Shepherd's Bush/Fulham
Shepherd's Bush is the most well known part of the Hammersmith and Fullham burough of west London, that has long been a first home in London to second and first generation immigrants. While this is less true today than in the past, the area has undergone gradual gentrification, beautification and development, yet there is still a substantial expatriate population. The district is also a hotbed for football, being home to three top teams.
Culturally, Shepherd's Bush is well known as the home of the BBC with the Television Centre, now vacated and undergoing redevelopment, located on Wood Lane in the White City sub-district. The Bush was also the fictional home of Steptoe & Son at Oil Drum Lane. The members of two influential British bands, The Who and the Sex Pistols grew up in Shepherd's Bush. It is also the home of football team Queens Park Rangers (QPR), who play in the Championship.
Tube stations servicing this district are:
Shepherd's Bush (Central line)
Shepherd's Bush Market (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
Wood Lane (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
White City (Central line)
East Acton (Central line)
Ravenscourt Park (District line)
Hammersmith (District, Piccadilly, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
Plan and Book:
About The Fulham District
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an artsy riverside area, home to eclectic productions at the Lyric theatre and rock shows at the Apollo concert hall. Busy shops and cafes line King Street and fill the Kings Mall, while trendy gastropubs contrast with historic drinking dens like the Dove. Leafy walking trails wind along the River Thames, which is spanned by the landmark Hammersmith Bridge. The annual university boat race draws crowds. Hammersmith is home to London's Polish and Irish community centres.
Fulham is an upmarket residential area known for trendy shopping streets like King’s Road and Fulham Road, which have chic boutiques, home-goods stores, and posh delis. Popular brunch cafes and relaxed pubs give the Parsons Green area a village atmosphere. The riverside Fulham Palace is a centuries-old former bishops’ residence featuring architectural styles from Tudor to Georgian amid landscaped gardens.
Earl's Court
Between Hammersmith and upmarket Kensington, Earls Court combines leafy Victorian residential squares, chain hotels, hostels, and busy commercial streets. Office workers and international travellers mingle in the fast-food joints and old-school pubs lining Earls Court Road. Cultural offerings include intimate pop and rock performances at the iconic Troubadour coffee house and contemporary plays and musicals at the Finborough Theatre. During the late 1960s a large transient population of Australian, New Zealand and white South African travellers began to use Earl's Court as a UK hub and over time it gained the name "Kangaroo Valley"
Formerly known as North End, West Kensington is a busy residential district that’s home to Olympia London, a massive events centre hosting festivals, conventions, and trade fairs. North End Road offers no-frill Asian and Middle Eastern eateries, while gastropubs in the area have modern menus and craft beer. Barons Court Theatre is an intimate venue staging niche productions, and the Queen’s Club hosts tennis tournaments with big-name players.
West Brompton
A quiet, residential West Brompton is home to Stamford Bridge stadium, where the Chelsea Football Club plays and which offers guided and audio tours. The Finborough Theatre stages contemporary plays, while down-to-earth North End Road has global eateries and a colourful market selling street food and produce. Famous names buried at leafy Brompton Cemetery include Emmeline Pankhurst and 19th-century physician John Snow.
Places of Interest
Fulham Palace
Fulham Palace is the former retreat of the Bishops of London now incorporates Bishop's Park and is a lovely green area in a heavily built part of London as well as home to some important historic buildings. Also a museum which charts the history of the palace back to the 11th century and a small cafe. The property resides next to Bishops Park and contains a large botanic garden. The palace garden is ranked Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Free entry.
Location: Bishop's Ave, Fulham.
Brompton Cemetery
Anyone who enjoys an afternoon stroll through a cemetery will find Brompton Cemetery rewarding. Over 200,000 people lay at peace here, their lives commemorated with scores of spectacular memorials – from grieving angels and ivy-clad crosses to ornate mausoleums and imposing columns. Amidst these gothic monuments, the cemetery is teeming with life. With its avenues of stately lime trees where, among the wildflowers, you’ll spot an abundance of wildlife. Birds, butterflies, bats and beetles all call Brompton Cemetery home. Nearby you can visit Brompton Oratory, a famous Catholic Italinate-style church, with a famous school attached were 3 of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's children attended.
