Eel Pie Island is a tiny sliver of land in the middle of the Thames that’s connected to Twickenham by a footbridge. It’s home to about 120 permanent residents and 26 artists studios, as well as Twickenham Rowing club, Richmond Yacht club, and several boatyards.

Eel Pie Island is famous in rock’n’roll history for the Eel Pie Island Hotel, a legendary jazz, blue, and rock’n’roll club that in the 60s saw performances by The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, the Who, David Bowie, amongst others. In the 70s, it briefly became a hippie commune, before burning down in a mysterious fire. Today, no traces remain of the Hotel: it became derelict after the fire and was eventually demolished to make way for a block of flats.

But the Eel Pie Island Bohemian, chaotic vibe remains to this day. Since the island is privately owned, you can only experience it during the studio’s open weekends that take place twice a year, in summer and in winter (no need to book, just turn up).

I went to visit on the most recent open days, and you’ll find lots of photos below, but I would highly recommend experiencing the place for yourself. It’s a unique spot with a unique atmosphere. It reminded me somewhat of Trinity Buoy Wharf in Docklands, except that there’s an airiness to Trinity Buoy Wharf that’s not found on Eel Pie Island. If you do go… let me know what you think!

You can check the date of the next open weekend by keeping an eye on the Eel Pie Island artist website. In the meantime, you can also visit the Eel Pie Island Museum or check out the wealth of oral history at https://www.eelpie.org/index.htm or at https://www.eelpieisland.net/ . And if you want to read up on Eel Pie Island’s place in music history, there’s a website and a book for that. And you can also read up a bit on Eel Pie Island as a working boatyard.

Afterwards (or beforehand), I suggest grabbing some lovely Italian food at Corto Italian Deli and exploring the rest of Twickenham.