Uxbridge Rd's history in pictures

3:28pm Wednesday 16th January 2002

FRUSTRATED motorists can delve into the past to see the 1700 AD version of the Uxbridge Road at a new history exhibition.

'Going West a journey along the Uxbridge Road through time' was launched at Ealing Central Library in the Broadway Centre, Ealing Broadway on Tuesday (Jan 15).

The exhibition features photographs and paintings of scenes which illustrate how life along the Uxbridge Road has changed in 300 years.

The earliest image is dated 1700 and is of Acton High Street.

Nuala Williams, the curator of the exhibition, said: "I was excited to find images of the borough as old as the 1700s and how different it was then for example, there was a windmill in Acton in the 1850s."

The exhibition runs until May 10 and was opened by Ealing's Mayor, Councillor Ranjit Dheer. Cllr Dheer said: "As a community we need to celebrate our past. Our borough has a fascinating history which our library service does so well to present."

The exhibition includes illustrations of the Acton Toll Gate in the 1870s and The Globe Cinema, Acton, which was described in 1926 as Britain's largest cinema as it seated 3,000. Fordhook House, which was formerly the residence of author Henry Fielding and later, of Lady Noel Byron, wife of Lord Byron, also features.