| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re::Re:Who is responsible for putting up road nameplates? | |
| Posted by: | Colin Potter | |
| Date/Time: | 24/01/20 14:12:00 |
| I spent a couple of hours yesterday in Chiswick Library going through the council minutes from 1923 to 1933 and with a bit of help from those there, I found lots of information that is not available online. In 1923 Dukes Meadows was purchased and construction of the Great Chertsey Road from Burlington Lane to the extended Hartington Road had started. In the council minutes from 1923/4, “Great Chertsey Road - Mr Collins reported that the Southern Railway Company had agreed to accept the sum of £100 for the sale to the council of the small piece of land and easement for the bridge over the railway” It looks like this was a swop deal as it was also reported that the council surrendered its rights over the Jessops level crossing for £100. After this date the only mention of bridge building I could find on the Great Chertsey Road that wasn’t about the Thames Bridge, was when a Resolution was passed in 1925. “At its Annual Meeting held on the 3rd July 1925, the Chiswick Civic Association unanimously Resolved that special representations be made in every proper quarter with a view to securing the best architectural beauty in the structure of the proposed Chertsey Road Bridge and any other bridges or riverside works in the famous and beautiful Chiswick reaches of the Thames, so as to avoid the permanent erection of what may be critised as unworthy or unsatisfactory in taste” In 1925 the idea of building housing was put forward, but rejected. In 1928 the idea of building 120 flats was put forward again. The flats couldn’t be built as the Duke of Devonshire had covenants on the land. While the Council were waiting for the Duke to release the restrictive covenants, the Trustees of the Douglas Haig Memorial Homes made an offer to buy the land between the Recreation Ground and the Great Chertsey Road for £800 per acre. In 1929 the council hoped the flats would be completed by 30th September and they were originally going to be called Alexandra Buildings. They instructed the surveyor “to retain a line of trees between the flats and the Great Chertsey Road” The Ministry of Health approved 108 flats, and the council recommended “ (a) That the normal rent for the small flats be fixed at 10s. 8d. per week, and for the large flats 13s. 9 1/2d. per week, both exclusive of rates; (b) …… appoint a caretaker at a wage of £3 10s. per week; his duties to include the cleansing of the common passage-ways, staircases, windows, and collection of rents; and that he be required to rent and reside in one of the flats” In 1930 some of the first residents to live there were moved from William Street which was due to be demolished. In 1929 the Local Government Act introduced County Roads, which required councils to maintain these roads to a higher standard. In 1932 “the Borough Surveyor reported that the road number allotted to Chiswick Lane was A316 (and) submitted correspondence with the Gas Light and Coke Company with reference to the lighting of the Great Chertsey Road. The Company have made arrangements for 59 lamps to be erected as soon as possible…… from Staveley Road to Chiswick Bridge.” Also in 1932. “Mawson Lane, Burlington Lane (part) and Alexandra Avenue – The Borough Surveyor reported that as soon as the reconstruction works in these roads had been completed the County Surveyor proposes to apply to the Ministry of Transport for these roads to be classified.” Unfortunately the Library was closing so I didn’t find out the Ministry of Transports response, but it looks like Alexandra Avenue exists so the council didn’t have to pay for the lighting on that bit of the Great Chertsey Road. I’m not sure where the 1970 article sourced its material, but the section from Staveley Road to Hartington Road has always been The Great Chertsey Road and has never been called Alexandra Avenue. The name for the bridge is questionable as I haven’t found another source, but it is plausible as it was constructed at about the same time as Queen Alexandra’s death. In future I’ll be calling it Alexandra Bridge as everyone I’ve spoken to knows where it is now, it goes over Dog S**t ally, Mile ally, Barnes Bridge Footpath!? If a contemporary source can be found to confirm the opening date of the bridge, in three years time there could be Centenary Celebrations to name it. (If it hasn’t been already) As for the ops question, the road was built as The Great Chertsey Road in 1923 and in 1932 changed to Alexandra Ave by the local council as part of the county road scheme. For reasons still unknown this change has not been recognised by all Government departments, which is why 88 years later, some don’t know where it is and the name has been changed back to its original name. |