River Brent - Greenford

River Brent
The Brent flows south west and south

Post to the south - Greenford
Post to the east Perivale
Post to the north Greenford

Costons Lane
The lane is called after Simon Coston who lived here in the 17th, He is said to have made a lot of money by finding the money of a dead miser in a mill and then running off,
Salvation Army. The Salvation Army built their hall here 1935. The foundation-stone was laid by Mrs.A. W. Perkin, a relative of the dye-manufacturer
The water main from Kempton Park crosses the road north of the river and near the gate into the park

Greenford Road
Granada Cinema. This was opened in 1937 with Gracie Fields at the opening and a Wurlitzer 3Manuals/8Rank (with grand piano) theatre organ. It was built for Sidney Bernstein’s Granada circuit and was built on the site of a demolished Roman Catholic Church. The architects were Charles Dixon and Henry Braddock under Cecil Masey. It had a brick entrance block which had a slim tower feature with the theatre name in neon. The inside was designed by Theodore Komisarjevsky and it was equipped for stage shows. It closed in 1966 and converted into a Tesco
Cardinal Wiseman School. The School opened in 1959 as a special agreement school catering for boys and girls becoming comprehensive in 1974. In 1986it became Voluntary Aided and in 1995, became a 'Technology and Art College'.
Our Lady of the Visitations Primary school. In 1936 the Catholic Church sold the site of their church and bought the current site. They opened a church in what is now the church hall and set about designing a primary school. However the building was requisitioned in the Second World War and used as a British Restaurant. The school eventually opened in 1946. More classrooms were added later.
Our Lady of the Visitations church. In 1929 the Kensington Filles de Marie opened a mass centre in a house in Greenford Road and a chapel was built nearby. Then the Pallotine Fathers took charge of the parish in a hut until a brick church was built on the site later used as the cinema and then Tesco.
Visitation Pre School
Red Lion. This pub dated to the early 18th but had been rebuilt. Closed and demolished
Wishing Well Pub
Telephone Exchange
400 Post Office. This dates from the early 1930s since the stone above the door, has a plaque citing George V plus oak leaves.
412 Greenford Madana Mosque. The entrance is from Ruislip road. West London Islamic Centre & Greenford Mosque was established in 1985 and used a hall in Southall in early 1985 before moving to the ground floor of this office block.

Mansell Road
Stanhope Primary School. Built by Ealing local authority in 1930. In the 1950s it was a boys' secondary school run by Middlesex County Council.

Oldfield Lane
Shree Jalaram Mandir
Library. It was built in 1934 which is shown on the drain head.
Clinic
Police Station
London Motorcycle Museum. This is in what was the cowsheds and stables of Ravenor Farm and founded by Bill Crosby. In 1958 he bought Reg Allen Motorcycles in W13 and he began to save the interesting bikes. These were displayed at Syon Park until 1979 and then at Matlock until that site closed. In 1997 they were able to move to the site in Greenford which was used as a council depot. They concentrate on Triumph machines,
Greenford’s Heritage Centre. Lots of items of everyday life collected by David Blackwell
Litten Local Nature Reserve is managed by Ealing Council and there is a Friends of the Litten group. It is a two acre site with woodland, a wildflower meadow and ponds.
Ravenor House grand house demolished in the early 1970s
Ravenor Park. This is named after the Ravenor family – in the 17th Symo Ravenor was Constable of Greenford and the family owned Ravenor Farm. The park is however on the site of Coston's Farm which was bought by Ealing Council in 1928 and part laid out as a public park, called Costons Farm Recreation Ground. An old hedgerow remains from the farm as does a line of mature oaks which marked its boundaries. There is also 20th planting commemorative trees and an avenue of white poplar, ornamental shrubs and evergreen trees, including swamp cypress. There is a railed area with trees of different species planted by Greenford Royal Legion in 1994 to commemorate the D-Day landings. There is a formal garden with weeping cherry and rose beds next to the tennis courts and a nature conservation area with an avenue of poplar between it and the park, 
Stanhope Park. This was a large house with 13 bedrooms and stabling for eight horses. It was he home of draper Charles Bentley
Stanhope Villa. Said to have been built of very red bricks and known as The Red House. After the Second World War it was used as the Electricity Board Showroom and offices

Ravenor Park Road
Laid out in 1912/13, the first housing estate developed by a B Long of Hanwell.

Ruislip Road
War Memorial. After the Great War, Greenford people decided that a memorial to the 19 men who had been killed would be appropriate. In 1920 a funding committee was formed.  Work was done by Frederick Pushman of Hanwell for a 13 ft cross of Portland stone. It had the names of the men who had died with “Ye who live on mid English pastures green, Remember us, and think what might have been” and “Their Name Liveth for Evermore”. It was unveiled in 1921 with Lady Mosley and Fane de Salis, chairman of Middlesex County Council
Pumping station. Thames Water pumping station. This seems to be mentioned as a sewage pumping station. It is however on the line of the water main from Kempton Park to north London.
Playhouse Cinema. Thus was on the north side of the road and opened as the Electric Theatre before 1914. It was operated by the Southern Cinemas chain. It closed in 1959 and was demolished,
Load of Hay pub this riverside pub was destroyed in Second World War bombing.
Greenford Hall.  This was opened in 1966 after a 12-year campaign by local people to get a public hall.  It was opened by Dame Edith Evans. It has a Scandinavian-influenced façade.
Hare and Hounds Pub
Greenford Bridge – with parapets and columns
Brentside School Playing Field
Drayton Manor School Sports ground

Sources
British History Online. Greenford
Cardinal Wiseman School. Web site
Cinema Treasures. Web site
Greenford 365. Web site
London Borough of Ealing. Web site
London Gardens Online. Web site
Middlesexcountycouncil, Web site
Pevsner and Cherry, North West London,
Walford. Village London,

Comments

I've learned some very interesting things about Greenford thanks to your excellent blog which I came across via the Lost Hospitals of London site. Thank you for including the reference to my own blog, Greenford 365. I probably didn't look hard enough to see if the following are included on this site but those planning to visit Greenford may also be interested in Holy Cross church and the Betham School which are on the same road (Oldfield Lane) as the police station which I believe is Victorian or Edwardian. Unfortunately, unless redevelopment is prevented it is likely that it will be replaced by a block of flats. I think it is the same police station that gets a mention in court records for 1887 on www.oldbaileyonline.org Search for Greenford for many more local cases dating as far back as 1694! They may also be interested in the Starlite Ballroom in Allendale Road. If I can help you at all please feel free to email me at positivegreenford at hotmail dot co dot uk.

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