FREE CHISWICK, ISLEWORTH, BRENTFORD & OSTERLEY
APRIL - MAY 2020
35 YEARS OF
Eastenders Great West HEDGE PLANS
Re-creating AN AIR RAID SHELTER IN ISLEWORTH
A flower
MARKET FOR CHISWICK Easter at Hen Corner • Great West Hedge • Re-creating an air-raid shelter in Isleworth 35 years of EastEnders • Chiswick Flower Market • Beautiful wallpapers at Emery Walker’s house • Healing Garden at St Pauls, Brentford • Osterley House Bedford Park Bicycle Club
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Direct Colour A5 Portrait advert Salmon copy.pdf
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09/01/2020
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APRIL - MAY 2020
Contents 9
INSIDE
Features
Regulars
Brentford Together 6
4
Letter from the Editor
8
Hen Corner Sara Ward preparing her garden
A healing garden
9
Hot Cross Buns An Easter recipe
10-11 Re-creating an
GET IN TOUCH
air raid shelter In Isleworth
13
DIRECTOR Amanda Rowley info@outaboutmagazine.co.uk Tel: 07967 660772 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Gerry Devine geraldineholden@icloud.com Tel: 07710 574479 EDITOR Bridget Osborne bridget@thechiswickcalendar.co.uk PUBLISHER out&about Magazines Banstead, Surrey www.outaboutmagazine.co.uk Tel: 07967 660772
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The Great West hedge Plans to bring biodiversity and reduce pollution
16
18
Gardening Tips for spring
18-19 Flower Market
In Chiswick
20-21 35 years of Eastenders
A look at the original set
22
Coffee break
25 Bedford Park Bicycle Club
Returns after a gap of 140 years
26-27 Emery Walker
Arts and Crafts wallpapers All information in this edition was correct at time of publication but may be subject to change.
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Published by: out&about Magazines. While we endeavour to make sure that all published information is accurate, the publishers cannot be held responsible for mistakes or omissions or any loss resulting from non-publication of an advertisement. While all reasonable care is made to ensure accuracy of information, the publisher accepts no responsibility for the views or claims made by any of the contributors, advertising or editorial content included. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ‘out&about’ or the editor. Terms and conditions apply. Please recycle your magazine.
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3
EDITOR'S LETTER
Welcome It’s tricky writing Out & About at the moment. In & Isolated would be nearer the mark, especially as everything I had planned to write about has been cancelled!
the site of the old market-place in Chiswick the Columbia Rd of west London. P18
I’ve chosen some articles which I hope you will find interesting and take your mind off things, just for a bit.
I imagine we’ve all been watching a lot more television. EastEnders has just celebrated 35 years. I reckon if you watched all the episodes from the beginning, when you emerge the Coronavirus should have gone! You might also be slightly detached from the real world, but maybe that’s no bad thing. Les McCallum, a retired TV set designer, talks about the early days when his friend Mike Hagan was given the job of creating Albert Square. P20
Hen Corner celebrates 10 years this year. Not quite as upbeat a celebration as they’d hoped. Normally the place would be bursting with families ooh-ing and ah-ing at fluffy chicks and making Easter goodies. Instead Sara Ward offers you her recipe for hot cross buns to make at home. P8 There is something of the Blitz spirit in the air. How timely then, that Les McCallum has been re-creating a wartime shelter. His neighbour in Isleworth discovered he had one, intact, in the back garden, and the two of them have been having great fun restoring it to a cosy bolt hole. P10 As we start thinking more seriously about Climate Change, Karen Liebreich of Abundance London reports on moves afoot to create a Great West Hedge: a green pollution barrier along the A4. P13 She is also one of the key people behind an initiative to create a flower market in Chiswick. Our hope is to make
Emery Walker’s house in Hammersmith is decorated throughout in its original Arts & Crafts style, with furnishings and furniture, art works and knickknacks all of the period. Lucinda MacPherson has been focusing on their collection of William Morris wallpapers. P26 Hope you enjoy reading this issue. Stay safe and keep well. Best wishes,
Bridget
Editor: Bridget Osborne
COVER IMAGE Easter with Hen Corner P8
Vintage Mobile Horse Trailer Bar Available to hire for any event!
