This is what you'd call a 'High Street' in the UK (akin to Main Street USA), which is traditionally a town centre with shops, bars and restaurants - you experienced two of them, Hammersmith and Chiswick. There are 600 such areas in London which effectively makes it a 15 minute city already, as everyone is always close to a choice of different 'town centres' and amenities, not just the main massive one of Zones 1 and 2. This came about from swallowed up towns and villages as London rapidly expanded in the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras, which gives it the moniker of a 'city of villages'. One thing I love about living here is exploring so many places -you can live a lifetime here and still not get to know your own city.
Wow, I love the beautiful and elaborate Christmas train display at the Hammersmith Station entrance! 😍 I enjoyed seeing a diversity of ethnic cuisines, local business, and historical buildings. Thank you for sharing this relaxing stroll, AK! 🤗
You mentioned Polish connection with Hammersmith, you walked past the Polish Social and Cultural center on King Street Hammersmith which has restaurant and a theater, the Polish flag was flying outside. The shopping mall in Hammersmith has on its upper floors the Lyric Theater originally opened in 1885 it was due for demolition in 1966 but was moved there from its old site and rebuilt piece by piece within the new building. Hammersmith also has a large theater the Eventim Apollo where many Live bands perform. Chiswick by the way is where I was born. I still live the London Borough of Hounslow
Hi there. Chiswick is in the London Borough of Hounslow I think (you were previously in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham), and the “w” is silent, so it’s pronounced more like Chis-ick.
I live 2 hours by train below London on the coast i visit London sometimes its my favourite city and i love the tube my favourite transport nice seeing you explore the beautiful districts in the city👍
Oh yes!! I very much enjoyed watching this and kept likening parts of this area to other familiar neighborhoods in both San Francisco and New York... (Lake Street in SF or Hell's Kitchen in NYC)..
0:33 Quite nice locomotive as a entrance at the start ,lots of nice looking restaurant along your walk and nice looking buildings etc… 😎Nice looking neighborhood 🙂Thank you for sharing this enjoyable and relaxing walk A K🙂👍!!!
That tall building you showed at the 2:10 mark was where I had my first ever job, working for Citibank Savings as a trainee computer operator! That Livat place used to be the Kings Mall. Good to see that many of the pubs are still the same. Our regular after (and sometimes during) work haunt was The Swan, which you showed at the start of the video.
Hi Actionkid, bringing back memories with this one. I lived in Chiswick for a few years. Hammersmith is a bit grittier, Chiswich a bit more upscale. The river Thames would have been to the left of you as you were walking.Nice walk.
The word Chiswick does not pronounce the letter 'w', so it is pronounced Chisick AK. An otherwise relaxing and pleasant walk in one of London's nicer areas.
I know this road very well. At 23:11 you can see, next to the Sainsbury's there's an alley behind some scaffolding. This is where the British film director, Peter Greenaway had his offices from the 80's to the late 90's. At 23:25 on the left hand side of the road you can see a tree. That's St Peter's Square, where the character Purdy, played by Joanna Lumely in the TV show The New Avengers lived. More random trivia to follow🤣
I enjoy your walk videos and your observations and commentary. One day you must walk Ealing Broadway my neck of woods. My daughter used to pronounce it Chis-wick when she was little, always brought a smile to my face. The W is silent not sure why that is so, so its Chis-ick.
Walked right past the magnificent Victorian edifice of Latymer Upper School - around 15:30, but on the other side of the road - and the imposing gates of Ravenscourt Park about a minute later - just before the corner Fish and Chip Shop - and wasn't interested or didn't even even notice.
British pronunciation can be tricky for Americans. I noticed he used the local pronunciation (CHISIK) the first time, lapsing into Chis-wick after that. I lived in West London for forty years, so these walks are nostalgic reminders of the far-off days of my youth.
"Livat" is actually a Swedish word, which roughly means "a bustling gathering". As I understand it when I read on the shopping center's website, the name has a connection to the Swedish word. It is also nice that there are some Swedish shops in the shopping centre.
We grow up navigating these streets so it’s second nature to us and we think nothing of it. Of course you get specific training to be a bus or coach driver but you would already be used to the streets and even narrower ones if you drive in the countryside.
