EILEEN’S ISLEWORTH


Good Samaritans come in many guises.  Eileen Sheridan was one.  An abiding memory is that everything she undertook radiated a sense of fun, such as in 1988, for what must have been among the first Red Nose fund raising events, Eileen along with others donned fancy dress and large red noses, turned the then width restrictor in Church Street into a toll gate to highjack rat running drivers into contributing, thereby raising an amazing £1,400.   


Affording fine Thames views Eileen and Ken’s home in Isleworth, aptly named the Anchorage, was where they would happily spend the rest of their days.  It provided ample opportunities from her beloved garden for Eileen to hone her enjoyment of wildlife, watching foxes swim to Isleworth Ait and studying the abundant variety of birds, including herons nesting.   Enjoyment of the river included swimming, boating and canoeing; in fact, she won the National Canoeing Championship with Pat Moody in 1956.


All Saints’ Church was where Eileen chose not just to worship but take an active part in fairs and events, engraving the current Christening Bowl, as a long-term member of the Sundial Magazine “pin-up” team as well as contributing many articles. Eileen’s topics ranged from wildlife, to having to don her wellies, splash her way down flooded Church Street shouting warnings to neighbours of the need to move valuables upstairs. The Thames barrier keeps Isleworth safer now but Eileen also recorded many other changes watched over decades. Cessation of numerous cargo boat arrivals at the once busy working wharves.  Now the river hosts more leisure crafts, swans and ducks, with the slip way playing a part in grand occasions.  Eileen, Ken and many others were spell bound by arrival of the last Concorde by road for its final journey by barge from Isleworth to Leith.  At launch of The Queen’s Jubilee Shallop 2002, named Jubilant by Prince Andrew, there followed enactment of a pageant.  This told the story of time with King George lll played by Alan Coren, prior to the Shallop being rowed away carrying an atomic clock for presentation to Greenwich Observatory.


Eileen was a long-standing active participant in Friends of Old Isleworth which oversaw the major makeover of the area transforming it from run-down cottages and unused warehouses to new homes and offices, achieving a Village Green, while retaining older character buildings.  The group morphed into The Isleworth Society. Looking back at activities Eileen always seems to have found time to “be there”, an indication of her tremendous energy and commitment to the locality.  She pitched in with gusto at graffiti clean-ups with tips as to the best way to tackle removing substances – apparently you use a stone to remove paint from stone walls. Eileen was a dab hand at using litter pick tools on rubbish removal days, lightening what can be a rather dull experience with amusing tales of her life experiences. And she was not above fearlessly ignoring advice not to wade into the Duke of Northumberland’s River to clear items from there.   Eileen ever smiling shines out in a photocall after a session clearing shrubbery and litter in the Town Wharf area.  When, as a tribute for their contributions to Isleworth to her and long-time friend and neighbour Jean Lagden, two trees were planted on Isleworth Ait; they both saw from the shore them taken off by boat.


At a Festival of Hobbies Eileen readily gave demonstrations of glass engraving at which she excelled, many retired employees of Syon are proud possessors of her work. At a Domesday to Millennium Initiative Test for children, she didn’t just present prizes to a winning team that gave right answers to clues scattered around Isleworth; at her front door she gamely answered questions about herself.  For the Isleworth Remembered series of events and book publication, Eileen was naturally among 27 volunteers who answered the call to act as interviewers of prospective contributors of memories, to mount and add captions to the over 300 pictures displayed at the exhibitions.


Eileen’s talks at the Public Hall and here at All Saints, were legendary, punctuated by highly amusing tales. Today some things said might be regarded as sexist, but Eileen’s telling just made them hugely entertaining.  Typical was an account of a sporting forum attended by well-known footballers, cricketers and including boxer Freddie Mills.  During questions he drew himself up tall and confirmed a view from the floor “I think women should be at the kitchen sink”; Eileen’s undeterred quick-witted response from her much smaller height was “And I think women should be able to take up boxing”. 


Truly Eileen was always ahead of her time; an exceptional, self-effacing lady.   It was a privilege to know her, she will long be fondly remembered and admired.

Christine Diwell