A Close Shave

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The pursuit of a cheap Travelodge had taken us north to Wembley. Well, the North Circular Road to be precise. The no man’s land between Hangar Lane and Wembley is car driver country and the chaotic traffic makes running a bus schedule almost impossible. We stood at Ealing Common and patiently waited, cursing the apparent lack of a schedule. The no show transpired to be the other prevailing issue in the Capital at present – a security scare. A bomb scare at Ealing Broadway. We made it back to base eventually. As I closed our tripled glazed outer window, I chuckled to myself at the notice by the lift of our accommodation. "Floor 3 is a Quiet Floor". The following morning the sun was shining brightly into the room and I was awake early. The 3 lanes of the North Circular outside were at a standstill already. It was 5.40 am. At £28 for a clean room in London within a 15 minute walk of the Underground, I still think it was price worth paying. The delays outside were ironically caused by a police BMW, which was being hoisted on to a recovery truck when we passed later on the bus. The crumpled front end suggested whatever pursuit it was on, had not gone according to plan. We took the Central Line to Perrivale on an architecture mission.



The main artery roads in and out of London were at one time industrial showcases. The great companies competed to build their grand headquarters and factories in the styles that would make you take note. The Hoover Building on the A40 at Perrivale was no exception. An Art Deco master piece. The changing times however often rendered these industrial masterpieces surplus to requirements and the end was sometimes brutal on the end of a demolition ball. The Hoover factory was saved as a Tesco, although disappointing this morning all the front sections were covered in scaffolding. 66 luxury apartments in the making. I settled for taking a some photographs of the Head Office building next door, which has been left predominantly unaltered. The Indian restaurant it houses has only been allowed to have a rear entrance. It was all a bit Miami Beach, except of course it was nowhere near as warm. The Lloyds Bank on the end of Bideford Terrace had also been preserved. Meanwhile, London life continues. The crackdown on terror seemed to be active on a Sunday morning, as 5 Police vehicles descended on a house a few yards further down the street. We retreated to the Central Line. The Art Deco theme at Osterley on the Piccadilly Line. The station originally opened in 1925 was redesigned in the modernist style by a Stanley Heaps. The concrete obelisk rises above the entrance. Heaps was the Chief Architect of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London until the 1940s and worked closely with consultant Charles Holden is bringing the face of modernist architecture to the outer London stations in the 1930s.



It was a 15 minute walk to Osterley Park. We were getting value from our National trust memberships again. The original mansion in the park was built in the 1570s by Thomas Gresham, Finance Minister to Queen Elizabeth II. She allegedly stayed here. The house eventually fell into the ownerships of the Childs family – wealthy bankers and goldsmiths from central London. They didn’t plan to acquire the house, but it was acquired as a result of a mortgage default. Francis and subsequently Robert Childs, spent a small part of their vast fortune on creating a Georgian mansion. They recruited Robert Adam as their architect. Francis Childs died, leaving brother Robert to carry on the plan. The house was never really designed to be lived in. It was created more as a latter day corporate hospitality venue for weekends with their rich friends and business associates. Although not members of the aristocracy, they kept the tradition of the time by creating 3 grand rooms for the King – just in case he ever passed by and decided to stay. As the King spent a lot of time at Windsor, he was always passing but never bothered to call in. Robert had planned to leave the banking business and the property to his daughter’s future husband. Alas she had other ideas and eloped to Gretna Green to tie the knot with someone entirely unsuitable. The house eventually passed to the Earls of Jersey before being gifted to the National Trust in 1948. A lot of the furniture was taken by the Victoria & Albert Museum, although now much of it is on loan. The area of parkland was well populated by families, exploiting the free entry. The actual house with an admission fee was largely ignored. The access was restricted to the lower floors although we had a 20 minute brief tour of the upper floor, which was a timed slot and limited numbers. A couple of well-spoken interlopers tried to join the group, causing some irritation amongst the volunteer guides who had not been schooled in conflict management with the aristocracy.



We caught a bus a mile or so down the Great Western Road and moved from Georgian back to Art Deco. Gillette Corner marks the start of the “Golden Mile” of the A4 - the finest Art Deco factory examples this side of Naples, New Zealand. This section of the A4 opened in 1925 to bypass the main Brentford High Street to the south. The golden years have long gone, but remnants of some of the best Art Deco design in the UK remains. The majority of the buildings were designed by Walis, Gilbert & Partners, who had been responsible for the Hoover factory earlier. There other specialist subject matter were bus garages, specifically for London Transport. Victoria Coach Station is also their work and is still very much in use today. The biggest travesty was the grandly named Firestone Tyre Company of America Headquarters - the first Firestone overseas factory. It was built in 1928 and demolished on one controversial Sunday in 1980 before the relevant preservation order could be applied. The only sections left are part of the railings and entrance facing the road. The Firestone logo was visible from our vantage point in the gated front section. There are some sections of wall remaining as you head down towards Hammersmith. The old gate house survived until 2004, when that also met with demolition.



Gillette Corner at the western end house the 1936 Gillette Factory with a huge column reaching up to touch the jets incoming into Heathrow. Gillette moved production to Poland in 2006 and the area now seemed to be dominated by the colossus which is Sky TV. The exterior parking was filled with TV trucks and screens blocked sight of what was actually going on within. A sign ironically stated "This is not a Sky TV Car Park". Really? The brick exterior does not make Gillette the winner of the beauty contestant. The other remaining buildings are more visually attractive, being largely white. The Coty Cosmetics Factory at 941 Great Western Road is now the BMI Syon Clinic. My personal favourite was the old Currys Factory & Head Office at the Hammersmith end, fully restored and now home of French bus shelter and advertising giant, J C Decaux. It is ironic that a modern incarnation of a Currys PC World warehouse now stands opposite. They call it progress in some circles.



We caught the bus to Hammersmith. A vehicle inexplicably stopped in the inside lane in front of the bus, whilst the passenger attempted to wrestle a huge pot out of the boot. We presumed this was a deliberate move to halt the bus so he could board. A verbal altercation followed. The bus pulled past and we were on our way. Chiswick High Street was busy with folk going about their everyday business. The coffee shops were well patronized. Small groups laid out in the sun on the grass by Turnham Green Church. We acquired our free coffees from Waitrose. It requires a small spend these days, but the supermarket thoughtfully provided tables and chairs outside for the “benefit of customers to enjoy their drink”. A fellow shopper on the next table bemoaned the lack of choice on the shelves via mobile phone to her partner. Caviar must have been out of stock! Alfies Antiques Market was still open for business. It was interesting to see just how much you can polish rosewood to appeal to the average Londoner ….. at a price naturally. The end product is missing the point - it is supposed to be vintage, not perfect. The free Tesco voucher today was Zizzi, so we made a brief reconnaissance of their outlet in Chiswick and then headed to the Express at Kew Bridge again. We were almost regulars now. I wasn’t distracted by the Scotland - England game today, so we engaged in conversation with the locals one of whom had just popped in for a glass of wine after an afternoon at the polo in Ham. As you do!



The journey back after our meal at Zizzi was less disrupted today. All quiet at Ealing Broadway.

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Photos

Hoover Factory
...now a Tesco supermarket

J C Decaux
...formerly Currys

Firestone Factory
......the gates and former main entrance

Hoover Factory
......now a Tesco supermarket

Comments

[Rainyb]

Thanks for the flower breaks! :o)

[Rainyb]

Love it!!! LOL

[Rainyb]

Great intro to their industrial zone? Thanks.