London 1981
Peter MARSHALL
Canal sheds, Grand Union Canal, Brentford,
1981
27y-21: sahed, canal, dock, Hounslow
You can click on the image to go to the next picture
The dock at right of this picture is still there, with the towpath leading around it, but the roof has now been uncovered putting more light into it. But the opposite side of the canal has been transformed. There are still boats there, but no longer the lighters but converted narrow boats and others in marina-style moorings and those functional sheds by Brentford Gauging Lock have been replace by a long row of flats.
Money from the London Mayor's Outer London Fund and Hounlsow Council in 2014 funded a £1.85m Regeneration project to improve public spaces including the canal towpath from Brentford High St to the Great West Road and provide cultural events.
"Two recognisable but neglected barge sheds straddling the Grand Union Canal in Brentford are being refurbished to celebrate area’s industrial heritage. The sheds have stood empty for years and the towpath is badly lit and uninviting. Funding will help give both sheds new wooden cladding decorated with an impressive cut-out pattern featuring natural forms that reflect the riverside, by artist Simon Periton. Dynamic lighting will help turn the sheds into sculptural and artistic landmarks, and bring the surrounding space back to life."
Of course I liked the sheds better before they were altered, with their gloomy but workmanlike interior, but do welcome the better cycling facilities that were also a part of the scheme, though I've not been there since on my bike to test them out.
The regeneration project also included events "to test out the feasibility and desire for a regular market in Brentford". Probably not the kind of market that Brentford used to have before it was closed after nearly 700 years in 1974 - though there was a market for some years after this, which I photographed badly perhaps around 1980.
My maternal grandfather had a smallholding on Middlesex County Council land in Feltham and would drive up in the early morning in a horse drawn cart to Brentford Market with his produce. My father remembered seeing him go past his home on the Staines Road when he was a boy, many years before he met Mr Tabor's daughter and married her.
Money from the London Mayor's Outer London Fund and Hounlsow Council in 2014 funded a £1.85m Regeneration project to improve public spaces including the canal towpath from Brentford High St to the Great West Road and provide cultural events.
"Two recognisable but neglected barge sheds straddling the Grand Union Canal in Brentford are being refurbished to celebrate area’s industrial heritage. The sheds have stood empty for years and the towpath is badly lit and uninviting. Funding will help give both sheds new wooden cladding decorated with an impressive cut-out pattern featuring natural forms that reflect the riverside, by artist Simon Periton. Dynamic lighting will help turn the sheds into sculptural and artistic landmarks, and bring the surrounding space back to life."
Of course I liked the sheds better before they were altered, with their gloomy but workmanlike interior, but do welcome the better cycling facilities that were also a part of the scheme, though I've not been there since on my bike to test them out.
The regeneration project also included events "to test out the feasibility and desire for a regular market in Brentford". Probably not the kind of market that Brentford used to have before it was closed after nearly 700 years in 1974 - though there was a market for some years after this, which I photographed badly perhaps around 1980.
My maternal grandfather had a smallholding on Middlesex County Council land in Feltham and would drive up in the early morning in a horse drawn cart to Brentford Market with his produce. My father remembered seeing him go past his home on the Staines Road when he was a boy, many years before he met Mr Tabor's daughter and married her.