university-plots-redevelopment-of-hanson-street-site-at-cavendish-block/

#HansonStreet #LatimerHouse #publicConsultations #UniversityOfWestminster_

Peggy Steers at the window of her flat in Hanson Street. Photo: Steve Day.

My mother Peggy Steers (nee Tuhill) who died on 7 March 2024 aged 95 was a lifelong Londoner, who spent nearly half her life in Hanson Street, Fitzrovia.

She was born in Islington in 1928 and lived for some time in Citizen Road, Hornsey with her parents Terry and Jessie Tuhill. She attended Pakeman Street School and then Tollington Park School.

Citizen Road was a cul de sac, and her dad delivered milk on a horse and cart there. But the horse never went past Mum’s house as the family used to come out to feed it sugar lumps — leaving her dad to carry the crates to the end of the road himself.

At the end of the street was a railway line, and she recalled that the children used to wave at the train drivers, who would throw them lumps of coal for their fire. The houses on Citizen Road have since been replaced by tower blocks of flats.

She was evacuated during the war with her beloved brother Brian, who she refused to be separated from. She didn’t have a good time, and was glad to return to London. Her sister, Doreen, however, really enjoyed staying with the family she was evacuated with, and returned to visit them a number of years ago.

Mum later lived with her parents and her siblings in York Way Court near King’s Cross for a number of years. Always keen on football, she sometimes took her younger brothers to watch the family team, The Arsenal, at Highbury.

Brian pre-deceased her, as did her older brother, Terence, who died much too young. Still going are her younger sisters, Doreen and Lesley, and younger brother David.

Mum always had a wanderlust, and joined the Land Army around the end of the war and later on the Women’s Royal Air Force as a tracker. She enjoyed talking about driving a tractor in the Land Army and had fond memories of American soldiers teaching her to jive.

Whilst in the WRAF she met and married her first husband, Ken (my dad) but that didn’t last long and we have lost touch with him.

Mum and I lived in Basildon New Town for a while as they were one of the only New Towns offering houses to women who got jobs there as well as to men. We lived there with her sister Doreen (who had also left her husband), and Doreen’s daughter Susan.

The wanderlust took over again and Mum and I moved to Canada with her second husband, Johnny. We only lived there for three years, but her younger sister, Lesley, came out to join us for a while, and ended up marrying a Canadian. Lesley now lives and has a family in Canada, and I was so pleased to be able to buy Mum a long holiday there on her retirement.

Unfortunately, the marriage to Johnny also did not last, but that ended more amicably and we all stay in touch.

Mum lived in Finchley for a while, where I went to secondary school, and we then moved to Wembley.

She hassled Westminster Council for a flat, and the family story is that the council lost the paperwork and were so embarrassed that they quickly offered her a flat. She moved to Hanson Street in the 1980s where she lived for the rest of her life.

Peggy loved living so near to the centre of London. If ever she saw a tourist looking at a map, she would be over to help them with their directions and recommending other places to go.

I remember being on a boat in the Thames with my Mum, me and a friend from Canada — at the end of the trip the boat’s tour guide passed a hat around for a collection but the American family in front of us refused to give them anything as they said they listened to Mum telling London stories to our Canadian friend, which was much more interesting than the official tour guide.

She obviously saw a number of changes over the years in Hanson Street. The house next to her used to be a squat, which she didn’t mind until the people there started to leave a mess. She complained to them and the council for ages about a mattress being left outside, but saw red when she saw a picture in the Evening Standard of the then leader of the council, Dame Shirley Porter, spraying perfume into a rubbish bin and talking about cleaning up Westminster.

She sent a picture of the mattress to Dame Porter and said unless it was cleared in three days she would send it to the papers to tell them about the reality of “clean” Westminster. She never got a reply but the mattress was gone in two days!

Mum also campaigned along with other residents against the proposed closure of the Tesco’s in Goodge Street in 1988 when that was about the only place in the area you could buy a wide range of affordable groceries.

Mum’s last job was with Mullards, who made valves for TVs and were later taken over by Philips. Their offices were in Mullard House in Torrington Place (now owned by University College London and renamed).

Living so close to work was great for her social life. She was an enthusiastic darts player, and Mullard’s competed in the Camden Business League, with their home matches in the New Inn.

Mum had a long, happy retirement, but unfortunately became increasingly frail near the end, and was always very grateful for her kind neighbours and doctor who lives in her street. She died a few weeks after being moved to a nursing home, and I know she would have hated to have died “South of the River” but Westminster Council could not find a vacancy in the area, so she ended up in Crystal Palace.

She leaves a legacy of lots of great memories and laughter. She had a love of jazz, in particular Billie Holiday, and I will always remember her whenever I hear Greensleeves — she hated that song and would always rush to turn it off after the first few bars!

The funeral service for Eileen “Peggy” Steers will be at St Marylebone Crematorium, East End Road, Finchley, London N2 0RZ, 1pm Tuesday 9 April 2024. There is a tribute page for Peggy.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/03/23/obituary-peggy-steers/

#HansonStreet #obituaries