Travel and Communications in West London History

Book for the 37th West London Local History Conference

The 37th West London Local History Conference
takes place on Saturday 25 March at University of West London, Brentford Campus.

This year's speakers will consider how our forbears made connections with each other. They will explore the impact upon west London of changes in communications over several centuries, in road transport, the postal service and aviation, as well as examining how one family used river and road transport to connect and supply their Chiswick, Yorkshire and London homes.

Bookstalls from the sponsoring societies will be open during the conference breaks to help you to keep in touch with local history in our area.

Road transport

Programme

  • 10.00 Welcome by Val Bott, chairman of the organising committee
  • 10.05 On the road, before & after turnpiking: waggons, packhorses & stage coaches; Dorian Gerhold, author of Carriers & Coachmasters & other books on road transport
  • 11.20 The postal service from the 17th century onwards especially that in Fulham & Hammersmith; Keith Whitehouse, Chairman, Fulham & Hammersmith Historical Society
  • 12.00 A wealthy family's travels and transport: Lord Fauconberg's accounts, 1680-1700; James Wisdom, Chairman, Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society
  • 1.45 Making Connections: writing, printing, advertising; Historical documents on the conference theme read by the organising committee
  • 2.15 By-passing crowded Brentford: the impact of the new Great West upon west London; James Marshall, Hounslow's Local Studies Librarian
  • 3.30 Something in the Air: the rise of aviation in west London; Oliver Green, Research Fellow, London Transport Museum and author of British aviation posters: art, design & flight.
  • 4.30 Conference ends

Tickets are £15 and are available only in advance, from sponsoring societies or by post from J McNamara, 31B Brook Rd South, Brentford TW8 0NN. Please send SAE & cheque to ‘West London Local History Conference’.

The conference is sponsored by the local history societies of Acton, Barnes & Mortlake, Brentford & Chiswick, Fulham & Hammersmith, Hounslow, Richmond, Twickenham, Wandsworth & the West Middlesex Family History Society.

The university's Brentford Campus lies at the north-west corner of the Boston Manor Road/A4 junction, 10-15 minutes' walk from Brentford Station (SW Trains) and Boston Manor Station (Piccadilly Line), with free parking on site. The buildilng is entirely wheelchair accessible.
The conference fee includes morning coffee and afternoon tea. The university refectory will open specially for us on the day, offering sandwiches for lunch, teas, coffees and soft drinks, or you are welcome to bring a packed lunch.


March 14, 2017