The Landscapes of Southall are not just physical but are also emotional and involve sight and sound as well as taste and colour.

On ‘Landscapes’ you will see and read contributions by the wide cross section of the community. ‘Landscapes’ will also include past and current images of the town with and insight into the history of the town, areas of interest from favourite areas; decade; fabric shops through to restaurants.

You will no doubt have come across the description ‘Little India’ – well Southall is more than that! Although it is a great compliment to compare the country India to the small town of Southall! Here we have Somalians – parts of Old Southall is now known as ‘Little Mogadishu’ – through to Afghans, West Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshi, Polish, English, and Pakistani’s and so on.

Travelling and exploring Southall as a day out has now become a regular activity with tourists from around the world.

Perhaps an insight into the memories of Southall at the Francis Frith website sums up the strong feeling that residents and visitors have of this welcoming town:

From the Francis Frith website:

Year: 1974, Southall

I don’t reside in UK, but we used to visit London almost every summer. One day I remember we were going on a picnic with a large number of family friends in a bus. I was crazy about Hindi movies and did not know anything about Southall then. Suddenly we are in Southall and all those cinemas Dominion…Century…Liberty with larger than life blockbuster film posters like “Prem Nagar”, “Bobby”, “Aa Gale Lag Ja” … plus those shops selling film magazines and records, quite an amusement for a little kid I must say. Later on, I used to visit Southall regularly and watch all the latest Hindi film releases. I even took some friends and family members along with me and they liked it. The park was a pleasant place to spend sometime in. I was very disappointed when the cinemas were closed in the early 1980′s.
Contributed on 06 August 2007 by Faisal Aziz.