Forum Topic

Ealing Common

Does anyone know what the 6 concrete squares are near the NW corner of Ealing Common?   They look like they could be remnants of old foundations but there are old wives tales about plague pits and emergency burial grounds in the event of major catastrophy or nuclear war.  There are also some similar near to the ex-toilets by the tube station.

Brian Davis ● 5787d20 Comments

Lots of great info on this thread. The Ealing Common Society are putting together a website with info and data about the surrounding area. I'm digging out some old maps from the C18th so that they can upload images. I will have to ask the ECS member if I can put up her info here so if anyone has any information about Ealing Common and surrounds can possibly share for data gathering. Still like the fact that we used to have a Love Lane between Ealing Common and Ealing Green.

Joanna Dabrowska ● 3778d

They are wartime installations.There were also similar in Dean Gardens and a set of air raid shelter bunkers in the middle of Lammas Park on the area between Elers Road and Windermere Road but closer to Elers road and about 100m from the path where the Elers road entrance is located.Also London Transport had an in house defence force at Acton Works and Ealing Common Depot and searchlight batteries and barrage balloons were located close to LT infrastructure. My Grandfather was one of these at Acton Works and got injured in a bombing raid. He showed me all these installations when I was small and described what they actually were.There wee also a lot of EWS locations with these painted on walls. Boston Manor Park was one, am struggling to remember where the others were locally.

Mark Kehoe ● 3779d

They might be for drainage or maybe they are what's left of the supposed bunkers from WWII

Elizabeth Angela Amzil ● 3779d

Thanks Tony for resurrecting this thread from 2009. Hope all is well in Bonnie Scotland.

Gerry Tan ● 4237d

Bumped

Tony Wood ● 4238d

My paternal Grandparents house in Agnes Road (of The Vale W3) was damaged by bombing so I assume the target was either the Napier Works or the Bromyard Government Offices.

Gavin Gilbert ● 5779d

I'd hazard a guess at the location not being Ealing as such but the ex locomotive shed at Southall - confusion with Ealing and the borough.The camera pointing west with Southall railway station beyond the bridge, which looks like a footbridge. The chimney in the picture may be of one of the food factories which were situated south of the railway tracks.The location can't be West Ealing as the branch tracks curve under the nearest arch to the curve.

Alan Brainsby ● 5779d

what??? dastardly Jerry made his way up the Thames? not in boats i hope. next you'll be telling us Tommy Steele took Elvis round London in a Ford Prefect.Are the bullet holes visible from the road side, or do you have to hang over the parapet? i.e. are they inside or out?

David Dix ● 5779d

If you walk over from the Ealing side of the river they are on the left hand inside of the bridge. I think it is about half way up.It's possible they are on the outside of the right hand as well. This was a question on Robert Elms show for BBC London in the summer.Apparently as the Germans used the river to navigate they would pass this way. It was also send ordnance would get dropped along this stretch and over Brentford on the way home. No one knew why the pilot shot the bridge up so perhaps he saw people on there or vehicles or was just shooting for the hell of it!

Jamie Fuller ● 5779d

If you walk over from the Ealing side of the river they are on the left hand inside of the bridge. I think it is about half way up.It's possible they are on the outside of the right hand as well. This was a question on Robert Elms show for BBC London in the summer.Apparently as the Germans used the river to navigate they would pass this way. It was also send ordnance would get dropped along this stretch and over Brentford on the way home. No one knew why the pilot shot the bridge up so perhaps he saw people on there or vehicles or was just shooting for the hell of it!

Jamie Fuller ● 5779d

If you walk over from the Ealing side of the river they are on the left hand inside of the bridge. I think it is about half way up.It's possible they are on the outside of the right hand as well. This was a question on Robert Elms show for BBC London in the summer.Apparently as the Germans used the river to navigate they would pass this way. It was also send ordnance would get dropped along this stretch and over Brentford on the way home. No one knew why the pilot shot the bridge up so perhaps he saw people on there or vehicles or was just shooting for the hell of it!

Jamie Fuller ● 5779d

No, where are they? and do you know why?

David Dix ● 5779d

I actually purchased that book a couple of years ago when we first moved to Ealing.  It might be more useful now that I know the area a bit better.Thanks for the reminder, I have just dug it out.G

G Lord ● 5779d

Re WW2 blitz damage to Ealing, get the book 'A Little Boy's War' by born-and-bred South Ealingite Roy Bartlett who lived through it. The gentleman himself recently gave a most interesting talk on the subject in Ealing Library.

Chris Veasey ● 5779d

Found this photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/90375069@N00/955841752/Anyone know where it is/was?Can any senior residents comment on where the shelters were and what damage was caused to the Ealing area during WW2?G

G Lord ● 5779d

Air raid shelters were sited wherever possible. I was too young to remember much, but there were air raid shelters in a square in North Acton Playing Fields where the current children's play area is sited. I was told that a flying bomb landed in the middle, killing 200 people.

Chris Bell ● 5779d

They are WWII air raid shelters. Ealing has no underground so these where used. There is one on the main common at the top by Uxbridge road and another on the common by Ealing Common Station.Recently the tops of the ones on the Ealing side where broken so myself and a mate had a wee look down with torch. They where very dry and look concrete lined. Shame no one tipped off the paper as they could have popped down and ran a story.Whilst on the war subject are you aware of the bullet holes on Kew bridge?

Jamie Fuller ● 5780d

Yes there certainly were searchlights on the Common during the war,but these were wheeled units not needing foundations. I'm guessing they would have been sited nearer the centre of the Common to maximise the field of view,tall trees and all that.You may find this interesting or probably not! http://www.skylighters.org/howalightworks/index.html  As far as I know(Dad told me :o) ) the nearest AA battery was in the centre of Gunnersbury Park along with Barrage baloons,which I remember seeing being used for parachute training in the 50s (Acton TA I think).  I really think the remains on the Common are those of an Air Raid shelter,whether it was for civilians or used as a default centre for Local Government or somesuch I'd like to ascertain.  There is a similar sized bunker in Southall that was used as a default war room (NW region) and as a Civil Defence bunker until the 80-90s.

Tony Wood ● 5785d

I have dim memory of being told they were piers for a WWII Search Light battery.

Gavin Gilbert ● 5785d

Almost certainly the remains of a WWII air raid shelter. If you have a look on either Google Earth or virtual Earth you can see the lighter grass outlining the (approx 1 metre thick) walls. The grass is lighter because the walls are just below the surface,so not much soil depth to hold water/nutrients.  There are two breaks at the end of walls where the grass is darker,probably where the extrances were.

Tony Wood ● 5786d

foundations of a bandstand?

Barbara Karayi ● 5787d