Weddings Private Parties Corporate Events Birthdays Nelly Ali. Photograph by Pam Wade
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BRENTFORD TOGETHER
A
Healing GARDEN
Cultivate London and Brentford Together create a healing garden at St Pauls Church in Brentford The church is located at the centre of Brentford and has been standing since 1867. Cultivate London were allowed access to the garden at St Pauls church in Brentford in the Spring of 2019. We were looking for a location to host horticulture workshops that would form part of the Brentford together project. The garden space that wrapped around the church had become overrun with ivy and brambles.
Within the tangled mass of stems and branches a few gems were still visible including large fig, passionflower and cluster of raspberries. Over the last year Cultivate London have worked with local volunteers and a team of willing helpers from Emarsys to clear the weeds and turn the soil
leaving us with a blank canvas ready for a garden to be made. Moving forward we are taking our cue from the apothecary gardens of the past where plants provided the raw materials for the healing tinctures apothecaries used in their work. We hope the new garden can provide inspiration and healing as did the garden of the apothecary in times gone by.
For more information, please contact alice.vodden@globalactionplan.org.uk | 0203 817 7636
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BRENTFORD TOGETHER Come along to free community-led health and wellbeing sessions in Brentford
Upcoming Sessions
Sewing on the Cathja Barge:
Every Tuesday, 6-8pm
Knitting at Brentford Dock:
Every Wednesday, 2-4pm
Cooking at St Paul's:
1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, 10am-1pm
- Adults:
2nd and 30th April, 4th June, 2nd July
- Families with young children:
16th April, 28th May, 18th June, 16th July
Gardening at St Paul's:
2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, 10am-1pm 9th & 23rd April, 14th & 28th May, 18th & 25th June, 16th & 23rd July
Bike Hub at Brentford Market:
Every
1st Sunday of the month
10am-12pm - bike maintenance drop in 12-1pm - short bike ride
Due to limited space, booking onto sessions is strongly recommended
All abilities welcome!
To book, please contact 07947885374 or alice.vodden@globalactionplan.org.uk
HEN CORNER
IT’S
Easter TIME!
Nelly Ali. Photograph by Pam Wade
Even though chocolate eggs have been in the supermarkets since Boxing Day, Easter is now well and truly on its way and, sandwiched between a pair of bank holidays, it’s the perfect opportunity to forget about the day job and focus on that which we hold dear. I like to follow the tradition of planting my seed potatoes on Good Friday, last year, following a tip from a neighbour, we tried the red skinned Desiree variety and were really pleased with the delicious floury potatoes that we harvested later in autumn. As a Christian festival, Easter is traditionally associated with symbols of new life such as eggs, flowers, rabbits and hot cross buns. Aside from the rabbits we are overflowing with everything else and usually we love to share it with the wider community. We are hoping to continue running our weekly micro-bakery, bringing real bread made with organic ingredients to our local community, but if we don’t get to
see you in person, I have included my recipe for hot cross buns on the opposite page. This year, Easter Sunday is also our 10th anniversary. I still can’t believe that a blog with a Twitter account and a label for a chutney jar, for that’s how Hen Corner began, has become the award-winning business it is today. Every day I’m thankful for the opportunities that I have to spend my days doing what I love most, baking, bee keeping and sharing skills with others. With more bank holidays just around the corner in May, I intend to plan in both seasonal jobs in the garden, we should be able to get young tomato plants in the ground by the end of the month, and some al fresco meals with family and friends. Let’s hope for another summer of sunshine.
HenCorner.com
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HOT CROSS BUNS
HOT
Cross BUNS
Ingredients for dough:
Method
500g strong white flour 1 tsp dried yeast 1 tsp salt 40g caster sugar 250ml milk 60g butter, softened 2 eggs Fruits & Spice: 250g mixed dried fruit 3 tsp mixed spice Large mug of strong Earl Grey tea Crosses: 50g plain flour 2 tsp oil pinch baking powder 1 tsp caster sugar Milk for piping consistency Honey Glaze: 2 tbsp honey mixed with 2 tbsp hot water
1. Soak the dried fruit and spice in the hot tea, leave to infuse.
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2. Combine all dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, work the dough for 15 minutes, shape into a tight ball, place in a large bowl, cover and leave to rest for 1 hour. 3. Preheat oven to 200c 4. Once dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a lightly floured surface, lift corners and ease into a large rectangle, drain the mixed fruit and scatter over the dough before folding it in. 5. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, shape into tight buns and place on a parchment lined baking tray, cover and proof until doubled in size. 6. Combine ingredients for cross paste and pipe onto buns. 7. Bake at 200c for approx. 12-16 mins, look for firm, risen, golden buns. 8. Remove from oven and brush with warm honey glaze.
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AIR RAID SHELTER IN ISLEWORTH Bob and Les
RE-CREATING AN
Air Raid Shelter IN ISLEWORTH
Going stir crazy being cooped up? Les McCallum recreates what it would have been like in wartime. Recently a neighbour of mine, Bob Cartwright, was digging in his garden when the spade hit something hard. Bricks? Drains? No, further digging revealed solid concrete. Intrigued he kept at it and to his amazement uncovered a WW2 Air raid shelter. Over the course of the next few weeks he managed to clear all the earth from within, uncovering nothing more exciting than several 1950s lemonade bottles as he went: Corona, R,Whites, Batty’s and one very nice half pint milk bottle.
by the Luftwaffe. What was it like to hear those dreaded sirens, gather your clothes and supplies and rush into the cold dark night and take cover in a freezing shelter? Pulling out some books from the shelf I did some research into WW2 shelters and then made a trip to the Imperial War Museum to glean more information. What would they take with them, what would they store inside, and how did they sleep?
I was invited to have a look inside when it had been cleared and dried out. The steep steps led down to a solid concrete blast wall to protect the family from shrapnel. Behind was a very small chamber. It got me to thinking what it must have been like to spend the night in this concrete refuge.
How would they heat it? The advice was not to take flammable liquids down into the shelter for obvious reasons but a Primus stove and kettle could be found in most shelters for making the essential “cupper tea’. One solution to providing heat was to place a medium sized flowerpot over a candle; this would burn for several hours radiating a low level source of heat and be quite safe. with no toxic fumes.
As someone born in 1945 just before the end of the war, I have no idea of the fear, hardship and discomfort experienced by those who endured five years of bombing
My next task would be to build the bunk beds in this cramped environment and then search for period 1940s props to dress the shelter: old tins, bedding, toys,
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AIR RAID SHELTER IN ISLEWORTH books, old photographs, anything that would have been taken for emergencies, clothes in a suitcase just in case your house was flattened. Water, dried fruit in tins, playing cards, dominoes, cigarettes, matches, candles. Photographs of loved ones who might be away in another country or on an air base servicing the bombers as my mum had been doing in the WRAF. A Union Jack and a photo of the king were one of the essentials for keeping up morale. I quite enjoyed doing all this, as my job before I retired was in television as an Art Director, so of course we had to film it. Ready for filming. Night has fallen, the moon is shining and I get my neighbour to run from the house in darkness wearing his pyjamas and dressing gown. My Grandson Myles is in full Director mode and requests that we do that again.
It’s amazing how quickly it warmed up inside due to the thickness of the walls and low ceiling. The one thing missing which I am glad to say we didn’t have was the sound effects. Heavy thuds of bombs hitting the ground, explosions, fire engines, and sirens would have been terrifying. Before starting the film, I asked lots of people in their 80s what it was like to take refuge in a shelter whether it was a Morrison, Anderson’s or council shelter. My Aunt told me that she once put her foot in the bucket as she was rushing down the steps, spilling the contents. Needless to say she wasn’t very popular that night. Guess what? this happened several times to us luckily the bucket was for show only.
We are now filming inside and to be honest it is very cosy, the candles flicker and give off a warm glow, I got up onto the bunk bed and realised that a night in here was out of the question, I couldn’t stretch my legs.
Air raid shelter in Isleworth
Les (top bunk) and Bob (below)
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Calendar THE CHISWICK
The Chiswick Calendar is a local website which tells you what’s going on in our area on a day to day basis. Beautiful photographs by local photographers - Page per day listings of what’s on, constantly updated - Interesting videos - Our own events. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter and get a free club card, giving you access to deals and discounts from quality local businesses.
Go to www.thechiswickcalendar.co.uk
THE GREAT WEST HEDGE
THE
Great WEST HEDGE
Karen Liebreich, Director of Abundance London Karen Liebreich of Abundance London writes about plans to bring biodiversity and reduce pollution with a roadside hedge. The Great West Hedge - a protective and attractive green barrier of trees and hedging - is proposed along the verges of the A4. This would block some of the pollution for pedestrians, cyclists, residents and schoolchildren, providing more greenery, a wildlife corridor and an improved street scene, while filtering out some of the road noise. In partnership with Steve Pocock from National Park City, Kate Hollis from Park Life West (and St Peter’s School, and Andrea Carnevali from Chiswick Oasis (St Mary’s RC School) Abundance London organised a walk along the A4 with representatives of Transport for London, the London Borough of Hounslow and Hounslow Highways to discuss how to green the A4 – whether with a high hedge to provide a barrier against pollution, a lower hedge to protect children, wildflower verges to improve biodiversity or any other improvements.
The group was made up of the TfL engineer/designer and a communities partnership officer, Hounslow Highways’ tree officers, and Hounslow council’s transport and contracts officers. We walked on the north pavement from Chiswick to Hammersmith, and then back again to Chiswick, starting at Abundance’s latest experimental flower patch outside the Porsche garage, passing schools such St Mary’s, St Peter’s, the London Free and Latymer Schools in Hammersmith and ending up on the elevated dual carriageway above Harvard Hill Park. All along the journey residents from adjacent groups such as Stilehall Gardens, Furnivall Gardens, Friends of Harvard Hill Park came out to give the officials their views and ask how their area could participate. It felt like a very positive experience with the officials genuinely interested in the residents’ views, and the residents excited to meet and share their hopes. It’s to be hoped that some genuine improvements result from this initiative.
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HEAD
Gardener’s NOTES
From Andy Eddy, Head Gardener at Osterley Park NT During the strange times that we are living through during the Coronavirus outbreak there are still many things that we can do at home to grow vegetables and herbs that will not only provide us with a useful and tasty addition to our weekly food shop but also help to relieve the boredom of staying in our homes. Anything that we can do at home to help relieve stress can only benefit our mental health and wellbeing. As you can see from the photos we sow our seeds in small pots to start with and then ‘prick out’ – transfer - them to individual small pots to grow on. These can then be grown finally in large pots or in raised beds or in the garden. This has the additional benefit of helping
to keep slugs and snails at bay and also for easier identification of the signs of these annoying little pests. Most veg can be grown successfully at home even in the British climate and the seeds can be ordered online to be delivered. You do not need a large garden to do this or even a garden at all as many pots can be arranged on even the smallest of balconies and window boxes, with the bonus of the extra light gained from being above ground level, can be used to grow a whole range of herbs such as the flat leaf Italian parsley shown in the photo. Other herbs that can be grown in this way include basil; thyme; fennel and many of the smaller veg
such as chilli peppers; cherry tomatoes; cut-andcome-again lettuce and radish. As you can see in the second photo raised beds, like ours at Osterley, which we have for our Family Garden Club, can be easily constructed from scaffold planks. These are then much easier to manage and once filled – with compost not soil - will never need to be dug so saving all that backbreaking work each winter digging over the allotment or veg patch. All in all growing vegetables and herbs at home will not only provide food and flavourings but also be a fun way to relieve the stress and boredom of staying inside.
