Southall
Encyclopedia
Southall is a large suburban district of west London
, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing
. It is situated 10.7 miles (17.2 km) west of Charing Cross
. Neighbouring places include Yeading
, Hayes
, Hanwell
, Heston
, Hounslow
, Greenford
and Northolt
. The area is identified in the London Plan
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Southall is located on the Grand Union Canal
(formerly the Grand Junction Canal
) which first linked London
with the rest of the growing canal
system. It was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s
) and is still open to traffic and is used by pleasure craft.
The town has one of the largest concentrations of South Asian people outside of the Indian sub-continent.
dative æt súð healum, "At the south corner (of the land or wood)" and súð heal, "South corner" and separates it from Northolt
which was originally norþ heal, "North corner" which through a later association with Anglo-Saxon
holt
, "Wood, copse" developed into Northolt
.
The district of Southall has many other Anglo-Saxon place-names such as Elthorne and Waxlow. Its earliest record, from ad 830, is of Warberdus bequeathing Norwood Manor and Southall Manor to the archbishops of Canterbury.
, in the Elthorne hundred of Middlesex
. For Poor Law
it was grouped into the Uxbridge Union and was within Uxbridge Rural Sanitary District
from 1875. The chapelry of Norwood had functioned as a separate parish since the Middle Ages. On 16 January 1891 the parish adopted the Local Government Act 1858 and the Southall Norwood Local Government District was formed. In 1894 it became the Southall Norwood Urban District
. In 1936 the urban district was granted a charter of incorporation
and became a municipal borough
, renamed Southall. In 1965 the former area of the borough was merged with that of the boroughs of Ealing
and Acton
to form the London Borough of Ealing
in Greater London
.
The southern part of Southall (roughly south of the railway) used to be known as Southall Green (and a section of the main north-south road in the area is still called The Green) and was centred on the historic Tudor
-styled Manor House
which dates back to at least 1587. Little of the building is original but much dates back to the days when Southall Green was a quiet rural village
. It is currently used as serviced offices.
The extreme southernmost part of Southall is known as Norwood Green
. It has few industries and is mainly a residential area, having remained for many years mainly agricultural whilst the rest of Southall developed industrially. Norwood Green
borders, and part is inside, the London Borough of Hounslow
.
The main east west road through the town is Uxbridge Road
(A4020), though the name changes in the main shopping area to The Broadway and for an even shorter section to High Street
. Uxbridge Road was part of the main London
to Oxford
stagecoach
route for many years and remained the main route to Oxford until the building of the Western Avenue highway to the north of Southall in the first half of the 20th century. First horse drawn, then electric trams (until 1936) and, then, electric trolleybuses, gave Southall residents and workers quick and convenient transport along Uxbridge Road in the first half of the 20th century before they were replaced by standard diesel-engined buses in 1960.
(later renamed Grand Union Canal
) as the major freight transport route between London
and Birmingham
in 1796 began a commercial boom, intensified by the arrival of Brunel's
Great Western Railway
in 1839, leading to the establishment and growth of brick
factories, flour mills and chemical plants which formed the town's commercial base. In 1877, the Martin Brothers
set up a ceramic
s factory in an old soap works next to the canal and until 1923, produced distinctive ceramics now known and collected as Martinware.
A branch railway line from Southall railway station
to the Brentford Dock
on the Thames was also built by Brunel in 1856. It features one of his (impressive for the period) engineering works, the Three Bridges
where Windmill Lane, the railway and the Grand Union Canal
all intersect - the canal being carried over the railway line in a metal trough. It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
. The other notable local construction by Brunel is the Wharncliffe Viaduct
which carries the Great Western Railway across the River Brent
towards London and which was Brunel's first major structural design.
Otto Monsted, a Danish
margarine
manufacturer, built a large factory at Southall in 1894. The factory was called the Maypole Dairy, and eventually grew to become one of the largest margarine manufacturing plants in the world, occupying a 28 hectare
(68 acre
) site at its peak. The factory also had its own railway sidings and branch canal. The Maypole Dairy Company was later acquired by Lever Brothers
who, as part of the multinational Unilever
company, converted the site to a Wall's Sausages factory which produced sausages and other meat products through until the late 1970s.
built a factory
in Southall in 1936. Part of the operation that made pet foods was sold to Spiller's in 1994, and the remainder to Big Bear Group in 2006. The site continues to produce brands such as Sugar Puffs
. Other engineering, paint and food processing factories prospered for many years, mostly alongside the railway and/or canal.
A collection of Martinware - salt-glazed stoneware
, and birds - is on display at Southall Library.
On the eastern boundary of Southall was the Hanwell Asylum
, once the world's largest asylum for the mentally ill. It was considered in its day to be a progressive institution with a good success rate for treatment. As attitudes to and treatment for mental illness improved, the site was renamed St. Bernard's Hospital. In the late 1970s, the site was extensively redeveloped, with most of the area now taken up by the Ealing Hospital. St. Bernard's still operates a large facility on part of the site under the West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust
.
Southall was the home of Southall Studios
, one of the earliest British film studios. It played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959. In 1936, a fire destroyed the studio but it was rebuilt and enlarged. Numerous feature films (many featuring famous or later-to-be-famous actors) and the early TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard
were made at the studios, as were TV and cinema adverts.
There has been a locomotive
works at the Southall Depot for nearly 150 years. Originally a Great Western Railway
shed, it was possibly the last London steam depot, outlasting Old Oak Common
and Stewarts Lane depots. The depot was later used for DMU
maintenance and as a base for the electrification programme. Currently the site, now referred to as the Southall Railway Centre
, is used by three independent groups, including Locomotive Services (where volunteers can contribute to the preservation and restoration of mainline locomotives) and the Great Western Railway
Preservation Group.
The bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was based in Southall, on a 25 hectare (63 acre) triangular site between Windmill Lane, the main Great Western Railway
and the branch to Brentford Dock
. The company moved there from Walthamstow
in 1926 and closed in 1979 after losing market share whilst part of the giant but inefficient British Leyland group. The site was noticeable for railway passengers due to a large sign saying "Builders of London's Buses for 50 years". A major gas works
manufacturing town gas was located between the railway and the canal. Since production ceased in the 1970s, much of the 36 hectare (90 acre) site has been vacant, due to limited road access and remaining gas infrastructure.
During World War II
Southall was the target of enemy bombing on a number of occasions. A German
V-1 flying bomb
destroyed a number of houses in Regina Road, killing the occupants. Bomb shelters and bunkers were built during the war, close to or under most schools and public buildings. The bunkers at Hamborough Primary School were expanded during the Cold War
, to become the North West Group War HQ for the London area Civil Defence organisation and the London Borough of Ealing
Emergency Control Centre. This facility is now disused.
On 2 September 1958 at 7:10 am, a pilot of a Vickers
Viking V624 (G-AIJE), which had just taken off from Heathrow Airport, reported that he had engine trouble. Some minutes later it crashed onto houses in Kelvin Gardens. It was on a cargo flight carrying aero engines to Tel Aviv
and carried no passengers, however the three crew members and four people on the ground were killed. One of the surviving occupants, 14-year-old Brian Gibbons, was later awarded the George Medal
for bravery, as well as the Carnegie
Award. The accident was due to poor maintenance, and caused the company, Independent Air Travel, to fail in October 1959.
On 23 April 1979, Blair Peach
, a teacher and anti-racist
activist, was killed after police knocked him unconscious during a protest against the National Front
(NF). Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker
- a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots
, remained in a coma
for five months. More than 40 others — including 21 police — were injured, and 300 were arrested.
On 4 July 1981, a race riot
was sparked at the Hambrough Tavern on the Broadway. Local Asian youths mistakenly believed that a concert featuring the Oi!
bands The Business
, The Last Resort and The 4-Skins
was a white power
event. Additionally, the venue had recently been sued for barring non-white customers, and local youths had heard that skinhead
s arriving for the concert had harassed other youths and women. More than 200 skinheads had travelled by bus from East London, and a few of them smashed shop windows, wrote NF slogans around the area, and shouted neo-Nazi
slogans while using bricks and clubs to attack Asian youths who had gathered in opposition to the gig. This was one of several high-profile riots in Britain that year.
Although some of the skinheads were NF or British Movement
supporters, among the 500 or so concert-goers were also left-wing
skinheads, black skinheads, punk rockers
, rockabillies
and non-affiliated youths. A few of the approximately 300 Asians threw petrol bombs
and other objects, and five hours of rioting left 120 people injured — including 60 police officers — and the tavern burnt down.
The Southall rail crash
occurred on 19 September 1997 when a mainline high speed express train from Swansea
to London Paddington ran a red signal, when the driver's attention was distracted, and it collided with a goods train just outside Southall railway station. Seven people died and 139 were injured.
Southall is primarily a South Asian residential district, sometimes known as "Little India
". In 1950, the first group of South Asians arrived in Southall, reputedly recruited to work in a local factory owned by a former British Indian Army officer. This South Asian population grew, due to the closeness of expanding employment opportunities such as London Heathrow Airport
. The most significant cultural group to settle in Southall are Asians. According to the Commission for Racial Equality
, over 55% of Southall's population of 70,000 is India
n/Pakistani.
There are ten Sikh
Gurdwara
s in Southall and one of them won the Ealing Civic Society Architectural Award in 2003. The Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
, which opened in 2003, is one of the largest Sikh temple
s outside India
. There are two large Hindu
'Mandir' temples, the Vishnu Hindu Mandir on Lady Margaret Road and the Ram Mandir in Old Southall. There are more than ten Christian
churches including 5 Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and several Pentecostal or Independent. There are three Mosque
s 'Masjids' in Southall, the Abubakr Mosque situated on Southall broadway, the Central Jamia Masjid Mosque and the Jamia Masjid Islamic Centre.
In addition, the signs on the main railway station are bilingual.
Earlier, in the 1920s and 1930s Southall was the destination of many Welsh
migrants escaping from the harsh economic conditions in that part of the country. For many years, Welsh accents were very commonplace in the area.
The main street in Southall is called The Broadway. Southall contains the largest Asia
n shopping centre in the London area. Southall was the main location for the internationally acclaimed film Bend It Like Beckham
.
Southall has a large gas tower which is noticeable from a great distance. Painted on the gas tower are "LH" in large letters and an arrow that denoted to aircraft pilots the direction to nearby London Heathrow Airport
by visual flight rules
(VFR) if landing on the now closed Runway 23. This was painted on the tower after a number of pilots became confused between Heathrow and the nearby RAF Northolt
which has a much shorter runway. One Boeing 707
landed at Northolt by mistake and a number of other pilots were en route there when warned off by air traffic control
.
Southall is also the location of the Glassy Junction public house
, which has now closed down and its future is unsure. Southall has many well known restaurants such as Chaudhry's TKC, established in 1965 was one of the first Punjabi restaurants in the UK. TKC is the first restaurant to accept Rupees as payment. Jelabi Junction is internationally famous for its freshly cooked jelabi, a batter fried in oil and quick dipped in sugar syrup. In 2000 Chaudhry's TKC imported a highly decorated traditional bus from Karachi, known as the Chaudhry's Tiara which is totally unique. It is now regarded as a must see for visitors coming to London and Southall. The Tiara bus is used for weddings and has appeared in many adverts such as Walkers Crisps, Sharwood Foods, Bob Geldofs birthday party and even in a Bollywood film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
.
