The inspiring landscape around St Margarets has for centuries inspired writers, artists and musicians to take up residence. Here’s a list of Top 20 historical artists from 20 The Barons, arranged in chronological order:
1. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), author of The Canterbury Tales, served in Richmond as the Yeoman of the King’s Chamber.
2. Alexander Pope (1688–1744), poet and satirist, from 1719 lived in Twickenham Park where he built a famous grotto.
3. James Thomson (1700–1748), poet, writer of The Seasons, lived from 1736 in a cottage in Kew Foot Lane, Richmond.
4. Henry Fielding (1707–1754), author of Tom Jones, in 1747 took lodgings in Twickenham.
5. Kitty Clive (1711–1785), comic actress, retired in 1769 to Little Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham.
6. Horace Walpole (1717–1797), author of The Castle of Otranto, in 1747 began developing his Gothic castle at Strawberry Hill.
7. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), painter, lived from 1772 at Wick House, Richmond Hill.
8. J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), painter, from 1807 commissioned the building of Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham.
9. Edmund Kean (1787–1833), actor, in 1831 rented the Richmond Theatre and the house next door.
10. Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), Poet Laureate, lived from 1851 in Chapel House, Montpelier Row, Twickenham.
11. Charles Dickens (1812–1870), writer and social critic, in 1838 rented a house in Ailsa Park Villas near present-day St Margarets station.
12. George Eliot (1819–1880), author of Middlemarch, lived from 1855 at Park Shot, Richmond.
13. Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890), writer and explorer, was schooled at the Richmond Academy, on the corner of Little Green and Duke Street, Richmond.
14. Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837–1915), writer of “sensational” fiction, lived from the 1860s in Lichfield House, Sheen Road, Richmond.
15. Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), philosopher and writer, grew up at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park.
16. Walter de la Mere (1873–1956), poet and author, lived from 1940 at Southend House, Montpelier Row, Twickenham.
17. Gustav Holst (1874–1934), composer of The Planets, lived from 1903 on Gretna Road, Richmond.
18. Flora Thompson (1876–1947), author of the Larkrise to Candleford trilogy, worked in Twickenham post office in 1902, today the Oxfam shop on King Street.
19. Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) lived from 1915 in Hogarth House, Paradise Road, Richmond.
20. Noel Coward (1899–1973), playwright and actor, born in Teddington in 1899, at 131 Waldegrave Road.
St Margarets
Hanworth Villa
Staying at 20 The Barons, one feels instantly part of a vibrant community. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the crackling atmosphere surrounding the local sporting events on any given Saturday. Last Saturday was a case in point. Setting off from the tranquil surroundings of St Margarets, The Baron could hear the roar of the crowd from nearby Twickenham (a brisk 20-minute walk away) as England’s Rugby Union team battled back to beat the Wallabies 20-13 in the first of three November internationals. He considered taking a 20-minute taxi ride north-east to Craven Cottage to indulge in some Premier League football, but anticipated Fulham’s resounding 1-3 defeat by Manchester United. Instead, The Baron took a 40-minute bus ride south-west to Rectory Meadow to support his favourite local football team. Hanworth Villa were formed in 1976 and have since scaled the league ladder to compete at the top of the Combined Counties Premier Division. At a time when another local club, Chelsea, failed to field a single English player under the age of 21 last season and pays its players a weekly salary far exceeding most supporters’ annual income, The Baron enjoys getting back to the traditional values of non-league football. Kick-off at 3 o’clock, tickets a pensioner can afford, standing up to cheer on local players, it’s like travelling back in time. Hanworth Villa’s clubhouse, The Ranch, is a focal point for the community when many public houses are closing down. There is an academy scholarship scheme, a Ladies team, and first-team goalkeeper Terry Buss has just made his 500th appearance. There’s also no lack of drama. Yesterday, Hanworth played Epsom & Ewell (“The Villains” versus “The Salts”), scoring twice in injury time to salvage a 3-3 draw. As FA chairman Greg Dyke’s new commission explores ways to create more players for the England team, he could do worse than to join The Baron at Rectory Meadow and discuss the club’s aim of: “Providing facilities for all local people, regardless of gender and age, to be able to play football at whatever level.”
St Margaret’s Pumpkin Pie
At 20 The Barons, if it’s Halloween, it’s all about the pumpkins. While The Baron favours a traditional diamond-toothed interior decoration (dimly lit, so as not to attract the trick or treaters), St. Margaret sees All Hallows as the ideal time to display her artistic nature.
Whether you have children or not, there are all manner of pumpkin attractions in the local patch. Kew Gardens is the leading light, with master vegetable grower Tony Finch demonstrating his pumpkin-carving skills; carved and uncarved pumpkins for sale; plus the magnificent Pumpkin Pyramid in the Waterlily House. This tower of squash rises 4 metres out of the pond and features 75 varieties in an awe-inspiring autumnal display from blacks and greys to oranges and yellows.
At the National Trust’s Osterley House, where the autumn colours are even more dazzling than around the Barons, there is a Pumpkin Festival on 26-27 October, with giant pumpkins and pumpkin carving.
If you prefer to choose your own pumpkins, you can head south-west to Garsons Farm, Esher, or to Crockford Bridge, near Weybridge. For Halloween decorations on a smaller, sweeter scale, you can pop down to Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery, on Church Street, Twickenham, for a box of cupcakes with perfect pumpkin decorations. You may wish to offer these to visiting trick or treaters, or follow The Baron’s lead by turning off the lights, opening the cupcake box, and indulging in your Halloween celebrations undisturbed.
A Taste of Eel Pie
Behind St Margarets’ genteel and gentrified façade, there beats a rock ’n’ roll heart. Richmond was the cradle where the jazz baby of the ’50s grew into the rebellious rhythm and blues child of the ’60s, a fact currently being celebrated at the Stables Gallery, Orleans House. The gallery is set in tranquil wooded gardens across the river from the eastern point of Eel Pie Island, and thus a Rolling Stones’ throw away from the island’s legendary R&B venue, the Eel Pie Hotel. This iconic setting, with a wooden floor that bounced beneath the dancing crowds, played a key part in the cultural history not just of Richmond and Twickenham, but of the world. The nineteenth-century building had hosted ballroom dancing in the Roaring ’20s, and in the ’50s local trumpeter Brian Rutland began running jazz sessions there. These laid the foundations for the R&B gigs of the next decade, which are still spoken of in reverential tones. Bowie, Clapton, The Who, Pink Floyd, The Kinks and the Rolling Stones all performed at the Eel Pie Hotel before it closed its doors in 1967, unable to meet a £200,000 bill for improvements demanded by the police. It finally left the stage in suitably rock ’n’ roll style in 1971, consumed by a mystery fire. The Stables Gallery exhibition features photographs, artwork and memorabilia from the hotel’s heyday, and is curated by island resident and author of the book Eel Pie Island, Michelle Whitby. It includes first-hand accounts from musicians and concert-goers, original passports to what was known as “Eelpiland”, and the earliest known colour photographs of the island. Documentary movies narrate a truly unique time and place in London’s history, and you can select your own musical memories on an original record player. Photographs include Cyril Davies, The Yardbirds, Rod Stewart; plus the impossibly youthful-looking Rolling Stones who back then had a Wednesday residency and this summer, 50 years later, were still raising a Crossfire Hurricane in Hyde Park.
This weekend is your last chance to see the exhibition The Birth of Rhythm and Blues. Orleans House is less than a 20-minute walk from 20 The Barons. Just head south to the banks of the Thames to taste a historic slice of Eel Pie. Entry is free.
