The Karsino

Texte de Wikipédia en anglais, en attente de traduction.

Tagg's Island is an ait (island) on the River Thames on the reach above Molesey Lock and just above Ash Island, located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and part of Hampton. The island is roughly 400 metres long by 90 metres wide at its widest point, covering 6 acres (including its central lagoon). Although close to the Surrey bank near East Molesey, the island is connected to the further Middlesex bank by a single track road bridge, being the only island on the non-tidal Thames accessible by car. Houses are not permitted to be built on the island and it is surrounded by houseboats whose owners, in acquiring their mooring land, have the right to belong to the island's residents' association, which owns the island. Some of the Thames' most expensive houseboats are on this stretch of the river and are up to three storeys. The centre of the island has a lagoon with river access and private moorings surrounded by trees and crossed by a small footbridge. Historically the island had been the site of multiple hotel and resort developments, including the Island Hotel established in 1872 by Thomas Tagg (after whom the island is named), and the famous Karsino hotel built by impresario Fred Karno in 1913 which, following Karno's 1926-27 bankruptcy, became known as the Thames Riviera under various further owners. The island was bought by car manufacturer AC Cars in 1940, which converted the skating rink and tennis courts into factory space for wartime munitions and then switched to producing Invacars there for the Ministry of Pensions from 1948 until the mid-1960s.