Hayes, Hillingdon

Hayes is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. It is a suburban development situated 13 mi 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 in order 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. Hayes has a very long history, though, as the place-names of the area indicate.

Etymology
The place-name Hayes comes from the Anglo-Saxon Hǣs or Hǣse: "(land overgrown with) brushwood".

History
Until the end of the 19th century, Hayes 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.

Industry
Hayes has always been heavily involved with industry, both local and international, and is (or has been) the home of EMI, Nestlé and H. J. Heinz Company. 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 as The Old Vinyl Factory.

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 Marconi-EMI 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 in order 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.

During the First World War the EMI factories produced aircraft. Charles 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 in Heathrow. It became the Great West Aerodrome, but was acquired by the Ministry of Aviation towards the end of the Second World War, and developed to become Heathrow Airport.

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 company's UK headquarters.

Opposite Nestlé on the other side of the canal, the Aeolian Company and its associates manufactured player pianos and rolls from just before World War I until the Great Depression. That, and the increasing sophistication of the gramophone record market, led to its collapse; its facilities were then exploited by Wall's, a meat processor and ice cream manufacturer.

From the early 1970s to 2003 McAlpine Helicopters Limited and Operational Support Services Limited (later renamed McAlpine Aviation Services Limited) operated from two purpose-built helicopter hangars in Swallowfield Way industrial estate, as the company operated on land already owned by the Sir Robert McAlpine. The land on the other side of the Grand Union Canal is called Stockley Park and its buildings were intentionally positioned to allow safe passage for helicopters into the heliport in case of an emergency. Fortunately, this was never used.

Development as a suburb
Since development, industry has been pre-eminent in Hayes. 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, lived and worked in 1932-3 as a schoolmaster at The Hawthorns High School for Boys, situated on Church Road. The school has since closed and is now known as The Fountain House Hotel. Despite returning several times, Orwell was characteristically acerbic about his time in Hayes, camouflaging it lightly as West Bletchley in Coming Up for Air, as Southbridge in A Clergyman's Daughter, and joking in a letter to author/friend Frank Jellinek:

"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."

Her Majesty The Queen visited [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Ams5lQt2M&feature=player_embedded#! Hayes town centre] on 19 May 2006 as part of a programme of visits in celebration of her 80th birthday.

Churches
St Mary the Virgin Church on Church Road is the oldest building in Hayes. The central portion of the church, the chancel and the nave, was built in the 1200s, the north aisle in the 1400s (as was the tower), and the south aisle in the 1500s, along with the lychgate and the south porch. Hayes's entry in the Domesday Book (1086) makes no mention of a church or chapel, and the name of St Mary suggests a 12th century dedication as it was at this time that church dedications in this name first appeared in England. Besides the church, the other main building in medieval villages was the manor house. The manor house formerly associated with the church was assigned to Canterbury Cathedral by Christian priest Warherdus as far back as 830 AD. The site of the original manor house is not known, but it is likely to have been on or near the site of the building latterly on Church Road called the Manor House, parts of which dated from the early 16th century. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Archbishop Lanfranc had contacts with the parish. St Mary's has a 12th century font, and many interesting memorials and brasses. The brass to Robert Lellee, Rector somewhere between 1356 and 1375, is purportedly the oldest brass in Middlesex. Adjacent to it is another to Rector Robert Burgeys (1408–1421). (The first recorded Rector was Peter de Lymonicen [1259]). There are tombs in the church to Walter Grene (1456), Thomas Higate (1576), and Sir Edward Fenner (1611), Judge of the King's Bench. The latter tomb covers earlier tiling on the wall and floors. Some partly uncovered pre-Reformation wall-paintings and a large mural (dating from the 14th century) of Saint Christopher with the infant Child are on the North wall. A brass to Veare Jenyns (1644) relates to the Court of Charles I, while other Jenynses, who were Lords of the Manor, link with Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Judge John Heath, after whom Judge Heath Lane was named, is also buried at St Mary's. Victorian restorers donated a number of windows, and more recent additions include windows to Saints Anselm and Nicholas. The Coronation window is in the north aisle above the Triptych painted by the pre-Raphaelite Edward Fellowes Prynne. His brother George Fellowes Prynne carved the Reredos with St Anselm and St George in the niches. The embossed roof of the Nave reflects the Tudor period with emblems of the crucifixion and the arms of Henry and Aragon (the lands passed to Henry VIII as a consequence of the English Reformation).

