Editing Neasden (section)

===WW2 and post-war period===
[[File:Neasden Lane, London - geograph.org.uk - 1250257.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Shops on Neasden Lane, collectively called "Neasden Shopping Centre"]]
The [[Post Office Research Station]] was located nearby in [[Dollis Hill]]. There the [[Colossus computer|Colossus]] computers, among the world's first, were built in 1943-1944 and underneath it the [[Paddock (war rooms)|Paddock]] wartime cabinet rooms were constructed in 1939.

In 1945, [[Municipal Borough of Willesden|Willesden Borough]] council acquired land by the North Circular Road to build temporary [[prefab]] homes. There were two sites: one called Ascot Park built beside the gas factory, and another either side of The Pantiles public house (which is now converted into a [[McDonald's]] restaurant). Most of the prefab homes were demolished by the end of the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Ascot-Park-and-North-Circular-Road-prefabs-in-Neasden-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510024640/https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Ascot-Park-and-North-Circular-Road-prefabs-in-Neasden-1.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-10 |url-status=live|title=The Ascot Park and North Circular Road prefabs in Neasden, north-west London.|website=Prefabmuseum.uk|access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref>

The post-war history of Neasden is one of steady decline; local traffic congestion problems necessitated the building of an underpass on the North Circular Road that effectively cut Neasden in half and had a disastrous effect on the shopping centre by making pedestrian access to it difficult. The decline in industry through the 1970s also contributed to the area's decline. But nonetheless Neasden has survived, largely due to a succession of vibrant immigrant communities keeping the local economy afloat. [[Neasden Depot]] continues to be the main storage and maintenance depot for the [[London Underground]]'s [[Metropolitan line]] (and is also used by trains of the [[Jubilee line]]); it is London Underground's largest depot<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1086172287703|title=Metronet Rail - Having Outstanding Brand|website=Metronet Rail|access-date=7 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031080928/http://www.metronetrail.com/default.asp?sID=1086172287703|archive-date=31 October 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> and as such it is a major local employer.

[[Neasden Power Station]], which was built to provide power for the Metropolitan Railway, was closed and demolished in 1968.<ref>[http://www.ltmcollection.org/photos/themes/theme_sub.html?IXtoptheme=Power+stations&IXrefine=Neasden] {{dead link|date=July 2022}}</ref>

After the war, a new housing estate called [[St Raphael's Estate]] was built west of the North Circular Road and to the east of the [[River Brent]] and [[Wembley]].

[[File:Tesco - Brent Park, Neasden, NW10 - geograph.org.uk - 1043399.jpg|thumb|Wembley Tesco Extra in Neasden (with old signage)]]
In 1978, [[Tesco]] purchased a {{convert|43|acre|ha}} site in Neasden's Brent Park retail area by the North Circular Road. The borough council objected against the building of a superstore due to threats against local merchants. The superstore was eventually opened in 1985, and Tesco called it London's largest food store.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/tesco-plc|title=Tesco Plc|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/sainsbury-s-just-couldn-t-win-7286165.html|title=Sainsbury's just couldn't win|author=Deborah Ross|date=13 April 2012|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref> It continues to operate today as Tesco Extra Wembley.

In 1988, [[IKEA]] opened its second UK store at the Brent Park retail area, at the site of the old Ascot Gas Water Heater factory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ashfordplace.org.uk/our-work/working-our-local-community/generations-learning-exhibition/work|title=Work &#124; Ashford Place|website=Ashfordplace.org.uk|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
| title = Creative retailing at Ikea
| newspaper = Pinner Observer
| date   = 7 April 1988
| page   = 38
| url    = https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002510/19880407/295/0038
}}</ref>