Southall has also appeared in other Bollywood films as well, including Patiala House
and Goal!
.
There is now a local community radio
station servicing Southall; Westside 89.6 FM, licensed by Ofcom
as part of their drive towards community-based radio services.
Misty in Roots
began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae
band in the early 1970s.
The local football club Southall F.C.
has a long history, having been formed in 1871. In 2007/08 they played in the Middlesex County League Division One (Central & East).
ary constituency of Ealing Southall, represented since 2007 by Labour
Member of Parliament
Virendra Sharma
.
Southall is made up of five electoral wards for local council
election
s: Dormers Wells, Lady Margaret, Norwood Green
, Southall Broadway and Southall Green, which all elect councillors to Ealing Council
.
Southall is in the London Assembly
constituency of Ealing and Hillingdon which has one assembly member: Richard Barnes (Conservative), who was re-elected in May 2008.
on the Great Western Main Line
, providing links to Heathrow Airport, Reading
and Oxford
as well as London Paddington
.
There is no London Underground
station in Southall, the nearest one to the town centre being Osterley station
, on the Piccadilly line
, which is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south.
Frequent bus services link Southall with all neighbouring suburbs and London Heathrow Airport
.
There is an express coach service between Southall and Birmingham
which specialises in serving the many family connections in both areas' South Asia
n populations.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing
London Borough of Ealing
The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London...
. It is situated 10.7 miles (17.2 km) west of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
. Neighbouring places include Yeading
Yeading
Yeading is an area of West London, and part of Hayes. It is located on the boundary of the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Hillingdon.-Etymology:...
, Hayes
Hayes, Hillingdon
Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added in order to house factory workers...
, Hanwell
Hanwell
Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall. The motto of Hanwell Urban District Council was Nec Aspera Terrent...
, Heston
Heston
Heston is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It is a suburban development area, based on a former farming village west south-west of Charing Cross.-History:...
, Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
, Greenford
Greenford
Greenford is a large suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, UK. It was historically an ancient parish in the former county of Middlesex. The most prominent landmarks in the suburb are the A40, a major dual-carriageway; Horsenden Hill, above sea level; the small Parish Church of...
and Northolt
Northolt
Northolt is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, England. The town has London Underground and Network Rail stations and is on the A40 road...
. The area is identified in the London Plan
London Plan
The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London, England in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Southall is located on the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
(formerly the Grand Junction Canal
Grand Junction Canal
The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford...
) which first linked London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with the rest of the growing canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
system. It was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
) and is still open to traffic and is used by pleasure craft.
The town has one of the largest concentrations of South Asian people outside of the Indian sub-continent.
Toponymy
The name Southall derives from the Anglo-SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
dative æt súð healum, "At the south corner (of the land or wood)" and súð heal, "South corner" and separates it from Northolt
Northolt
Northolt is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, England. The town has London Underground and Network Rail stations and is on the A40 road...
which was originally norþ heal, "North corner" which through a later association with Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
holt
Holt
- Natural world :* Holt, an otter den* Holt, an occasional name for a fox den* Holt, an area of woodland, e.g. a grove or copse, especially as a place-name in Great Britain, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Germany...
, "Wood, copse" developed into Northolt
Northolt
Northolt is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, England. The town has London Underground and Network Rail stations and is on the A40 road...
.
The district of Southall has many other Anglo-Saxon place-names such as Elthorne and Waxlow. Its earliest record, from ad 830, is of Warberdus bequeathing Norwood Manor and Southall Manor to the archbishops of Canterbury.
History
Southall formed part of the chapelry of Norwood in the ancient parish of HayesHayes, Hillingdon
Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added in order to house factory workers...
, in the Elthorne hundred of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. For Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
it was grouped into the Uxbridge Union and was within Uxbridge Rural Sanitary District
Uxbridge Rural District
Uxbridge was, from 1875 to 1925, a local government district in Middlesex, England.The district was formed as a rural sanitary district in 1875. It was based on the existing poor Uxbridge Poor Law Union, except for Uxbridge, to the west, which was an urban sanitary district. Part of the Hillingdon...
from 1875. The chapelry of Norwood had functioned as a separate parish since the Middle Ages. On 16 January 1891 the parish adopted the Local Government Act 1858 and the Southall Norwood Local Government District was formed. In 1894 it became the Southall Norwood Urban District
Municipal Borough of Southall
Southall was a local government district in the county of Middlesex, United Kingdom from 1891 to 1965. It consisted of the civil parish of Norwood....
. In 1936 the urban district was granted a charter of incorporation
Incorporation
Incorporation may refer to:* Incorporation , the creation of a corporation* Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county...
and became a municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
, renamed Southall. In 1965 the former area of the borough was merged with that of the boroughs of Ealing
Municipal Borough of Ealing
Ealing was a local government district from 1863 to 1965 around the town of Ealing.A local board of health was formed for the southern part of the parish of Ealing, Middlesex, in 1863. In 1873 the board's area was extended to the rest of the parish....
and Acton
Municipal Borough of Acton
Acton was a local government district in Middlesex, England from 1865 to 1965.In 1865 the Local Government Act 1858 was adopted by the parish of Acton, and a twelve-member local board of health was formed to govern the area. The Local Government Act 1894 constituted the area an urban district, and...
to form the London Borough of Ealing
London Borough of Ealing
The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London...
in Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
.
