Why Lonsdale Road is Like No Other Street in London

Built to stable horses for the big houses of Brondesbury Park. Why this old NW6 mews still works when most high streets don’t.

What do a brewery run by two former Saracens players, the new project from the erstwhile head chef at Duck and Waffle, and the nation’s best farmers’ market have in common? Lonsdale Road, that’s what. It’s hardly the city’s most famous address, but if you know, you know, and thanks to the relentless work and commitment to excellence of the small business owners plying their trade on this old mews between Salusbury Road and Donaldson Road in Queen’s Park, a lot of people seem to know nowadays.

Whether you’re first lured in by the cobblestone aesthetics, the sound of clinking pint glasses at Wolfpack or the proximity to the park, once you’re there, you’ll find that for each thing that drew you, there are a hundred more that make you want to stay.

Built for horses and carriages

Starting from the corner of Lonsdale Road and Salusbury Road (a destination in and of itself), it’s clear straight away that this street is one of one. Not only because of its cobblestones, but also the conspicuous barn-style doors with their heavy T-hinges and glazed panels above them. To its very foundations, it’s not your average London high street. And its architecture is as singular as its present-day tenants, alluding to a fascinating history.

That history, the reason Lonsdale Road looks the way it does, is that this mews was originally built to stable horses and carriages for the large properties of Brondesbury Park, and to house the traders and artisans who serviced the Queen’s Park estate.

Pilates, wine bars and a brewery

That essence, of a working street full of bustle and activity, remains today. No more horse-drawn carriages, though. Now it’s Pilates studios, wine bars, furniture makers, architects, designers, a brewery, a co-working space, an indoor golf club and so many more types of business. It’s a diverse array of offerings, held together by the principle that they’re people-facing and made for the people who live here.

Why there are no chains on Lonsdale Road

But the thread that binds the modern-day Lonsdale Road to its Victorian self hasn’t remained intact by coincidence. London has no lack of dysfunctional high streets. What makes Lonsdale Road different, what lets it keep hold of its old-timey charm, is its ownership. The street is entirely owned by a single landlord, and it’s only changed hands twice. The result is that the decision over which businesses get to open their doors on Lonsdale Road lies with someone with a vested, long-running commitment to the neighbourhood and to the street as a whole, rather than a disconnected string of individual owners. That’s how forward-thinking but legacy-minded independents ended up the tenants, and not chains.

An Allen key from Wolfpack

About halfway down, at number 51, you’ll find Camerons Stiff & Co, the independent estate agency behind North by West. They’re tenants here like everyone else, and Chris Stiff found out what that means while rearranging the office.

“We were in there the other day, taking the desks apart to move some stuff around, and I realised I needed an Allen key. There was no Allen key around at all. So I ran to Wolfpack and I went behind the bar. ‘Guys, have you got an Allen key?’ ‘Yeah, mate, here you go.’”

“All these independent businesses that ultimately help one another. We prop each other up.”

Here you’ll find some of the best food in North West London, that’s true. But getting lost in the excellence of Lonsdale Road misses what makes it one of one. It’s the process by which it became what it is, and what that suggests about the street keeping its character, that sets this address apart. Owned by locals, run by locals, serving locals, and all comers who find their way here to take part.

Written by Alex Walker, lead writer at North by West, with insights from the Camerons Stiff & Co team.