Talk:Eel Pie Island

"Eel Pie Island" book link
i've linked the reference for this definitive book to its Amazon (UK) page -- i'd prefer it to be linked to a full review, but haven't found one yet -- (it was published in October 2009) -- Oniscoid (talk) 01:00, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi there Oniscoid. I've removed the Amazon link - the purpose of URLs in book citations is to direct the reader to an on-line copy of the actual text which is being cited, eg on Google books. It is not there to provide a link for the reader to look at a review. The link that you should have put in the cite is the ISBN number which will will take the reader to a page showing a variety of sources with which to track down the book, Amazon among them.  However, because you used "cite web" rather than "Cite book" the ISBN option was unavailable to you. I have amended the template to "cite book" and added the ISBN. A handy tool for creating citations can be found here - http://toolserver.org/~magnus/makeref.php - and is what I used to make the corrections. Best,  Nancy  talk  10:48, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Arthur Chisnall
maybe he should have his own Wikipedia page? as well as reopening the dance hall and running it for 10 years, he helped set up BIT and the Notting Hill Housing Trust and co-authored a book on education reform -- Oniscoid (talk) 01:00, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Led Zeppelin performance
I suspect that the reference to Led Zeppelin performing there is incorrect. I was a regular around the time Led Zep formed and I doubt that a performance would have slipped me by. In their very early days, Led Zep did perform at a small club not far away called Farx. I wonder if this is the performance the editor had in mind. Many of we regulars at Colonel Barefoot's Rock Garden (Friday and Saturday nights) were also regulars at Farx (Sunday nights).PDAWSON3 (talk) 23:56, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * i also doubt that Led Zep played there -- i lived in and worked at the Eel Pie Dance Hall from Autumn 1969 (before it reopened as a music venue) until Spring 1970 -- by this time Led Zep were huge, and Eel Pie was then more a place for up and coming musicians and bands rather than supergroups -- i can vouch for the following bands playing there late 1969 / early 1970: Edgar Broughton Band, Stray, and Hawkwind (then known as Hawkwind Zoo) -- i've removed Led Zep from bands playing Eel Pie (1969 on) and added Stray and Hawkwind Oniscoid (talk) 12:19, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

'squatters soon moved in' is inaccurate
In the Eel Pie Island Hotel section of the article, it is inaccurate to state that "squatters soon moved in" after the Hotel closed in 1967. The Hotel remained unused for about two years. In late summer 1969 a Richmond-Upon-Thames community arts group enquired about renting both the Eel Pie Hotel and the next door Dance Hall. While this was going on, the Hotel was pre-emptively occupied by a small group of local anarchists who successfully negotiated a separate rent agreement with Michael Snapper (the owner) for the use of the Hotel. Their intention was to set up an urban commune. The rent was UKP 20.00 per week and payments continued for almost a year (until early Summer 1970). The commune became the largest in the UK, though its ideology and inhabitants were in the main 'hippy' rather than 'revolutionary'. The Commune ended when the Hotel burnt down in 1971, the fire taking place very conveniently while many of the Hotel's occupants were being held by the local police. With the Hotel no longer standing, planing permission for the development of a large block of luxury riverside apartments, which had been previously been sought unsuccessfully, was quickly granted. Note: The term "squatters" as is now generally understood in the UK wasn't used until the early 1970s, and even if had been, its use would be inappropriate here as not only was rent regularly paid to the owner, but there was prior collusion between an apparent agent of the owner and the would-be occupants. I've removed the "squatters" sentence and added a separate para about the "hippy commune". Oniscoid (talk) 11:25, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Private Island
Reading this article as it was, I was inspired to visit there last weekend, expecting to walk around and see the sights, including the two wildlife sanctuaries mentioned in the article. As I walked across the bridge I was confronted by this large sign which says something like "Private Island- no throughfare, no access to waterside". This didn't bode well but I continued, walking on down the path. Luckily, I was able to at least visit the art studios which happened to be open that weekend, but still, I was disappointed. You can't really see much, just doors and gates. You wouldn't even know you were on an island. I realise that this is all 'original research, but I don't know how to find such info elsewhere and I thought people ought to be told what its really like. I would think a photo of that big sign would suffice as evidence.

There are a lot of trees which have a large population of Jackdaws and some Green parakeets. IceDragon64 (talk) 22:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

"Mysterious" Fire?
Article states: "In 1971, the Eel Pie Island Hotel burned down in a mysterious fire."

I propose changing "mysterious" to "unexplained" (or some other adjective). To my thinking, a fire is not "mysterious" unless there is some truly strange or supernatural aspect. If we simply don't know how the fire started, then the fire is "unexplained".

Karl gregory jones (talk) 18:12, 31 January 2010 (UTC)


 * the fire happened while many of the people living there were in police custody, and some thought that the fire had not only been started deliberately, but had been pre-planned -- so in that sense the fire's origin is an unsolved mystery - Oniscoid (talk) 03:10, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Henry VIII visited?
This afternoon I heard a PBS radio report that Eel Pie Island was visited by Henry VIII during trips on the royal barge, and he sent "minions" to purchase eel pies on the island. I don't know how to research this story, but perhaps some enterprising English editor will do so. --DThomsen8 (talk) 21:42, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I see that some enterprising editor added a link to the NPR story. Thank you. --DThomsen8 (talk) 01:03, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
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Makes no sense to me
This sentence makes no sense to me: "Before the 19th century it was for many centuries three parts distinguished by their proudness above the ordinary mean high water mark." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.166.168.10 (talk) 12:33, 13 November 2019 (UTC)


 * This is the edit that added it: by User:Adam37, replacing the earlier text that "even earlier the island was three separate aits". I think it's saying more specifically that the island was previously three separate islands when the river was at its average water height, and would maybe have been a single island only at low tide. But I'm not 100% sure. Could Adam37 clarify the meaning? --Lord Belbury (talk) 13:06, 13 November 2019 (UTC)


 * I was referring to the marshiness of east and west parts in oldest maps, such as those on wikimedia Commons. Central part has always, so far as we know, been the highest. It would be a leap too far to state uncited that it was actually three completely separate islands.  It would be interesting research to find that is the case. Whilst on the subject some small tidal islands across the world are boldly written 'was x number of islands" which could be any number of statuses when it is reflected on: i.e. full islands always, tidal islands, partly having either status, properly joined up, seldom joined up, it is all very difficult to prove short of maps and even better actual contemporary elevation charts/markings.- Adam37  Talk  18:49, 13 November 2019 (UTC)