Northfields Allotments Open Day this Saturday 2-5pm

Saturday 15th August 2015

Have you ever walked past the allotments on Northfields Avenue and wondered what it’s like inside?

The allotment committee thought it was about time we opened the gates and let more people see the allotments. The site is a wonderful place, full of greenery and wildlife. We have butterflies, bumblebees, honeybees and stag beetles (which are protected and endangered).

We will be having our first open day at the Northfield Allotments on Saturday 15th August 2015. Entrance is FREE!

We hope you will come along to see what is normally hidden behind our locked gates.

• Bee Hives – with viewing panel
• Teas, Coffee and cakes
• Vintage tool display
• Plants and seeds for sale
• Guided Walk at 3pm – History and allotment features
• WW2 Anderson air raid shelter and heritage vegetable garden
• Plot Awards – Best Newcomer, Best Traditional Plot

Gates open from 2pm to 5pm. We’d love to see you there and show you around.

West Ealing – New Crossrail Station Revealed

The new glass and steel structure will be located on Manor Road and will include a new footbridge with lifts, a new bay platform for trains on the Greenford  branch line, platform extensions and new lighting, customer information screens, station signage, help points and CCTV. From 2018 the new Crossrail trains will begin serving West Ealing and from 2019 passengers will be able to travel through the new Crossrail tunnels beneath central London.

Work will start in the Spring of 2016 and take about a year to complete.

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Spectacular Chariot Festival in West Ealing this Sunday

Chariot Festival

The Sri Lankan temple in Chapel Road is holding its annual Chariot Festival this Sunday.  The Chariot Festival is by far West Ealing’s biggest annual event.  We have about 10,000 people attending this event from all over Europe and it transforms Dean Gardens and the surrounding area. This weekend of 8/9th  August sees the annual Shri Kanagathurkkai Amman Temple (SKAT) festival come to West Ealing once again. The festival culminates on Sunday with the Chariot procession leaving the Temple around 9am, and then returning at about 12pm via Mattock Lane, Culmington Road, and the Uxbridge Road. Dean Gardens will be full of stalls with Tamil food, lassi drinks, and selling bric-a-brac to fundraise for the Temple’s activities. It’s a great day out for everyone with lots of amazing sights, sounds and tastes.

Big plans for BHS site in West Ealing

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Following the recent sale of the BHS chain, the West Ealing shop is due to close in 2016.  In its place will be a mixed use site with retail on the ground floor and 136 homes above.  The height of the new building ranges from 7-8 storeys on the Uxbridge Road up to 10-11 at the Singapore Road end. There will be an exhibition and public consultation mid-August.

We will update this story as we find out more information.

Ealing’s music heritage celebrated in plans for ‘Arcadia’ centre in Ealing Broadway

The new plans from developer Benson Elliott for the part of the ‘Arcadia’ site opposite Ealing Broadway station include a new 5,000 sq ft music venue on the plot of the 1960’s Ealing Club – the birthplace of British Rhythm & Blues.   This is great news and congratulations to everyone involved on getting this in to the plans.  There is much more to the plans including an 18-storey building, 20 new shops and ‘191 quality homes within residential courtyards above Haven Place, including 30% intermediate affordable housing delivered at discount market rent aimed at existing Ealing residents and young professionals.’  You can find out more on their website.

Temporary new home for Jubilee Children’s Centre

Amanda Foley from Ealing Council writes:

‘The majority of services running out of the current Jubilee Children’s Centre location in Green Man Gardens will cease on the 10th of July and from the 22nd of July all remaining health services will also stop running from that location and will instead run from Mattock Lane until the Children’s Centre is ready to open at its new location in Drayton Green.

We have informed the families who use the service of the change of location, consulted and supported them regarding their travel plans to the new location and have sent notifications of the date that the services will cease to run from Jubilee Hall.  We have also sent them a list of nearby Children’s Centres where they can access services over the summer. Please see the attachment for this information.

It is our intention that the Jubilee Children’s Centre reopens at Drayton Green on the 7th of September 2015 when all services will start up again from there. The council and contractors are all working very hard to get the centre up and running for this date.

The relocation of Jubilee Hall on Drayton Green is a temporary measure to ensure as much continuity of the service the centre provides, as possible. This is part of the wider scheme of the regeneration of the Green Man Lane Estate where St. John’s Primary School will be rebuilt and expanded to a three form of entry primary school in order to provide additional school places for the growing community in the area. The primary school will be ready for occupation for September 2017 and the permanent building for the new Jubilee Children’s Centre will be complete in approximately 2020.

We aim to provide the same services from Drayton Green that was provided at Jubilee Hall and will continue to support our families who use this service.’

Local history talk: ‘An American President in Ealing’ on Weds 8th July

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I’ve read the recently published book which tells the story of John Quincy Adams’ stay in Ealing as US representative to Great Britain before he became the 6th President of the United States.  For two years, 1815-1817 he lived at Little Boston House just across from Boston House. The book is based on his detailed diaries and gives a facsinating insight in to life and society in Ealing. He was a great walker and he visited the Ealing Races at Ealing Dean (including what is now Dean Gardens) which was well known for pony and donkey racing – leading to its nickname of ‘Jackass Common’.  This talk on Wednesday 8th July at The Log Cabin near Northfields station should be worth the £2 admission fee.

I’m not being funny but… get along to this exhibition in West Ealing this weekend

It’s well worth dropping in to the Welshore Hub ( next to the now closed Morrisons) on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and St James Ave in West Ealing to see Nick Pearson’s art exhibition for OPEN Ealing. Nick loves to use everyday objects and put them in a different context to make you think.  So, you’ll see two cardboard boxes ripped open in a hurry one night but now juxtaposed as if in conversation; an everyday broom hanging up tempting you to give it a push like a clock pendulum; half a chair rescued from a school and just hanging there making you wonder why. Nick’s work sets these everyday objects in a new context and, with some wry humour, sets you thinking about what is ‘art’?

The exhibition is open over the weekend from 10.30am-5pm on Saturday and 10.30am-2pm on Sunday. Drop in and ask Nick to talk about his work. You’ll enjoy it.

More on OPEN Ealing’s website