Flowers left at flyover home in tribute to the ‘A4 Tramp’
HOMELESS MAN WHO LIVED UNDER BRIDGE FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS DIED LAST WEEK
TRIBUTES continue to pour in for a homeless man, known locally as the A4 Tramp, who sadly died in Chiswick.
He lived under the Great West Road roundabout in Chiswick for over 30 years until his death this week (January 26).
Poet Cecelia Grant-Peters, 60, who works as paralegal in Langley told MyLondon that she had written a touching poem on his life.
The poem titled ‘The Rage in Albion’ was based of an encounter she had had with the man in 2010.
She explained: “I met him a couple of times and wrote a poem based of my encounters with him.
“It was back in 2010 when I first met him, I would bring him food and asked if he needed anything as I’m sure many people did.
“Afterwards I was inspired to write the poem and called it ‘The Rage in Albion.’
“He had a placard which said England was a vile and brutal country and that inspired it.”
Cecelia was inspired to immortalise the man in poetry after a chance meeting (Image: Cecelia GrantPeters)
Though Cecelia wrote the poem more than 10 years ago, it has enjoyed a long and storied life and has been taught abroad and at GCSE
level in the UK.
She said: “It’s amazing, I’ve taught it in India and people have written about it on their GCSE’S.
“It stuck with me to the point that I named a collection of poetry after it. “It’s very sad that he’s gone.” Having lived in the area for at least 30 years, the man’s passing has had a sizeable impact on Brentford as as well as the Irish community in London.
Since his passing, residents have begun to leave floral tributes outside his makeshift home.
One message reads: “To our lovely friend of 36 years, we will miss your quotes.”
Such was the influence of the man in the local area, there has been growing calls to permanently immortalise his lodgings with a memorial on the site.
A fundraiser has been set up to erect a memorial by Georgina Eales who grew up in Brentford.
So far the fundraiser has raised £479 towards its £1,000 target and Georgina told MyLondon she was encouraged by the display of charity from the community.
She said: “I grew up in Brentford, I’ve lived here for 30 years, I used to see him all the time, and he’s been a big figure in the area.
“It would just be nice to have some form of memorial or something there. Something that let people know a man lived here for 40 years.
“I’ve asked the council what can be done and I’ve started a GoFundMe to help raise costs. Anything that isn’t spend on the memorial would be put towards homeless charities.”
Many residents have already donated to Georgina’s fundraiser and some have shared memories of the man.
One wrote: “I used to see this man feeding the cats and birds on my way to and back from work, he seemed so kind.”
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