It’s no secret that most Londoners in 2024 cannot function without the presence of their mobile phone. With a staggering 95% of the population predicted to own a smartphone by next year according to uswitch, the phenomenon of people being enthralled by their mobiles shows no signs of slowing down.
As a member of Gen-Z, I am admittedly guilty of wasting hours of my day scouring social media for my next fix of content and recently wondered how much of the world around me I was oblivious to due to my focus on my phone’s traction. screen. I decided to explore Ealing, having heard that the center of West London contains a plethora of hidden statues and carvings atop seemingly mundane buildings.
While retail units such as Betfred and Caffè Nero line the streets like any other central London, what’s above the buildings around Ealing Broadway is captivating – qualities that most speedy, distracted commuters, myself included, would completely miss. Known as the ‘Queen of the Suburbs’, Ealing’s name comes from the Gillingas, the people associated with the Gilla, an Anglo-Saxon settler.
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It began to blossom as a fully functioning city around the Victorian period – remnants of this period can be seen in the architecture of its banks, pubs and churches. Heading immediately left from Ealing Broadway Station, I found myself strolling along the corresponding street, head cocked, scanning the gigantic buildings for nods to the area’s rich historical past.
Almost immediately, something caught my attention on Windsor Road above a Halifax bank – while the lower half of the structure was conventional and ordinary, I saw three statuesque lions on top, crowning pillars that I wouldn’t have seen unless I craned my neck.
Fascinated, I continued on to New Broadway, a street still teeming with chaos akin to the morning rush despite it being near midday. Although it took a lot of focus to squint through the many trees, I managed to see stone carvings of a mysterious man and woman along with a couple of ominous, snake-like statues. I was amazed at the level of detail in the carvings above a betting shop of all places.
Heading to the quieter part of Ealing, away from the centre, I didn’t expect to notice much, but was immediately fixated on a sign that pointed to a Jehovah’s Witness hall; it said that the hall used to be a girls’ school, with the stone laid in 1861. I later discovered that the stone was there to commemorate the rebuilding of the school after it grew in size to meet the demand of the growing surrounding districts.
A trend I also noticed while exploring what was above my head was the countless lions around the city. My favorite was at the Red Lion Pub – if you look at the top of the white roof you will see the big red cat statue with its lovely man staring out into Ealing. It certainly suited the pub’s branding!
After an enjoyable adventure, with countless engravings, statues and even a classic rooster-shaped weather vane on a church spire, I finished back where I had started, the station entrance.
It was there that I met local Sophia Boateng, the perfect end to my trip. She emphasized how beautiful the town of Ealing really is for those who care to take in their surroundings. “I feel like Ealing is quite a lucrative area (in terms of what you can see around you),” she said. “Everywhere you will see something attractive, you will see the statues.
“I feel like our phones have become our best friends rather than actual people, which is terrible. Twenty years ago you could be on a train or a bus, and you’d meet someone and actually talk. Now it’s almost almost alien , it’s like our phones are now our people.”
Overall, I ended my adventure with a revised mindset; I realized how much my phone had limited me and the sights I’d potentially missed across London due to scrolling. I really think Londoners could uncover a whole new world if they just looked up – and not just in Ealing.
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