Southall: Guide

:For people named Southall, see Southall (surname)
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. It was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s), and is still open to traffic and is 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 brick factories, flour mills and chemical plants which formed the town's commercial base. In 1877, the Martin_Brothers |Martin Brothers set up a ceramics factory in an old soap works next to the canal, and until 1923 produced 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 Pitshanger Manor in nearby Ealing and Southall Library.

Southall was also the home of one of the earliest British film studios, Southall_Studios|Southall Film Studios which played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959.

Southall is primarily an Asian residential district, with also the biggest influx of Somalis the whole of the UK}. The main street in Southall is called The Broadway. Southall contains the largest Asian shopping centre in the London area. Southall was the main location for the film Bend It Like Beckham. 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.

In 1979 Southall was the scene of severe troubles when the British National Front|National Front staged a provocative rally which was opposed by many anti-racist organisations. Severe over-reaction by the Special Patrol Group|SPG led to the death of Blair Peach and the crippling of Clarence Baker of Misty|Clarence Baker, while the cover-up that followed left scars on the community.

There are also many housing estates situated in Southall including Golf Links (UB1), Convent Way (UB2), Havelock (UB2), Willowtree (UB4) and Windmill Estate,(UB2)

Nearest places:
Yeading
Hayes
Hanwell
Heston
Ealing
Hounslow
Greenford
Northolt

Nearest railway station:
Southall railway station

Southall Violence

Recently Southall has become notorious for the amount of violence caused by a large number of diverse gangs and Somali youths. There have been many shootings and other incidents that have been connected to Tamil gangs. In origin this rivalry was caused by rival politcal groups vying for power. However many of these groups have now formed street gangs abroad and resort to violence to gain power. This all stems from the problems of the crime rate of the past when members of the punjabi community mainly Sikh formed gangs such as The Holy Smokes and Tootinungs which formed in the mid 60's for community protection against white supremacist groups such as the National front. These gangs later became involved in criminal activity and profited from underworld dealings and hence became enemies. These gangs, now dissolved by name due to strict police measures, are still very much active in smaller more organised groups run by the same hierachy of the golden age of the 1980's, with major dealings in drugs, prostitution, extortion, money laundering and bootlegging of smaller items such as pirate DVD's.

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