Editing Isleworth (section)

==Transport==

===Routes===
The principal road in Isleworth is the London Road (A 315), which broadly follows the route of one of the early roads the Romans constructed in Britannia, namely Tamesis Street, built across the wide heathlands ''en route'' to Silchester, from where other roads led to Bath, Winchester and Salisbury.<ref>'And So Make a City Here' by G E Bate F.R.Hist.S. p355 publisher: Thomasons, Hounslow 1948</ref>

As this road from the centre of London passes through Westminster it is called 'Piccadilly' and then 'Knightsbridge'.&nbsp;In Kensington it is 'High Street', in Hammersmith 'King Street', in Chiswick it's the 'High Road', in Brentford it's the 'High Street', and as Isleworth's 'London Road' passes into Hounslow it again becomes 'High Street'.&nbsp;In former times it was part of the 'King's Highway' to Windsor.

A bigger road was completed in 1925, named the Great West Road (A 4), moving in much the same direction and forming the notional northern boundary of Isleworth. A six-lane dual carriageway for most of its length, with attendant cycle paths, it fulfilled the purpose of bypassing the bottlenecks of Brentford and Hounslow high streets to relieve the old road from London of traffic heading to and from Windsor and beyond. A later branch extension off this new road, named the Great South West Road, carried traffic south-westwards and this had the additional effect of relieving the London Road of traffic heading to and from Staines-upon-Thames and beyond.

The other throughway in this category is the Twickenham Road (A 310), which branches off London Road west of the Syon estate and takes traffic to Twickenham, Teddington and beyond. This was the King's Highway to Hampton Court, so in years past those houses fronting on Twickenham Road, such as Somerset House, [[Kendal House]] and the two Silver Halls would have been favoured with a royal gaze from time to time. {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

===Bus and tram===
{{original research|date=November 2021}}
Horse bus operation came to Isleworth in the mid-1800s.
The predominant London bus operator from 1856 to 1933 was the [[London General Omnibus Company]], after which the [[London Passenger Transport Board]] was formed. On 19 October 1856 the LGOC took over an existing horse bus operation between Isleworth and [[St Paul's Cathedral]] with the buses painted red. {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Electric trams started running in Isleworth in 1901, from a depot situated on the north side of London Road, near the border with [[Hounslow]]. The original operating company was [[London United Tramways]], which was subsumed into the new [[London Passenger Transport Board]] in 1933. In 1935 the depot was converted to [[Trolleybuses in London|trolleybus]] operation. It was designed in a horseshoe shape with a travelator at the far end, which had a turntable added for the trolleybuses. {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Originally known as Hounslow Depot, it was renamed Isleworth and given the code "IH" in 1950. It had a capacity for 37 vehicles and only ever operated one service: the 57 tram route which, on conversion, became the 657 trolleybus route. Both the 57 and 657 operated between [[Hounslow]] and [[Shepherd's Bush]] Green via Isleworth, [[Brentford]], [[Chiswick]], and Goldhawk Road. From 1902 the Hounslow terminus of the 57 tram was the "Hussar" in Staines Road, Hounslow Heath. In July 1922 the service was cut back to terminate at the "Bell" at the western end of Hounslow High Street. A special turning place half a mile along Staines Road, at its junction with Wellington Road, was built for the 657 trolleybus. At different times there were ambitious plans to extend the tram lines westward to [[Staines-upon-Thames]] and even to [[Maidenhead]], but these never came about and the modern replacement motor bus route 237 traverses exactly the same roads between Hounslow Heath and Shepherd's Bush as the trams did over 110 years ago (with a short extension to White City). {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

When the 657 figured in the final London trolleybus conversion of all, on 8 May 1962, Isleworth Depot was closed and its staff were transferred to nearby [[Hounslow]] Bus Garage (coded "AV"). The replacement motor bus service was provided by an extension of [[London Buses route 117|route 117]], which up to then had run between Egham and Hounslow. {{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} In 1978 the 117 between Hounslow and Shepherd's Bush was superseded by an eastward extension to [[London Buses route 237|route 237]]. Until this time the 237 had operated between [[Chertsey]] and Hounslow with single deck buses – a truly suburban route. As part of the [[privatisation of London bus services]], Hounslow Garage passed to [[London United Busways|London United]] that later was purchased by [[Transdev (historic)|Transdev]] and later over by the [[RATP Group]].

