Forum Topic

History on your doorstep - Fred Husego - Ealing

Just rediscovered this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_HlRgRvBh0Makes me feel very old

Penny Crocker ● 4125d15 Comments

Fab posting Penny.I recall him on LBC radio at a later date following the same Ealing history trail. "Where is the main church" and the arrival of the railway.A few years back I caught a taxi at St Pancras to Osterley and it was Fred driving. He said he now lived on the South Coast and although retired.. did the odd day or two working the streets of London Town.Thanks again.

Jim Lawes ● 4118d

Thanks for putting this up. We watched it at school in history on a VHS videotape in about 1984. Good to see Ealing Books and War on Want in there. Happy memories of bygone Ealing.

Rupa Huq ● 4120d

Most interesting documentary, did see it at the time, but good to see over 30 years on. Are there any shops left in Ealing now, that were there then?Incidentally the book that accompanied the series, has a chapter on a house at 25 Castlebar Park, which think was a previous episode.

Chris Edwards ● 4121d

Barry Bucknell's DIY house was in The Grove some time around 1950/60s when the BBC featured it - I think its still there.

Gerry Tan ● 4122d

I remember when the by-pass was a real possibilty, when it was to run from The Common along The Grove and along Mattock Lane.  It never came to pass but they built the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre instead. The houses along The Grove, Windsor Road and that area were being sold cheaply. Now they're worth a fortune! Both roads are now mainly flats and apartments and some are private homes. How things change.

Gerry Tan ● 4122d

This is fascinating, Penny - thank you so much.

Christine Gratus ● 4122d

Windsor Road has been broken up into flats *well before* that film was made. The road was blighted for years as a bypass had been planned. It was heavily squatted in the 1960s. Then instead of a bypass, the Centre was built and the council sold its CPO'ed properties to housing associations. They actually keep their buildings in good condition.There are also quite a few privately owned buildings where the freeholder doesn't want to spend any cash and these look awful.

Terry Freestone ● 4122d

Thanks for this, what a fantastic video so interesting!

Jim McCauley ● 4123d

That is fantastic. The only bit to have got worse is Windsor Road with every house now 4-5 flats.

Simon Wycombe ● 4124d

Yes, me too. I caught a glimpse of Crusts Caff on The Green - used to work there in 1981. Physically the hardest job I've ever done. I worked in the basement and there was no dumb waiter. It was creepy down there after the punters had gone.

Penny Crocker ● 4124d

Very enjoyable. Amazing how many of the old shops I remember even though I'd just started high school in 1980.I though it was interesting that many of the grand houses were already split into separate lodgings in Victorian times.

John Walker ● 4124d

Thank you for posting. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

Jaz Brown ● 4124d

Fred Housego's a pleasant 'blast from the past' - thanks Penny for posting the programme about the origins and development of Ealing.

Gerry Tan ● 4124d

Thank you. Most informative.

Graham Weeks ● 4125d

Oh I like that. And settles the previous debate about where Safeway used to be too....

Guy Edema ● 4125d