Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge is an
alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old floodgate at the
river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs
which are shaped like carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level
with a spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground). There
is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they serve some flood
defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any clues?

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

On Jul 26, 4:25*pm, "John Rowland"
wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge is an
alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old floodgate at the
river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs
which are shaped like carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level
with a spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground). There
is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they serve some flood
defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any clues?

How big are they? Which way round are they? Dovetail joints are
corner joints, so it would imply that some kind of wooden or metal
board hung vertically from these if the dovetails are in line. Some
kind of wall protection? Was this area once used for loading/unloading
of barges?

Tone

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

"John Rowland" wrote in
message ...

In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway
bridge is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a
small old floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this
alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like
carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level with a
spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground).
There is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they
serve some flood defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any
clues?

Photograph he

http://americangrey.co.uk/index.php?showimage=489

It looks to me like they may just have been some sort of fixing
for shuttering when the render was applied to the brickwork - but
why is the rendering higher on that wall than the opposite wall?
Either that, or there's a mezzanine floor inside the building,
and the dovetail joints are exactly that!

--
MatSav

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

John Rowland wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge
is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old
floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a
line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like carpentry dovetails.
The line is level (i.e. level with a spirit level rather than level
with the rather sloping ground). There is nothing in the other side
of the alley. I presume they serve some flood defence purpose but I
can't figure it out. Any clues?

I can't help with your question, but just to correct one point in your post:

Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the Green
is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream from Kew
Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the river bank. That
highway starts as a road but the road soon veers away from the river at
which point it becomes Thames Road. Strand on the Green (the highway)
continues along the river bank as a mere towpath, but still has houses
fronting on to it (with postal addresses of xx Strand on the Green) whose
land reaches back as far as Thames Road, sometimes with separate buildings
fronting on to Thames Road.

Buildings or gates on the south side of Thames Road may therefore carry
either Thames Road numbers or Strand on the Green numbers, usually without
specifying which. As far as I remember, the situation is not helped by the
numbers on the two roads running in different directions.

Finding house number X in Thames Road can be difficult!
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:25:19 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge is an
alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old floodgate at the
river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs
which are shaped like carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level
with a spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground). There
is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they serve some flood
defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any clues?

Great that MatSav found the photo:

http://americangrey.co.uk/index.php?showimage=489

but unfortunately it doesn't show the knobs very clearly.

ISTM that is unlikely they are anything to do with flood control.

Could they be the terminals of rods holding the wall in? If so, the
higher rendering on that side could be concealing wall repair work.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:14:13 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the Green
is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream from Kew
Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the river bank. That
highway starts as a road but the road soon veers away from the river at
which point it becomes Thames Road.

The word "strand" means beach or shore. The road Strand near Charing
Cross used to be along the shoreline of the Thames before infilling
(narrowing) of the river, which is a common fate for waterfront in
areas of high land value.

I assume Strand on the Green is/was a river beach backing on to a
green, and a village by it. The green seems to be long-gone,
according to my A-Z. The street Strand on the Green is right next to
the (original) strand, while Thames Road is slightly inland of it and
thus quite properly not called a strand. The A-Z appears to name the
river bank parallel to Thames Road as "Strand on the Green".

There's an article about the place in Wikipedia, with pictures
(including one of flooding).

Adrian

..

Adrian Stott

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

MatSav wrote:
"John Rowland" wrote in
message ...

In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway
bridge is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a
small old floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this
alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like
carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level with a
spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground).
There is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they
serve some flood defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any
clues?

Photograph he

http://americangrey.co.uk/index.php?showimage=489

Thanks!

You find the most secret little wonderful place in London... and then you
find out that several Beetles movies have been shot there. Sigh.

It looks to me like they may just have been some sort of fixing
for shuttering when the render was applied to the brickwork - but
why is the rendering higher on that wall than the opposite wall?
Either that, or there's a mezzanine floor inside the building,
and the dovetail joints are exactly that!

Here's the pic I took... I should have included that with the first post,
but I didn't know how many people would be interested.
http://www.geocities.com/pikkulapsi/Rimg0199-mod.jpg

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

Richard J. wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge
is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old
floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a
line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like carpentry dovetails.
The line is level (i.e. level with a spirit level rather than level
with the rather sloping ground). There is nothing in the other side
of the alley. I presume they serve some flood defence purpose but I
can't figure it out. Any clues?

I can't help with your question, but just to correct one point in
your post:
Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the
Green is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream
from Kew Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the
river bank. That highway starts as a road but the road soon veers
away from the river at which point it becomes Thames Road. Strand on
the Green (the highway) continues along the river bank as a mere
towpath, but still has houses fronting on to it (with postal
addresses of xx Strand on the Green) whose land reaches back as far
as Thames Road, sometimes with separate buildings fronting on to
Thames Road.
Buildings or gates on the south side of Thames Road may therefore
carry either Thames Road numbers or Strand on the Green numbers,
usually without specifying which. As far as I remember, the
situation is not helped by the numbers on the two roads running in
different directions.
Finding house number X in Thames Road can be difficult!

"What is the name of this road" is often a surprisingly difficult question
to answer: it is not rare for the two sides of a road to have different
names, although this is a particularly unusual example, because there are
Thames Road properties on both sides of the road, and there are Strand On
The Green properties on both sides of the road, and the experience of
someone driving along the road is that both sides of the road are changing
name back and forth. In particular, there are some properties numbered as
Strand On The Green on the north side of the road east of the point where
Thames Road starts, which defeats your argument. Therefore I don't consider
my original post to be in need of correction.

