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The Ace |
Notorious
Rockers café at Stonebridge Park, Wembley.
Motorcyclists used to hold 'time trials' between the 'Ace' and 'Neasden
Roundabout' on the North Circular Road.
The Ace gave way to a Fast Fit Tyre bay and the roundabout at
Neasden was removed to cope with today's heavy traffic. The Ace has now been restored to it's rightful former glory
as a motorcycle café venue. Further
info: |
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Busy Bee |
Out
of town Transport Café popular with Rockers and swamped by motorcycles in
the evening. Situated on the
Watford bypass, the Busy Bee became the Beehive Hotel and subsequently the
Hilton National. There is a
story that a 'mod' strayed off course into the Busy Bee for a cuppa only to later find
that his scooter had been 'accidentally' consigned to Carlisle under a
tarpaulin on the back of a flat-bed truck.
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'59' Club |
Ton-up Vicar's motorcycling club. Attracted many followers from the 'Ace'. |
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John Dickinson |
John
Dickinson set up his paper factory in Apsley just outside Hemel
Hempstead taking advantage of the river both in paper manufacturing and
driving machinery. John
Dickinson was the major employer of the area and may can recount it's
history at first hand, or with film and photographs.
I visited an older part of the JD complex in the early 1980's and
it had still retained much of it's character from a century ealier.
The extensive rabbit warren of a site was bulldozed and given
over to the Kings Lock riverside homes development and Apsley Retail
Park. There are plans to
re-create a heritage paper trail around Apsley, but the original JD has
long gone to other locations throught the UK and world-wide.
I expect many of the baby-boomer generation remember being made
to write to 'Auntie and Uncle' using Lion Brand ruled notepaper, then progressing to
Basildon Bond without ruled lines after mastering joined-up
writing?! http://www.thepapertrail.org.uk
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Top Rank |
The
Watford Nightclub/Disco venue of the 70s, later became 'Baileys'.
Top artists and pop music performers appeared including Genesis,
Barclay James Harvest, Status Quo, Arthur Brown, Black Sabbath, Major
Lance, Roy Orbison, Slade,
and many more. More recently catered for the clubbing scene as 'Kudos',
but now famously known as 'Destiny' night club.
Further
info: |
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The 607 |
Replaced
trams on the Uxbridge Road route from Shepherds Bush westwards though
Ealing, Hanwell and beyond. The
electric Trollybus used dual overhead 'tram' wires, but no rail track. Further
info: |
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The Starlight
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The Starlight Ballroom
A disco/club of the 60s in Alperton, Middlessex. A then regular venue of Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band! Famous artists that also appeared at the Starlight included the Walker Brothers and Georgie Fame with the Blue Flames.
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Hanwell Trams |
Will
it be a case deja vu if and
when tramcars return to the Uxbridge Road. Yes,
one upon a time Hanwell Broadway had it's own Tram Depot. The service fed Shephards Bush from the western suburbs.
Further
info: |
