That Time Jayne Mansfield Opened The Chiswick Flyover
Strange bedfellows indeed.
Welcome to your Friday newsletter for paying subscribers (with a generous teaser for everyone else).
I try to focus this newsletter on lesser-known stories from London’s past, or to at least put a fresh spin on common knowledge. Today’s subject, I have to confess, is fairly well covered in geeky London history circles. But I find the whole thing so unlikely that I’ve decided to give it another airing for the sake of those who are new to the tale. It’s the story of how a Hollywood ‘sex symbol’ (to use the parlance of the time) opened a concrete relief road in West London.
That’s for the main newsletter. First the History Radar.
History Radar
Upcoming London events of interest to London history aficionados.
🖼️ LOOKING FOR LEONARDO: When the founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery began assembling the collection in the 19th century, they were determined to find a masterpiece by the artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. It proved difficult, a story that is told in new display, Looking for Leonardo: The Quest for a Renaissance Masterpiece, which opens on 23 July and runs until next January.
🚶🏽♀️➡️ROTHERHITHE TO LONDON BRIDGE: Guildhall Library offers a guided walk from Rotherhithe to London Bridge on 26 July, along the river. Meet at Rotherhithe station, and hear about a prince’s tomb, the site of a king’s forgotten palace, a pub that flies the Stars and Stripes, an execution site and a fish called Wanda as you go.
👸🏻🫅🏼🤴🏻👸🏻🫅🏼🤴🏻 SIX THE MUSICAL: The National Portrait Gallery stays open late on 26 July for an evening celebrating new exhibition, Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens. The event begins with a live performance by the six queens from West End show SIX the Musical, followed by DJ sets, life drawing sessions and creative workshops, historical talks, and other entertainment.
🏰 SEVERNDROOG LATES: OK, this one’s not 100% historically focussed, but it does sound unusual. On 26 July, Severndroog Castle, the 18th century folly high up on Shooters Hill, hosts an evening of live music and dancing, including a band covering songs by The Cure, The Clash, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. Food and drink is available in the courtyard, and if you buy a premium ticket you'll be given access to the rooftop viewing platform to enjoy the sunset.
🍓 STRAWBERRY HILL TOUR: Twice a month, Strawberry Hill House near Twickenham puts on public tours. 28 July is your chance to look round this charismatic Gothic building designed by Horace Walpole.
🚶🏾➡️24 HOUR TOUR: Over the weekend of 27-28, tour guide Bowl of Chalk (Jonnie Fielding) will attempt 24 hours of guided walking, over 16 separate, bookable walks, to raise money for London's Air Ambulance. It's a chance to donate to this wonderful cause AND experience one or more of Jonnie's popular historically minded walks.
That Time Jayne Mansfield Opened the Chiswick Flyover
I have to confess that I knew very little about Jayne Mansfield. I was vaguely aware of her as some kind of glamorous Marilyn Monroe figure, a film actress of the 1950s and early 60s. A ‘blonde bombshell’, as they used to say.
But I took a lot more interest when I learned that she’d opened the Chiswick flyover.
It seemed so improbable. Like Kim Kardashian unveiling a tunnel-boring machine, or Tom Cruise cutting the ribbon on a new crisp factory. But there she was, 30 September 1959, declaring this elevated relief road open with a pair of golden scissors.
A newsreel of the time captures that magic moment:
The opening line might have been spoken by Alan Partridge: “A spot of bother with the Chiswick flyover perhaps, but surely no quarrel with the architecture of the lady invited to open it.”
Cringe.