Š National Trust 2019. Registered Charity no. 205846. Photography Š National Trust Images
Join us at Osterley House for a Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt Saturday 4 - Sunday 19 April 10.00am-4.00pm
Follow the spring trail and explore the beautiful gardens at Osterley to receive a delicious Cadbury treat.
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CHISWICK FLOWER MARKET
Chiswick
FLOWER MARKET
Bridget Osborne looks forward to the creation of a new Flower Market in the centenary year of Chiswick’s old outdoor market A group of residents and businesses in Chiswick has come together to set up a flower market once a month on Sundays on the site of the old Chiswick Market, in front of the row of shops between the police station (now closed) and George IV pub. We have published a business plan and set up a Community Interest Company to run it, with the Director of Abundance London Karen Liebreich, commercial surveyor Ollie Saunder and myself as co-directors. Abundance London has project managed several big community projects in Chiswick and Isleworth. We have council backing and we’re currently working through logistical issues such as licensing and traffic management with LB Hounslow. Our motivation is to try and revitalize the economy of Chiswick High Rd by making it the Columbia Rd of west London. Pre-Coronavirus, Columbia Rd flower market was normally heaving with people and trendy shops have sprung up, many of which only open on Sundays to cater for the crowds. Opening Chiswick Flower Market on the site of Chiswick’s historic market would be a brilliant way of marking the centenary of the original. Towards the end of 1919 Chiswick Market was
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opened, becoming established in early 1920, in response to a different economic need – men returning home from fighting in the First World War who needed an income, at a time when shops in the High Rd were too few and too expensive to meet consumers’ needs. On 20 February 1920, a correspondent who signed himself merely as ‘X’ wrote to The Chiswick Times: ‘the amount of shop accommodation in the Chiswick High-road is altogether inadequate to the requirements of the locality’. On 27 February The Chiswick Times reported: ‘At a meeting of the Chiswick Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Mr H Johnson presiding over a good attendance, Mr J Sander moved the following resolution: ‘That in the opinion of this meeting a municipal market for Chiswick as a permanent institution is desirable in order that the public of all classes may have full facilities for the purchase of commodities… … He believed the commodities sold there were such as to benefit the people who had “felt the pinch”, and they were not always those who were termed the working
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CHISWICK FLOWER MARKET done in pre-war days), and when they seek re-election we women shall bear this is mind.
classes, but many were of the middle class, whose earning power had not increased, through prices had gone up’. Mr Sanders lost that vote, as the members of the Chiswick Chamber of Commerce saw the market as a threat to their profits. He lost the battle but won the war, as the outdoor market continued to trade for several years until it was moved inside Linden House in 1924 and became a permanent fixture where the police station is currently. On 3 March 1920 a woman resident wrote to The Chiswick Times, giving the Chamber members something to think about: ‘Members of the Chiswick Council will do well to remember that they depend on the vote of the women, as well as that of the mere man (who never has to go shopping and make 10s go as far as a £1 would have
‘Possibly the members of the said Council have never had to stand in a queue (unless perchance at a “first night” at the theatre) in order to obtain the commonest, commodities of life, as most of us were obliged to do during the war. ‘And now, when a market is forthcoming, where a few pence can be saved, a slight compensation for the tremendous increase in the cost of almost everything in our homes, one cannot believe that they will abolish what is, and has been, a boon to many of those whose incomes are but slender’. The idea for the Flower Market predates the Coronavirus, and hopefully it will be one of the things which gets us back on our feet once it has passed. Thanks to Tracey Logan for historical research.
