please empty your brain below
Remember passing through here on the London Loop - the planes flying over that street are quite remarkable when you're standing in it

Johnny Topaz | 04.02.26 - 7:25 a.m. | #

Often wondered about the turreted buildings; welcome information.

David B | 04.02.26 - 7:48 a.m. | #

A quick trawl through the net revealed this anonymous comment:
"A member of Tony's family married in St. Dunstan's Church and Tony liked it so much that he asked to be buried there. This was not possible [q.v.] and so his family had a plaque put there instead."

Fred | 04.02.26 - 8:05 a.m. | #

Similarly following the Hillingdon trail and the Yeading Brook/River Crane. Parts of Cranford you hurry through and other parts you stop and take a look around. Even landing, the planes are so noisy you wonder how people could live there.

SimonP | 04.02.26 - 8:49 a.m. | #

I pedalled around Cranford Park in 2024 and found Tony Hancock's grave but didn't see the sign pictured. That must be elsewhere in the grounds..?

daveid76 | 04.02.26 - 8:53 a.m. | #

Unfortunately this essay neatly sums up why parts of West London are so challenging to live in. Presumably the proximity to Heathrow means that any redevelopment or improovement is forever on hold due to fears about the airport expanding and yet more of the area having to be demolished.

Adrian | 04.02.26 - 9:28 a.m. | #

Thanks for this, a really fascinating account of a place that I would never have thought about otherwise. There is a strange beauty in Holy Angels church, although buildings in a similar state of repair will likely lead to trespassers and further damage.

WoodfordWanderer | 04.02.26 - 10:21 a.m. | #

Looking at the photo of the lockup the brickwork appears to flare out towards the top, then has the slightly overhanging roof - all helping to keep rain water off the brickwork without the need of a gutter.

Compare with how damp the brickwork is on the church at the top, flat roofs aren't maintenance friendly.

The 'BERKELEY HAND CAR WASH' sign has a 60s/70s vibe to it (assuming it doesn't date back to that time).

Tony Hancock - back then, given the media landscape, if you were famous, you were really famous, the pressures must have been overwhelming.

Still Anon | 04.02.26 - 11:32 a.m. | #

For once I have preceded you to all of the locations in this post!
I would say it's an accurate recount of an area I once lived in, regularly drove through and more lately, explored on foot.
But I missed that Victorian lockup! Nice!

Cornish Cockney | 04.02.26 - 11:52 a.m. | #

I am delighted to see that I have seen all the highlights of Cranford, including having a snack and a pint in the Queen's Head after finishing a walk from the Thames following the Duke of Northumberland's River and the River Crane. I enjoyed the stables, St. Dunstan's and the lock-up along the high street.

And now I know I never need to go back.

Greg | 04.02.26 - 12:45 p.m. | #

The Queens Head is a 3* CAMRA heritage pub, so well worth a look inside. However, be warned that CAMRA’s criteria for listing is for pubs with unaltered interior from the original design, not necessarily old or even tasteful. In a few years (not many) they might have to include some Irish and Outback themed pubs that have survived- if any? Here, we’re firmly into Mock-Tudor- and all the better for it!

Apuldram | 04.02.26 - 3:12 p.m. | #

I often think how enjoyable it must be for you to wander the lanes and byways of greater London. Not today though.

Anyoldname | 04.02.26 - 7:16 p.m. | #

Wetherspoons had/have a pub in Heathrow called the Flying Chariot..they note that Doctor John Wilkins rector of Cranford Parish Church published a book called Discovery of a New World in the Moon in 1638.He said it should be possible "to make a flying chariot,in which a man may sit,and give such motion into it,as shall convey him through the air."

Michael K | 04.02.26 - 10:38 p.m. | #

Cranford Park is certainly a secret bit of countryside so close to London, with its river, parkland and ancient woods, village church and stable yard. But it’s easy to miss the gap in the wall and the short walk across a bit of field to the even more secret orchard with nearly fifty different varieties of apples and pears maintained by local volunteers. Meanwhile, the M4 roars by just the other side of its bushy embankment.

ActonMam | 04.02.26 - 11:31 p.m. | #

The Cranford Agreement hasn't technically been in force for some time and it is only because the northern runway taxiways haven't been reconfigured that it remained. There is a project which should see that changed by 2028, allowing for Easterly alterations in the same manner as Westerly.

Louise | 06.02.26 - 3:55 p.m. | #

The church twice destroyed by arson would actually be three churches, successively replacing the former.

Stephen H | 06.02.26 - 5:14 p.m. | #











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