Green Dragon Lane | >Re-PHOTO

Chiswick Cottage and Lionel Road Brentford: The previous post from my walk on Sunday 7th January 1990 was BHS, Rolls-Royce, Pubs & Funerals, Hammersmith – 1990

St Alban's Cottage, 164, Duke Rd, Chiswick, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-43 — *St Alban’s Cottage, 164, Duke Rd, Chiswick, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-43*

I can’t now remember how I got to Duke Road from Hammersmith – either by walking through some of the back streets or by taking a bus to Hogarth Lane where a footpath, Devonshire Passage, leads to Duke Road by the side of St Alban’s Cottage, a detached house dating from 1871.

This is on the Glebe Estate, formerly an open filed providing an income to the vicar of St Nicholas Church, Chiswick and owned by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and St Paul’s Cathedral who let it for building in 1869. As Gillian Clegg remarks, “That charming little enclave of Victorian cottages between Duke Road and Devonshire Road, Glebe Street and Fraser Street has become one of the most desirable, not to say expensive, places in which to live, which is somewhat ironic since the houses were built as homes for Chiswick’s less affluent.” And this is probably the most charming of the cottages in the area.

*RSR Fasteners, Station House, Lionel Rd, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-45*

I went up Duke Road to the Chiswick High Road in Turnham Green and I think probably jumped on another bus to Kew Bridge.

Lionel Road South runs from beside Kew Bridge Station to the Great West Road and is now dominated by Brentford Football Club’s Gtech Community Stadium. RSR Fasterners in Station House was close to the corner with Kew Bridge Road. All of the land in this area had been railway land and was important for bringing passengers and coal from the north of England in the 1850s. In 1990 this building was still on the edge of the station’s freight yard as the sign directing deliveries indicates. The company RSR Fasteners was founded in 1948 and moved here the following year. The business is now based in Hayes.

*Signage, Lionel Rd, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-31*

At the back of the signs here for Tunnel Cement, Brentford Commercials and others is a sign for the British Rail Freight Yard, although some sources say the goods yard closed in 1967. In the background you can see Kearney’s large shed and beyond it the Agfa building on the Great West Road.

*Rydal Engineering, Agfa, Lionel Rd, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-35*

The Agfa building was extensively refurbished and became 27 West but the rest was swept away with the development of the new Brentford stadium. There are now further plans for the development of the area.

I’m not sure that the rather rusted vehicle here was a good advert for the servicing provided by the Tony Western Garage.

*Rydal Engineering, Agfa, Lionel Rd, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1e-36*

Another view of Rydal Engineering and to the right of the Volvo lorry is Kearneys, with the Agfa building again in the background.

Agfa were one of the pioneers of colour negative film, introducing Agfacolor in 1932 and I’d occasionally used Agfa film, but they had failed to keep up with others and almost all of the colour I have put online was taken on Fujicolor – and when I made prints in the darkroom they were all on Fuji paper – except for the project ‘German Indications’ which I printed from transparencies on outdated Agfa reversal paper.

*Flats, Green Dragon Lane from Lionel Rd, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Hounslow, 1990, 90-1f-55*

Looking across Lionel Road was a parking yard protected by a tall fence, The railway line is lower down and out of sight beyond this, and the four tall blocks of flats are on Green Dragon Lane. Here is what I wrote about when they appeared in a picture from an earlier walk:

Six 23 storey blocks were built here as the Brentford Towers Estate in 1968 to 1972 by the London Borough of Hounslow.

Green Dragon Lane apparently got its name from a 17th century pub but there appears to be no record of where this was, though there are or were around 40 other pubs of that name elsewhere in the country. The name is usually thought either to have come from the Livery Badge worn by servants of the Herbert family, the Earl of Pembroke, which showed a bloody arm being eaten by a dragon or a reference to King Charles II’s Portuguese Catholic queen, Catherine of Braganza whose family badge was the Green Wyvern.

More from Brentford later.

