Crossrail have earmarked the Big Table for demolition

Recently a friend told me about a local business and landmark threatened by Crossrail in the neighbourhood l grew up in. “The Big Table” which is on the Great Western Road, immediately to the left of Westbourne Park tube station and almost under the Westway. I have in the past purchased one of their beds and mattresses, and they are one of the very few big purchases l’ve made which I can say were made in London. This is an extreme rarity in this day. Apart from the benefits is has given to the local economy, it is also a local landmark with some history. It was built by the Temperance Society as a tea room, to get local rail men off the gin from the Great Western Rail company! 

Having had a look around the premises today, it’s one of the few places l know in London where the retail section and manufacturing are under one roof and it employs up to 10 people. The building itself is very light and airy with a distict grandeur about it so you can well imagine what it must have looked like when it was still being used as tearooms. In the evenings when it has its lights on, it offers many a feeling of security when walking under the Westway to get over to Harrow Road and North Kensington. 

So why would Cross rail went to knock it down? It is to make room for a sub-station, we are told. Having had a good look around, l cannot see why both can’t be accommodated on the same site, with the sub-station going in the backyard along the rail line itself. Better still why not further down the line nearer to the point at which the Cross rail tunnel actually begins? 

The building has clearly survived other major works around it, for example when the Westway was literally built over it in the late 1960’s, so l simply cannot see why this historic local landmark and business has to be demolished, at a cost of local jobs and heritage.

Click here to sign an online petition and save the Big Table from demolition.