Location: Fulham Road, Fulham
Queens Club
Queens Club hosts the traditional mens warm-up to the Wimbledon Chamipionship. This grand Victorian structure is home to other raquet sports such as badminton and squash. A new National Tennis Centre has been built further west at Roehampton, to hopefully end the Wimbledon English-winner drought. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament. It has 28 outdoor courts and ten indoor.
Location: Palliser Road, Barons Court, West Kensington.
Furnivall Gardens
Furnivall Gardens is a small park which has some lovely frontage right onto the Thames and makes for a lovely walk. It was once the location of the mouth of Hammersmith Creek, which had an active fishing trade until about 200 years ago. The creek was filled in during 1936. An unusual sight in the park is a German lamppost brought over in 1963 from West Berlin by Willi Brandt, then Mayor of West Berlin and later German Chancellor, to mark Hammersmith's twinning with Neukölln in Berlin.
Location: Furnivall Gardens, 52a Rutland Grove, Hammersmith. Catch the Undergrouns\d to Hammersmith staton.
Ravenscourt Park
Ravenscourt Park is an eight hectare park with a long history. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. The park is home to a lake, tea house, tennis courts, an all-weather football pitch, a bowling green, areas in which to just sit or play, a garden centre and some truly ancient trees, particularly cedars.
Location: Paddenswick Rd, Hammersmith, Underground to Ravenscourt Park.
London Wetland Centre
Barnes Wetland Centre, just across the river from Craven Cottage, is an idlyic spot for bird-watching, and a entertaining place for kids to learn about nature. It also possible to get involved with rowing, a traditional pastime of the gentry of England. Lots of clubhouses dot along this part of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. The site is formed of four disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop in the Thames.
Many wild birds which have now made their home in the centre cannot be found anywhere else in London, and there are nationally significant numbers of gadwall and northern shoveler. Other wild birds include Eurasian bittern, northern pintail, northern lapwing, water rail, ring-necked parakeet, Eurasian sparrowhawk, sand martin, common kingfisher, little grebe and great crested grebe. The centre also holds a collection of captive wildfowl.
Location: Queen Elizabeth Walk, Barnes.
Fulham Football Club
Craven Cottage is about 10 min walk from both Putney Bridge and Parsons Green tube stations), It is the home of the Skybet Championship football club, Fulham. The oldest team in London. Tours of their quirky old stadium on non-match days are fun.
Location: Fulham FC, Craven Cottage, Stevenage Rd.
Stamford Bridge Stadium
Despite the name, Chelsea Football Club are actually ironically located in Fulham too. Stamford Bridge football stadium is in Fulham, adjacent to the borough of Chelsea and is the home of Premier League club Chelsea. With a capacity of 40,343, it is the ninth largest venue of the 2023–24 Premier League season and the eleventh largest football stadium in England.
Stamford Bridge has tours on non-match days, though the tickets are fairly pricey, as is the Club Shop for souvenirs. It is the one of the best supported teams, hence tickets are hard to come by, unlike QPR and Fulham to a lesser extent. The stadium has an illustrious history, dating back to before the foundation of the team, and is worth a visit if you are a football fan.
Location: Fulham Rd, Fulham.
Loftus Road Stadium
Loftus Rd Stadium is the home of Queen's Park Rangers Football Club. The team competes in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. The club was founded as Christchurch Rangers in 1882 and took up their current name after merging with St Judes Institute four years later, near the Queen's Park and Kensal areas. After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at MATrade Loftus Road since 1917, other than two brief spells at the White City Stadium. They share rivalries with various other clubs; most notably they contest the West London derby.
Location: Queen's Park Rangers FC, Loftus Rd Stadium, South Africa Rd, Shepherd's Bush. Loftus Rd is about a 5-min walk from White City, Shepherd's Bush Market and Wood Ln tube stations, and is situated just north of the Uxbridge Rd.