Shepherd's Bush
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Template:Infobox London place Shepherd's Bush is a district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham situated 4.9 miles (7.9 km) west of Charing Cross.
It is bordered by Hammersmith and Kensington to the south, Notting Hill to the east, Willesden and Harlesden to the north, and Acton to the west.
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Shepherd's Bush Green
The area's focal point is Shepherd's Bush Green (or Shepherd's Bush Common), an 8-acre (approx) area of open grass surrounded by trees and roads. The Green has two tennis courts.
The name is thought to have originated from the use of the common land here as a resting point for shepherds on their way to Smithfield Market in the City of London [1]. An alternative theory is that it could have been named after someone in the area, because in 1635 the area was recorded as "Sheppards Bush Green" Template:Fact.
Population
Significant communities of travellers from Australia and New Zealand exist in Shepherd's Bush. Road names in the area also suggest links to South Africa. There is a Polish community, with a community centre in nearby Hammersmith. Somalian and East African communities have a strong association with the area.
Places of interest
Running parallel to, and partly under, the Hammersmith and City Line tracks there is a large permanent market, selling groceries, cooked food, clothing and bric-à-brac. It caters considerably to the local Afro/Caribbean community. For details see here.
A new 12-screen cinema opened recently, and the shopping centre that opened in the early 1970s was redeveloped. Also in W12 are Hammersmith Hospital, Hammersmith Park and HM Wormwood Scrubs Prison. It is also the home to Queens Park Rangers who play their home games in Loftus Road.
The Westfield Group (with Hausinvest Europa) are building a new shopping centre, bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220, was the M41), the Westway (A40, previously A40(M)), and Wood Lane, A219 (also the old A40). This centre will be branded "whitecity" (a registered trade mark) and is mainly being constructed on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition (1908) and the 1908 Olympics. Ironically, this area is considered by locals to be part of Shepherd's Bush and not its namesake White City, London.
Transport
The common itself is served by three London Underground stations - two of which are named Shepherd's Bush, confusingly. Shepherd's Bush (Central line) at the eastern apex of the common is the busiest station (both in terms of passengers and trains), whilst Shepherd's Bush (Hammersmith and City line) is about 600m to the west (near the north-western corner of the green). The remaining south-western corner of the green is served by Goldhawk Road, also on the Hammersmith & City line.
The primarily residential areas to the west of the common, also recognised as part of Shepherd's Bush, are also served by White City and (somewhat further afield) East Acton stations on the Central Line.
As a result of the current development work at White City, two new transport hubs will be created in the area. The "northern interchange" will consist of the existing White City station on the Central line along with a new bus station and an adjacent new station (also to be named White City) on the Hammersmith and City line at the Wood Lane overbridge. The station will be positioned east of Wood Lane with its entrance north of the line, to reduce the walking distance for those connecting with the Central line at the existing White City station.
There will also be a "southern interchange", comprising of another new bus station, a redeveloped Central line station, a new (or rather reinstated) station on the West London Line and potentially a tram terminus for the West London Tram, which is a proposed on-street light rail line running from here via Acton, Ealing and Southall to Uxbridge in the west.
The development is due to open in 2009.
Associations with entertainment
Shepherd's Bush was the fictional home of Steptoe & Son, at 24 Oil Drum Lane. The BBC used to have many offices in Shepherd's Bush, but all have now been closed or re-located. They included the Lime Grove Studios on the site of previous film studios Gaumont and Gainsborough Pictures. Sulgrave House, Threshold and Union Houses and Kensington House—now a hotel.
The BBC also used the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre built in 1901 as a TV studio for many years for such shows as Wogan, That's Life!, Crackerjack, This is Your Life and others until 1991 and is now a concert venue. But BBC Television is still based at Television Centre in Wood Lane, their other major site/building BBC — White City stands on the site of the 1908 London Olympic Games, also called White City.
Shepherd's Bush Empire is now a music venue, and has played host to some very popular acts, including David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. There is another, rather smaller, venue at 310 Uxbridge Road called Bush Hall, built in 1905 as a dance hall. It predominantly showcases smaller acoustic performers 'on their way up' (including M Ward and Emiliana Torrini), but has also been used by much better-known acts like R.E.M., Scissor Sisters and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for fan club shows.
The members of several important rock and roll groups, including Bush, The Clash, The Who and the Sex Pistols, grew up in Shepherd's Bush, as did (more recently) rock singer Pete Doherty. The post-grunge band Bush take their name from Shepherd's Bush. In the Spring of 2004 two actors, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rented a small property in Bulwer Street, off of Wood Lane, where they prepared for their epic motorcyle journey Long Way Round.
Classical musicians Evelyn Glennie and Robert Steadman have both lived in Shepherd's Bush.
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