West Drayton
West Drayton maps (2 available)
Map of Middlesex
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
West Drayton books (6 available)
West Drayton memories
Read and share memories of West Drayton and Middlesex inspired by Frith photos
The Railway bridge
In this picture I can remember that on the left was W H Smith's, a bicycle shop and an Options on the corner of Colham Road. To the right between the two pubs many years earlier was Pat's Garage. In the picture we have the new railway bridge which was a great improvement from the old one. The old bridge was lower, narrower and only had one narrow foot path on the left. The vehicles came so close to you and made so much noise it was scary. The double decker buses could not get under the bridge so would turn round in the station yard and return to Uxbridge. Once a driver forgot what route he was on and got ...read more here
Contributed by barry hawgood
The Guy Outside the Post Office
Opposite the post office at the end of the parade of shops was a dry cleaners owned by what I thought was a rather posh lady who would call me Poppet. My mother cleaned house for them and sometimes I would be taken along to keep me out of mischief. They had two boys that went to private school and were only home for school holidays. Though they were older than me I found they acted a bit young. Her husband was a short stout man dressed in a pin striped suit. He worked in the city and took the train up to London every day. On my birthday the lady said “Poppet I’ve made you a chocolate cake”. I don’t ...read more here
Contributed by barry hawgood
Shopping with my nan and other fun things
When I was a little girl, sometimes I used to stay with my nan in West Drayton on Church Road by the green, and while we went shopping around that quaint little village with about a dozen little stores, I also accompanied nan up to Station Road to the post office (ah, that wonderful post office, there it is on the left of the picture.)
I remember it was a lovely walk up Swan road. (I wonder why they called it Swan road? Is it because there were many swans further down in that little river by the Angler's Retreat?). I used to paddle in the little river across from "the Angler's Retreat" and under that cute little bridge with my ...read more here
Contributed by deborah rowsell
Making our own entertainment
Across from The Angler Retreat in Cricket field Lane is the river Coln. Down the lane on your left you pass the West Drayton Cricket Club with the river on your right. Next to the cricket field is The Coln Park Caravan Site where I lived in 1952. After the war accommodation was scarce and many people lived in caravans, these were spread throughout the district on many small privately owned sites where amenities where few or non existent. The council closed these small sites and moved us all to the council owned Coln Park site. This was a great improvement with concrete slabs to park the caravan on. The road was a hard surface and once a year they sprayed ...read more here
Contributed by barry hawgood
Extracts From West Drayton & Middlesex books
The Earl of Cornwall built stew (fish)
ponds on the western boundary of his
estate, and fish was an important part of
the medieval diet. Fish weirs were used to
trap fish in rivers, and were an important
and often hotly disputed resource up to
the 18th century. They were supposed to
be licensed, but illegal weirs flourished and
were a hazard to river traffic. There was at
least one weir in the river by Isleworth with
stakes at its upper end, and this gave its
name to the modern Railshead Road where
the Crane joins the Thames.
In the Middle Ages the settlement at
Twickenham was a cluster of houses in
streets around St Mary’s Church and in
narrow alleys nearby leading down to the
river. Church Street was the principal way
through Twickenham for travellers until the
end of the 19th century when the present
York Street was built. The name of Burgate
was used for the area near the church in
1486. Although the nave of the present
St Mary’s dates from 1713, when it was
rebuilt after it collapsed, the ragstone church
tower is medieval and may have formed part
of an earlier fortification on the site.
An extract from from"Twickenham - A History & Celebration".
The local population in the Middle Ages
made a living from agriculture, fishing,
boat-building, and ferrying traffic up and
down the river. There was even a local
vineyard, which produced ‘two tuns and
one pipe’ in 1297. This seems to have been
planted with cherry-trees later. There is little
detailed evidence on the number of people
living at Twickenham during the Middle
Ages but the manor of Isleworth, including
Twickenham, seems to have expanded slowly
during this period. In the 14th century
there are accounts of crops of oats, wheat,
and barley being grown locally, and local
livestock included cows and sheep. The rolls
also list a ploughman, a shepherd, a cowman,
and a dairymaid in this period. By 1547 the
people of Isleworth were said to number
400, and the figure relating to Twickenham
apart from the rest of Isleworth Manor is
estimated at 210.
The River Thames has been an important
means of transport since before the Romans
arrived in England. As there was no bridge
across the Thames from Twickenham on
the Middlesex bank over to the Surrey bank
until the 18th century, residents who wanted
to cross to the opposite bank of the river did
so by ferry. The first evidence of a ferry at
Twickenham occurs in 1443.
An extract from from"Twickenham - A History & Celebration".
The Earl of Cornwall built stew (fish)
ponds on the western boundary of his
estate, and fish was an important part of
the medieval diet. Fish weirs were used to
trap fish in rivers, and were an important
and often hotly disputed resource up to
the 18th century. They were supposed to
be licensed, but illegal weirs flourished and
were a hazard to river traffic. There was at
least one weir in the river by Isleworth with
stakes at its upper end, and this gave its
name to the modern Railshead Road where
the Crane joins the Thames.
In the Middle Ages the settlement at
Twickenham was a cluster of houses in
streets around St Mary’s Church and in
narrow alleys nearby leading down to the
river. Church Street was the principal way
through Twickenham for travellers until the
end of the 19th century when the present
York Street was built. The name of Burgate
was used for the area near the church in
1486. Although the nave of the present
St Mary’s dates from 1713, when it was
rebuilt after it collapsed, the ragstone church
tower is medieval and may have formed part
of an earlier fortification on the site.
An extract from from"Twickenham - A History & Celebration".
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, which was invented during the first half of the 14th century, is a mixture of potassium
nitrate (saltpetre), charcoal, and sulphur in a ratio of 75:15:10. It was used in guns, time-fuses, and
fireworks. Until the reign of Henry VIII, the lack of saltpetre in England meant most gunpowder
was imported. However, as British naval power expanded beyond Europe during the reign of
Elizabeth I it became possible to manufacture gunpowder at home, and by the middle of the 16th
century gunpowder mills had been established at Hounslow Heath on the River Crane. One of the
constituents of gunpowder is charcoal. This was produced from willow and alder, which was readily
available from the river banks. The river also provided water-power for the mills and transport for
barges. The open land, relatively distant from settlements, was an added advantage as gunpowder
manufacture is highly dangerous.
An extract from from"Twickenham - A History & Celebration".
Mills continued to flourish along the
banks of the River Crane on the outskirts
of the town, using water-power to
create products like oil and gunpowder.
Gunpowder manufacture was big business
in the 17th century and James I (1602-25)
granted a Royal Charter to the gunpowder
manufacturers on the Heath. Crane Park
Powder Mills were established between 1766
and 1768. The first mill started life as a corn
mill. The gunpowder mill east of Hanworth
Bridge was notorious for explosions that
broke windows for miles around. In 1772
three mills blew up, shattering glass and
buildings in the neighbourhood. Horace
Walpole wrote complaining to his friend and
relative Seymour Conway, then Lieutenant
General of the Ordnance, that all the
decorative painted glass had been blown out
of his windows at Strawberry Hill.
An extract from from"Twickenham - A History & Celebration".