The southern part of Southall (roughly south of the railway) used to be known as Southall Green (and a section of the main north-south road in the area is still called The Green) and was centred on the historic Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
-styled Manor House
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
which dates back to at least 1587. Little of the building is original but much dates back to the days when Southall Green was a quiet rural village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
. It is currently used as serviced offices.
The extreme southernmost part of Southall is known as Norwood Green
Norwood Green
Norwood Green is a place in the London Borough of Ealing in London, England. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross and northeast of Heathrow Airport...
. It has few industries and is mainly a residential area, having remained for many years mainly agricultural whilst the rest of Southall developed industrially. Norwood Green
Norwood Green
Norwood Green is a place in the London Borough of Ealing in London, England. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross and northeast of Heathrow Airport...
borders, and part is inside, the London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Hounslow
-Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the...
.
Uxbridge Road
Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in London. It starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing Broadway and Hanwell....
(A4020), though the name changes in the main shopping area to The Broadway and for an even shorter section to High Street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
. Uxbridge Road was part of the main London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
route for many years and remained the main route to Oxford until the building of the Western Avenue highway to the north of Southall in the first half of the 20th century. First horse drawn, then electric trams (until 1936) and, then, electric trolleybuses, gave Southall residents and workers quick and convenient transport along Uxbridge Road in the first half of the 20th century before they were replaced by standard diesel-engined buses in 1960.
Nineteenth century
The opening of the Grand Junction CanalGrand Junction Canal
The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford...
(later renamed Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
) as the major freight transport route between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in 1796 began a commercial boom, intensified by the arrival of Brunel's
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
in 1839, leading to the establishment and growth of brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
factories, flour mills and chemical plants which formed the town's commercial base. In 1877, the Martin Brothers
Martin Brothers
The Martin Brothers were pottery manufacturers in London who are considered to represent the transition from decorative Victorian ceramics to twentieth century studio pottery in England....
set up a ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s factory in an old soap works next to the canal and until 1923, produced distinctive ceramics now known and collected as Martinware.
A branch railway line from Southall railway station
Southall railway station
Southall railway station, is in Southall in west London, England. The station is in Travelcard Zone 4 and passenger services are provided by First Great Western from London to , and , and by Heathrow Connect from Paddington to Heathrow Airport....
to the Brentford Dock
Brentford Dock
Brentford Dock in, Brentford, west London was a major trans-shipment point between the Great Western Railway and barges on the River Thames. The building of Brentford Dock was started in 1855 and it was formally opened in 1859...
on the Thames was also built by Brunel in 1856. It features one of his (impressive for the period) engineering works, the Three Bridges
Three Bridges (disambiguation)
Three Bridges may refer to:*Three Bridges, a neighbourhood within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England**Three Bridges F.C. - the neighbourhood's football team*Three Bridges, Lincolnshire, England*Three Bridges, Victoria, Australia...
where Windmill Lane, the railway and the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
all intersect - the canal being carried over the railway line in a metal trough. It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
. The other notable local construction by Brunel is the Wharncliffe Viaduct
Wharncliffe Viaduct
The Wharncliffe Viaduct is a brick-built viaduct that carries the Great Western Main Line railway across the Brent Valley, between Hanwell and Southall, Ealing, UK, at an elevation of . The viaduct, built in 1836-7, was constructed for the opening of the Great Western Railway...
which carries the Great Western Railway across the River Brent
River Brent
The Brent is a river within Greater London which is a tributary of the River Thames. It is 17.9 miles long, running north-east to south-west, and it joins the Thames on the Tideway at Brentford, Hounslow.- Hydronymy and etymology :...
towards London and which was Brunel's first major structural design.
Otto Monsted, a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
manufacturer, built a large factory at Southall in 1894. The factory was called the Maypole Dairy, and eventually grew to become one of the largest margarine manufacturing plants in the world, occupying a 28 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
(68 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
) site at its peak. The factory also had its own railway sidings and branch canal. The Maypole Dairy Company was later acquired by Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
who, as part of the multinational Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
company, converted the site to a Wall's Sausages factory which produced sausages and other meat products through until the late 1970s.
Twentieth century
The Quaker Oats CompanyQuaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
built a factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
in Southall in 1936. Part of the operation that made pet foods was sold to Spiller's in 1994, and the remainder to Big Bear Group in 2006. The site continues to produce brands such as Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs
Sugar Puffs are a honey-flavoured breakfast cereal made from sugar-coated wheat sold in the United Kingdom. For many years it was made by the Quaker Oats Company but in 2006 it was sold to Big Bear t/a Honey Monster Foods, based in Leicester...
. Other engineering, paint and food processing factories prospered for many years, mostly alongside the railway and/or canal.
A collection of Martinware - salt-glazed stoneware
Stoneware
Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic ware with a fine texture. Stoneware is made from clay that is then fired in a kiln, whether by an artisan to make homeware, or in an industrial kiln for mass-produced or specialty products...
, and birds - is on display at Southall Library.
On the eastern boundary of Southall was the Hanwell Asylum
Hanwell Asylum
The County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, and Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and is now the West London Mental Health Trust ...
, once the world's largest asylum for the mentally ill. It was considered in its day to be a progressive institution with a good success rate for treatment. As attitudes to and treatment for mental illness improved, the site was renamed St. Bernard's Hospital. In the late 1970s, the site was extensively redeveloped, with most of the area now taken up by the Ealing Hospital. St. Bernard's still operates a large facility on part of the site under the West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust
West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust
The West London Mental Healthcare NHS Trust was established 1 October 2000.The head quarters is situated in St. Bernard's Hospital Building...
.
