Category: West London

Whilst having a coffee break during our regular visit to Lakeside Shopping Centre, I found myself reflecting on the way life has changed since the 50’s and 60’s. In the 50’s, there were no shopping Centres such as Westfield, Lakeside and Bluewater with a multitude of shops located under one roof. No large DIY chains Continue reading

The introduction to Paulo Hewitt and John Hellier’s wonderful book on the late, great Steve Marriott reads: ‘Steve Marriott – All Too Beautiful’ – “I can’t live to anyone else’s rules.” ‘Steve Marriott was one of the music world’s most extraordinary individuals. A supremely gifted songwriter, singer and…schemer. A vocalist from the same mould as Continue reading

Following on from last year’s article on Francis Smith and the ‘Hammersmith Ghost’, a visit to the Black Lion then became essential. The pub is situated in Black Lion Lane and although it’s located very close to the river, any view of it is unfortunately obscured. Inside, I found the atmosphere very relaxed and had Continue reading

Hammersmith is a well populated area of West London, a commercial centre with a lot of indigenous Irish people who’ve made London their home. A kind of city within a city in a sense…surrounded and linked by other areas like Shepherd’s Bush, Fulham, Acton, Ealing, Chiswick and of course, the White City Estate. Hammersmith had Continue reading

Steve handed me my ticket for the match which he had generously bought and the programme. He tapped the programme with his finger saying, “You might want to check that out.” I did. By Christ ! There on page six in the ‘hoops messageboard’ section was a picture of my ugly mush astride a Mod Continue reading

As the Lovin’ Spoonful said: ‘What a day for a daydream’ except that this was no daydream, this was stark reality as I stepped into the shower in my tiny bed and breakfast room in Shepherd’s Bush Road on Saturday morning, 18th October last. The stark reality buzzing like a rusted chain-saw in my head Continue reading

Big Dave told me about some ghostly experiences he had at the Hanwell Community Centre many years ago and whilst researching its history, I came across a very brief mention of another paranormal occurrence there on a website that recorded: ‘The phantom sounds of youngsters laughing and crying can be heard from time to time, Continue reading

One of the most interesting connections with the Hanwell Community Centre is that Charlie Chaplin resided there for a period when it was a school. On a brief visit there last year with Big Dave, I was saddened to see that his statute had been vandalised. However, the good news was that after a lengthy Continue reading

This famous old tale was taken from a Christopher Wren School Historical Society booklet produced in 1965 and titled: ‘Memories of Old Hammersmith.’ The preface states that the story is based on facts taken from ‘The Public Spirit of Francis Smith’ by Marjory Allingham. I recently visited ‘The Black Lion’ and a separate article will Continue reading

The creation of the previous three parts of this series has had a remarkable influence on my brain ! I seem to remember more events the more I commit to paper ! So a few more observations of the life and times of the Kelmscott Gang follow (collective groan from all) I have covered more Continue reading