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Peter Young's Brentford photos from the early 1970s

Biographical notes

Peter Young is a writer and editor for a publishing company based in Wales, concentrating mainly on books about education, psychology and the arts. He grew up in Chiswick, Grove Park, moved to Brentford (The Ride) in 1961, and lived in South Ealing/Northfields from 1973 until 1979: read more his life in 1950s and 1960s.

He currently lives in Worcester. He started photography in 1967 in South Australia. He has posted a number of photographs, mainly of England and France, on Panoramio [http://www.panoramio.com/user/484745]. Peter has also published photos on Geograph ["http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Geograph-Introductory-letter]: this site is searchable by place and there are Brentford images from the 1930s onwards.

Peter adds: In 2015 I became a Volunteer at the nearby National Trust property of Croome. I have two main roles: Volunteer Photographer and Estate Waller. The Walling Team are gradually restoring the Croome Estate walls using dry-stone walls. A number of my pictures are used on the Croome Website [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/croome], as well as on the Croome Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/ntcroome/] and other marketing and publicity material for Croome Court. As Croome is constantly updating itself, part of my photography is creating archive material of the changes and events that take place there. Recently, the National Trust took over the Elgar Birthplace Museum in Lower Broadheath, and I have been recording the current 'before' state there. In addition, I have my own blog [https://esperluetterbox.wordpress.com/] which is mainly about Creative Writing, but I usually put a photo or two on each entry, it includes a fair number of photos of Croome.

The Brentford photos

There are over 90 images of Brentford scanned at 240 dpi including the Docks, views of the canal, the Great West Road and many areas of the town, see below for more details. A small selection from this great photographic archive follows.

Photos list

• Joss Press 246 High Street: a picture of 246 Brentford High Street, at that time derelict, but which used to be the Joss Press. I took this photo as in the 1950s, as a member of St Paul's church in Grove Park, we used to get the Joss Press to print flyers and so on for Garden Fetes.
• Horse and cart near Half Acre
• St Paul's Road and Police Section House, High Street corner
• Brentford Fire Station frontage
• Gasometer views (3 photos)
• St George's church and gasometer from the Surrey riverside
• Repainting the gasometer
• High Street single decker bus 'E1' and posters, Brentford End
• St Lawrence drinking fountain
• Royal Tar pub tiled entrance (3 photos)

Kew Bridge & Brentford riverside

• Waggon & Horses at Kew Bridge with Bradleys eel stall

  The following photos were all taken from the Surrey side of the Thames

• Panorama showing The Hollows
• Brentford barges, Goat Wharf (3 photos)
• Brentford Dock flats
• Goat Wharf and Ferry Hotel

Brentford Dock These pictures show the handling of drums full of concentrated lime juice, from the West Indies, which was shipped up the Thames to Brentford, stacked on the wharf, and then loaded onto narrowboats - Threefellows Carrying - which were tied in parallel. The juice was taken by canal up to Rickmansworth where the Roses Lime Juice factory was (more details) because it was deemed too corrosive to be carried by road. Di Murrell remembers the limejuice trips and her husband Tam is in two photos taken by Peter.

• Barge Voxina at Brentford Dock
• Loading and stacking limejuice at Brentford Dock (2 photos)
• Threefellows Carrying barge

The following photos were also taken at Brentford Dock, including the unloading of coffee beans

• Unloading coffee beans (2 photos)
• Swingbridge, Brentford Dock
• Drums in barges, Brentford Dock
• Murrell and Sons narrowboats, Brentford Dock (2 photos)
• Crane at Brentford Dock

Thames Locks and Brentford Lock

• Brentford Lock - includes OS map for the area
• The Brent Lee at Brentford Lock and passing under Brentford Bridge (2 photos)
• Thames Locks barge Helford
• Thames Locks barge Susan Brent (3 photos)
• Riverside barges, St Paul's church in background
• Thames Lock weir
• Brentford Lock barges
• Brentford Lock lockkeepers
• Brentford Lock narrowboat Alcor (3 photos)
• View of Brentford Lock
• Bargee and barge at Brentford Lock (2 photos)
• Aga Works gas cylinders
• Canal with The Regents passing under the railway bridge
• Clitheroe's Lock

Brentford Football Club

• Gated entrance

Public Houses

• Griffin Pub, Brook Road South
• Windmill Pub, Orchard Road
• King's Arms and Brentford Central Station
• Watneys Red Barrel delivery, King's Arms
• White Horse, Market Place

Great West Road & M4
For more background about the development of the Great West Road, see James Marshall's piece in the Brentford and Chiswick Local History Society journal at http://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/local-history/industries-and-crafts/the-great-west-road-then-now/. This includes a map of the 'Golden Mile' from Chiswick roundabout to Syon Lane with several landmark buildings keyed. James Marshall and Vanda Foster gave talks about the Great West Road and its products at the Brentford Local History Day, 2013.

If you are a map geek - and why not - then the 25 inch to the mile OS map published in 1936 is recommended; coming from an era when businesses were thought to be long lasting, it describes each factory - so Firestone is the 'Rubber Tyres Manufactory' and nearby are other Manufactories: Corrugated Case, Windscreen Wipers, Perfume, Toothpaste, Fire Extinguishers and Gyroscope. Later maps just show 'Factory'. The map (and many others) can be viewed for free at the Scottish National Library website.

The site has an early 1930s' view of the Great West Road and also notes from talks by James Marshall and Vanda Foster about the Great West Road (Brentford Local History Day, 2013).

• Charles Fox factory on the Ealing side of the M4 (2 photos)
• Tower blocks and gasometer
• Beecham building
• Brentford Nylons
• Iron bridge near the Firestone factory
• Firestone factory (4 photos)
• MacFarlane Lang factory, Syon Lane
• Gillette factory (4 photos)
• Bus stop outside the Honeywell building
• Boston Manor Road & House from the Turriff building; same view including M4 viaduct (2 photos)
• M4 viaduct from Boston Manor Road; and single decker bus 'E1'
• M4 viaduct and Turriff building from ground level
• M4 viaduct and Brentford Nylons
• M4 viaduct looking East
• GWR & Turriff building from the Iron Bridge
• GWR Trico (2 photos)
• Rank (formerly Maclean's) building and Sheraton Heathrow Hotel bus

Off the High Street

• Layton Road kid
• Boatmen's Institute
• Windmill Road
• Brentford Library, Windmill Road
• From the railway bridge at Syon Lane, opposite the station
• Glan Helen Upper Butts
• Marlborough House, formerly Brentford Cottage Hospital, The Butts
• Magistrates Court
• Railway signals: M4 junction 2; Kew Old Junction; Brentford

The full size photos will be published with accompanying notes over the next few months.

Please get in touch if you recognise any of the people or have memories to share.

Page published May 2014; updated March 2022