London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

The **London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham** is a London borough in West London and forms part of Inner London.

It was formed in 1965 by merging the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith and the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham. It was known as the **London Borough of Hammersmith** until its name was changed on 1 January 1979 by the borough council.

The borough is known internationally for the 1908 Summer Olympics, hosted in White City, and for being home to the main facilities of the BBC at BBC Television Centre.

Traversed by the A4 Great West Road and the A40 Westway, many corporations have offices in the borough, and a large development is underway at White City with new transport links and a large shopping mall.

## Districts

The borough includes the areas:

* Fulham
* Hammersmith
* Barons Court
* Hurlingham
* Old Oak Common
* Parsons Green
* Sands End
* Shepherd's Bush
* Walham Green
* West Kensington
* White City

## Demographics of Hammersmith and Fulham

According to the 2001 census Hammersmith and Fulham has a population of 165,242. 58% of the borough is White British, 20% white non-British (among which are large Polish and Irish communities), 5% black Caribbean, 5% black African with various other ethnicities (including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese) making up the remaining 11 percent..

The borough has the second-highest proportion of single adults of any borough in England and Wales (55%), and a higher than average for the London area of young adults aged 20-29 (24%).

Forty-four percent of households are owner–occupiers, and 22% of households were listed as *"other"* - that is, not single persons living alone or families. These are generally two or more unrelated adults living together, such as students or cohabiting couples.

The borough comprises a patchwork of affluent as well as deprived neighbourhoods. The unemployment rate is only 5%, although of these, 29% were listed as long-term unemployed.

## Hammersmith & Fulham Council

Hammersmith & Fulham is administered by 46 councillors.

The borough is divided into 16 electoral wards, all bar two electing three councillors apiece. These are:

* Addison
* Askew
* Avonmore & Brook Green
* College Park & Old Oak
* Fulham Broadway
* Fulham Reach
* Hammersmith Broadway
* Munster
* North End
* Palace Riverside
* Parson's Green & Walham
* Ravenscourt Park
* Sands End
* Shepherd's Bush Green
* Town
* Wormholt & White City

See also List of Mayors of Hammersmith and Fulham

## Sport in the borough

Considering its size, there are an extraordinary number of sporting successes based in the borough. They include:

### Football clubs

Chelsea Football Club and Fulham Football Club are both based in the borough and play Premier League/Premiership football. Queens Park Rangers currently play in the country's second level, the Football League Championship, but still can contribute to the borough's claim of having three of the nation's top 44 football teams.

### Footballers

Ex-[Nottingham Forest F.C, Newcastle United F.C, West Ham United, Manchester City F.C.& England international defender Stuart Pearce was born in Shepherd's Bush.

Much-travelled Wigan Athletic F.C. striker Marcus Bent was born in Hammersmith.

Sean Davis plays currently for Portsmouth F.C and was capped for England under-21s: he is one of the only players in history for play for the same club in all 4 divisions of English football for Fulham.

Tony Bedeau of Torquay United F.C and Walsall F.C. was born in Hammersmith in 1979.

Fulham midfielder Lee Cook was born in Hammersmith in 1982.

### Athletes

Linford Christie, Olympic gold medal winner at 100 metres, trained, lived and has a stadium named after him in the borough. He also attended Henry Compton School in Fulham.

### Rowers

There are a huge number of rowing clubs in the borough, the most famous being Tideway Scullers. Many of Britain's top rowers throughout modern history have trained along the Thames, including Matthew Pinsent and Steve Redgrave who between them have 9 Olympic Gold Medals. Much of the course of the Boat Race is along Hammersmith and Fulham's southern border, on the River Thames.

## See also

* List of Mayors of Hammersmith and Fulham