Just heard about Eel Pie Island being instrumental - no pun intended - in developing British Rock 'n Roll and Jazz in the 60s - Q is what is there to see on the island today?

Apparently public access is limited?

Anyone been to Eel Pie Island - at Twickenham in the middle of the Thames - up river from London.?

??? Worth a trek for someone who has been going to London for decades and is always looking for off-beat sights, even if not of much substance today but history, etc.

http://www.google.com/search?q=eel+p...=1600&bih=1075

For a historical perspective...

Eel Pie Island is private and as such, isn't normally open to the public. It does, however, open twice a year:

http://www.eelpieislandartists.co.uk...k/Welcome.html

I don't think I know anyone in London who has been. But then, South West London is a long way from my 'manor'

thanks for the info Kate. I'll cross it off my list except if in the area to at least look at the island from the bridge.

PalenQ... we are currently staying on Eel Pie Island in a home rental. The artist studios are open to the public a couple of times a year, including this month over the weekend of June 22-23. You CAN otherwise cross the footbridge and walk a couple of hundred meters, but it's a residential area.

By the way, there is a book on the subject: Eel Pie Island, by Dan Van Der Vat. Interesting read. An excerpt: "Remembered by all for its spring maple dance floor, built in the 1920s at the height of the fashion for tea-dances, the ballroom that had once witnessed graceful waltzes rapidly became the scene for swirling, twirling, jiving couples, as the dances styles imported via the American soldiers stationed in wartime Britain became all the rage. Virtually everyone I have spoken to recalls the floor with fondness, although not all believed that springs alone caused the bounce: the river was said to flow right under the ballroom. Club regular Gerry Loader told me: ' When the spring tides were around, it seemed that the dance floor was floating.'

amy - thanks for that report!

curious as to how accessible the island is normally - un accessible to tourists usually? Thanks again for the report.

My brothers used to hang out on Eel Pie Island in their youth. I am too young to have experienced it's 1960's heyday.
It is now an expensive piece of real estate.

Along the river is Taggs Island, home to one of my favourite podcasters, Dave Raven.

amy_torres_sd: How is the holiday rental, both for comfort and getting around (assuming you're using public transport)? I'm thinking about booking a short break there myself to do Windsor, Kew, Hampton Court etc as it's years since I've been to them.

Ripple is a lovely place to relax in; between sightseeing journeys. Perfect for our family. Transportation into London was fast; coming home a bit slower as we weren't striving for the fast trains. We are a family of 4 and the teens begrudgingly shared the twin room (no one wanted to sleep in the bunks) There's a Waitrose on the way "home" from the station, and a Marks and Spencer food shop very close also (we favored M&S). Wish we were there still.

This was our home away from home: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p308994vb