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EASTENDERS
35 years
OF EASTENDERS Les McCallum, from Isleworth, was a TV set designer and remembers the original set being built It was more than 30 years ago that my friend Mike Hagan, a construction manager at the BBC was given the task of creating the Albert square at Elstree studios. The set designer was Keith Harris, producer Julia Smith; the brief, to turn a muddy patch of land into an East End community with Victorian houses, a pub, laundrette, cafe and railway bridge, not forgetting the market. Mike was to construct the Victorian terraces, the pub, garages, roads, and various shops in the summer and autumn of 1984. The roads were to have drainage and streetlights. The houses, which had lighting and power sockets, were about eight ft deep. A steel structure supported the scenery and slippery metal stairs at the back gave access to the bedrooms on the first floor. The whole lot was designed to have a life span of five years. The brick walls were panels of plaster made to look like brickwork, fixed to plywood backing, painted and then aged. As the programme became popular and the five
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years passed, the weather started to affect the scenery. The carpenters and painters had a never-ending job of keeping it in good repair, constantly replacing rotten timbers and crumbling plaster brickwork. Of course, when an actor was filmed going through the doorway the action would be continued in the studio, so it was essential that the camera didn’t see too far inside the doorway and would always be shot at an angle. The show had been running for ten years when I was sent to Elstree studios as a set designer and my first job was design Dot Cotton’s kitchen. EastEnders has two studios which contained all the interior sets. Some such as the Queen Vic, the Fowlers and the Laundrette never moved. Other sets were set in or struck according to the script for that week. As the sets were so close, seeing through the window could be a problem, as the view actually gave onto the back of another scenery panel. The solution was
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EASTENDERS to stretch and staple a fine white gauze mesh to the back of the window reveal and shine the studio lamps onto it. The effect was to give a glare as though the sun is shining through. Add some decorative nets and it looked real enough. One morning as I was coming out of the cafeteria after breakfast, I saw Barbara Windsor looking lost and nervous. Offering to direct her to the producer’s office, she struck up a conversation saying that she hadn’t worked for some time and was nervous at taking on the role as the landlady of the Queen Vic. As we walked along the corridor I pointed out all the Black and White framed photographs of her when she had worked at the studios some years before, she felt a little bit more at home and within a week had settled into her new role and became a most convincing landlady. I imagine the cast and crew really miss her now that she is no longer in the show, especially her laughter. A little story that I often tell friends, is when filming had finished, a minicab had been called to collect B.W. from the studios make up room and take her home. When, ten minutes after the arranged pick up time, no car had arrived, a call was made to the mini cab office. “He’s on his way” Ten minutes later, no car. “He’s waiting outside, been there twenty minutes” Still no car and another irate call and the cab office rang the driver “Where are you? “Outside the Queen Vic, been here ages”. Somehow the driver had managed to find his way onto the “Lot” past the barrier and was sat waiting outside the scenery pub. Barbara took it in good humour when she heard and the driver was instructed rather sheepishly to drive around to the dressing rooms and pick her up. It just goes to show how realistic the sets are. This year saw the 35th anniversary of the show and it is still as popular as ever. The EastEnders set is undergoing an £87million overhaul, replacing plywood and plasterboard with something a bit more durable which can stand up to the scrutiny from HD cameras.
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21
COFFEE BREAK
See page 24 for the answers!
