North Road
Church c19th century, now flats.
Locally listed.
History
Victorian Chapel of yellow stock brick. Now converted into flats
[mapsmarker marker=”154″]
Former Baptist Chapel
North Road
Church c19th century, now flats.
Locally listed.
Victorian Chapel of yellow stock brick. Now converted into flats
[mapsmarker marker=”154″]
The History of Brentford 
Was this known as ‘The Park Chapel’ Old Brentdord? If so my great granddad was married there in 1880, anyone have any idea where the registers would be now?
Park Baptist Church was in Boston Road just north of Brentford Station and isn’t the one pictured in North Road.
The Great West Road (A4) runs next to the site now but it was in open country when it was first built – thus Park.
Their records might be at the London Metropolitan Archives.
If not Celia Cotton at the brentford high street project website http://www.bhsproject.co.uk should be able to help or the local studies library in Chiswick.
localstudies-hct@carillionservices.co.uk
If you have Brentford connections you might be interested in the high street project for old pictures and family histories.
Definitely North Road Baptist Church. I went to Sunday School here from 1958 – 1970. Stangely Sunday School ran form 2.45 – 3.45 pm every Sunday.
The Fromow family who ran a nursery garden in Chiswick were very involved. The misses Fromow ran the Sunday School for the younger children. Each Christmas every child was given a little tin of homemade toffees – they collected the tins all year – plus a handknitted hat, scarf or mittens.
Each year there were two special services, the Sunday School prize giving and the church anniversary service. Each child attending would be give a book, a prize for attendance. They would also be given a hyacinth in a pot – pink for the girls and blue for the boys at one service which must have been in the autumn. I can still remember the smell of the hyacinths which sat on the window ledges during the service. Each child also received a paperbag containing an apple, an orange, and a banana. It seems strange now, but people in that area were poor, and the church recognised that.
The Fromow family had adopted a little girl, who was found with the tops of her fingers missing due to frostbite, lying next to her dead mother in circa 1915 a result of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire. As an adult the girl, Miss Shakarian helped in Sunday School and played a small pedal -powered portable organ. This was sometimes carried around the streets and a group would sing hymns and choruses on street corners.
Every summer the church, or chapel as we called it, organised a day trip to the seaside. People paid weekly for their ticket – no one could afford to pay the coach fare in one hit. We gathered at the church for prayers before jumping on the coach to Brighton, Eastbourne, Worthing or Little Hampton.
My family, probably much to the disapproval of the church would then go the the North Star pub at the other end of North Road for a drink, with us children – my brother Carl, my cousins, Paul and Roy and myself, and Denise and Lorraine Ovens being left outside with a lemonade.
I so enjoyed your reminiscences. My family attended North Road Chapel and taught in the Sunday school/Bible Class. My Dad was the artist Lewis Lupton and used to do talks which he illustrated on a black board.
I well remember the Fromows and the paper bags with fruit which we loved. Yes they did adopt Azadouhie Shakarian, she used to baby sit for us, was a great family friend. Later she worked at Mr Williams Chemist.
I remember your family very well, and your father organising an annual art competition. Children were invited to write out and decorate a given Bible text. I still have one of my attempts. Miss Shakarian used to play a little portable organ and I remember singing outside the Pottery Arms Pub on a Sunday evening – part of the Band of Hope alcohol abstention movement. Yes,m I remember Miss Shakarian working in the Chemist shop. The last time I saw her was at my wedding in 1977 at St. Mary’s in S Ealing. Marjorie Rose was one of the adult teachers for S School and I am still in touch with her son
I have so many wonderful memories of chapel there. Mr and Mrs Driscoll; he used to love to sing ‘O Happy Day’. I still have my certificates gained in the Baptist Examinations and several of the prizes given to children for attendance.
Gillian Treadgold, Pat Ruffold, Kathleen Jafrate, a teenage lad called Louis, Timothy Saunders and his mum (Ruth??), dad and brother are names that I remember.
Thanks for more memories about North Road. I think we must have known each other!
In the 50s my Dad’s car was a Humber Super snipe, and he used to give the old ladies ( Miss Tyrell and Miss Spinks?) a lift home. They had to hold on their hats if it was raining and he put the hood up.
Ada Gregory was another chapel character, she lived in a house with antique furniture and a grape vine in the green house – she did wonderful Sunday teas. I remember she remarried.
Marjorie Rose was a great friend of my Mum’s, she was such a lovely cheerful person.
Yes I remember the Scripture exams and the annual seaside outing, on 3 coaches I think!
I remember the Saunders, the parents’ names were Peter And Janet.
Chapel teas were a great event, we had long trestle tables set up in the school room, with a copper tea urn at the end of each table presided over by one of the ladies, and the deacons would carry in hot water in jugs. We had special chapel china. The sandwiches had little name flags.
What isn’t mentioned is that the chapel was bombed in 1941, I think. The ‘new’ building was designed by Michael Secrett, and opened in about 1957. Somehow the heating was totally inadequate, it had gas burners in the 4 corners. My dad designed a leaflet for the opening and other leaflets about the Chapel, which I still have.
I’m still in touch with Mike Madder who was in my Dad’s Bible class. He was a merchant seaman and later worked on the OM ship Logos.
My family left the Chapel in about 1963 and attended Gunnersbury Baptist but we still kept in touch with Azadouhie and other friends.