Chiswick Waste, Stamford Brook, British Grove & St Peter’s Sq.: The fourth publish on my stroll which started at Kew Bridge Station on tenth of December 1989. The earlier publish was Bedford Park – 1989.
Bedford Park had performed an essential position within the growth of suburban housing for the prosperous with the Backyard Metropolis motion, however after wandering round surrounded by crimson brick for greater than an hour I used to be glad to get away from it and again to one thing fairly completely different.
We generally consider recycling as being new and inexperienced, nevertheless it has lengthy been essential in our financial system. Again in my younger days there have been ‘pig bins’ for waste meals on our road, my father spent half an hour or so neatly smoothing out and rolling our waste newspapers right into a neatly tied package deal to place out on the bin for salvage, and as children we’d eagerly search the neighbourhood for bottles to return to retailers and scrap copper, brass, aluminium, lead and zinc to take to our native scrap vendor for pennies. If you solely bought 6d per week out of your dad and mom for pocket cash each little helped.
After all sellers like this one largely labored on an industrial scale – the costs listed here are in kilos per hundredweight – and a hundredweight was 8 stone – 112 lbs or 50.8 kilograms.
Stamford Brook is now be referred to as one in every of London’s “Misplaced Rivers”. Wikipedia has a prolonged description of its advanced programs with at the least three sources, its six strands and 4 mouths into the Thames. When the county of London was carved from Middlesex in 1889 its most western course fashioned the boundary between the London Borough of Hammersmith and the Middlesex city districts of Brentford and Chiswick – and since 1965 between the London Boroughs of Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham.
One northern a part of the river is the Bollo Brook, and a few of its water was diverted to the lakes at Chiswick Home which nonetheless have and outflow to the Thames. However a lot of the remainder of the river had been culverted by 1900, largely turning into part of London’s sewage system. Hopefully the opening a number of days in the past of London’s supersewer will finish using two of the mouths at Chiswick and Hammersmith being storm overlows and discharging untreated sewage into the Thames.
British Grove additionally has a culvert working below it by way of a few of Stamford Brook was diverted. There was a observe right here from at the least the 18th century. The homes on Chiswick Excessive Highway instantly west of British Grove, some listed and courting from 1830-40, are named as British Terrace on the 1873 OS Map and British Grove seems as a slim observe alongside the boundary between Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham with homes solely on its west facet and the title British Grove throughout the lengthy again gardens of the homes on the west facet of St Peter’s Sq.. It had beforehand been a southern a part of Chiswick Area Lane and
Later elements of these again gardens had been constructed on and Grove Home at No 66 seems to this point from round 1930. It’s now 4 flats.
British Grove has a a number of small claims to fame. It was right here round 1863 that Frederick Walton first made linoleum having taken over the British Grove Works in 1860 from rubber manufacture Richard Beard. Sadly Walton’s works burnt down in 1862. They had been insured and had been rebuilt however had been too small and Walton moved to Staines which turned the centre for the event and manufacture of lino – although later a lot was made at Kirkaldy. The Staines works closed in 1974.
The Royal Chiswick Laundry was constructed within the rear backyard of twenty-two St Peter’s Sq. within the Eighteen Nineties, going through onto British Grove. The laundry closed in 1968 and the works had been used briefly by “an organization that added soundtrack to movie earlier than the property in 1973 turned the places of work, recording studios and premises of Island Information, who moved in with a employees of 65.” Their recording studio included “the bottom of the chimney, which was often utilized in recordings so as to add reverberation” to vocals.
Many locals had been relived when Island Information moved out and had been in 2005 changed by architects who retained and restored a lot of the buildings which had been renamed Island Studios.
That is No 22, the home in whose again backyard the Royal Chiswick Laundry was constructed, on the south-west nook of St Peter’ Sq.. The homes within the sq. had been in-built 1825-30 and 32 are Grade II listed.
The sq. was developed piecemeal by builders working to a grasp plan by the landowner George Scott on a part of his Ravenscourt Park Esate, “principally in-built teams of three, with stucco fronts, pediments and Ionic porches.” Between these homes you’ll be able to see the sq. chimney of the Royal Chiswick Laundry. And you’ll admire the architectural element.
Quantity 27 appears to be disappearing below foliage.
Two lions look fairly indignant at one another beside the steps to the door of Quantity 30, with an eagle above the doorway.
A few of the homes have gateposts with giant pineapples – and maybe others as soon as did. And right here once more that spectacular work above the facet gates, in addition to an eagle above the entrance door.
I took a number of extra photos across the sq., which actually is value a go to, earlier than dragging myself away from one in every of London’s most interesting squares in the direction of St Peter’s Church the place the following account will start.
Flickr – Fb – My London Diary – Hull Images – Lea Valley – Paris
London’s Industrial Heritage – London Images
All images on this web page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
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Tags: Bollo Brook, British Grove, Chiswick, Chiswick Excessive Rd, Chiswick Waste, eagle, Frederick Walton, Grove Home, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow, home, Ionic porches, linoleum, lions, London, London Images, pediments, peter Marshall, pineapple, Royal Chiswick Laundry, scrap steel, sland Information, St Peter’s Sq., Stamford Brook, Stamford Brook Highway, stucco fronts, urn
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