Forum Topic

Hoorah! Maybe?

I've been a resident for 26 years in Brentford, next to the Albany Arms as then known. Delighted on the football club's success, but even more delighted that they moved up the road. All this nostalgia about it being a family club is dreamland. I'm thrilled to bits that the gentrified area and residents up the road will now have to tolerate the crowds. Oh dear - not sure how that will pan out around Kew Bridge, Chiswick and Strand et al.But back to Old Brentford. I have seen anti-social behaviour, thuggishness and drunkeness, over the years. I have seen the police ineffective. Indeed I've seen the Police Station close down. I have seen vehicles and property damaged. I have seen local cafes and restaurants warned to close for fear of potential damage. I have seen undesirable "fans" from as near as QPR to across to Millwall, and beyond from Nottingham and Middlesbrough and other points of the compass.Well, Do I like it now? The Albany Arms is the Black Dog, and Griffin Park is gone. Presumably the troublesome will have gone also. If Premier League football for Brentford means I will have a quieter and peaceful life then I wish them every success. Unfortunately it's come rather late for me. The kids have grown up, I've entered retirement and I'm moving on now. After all these years I've found myself in a place which has no banks, no post-office, no Police Station, no Postal Sorting Office, limited GP facilities, an abundance of fabricated overpriced lego flats, pretentious facades without substance, and a creeping council determined to make my life even more miserable with further restrictions. I've no idea what Brentford was like pre-1995, but I suspect it really was a community - however grim. The price of progress? I'm a Jarrow Lad - I know what grim is - and I didn't march down here!But...we've got a Premier League football team with a brand new Community Stadium. Community? That won't last long in the name. In the meantime - what's there not to like? 

Paul Brownlee ● 982d5 Comments

Perhaps I should have posted enjoy your isolation and cynicism. The Albany was never a destination pub for football fans. Fans from all teams mingled at the four pubs around the ground and the Bricklayers. The Royal Horseguardsman and The Albany were never on the longlist. Brentford FC had and still has one of the finest community engagement programmes in the country and other clubs still seek to copy it so your allusion to the area's woes emanating from football are woefully wide of the mark.If you want to point a finger at decline look at the wholesale destruction of Brentford by the local authority and its development partners as the community is progressively ripped apart, divided and gentrified by absentee landlords. That's where the Brentford to which you moved has gone through no fault of football.

N V Brooks ● 979d

Well NVB, as I recall in 1995 the Albany Arms was a thriving pub serving great food. It was run by two Irish brothers. Always busy, especially popular with local office workers and oft frequented by judges and staff from the County Court nearby. It had a terrific lunch trade, and a strong social community. It's proximity to Griffin Park was not a factor when I moved here. The rot set in after the brothers left (reasons and rumours aside) and it embarked on it's subsequent negative reputation. A string of landlords followed, going from good, to bad, to diabolical. It was probably 2010 when it was regarded as "the worst pub in Brentford". It was owned by a company who didn't care who ran it, as long as it was open. It's perfectly possible to manage a good pub near a football ground, and those who moved near it should not be criticized for their lack of forsight for fear it would become a pariah, nor indeed think twice of living near a football ground which at that time was considered (and still is) a friendly family club. So I think you are being rather disingenuous. I liked Brentford then - I was not unfamiliar with the place beforehand - indeed, I was always rather chuffed to live here in this unique and characteristic pocket of London (or should I say Middlesex?), but I'm entitled to be quite disappointed with it now. It could have been much better - but something has been lost. It's been sold down the river.

Paul Brownlee ● 979d

Sorry, when you moved in Griffin within Park had been been there for 80 years. What a surprise, a football ground attracting football fans around thirty days each year.  The Albany Arms, as was, waslong recognised is the least friendly pub in Brentford thank god it's changed hands and the clientele has changed the boot. Enjoy the solitude.

N V Brooks ● 982d

I think that there are quite a few of us just down the road here in South Isleworth who share a lot of what you describe.We too are without a bank or a Post Office - (the only one in Isleworth being near the station, a bus ride away) - constant development on the smallest pieces of land - LTNs causing traffic backlogs and cycleways that are unpopular with the vast majority of residents, struggling local businesses and powers that be who do not seem to be aware - or care, about the havoc that they are wreaking on the area which has the riverside conservation area in the middle of it. These small towns have a rich history that is being all but wiped out, we all know you cannot live in the past - but, progress? That's another question entirely isn't it?

Vanessa Smith ● 982d

I read your very descriptive post, and agree with your observations. I hope you enjoy your retirement and your new surroundings. My memories of Brentford long ago were interesting buildings, and a restful, peaceful atmosphere.

Nicholas Beard ● 982d