Southall was the home of Southall Studios
Southall Studios
Southall Studios was a film studio located in Southall, Middlesex in West London which operated between 1924 and 1958.The studio was constructed on the site of a former air hanger by the silent film director and producer G.B. Samuelson. The original buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1936, but...
, one of the earliest British film studios. It played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959. In 1936, a fire destroyed the studio but it was rebuilt and enlarged. Numerous feature films (many featuring famous or later-to-be-famous actors) and the early TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard
Colonel March of Scotland Yard
Colonel March of Scotland Yard is a 1950s British television series based on author John Dickson Carr's fictional detective Colonel March from his book The Department of Queer Complaints . Carr was a mystery author who specialised in locked-room whodunnits and other 'impossible' crimes: murder...
were made at the studios, as were TV and cinema adverts.
There has been a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
works at the Southall Depot for nearly 150 years. Originally a Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
shed, it was possibly the last London steam depot, outlasting Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common TMD
Old Oak Common TMD is situated to the west of London, in Old Oak Common. The Traction Maintenance Depot is the main facility for the storage and servicing of locomotives and multiple-units which utilise Paddington Station. The depot codes are 'OC' for the diesel depot, and 'OO' for the carriage shed...
and Stewarts Lane depots. The depot was later used for DMU
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
maintenance and as a base for the electrification programme. Currently the site, now referred to as the Southall Railway Centre
Southall Railway Centre
Southall Railway Centre is a railway heritage centre at Southall in west London, near to Southall railway station and the Grand Union Canal. It is run by the GWR Preservation Group Limited .-History:...
, is used by three independent groups, including Locomotive Services (where volunteers can contribute to the preservation and restoration of mainline locomotives) and the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
Preservation Group.
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and the branch to Brentford Dock
Brentford Dock
Brentford Dock in, Brentford, west London was a major trans-shipment point between the Great Western Railway and barges on the River Thames. The building of Brentford Dock was started in 1855 and it was formally opened in 1859...
. The company moved there from Walthamstow
Walthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
in 1926 and closed in 1979 after losing market share whilst part of the giant but inefficient British Leyland group. The site was noticeable for railway passengers due to a large sign saying "Builders of London's Buses for 50 years". A major gas works
Southall Gas Works
Southall Gas Works is a site of around in Southall, west London, formerly occupied by a plant for the manufacture of town gas. Today a much reduced site is used for the pressure reduction and storage of natural gas and the remainder of the site is the subject of planning proposals.-Location:The...
manufacturing town gas was located between the railway and the canal. Since production ceased in the 1970s, much of the 36 hectare (90 acre) site has been vacant, due to limited road access and remaining gas infrastructure.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Southall was the target of enemy bombing on a number of occasions. A German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
destroyed a number of houses in Regina Road, killing the occupants. Bomb shelters and bunkers were built during the war, close to or under most schools and public buildings. The bunkers at Hamborough Primary School were expanded during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, to become the North West Group War HQ for the London area Civil Defence organisation and the London Borough of Ealing
London Borough of Ealing
The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London...
Emergency Control Centre. This facility is now disused.
On 2 September 1958 at 7:10 am, a pilot of a Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
Viking V624 (G-AIJE), which had just taken off from Heathrow Airport, reported that he had engine trouble. Some minutes later it crashed onto houses in Kelvin Gardens. It was on a cargo flight carrying aero engines to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and carried no passengers, however the three crew members and four people on the ground were killed. One of the surviving occupants, 14-year-old Brian Gibbons, was later awarded the George Medal
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
for bravery, as well as the Carnegie
Carnegie
Carnegie may refer to:*Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist, for whom many entries on this page are named*Dale Carnegie, motivational speaker and author*David Carnegie , Scottish-Swedish industrialist...
Award. The accident was due to poor maintenance, and caused the company, Independent Air Travel, to fail in October 1959.
On 23 April 1979, Blair Peach
Blair Peach
Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England....
, a teacher and anti-racist
Anti-racism
Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined...
activist, was killed after police knocked him unconscious during a protest against the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
(NF). Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker
Clarence Baker
Clarence Baker was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 1988, representing the riding of Lac Du Bonnet for the New Democratic Party....
- a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...
, remained in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for five months. More than 40 others — including 21 police — were injured, and 300 were arrested.
On 4 July 1981, a race riot
Race riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
was sparked at the Hambrough Tavern on the Broadway. Local Asian youths mistakenly believed that a concert featuring the Oi!
Oi!
Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....
bands The Business
The Business (band)
The Business are an English Oi!/punk rock band formed in 1979 in Lewisham, South London. Their album Suburban Rebels became influential in the Oi! movement...
, The Last Resort and The 4-Skins
The 4-Skins
The 4-Skins are a working class Oi! punk rock band from the East End of London, England. Originally composed of Gary Hodges , 'Hoxton' Tom McCourt , Steve 'H' Hamer and Gary Hitchcock , they formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1984 – although new line-ups formed in 2007 and 2008...
was a white power
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
event. Additionally, the venue had recently been sued for barring non-white customers, and local youths had heard that skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s arriving for the concert had harassed other youths and women. More than 200 skinheads had travelled by bus from East London, and a few of them smashed shop windows, wrote NF slogans around the area, and shouted neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
slogans while using bricks and clubs to attack Asian youths who had gathered in opposition to the gig. This was one of several high-profile riots in Britain that year.
Although some of the skinheads were NF or British Movement
British Movement
The British Movement , later called the British National Socialist Movement , is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968. It grew out of the National Socialist Movement , which was founded in 1962...
supporters, among the 500 or so concert-goers were also left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
skinheads, black skinheads, punk rockers
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
, rockabillies
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
and non-affiliated youths. A few of the approximately 300 Asians threw petrol bombs
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
and other objects, and five hours of rioting left 120 people injured — including 60 police officers — and the tavern burnt down.
