Twickenham, The Slipway Facing Eel Pie Island 1890

Photo ref: 23535

More about this scene

No riverside town would be complete without a rowing club, and Twickenham Rowing Club was founded in 1860. Cricket too arrived in the 19th century - the first recorded match played by Twickenham Cricket Club was on July 29th 1833 against Thames Ditton - but it was in the next century that the world famous rugby ground would be established on 'Billy Williams's cabbage patch'. The pace of change accelerated as the 20th century approached, and after its formation in 1895 the new Urban District Council embarked on a programme of renovation. The local board had constructed the embankment between 1875 and 1882, and planned a new street, York Street, in 1892 that would bypass Church Street. This opened in 1899. The Public Libraries Act was adopted in 1882, and the library was situated in the town hall until 1907 when it moved to the present Carnegie building in Garfield Road; this was undergoing extensive renovation in 2005. Charlie Shore's Regatta Local waterman Charlie Shore founded the Boys and Girls Regatta in 1894. This was a popular event which continued until the Second World War, and concluded with a firework show and a set piece by Charlie Shore himself.