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1.  CHISWICK, LONDON, W4.
Chiswick (Listeni/ˈtʃɪzᵻk/ chiz-ick) is a district of West London, England. 

Chiswick, or ‘leafy  Chiswick’ as it seems to be known colloquially throughout London, is an interesting area for many reasons. Not least of which is the fact the London League of Irish Writers was established here in the 20th Century. This may have had something to do with the fact W.B. Yeats made his home here, as did the poet Alexander Pope, the Italian revolutionary Ugo Foscolo, the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro and the novelist E. M. Forster.  I’m thinking of starting an Irish Writers Festival next year, as it happens.  Just because I can..! 
Chiswick was first recorded around the year 1000 as the Old English Ceswican meaning 'Cheese Farm.’  The riverside area of Duke’s Meadows is thought to have supported an annual cheese fair up until the 18th century.  Today there are numerous arts-realted festivals in Chiswick, but sadly, no Cheese fair.

Chiswick grew up as a village around St Nicholas Church (pictured) from c. 1181 on Church Street.  The street and the church are, thankfully, still here.  Chiswick’s early inhabitants practised farming, fishing and other riverside trades, including a ferry - very important as there were no bridges between London Bridge and Kingston throughout the Middle Ages.  The area included three other small settlements; the fishing village of Strand-on-the-Green, Little Sutton and Turnham Green on the west road out of London. Two of the three are still known today.  (Clue: Little Sutton is not!)
A decisive skirmish took place on Turnham Green early in the English Civil War. In November 1642, royalist forces under Prince Rupert, marching from Oxford to retake London, were halted by a larger parliamentarian force under the Earl of Essex. The royalists retreated and never again threatened the capital.  And today, Chiswick has the lovely Turnham Green Terrace, a delightful and often award-winning collection of local, small, craft and - of course - corporate shops.  I strongly recommend you visit the Oxfam charity shop if you have any interest in old books.  I bought a second edition copy of a Walter Sickert biog for two quid!  And the staff are the usual Oxfam volunteer friendly.

Chiswick also contains Hogarth’s House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Fuller’s Brewery, London’s largest and oldest brewery. The brewery run regular tours too.  Not as exciting as our Literary Pub Crawl, of course, but its well worth doing if you have any interest in how our beer is made!  

Chiswick occupies a meander of the River Thames used for competitive and recreational rowing, with several rowing clubs on the river bank. The finishing post for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race is just downstream of Chiswick Bridge.  I’ve always been an Oxford - dark blue - supporter.  Not that I went anywhere near Oxbridge on my council estate, housing project, secondary modern school, of course - but we had a family holiday there one year.  And I’d never been to Cambridge.  

With good communications to London from an early time, Chiswick became a popular country retreat.  As part of the suburban growth of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the population significantly expanded. It became the Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick in 1932 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965, when it was merged into the London Borough of Hounslow.

This stuff is important if you are not familiar with Chiswick.  More importantly, perhaps, it still feels a bit like a village; indeed some of the older locals still refer to the main shopping area along its High Road as “the village.”  

It’s also the home to many film stars and celebrities and house prices reflect this.  But it still has some good bo-ho enclaves, as you will discover if you stick with me!  And if you are nursing a pint, need to write or feel like a creative fight, Chiswick’s sheer gentility is more honest and creative than the arguably now false artifice of East London.  It’s no coincidence, I think, that media private members club, Soho House, opened their Chiswick branch, High Road House at almost the same time as they expanded east to Shoreditch. Unlike many other parts of this great city, there are very few bohemian 'tourists’ in Chiswick.  It’s posh, but not posey.   If someone looks bohemian in Chiswick, chances are they are.  It’s got no international showbizz reputation, which is why, perhaps, so many international showbizz people live here.  And it has one of the lowest crime-rates in the city.  If you can survive the extortionate rents, it’s a great place to create.  And Soho’s poseurs (and now equally eye-watering rents) are only 30 minutes away!