The Southall rail crash
Southall rail crash
The Southall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 19 September 1997, on the Great Western Main Line at Southall, west London. Seven people were killed and 139 injured...
occurred on 19 September 1997 when a mainline high speed express train from Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
to London Paddington ran a red signal, when the driver's attention was distracted, and it collided with a goods train just outside Southall railway station. Seven people died and 139 were injured.
Culture
Little India (location)
Little India is an ethnic enclave containing a large population of Indian people within a society where the majority of people are either not South Asians or where the majority in the enclave are indigenous to states in the country of India within a South Asian Society not identifying as Indian...
". In 1950, the first group of South Asians arrived in Southall, reputedly recruited to work in a local factory owned by a former British Indian Army officer. This South Asian population grew, due to the closeness of expanding employment opportunities such as London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
. The most significant cultural group to settle in Southall are Asians. According to the Commission for Racial Equality
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to tackle racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Its work has been merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.-History:...
, over 55% of Southall's population of 70,000 is India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n/Pakistani.
There are ten Sikh
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
s in Southall and one of them won the Ealing Civic Society Architectural Award in 2003. The Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall is a Sikh Gurdwara situated in the London suburb of Southall on Havelock Road and Park Avenue. It is the largest Sikh temple in Europe. Building work at the Havelock Road site commenced in March 2000 and the Gurdwara opened on Sunday 30 March 2003, in order...
, which opened in 2003, is one of the largest Sikh temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s outside India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. There are two large Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
'Mandir' temples, the Vishnu Hindu Mandir on Lady Margaret Road and the Ram Mandir in Old Southall. There are more than ten Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
churches including 5 Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and several Pentecostal or Independent. There are three Mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s 'Masjids' in Southall, the Abubakr Mosque situated on Southall broadway, the Central Jamia Masjid Mosque and the Jamia Masjid Islamic Centre.
In addition, the signs on the main railway station are bilingual.
Earlier, in the 1920s and 1930s Southall was the destination of many Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
migrants escaping from the harsh economic conditions in that part of the country. For many years, Welsh accents were very commonplace in the area.
The main street in Southall is called The Broadway. Southall contains the largest Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n shopping centre in the London area. Southall was the main location for the internationally acclaimed film Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
.
Southall has a large gas tower which is noticeable from a great distance. Painted on the gas tower are "LH" in large letters and an arrow that denoted to aircraft pilots the direction to nearby London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
by visual flight rules
Visual flight rules
Visual flight rules are a set of regulations which allow a pilot to operate an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minimums, as specified in the rules of the...
(VFR) if landing on the now closed Runway 23. This was painted on the tower after a number of pilots became confused between Heathrow and the nearby RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
which has a much shorter runway. One Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
landed at Northolt by mistake and a number of other pilots were en route there when warned off by air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
.
Southall is also the location of the Glassy Junction public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, which has now closed down and its future is unsure. Southall has many well known restaurants such as Chaudhry's TKC, established in 1965 was one of the first Punjabi restaurants in the UK. TKC is the first restaurant to accept Rupees as payment. Jelabi Junction is internationally famous for its freshly cooked jelabi, a batter fried in oil and quick dipped in sugar syrup. In 2000 Chaudhry's TKC imported a highly decorated traditional bus from Karachi, known as the Chaudhry's Tiara which is totally unique. It is now regarded as a must see for visitors coming to London and Southall. The Tiara bus is used for weddings and has appeared in many adverts such as Walkers Crisps, Sharwood Foods, Bob Geldofs birthday party and even in a Bollywood film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a 2007 Bollywood film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta. It is directed by Shaad Ali. The film is produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under Yash Raj Films...
.
Southall has also appeared in other Bollywood films as well, including Patiala House
Patiala House
Patiala House is a 2011 Hindi family drama / sports film directed by Nikhil Advani and starring Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma. British Asian Actor Armaan Kirmani also makes his debut in this film as Akshay's brother...
and Goal!
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is a 2007 Bollywood film. It was released on 29 November 2007, produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and is under the UTV Motion Pictures banner. The film stars John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani. The film's soundtrack is composed...
.
There is now a local community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
station servicing Southall; Westside 89.6 FM, licensed by Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
as part of their drive towards community-based radio services.
Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...
began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
band in the early 1970s.
The local football club Southall F.C.
Southall F.C.
Southall F.C. is a semi-professional football club based in the Southall area of west London, in the London Borough of Ealing, England. Football has been played in Southall from at least 1871.-History:...
has a long history, having been formed in 1871. In 2007/08 they played in the Middlesex County League Division One (Central & East).
Musicians
- H Dhami, bhangra singer, who is signed to rishi rich's label rishi rich productions
- Urban Music producers Panjabi Hit SquadPanjabi Hit SquadPanjabi Hit Squad are a group of Asian artists signed to the UK imprint of Hip-Hop giant, Def Jam. The members all grew up in Southall, UK. As well as working with various high-profile acts such as Mariah Carey, Ashanti, and Sway, they also work with community projects such as youth project BBC...
all grew up in Southall. - Ms ScandalousMs ScandalousMs Scandalous is a British Asian bhangra/rap artist.She was born in Southall, West London, to a Punjabi family, and was signed up by Panjabi Hit Squad after she was spotted working part-time at a music store in Southall, and asked to audition on the spot...
, a rapper/MC, was born in Southall in 1983. - Juggy DJuggy DJagwinder Singh Dhaliwal, better known by his stage name, Juggy D, is a British Indian singer from Southall, London, England.-Music:...
