Forum Topic

Bleak House Lane.

Having lived in Chiswick for donkeys I was surprised to notice this street name for the first time. It runs off the south side of CHR to Barley Mow Passage shortly before the Post Office.Does anyone know how it got its rather depressing name?I have friends that live in The Pitts which I like to pull their leg about but is in fact a wonderful location on the Isle of Wight overlooking The English Channel.

Adrian Irving ● 3897d9 Comments

I noticed that the other day and wondered.  Of course Becky Sharp of Vanity Fair is well known as a frequenter of Chiswick (or passing through at least) but didn't know of any Dickens connection.

Claire Moran ● 3897d

Because of this?"‘Bleak House’ was the name given to the Sanderson social club. Initially situated on the site of the Voysey factory, the club’s headquarters were later moved when the new building was erected. Situated in Chiswick High Road, about 100 yards from the factory, it was equipped with a bowling green, club rooms, billiard rooms, reading rooms and a dining room where meals were served at cost price."from http://brentfordandchiswicklhs.org.uk/publications/the-journal/journal-10-2000/work-and-colour-sanderson-and-chiswick-1879-1928/

Mary Oppe ● 3897d

Thanks Mary

Carl Wynne ● 3897d

That looks like the answer Mary, thanks but it then raises the question why a social club should be called Bleak House. Odd.Claire, it's interesting that you have just noticed it as well. It makes me wonder if the sign is new.

Adrian Irving ● 3897d

It's a relatively new sign

Andy Pease ● 3897d

It was one of the new reflective street name signs that Hounslow Highways installed last year. Google Street View shows it as being there in May 2015.  There's also Sandersons Lane a little further east, though at least that name has an obvious origin.

Richard Jennings ● 3897d

I was thinking the same, Adrian, but then wondered if the name Bleak House had been given to Sanderson's social club as a nod to Dickens' 'Bleak House'.  In the book, Bleak House is anything but, as I remember.

Mary Oppe ● 3897d

Could be Mary.Maybe the person that named  it was peed off with the British legal establishment and was having a dig.Nothing changes!

Adrian Irving ● 3897d

Bleak House Lane in ChiswickBleak House Lane is a Street in the Greater London Urban Area of Chiswick and measures approximately 64 metres long.There is only one street named Bleak House Lane making it unique in Great Britain.Bleak House Lane is governed by London Borough of Hounslow Council.Bleak House Lane is located within the county of Greater London which is in the London region of the UK. 6.69 miles West from the centre of London, 17.46 miles North East from the centre of Woking, 18.21 miles South from the centre of St Albans and 22.2 miles North East from the centre of Guildford.

Bernard Allen ● 2442d