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Hammersmith schools for Boys

Renowned actors, sportsmen and musicians have been educated in Hammersmith. Earlier this month a group of 30 followed me along the River Thames to learn about some former pupils of Latymer school and st Paul’s school. Latymer Upper school is nearly 400 years old, having been founded in 1624 by Edward Latymer (1557-1627). A prosperous lawyer, he eft part of wealth for the clothing and education of “eight poor boys” from Hammersmith. The clothing, which included a doublet, a pair of breeches, a shirt incorporated a red cross on the left sleeve, a pair of woollen stockings and shoes, was to be distributed twice a year on Ascension Day and All Sa...

A Bit of Bishopsgate

Visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington and, among its many treasures, you’ll find a rare survival of pre-Great Fire architecture from the City of London. Peter Pindar’s house originally stood on Bishopsgate, about where Liverpool street station now stands. When the station was developed the Chairman and Directors of the Great Eastern Railway Company gave it to the museum.  It’s made of oak and dates from around 1600, when merchant Paul Pindar had it built - more of him later. The impressive full-height windows would have originally been glazed, either with imported glass or local greenish glass. The semi-circular window shap...

The Royal Queens of Hammersmith

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...

Chiswick Rocks!

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...

The Senate and students of London

  Dominating the leafy and literary area of Bloomsbury is the monumental Senate House. It’s part of the University of London and was built in the 1930s by that great architect of the London Underground, Charles Holden. It was built on land given by the Dukes of Bedford and funded by, amongst others, the Rockefeller family, Marks and Spencer and City livery companies. The shell of the building was made from steel, encased by hardy Portland stone, which has remarkable anti-pollution qualities: it’s only been cleaned twice in its 80 years. When it was completed in 1937 the Senate House was the tallest building (64m high) after st Paul’s an...

Do the strand

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...