Located in the depths of west London, Hammersmith is home to one of the world’s oldest suspension bridges, quaint pubs and quasi countryside/ city life. Away from the river bank, it is also home to the eyesore of the Hammersmith flyover but the less said about that the better. Hammersmith originally takes its name from the Saxon words for hammer and smithy – the trade with which the area was formerly known for. I wonder if the creators of the popular BBC rom-com drama Gavin and Stacey took inspiration for their very own loveable character. Smithy, played by creator James Corden, is presented as a handyman himself in this show.
Away from this philological investigation, I would highly recommend a visit to this lovely part of London. The Kelly family decided to make the long journey across the city to visit the area for Mother’s Day. As we wandered through the Barnes/ Chiswick/ Hammersmith corridor, we crossed from south to north of the river via Barnes bridge. Curiously, this is a bridge which hosts both a very narrow shared pedestrian and cycle path as well as a trainline which is quite unique for a Thames crossing.
We then wandered along the north bank of the river past a lot of very severe looking rowers. Once we had navigated past the athletes and their massive boats we marched on towards Hammersmith via Chiswick Lane. Here, we stumbled across part of the river that could easily befit parts of the Thames in the home counties. The willows that line the shore of the Thames along the northern bank in fact provided inspiration for the book The Wind in the Willows. The tale’s author Kenneth Grahame ‘based the character of Ratty on his good friend Furnivall – both certainly liked to ‘simply mess about in boats’’ (London’s Hidden Walks III, 2015). Here, you can really see that the Chiswick Eyot (pronounced ‘eight’) is a place which perfectly fits the landscape as described in the novel.
Walking past this nature reserve we stumbled upon a very quaint Italian restaurant called Mari Deli & Dining. Principally serving takeaway food and coffee it luckily had a table available for our party of five on Mother’s Day in their tardis of a restaurant.
Initially there was a 15 minute wait for the table so we continued along the Thames Path past the pop-up coffee shops and bars. Once we’d U turned back to Mari’s, we enjoyed the very laid back Italian service – which prioritises coffees and small bites before anything substantial for the first 90 minutes. Describing itself on its website accurately as ‘irresistibly Italian’, it does what it says on the tin serving paninis, mozzarella salads and flat whites in a delicious fashion. The owner, deeply in love with the sound of his own Neapolitan voice, told us the restaurant is open everyday from 7am-11pm. They’re hard workers coming from the south of Italy.
We continued to wander down the Thames Path towards the Hammersmith bridge, past a number of pleasant looking watering holes including the Old Ship which dates back to the 1720s. A famous pub called the Dove is also a Grade II listed building and it was originally a cafe, fond amongst sailors who had disembarked off their boats nearby in years gone by. Moreover to highlight just how the area is shrouded in history James Thomson composed the words to ‘Rule Britannia’ in an upstairs room of the now pub back in 1740. This part of the river bank also hosts the Blue Anchor pub, which is not only an attractive looking bar but also the location where a scene from my favourite movie of all time Sliding Doors (1998) was filmed. As the path winds round the river Thames, this walk terminates at the celebrated Hammersmith Bridge. Famous for its feature in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021) and the attempted bombings by the IRA (1939, 1996 & 2000), this landmark piece of structural design and architecture is grade II listed. The bridge was also painted in the same shade of green that Harrods is known for. Interestingly, its storage site can be seen from the bridge itself. It is however currently under reconstruction and indeed the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, writes:
‘Hammersmith & Fulham Council (H&F) has been told by the government to pay an unprecedented 33% of the original estimated £141m to £163m repair bill which would normally have been paid in large part by Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT).’
I wonder if my friend @MalteseStreets has anything further to say about this? Nonetheless, it is a stunning 420 ft long bridge and using this as a final destination capped off a wonderful walk through West London on a balmy March afternoon.
