But above all, William has written a eulogy to the street that provided the base for a man who has strode across the British cultural landscape for six decades. But that again is not the whole story, and arguably would perpetuate the kind of prejudice William describes his father bringing to bear on everyone of whom he disapproved. Because this often gauche but deeply felt memoir is about a particular kind of pain – of failure, of the anxiety of influence writ through an entire life. Few can relate to being Jonathan Miller’s son, but in detailing the specifics, William points to universals: a child’s need for open-minded attention; a teenager’s to find their own kind. How desperation to fulfil parental expectations can lead to a damaging loss of self. And above all, of everyone’s need to be heard – for which, 40 years on, this is William Miller’s very public bid. a b c Kate Bassett, In Two Minds: a Biography of Jonathan Miller: A Biography of Jonathan Miller, Oberon Books Ltd (2012) – Google Books p. 124 Decimus Burton by 1855. (fn. 45) Most of the area between Bishop's Road and the railway had been filled east, (fn. 34) whose owner William Penney claimed compensation for 10 a. based on their value as building

economically so self-sufficient that it could have declared itself an independent republic. In 1887 it was which had gone so far that a room might have different tenants by day and by night, could be controlled only by declaring buildings to be lodging Jonathan Miller, who has sadly died at 85, said he only appeared in Beyond the Fringe to get enough money to buy a house near Regent's Park, north London. He lived there with his family for the next 50 years until his death yesterday. And so Gloucester Crescent, the cleverest street in London, has lost its last great megabrain. No wonder Gloucester Crescent, eminently satirisable, has been immortalised so often. Bennett wrote a TV soap opera, Life and Times in NW1, in the 1960s. Then, in his The Lady in the Van, on stage and screen, Dame Maggie Smith made a heroine of Miss Shepherd. Lately there was Love, Nina, by Nina Stibbe, au pair to Mary-Kay Wilmers, owner and editor of the London Review of Books (who, with her husband, film director Stephen Frears, bought the Mellys’ house in 1971).This home is located on a sought-after residential tree lined street, and both Regent’s Canal and Regent’s Park are less than half a mile away, as are two popular preparatory schools, the bohemian atmosphere of Camden, and the terraced streets of Primrose Hill. a b Gloucester Crescent by William Miller review – my dad Jonathan Miller and me – The Guardian 24 August 2018

Farrell Grimshaw Partnership and officially commended in 1977. (fn. 123) More shops and a cinema extend If the book is taken as a whole, it is really about William Miller's relationship with his difficult but brilliant father. It is about how children live in the shadows of their larger-than-life parents, and how they live up to the expectations set for them. It is also very much about William Miller's frustration with the education he was given. growth was banned by the G.W.R. depots and sidings. (fn. 40) Immediately to the west, where the Paddington Estate straddled the Westbourne, (fn. 41) roads wereTHere are many interesting photos throughout the Book, including one of Miss Shepherd's horrible van, and lots of photos of the various intellectuals living in the Crescent.

No 39: the British television journalist and broadcaster Joan Thirkettle (1947-1996) who notably worked for ITN for over 20 years Profile of Lionel Percy Smythe (1839–1918) – Royal Museums Greenwich Collection But the sharpest satire remains the 1960s strip in the Listener by Mark Boxer, The String-Alongs (in book form, The Trendy Ape). How gleefully Boxer, a Cambridge contemporary of the Tomalins/ Stringalongs, caricatured the Crescent’s glitterati, their Oxbridge pretensions, Left-leaning politics, TV polemics and colour-supplement lifestyles:Historic England. "3 to 22, Gloucester Crescent(Grade II) (1342076)". National Heritage List for England. William’s was, on the whole, a happy childhood and his primary school years were idyllic. As he grew up, he wanted nothing more than to please his Dad. Having always regretted abandoning medicine, Jonathan wanted his son to be a doctor and this, along with his parents' insistence on a state education, led to some misguided educational choices. Bullying and difficulty with exams made William's life at secondary school thoroughly miserable and the reader really feels for him. All Crescent kitchens adopted the farmhouse mode, with squashy sofas and pine tables, made by Fay Weldon’s husband Ron at his place on Regent’s Park Road. Ron’s stripped pine was de rigueur, along with William Morris wallpaper, high brass beds, bright Casa Pupo rugs and art nouveau pieces from Reg’s stall in Camden Market. No. 57: since 1963 the home of author Claire Tomalin and her husband journalist Nicholas Tomalin [1] (and later, Claire's second husband Michael Frayn). [3] [22]

The London branch of the School of Sound Recording is located in The Rotunda at 42 Gloucester Crescent. The information on housing, people, culture, employment and education that is displayed about Gloucester Crescent, Wigston, LE18 4YR is based on the last census performed in the UK in 2021. owed its origin to the need to administer Westminster abbey's estates. (fn. 7) Westbourne green was mentioned in 1548 (fn. 8) and became a common name from traffic, and to the density of building. (fn. 91) If Woodchester Street had not been crammed in, it was possible that the decline, on land which had largely been

Forthcoming Events

The genesis for the memoir stemmed from William, a TV producer, moving to a house three doors down from his family home, where his parents still live. Principal photography for the film version The Lady in the Van (2015) began at 23 Gloucester Crescent [12] [13] in 2014. The film was shot in and around Bennett's old house in Camden Town, where the real Miss Shepherd spent 15 years on his driveway. According to director Nicholas Hytner, they never considered filming anywhere else. the 1660s for both Westbourne manor and the western half of Paddington parish, (fn. 9) only to go out of use