, a bhangra singer. - Chris Highton, musicianMusicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and radio presenter was educated at Southall Grammar SchoolGrammar schoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
(now Villiers High SchoolVilliers High SchoolVilliers High School is a mixed comprehensive school located in Southall in the London Borough of Ealing, West London, United Kingdom. The school is a specialist technology college and has approximately 1,200 students and around 80 teaching staff.-History:...
) in the 1960s. - Cleo LaineCleo LaineDame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
, a jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer and actress, was born in Southall in 1927 and brought up in Clarence Street. She attended Featherstone Road School. - Rishi RichRishi RichRishpal Singh Rekhi better known by his stage name Rishi Rich is a British Indian music producer born in Croydon, England and based in London...
, music producer. - Misty in RootsMisty in RootsMisty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...
, reggaeReggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
band, started life in the area. - Jay Sean or Kamaljeet Singh Jhooti (birth name), R&B singer, was raised here.
- Kuljit BhamraKuljit BhamraKuljit Bhamra MBE Hon DMus is a British composer, record producer and musician whose main instrument is the tabla. He is best known as one of the record producers who pioneered the British Bhangra sound and for his many collaborations with musicians from different genres and continents...
composer, record producer and musician was educated at Southall Grammar SchoolGrammar schoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
(now Villiers High SchoolVilliers High SchoolVilliers High School is a mixed comprehensive school located in Southall in the London Borough of Ealing, West London, United Kingdom. The school is a specialist technology college and has approximately 1,200 students and around 80 teaching staff.-History:...
). His recording studio is in Southall where he produced many Bhangra hits for local Southall bands during the 1980s and where he continues to produce music.
Authors and poets
- Mike AshleyMike Ashley (writer)Michael Ashley is a British bibliographer, author and editor of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy.He edits the long-running Mammoth Book series of short story anthologies, each arranged around a particular theme in mystery, fantasy, or science fiction...
, authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and editorEditingEditing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. - Kwame Kwei-ArmahKwame Kwei-ArmahKwame Kwei-Armah, is a British actor, playwright, singer and broadcaster. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End...
, playwrightPlaywrightA playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. - Rupinderpal Singh DhillonRupinderpal Singh DhillonRupinderpal Singh Dhillon is a British Contemporary Punjabi Writer who writes Punjabi short stories, novels and poetry....
, poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. - Tim LottTim LottTim Lott is a British author. After running his own magazine publishing business, he graduated from the London School of Economics in 1986....
, author (his debut The Scent Of Dried Roses is about growing up in Southall) was born here in 1956. - Harjeet AtwalHarjeet AtwalHarjeet Atwal is a Punjabi writer, novelist in Indian literature specially in Punjabi and Hindi languages. He has written many books and many articles and delivered lectures. He is also known as a storyteller and poet...
, authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Television and film
- Daljit DhaliwalDaljit DhaliwalDaljit Dhaliwal is a British newsreader and television presenter.Dhaliwal is currently one of the news presenters for the Al-Jazeera English news service and broadcasts from Washington DC. Previously, she was the anchor chair of Worldfocus on PBS, which aired its last broadcast on 2 April 2010...
, newsreaderNewsreaderNewsreader can refer to:* Newsreader , a computer program for reading Usenet newsgroups* News presenter, a person that presents a news show on television, radio or the Internet...
and journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A... - Nick KnowlesNick KnowlesNicholas Simon Augustine Knowles is an English television presenter. He is best known for presenting DIY SOS on the BBC. He has also presented Mission Africa, UK's Worst, City Hospital, Coast to Coast, Five's Company, Departure Lounge and Real Rescues.-Early years:Knowles was born in Southall,...
, television personality; - Actress Hayley MillsHayley MillsHayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
lived at Friars Lawn, a historic house at Norwood GreenNorwood GreenNorwood Green is a place in the London Borough of Ealing in London, England. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross and northeast of Heathrow Airport...
, Southall, in the late 1970s to 1980. - Gurinder ChadhaGurinder ChadhaGurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
OBE, noted British film director. The Southall area is the setting for many of her films involving the British Asian community. - Stewart BevanStewart BevanStewart Bevan is a British actor, best known for his performances in both film and television.His film credits include: The Flesh and Blood Show, The Ghoul, Brannigan, Steptoe and Son Ride Again, and House of Mortal Sin.TV roles include: Doctor Who , Public Eye, Secret Army, Shoestring, Blake's...
, actor, screenwriter, lyricist and poet grew up in Southall. - Elisabeth SladenElisabeth SladenElisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
, actress best known for playing Sarah Jane SmithSarah Jane SmithSarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
in the sci-fi series Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
died in Southall in April 2011.
Politicians
- Sir Leslie Murphy (1915–2007) was born in Southall and educated at Southall Grammar School (now Villiers High School). He became a prominent businessman, merchant bankMerchant bankA merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
er, influential civil servant and a founder member of the Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party (UK, 1990)The Social Democratic Party is a small political party in the United Kingdom. It traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party that was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party politicians, all Members of Parliament or former MPs: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley...
. He was knightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1978. - Syd BidwellSyd BidwellSydney James Bidwell was a British Labour politician.Bidwell was a railway worker on the Great Western Railway and became a tutor and organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges. He went on to become the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC...
represented Southall in parliamentParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
from 1966–1992, succeeded by Piara KhabraPiara KhabraPiara Singh Khabra was a British politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall from 1992 until his death. He was the fifth Asian, and the first Sikh, to become a British MP...
from 1992–2007 and Virendra SharmaVirendra SharmaVirendra Kumar Sharma is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall since 2007.-Parliamentary career:...
from 2007 onwards. Radio stationRadio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
owner Avtar LitAvtar LitAvtar Lit is the owner and chairman of Sunrise Radio Group, and was listed by AIM magazine as one of the "20 most powerful Asians in British media" in 2005, and said to have amassed a big personal fortune...
stood as a parliamentParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
ary candidate; his son Tony Lit followed in his footsteps, standing in the 2007 by-electionBy-electionA by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
.
