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Long Live the Empire of Ealing!

12/9/2013

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Today I did the Brunel talk to the Ealing U3A. Having grown up in Ealing I experienced a particular thrill going back there. The ‘Empire of Ealing’, my father used to call the place, and I must admit that although it has changed very greatly since my youth, there is something special about Ealing that sets it aside from many London boroughs.

It is home, of course, to the famous Ealing Studios, and was home also, 200 years ago, to Spencer Perceval, the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. A grateful nation awarded his widow the enormous sum of £50,000, and his daughters continued to live in Ealing, at Pitshanger Manor in Walpole Park, until the last one died in 1898 or 1899. Lady Byron, Lord Byron’s widow, ran a famous school in Ealing for disadvantaged boys. There was also Dr Nicholas’ school, whose famous old boys included Cardinal Newman and Thomas Huxley.

Ealing of course has a Brunel connection. His Great Western Railway goes right through the centre, and the Wharnecliff Viaduct at Hanwell is one of the best viaducts on the GWR.

The talk went very well, and my theories relating to the legend that Brunel aligned the Box Tunnel such that the sun shines through it on his birthday, were received with some amusement.

Long Live the Empire of Ealing!

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  • Home
  • Books
    • Henry's Trials >
      • Extract from Henry's Trials
    • Smethurst's Luck >
      • Extract from Smethurst's Luck
    • Murder in the Red Barn >
      • Extract from Murder in the Red Barn
    • Reverend Duke and the Amesbury Oliver
  • Talks
    • Talk on Henry's Trials
    • Talk on Smethurst's Luck
    • Talk on Isambard Kingdom Brunel
    • Talk on the Murder in the Red Barn
    • BBC
  • Publications
    • The Amesbury Union Workhouse
    • The Separate System
  • Peter Maggs
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Family History
    • Mirli
    • BM Creeper >
      • The Significance of Stonehenge
      • Educating Ealing I: How Lady Byron Did It
      • Educating Ealing II: Church of England Primary in the 1920s
      • All Because of Crystal Palace
      • Innocent in Ealing - Extract
      • Miss McDonald