Saturday 4 September - Westerly

Had planned to go to Heathrow and travel back from there and then decide to take the train to Feltham - Clapham Junction is even busier than during the rush hour and discover that there is rugby at Twickenham and most people are getting the trains. The trains are even more crowded than during rush hour but the atmosphere is totally different. Whereas rush hour is silent with people locked into headphones or playing games on their phone; today people are chatty,laughing and joking. Am glad I am relatively tall, at least I can keep my head above the crush, behind me is a girl of about 10 who must be feeling rather claustrophobic. After Twickenham the train is virtually empty and the normal silence of travellers resumes.

I go through Hounslow and discover another M&S Outlet store - up until then I'd noticed only the number of M&S Simply Food shops. The M&S clock on the shopfront says they've been here in some form for a long time. There are lots of families and many of the young couples and families speak with some sort of Slavic accent. The high street is busy with people shopping and chatting. It's interesting that the less affluent areas seem to be more social. Cafes are full and there are a lot of groups of men drinking coffee. In more affluent areas, other than the mums gathering, it's usually people alone or in pairs. There is a feeling that people are working around here, there are plenty of small businesses tucked away in every corner. But there are also signs of economic hard times. There are plenty of empty shops and also a lot of empty office buildings (and presumably those jobs lost). In the centre it all seems pretty buzzy, but a street or two away and places are boarded up. Despite this there are also signs for some sort of luxury housing being built. Everything is gated and signs effectively saying keep away unless you belong.

There is a large Asian population here, but it's also mixed with African muslim ladies swatched in black, their faces framed by their scarves, young Poles and Russians, elderly white and Afro-Caribbeans. The East End used to be the place where the newly arrived lived when people arrived by sea. Now that planes bring most people, it is this westerly end where many arrive and settle first.

As with so much of London places change from rich to poor and back again within a few streets. Brentford has its estates - council and the newer developments of flats with river/canal views. And tucked behind is The Butts Estate, a gathering of 18th century houses which seem very different to those around it. Brentford, it seems has a long history, people have been living here since Roman times and it's had its share of visits from Kings and battles in the Civil War. There's also been a court here for many centuries. It seems to have had a lot of industry through the Victorian era and lots of poverty - one article saying that it was worse than the East End for poverty. Apparently the posh people on the Surrey side of the river didn't like looking at the poverty on the other side (no change there then). Like much of zone 4 it seems to have been transformed in the 1920s with the Great West Road and coming of new industries. Now the M4 rises on stilts above the people and the new GSK building is a new palace to modernity. They used to be in a 1920s building that whilst modern when built, by the 1980s was looking very tatty. Now it's a vast site, landscaped, light, bright and lots of security.

Next I decide to go to Osterley Park. I've driven past the signs many times but never been there. It was built in the 17th century for the Childs family (private bankers) and designed to impress. The estate is a leafy island in the middle of a built up area. Osterley Park and House are now owned by the National Trust. There are cattle in the fields, Charolais I think. The house is impressive. The long drive which would take only a couple of minutes to drive is a much longer walk (now I know how the staff felt, although I suppose they lived in and were probably only allowed out once or twice a year). The grounds are busy with families - picnics, cycling, feeding the ducks. There is a golf buggy to shuttle people from the car park to the house, driven (as always) by a volunteer who (although very spry) seems to be decades older than most of the people being shuttled. Today the lady driving has a seriousness that makes you feel she was an Army driver in the World War Two and used to driving generals.

The house makes me wonder who (of the current rich) are building places like this. Is no-one this rich anymore? Would they not get planning permission? Do the suer-rich prefer to spend on yachts and planes? Or have properties in many places rather than a single place? Do they think of land and art as an investment rather than something to leave to next generations? I'll probably never find out. One thing I've realised on my travels is that you never see the rich. Just as in earlier times they travel in private and move from one affluent bubble to another, they have no public life.