Others
- Les FerdinandLes FerdinandLeslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE is a former English footballer. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Besiktas J.K., Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., during which period he earned a number of appearances for England...
, EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
footballer, once played for Southall FC - Trevor BaylisTrevor BaylisTrevor Graham Baylis OBE is an English inventor. He is best known for inventing the wind-up radio. Rather than using batteries or external electrical source, the radio is powered by the user winding a crank for several seconds. This stores energy in a spring which then drives an electrical...
OBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, the inventor of the Clockwork RadioClockwork radioA windup radio or clockwork radio is a radio that is powered by human muscle power rather than batteries or the electrical grid. In the most common arrangement, an internal electrical generator is run by a mainspring, which is wound by a hand crank on the case. Turning the crank winds the spring...
grew up in the suburb. - Carole Middleton, mother of The Duchess of Cambridge
Local landmarks
- GasometerGasometerA gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...
which is 320 feet (97.5 m) high, making it visible from a great distance. It was brought into service in 1932. It has two very large letters "LH" and an arrow painted on it which was used to denote to aircraft pilots the direction to nearby London Heathrow Airport using visual flight rulesVisual flight rulesVisual flight rules are a set of regulations which allow a pilot to operate an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minimums, as specified in the rules of the...
(VFR) if landing on the now closed runway 23. This was painted on the tower after a number of pilots became confused between Heathrow and the nearby RAF NortholtRAF NortholtRAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
which has a much shorter runway. One BoeingBoeingThe Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
707 landed at Northolt by mistake and a number of other pilots were en route there when warned off by air traffic controlAir traffic controlAir traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
.
- Wharncliffe ViaductWharncliffe ViaductThe Wharncliffe Viaduct is a brick-built viaduct that carries the Great Western Main Line railway across the Brent Valley, between Hanwell and Southall, Ealing, UK, at an elevation of . The viaduct, built in 1836-7, was constructed for the opening of the Great Western Railway...
. An imposing structure 300 yards (274.3 m) and 65 feet (19.8 m) high. Situated the north side of Uxbridge RoadUxbridge RoadUxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in London. It starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing Broadway and Hanwell....
on the boundary with HanwellHanwellHanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall. The motto of Hanwell Urban District Council was Nec Aspera Terrent...
.
- Manor House, The Green, Southall, UB2 4BJ
- Isambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
's Three Bridges.
- Golf Links Estate, almost burned down in 1997 & 2008. A 1960's housing development, at one time had the highest crime rate in the Ealing borough.
- Naval gun on the junction of Tentelow Lane with Windmill Lane.
Political representation
Southall is part of the parliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
ary constituency of Ealing Southall, represented since 2007 by Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Virendra Sharma
Virendra Sharma
Virendra Kumar Sharma is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall since 2007.-Parliamentary career:...
.
Southall is made up of five electoral wards for local council
Local government in the United Kingdom
The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...
election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s: Dormers Wells, Lady Margaret, Norwood Green
Norwood Green
Norwood Green is a place in the London Borough of Ealing in London, England. It is a suburban development situated west of Charing Cross and northeast of Heathrow Airport...
, Southall Broadway and Southall Green, which all elect councillors to Ealing Council
London Borough of Ealing
The London Borough of Ealing is a borough in west London.-Location:The London Borough of Ealing borders the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west, the London Borough of Harrow and the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to the east and the London...
.
Southall is in the London Assembly
London Assembly
The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
constituency of Ealing and Hillingdon which has one assembly member: Richard Barnes (Conservative), who was re-elected in May 2008.
Transport and locale
Southall is served by Southall railway stationSouthall railway station
Southall railway station, is in Southall in west London, England. The station is in Travelcard Zone 4 and passenger services are provided by First Great Western from London to , and , and by Heathrow Connect from Paddington to Heathrow Airport....
on the Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
, providing links to Heathrow Airport, Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
as well as London Paddington
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
.
There is no London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station in Southall, the nearest one to the town centre being Osterley station
Osterley tube station
Osterley is a London Underground station in Osterley in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Boston Manor and Hounslow East. The station is located on Great West Road close to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park. It is in Travelcard Zone 4...
, on the Piccadilly line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
, which is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south.
Frequent bus services link Southall with all neighbouring suburbs and London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
.
There is an express coach service between Southall and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
which specialises in serving the many family connections in both areas' South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n populations.
See also
- Blair PeachBlair PeachClement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England....
, anti-racist campaigner was killed in a demonstrationDemonstrationDemonstration may refer to:* Demonstration , a political rally or protest* Demonstration , a conclusive mathematical proof* Demonstration , a method of teaching by example rather than simple explanation...
in Southall on Monday April 23, 1979. - Southall rail crashSouthall rail crashThe Southall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 19 September 1997, on the Great Western Main Line at Southall, west London. Seven people were killed and 139 injured...
- Ealing, Hammersmith and West London CollegeEaling, Hammersmith and West London CollegeEaling, Hammersmith & West London College is a college of further education based across four campuses located in Acton, Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall districts of London, England. The college provides education for over 25,000 students, and it is a member of the 157 Group of high performing...
which has a campusCampusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
on Beaconsfield Road in Southall.
Further reading
- British History Online: 'Norwood, including Southall: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4 (1971)
- Southall Town Hall
- UK Polling Report Guide to the Ealing Southall constituency