At the corner of Waltham Road and Western Road was a small house and pig farm. The owner got into financial trouble and Mr Gosney purchased the mortgage. Part of the land is where the Baptist Church now is, and in 1908 Dudley MacDonald purchased the rest for £545. Belmont House was built in 1909 by Mr Peter Bell and, after being occupied for a year or two by Dr Vergo, became the Residence of Dr C. W. Seccombe in 1916, and the practice was carried on in the family name until 1981 when the house was sold to become an Elderly Asian Rest Centre.
In 1900 the Southall Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed, Mr C. N. Abbott being the first officer. They had a very primitive hand-drawn manual which was housed in a shed behind the Town Hall. In April 1901 a Fire Station was built on to the right hand side of the Town Hall at a cost of £175. The firemen recruited mostly from Abbott Bro. staff, and training began with a horse-drawn fire engine. When a fire occurred a maroon would be set off to summon the crew, who would dash to the station, put on uniform and then often have to wait while the horse was brought in from where it was working at the time. So you can imagine that, although great efforts were made, a good deal of time was lost before they actually got to the fire. Although I cannot remember these teething troubles I have good cause to remember their later efforts.
Holy Trinity Hall, Lady Margaret Road, was built by C. Brown in 1905. It was always in demand for social events, it being the only hall available at the time. Holy Trinity Men’s Club used the upstairs rooms. Alas, in 1982 the hall has been sold to our Asian friends who must have had a lot of work to do to it for it was in a very bad state due to lack of repairs.
St George’s Church was built in 1905-6 and consecrated and opened 1906. It was formed out of the Parish of Holy Trinity, and is situated on the right hand side of Tudor Road. Funds for the church came from the sale of St Georges, Billingsgate, and the pulpit and organ screen are from that church. The Living is the gift of the Dean and Chapter of St Pauls and the Crown, alternatively, with net value £730. This meant the old iron church was again taken down and it finished its useful life as a canteen at Eastman’s Dye Works, Acton.
Mr S. W. Abbott had a nice house built on the left hand side of Uxbridge Road (The Chestnuts) in 1904; and Vine Cottage in Park View Road became, for a period, a Nursing Home and, later, the residence of Mr Bleckfeldt, the Chief Chemist of Otto Monsteds. Also built about the same time, another nice house ‘Melrose’ for Mr Paton, retired Headmaster of Marylebone School.
At the rear of land bought in August 1904 by the Methodists, on the right hand side of South Road, Sunday-school buildings were erected in 1906. This is where the Kings Hall now stands.
The provision of a park or recreation ground was a major item on the early Council’s programme. In 1902 Mr Baxter offered 12 acres at £325 per acre on the Steam Field Estate.