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

John Rowland wrote:
Richard J. wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway
bridge is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small
old floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway
is a line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like carpentry
dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level with a spirit level rather
than level with the rather sloping ground). There is nothing in the
other side of the alley. I presume they serve some flood defence
purpose but I can't figure it out. Any clues?

I can't help with your question, but just to correct one point in
your post:
Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the
Green is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream
from Kew Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the
river bank. That highway starts as a road but the road soon veers
away from the river at which point it becomes Thames Road. Strand on
the Green (the highway) continues along the river bank as a mere
towpath, but still has houses fronting on to it (with postal
addresses of xx Strand on the Green) whose land reaches back as far
as Thames Road, sometimes with separate buildings fronting on to
Thames Road.
Buildings or gates on the south side of Thames Road may therefore
carry either Thames Road numbers or Strand on the Green numbers,
usually without specifying which. As far as I remember, the
situation is not helped by the numbers on the two roads running in
different directions.
Finding house number X in Thames Road can be difficult!

"What is the name of this road" is often a surprisingly difficult
question to answer: it is not rare for the two sides of a road to
have different names, although this is a particularly unusual
example, because there are Thames Road properties on both sides of
the road, and there are Strand On The Green properties on both sides
of the road, and the experience of someone driving along the road is
that both sides of the road are changing name back and forth. In
particular, there are some properties numbered as Strand On The Green
on the north side of the road east of the point where Thames Road
starts, which defeats your argument.

Oh, didn't realise that. It's worse than I thought.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Richard J. wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge
is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old
floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a
line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like carpentry dovetails.
The line is level (i.e. level with a spirit level rather than level
with the rather sloping ground). There is nothing in the other side
of the alley. I presume they serve some flood defence purpose but I
can't figure it out. Any clues?

I can't help with your question, but just to correct one point in
your post:
Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the
Green is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream
from Kew Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the
river bank. That highway starts as a road but the road soon veers
away from the river at which point it becomes Thames Road. Strand on
the Green (the highway) continues along the river bank as a mere
towpath, but still has houses fronting on to it (with postal
addresses of xx Strand on the Green) whose land reaches back as far
as Thames Road, sometimes with separate buildings fronting on to
Thames Road.
Buildings or gates on the south side of Thames Road may therefore
carry either Thames Road numbers or Strand on the Green numbers,
usually without specifying which. As far as I remember, the
situation is not helped by the numbers on the two roads running in
different directions.
Finding house number X in Thames Road can be difficult!

"What is the name of this road" is often a surprisingly difficult question
to answer: it is not rare for the two sides of a road to have different
names, although this is a particularly unusual example, because there are
Thames Road properties on both sides of the road, and there are Strand On
The Green properties on both sides of the road, and the experience of
someone driving along the road is that both sides of the road are changing
name back and forth. In particular, there are some properties numbered as
Strand On The Green on the north side of the road east of the point where
Thames Road starts, which defeats your argument. Therefore I don't consider
my original post to be in need of correction.


That'll have been estate agents at work. Even in the 1930's.

"Thames Road" sounds like it should be next to a gas works in Barking
Reach or sonewhere similar

"Strand on The Green" has always far more cachet. Zoffani etc etc. Various
properties probably started off being described as in the "Strand on the Green
Area" I'm not sure about the actual legal position - house deeds are based on
maps not simply addresses - apparently just so long as the Post Office can
find the address and mail reaches the correct recipient nobody is really that
bothered. Must make census records confusing though I'imagine.

michael adams

Post Office Alley in Chiswick, London
 

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Richard J. wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge
is an alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old
floodgate at the river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a
line of solid metal knobs which are shaped like carpentry dovetails.
The line is level (i.e. level with a spirit level rather than level
with the rather sloping ground). There is nothing in the other side
of the alley. I presume they serve some flood defence purpose but I
can't figure it out. Any clues?

I can't help with your question, but just to correct one point in
your post:
Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the
Green is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream
from Kew Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the
river bank. That highway starts as a road but the road soon veers
away from the river at which point it becomes Thames Road. Strand on
the Green (the highway) continues along the river bank as a mere
towpath, but still has houses fronting on to it (with postal
addresses of xx Strand on the Green) whose land reaches back as far
as Thames Road, sometimes with separate buildings fronting on to
Thames Road.
Buildings or gates on the south side of Thames Road may therefore
carry either Thames Road numbers or Strand on the Green numbers,
usually without specifying which. As far as I remember, the
situation is not helped by the numbers on the two roads running in
different directions.
Finding house number X in Thames Road can be difficult!

"What is the name of this road" is often a surprisingly difficult question
to answer: it is not rare for the two sides of a road to have different
names, although this is a particularly unusual example, because there are
Thames Road properties on both sides of the road, and there are Strand On
The Green properties on both sides of the road, and the experience of
someone driving along the road is that both sides of the road are changing
name back and forth. In particular, there are some properties numbered as
Strand On The Green on the north side of the road east of the point where
Thames Road starts, which defeats your argument. Therefore I don't consider
my original post to be in need of correction.

Just a thought.

What you see on Strand on The Green are the backs of the houses. Same as
the top end of Park Lane whose "actual address" is far less prestigeous.
So possibly in both cases the owners have taken advantage of the fact that their
houses stand on two thoroughfares and have chosed the better one - even
fitting a letter box if necessary. And just so lang as there's no intention
to decieve that's presumably o.k.


michael adams