Lot's Ait Explained

Lot's Ait is a 1.724acres ait (river island) in the Thames. It is on the Tideway near Brentford, in the London Borough of Hounslow, England.

History

Lot's Ait, covering 1.724acres,^[1] has a very narrow divide from larger, downstream Brentford Ait. It was for centuries used for growing of grass and osiers: basket willows, used for basketry, furniture, and cart-making, as well as cattle fodder. It was once known as Barbel Island being a fruitful area for fishing. It contained a yard where barges were repaired until 1980, when it was sold. It acquired a wild character with naturalised willows, rotting boats and rusting dock roofs and became a haven for wildlife. In 2002, the island was offered for sale with outline planning permission for a restaurant, a leisure facility and boat storage. It is accessible by footbridge, at low tide in sturdy boots across the thick, shifting mud bed of the channel against the Brentford shore, and by water from the slipway Goats Wharf off Brentford High Street.^[2]

In 2011, a lease on the island was granted to a local company, John's Boat Works, which commenced boat building works on the island for the first time in over 30 years and put it back into use.^[3] In January 2012, a new footbridge, Dahlia Bridge, was installed to link the island to the Brentford bank of the Thames at Smith Hill. It was designed by Beckett Rankine and built and installed by MSO Marine.^[4]

In popular culture

• Film scenes in
  • The African Queen
  • Stratton
• Lots Ait boatworks featured in an episode of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
• Site of the art performance "Offshore Rig" (1987) by Bow Gamelan Ensemble, which was the subject of an Alter Image (channel 4) documentary. ^[5]

See also

• Islands in the River Thames

References

• Book: Hatts, Leigh. The Thames Path: From the Sea to the Source. 2005. 2nd. Cicerone Press. Milnthorpe. 978-1-85284-436-3. 276222230.
• Web site: Syon and Mortlake Reaches: PLA 307 & 308 Main Surveys (Extract) . 2009-01-05 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720223108/http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/maritime/U10_2006_chartlet_Syon_and_Mortlakepdf.pdf . 2011-07-20 .
• Book: A History of the County of Middlesex. 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden . Baker . T F T . Elrington, C R . Bolton, Diane K . Croot, Patricia E C . Hicks, M A . 1982. Oxford University Press for the University of London, Institute of Historical Research. Oxford. 59178433. Chiswick: Introduction. 50–51. 2009-01-05.

51.4847°N -0.2983°W

External links

• Lot's Ait.com official site

Notes and References

1. OS 25-inch map of 1910 Ordnance Survey London sheet LXXXIV revised 1891-94, published 1897.
2. Web site: News. Brentford Dock. Neil O'Dwyer. August 2002. 2009-01-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20080509165618/http://www.brentford-dock.net/archive/2002-8.asp. 9 May 2008. dead.
   - Web site: Map. English Heritage. https://web.archive.org/web/20120424060625/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx . 2012-04-24 .
3. Web site: Blog. John's Boat Works. September 2011. 2012-01-10.
4. Web site: Planning. Agenda Item. London Borough of Hounslow. September 2011. 2012-01-10.
5. Web site: "Offshore Rig" Bow Gamelan .