Fulham Broadway

This is the 41st station I have visited on the District Line as part of my 'Above the Underground' challenge. The District Line  is the only line to serve 60 stations, covering a distance of 40 miles. From Earl's Court the Line branches out in four directions. I am now on the Wimbledon branch at Fulham Broadway. The station was opened as Walham Green in March 1880 when the District Railway (now the District Line) extended its line south from West Brompton to Putney Bridge. The name was changed to Fulham Broadway in 1952.  The station was upgraded 20 years ago as part of the Fulham Broadway Shopping Centre which was built above the station. 

New 'match day' staircases were added at the far end of the platform to allow crowds attending Chelsea FC games easy access to the ground without going through the shopping centre.

I exited the station into a new, bright shopping mall. Covid has meant a number of outlets are closed. I am sure this looked quite different pre covid days.

Turning right out of the mall brings you to the original station building which is now a food market.

I decided to walk back past the shopping mall and follow Fulham Road. The building next to the mall is the Fulham Broadway Methodist church. I didn't realise it was a church until I crossed the road and saw a cross above the glass frontage.

 

A little further along the Fulham Road I came across this impressive entrance. I wandered inside the gates looking for more information about the building.

Just inside the entrance was this huge tribute to the supporters and benefactors of the foundation. Further research informed me that the land was donated to the War Seal Foundation in 1916 by Sir Oswald Stoll. The charity was formed to help disabled soldiers returning from World War 1 and their families. The charity which was renamed in the 1930s to the Sir Oswald Stoll foundation, provides housing for ex-servicemen and women as well as supporting veterans suffering from mental health issues. Members listed included  Royal family members, Gordon Selfridge (owner of Selfridges) Sir Jesse Boot and the Prime Minister's wife of the time, Mrs H Asquith.

Sir Oswald Stoll (1866-1942) was an Australian born British theatre manager. In 1898 he formed Moss empires with Edward Moss and together the company had music halls in nearly every town. Stoll also owned Cricklewood Film studios.

The front of the Stoll Foundation mansions.

Next to the Stoll foundation is Chelsea Football Club. You would think that as we are on Fulham Road just 100m from Fulham Broadway station that this would be Fulham FC. but that is not the case.

In 1904, Gus Mears with his brother Joseph Mears bought the freehold of Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground. As they were both football enthusiasts they intended staging first class football matches at the ground. Unfortunately they couldn't persuade Fulham to move to a new ground. But in 1905 a new club was set up in a local pub. They couldn't use the name Fulham so chose Chelsea instead. And so began the rise of one of the most famous football clubs in the world. Its fortune increased when in 2003 the club was bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who cleared all the club's debts and then spent obscene amounts of money buying new players for the club.

Opposite the main entrance to the football ground is The Butcher's Hook pub. It was in this pub that Chelsea FC was founded on 14th March 1905. At that time the pub was named The Rising Sun. 

There seem to be numerous pubs in the area. This one is 'The Chelsea pensioner' which dates back to 1862. Being just a few minutes walk from Stamford Bridge it is a popular drinking place for football supporters. It was originally known as The Black Bull before becoming 'The Chelsea Pensioner' in 2014.  It now refers to itself as 'The World's Number 1 Chelsea Fan Pub'.

Just off the Fulham Road in a cul-de-sac is this delightful row of cottages. It seems a world away from the busy Fulham Broadway. The flowers outside the pub were putting on a dazzling display.

The building is said to date back to the 17th century. Over the years it has had a number of name changes. Then in 1965 it became the Fox and Pheasant. It looks like an old country pub in the heart of a city. In 2017 it was up for sale and bought by the singer James Blunt. The singer, a local resident,  was worried the property might become a residential property so decided to buy it. It has had 18 months of renovations and has been transformed into a gastro pub with no expense spared. It apparently has open fires, leather armchairs with the outdoor space turned into an orangery style dining room with retractable glass roof. There is also a private dining room upstairs.

On the other side of Fulham road from the cul de sac is the old chapel of the College of St Mark and St John which is a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1841 as the chapel of St Mark's College. The college which was an education college for teachers moved to Devon. As from 2017 the chapel was redeveloped into two houses.

An open gate led me through a private park and then out onto the King's Road.

You could hardly miss this building on the Kings Road. It houses a collection of furniture and antique dealers.

Who would have thought that on a Saturday afternoon on the Kings Road,  the shops would be closed. I wonder if they will ever reopen.

I continued past the deserted shops onto the New Kings Road and then turned left onto Eel Brook Common.

The common was formerly used for pasture. Building work encroached upon the land during the late 18th century and the District Railway reduced the area further in the 19th century. Public opposition prevented further erosion of the land and in 1881 it was designated as a public park. Its facilities now include cricket and football pitches as well as tennis courts.