Coffee BREAK SUDOKU
SPRING QUIZ 1. On the first day of spring, the hours of daylight and of darkness are equal. True False 2. During the vernal equinox, around March 21st, an egg will stand on its small end. True False
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Platform for public speaking (7)
1. Slimmed down (7)
5. Powdered tobacco for inhailing (5) 2. Expand (5) 8. Clothe (5)
3. Look up to (7)
9. Putting through a sieve (7)
4. Edible shellfish (6)
10. Institute of higher education (7)
5 . Long upholstered seats (5)
11. Brief (5)
6. Fabulous animal (7)
12 . Erase (6)
7. Combat (5)
14. French brandy (6)
13. Assassinated US president (7)
18. Frenzied (5)
15. Formal speech (7)
20. Poker-faced (7)
16. Own up (7)
22. Be on your guard (4,3)
17. Prepared for publication (6)
23. Ernie (anag.) - girl’s name (5)
18. Black tooth (5)
24. Enclosed kitchen fireplace (5)
19. Routine task (5)
25. Asses (7)
21. Portion (5)
22
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3. The ancient Greeks celebrated Mother’s Day in spring. True False 4. Finding a four-leaf clover is thought to bring you good luck. True False 5. The area along the CaliforniaOregon border, is known as the “Easter Lily Capital of the World.” True False 6. Baby birds must learn how to sing. True False 7. Arbor Day, which encourages the planting of trees and celebrates the role trees play in the environment, is traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in April. True False 8. Spring Fever is a real physical condition. True False
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SPRING
ART FAIR 16 &17 MAY 2020 10am - 5pm
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BEDFORD PARK BICYCLE CLUB
Jeremy Vine and Nicholas Woolner MBE with other founder members of the Bedford Park Bicycle Club
Peter Murray
Bicycle Club
BEDFORD PARK
Successfully Relaunched after 140 Years One of the oldest clubs in Chiswick has been re-launched, 140 years after its heyday. When Bedford Park was built in the 1880s as the first ‘garden suburb’, it was marketed as ‘the healthiest place in the world’. The Metropolitan District Railway was opening up the countryside around London, and the middle class could buy houses that were away from the grime of the city. Now congestion on the roads has made air pollution a problem once more, and we are being encouraged to take to cycling as a way of reclaiming residential neighbourhoods as ‘liveable’ places.
Over a hundred people turned up to the inaugural meeting which was introduced by Nigel Woolner MBE, President of the Bedford Park Society, quoting HG Wells’ famous comment: “when I see an adult on a bicycle I do not despair for the future of the human race”. Since the Covid outbreak, the Club is looking into organising bicycle collections for shopping or medicines for local vulnerable residents. Membership £10 per year, payable via the website.
Architect Peter Murray, a resident of Bedford Park, had the idea of re-launching the society when he came across photographs of local Victorian cyclists. At the end of the nineteenth century there was an explosion in the popularity of bicycling. By the end of the century there were more than 350 bicycle manufacturers in London. Bicycling was emancipating for Victorian and Edwardian women, as it afforded a measure of independence and was one of the early drivers of more practical clothing, such as knickerbockers instead of skirts, which then led to the acceptance of women wearing trousers.
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EMERY WALKER’S HOUSE
Staring
AT THE FOUR WALLS If you’re going to be staring at the four walls of your home they’d better be good looking walls! Lucinda MacPherson examines the Arts& Crafts wallpapers of Emery Walker’s house in Hammersmith. If walls could talk, the beautifully covered ones at Emery Walker’s House at 7 Hammersmith Terrace would speak the language of Arts & Crafts, an influential Victorian aesthetic influencing homes to this day. For this house museum belonged to a key member of the Arts and Crafts movement, and its walls are clad in original Morris & Co hand-blocked wallpapers communicating the movement’s social and aesthetic aspirations. William Morris, a close friend of Walker, railed against the rapid social change brought on by the industrial revolution, extolling the virtues of the medieval guild made up of skilled craftsmen and women who created handcrafted items from good quality materials. These ambitions are evident in his wallpapers, as Morris’s company rejected mass-produced roller printing, introduced in the 1840s, in favour of hand-cut wallpaper blocks which had to be printed individually. Each part of this time-consuming process (only one
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colour could be printed a day, as it had to dry before the next block was applied) demanded a team of skilled artisans. Despite his best intentions to bring high quality craft to the masses, Morris’s production techniques were prohibitively expensive. St James’s Palace boasts Morris’s most expensive paper which involved a grand total of 68 print blocks. All of Morris’s designs at 7 Hammersmith Terrace are inspired by nature and some are instantly recognisable to the contemporary viewer. If you watch Channel 4’s Gogglebox, you will know ‘Willow Bough’ for the way it envelops Mary Killen and Giles Wood as they watch TV, with the curtains, wallpaper and chair cover all of the same pattern. “It does make us look a bit obsessive” Mary admits. A sharp-eyed Jennifer Saunders, watching the programme, spotted its comedic value and turned it into a comedy sketch in her 2017 Christmas show, with herself as Mary, dressed head to toe in ‘Willow Bough’ pattern fabric and all but disappearing in the foliage.
