Southall

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Template:Infobox London place Southall is a London suburb in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated 10.7 miles (17.2 km) west of Charing Cross.The name Southall (Southolt) means, Southern wood and separates it from northolt.

Southall is located on the historic Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) which first linked London with the rest of the growing canal system, was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s), and is still open to traffic and used by pleasure craft.

The opening of the canal in 1796 began a commercial boom, intensified by the arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1839, leading to the establishment and growth of the brick factories, flour mills and chemical plants which once formed its commercial base. In 1877 the Martin Brothers set up a ceramics factory in an old soap works next to the canal, and until 1923 produced their distinctive ceramics now known and collected as Martinware.

A collection of Martinware - salt-glazed stoneware, grotesque faces, and birds - is on display at Southall Library. The largest collection, however, can be seen at Pitzhanger Manor in nearby Ealingand Southall Library.

As of 2004 Southall is primarily an Asian residential district. Southall is informally known as "little India" and there were even recent serious attempts to officially rename it "Punjabtown." Over 55% of Southall's population of 70,000 is of either Indian or Pakistani origin. The Sikh Southall Gurdwara in Southall won the Ealing Civic Society Architectural Award in 2003. Southall is home to three Hindu temples: the Baba Balaknathji, the Rama Mandir, and the Vishwa Hindu Mandir. There are also a number of churches, as well as a mosque. The Indian and Pakistani populations have been described as "blending seamlessly" with little ethnic tension.

Image:Southall Broadway DMS 14112005-2.jpg Image:Southall-Glassy-Junction-DMS-2005-11-10.jpg The main street in Southall is called The Broadway. Southall contains the largest Asian shopping centre in the London area, and is famous for its large number of ethnic Indian restaurants and shops. Southall Broadway was featured in the film Bend It Like Beckham (in the scene where Jess goes shopping with her sister at the beginning of the film). Southall is also the location of the Glassy Junction, which serves several Indian draught beers and was the first pub in the UK to accept payment in Indian rupees.

Southall is an excellent place if you are looking for a bite to eat as it has a vast range of food outlets and restaurants with a variety of foods.

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