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Eel Pie Island

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK place

Eel Pie Island is an Template:Convert island (or ait) in the River Thames at Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the maintained minimum head of water above Richmond Lock, the only lock on the Tideway, and is accessible by boat or from the left (generally north) bank by a footbridge. The island had a club that was a major venue for jazz and blues in the 1960s.

Name and former namesEdit

The name may have come from eel pies which were served by the inn on the island in the 19th century. Its earlier names chronologically were the Parish Ait and Twickenham Ait,<ref name=rey>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> the latter co-existing until at least the 1880s. Before the 19th century it was for many centuries three parts – the core of each safely above high water, if not narrowly separated, as shown by a map of 1607.<ref name=rey/>

HistoryEdit

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Early historyEdit

Some mesolithic red deer antler bone hand-made implements have been retrieved from the island's shore.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Eel Pie HouseEdit

There was an inn on the island by 1743,<ref name=reynolds>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> and in the 19th century it was a popular stopping point for steamer excursions.<ref name=reynolds/> When a new inn was built in 1830 to replace it, the former venue was alternatively called a "dingy wooden cottage" or an "unassuming but popular little barn".<ref name=reynolds/>

Samuel Lewis's national gazetteer of 1848 devotes a large minority of the text covering Twickenham to the island; saying it is: <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

called Twickenham Ait. This island comprises about eight acres, chiefly pleasure-grounds, and in the centre is the Eel-Pie House, noted for the last two centuries as a favourite resort for refreshment and recreation to water parties, and persons repairing hither [coming here] for the amusement of fishing; the old building was taken down in 1830, and a commodious edifice, comprising a good assembly-room measuring 50 feet by 15, erected on the site.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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Extent and accessEdit

The island is recorded in at least two distinct parts in detailed maps until the end of the 19th century; the west part was built up in height and measured Template:Convert.<ref name=osoldmaps>OS 25-inch map of 1894, Surrey sheet VI.7 revised 1893–94, published 1898.</ref> Its named features were a large Boat House, the Island Hotel, a bowling green in the west and the Thames Electric & Steam Launch Works.<ref name=osoldmaps/> The east end is marked with marsh plantation and liable to flood; it was in the same maps measured at Template:Convert.<ref name=osoldmaps/> Together the parts form the same isle as today.<ref name=osoldmaps/>

A bridge was proposed to Middlesex County Council or the Metropolitan Borough of Twickenham in 1889.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A set of rope pulleys operated in the early 20th century for assisting transporting light goods. It was not until 1957 that the first bridge to the island was built.<ref name=rey/>

Eel Pie Island HotelEdit

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File:Eel Pie Island Hotel postcard, 1900.jpg
A 1900 postcard of the Eel Pie Island Hotel

The island was the site of the Eel Pie Island Hotel, originally a genteel 19th-century three-storey building that later hosted ballroom dancing during the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1956, trumpeter Brian Rutland, who ran a local band called The Grove Jazz Band, started jazz sessions at the newly reopened hotel.<ref name="Eel Pie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some time afterwards, Arthur Chisnall took over the running of the club and continued to promote various jazz bands and then, in the 1960s, rock and R&B groups.<ref name=BBC>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name='Vat'>Template:Cite book</ref>

Famous names who performed at the dance hall between 1957 and 1967 include:

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In 1967, the hotel was forced to close because the owner could not meet the £200,000 cost of repairs demanded by police.<ref name="Museum"/> In 1969, the club briefly reopened as Colonel Barefoot's Rock Garden,<ref name="Membury"/> with bands such as Black Sabbath,<ref name="Membury"/> The Edgar Broughton Band,<ref name="Membury"/> Stray, Genesis, and Hawkwind<ref name="Membury"/> (then known as Hawkwind Zoo) performing there.

Caldwell Smythe (entrepreneur, vocalist, ex-Riot Squad and, briefly, The Honeycombs) said: "I approached the owner, Mr Snapper, who lived in Kingston and we agreed a rental deal. I called it Colonel Barefoot's Rock Garden and plastered west London with quad crown posters." Smythe booked bands such as Edgar Broughton, Free, Deep Purple, King Crimson, Genesis, Wishbone Ash and Mott The Hoople. Smythe said: "There were two stages: the headliner was on the big stage and the support on the small stage with the light show projectionist above it. We had a bar doing tea, soft drinks, hot dogs and hamburgers. We then did Colonel Barefoot's Killer Punch (cider, cooking brandy and cinnamon) and we gave it away along with beer in half pint plastic disposable cups. I had rows with the fire department as the emergency exits were chained shut to stop people bunking in. Eventually, after a raid by the Fire Chief, I closed down and walked. I was living in Chiswick at this time."Template:Citation needed

In 1969, the hotel was occupied by a small group of local anarchists including illustrator Clifford Harper. By 1970 the Eel Pie Island Commune had become the UK's largest hippie commune.<ref name='Faiers'>Template:Cite book</ref>

The building had by now fallen into disrepair and was placed under a demolition order. However, in 1971 the Eel Pie Island Hotel burned down in a mysterious fire.<ref name="Museum"/><ref name="Kilvington"/>

The centre of the island was devastated by fire in 1996, and a year later, the only footbridge to the island was damaged by a utilities contractor.<ref name="Kilvington">Template:Cite news</ref> A new footbridge opened in August 1998.<ref name="Kilvington"/>

Description and usesEdit

The island has about 50 homes, 120 inhabitants and two or three boatyards, as well as some other small businesses and artists' studios. It has nature reserves at both ends, protected from public access. All plots and walkways are privately owned. The public can access a foreshortened central path, blocked by fences and front gardens from any river views.

ArtistsEdit

For brief periods each year, usually in June and December, 26 studios in and around a working boatyard, collectively known as Eel Pie Island Art Studios, open to the public, enabling them to enjoy and buy the artists' works.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

SportEdit

File:Richmond Yacht Club - geograph.org.uk - 1177259.jpg
Richmond Yacht Club

The island is home to Twickenham Rowing Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs on the Thames, and Richmond Yacht Club.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The island hosts the headquarters of the Parkrun organisation, which was founded in Bushy Park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In media, the arts and literatureEdit

Books
  • David Frome, The Eel Pie Murders (1933; repub. 1960), in the "Mr Pinkerton" series, features amateur sleuth Evan Pinkerton, a Welsh widower, and his friend, Chief Inspector J. Humphrey Bull of Scotland Yard.<ref name="FictFact">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Television
Radio
  • Sherlock Holmes, 6 June 1948: The Complicated Poisoning at Eel Pie Island. Sherlock Holmes and Watson arrive on Eel Pie Island for a glass of rum and find a poisoning murder. Available here on Youtube
Music

Associated placesEdit

The Eel Pie Studios, also known as the Oceanic Studios, occupies The Boathouse, Twickenham on the mainland about a mile to the north. When owned by Pete Townshend it was adapted and used for international top 100-charting pop and rock recordings. Townshend's publishing company, Eel Pie Publishing, is also named after the ait.

The Eel Pie pub-restaurant in Church Street, Twickenham is named after the former hotel on the island.

Image galleryEdit

Despite its small size, Eel Pie Island has a wide variety of building styles.

  • Housing on Eel Pie Island
  • Housing on Eel Pie Island 4.jpg
  • Housing on Eel Pie Island 3.jpg
  • Housing on Eel Pie Island 2.jpg
  • Housing on Eel Pie Island.jpg
  • TwickenhamRC.png

Notable residents and former residentsEdit

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See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

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