It is thought that Archbishop (later Saint) Anselm stayed in the manor house of St Mary's church. The naming of St Anselm church, built in 1929 on Station Road in Hayes town centre, is a commemoration of this event.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic church was built in 1961, replacing the earlier church built in 1912. It is situated in Hayes town centre, just off Coldharbour Lane/Station Road. The first permanent building to be built was the adjacent primary school, Botwell House, which opened in 1931. The church's picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (which measures 5½m x 3m) was painted by Pietro Annigoni (1910–1988) in Florence, and took nine months to complete.

Education
Primary schools in Hayes include: Botwell House, Dr Triplett's, Minet, Pinkwell, William Byrd, Hayes Park, Grange Park and Wood End.

Secondary schools in Hayes include: Barnhill Community High, Guru Nanak Secondary School, Harlington Community School, Hewens College, and Rosedale College.

Uxbridge College has a Hayes Campus, situated on the former Townfield School site, accessible from Station Road.

Rail
The station in the area is:


 * Hayes and Harlington railway station (First Great Western & Heathrow Connect)

Buses
London Buses serving Hayes are:

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. Travellers by boat may moor at Hayes and take advantage of its local amenities, such as shops (which include branches of Iceland and Sainsbury's) and banks.

Economy
The United Kingdom office of China Airlines operates from Hyde Park, Hayes.

Culture
Hayes's Beck Theatre opened in 1977, and offers a wide range of touring shows in a welcoming modern building. The Beck is very much a community theatre, offering one-night concerts, comedy, drama, films, opera, and pantomime.

Hayes's Botwell Green Library is situated in the Botwell Green Leisure Centre (address: East Avenue, UB3 2HW), which in 2010 replaced both the old Hayes Library (opened 1933 on Golden Crescent) and the old swimming baths (opened 1967 on Central Avenue). The old swimming baths building remained derelict following its 2010 closure, until Hillingdon Council demolished it in late 2012 having first given itself planning permission for a housing scheme on the site.

There are a number of public houses in Hayes, including: The Botwell Inn, The Famous George Orwell, The Old Crown, The Crown, The Adam and Eve (the town's earliest recorded inn, dating from 1665), The Grapes, The Carpenter's Arms, The Angel, and The Wishing Well.

Other cultural amenities include some very good parks and gardens, including: Barra Hall Park, Lake Farm Country Park, Minet Country Park, and the Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens. Despite Hillingdon Council leader Ray Puddifoot's "categoric[al] assurance that under [his] administration [residents would] never see a threat to the green belt", Mr Puddifoot confirmed in August 2012 plans to build on green-belt (and longtime common land) site Lake Farm, summarily dismissing residents' discontent. In January 2013, a GLA report demonstrated that Hillingdon Council's plan to build on Lake Farm was in jeopardy, and London's Mayor Boris Johnson raised major concerns over the Council's plan to build on Lake Farm. Transport for London also recognised that parents dropping off their children would cause major congestion and bus-service disruption.

Hayes FM (91.8 FM) is the town's community-focused, non-commercial local radio station. The station provides a platform for discussion of matters concerning local people, and besides playing popular music caters musically to a variety of tastes and genres, including indie rock and urban music.

Sport
Hayes & Yeading United F.C. formed on 18 May 2007, following a merger of the former Hayes F.C. and Yeading F.C. Hayes & Yeading play at the Kingfield Stadium in Woking, Surrey, having agreed a groundshare with Woking F.C.

