Editing Pimlico (section)

===Twentieth-century resurgence===
[[File:33 Eccleston Square, Pimlico - geograph.org.uk - 4423062.jpg|thumb|upright|33 Eccleston Square; Labour and TUC headquarters offices during the 1920s]]
Proximity to the [[Houses of Parliament]] made Pimlico a centre of political activity. Prior to 1928, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and [[Trades Union Congress]] shared offices at 33 [[Eccleston Square]], and it was here in 1926 that the [[1926 United Kingdom general strike|general strike]] was organised.

In the mid-1930s Pimlico saw a second wave of development with the construction of [[Dolphin Square]], a self-contained "city" of 1,250 up-market flats built on the site formerly occupied by Cubitt's building works. Completed in 1937, it quickly became popular with MPs and public servants. It was home to fascist [[Oswald Mosley]] until his arrest in 1940, and the headquarters of the [[Free French]] for much of the Second World War.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Pimlico survived the war with its essential character intact, although parts sustained significant bomb damage. Through the 1950s these areas were the focus of large-scale redevelopment as the [[Churchill Gardens]] and [[Lillington and Longmoore Gardens]] estates, and many of the larger [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] houses were converted to hotels and other uses.

To provide affordable and efficient heating to the residents of the new post-war developments, Pimlico became one of the few places in the UK to have a [[district heating]] system installed. District heating became popular after World War II to heat the large residential estates that replaced areas devastated by the Blitz. The [[Pimlico District Heating Undertaking]] (PDHU) is just north of the River Thames. The PDHU first became operational in 1950 and continues to expand to this day. The PDHU once relied on waste heat from the now-disused [[Battersea Power Station]] on the south side of the River Thames. It is still in operation, the water now being heated locally by a new energy centre which incorporates 3.1 MWe /4.0 MWTh of gas-fired CHP engines and 3&nbsp;×&nbsp;8 MW gas-fired boilers.

In 1953, the [[Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster|Second Duke of Westminster]] sold the part of the Grosvenor estate on which Pimlico is built.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101121205140/http://www.grosvenorestate.com/About/History/The+London+Estate.htm The Grosvenor Estate], archive.org. Accessed 9 December 2022.</ref>

In 1970, whilst Roger Byron-Collins was a partner in Mullett Booker Estate Agents in Albion Street on the Hyde Park Estate, he sold the entire 27 acre freehold Pimlico Estate for £4.4 million to Jack Dellal of Dalton Barton Bank in a JV with Peter Crane of City and Municipal Properties, being a consortium controlled by the Hanson Trust.  He was introduced to the owners of the Estate by the Hon Brian Alexander, son of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis, who at that time represented Previews International, a part of Coldwell Banker.  Brian Alexander's friend, Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, owner of Mustique island in the Caribbean was friends with Henry Cubitt, Baron Ashcombe the chairman of the builders, Holland, Hannen and Cubbits who developed the estate comprising 480 homes in the 19th Century and were major shareholders in partnership with Harry Reynolds of Reynolds Engineering of then owners CR Developments.  Brian Alexander after leaving Previews International, eventually became MD of the Mustique Company for many decades..<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10497686/Lord-Ashcombe.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308231819/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10497686/Lord-Ashcombe.html |archive-date=8 March 2018|url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Lord Ashcombe – obituary|date=25 December 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>

Pimlico was connected to the [[London Underground]] in 1972 as a late addition to the [[Victoria line]]. Following the designation of a [[Conservation area#United Kingdom|conservation area]] in 1968 (extended in 1973 and again in 1990), the area has seen extensive regeneration. Successive waves of development have given Pimlico an interesting social mix, combining exclusive restaurants and residences with [[Westminster City Council]]-run facilities.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

''For a history of street name etymologies in the area see: [[Street names of Pimlico and Victoria]]''