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Kew Bridge & Gunnersbury 1989: I didn’t get our for a walk again in 1989 until the 10th of December, probably partly because of the weather with drizzle, mist, fog and some very cold days. But it was just a little warmer and I decided to go out. But at this time in London sunset is before 4pm and so I decided to take pictures fairly close to home so I could make an earlier start. Kew Bridge station is only around a half hour journey from my home.

*Brentford, from Footbridge, Kew Bridge Station, Kew Bridge, Hounslow, 1989 89-11i-42*

I made my first picture from the footbridge in the station taking me to the station exit. As you can see the station buildings were in pretty poor condition. The view includes the local landmark water pumping tower and the top of the engine house of Kew Bridge Engines, opened as a remarkable museum in 1975 (now renamed as London Museum of Water & Steam) and the tower blocks further down Green Dragon Lane. Six 23 storey blocks were built here as the Brentford Towers Estate in 1968 to 1972 by the London Borough of Hounslow.

Kew Bridge station gets rather crowded at times now, as Brentford’s new football stadium is next door.

*Spenklin House, Gunnersbury Avenue, Gunnersbury, Hounslow, 1989 89-11i-46*

I walked up to Gunnersbury Avenue where on the north-east corner of the Chiswick roundabout was this magnificently derelict former works of Spenklin Ltd. They appear to have made Power-operated work clamping devices and other engineering tools including boosters, clamps, cylinders and hydraulic ram heads. The company name was a contraction of Spencer Franklin. I think the next factory along – demolished by the time I took this – had been Permutit water softeners.

I think this building probably dates from around 1925 when the Brentford Bypass – soon better known as the Great West Road – was opened. The roundabout here came later along with its flyover in 1959.

*Spenklin House, Gunnersbury Avenue, Gunnersbury, Hounslow, 1989 89-11i-31*

A closer view of the entrance with its boards showing it had been acquired by Markheath Securities PLC a London property developer, though 49 per cent owned by The Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd. They appear to have been responsible for several developments in the area and to have made Section 106 contributions to Hounslow Council for improvements to nearby Gunnersbury Park.

*National Tyres, Gunnersbury Avenue, Gunnersbury, Hounslow, 1989 89-11i-33*

My memory – often false – tells me that this was on the west side of Gunnersbury Avenue (the North Circular Road) to Spenklin House and I think is probably from the same era. At least it is clear what the business of the National Tyre Service was and the building has a rather fine squad of Michelin men.

*Chiswick Rd, Acton Lane, Chiswick Park Station, Chiswick Park, Houslow, Ealing, 1989 89-11i-36*

Quite a long walk along Chiswick High Road took me to Acton Lane where I took this picture on the corner of Chiswick Road. A station was built here in 1879 when the District Railway was extended from Turnham Green to Ealing Broadway, but clearly that in the distance here is from the 1930s.

On the corner we have a rather unremarkable post-war building but with some rather remarkable Christmas decorations. The long shop front is now divided into separate shops.

*Chiswick Park Station, Chiswick Park, Ealing, 1989 89-11i-23*

A closer view of Chiswick Park Station, one of many characteristic stations by architect Charles Holden for London Underground and built in 1931-2. Holden’s first complete Underground stations were built on the Northern Line southern extension from 1926, but he later designed many more. This station remains almost as it was built and shares its features with many of his others. It was Grade II listed in 1987.

*Chiswick Park Station, Chiswick Park, Ealing, 1989 89-11i-1*

The interior of the tall drum-shaped ticket hall with a shop, Midas Gold Exchange at right. Useful signs above the exit tell the way to buses and to Acton Green, while the lower advertising panels are all for Underground posters. The Underground were pioneers in various ways in advertising – not least in the tall tower at this and other stations whose main if not only purpose was to carry their branding with the trade-mark roundel and station name.

I think the brick building at left which I think housed the ticket office was perhaps a later addition to the building which otherwise has been altered little.

To be continued.

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Tag: Green Dragon Lane

Chiswick Cottage and Lionel Road Brentford – 1990

Kew Bridge & Gunnersbury 1989