In 1953 a train, loaded with mines, destined for the naval base in Southampton, was parked on the railway sidings between Prebend Gardens and Cleveland Avenue. One of the mines had been sabotaged, and the police struggled desperately to find the device before it could explode.
A bomb disposal expert works his way down the train, searching each device in turn. Meanwhile the police staked out the back garden of a house on Prebend Garden, hoping to see the saboteur return.
But was this real or was there more to the story? Click the link below and read more...
In 1953 Hollywood came to Stamford Brook. The thriller ‘Timebomb’ was filmed in and around Stamford Brook with some scenes in other parts of Chiswick. (Note: in the US it was called ‘Terror on a Train - see the US movie poster on the left.’).
Directed by a famous Hollywood director Ted Tetzlaff (see Wikipedia link here) and starring Hollywood hearthrob Glenn Ford, it also had a cast of names that would have been familiar to movie goers of the time, including Anne Vernon, Maurice Denham, Harcourt Williams, Victor Maddern and Bill Fraser,
It tells the story of a saboteur (Maddern) who leaves a device on a train of sea mines headed for the naval base at Southampton. The plot is discovered and the authorities realise the train could explode at any time. So they divert the train to the sidings in fictional 'Felsworth' - a rebadged Stamford Brook. Here is a plot summary - but the whole film is on Youtube and you can link to it at the bottom of this page.
The film starts off in an unnamed railway siding that is meant to be in Birmingham. A policeman disturbs a saboteur in the act of planting bombs on a train carrying what look like sea mines which is heading towards the naval yards in Southampton.
The policeman gets a punch on the chin for his troubles but chases his assailant through an alleyway that runs along some railway arches. These turn out to be the ones underneath the District Line in Stamford Brook and onto Prebend Gardens. (They are running down the alley that now has W6 Gym and the Music Studios).
The saboteur climbs through the gardens of number 37 Prebend. In the black & white shots on the left you can clearly see the stone pillars that still mark the entrance to Stamford Brook Underground station on Prebend Gardens and the side wall of number 36!
They clearly didn't want to move very far while filming the early scenes because there is no link between the location of the opening and closing scenes. There follows lots of amazing night scenes as the train rushes through the night in clouds of steam, while the authorities are alerted by the constable - who realise the train must be booby trapped. Eventually the train is diverted to the fictional 'Felsworth' sidings - which are really the old LS&W sidings behind Prebend Gardens and Cleveland Avenue (where the Ravensmede Way houses were built in the 1970s)..
As night falls, the train is parked on the railway sidings that is now covered by the Ravensmede Way estate, [See more info on the original lines here]. A bomb disposal expert, Glenn Ford, is recruited to help and he works his way down the train, searching each device in turn. Time is running out as they struggle to find the device. The film shows the layout of the defunct coal yard and the back of the old 'Chiswick & Hammersmith' station on Chiswick High Road.
As Glenn Ford works through the train, you get views up to the station and behind it to Prebend Mansions on Chiswick High Road. Police start clearing the houses around the train - but mysteriously the houses they are clearing are in the streets around Acton Green?
Anne Vernon plays ‘Janine’, the worried girlfriend of Glenn Ford's expert and she comes rushing to the scene along the Bath Road. She runs past the now removed signal box and level crossing that once sat astride Bath Road, at the now disappeared level crossing in Stamford Brook Road - with the ‘Felsworth Siding’ sign added for effect! Gainsborough Road is on the left just behind her.
The lines and signal boxes that appear in this part of the film here are now covered by new houses on Welstead Way and by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. (You can read more about them here.)
The police observe the attempt to diffuse the bombs from behind a wall that is made to look like a cemetery. In reality it is the back garden of a house on the wet side of Prebend (somewhere between no.s 75 and 85). In this scene we get a great shot of the railway lines going under the District line bridge (between Stamford Brook and Turnham Green Stations). The goods yard and tracks they are observing is now the car park tucked away between Prebend and Flanders Road .
But when they turn round....we understand why they have added some fake gravestones! They have miraculously jumped to St Nicholas’ Churchyard by the river in Old Chiswick. There are some lovely scenes inside the Church, with an actor playing the Vicar and praying for his parishioners.
In the final scene they bring the saboteur to the site and chain him to the train to see if he will reveal which of the mines he placed a booby trap in.
Our hero Glenn Ford finds it with seconds to spare! The final scenes of the film involve a lot of marching up and down the railway lines with some wonderful shots of Cleveland Avenue and the the end of Flanders Road. Its a wonderful chance to see the old buildings and railway lines as they were before the lines were ripped up!
You can also see some buildings that have now been covered up by the new houses and roads that replaced the railway lines,particularly those on the end of Flanders Road.
All houses on the west side of Prebend Gardens with HouseHistory logbooks have had links to this summary of the movie added to their history timeline, with links also to the original film on Youtube.
If you would like a logbook for a Stamford Brook house (they are free!) then please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and/or please follow the History Project on Facebook (click the panel on the left).
The original movie is available on youtube which you can can also link to below: