Tag Archives: riverside

Sunday morning stroll along the river from Hogarth’s grave to Hammersmith Bridge

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EARLY ON SUNDAY mornings, we often drive to the riverside between Chiswick and Hammersmith. Usually, a parking place can be found on Chiswick’s picturesque Church Street close to the church of St Nicholas, in whose graveyard the artist William Hogarth is buried. This narrow lane leads from the Hogarth Roundabout to the riverside. Chiswick Mall follows the riverbank. On one side it is lined with elegant houses, some of which are several hundred years old. Between the Mall and the water’s edge, there is a chain of private gardens, across which you can catch glimpses of the river. All along this road, there are plenty of trees and flowers to be enjoyed.

Heading downstream, Chiswick Mall ends, and leads into the short Hammersmith Terrace, which is lined with houses where some famous printers and typographers once lived. Beyond Hammersmith Terrace, from which the river is hidden by houses, we regain views of the water as we walk along Upper Mall. This riverside promenade heads east and ends at a narrow passageway next to the Dove Pub, but before reaching it, we pass Kelmscott House, once a home of the artist and social reformer William Morris.

After passing the Dove pub, we enter Lower Mall. This riverside thoroughfare runs past Furnivall Gardens and then beneath Hammersmith Bridge, eventually reaching the Riverside Studious, where in addition to seeing one of the Daleks used in the “Dr Who” TV films, you can obtain refreshments in a pleasant café with a good view of the bridge. Sadly, this Victorian strucruer is in such a poor state of repair that only pedestrians and cyclists can cross it.

By walking between Hogarth’s grave and the Riverside Studios, you will have walked almost exactly one mile. We do this pleasant stroll quite often, and are never disappointed. Along the way, there are potential hazards including self-important joggers, who cannot understand that they are not the only people allowed to use the pathways, and cyclists, who seem to have the same arrogant approach as the joggers. That said, walking between St Nicholas and Hammersmith Bridge is a worthwhile and enjoyable experience, and along the way you will pass many places of historic interest, which are described in detail in my book “Beyond Marylebone and Mayfair: Exploring West London”.

A RIVERSIDE HOSTELRY AND THE COMPOSER OF A PATRIOTIC SONG

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WE USUALLY PASS this place early on Sunday mornings. As it opens at 12 noon, we had never been able to enter it until a few days ago. Situated on the riverside in Hammersmith with its entrance in a narrow passage that is the east end of Upper Mall, it is The Dove pub. As it looks so quaint and ‘olde worlde’, we have long planned to visit it during its opening hours.

The Dove pub has been in existence since the early 18th century, or maybe the century before. Its north facing façade was created in the early 19th century. It is said that King Charles II (reigned 1660-1685) might have entertained his mistress Nell Gwynne here. Although there is no certainty about that, there is evidence that the Scottish poet James Thomson (1700-1748) spent time in The Dove. In 1740, he composed the poem “Rule, Britannia!”, which was later set to music by the composer Thomas Arne (1710-1778).  He is said to have written the poem in The Dove, where there is a memorial commemorating the birth of this famous British patriotic song. Later regular visitors to the pub included Ernest Hemingway, Dylan Thomas, and William Morris (who lived a few yards away).

We decided to visit the pub after a late afternoon performance of an enjoyable film, “Taste of Things”, at the nearby Riverside Studios. On entering The Dove, there is a bar to the right and a small seating area to the left. The bar is one of the shortest in the UK – it is only 7 feet long. To comply with legal requirements, a second bar had to be built. This is reached by climbing a few steps into a larger middle room, which was heated by a real coal fire and lined with pictures. We took a table in this cosy dining area, and enjoyed acceptably good food. Another flight of steps leads down into a third seating area with windows overlooking the Thames. Beyond this, there is an open terrace with views of the river.

The Dove is wonderfully old-fashioned. Even though it is in the heart of west London, it feels just like a traditional country pub in the middle of nowhere. Most of the clientele in the pub on the Monday evening we visited it were local people. I suspect that during weekends and public holidays, the locals become outnumbered by visitors who are not local.

Having ‘broken the ice’ and entered the pub, I am sure that we will become regular visitors there, but it is unlikely that we will compose a song that can rival “Rule, Britannia!”- however much we drink.