Chiswick House - Chiswick Park - Chiswick Mall - Fuller's Griffin Brewery Tours

Chiswick House
Chiswick Park, Burlington Lane, Greater London W4.
(Map Ref 1.)
The awesome beauty of Chiswick Park is host to one of England's finest houses, built in the 1720s by the third Earl of Burlington, and for all the world looking as though it was modelled on a classically Renaissance Italian villa. Chiswick House rises majestically, setting the scene perfectly for the dense greenery of the surrounding park.

One of the villa's main attractions is its predominantly Italian art collection, which are so grand that you sometimes suspect that this house could just as easily be an art museum. I have never seen a house with such elaborate and meticulously constructed chambers, and the Roman statues, galleries, saloons, parlours, and the gardens make you wish that you had lived in this era and that you were a very close friend of the Earl of Burlington. He must have been a character with a formidable sense of the aesthetic.

The Blue Velvet Room, which was once a cabinet designed to entertain connoisseurs of art, is the most staggering room in the building. The 26 paintings, mainly Dutch landscapes, envelop the room, and the ceiling is dominated by a glorious painting set up in the clouds, which makes you believe that it really is heaven-sent. There are numerous rooms around the villa, all of them with something distinctive, and you really get an impression of the ambition invested into this project undertaken by the Earl of Burlington. If you like walking around England's ancient villas and mansions, appreciating its heritage, then you should pick out Chiswick House before you go anywhere else, not only for its epic grandeur but for the perfectly complementary surroundings of the park. You can contact Chiswick House for details of their tours on 0208 995 0508.
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Chiswick Park
Greater London W4. (Map Ref 2.)
The gardens surrounding Chiswick House are also worth a mention for their delightful blend of contrasting elements. The construction of Chiswick Park is not too much different in tone than the house, and there is a tendency to imitate Italian and French architecture and park design. Not only do you appreciate the beauty of the lush English greenery, which is densely packed along the park's many narrow, winding paths, but your sensibilities are heightened when you come across features such as old Italian-style brooks and bridges, flat expanses of well-mown grass, and an Ionic temple bearing down over a magical amphitheatre. You can imagine that it is the sort of park fairies and elves might enjoy themselves.

Wherever you pop up in Chiswick Park there is something ornate and carefully crafted, whether it is a mock-ancient Greek urn, or shrubberies into which lions and Roman statues are placed. You can sit on the park benches in the main grounds, taking in the tranquil scenery and the two opposing bridges, one of which has a small waterfall gushing out ripples of wholesome, fresh water into the duck-filled stream. The trees, largely represented by conifers and weeping willows adorning the banks and pathways of the park, flatter to deceive as you almost believe that you are entering country woodland.

The paths, which are mostly overrun with vegetation, are suddenly broken up by a long, straight path with sparse, minimal trees standing on either side like soldiers at attention. This scene resembles the tree-lined French avenues in Parisian parks such as the Tuileries Gardens. For your further enjoyment, there are soon to be exotic deciduous trees planted in the Chiswick Park, which appears to thrive on invention. I strongly recommend visiting this park and it is only a shame you cannot pitch up here with a tent and lead an ideal existence in its shade. You would never get a bad night's sleep.
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Chiswick Mall
Greater London W4. (Map Ref 3.)
Chiswick Mall is just another example of some of the beautiful walks you can take along the River Thames in this area of London. It does in fact mark the end, at first, of Hammersmith, which is essentially dominated by the Upper Mall. However, as soon as the Chiswick Mall reaches Chiswick, the villagey atmosphere, the call of the seagulls, and the 17th-18th century mansions make you appreciate ever more forcefully the cool calm away from the London traffic.

Prodigious clumps of shrubbery and carefully designed beds of flowers overwhelm the gardens of the mansions, whose grand facades are covered with thick creepers and greenery of every sort. The balconies on the roofs even make them look like Roman villas.

The view of the Thames as you walk along the Mall is stunning. The strong smell of fish, the wailing calls of the seagulls, and the barest hint of salt water in the air makes you feel as though you are down at the sea. The man-made promontory does slightly detract from the view, but the pier, which is inhabited by several houseboats as well as regular houseboats, is a delight. Across the river is what looks like a deserted island, well endowed with forestry and seemingly untouched by human hands, although I am sure that is very unlikely. As you come to the end of Chiswick Mall there are a few enchanting houses with gardens right on the river, shaded by the ever effective weeping willows.

Suitably, the Mall ends at a ravishing 15th century church, St. Nicholas, which has in recent times been renovated somewhat. Many famous historical figures are buried in its cemetery. If you are looking for yet another hearty walk to lift your spirits, then it is worth strolling down Chiswick Mall. In fact, if you are enthusiastic enough you could walk through the Thames Path and onto the Chiswick Mall. There are plenty of riverside pubs to allow you to recuperate.
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Fuller's Griffin Brewery Tours
Chiswick Lane South W4. (Map Ref 4.)
It may not appear at first sight as though this is one of the most accessible tours in London, but for those of you who are interested in the history of beer and who enjoy drinking beer, this is an experience not to be missed.

Fuller's Brewery is London's oldest brewery and has survived since 1845. It offers both a comprehensive and an entertaining tour of its premises, demonstrating the entire brewing process, and how their famous ales are created. The tour begins at the Mawson Arms pub, which I will be reviewing later, and from there you will be able to see, smell, and then touch the ingredients that make up a pint of one of their real ales. As the advertisement says, they truly touch the parts that other beers cannot reach.

There is then the opportunity to see how their tried and trusted traditional methods work together with radically new technology to make the beers absolutely perfect.

For many of you, the most enjoyable part of the tour will come when you can sample some of Fuller's draught real ales, after which you can dive straight into the pub and resume from where you left off. One overriding impression you will have of visiting the Fuller's Brewery is the powerful smell of the ales brewing, which hit you so forcefully you can almost become drunk on the fumes. The tour is just round the corner from the Chiswick Mall, so it might be worth a visit if you have some time off in these neck of the woods. You can contact Fuller's Brewery on 0208 996 2063.
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