Chalkhill (estate)

Chalkhill Estate is located in the Wembley Park area of northwest London. It was one of three large estates built in the London Borough of Brent. The design was based on that of Park Hill in Sheffield.

Chalkhill Estate was developed as a Metroland estate from 1921 but it was between 1966 and 1970 that the high density, high rise council estate providing flats, shops, a medical centre, car parking and open space was developed. There were low-rise two-storey developments such as Buddings Circle and Wellsprings Crescent and 30 high-rise "Bison" built blocks linked by "walkways in the sky". In total there were about 1900 houses and flats. Chalkhill Estate also contained a number of recreational facilities for children and the elderly almost at every corner such as slides, seating areas with flower beds, climbing frames and other such things you would expect to find in a public park.

Dwellings on the high-rise estate comprised single-storey one- / two-bedroom flats and larger two-storey family homes and were located along corridors or walkways affectionately called Goldbeaters Walk, Greenrigg Walk, Redcliffe Walk and Bluebird Walk. The dwellings were all-electric, utilizing what was then state-of-the-art technology; central heating was available in all homes and all homes contained what was called a "Garchey", a manually operated waste-disposal system located in the kitchen sink.

The architect's vision of contented tenants living in harmony and connected by these "walkways in the sky" might have seemed like some kind of aerial utopia but the reality was very different. During the mid-1970s those drafty "walkways in the sky" quickly became convenient escape routes for criminals and Chalkhill Estate was becoming known as a crime hot-spot attracting any number of unsavoury characters from neighbouring areas. Often but not always football hooligans would visit the estate after matches at the nearby Wembley Stadium vandalising property and buildings and attacking local residents. Milkmen who had previously delivered to residents doorsteps using hand-pulled milk-floats via service lifts had restricted their operations due to the high number of robberies. Lifts when they were operational, constantly stank of urine so that it was preferable to walk up dozens of flights of poorly lit concrete stairs. The two high-rise car parks became a hiding place for stolen cars and shady drug-deals. The local shops were regularly robbed.

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