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Eel Pie Island
Coordinates: 51.4452° N 0.3246° W
OS grid reference	TQ164731
London borough	Richmond
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Dial code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Twickenham
London Assembly	South West
European Parliament	London

Eel Pie Island, in the River Thames at Twickenham in London, can be reached only by footbridge or boat. Eel Pie Island was earlier called Twickenham Ait and, before that, The Parish Ait; even earlier the island was three separate aits.

A bridge to the island was proposed in 1889, but it was not until 1957 that one was completed. Today, the island has about 50 houses and 120 inhabitants, some small businesses, and nature reserves at either end. It is also home to Twickenham Rowing Club, one of the oldest rowing clubs on the Thames, and Richmond Yacht Club.

In 2005, Eel Pie Island was briefly "invaded" by writer and presenter Danny Wallace as a stunt for his television programme.

The Eel Pie Studios, owned by Pete Townshend, were the location of several significant pop and rock recordings. Townshend's publishing company, Eel Pie Publishing Limited, is named after the ait.

Contents 1 Eel Pie Island Hotel 2 Trivia 3 References 4 External links

The island was the site of the now legendary Eel Pie Hotel which was a genteel 19th century building that hosted ballroom dancing during the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1950s it became a venue for jazz and in the 1960s, for rock and R&B.^[1]

Many famous names had performed at the hotel between 1962 and 1967:

• Kenny Ball
• Long John Baldry's Hoochie Coochie Men (including Rod Stewart)
• Ivor Cutler
• John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (featuring Eric Clapton)
• George Melly
• Pink Floyd
• The Rolling Stones
• The Tridents (featuring Jeff Beck)
• The Who
• The Yardbirds

In 1967, the Eel Pie Island Hotel was forced to close because the owner could not meet the £200,000 cost of repairs demanded by police. Squatters soon moved in. In 1969, the Club briefly reopened as Colonel Barefoot's Rock Garden, with progressive bands like Black Sabbath, The Edgar Broughton Band, and Led Zeppelin.

In 1971, the Eel Pie Island Hotel burned down in a mysterious fire. The centre of the island was devastated by fire in 1996 and a year later the footbridge was damaged by a utilities contractor, a new one being opened in August 1998.

Original Doctor Who actor William Hartnell lived in a house on the island during the 1960s.

Eel Pie island is the home of the indie band Mystery Jets, Trevor Baylis and LBC presenter Steve Allen

Eel Pie Island was also the setting of a murder mystery written by David Frome (Zenith Brown) in 1932. It was part of the Mr Pinkerton Series, featuring amateur sleuth Evan Pinkerton, a widower Welshman, and his friend Chief Inspector J. Humphrey Bull of Scotland Yard.

1. ^ BBC News article on Eel Pie Island.

• The Twickenham Museum - Eel Pie Island
• A diary of the invasion on the citizens required website
• Eel Pie Island - collection of hippie memoirs & pics from the 1960s
• Mystery Jets official - Home of Eel Pie Island band Mystery Jets
• Myspace of the Mystery Jets
• Official website of LBC 97.3 presenter Steve Allen