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Brentford Cut Off From The World, Well actually just the GU


Tim Lewis

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45 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Isn't it the world that's cut off from Brentford, rather than as in the title?

Absolutely. It is not widely understood, but Brentford was THE principal place of importance for the whole of SE Britain, before the Romans invaded. I always like to consider that Londinium was initially created by illegal Italian immigrants as a suburb of the anciently established Bregantford.

 In time of course, with their typical disregard for historical geography, the Romans bashed down the easternmost escarpments of the river Brent, to create a new ford allowing for the “Devil’s Highway” between the burgeoning Londinium and Silchester, thus destroying the bottle-neck locus of Brentford as the nexus of all North to South and East to West travel. From that point on it became more of a place to pass through, than a cardinal cross-roads.

 Still, it continued to clock up spots in history of extraordinary importance. Sadly, the final scant vestiges of its venerable historical legacy are being destroyed in this year’s anticipated bulldozing, and re-creation of Docklands-Modern style apartment blocks.

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17 hours ago, NigelMoore said:

 Still, it continued to clock up spots in history of extraordinary importance. Sadly, the final scant vestiges of its venerable historical legacy are being destroyed in this year’s anticipated bulldozing, and re-creation of Docklands-Modern style apartment blocks.

Haven't they finished the development on the towpath side of the basin yet? I left my mooring at Brentford about 8 years ago when they knocked down the warehouses on that side. I didn't fancy the prospect of being in the middle of an apartment canyon. I thought they'd have finished the whole thing by now - I can't think what else there is canal-side to bulldoze and redevelop?

Edited by blackrose
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55 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Haven't they finished the development on the towpath side of the basin yet? I left my mooring at Brentford about 8 years ago when they knocked down the warehouses on that side. I didn't fancy the prospect of being in the middle of an apartment canyon. I thought they'd have finished the whole thing by now - I can't think what else there is canal-side to bulldoze and redevelop?

The answer to your question is no; they are still building the final phase opposite the 'island' moorings. It is now very largely the "apartment canyon" we locals had campaigned against fruitlessly when BW were the driving force behind the development [Stuart Mills & Co are still in the background reaping the profits of course]. Still, it would have been far worse if we had not intervened - especially in terms of visitor moorings.

However, that is not what I was referring to - the whole South of the High Street town centre development is to start, allegedly, in a couple of months' time. Most of the bulldozing has been done already, but significant areas remain; I have heard nothing about preliminary archeology plans, which is appalling - this is one of the rare locations where Saxon huts have been uncovered, filling in history gaps from the mesolithic periods onwards. There will be much potentially to be found yet, though if that is done, it will mean nothing to development plans. The Morrisons supermarket site has been approved for yet another block of high rise flats, and neither developers nor the Council were anything but wholly indifferent to my suggestion that there was a golden opportunity to create visual access to the Roman road remains within the development - as a tourist draw if nothing else.

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22 hours ago, NigelMoore said:

T The Morrisons supermarket site has been approved for yet another block of high rise flats, and neither developers nor the Council were anything but wholly indifferent to my suggestion that there was a golden opportunity to create visual access to the Roman road remains within the development - as a tourist draw if nothing else.

OMG has Morrisons gone, where do you shop now

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18 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

Apart from Colchester, that is ...

Pah, Humbug. I said: BEFORE the Romans invaded.

Not that I wish to get rude about other ancient towns of Britain, but Colchester was was of those places that only became prominent following the second Roman invasion in the first century AD. It's reputation as Britain's oldest town relies on a reference by Pliny that dates only to 77AD, whereas Julius Caesar's diaries of his first incursion into the then heartland of the country was back in the previous century: 54BC; so his description of the fortifications at Brentford he had to overcome, date back some 130 years earlier than Pliny's references, and Brentford was the crossroads and key to the northern areas where he absolutely had to deal with and defeat Cassivellaunus.

It was all a bit of a failure as an expedition, however, despite that victory, and Caesar was harried off back across the channel in fairly short order, comforting himself as best he could with the fact that other Brits in the more southeastern regions around what became Colchester were prepared to do a deal with him and give a token tribute. I suppose places like Colchester could be said to have profited from the positions their forefathers took, when the Romans returned in force later, and established a centuries-enduring foothold with local co-operation. Bit like early Britain's version of the Vichy French; collaborators profited, places like Brentford, harbouring and nurturing the free Brits, were sent into quasi-terminal decline. [Rather like their treatment of Carthage].

Not that I am wanting to sound provocative here; I know people like to cherish their own precious little illusions of the significance of their own birthplaces.

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8 hours ago, Phoenix_V said:

OMG has Morrisons gone, where do you shop now

It has not gone yet [just came back with supplies], but it is due for the chopping block. Morrisons only had a lease on the place anyway.

As to what people are to do when work really does kick off, is the subject of much angst and discussion amongst the Councillors and inhabitants, with developers like Ballymore proposing to incorporate a substitute - while the approved plans for the Morrisons site are supposed to cater for a couple of mini-supermarkets squeezed between the parking floors.

In the interim, we are blithely assured that it isn't so far to go to the Tesco above Gillette Corner.

Edited by NigelMoore
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13 hours ago, Phoenix_V said:

OMG has Morrisons gone, where do you shop now

The canal side (ish) Morrison’s at Camden lock is also about to be Massively redeveloped so our Northern visitors will soon have nowhere to get their pastries!

Tim

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14 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

To bring this thread back on topic:

Now fixed.  A lot of hard work by CRT operations team over the weekend, I gather.

Thats good to know - I need to head up that way soon. 

What actually happened?

 

 

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