First World War: Herbert comes home
A local soldier has been recognised in Ealing, almost a century after his death. Herbert Crook, known as Harry, died while fighting on one of the First World War’s most notorious battlefields, the Somme. Like thousands of other soldiers who lost their lives in the chaos of trench combat on the frontline in France and Belgium, […]
The name is Bond…
Just overlooking Acton Park are several large houses in Centre Avenue. In October 1962, one of these, named Accacia, was bought for £9,000 by Sean Connery and his then wife, Diane Cilento. Earlier that year, Connery had shot to fame by starring in the first James Bond film, Dr No. His first experiences of Acton were […]
Never quite a manor
From medieval estate, to Victorian garden parties and collections of Rembrandt paintings, and eventually a health centre…an old home in Northolt has had an interesting ‘life’. There was an estate known as Islips ever since the 14th Century, named after its first known owners Simon and Ela Riselip, though it was never a manor – […]
Second World War: Northolt’s Polish heroes
Between August-November 1940, the Battle of Britain raged over our skies, during a critical early phase of the Second World War. RAF Northolt became an operational front-line base, with its pilots playing a vital role in saving the nation. Polish fighter squadrons were formed in Britain as part of an agreement with the Polish government […]
Gates to the past: Southall 1698
Southall Market has recently undergone a change, with the town’s new car park altering its lay-out. Gates have gone up to commemorate the original market’s royal charter, awarded in 1698. But what was Southall like 300 years ago? What we would now call Southall was, in the 17th Century, a collection of sparsely populated hamlets. […]
Singer honoured in Acton
A plaque has been unveiled in Acton on the site of the former house of the late singer and actor Adam Faith. Deputy mayor of Ealing, Councillor Patricia Walker, performed the honours on Wednesday (19 August) in Acton Park. Adam Faith was the stage name of Terry Nelhams. Terry was born in a house which […]
Murder or manslaughter?
In the morning of 5 August 1936 Linford Derrick, a tennis coach, entered Ealing Police Station and declared that he had just murdered his best friend and wanted to make a full confession. Yet, when Derrick went on trial later that year he pleaded not guilty and claimed that he had only acted in self-defence. […]
First World War: Indian soldiers
An exhibition at Gunnersbury Park tells the stories of the importance of soldiers from India to the eventual Allied victory in the First World War. During the war, more than a million Indian soldiers were deployed as part of the Allied war effort and 74,000 were killed in action. They served all over the world, […]
The Martin brothers
Southall’s most celebrated craftsmen were the four Martin Brothers and their work is still collected almost a century after their deaths. Some of their work is now on display in the refurbished and reopened Dominion Centre. They were potters whose output peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps their most famous works […]
Gunnersbury’s past glories
We have reported in Around Ealing about the restoration project for Gunnersbury Park and its listed buildings. They have had an illustrious past. In 1663, Serjeant Maynard, a well-known lawyer, bought the estate. He led the prosecution in the 1640s against some of Charles I’s major supporters and his career prospered, not just under Cromwell, […]
Ealing and the Blitz
September 2010 marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the aerial attacks on Britain by the German air force – which were known collectively as ‘the Blitz’. These night-time attacks took place from September 1940 to May 1941. It was an attempt to cause as much damage and death as possible in order to weaken […]
An obscure little river?
Is that what you think of Ealing’s river, the River Brent, asks borough archivist Dr Jonathan Oates? It flows through Greenford and Hanwell before joining the canal and then into the Thames and it is true that it is not wide or deep enough to handle boats either for pleasure or for commerce. Yet it […]