| RICHMOND UPON THAMES, SURREY, GREATER LONDON - ENGLAND |
|---|
| WHITTON |
| Whitton is first mentioned in historical documents around 1200, though it had probably been settled a century or so earlier. As recent as Victorian times Whitton was renowned as a 'market garden', famous for its roses, narcissi, lillies of the valley and for its apple, plum and pear orchards; indeed until the 1920's the village was still separated from the surrounding towns by open fields. Within a decade all had changed and the urbanisation was confirmed by the opening of the railway station in 1930. Whitton is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated 10.7 miles (17.2 km) west south-west of Charing Cross. Although it expanded rapidly as a residential suburb of London during the 1930s, it remains a friendly village even within its suburban setting. The community is served by a wealth of local shops and businesses Apart from the High Street shopping parades introduced in the 1930s, many traditional shops have continued to thrive until the present, though the nature of their business has changed with the times.. Nonetheless even after the war there were numerous examples of traders catering to the specific needs of what until only a decade or two earlier had remained a self contained rural community. These included several general and grocery stores, one of which survived a few doors along Nelson Road from the Admiral Nelson until the mid-1950s. This type of one-stop household supplier was eventually swept away by the modern supermarket. Other businesses that survived into the fifties and sixties were cobblers (traditional shoe repairers) in Nelson Road opposite the Admiral Nelson and at the terrace of shops near the junction of Nelson and Warren Roads; a cycle repair business in the same terrace, that continued to provide a vital service to the many residents who relied on their bicycles for their daily transport (this shop remained in operation until the late 1950s) and at various times fish and chip shops in Nelson Road in the old village and a few doors down from Holly Bush Corner. In Hounslow Road there were a confectioner/tobacconist run by an elderly lady until her death in the early 1950s; an electrical store where residents took the lead-acid accumulators from their wireless sets once a week for re-charging; and a toyshop. New shops were incorporated into the facade of the Baptist church in 1935. For many years one of these was occupied by a hairdresser who advertised Marcel Permanent Waving. A second shop was not let out but used as a Sunday School room. In the early years of the War a familiar sight in the village was a traditional gilt barleysugar-pillared Italian ice-cream wagon drawn by a horse, though this eventually disappeared as a result of rationing. During the same period, opposite the Gospel Hall was a coal dealer's yard which was a great attraction to children for the massive Foden steam lorry the dealer used to make his deliveries. (A fine example was restored to full working order during the 1990s at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum.) Although it was a bucolic reminder of Whitton's former status as an important farming and market gardening centre, one business that was not popular with nearby residents was an extensive pig farm that operated on land between Tranmere and Nelson Roads until the early 1950s. Fortunately Whitton remains a friendly village even within its surburban setting. The community is served by a wealth of local shops and businesses.
|
ACCOMMODATION CAR HIRE RICHMOND
The Hunger Site |