Open House Festival

‘Strictly Entertainment’- Shepherd’s Bush 1915-2013

walk/tour

AHMM, 2013

White City Tube, Wood Lane, W12 7SL

Follow in the footsteps of the Beatles, Coldplay, Alfred Hitchcock and countless others….See what remains of the iconic 1960’s BBC Television Centre and the Gaumont Film Studios ….plus discover Charles Dickens’ controversial connection to Shepherd’s Bush.

Getting there

Tube

White City

Train

Shepherd's Bush

Additional travel info

The end point will be near Goldhawk Road tube; Shepherd’s Bush Market and Shepherd's Bush are very close.

Access

Facilities

Accessibility notes

All of the tour is on one level - but some of the pavements on Wood Lane are uneven .

What you can expect

Wood Lane can be noisy, with plenty of traffic but we will move to a quieter area very quickly.

Television Centre

Create a free visitor account to book festival tickets

Activities

Sun 14 Sep

Walking tour

11:30–13:00

Strictly Entertainment - Shepherd’s Bush 1915-2013

How to book

Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.

About

Historical overview

Shepherd’s Bush has been at the forefront of popular culture since its inception - long before Television Centre and the O2 Empire, music halls and theatres clustered around the Green. You’ve probably heard of Ealing Studios - but what about Gaumont Film Studios , built in 1915, home to Alfred Hitchcock and many others. We’ll visit its site and see how it is remembered….and in turn, what was demolished to make way for it…very much a theme of W12 in the 21st century!

HISTORY

From open fields to film and television studios - Shepherd’s Bush transformation, 1915-2025.

Golden Key Academy

This tour is led by an alumnus of Open City’s Golden Key Academy - an eight-month course designed to train insightful and engaging guides who bring London’s rich stories to life.

Learn more about the Golden Key Academy here: open-city.org.uk/golden-key-academy

Online presence

televisioncentre.com

Nearby

Guided tour

Bush Theatre - Backstage Tours

theatre

Explore the Bush Theatre, West London’s home of new writing. Get a behind the scenes look at our fifty-year history, including how over 2016 we transformed our 128-year-old building into an accessible and sustainable modern theatre.

Maurice Bingham Adams, 1895

Drop in / Other

Culture House

community/cultural

Culture House is the first permanent exhibition space for Somali artefacts curated by the Somali community.

Freehaus Design, 1

Drop in

Tin House

residence

Making efficient use of an irregular urban site, this house is made up of interconnecting top-lit pavilions arranged to define a tranquil private courtyard.

Henning Stummel Architects, 2015

Drop in

Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha) London

religious, community/cultural

Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha) London is the UK's oldest established Sikh Place of Worship. Originally founded in 1908 it has been at the current site since 1969 and has recently been refurbished into a modern Sikh place of worship.

Unknown

Drop in

Central line Treasure Hunt

transport

In 2025, we will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Central line , which helped bring people across London. This Treasure Hunt will help people discover the architectural heritage that exists along the original route of the line running from Shepherd's Bush to Bank. Our hunt will start at Shepherd's Bush where participants will pick up their clue pack to guide them through the hunt.

Tony Meadows, 2008

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