place

Frestonia

1977 disestablishments in England1977 establishments in England1977 in London20th century in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaAnarchism in the United Kingdom
CountercultureEngvarB from May 2018Former unrecognized countriesLegalized squatsMicronationsMicronations in EnglandSquats in the United Kingdom
Peoples Hall Frestonia
Peoples Hall Frestonia

Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, London, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977 to form the Free and Independent Republic of Frestonia. The residents were squatters, many of whom eventually set up a housing co-op in negotiation with Notting Hill Housing Trust, and included artists, musicians, writers, actors and activists. Actor David Rappaport was the Foreign Minister, while playwright Heathcote Williams served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Frestonia (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Frestonia
Olaf Street, London

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.510413888889 ° E -0.21731388888889 °
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The People's Hall

Olaf Street
W11 4BE London (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
England, United Kingdom
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Peoples Hall Frestonia
Peoples Hall Frestonia
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Grenfell Tower fire
Grenfell Tower fire

On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST; 72 people died, including two who later died in hospital. More than 70 others were injured and 223 people escaped. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-platform disaster and the worst UK residential fire since World War II. The fire was started by a malfunctioning fridge-freezer on the fourth floor. It spread rapidly up the building's exterior, bringing fire and smoke to all the residential floors. This was due to the building's cladding and the external insulation, since the air gap between them enabled the stack effect. The fire burned for about 60 hours before finally being extinguished. More than 250 London Fire Brigade firefighters and 70 fire engines from stations across London were involved in efforts to control the fire and rescue residents. More than 100 London Ambulance Service crews on at least 20 ambulances attended the scene, joined by specialist paramedics from the Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team. The Metropolitan Police and London's Air Ambulance also assisted the rescue effort. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry began on 14 September 2017 to investigate the causes of the fire and other related issues. Findings from the first report of the inquiry were released in October 2019 and addressed the events of the night. It affirmed that the building's exterior did not comply with regulations and was the central reason why the fire spread, and that the fire service were too late in advising residents to evacuate. A second phase to investigate the broader causes began on the third anniversary in 2020. As of June 2020, the fire is currently being investigated by the police, a public inquiry, and coroner's inquests. Among the issues being investigated are the management of the building by the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council and Kensington and Chelsea TMO (or KCTMO, which was responsible for the borough's council housing) and the responses of the Fire Brigade, the council and other government agencies. In the aftermath of the fire, the council's leader, deputy leader and chief executive resigned, and the council took direct control of council housing from the KCTMO. The national government commissioned an independent review of building regulations and fire safety, which published a report in May 2018. Across the UK and in some other countries, local governments have investigated other tower blocks to find those that have similar cladding. Efforts to replace the cladding on these buildings are ongoing.

Grenfell Tower
Grenfell Tower

Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to the south of the building; the road itself was named after Field Marshal Lord Grenfell, a senior British Army officer. Most of the tower was destroyed in a severe fire on 14 June 2017. The building's top 20 storeys consisted of 120 flats, with six per floor – two flats with one bedroom each and four flats with two bedrooms each – with a total of 200 bedrooms. Its first four storeys were non-residential until its most recent refurbishment, from 2015 to 2016, when two of them were converted to residential use, bringing it up to 127 flats and 227 bedrooms; six of the new flats had four bedrooms each and one flat had three bedrooms. It also received new windows and new cladding with thermal insulation during this refurbishment.Prior to a fire, which began in the early hours of 14 June 2017, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and central UK government bodies "knew, or ought to have known", that their management of the tower was breaching the rights to life, and to adequate housing, of the tower's residents, according to a later enquiry by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The fire gutted the building and killed 72 people, including a stillbirth. In early 2018, it was announced that, following demolition of the tower, the site will likely become a memorial to those killed in the fire.In 2020, survivors of the fire stated that "nothing has changed" three years later and expressed feelings of being "left behind" and "disgusted" by a lack of progress in making similar buildings safe.

Aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire
Aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire

On 14 June 2017, the Grenfell Tower fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST; it caused 72 deaths, including those of two victims who later died in hospital. More than 70 others were injured and 223 people escaped. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and the worst UK residential fire since the Second World War. The fire is currently being investigated by the police, a public inquiry, and coroner's inquests. Among the issues being investigated are the management of the building by Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council and Kensington and Chelsea TMO (Tenant Management Organisation, which was responsible for the borough's council housing) and the responses of London Fire Brigade, the council and other government agencies. In the aftermath of the fire, the council's leader, deputy leader and chief executive resigned, and the council took direct control of council housing from the TMO. The national government commissioned an independent review of building regulations and fire safety, which published a report in May 2018. Across the UK and in some other countries, local governments have investigated other tower blocks to find others that have similar cladding. Efforts to replace the cladding on these buildings are ongoing. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry began on 14 September 2017 to investigate the causes of the fire and other related issues. Findings from the first report of the inquiry were released in October 2019 and addressed the events of the night. It affirmed that the exterior did not comply with building regulations and was the central reason why the fire spread, and that the fire service were too late in advising residents to evacuate. A second phase to investigate the broader causes will begin in 2020.

St Ann's Villas
St Ann's Villas

St Ann's Villas (also written as St Anns Villas) is a street in the Notting Hill area of London. Located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, it runs northwards from Royal Crescent. It is intersected by Queensdale Road. The land was part of the Norland Estate which was redeveloped in the early Victorian era into affluent housing for the expanding population of London. Addison Avenue and Norland Square were both laid out around the same time as St Ann's Villas. The barrister and former Member of Parliament for Penryn Charles Stewart was heavily involved in the development.The southernmost stretch of St Ann's Villas continued the original style of Robert Cantwell but on reaching Queensdale Road the architectural style changes. Built as semi-detached villas in the Tudor Gothic style, it provides a distinct contrast to the rest of the estate, which uses white stucco terracing. A number of the buildings are now Grade II listed. The music hall performer Albert Chevalier was born in the street in 1861 and is now commemorated by a blue plaque.The name may refer to a planned but never built St Ann's Church for the new development. Instead the church serving the new district St James' Church was located in the nearby St James' Gardens. The street continues north as St Ann's Road for some distance, then becomes Bramley Road shortly before reaching Latimer Road tube station. Also first laid out in the Victorian era, very few of the original buildings now survive.