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9
From the 4th to the 7th December, Mass Miniature Radiography Unit 5B operated from the forecourt
of a hotel in Cricklewood. Six morning and afternoon and two evening public sessions were held. The
Public Health Department was asked to arrange publicity in the Cricklewood area. Leaflets and jpsters were
placed in two branch libraries and in two clinics. Posters were exhibited on 12 poster sites in the area
and Public Health Inspectors arranged for 60 food shops to exhibit posters. Four thousand school children
in six schools were given a leaflet to take home and a supply of leaflets was also sent to 40 doctors in the
area for display in their surgery waiting rooms. The sessions were very successful and 1,626 people attended.
It is interesting to note that of this number 1,049 had not previously had a chest X-ray.
SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AREA
Water
The Metropolitan Water Board and the Colne Valley Water Company supply Willesden with pure
water.
Sewage and Drainage
Most of the sewage of the borough is discharged into the London County Council main sewers,
but a small amount from the Park Royal area is discharged into the West Middlesex Main Drainage System.
Refuse Disposal
The Borough Engineer's Department deals with the provision of dust-bins.
Refuse is disposed of by controlled tipping at Twyford : house refuse is collected weekly and trade
refuse as often as required at an agreed charge.
Household Arrangements
The census report for the County of Middlesex 1951 and the Housing Report for England and
Wales showed clearly Willesden's housing problems as compared with the rest of the country (see tables
26 and 27).
(a) Shared dwellings and overcrowding.
About six out of ten households in Willesden share a dwelling. This is higher than the average for
the county and for Greater London (about three out of ten) and much higher than England and Wales (less
than two out of ten).
The number of persons per room is higher than that of Greater London, England and Wales, and
any district in the County, and the percentage of population and of households at densities over 1½ and 2
persons per room is the highest in the County, in some instances the percentage is more than double.
(b) Bathrooms
The proportion of households either sharing or without a fixed bath (six out of ten) is almost double
that of the average of the County, and is much higher than that of Greater London and England and Wales
(about four out of ten).
The proportion sharing or without a water closet, cooking stove or a kitchen sink is higher than the
average for the County of Middlesex.
Gardens
Willesden is poorly equipped with public open spaces: 242 acres compared with an estimated need
of 1,313 acres; yet one in four families have no garden at all, and a large number have to share a garden.

SANITARY SECTION
Staff
The authorised establishment of Public Health Inspectors includes a Chief Public Health Inspector,
a Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector, 18 District Inspectors and 5 pupil Public Health Inspectors.
As mentioned in the introduction to the Report, the Chief Public Health Inspector, Mr. F. Taylor,
retired in November after 31 years service with the Council.
At the beginning of the year there were three vacancies for Inspectors, and during the year there
were two resignations. Three were appointed during the year leaving two vacancies at the end of the year.