Brentford, Middlesex
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Location details
West, after Brentford, the Thames takes a more southerly course, and so anyone heading to or from the capital had to pass through. Things have not changed; today, the railway and the route of the M4 reinforce this ancient lesson.
The social standing of Brentford has been suitably volatile, and the industrial tenor of its history is being subsumed under some serious redevelopment, of which the old Dock - a busy little port up to the Sixties - is surely the most famous.
The Docks and the Gasworks were appropriate industries for this location, where the Grand Union Canal meets the Thames, but the Docks have now disappeared under a development of 600 homes and they mostly labour under some classical Roman names. Nero and Romulus Courts are two of the stranger appellations. A marina has also been created here, complete with permanent moorings providing more accommodation.
The London Borough of Hounslow obviously has big plans for Brentford, and the High Street redevelopment ties all these prestige projects together. And this is overdue. Brentford High Street was always on the tatty side, a slight shock after the gentility of Kew and Strand on the Green.
The High Street plan concentrates itself on the south or river side of the road (which is the A315) and seeks to create not only new shops and flats but a 3,900 square metre supermarket.
Much quality of life transformation has already taken place. For once, the facilities precede the flats. The Fountains Leisure Centre is a colossal gymnasium and swimming pool (and much more besides) and the Watermans Arts Centre is justly famous beyond even our own shores for its admirably catholic approach to society and the arts. The Musical and Steam Museums add another dimension.
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