Little Ealing History

A new edition of our book on the history of Little Ealing has recently been published.

Little Ealing was once a sleepy hamlet surrounded by farmland and orchards. This was not very long ago; it was within the lifetimes of many of those who have contributed their memories to this book. The country lanes have now become busy urban routes and the fields have been replaced with residential roads lined with terraced houses and gardens. Glimpses of this earlier world can still be seen, however, in the remaining old houses, the road layout and the open spaces. In this book we try to capture something of that past world. We have traced the development of the area from rural hamlet to the thriving and diverse community it is today.

The idea for this book arose from a local history walk arranged by Ealing Fields Residents’ Association, which passes the main buildings and sites of historic interest.

A 76-page book compiled by Duncan Cameron, Andrew Dick, Paul Fitzmaurice, Helen Johnson, Rosmarie Matter, Joyce Mistry, Rita Smith and Mary Woods.

Revised edition published by Little Ealing History Group, January 2024.

ISBN 9780992767921

Acknowledgements

Production of the original book was made possible by funding from the Millennium Festival Awards for All programme, for which we are most grateful. Our thanks are also due to all those who shared their reminiscences of Little Ealing with us, and to the interviewers and others who offered advice. Particular thanks are due to the Local History Centre at the Ealing Central Library, from whose archives many of our photographs have come. Other sources used, apart from published sources, include: Little Ealing School archives, Richard Gray’s historical account of Ealing Christian Centre, and David Twydell’s ‘From Griffin to Griffin, 100 years of Brentford Football Club, 1889-1989’.

Contents

• Introduction
• Early growth of the area
• Northfields Station and the coming of the railway
• Further development of the area
• Ealing Christian Centre (formerly The Avenue cinema)
• The Plough Public House and Brentford Football Club
• Rochester House
• Lourdes Mount and Mount Carmel Schools
• Little Ealing School in peace and war
• Ealing Park
• Blondin Park
• Little Boston
• South Ealing Cemetery
• Sources and further reading

Purchasing the book

The book is available at £10.00 from any of the authors.

Otherwise the simplest and quickest way to get the book if you live in the W5, W13, or TW8 postal areas is for us to deliver a copy to you with payment on delivery. Please use the contact form to provide your name, address, and email address.

The book is available at:

• The Pitshanger Bookshop, 141 Pitshanger Lane, W5 1RH
• Mooch, 90 Northfield Avenue, Ealing, W13 9RT
• Minals Newsagents, 314 Northfield Avenue, Ealing, W5 4UB
• The Bean n Scone coffee cart in Lammas Park
• Waterstones, 64 Ealing Broadway Centre, W5 5JY
• Northfields Community Library, 255 Northfield Avenue, W5 4UA

The book is also available by mail-order:

• any address in the UK - £10.00
• in Europe - £16.00
• in the USA (untracked delivery) - £18.00
• in the USA (tracked and signed delivery) - £22.00

To pay through PayPal using a credit or debit card please click the button below (you do not need to have a PayPal account).

You can also order by post. Please send your cheque made payable to 'Duncan Cameron' to: Duncan Cameron, 8 Bramley Road, Ealing, London W5 4SS.

Please contact us if you want to order more than one copy so that we can calculate the delivery charge.