Coordinates: 51°30′46″N 0°25′16″W / 51.5127°N 0.4211°W
| Hayes | |
  Hayes
Hayes shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| - Charing Cross | 13 mi (21 km) E |
| London borough | Hillingdon |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAYES |
| Postcode district | UB3, UB4 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Hayes and Harlington |
| London Assembly | Ealing and Hillingdon |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated 13 miles (21 km) west of Charing Cross. Hayes was developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries as an industrial locality to which residential districts were later added to house factory workers. Its development is typical of the Second Industrial Revolution - the creation of new light engineering industries on the edge of existing cities.
Contents |
Etymology
The name comes from Anglo-Saxon Hǣs or Hǣse = "(land overgrown with) brushwood"
History
Until the end of the 19th century, Hayes (West London), was primarily an agricultural and brickmaking area. However, because of its location on the Grand Junction Canal (later called the Grand Union) and the Great Western Railway it had a number of advantages as an industrial location in the late 19th century. It was because of this proximity that the Hayes Development Company offered sites on the north side of the railway, adjacent to the canal.
Technology
Hayes has always been heavily involved with Industry, both local and International, and is (or has been) the home of EMI, Nestlé, H. J. Heinz Company, and past companies include Fairey Aviation (later merged with Westland), and HMV.
An early occupier was the Gramophone Company, later His Master's Voice and latterly EMI. Only the EMI archives and some early reinforced concrete factory buildings, notably one (1912) by Evan Owen Williams, later knighted, remain.
It was here in the Central Research Laboratories (generally known as "CRL") that Isaac Shoenberg developed (1934) the all-electronic 405-line television system (called the EMI-Marconi system, used by the BBC from 1936 until closedown of the Crystal Palace 405 line transmissions in 1985).
Alan Blumlein carried out his research into binaural sound and stereo gramophone recording here. "Trains at Hayes Station" (1935) and "Walking & Talking" are two notable films Blumlein shot to demonstrate stereo sound on film. These films are held at the Hayes EMI archive.
In 1939, working alongside the electrical firms A.C. Cossor and Pye, a 60 MHz radar was developed, and from 1941 to 1943 the H2S radar system.
During the 1990s, CRL spawned another technology: Sensaura 3D positional audio. In an echo of Blumlein's early stereo recordings, the Sensaura engineers made some of their first 3D audio recordings at Hayes Station.
Aircraft manufacture and Helicopter operations
In World War I the EMI factories produced aircraft. Richard Fairey was seconded there for a short time, before setting up his own company, Fairey Aviation, which relocated across the railway. Needing an airfield to test his aircraft he secured a site at the south east of what is now Heathrow Airport, which was acquired by the Ministry of Aviation towards the end of World War II, which renamed it, Heathrow, which was to become Britain's most important airport. Until its takeover by Morrisons the head office of Safeway plc was located in Hayes, on the old Fairey Aviation site. In early 2006 Morrisons have sold this site to an unknown developer.
The Nestlé company located its major chocolate and instant coffee works on the canal, adjacent to the railway east of the station, and it was for many years, the UK headquarters of the company.
Opposite Nestlé on the other side of the canal, the Aeolian company and its associates manufactured player pianos and rolls from just before the World War I until the depression. That, and the increasing sophistication of the gramophone record market lead to its collapse, and its facilities were then exploited by Walls, a meat processor and ice cream manufacturer.
From the early 1970s to 2003 McAlpine Helicopters Limited and Operation Support Services Limited - later renamed McAlpine Aviation Services Limited operated from two purpose built aircraft hangars in Swallowfield Way industrial estate. Both companies were part of the Sir Robert McAlpine construction group as an offshoot company conceived by Kenneth McAlpine.
The first building plot positions of the Stockley Park business estate which was on the opposite side of the Grand Union Canal from the aircraft hangars, originally had its buildings placed in specific locations when they were built so that if a helicopter in an emergency situation would have a clear flight path into the McAlpines landing area.
During this time at Hayes the company supplied the majority of the Twin Squirrel police helicopters in the UK and was also the home to G-HEMS the London Air Ambulance. The company also conducted trials using a BK117 helicopter working for the London Fire Brigade - which hit the media when it was used to ferry firefighters and equipment to the NatWest tower in the centre of London when a fire broke out, However due to the costs of running an aircraft the London Fire Brigade chose not to follow up any further use of the aircraft after the trials had ended.
In 1988 the companies own Westland built Gazelle helicopter was painted green and used as the Jokers helicopter in the Tim Burton film Batman filmed at nearby Pinewood Studioes.
McAlpine Helicopters relocated to Oxford in 1992 due to expansion of the company leaving McAlpine Aviation Services still operating on the estate and that company moved to Denham in Buckinghamshire in a business merger in 2003. The site was dormant for several years and then was redeveloped into small industrial units.
Development as a suburb
Since development, industry has been pre-eminent in Hayes, and the provision of adequate housing did not begin until after World War I with the creation of modest dwellings of the garden suburb type.
George Orwell, who adopted this pseudonym while living here, worked as a schoolmaster at The Hawthorns High School for Boys, situated in Church Road. The school has since closed and is now known as The Fountain House Hotel. He hated his time in Hayes, camouflaging it lightly as West Bletchley in Coming Up for Air, as Southbridge in A Clergyman's Daughter and saying of it:
Hayes ... is one of the most godforsaken places I have ever struck. The population seems to be entirely made up of clerks who frequent tin-roofed chapels on Sundays and for the rest bolt themselves within doors.
Hayes's most famous resident pre-dates them all. The man known as "the father of English music", William Byrd lived in Harlington in the 1540s and a primary school in the area bears his name.
Transport and locale
Buses
Hayes has the following bus routes travelling through it: 90, 140, 195, 207, 350, 427, 607, 696, 697, 698, H98, U4, U5, U7 and N207 and E6.
Trains
Hayes and Harlington station offers frequent local services to London Paddington in about 15–20 minutes, and services to Oxford, Reading, Slough, and Heathrow Airport. First Great Western trains are available from Hayes & Harlington Station. Every 30 minutes there is a service to Heathrow Airport. The proposed Crossrail service will pass through Hayes & Harlington
Road
The area is close to junctions 3 and 4 of the M4 Motorway. The A312 is the main north-south route. The A4020 "Uxbridge Road" is the main West-East route passing directly through Hayes.
Water
The Grand Union Canal runs through Hayes passing near the station and shopping area. Travellers by boat may moor at Hayes and take advantage of its local amenities, which are few, given the importance of the town, such as shops, banks etc.
Notable people
- Actress Anne Marie Duff grew up in Hayes
- Birthplace of England national football team player Glenn Hoddle.
- 80's pop star Buster Bloodvessel of Bad Manners lives on a canal boat in Hayes.
- Actress Jane Seymour.
- Comic / Children's Book Writer Tony Lee.
- Greg Dyke grew up in Hayes
- Footballer Ray Wilkins grew up in Hayes
- Malcolm Owen and Paul Fox from punk band The Ruts grew up in Hayes
- Sixties pop group Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers were based in Hayes
- Major-General James Grant, C.B.
Nearest places
See also
- Hayes, Bromley
- Disablement Association of Hillingdon, which is based in Hayes
External links
| Section 10: | London Outer Orbital Path | Section 11: |
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| Hatton Cross | Hayes | Uxbridge |
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