Shepherd's Bush Market

Just a one minute ride from Wood Lane tube station is Shepherd's Bush Market . This station serves both the Circle and Hammersmith and City line. It used to be called Shepherd's Bush station meaning there were two stations with the same name. The other one is on the Central Line. There remained two stations with the same name for 108 years but in 2008 when the London Overground Shepherd's Bush station opened on the West London Line, it was decided that three stations with the same name was far too confusing. It was decided to change the name of this one as it was not close enough to the other two stations to be interchangeable.

As you step outside the station the first thing you see is the market  which runs parallel to the railway line. The market opened in 1914  with stalls leased from Transport for London, which owns the land.

There is a wide range of goods on sale from fresh produce, household goods, fashion and jewellery.

Next door to the market is the Bush Theatre which reopened in 2017 after major refurbishment. It is housed in the former Shepherd's Bush Library and was first opened in 1972.

It is a theatre which encourages new writers and involves the local community with numerous projects such as youth theatre, young writers group and a reading group.

The theatre also has a very welcoming cafe/bar with indoor and outdoor seating as well as a script library.

If you want to read more scripts visit the toilets which are decorated with them.

The White Horse pub has been around since 1802. Now it has retreated to the saloon bar with the rest of the building converted into a supermarket.








The station, market and theatre are all on the very busy, heavily congested Uxbridge Road.

The road is lined with numerous restaurants and food shops from around the world.

Built in the Gothic revival style, St Stephen's was consecrated in 1850. The church tower originally supported four stone pinnacles and a 150ft high spire but they were severely damaged in a bombing raid in 1940. When the church was restored after the war the pinnacles and spire were not replaced. Today  St Stephen's is very much part of the multi cultural community it serves. The church is used not just for worship but for other events such as concerts, meetings and school assemblies. 
In the church hall there is a weekly film club where 70 - 100 homeless and hostel residents watch a film and enjoy a hot meal.

Many of the roads leading off the Uxbridge Road have large Victorian houses built in the last quarter of the 19th century.



On the opposite side of Uxbridge Road from the church is the police station. More functional than stylish.

In 1897 this impressive looking building was a Church Army home for 'destitute and fallen women'. They had 38 places for women between the ages of 16-40. The Church Army was founded in 1882 as an evangelistic mission for the Church of England, working in the slum areas of London and other cities. The army's social department aimed to raise 'the hopeless outcasts of society' by providing labour, rescue and lodging. By the early 1900s the organisation was dealing with about 400,000 cases of men, women and boys per year. The building is now split into residential flats.

Bush Hall was built in 1904 by a publisher. He built three dance halls, one for each of his daughters.This is the only one that remains. Although built as a dance hall it has been used as a soup kitchen during WW2, a bingo hall, a rehearsal place during the 50s and 60s for performers such as Cliff Richard and The Who. Then in the 80s and 90s it became a snooker and social club. But in 2001 its new owners restored it to its former glory as a music hall and it now showcases comedy acts, new musicians, cabaret shows and a number of other events.

Time to go home. Looks like I just missed the tube but luckily they are very frequent. I will only have to wait a couple of minutes for another one.