Bush Hall

Bush Hall opened in 1904 on the Uxbridge Road, one of three dance halls a publisher built for his daughters and the only one still standing. It has since served as a wartime soup kitchen, a bingo hall, a rehearsal room for The Who and Cliff Richard, and a snooker club. Its present owners, Charlie Raworth and Emma Hutchinson, restored it to music in 2001, bringing back the ornate plasterwork, the cherubs and six chandeliers.

The main hall is a single long Edwardian room with tall ceilings, arched mirrors down both walls and a curtained stage at one end. For private hire it takes up to 200 guests at tables or 350 for a standing reception, and in-house sound and lighting are part of the offer. Upstairs, the gallery bar opens onto a terrace with its own cocktail bar and awning, used for arrival drinks or as a quieter room away from the dancefloor.

The hall still runs a live music programme, and that shows in how it handles a party: the stage, the rig and the acoustics are built for a band or a DJ. A long banquet under the chandeliers suits a wedding or a birthday dinner, and the room turns into a dancefloor once the tables clear. Exclusive hire covers the whole building, with an events coordinator and a duty manager on the night.