A CHANCE meeting between two complete strangers led to a series of historical walks in the Gazette which spawned a book which was so popular it flew off the shelves.
Thirty years ago local freelance writer Kate McEwan was commissioned by the Gazette - then owned by King and Hutchings - to write 12 weekly walks through Ealing but she needed an illustrator.
She was told by the then features editor about Ealing's man of many hats, Prof Alan Gillett, rotarian, school governor, ex chairman of Ealing Hospital's League of Friends and current chairman of Ealing Music Festival (classical) and President of the Friends of St Marys Perivale.
Without warning Kate appeared on his doorstep one day and the magic began. The duo not only produced a stunning history of local history for the Gazette called Weekend Walkabout in 1980, but continued their alliance to publish Ealing Walkabout in December 1983. With an initial print run of 3.500, which quickly ran out, a second edition was brought out a year later ran to 5,000 copies.
Alan, 82, of Park View Road, Ealing said: "Kate just turned up at my door, out of the blue and said she had been commissioned to write these articles. I was rushing off somewhere so as she looked like a nice, trustworthy person I gave her the keys to St Marys Perivale which she dropped back later.
"She then said the paper wanted her walks to be illustrated and did I know anyone. I had done some cartoons for the Daily Mail in the 50s so I was very happy to help and she to accept.
"It's hilarious looking back at how we worked. Kate would just ring up and say: 'I am doing the Crown Inn in Northolt this week. I had to drop everything and rush off to do a couple of drawings because there was quite a tight deadline."
Each pen and ink sketch took him about an hour and a half and Alan was paid £8 an issue. He said originally 18 had been planned but they were cut down to 12 because there was a strike at the paper.
Alan said: "It was the first time I had been paid for anything since the Daily Mail cartoons but it wasn't about the money. It was just very exciting and fun.
"When we reached the end of the 12 walks King and Hutchings hired a coach and we gave a guided tour for our local fans to see the places Kate had written about and I had drawn. Then we asked the readers if there was any interest in a book and the switchboard was jammed."
Kate, 61, who was born in South Africa, lived in Ealing from 1976-84 and now lives in Somerset, was a journalist on local papers and later ran her own copywriting and graphic design company. The mum-of-three, who is now writing her first novel, was equally stunned at the reaction their walks generated.
She said: "I was interested in history, but had never done London history so I was delighted to do this but had no idea how popular it would be. We got fantastic feedback, but also lots of people sending me letters telling me what I had got wrong. The curator at Gunnersbury Museum contacted me and said: 'these are the basic things you need to know.' I had to write the articles two weeks ahead and walk the walk, come rain or shine.
"When I first pounded on Alan's door he was very laid back about the whole thing. He was great."
Her partner Alistair Chisholm drew the maps, Antony (cor) Jay, co-writer of BBC television series Yes Minister was among the local business sponsors, which included Fullers, Glaxo and Quaker Oats and the Foreword was written by Sir John Betjeman, the former Poet Laureate.
The first batch sold out in three months. Kate said: "I did all the marketing and even broke the back axle of my Renault 6 delivering them to bookshops all around the borough. Even the bank, which was haranguing me for being overdrawn, ended up selling the book in the branch. When I started out I never dreamed of this happening."
It is easy to see why the book was so popular with such gems as: Ealing being a favourite hideaway for the royal mistress of Edward 111, Southall bricks helped to rebuild Buckingham Palace and the man who introduced the umbrella to England is buried at Hanwell, where Charlie Chaplin went to school. The book has 25 enjoyable walks around the borough, taking the reader down modern streets and ancient footpaths.
Alan, who did 44 drawings for the book, is planning an anniversary exhibition of his work in St Mary's Perivale during the Open House weekend on September 21 and 22.
He said: "We had no idea this would take off the way it did. As soon as it was published it just flew off the shelves. Now they are gold dust, although I have heard you can one on Amazon."