Leaving the common I came out onto Effie Road. My attention was drawn to the number of people I had seen carrying guitar cases but the mystery was solved when I saw this building. This is the Bimm ( Brighton Institute of Modern Music) Institute. 

 Further along the road was this delightful old Welsh chapel. A small plaque on the outside informed me it was built in 1900. Researching it on the internet I found out that this is now the Breast Cancer Haven. A place where men and women can go to receive complementary services addressing the emotional and physical side effects of breast cancer treatment. A new centre was due to open soon near King's Cross but its construction had to stop due to the pandemic. It is now expected to open in May 2021. On the day I was here the building was being used as  a Covid testing centre

 Outside silver leaves are intertwined around the Victorian iron railings. Inside the converted church there are stained glass windows and a water feature. A master of Feng Shui was used to help design the features inside the building.

On the opposite side of the road is an old Mission school, introduced in the late 1850s to educate the poor in a Christian environment. This one was built in 1905. What is interesting about this building is that it has the original sign still in situ as well as the porch with its triangular arch. 

Effie Road led me on to Barclay Road and this 1770s pub which was originally called The Red Lion hence the sculpture on the roof. Now known as the Redback it has Australian themed food and drink. The Redback is named after Australia's most venomous spider.

I stopped for lunch at this roof top cafe on the North End Road.

Tables were all socially distanced and as it was outside I felt safe eating here.

Across the road from the café were a couple of interesting buildings. This one is St John's Parish Hall. 

Next to the parish hall is the old public baths and wash house with its very ornate frontage. The building dates from 1902 but just the front section remains. The building is still in use as a dance studio.

Further along the road is the North End Road market. It has been in operation since the late 19th century as a food market selling mainly fresh fruit and vegetables. At its height there were over 90 stalls along the road but that number has dwindled with the increase in supermarkets. Now it's just six family businesses that form the mainstay of the market. Over the years the diversity of the produce has increased with less familiar fruits and veg from all over the world. I noticed there were a number of stalls specialising in vegan options. Here is the place to shop if you don't want your food pre-packaged in plastic.

I made my way back to the station via some back streets. This is St John's church which had a small food market in its grounds.

This is 'Clarion' by Phillip King.  I couldn't work out what it represented but it did brighten up the space between two roads.

I finished today's walkabout outside the old town hall which is across the road from Fulham Broadway station.  It is a Grade II listed building but was sold by the council to a developer in 2014 for £10,000,000. Planning permission has now been granted for it to become a 'boutique ' hotel. 

West Brompton

This is the 40th station I have visited on the District Line as part of my 'Above the Underground' challenge. West Brompton station is about a ten minute walk from Earls Court station on the District Line's Wimbledon branch. West Brompton is also a London Overground and National Rail station but the platforms for these services are separated by fencing from the underground trains.

 

The station is an attractive Grade II listed building dating back to 1866. The brickwork is a soft, warm yellow with decorative arches.

Across the road from the station you can see the hoardings surrounding the old Earl's Court site. 

Just a short distance from the station is Brompton Cemetery. This is one of the 'Magnificent Seven' as they are commonly known. They were created in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds. The other cemeteries, which together circle the City of London, are Kensal Green, West Norwood, Highgate, Abney Park, Nunhead and Tower Hamlets. Brompton Cemetery was consecrated in 1840 making it one of the oldest garden cemeteries in Britain. There are over 200,000 buried here and it is still open for burials. The cemetery has a number of noted residents including the suffragette leader, Emmeline Pankhurst. It is also thought that the children's writer and illustrator, Beatrix Potter( 1866-1943) used the names from the gravestones for her characters. You can find the names of Peter Rabbett, Mr McGregor, Mr Nutkins, Jeremiah Fisher and Mr Todd all buried here. Maybe it is just a coincidence that they feature in her books but she lived close by and I'm sure she would have walked through the cemetery on many an occasion. It was a beautiful morning when I visited and I spent quite a bit of time walking around enjoying the peace and wildlife. Some of the monuments are huge but they would be for the wealthy families.

 

For the Victorians, a memorial stone was an essential way of keeping a loved one's memory alive. Middle class families would have longed for a large monument but the next best thing was a private grave with an elegant headstone. The cheaper option was to go in a common grave with half a dozen strangers. Headstones were not usually allowed on common graves so most were left unmarked.

This large mausoleum is a symbol of the success of the McDonald family. Scottish born he made his money in the Scottish oil industry. The granite and marble monument has stained glass windows and is guarded by life size angels. The angels are holding a book and a laurel wreath, traditional symbols of wisdom and victory. 

Next to the large mausoleum is the Hawkins Whitshed angel. Although not that big compared to the mausoleum next door, it occupies a very expensive plot on the corner of the main avenue. The monument records Anne, the wife of Baronet Hawkins Whitshed and their daughter Elizabeth Le Blond, a mountaineer, photographer, writer and film maker.