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EMERY WALKER’S HOUSE Daisy wallpaper detail
Stairway with Willow Bough wallpaper
‘Willow Bough’ runs rampant up three flights of walls by the staircase at Emery Walker’s House, as if seeking sunlight on the top floor. A similar pattern called ‘Willow’ preceded it by 13 years and can be seen in an unusual dark blue colour scheme in the Dining Room.
‘Poppy and Apple’ wallpaper can also be seen on house tours in unusual colourways, but the rarest wallpaper at the house is thought to be what was enigmatically called ‘Wallflower’ (it isn’t). It is believed this design was created exclusively for Robert Bulwer-Lytton, who became the British Ambassador to Paris after he had resigned as Viceroy of India. After the paper had been hung, several rolls were left over, and these were given to Walker by Lytton’s artist son Neville. Wallflower in the Drawing Room
Willow wallpaper in the dining room As well as nature, Morris studied medieval illuminated manuscripts, which he studied both in the Bodleian Library in Oxford when he was a student, and in the British Museum. ‘Daisy’, for instance, the very first wallpaper published by Morris’ firm, and which can be found in the main bedroom at Walker’s house. was inspired by the 15th century Froissart’s Chronicles and features plants in white, red, and yellow on a pale ground, flecked with streaks, suggestive of grass.
Coronavirus permitting, Emery Walker’s House holds specialist tours focusing on its wallpaper collection in which visitors explore the history of wallpaper and see archive designs, rarely on show to the public, at The William Morris Society’s premises before a tour of Emery Walker’s House.
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ASHTON HOUSE SCHOOL
ASHTON HOUSE SCHOOL
50/52 Eversley Crescent Isleworth Middlesex TW7 4LW
50/52 Eversley Crescent Isleworth Middlesex TW7 4LW
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Ashton House School has for the past a happy, 80 years beenfrom offering highpurposeful quality primary education with to children environment high academic standards and an primary education the surrounding areas; enriched by to children from enriching broad-based curriculum which aims at a purposefulthe environment with high surrounding areas; by ‘adding inordinate value’ to each enriched child’s learning.
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academic standards and an inspiring,
a purposeful environment with high We have anand excellent exam and scholarship academic standards and an inspiring, excellent exam scholarship record and our assessment data makes us a highly record with the vast majority of broad curriculum. We have an achieving independent school. children moving on to the school excellent exam and scholarship of their choice. Our academic record with the vast majority of Contact us for the latest results on our latest record certainly makes us one of Benchmarking (IBT). They theInternational highest achieving independent children moving onTests to the school schools Weststudents London. at Ashton House School are showinthat of their choice. Our academic achieving at a very high level and are competitive record certainly makes us one of Be inspired: with children anywhere around the world. the highest Find out how we can help your child today.achieving independent schools in West London.
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Be inspired: Find out how we can help your child today. To find out more call us on
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Come and meet our committed and caring staff.
They are passionate about helping children achieve their best.
To find out more callCRESCENT us on or visit our website:MIDDLESEX TW7 4LW 50/52 EVERSLEY ISLEWORTH
8560 ashtonhouse.com T:020 020 8560 39023902 F: 020 8568 1097 E: principal@ashtonhouse.com
