Recently I (Phaedra) went to a training day at the National Archives. I used to work there, so I know the route home, (just over 20 miles), very well, and off peak it usually takes less than 40 mins by car. However on this occasion the M4 slip road at Chiswick was closed due to an accident, and I was forced to travel home via the A4, along with thousands of other cars. Having taken 2 ½ hours to travel less than 4 miles, I was starting to despair of ever getting home, when I suddenly noticed I was in Osterley. Casually wondering whether I’d be able to find Brunel’s former Osterley campus and Lancaster House, ie the former Borough Road College whose archives I have been looking after for 10 years now, without ever having visiting the site, I suddenly realised I was alongside it and could see it through the hedge! So I took a welcome break from my journey, and spent a cheerful 15 mins pottering about in the sunshine seeing a place I had only ever seen before in photographs. It was like meeting an old friend unexpectedly.
Borough Road College 1910
Borough Road College today
Borough Road College Lancaster House c 1960s
Borough Road College Lancaster House today
Borough Road College War Memorial c 1930s
Borough Road College War Memorial today