You can still be buried in the cemetery today but large or ornate new memorials are no longer allowed.  Although many buried here have no headstones or markers, no-one has been forgotten as the name of every single person has been recorded in the cemetery's burial books. There are some simple markers that say all that is needed.

There is a lot of symbolism behind the memorial designs. Here the cross is on top of a pile of rocks. The rock of faith, often seen with an anchor, the traditional symbol for hope.

A broken column represents a person who died in the prime of life, often the head of the family. In contrast to a wheat symbol, showing someone who died later in life.

The flowers on this cross are lilies, a Christian symbol of purity and peace. Roses are a symbol  of goodness and innocence. 

Urn: A vessel for the soul. Often draped with a cloth indicating the thin veil between life and death.

An obelisk represents eternal life, along with pyramids and snakes. These symbols originated in Ancient Egypt.

 This is the tomb of a wealthy socialite, Hannah Courtoy and is supposed to be a Victorian time machine that could transport the tomb to seven other cemeteries. The tomb was designed by Bononi, a well known sculptor and Egyptologist and friend of Courtoy who died in 1849. The interior is said to feature hieroglyphics.

Brompton cemetery is an early example of a landscape architect and a traditional architect working together. The design was inspired by St Peter's in Rome.

This is the memorial to Percy Lambert, the first person to drive at 100mph, who was killed in a car crash when his tyre burst at Brooklands race track in November 1913.

On leaving the cemetery I turned left onto Lillie Road. The road has some shops, pubs and hotels. This is the Lillie Langtry pub in this three storey Georgian townhouse. This is the oldest pub locally. Originally named the Lillie Arms after Sir John Scott Lillie who had it built in 1835 as part of the North End Road Brewery Complex. Not sure why they renamed it the Lillie Langtry. I could find no connection to the actress of that name. The road is also named after Sir John Scott Lillie who first laid out the easternmost section of the road across his estate in 1826. 

Around the corner on Seagrave Road is another popular pub, the Atlas. This one was reconstructed after bomb damaged in WW2.

Back on Lillie Road is this large interesting mix of restaurants and bars. 

The company that owns this property took over four old buildings and converted them into a row of restaurants. It then restored the Victorian pub next door providing access to all the restaurants. Finally the gardens were converted into one of London's largest pub gardens complete with a retractable roof making it fully usable whatever the weather.

The frontage of the next row of shops has been decorated in the same way.

One of the shops is run by the charity 'Dad's House'. The charity aims to make sure children remain the priority of single dads after divorce, separation or bereavement. The founder of the charity is William McGranaghan who is a single father. This is one of the charity's drop in centres which provides emotional support, law clinics, food banks and other essential services.

A little further down set back from the road is the Empress State building named to honour the Empire State building. It was completed in 1961 and for a little while was the tallest building in London. Originally the building was designed for use as a hotel but before that happened the Admiralty decided to make it their headquarters. When completed in 1961 it was the last office building to be built without air conditioning. The building has now been bought by the Metropolitan police and it is to become a central counter terrorism and organised crime hub for London. Just in front of the Empress State building is the Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre and gift shop. This used to hold exhibitions but I believe it has now permanently closed and the collection is being moved to a new site. 

 

On a building opposite the police station is this fading advert for a popular brand of matches

This is a Peabody housing estate. The Peabody Trust provides 66,000 homes for rent in London and the South East. George Peabody (1795-1869), the founder of the trust,  was an American financier and philanthropist. He was born into a poor family in Massachusetts and made his fortune in dry goods and banking. He visited London a few times before settling here in 1837. Seeing so much poverty in London he pioneered the idea of social housing. The Peabody foundation built houses with separate laundry rooms and space for children to play. His first estate was in Spitalfields in 1864.

The rules of children playing have obviously changed over the years.

Just by painting these garage doors this alleyway looks so much better.

Many of the sidestreets have terraced victorian housing

At the end of this street is the London Oratory School. This is a Catholic boys secondary (non fee paying) school and was the school of choice for Tony Blair's sons. 

This was once the entrance to Farm Lane Trading Estate originally used as stables for horse buses. The ornate, listed Edwardian arched entrance and railings to the site have been retained when the site was redeveloped in 2013. It is now a private square of 40 new homes and gardens. In 2014 the developer was selling seven three, four and five bedroom homes with prices between £2.6m and £4.2m

The Harwood Arms is the only Michelin-starred pub in London. It is the top gastropub in 2020 according to the Estrella Damm list. I didn't realise it was so prestigious when I took this photo The pub is in a quiet residential area and I did wonder about popping in for a sandwich. Glad I didn't embarrass myself.

Not far from the pub was this church. On closer inspection I realised it was no longer a church but the London Film Academy. It refers to itself as 'a boutique film school'. A short walk and I was back on Lillie Road where the station is situated. The end of another enjoyable walk 'Above the Underground'.