The former Hayes F.C. started out as Botwell Mission in 1909, taking the name Hayes F.C. in 1929. The team's home stadium was on Church Road, Hayes. The Church Road stadium continued in May 2007 as Hayes & Yeading's ground until 19 April 2011, when the team played at Church Road for the last time, beating Gateshead 3–1. The former Church Road ground was demolished in 2011, and is now the site of housing. The Church Road ground saw the start of the career of a number of players who went on to play at higher levels, among them Les Ferdinand and Cyrille Regis.

Hayes has another Non-League football team A.F.C. Hayes, who were known until 2007 as Brook House F.C.

Notable people

 * Frank Allen, bass player of sixties pop groups Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and The Searchers, was born in Hayes
 * Writer and so-called "godfather of alternative comedy" Tony Allen was born in Hayes
 * Anselm of Canterbury, later Saint Anselm, was stationed in Hayes by King William II in 1095
 * Buster Bloodvessel, frontman of eighties pop group Bad Manners, lives on a canal boat in Hayes
 * Robin Bush (1943–2010) of Channel 4's archaeological series Time Team was born in Hayes
 * Composer William Byrd (1539/40-1623), "the father of English music", lived as a Catholic recusant in Hayes and Harlington 1578–88; a primary school in the area bears his name
 * Brian Connolly (1945–1997), singer of glam rock band The Sweet, lived in Hayes and Harefield
 * Disgraced disc jockey Chris Denning was born in Hayes
 * Actress Anne Marie Duff, best known for playing Fiona Gallagher in Shameless and Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen, grew up in Hayes
 * Greg Dyke, former BBC director general, grew up in Hayes
 * Pioneer in photography B. J. Edwards (1838–1914) lived at Wistowe House (which dates from the 17th century) on Church Road
 * Chris Finnegan (1944–2009), Olympic boxing gold medalist, lived in Hayes
 * Boxer Kevin Finnegan (1948–2008), brother of Olympic gold medalist Chris, lived in Hayes
 * Actor Barry Foster (1927–2002), best known as 1970s TV detective Van der Valk, grew up in Hayes
 * Musician Paul Gardiner (1958–1984) of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army was born in Hayes
 * Major-General James Grant, C.B. (1778–1852), who served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, was a lifelong Hayes resident
 * Celebrity tailor Doug Hayward (1934–2008) grew up in Hayes
 * England footballer Glenn Hoddle was born in Hayes
 * Golfer Barry Lane was born in Hayes
 * Honey Lantree, celebrated female drummer of Joe Meek-produced sixties pop group The Honeycombs, was born in Hayes
 * Author Tony Lee was born in Hayes
 * Author George Orwell (1903–1950) lived and worked in Hayes, 1932-3
 * Malcolm Owen (d. 1980) and Paul Fox (d. 2007) of punk band The Ruts grew up in Hayes
 * Larry Page, sixties manager of pop groups The Kinks and The Troggs, was born in Hayes
 * Steve Priest, bass player of glam rock band The Sweet, was born in Hayes
 * Jane Seymour, actress and Bond girl, was born in Hayes
 * Nick Simper, founding member of rock band Deep Purple, lived in Hayes
 * Composer Stephen Storace (1762–1796), famous in his day and a friend of Mozart, lived from the late 1780s in Wood End, Hayes
 * Prebendary and philanthropist Dr Thomas Triplett (1602–1670) was a schoolmaster in Hayes during the Commonwealth period; a primary school in the area bears his name
 * David Westlake, singer/songwriter of indie band The Servants, was born in Hayes
 * Welsh international footballer Rhoys Wiggins grew up in Hayes
 * Football player/manager/pundit Ray Wilkins grew up in Hayes

Nearest places

 * Ealing
 * Greenford
 * Hanwell
 * Harlington
 * Hounslow
 * Northolt
 * Southall
 * Uxbridge
 * Yeading
 * West Drayton