Another trolleybus service serving Isleworth was the 667, formerly the 67 tram, which passed through en route from [[Hampton Court]] to [[Hammersmith]] via [[Hampton Hill]], [[Fulwell, London|Fulwell]], [[Twickenham]], Busch Corner, Brentford and Chiswick. Upon its transfer to motor bus operation, as part of the final London trolleybus conversions, the route had its number changed from 667 to [[London Buses route 267|267]]. Tram 67, trolleybus 667 and motor bus 267 were all operated from [[Fulwell bus garage]]. The history of the ownership of Fulwell (coded "FW") is exactly as for Hounslow Garage above.

On Summer Bank Holidays a special service was operated between Shepherd's Bush and Hampton Court. In tram days this was route 65, but trolleybuses showed number 667 towards Hampton Court and 657 on the return journey. This service did not survive the trolleybuses' withdrawal.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

A long-established motor bus route serving Isleworth (and Hounslow) was the number 37. This was one of the earliest motor bus routes introduced by the [[London General Omnibus Company]] and it originally ran from Isleworth to [[Peckham]] via [[St Margarets, London|St Margarets]], [[Richmond, London|Richmond]], [[Barnes, London|Barnes]], [[Putney]], [[Wandsworth]], [[Clapham Junction (area)|Clapham Junction]], [[Clapham Common]], [[Brixton]], [[Herne Hill]] and [[East Dulwich]]. It was later extended westward to Hounslow (going round the back streets to avoid the low railway bridge in St John's Road and to serve [[Isleworth railway station]]) and for a brief time in the 1920s offered a summer Sunday service extension as far as Maidenhead. Even without that short-lived extension the 37 was one of London's longest routes. Between 1922 and 1938 its western terminus was the "Hussar" at Hounslow Heath but was then cut back to turn at Hounslow Bus Garage (later Bus Station). At the beginning the terminus in Isleworth was the forecourt of the Northumberland Arms public house and the destination boards displayed "ISLEWORTH Market Place". Later, for "short" journeys, this was changed to stands in Magdala Road and then in South Street, outside the Public Hall. In 1991 this historic route was curtailed to run between Peckham and Putney, and the section between Richmond and Hounslow via Isleworth became a new, more localised service numbered H37.

===Rail===
Isleworth has only one rail service. It consists of a loop branch line running off the minor main line service operated by [[South Western Railway (train operating company)|South Western Railway]] between central London and Reading. On the down-service the loop begins at the Barnes junction, then travels through Chiswick and Brentford before entering Isleworth by crossing the River Brent just south of the A4 trunk road. Thereafter it serves the two stations of Syon Lane and Isleworth before leaving the town just north of the Woodlands estate and passing under Bridge Road. The service usually runs at fifteen-minute intervals. Following its next stop at Hounslow the loop re-enters the main line on the up-service shortly before the Whitton station.

'''Nearest National Rail stations'''
* [[Isleworth railway station|Isleworth]]
* [[Syon Lane railway station|Syon Lane]]

'''Nearest London Underground stations'''
* [[Osterley station|Osterley]] ''Piccadilly Line''
* [[Hounslow East station|Hounslow East]] ''Piccadilly Line''
* [[Richmond station (London)|Richmond]] ''District Line''

===River passenger services (history)===
[[File:pleasureboatisleworth1952.gif|thumb|right|Typical pleasure boat of the mid-20th century seen from Isleworth Promenade in 1952]]
1840 ''George J Aungier:''
"There is a ferry, called Church Ferry, for foot passengers, from the church over the river to West Sheen, Kew, &c. and another at the southern extremity of the village, called Rails-head Ferry."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VsJAAAAIAAJ&q=Aungier|title=The History and Antiquities of Syon Monastery: The Parish of Isleworth, and the Chapelry of Hounslow|first=George James|last=Aungier|date=3 April 2018|publisher=J.B. Nichols and Son|access-date=3 April 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>

1947 Rails-head Ferry still existed, more than fifty years after the nearby footbridge had been built.

1952 Typical pleasure boat of the mid-20th century seen here from Isleworth Promenade.