Blog Category: Blogging (4 posts)

Guy Fairbank | 07th September 2026 | General Articles

Island Records, St Peter's Square Chiswick has a surprisingly rich musical heritage, Handily placed for Heathrow, away from the hustle and bustle of the West End and considerably more affordable, the borough has been home to recording studios, record labels, music venues and artists. The Chiswick Empire, demolished in 1959, played host to the likes of Alma Cogan and Marty Wilde, and when Cliff Richard performed there, a riot broke out. Down the road, the Rolling Stones, supported by Marianne Faithfull, filled the Commodore Theatre, which was then a rival to the Hammersmith Odeon. The Stones’ presence in W4 has continued: in 2005 they used Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios to record Blue and Lonesome and, only recently, Metropolis Studios for their latest, highly acclaimed album Foreign Tongues. Another band from the Sixties with roots in Chiswick is The Who. Bass player John Entwistle was a local boy while guitarist and songwriter Pete Townsend was born in the former Chiswick Maternity Hospital (as was Phil Collins, Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan and Kim Wilde). Townsend once lived in Whitehall Gardens. Phil Collins formed his first band while attending Chiswick School. Kyle Simmons from Bastille is another old boy. Near the site of the maternity hospital lies Eyot Green, and in 1968 a groovy rocker by the name of Steve Marriott fell foul of his neighbours. While recording Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake in Barnes’ Olympic Studios, Marriott installed loud speakers and invited his friends over for raucous parties. The genteel next-door neighbours the Hasselthwaites pleaded with Marriott to keep the noise down but to no avail. Marriott’s antics inspired the Small Faces’ classic song Lazy Sunday Afternoon. Linda Lewis Blue Plaque Another songwriter who made their home in Chiswick was Linda Lewis. Self-taught, she was arguably Britain’s first female singer-songwriter. Her self-penned song Rock-A-Doodle-Doo reached the top 20 in 1975, w...

Guy Fairbank | 22nd January 2022 | General Articles

As we celebrate The Queen’s 70 years on the throne I’ve had a look at other royal connections to my nearby borough of Hammersmith. As you emerge from Stamford Brook Underground station, to the left once stood the Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital, named after the consort of George III, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818). It’s now in East Acton but when it was in W6, in 1945 Helen Mirren was born there. Appropriately she played Queen Charlotte in the film The Madness of King George. Further east, on the site of the present-day Latimer Prep School once stood Rivercourt House. For 4 years, between 1687 and 1691, it was the home of Charles II’s widow Catharine of Braganza (1638-1705). This Portuguese-born princess married the merry monarch in 1662. With the marriage dowry came the ports of Bombay (modern day Mumbai) and Tangier, as well as important trading benefits. She was never very popular despite the king’s many infidelities because she remained a strict yet discreet catholic. Charles II did do his duty - Catharine suffered three miscarriages - and though there was discussions about a divorce Charles supported his queen as best she could. Catharine made the drinking of tea fashionable, for which every Briton must raise a teacup too, as well as having an interest in porcelain and lacquerware. In 1691 she left for her home country, never to return. Further along the river you’ll come to Distillery Wharf, once the site of the Haig whisky distillery. Before that it was the site of Brandenburgh House and the home of the Margrave of Brandenburgh-Anspach and Bayreuth. This grandly-titled German noble let his house out to the estranged wife of George IV, Caroline of Brunswick (1768-1821). George and Caroline had a disastrous marriage, from day one. He took an instant dislike to her, demanding a large brandy from his servant. Caroline had made no effort in making her appearance look good: it was commented that she had ‘not properly ...

Guy Fairbank | 30th May 2021 | Guy the London Guide

Strand-on-the-Green is an often overlooked part of West London but its riverside location and pretty houses make it one of Chiswick’s most charming areas. Many of the houses date from the 18th century but its history goes back much further. In the Museum of London you’ll find pottery dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as Roman artefacts, collected by local antiquarian Thomas Layton. In the medieval period fishing was the main industry, with rights granted by Henry II to the Prior of Merton. Later the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s allowed locals to fish there for an annual rent. It was the arrival, however, of Frederick Prince of Wales (1702-1751) and his wife Augusta that increased the popularity of the area - even more so when a bridge was built connected Kew with Brentford. In the eighteenth century its most famous resident was the German-born court painter Johann Zoffany (1733-1810). He was a friend of David Garrick and painted a number of royal portraits. He and his second wife, the teenaged Mary, settled in Strand on the Green and we believe she remained there while he spent 6 years in India. On his return he painted ‘The Last Supper’, for which he used local fisherman as models. It’s now in St Paul’s Church, Brentford. Zoffany is buried in Kew. It wasn’t just artists who came to Strand-on-the-Green. Ever since the Scottish poet and dramatist David Mallet lived here in the 1740s, writers have found inspiration or happiness here. Margaret Kennedy, author of ‘The Constant Nymph’ lived at No. 1 and used the house for one of the most romantic scenes in the novel. Further along, Geoffrey Household of ‘Rogue Male’ fame lived at No. 29. During the Coronation he single-handedly roasted a whole deer on Oliver’s Island! But Strand’s most famous writer was probably Nancy Mitford, who moved to Rose Cottage in 1930. It is believed she wrote ‘The Pursuit of Love’ here though she set no scenes here. Af...

Guy Fairbank | 30th March 2021 | Guy the London Guide

If you walk along Cloak Lane, just off Dowgate in the City of London, look up and you’ll see some interesting plaques on the wall. They show the numbers 6 and 7. What are they doing there? Cloak Lane - nothing to do with outer garments but a corruption of the latin word for drain, cloaca - includes buildings owned by the Worshipful Company of Skinners. This ancient livery company, whose history dates back to the 14th century, is sometimes listed as 6th in the Great Twelve of the City livery companies - but sometimes 7th. They share this interchangeable position with the Merchant Taylors. In the fifteenth century there was great competition between the City’s ancient trade guilds, the livery companies. It even led to bloody - and fatal - fights! Rivalry between the Skinners and Merchant Taylors was so fierce that in 1484 the Lord Mayor Robert Billesden (a haberdasher) decreed that the two companies should share the position, so one year the Skinners are 6th, the Merchant Taylors 7th; the following year the Skinners go down to 7th and the Merchant Taylors rise up to 6th. In 1515 an Order of Precedence was laid out, putting the livery companies in order, with the Mercers’ Company 1st, the Grocers; Company 2nd, and so on. Their positions were based on the number of Lord Mayors each company had elected, and on their wealth. The Great Twelve, the first dozen companies, were particularly important because up until the 1700s only a member of those companies could become Lord Mayor. These days relations between the companies are far more amicable, and every March, around the United Guilds Service held at St Paul’s Cathedral, positions swap between the Skinners and Merchant Taylors. However they still disagree over one thing: the spelling of Robert Billesden’s name. The Skinners spell it ‘Billesdon’, the Merchant Taylors ‘Billesden’! If you want to learn more about this area of the City, you can come on my virtual tour o...