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A parking problem in West Ealing. What’s the answer?

Not for the first time West Ealing Neighbours has heard about parking problems of residents in the Lido House (corner of Northfield Ave and Mattock Lane).  The Lido is one of a number of new local buildings that are designated low car housing with little or no car parking space. Sinclair House and Luminoscity are just two of the others. This is part of a deliberate plan to reduce car usage in London.

Until fairly recently if residents of Lido House owned a car they could park it in some of the nearby streets without parking restrictions.  However, this came to an end when the new CPZ was introduced around St John’s Church and nearby streets. When car-owning residents applied for a parking permit for the new CPZ they were told that restrictions were in place and that residents in designated low car housing are ineligible for either resident or visitor permits.

The key question is did residents know this before they moved in?  If not , would it have affected their decision to move there. On top of that when new residents now move in or buy a flat there are they made aware of the parking permit restrictions? If not, whose responsibility is it to make these parking restrictions clear? Is it the estate agent, the seller or the building’s owner A2Dominion?

It’s a tricky one and I’m not sure where I stand on this. Is it fair or unfair to residents of the Lido House, and similar local blocks of flats?  What do you think?

David Highton

 

 

 

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Local libraries saved from closure

At last night’s meeting (14th June) hard work and people power helped persuade  the Ealing Labour group not to recommend closure of four libraries – Hanwell, Northfields, Northolt and Perivale.

Petitions signed by over 8,000 residents were presented to the meeting and a packed gallery listened to the debate. At the end of the debate Cllr Dheer made his announcement which will go for approval to full cabinet on July 5th.

One service that will be lost is the mobile library service and changes do lie ahead as the Council wants volunteers to play a key part in providing future library services.

Congratulations to everyone who signed the petitions, the councillors who helped organise some of the petitions and  who fought hard and the residents groups who worked tirelessly to save these libraries.

David Highton

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Do you want to know where you can buy delicious elderflower cordial?


We are all working hard to make sure we have enough stock for Hanwell Carnival on 18th June at Elthorne Park.  We will be there from 11am setting up our stall until around 5pm.  Come early to make sure you get a bottle of our delicious elderflower cordial (£2.50). Why not stick with the elderflower theme and also buy some lemon and elderflower marmalade? (£3.00) We will also have a selection of other jams/jellies and chutneys to tempt you.

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Local police priorities are dealing with drug-dealing anti-social behaviour and burglaries

Sergeant Pinder Chana of the Walpole Safer Neighborhood Team and Patrick Chapman, of Walpole Residents’ Association discuss local policing priorities in the wake of concerns about drug-dealing anti-social behaviour in West Ealing

Many people are unsure how our Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs) fit in with the other police teams – and who to contact for assistance or support.

The SNT are working closely with the Council and local community to tackle problems in Walpole. Ealing Police take drug dealing as a serious issue and we would encourage members of the public who witness any drug related activity to call on 0300 123 1212 and ask to be put through to the SNT – or to call 999 if there is a need for an emergency response. Alternatively if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111.

Continue reading “Local police priorities are dealing with drug-dealing anti-social behaviour and burglaries”

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Open Farm Sunday this weekend at Rowley Farm near Slough

If you’ve ever tasted the locally grown beef sold on occasions by Tony Luckhurst in Melbourne Avenue you’ll know it is absolutely delicious – it melts in the mouth. The beef will almost certainly have come from Rowley Farm near Slough, which is pretty local for West Ealing.

Rowley Farm lies three miles north of Slough and is home to three generations of the Whitby family. As well as the beef cattle, the farm grows various cereal crops and is now part of Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, so looking after the wildlife is a key part of the farm’s role.

This Sunday (12th June) is Open Farm Sunday when the farm is open to the public from 10am to 5pm. There are tractor and trailer rides along with children’s activities, a live band and hot food. You can watch the cows being milked at 2pm and meet the other animals – calves, chickens and a pony.

Contact details:  Black Park Road, Wexham, Slough SL3 6DR. Tel: John Whitby 07768 473787 or email john@rowleyfarm.co.uk.

Entrance is free.Parking is £2.50. No booking needed.

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Very enjoyable history of modern art talk last night at OPEN Ealing

I went to second in a series of history of modern art talks last night at OPEN Ealing. Admittedly, the  talks are given by an artist friend of mine Nick Pearson but he’s always been a good talker and I really enjoyed hearing about the radical impact of the Impressionists and Post Impressionists and how they were rubbished by the press at the time in much the same way as modern artists now.

I’d never realised the impact of Japan on 19th century art and how the influence was initially through some goods imported from the newly opened up Japan being wrapped up in copies of prints by Japanese artists. It’s odd how seemingly trivial things can end up having an enormous influence.  Japanese art was very different to Western art. It was more stylised and, for example, whilst Western art would have its main subject clearly visible and obvious, Japanese art might have its subject, such as Mount Fuji, almost tucked away discreetly in the distance.

I also enjoyed hearing that Constable’s painting The Haywain, which is now used on biscuit tins and goodness knows what else, was one of the most radical paintings of its time. It caused a sensation in Paris when exhibited in 1824 and was praised for its honest depiction of a contemporary rural scene. And it had a major influence on artists and contributed to the birth of Impressionism.  Strange how what was once a ground-breaking painting of a rural scene can a century or so later become almost a cliche of a romantic rural idyll.

The talks (12 in total) will take us up to the ‘Young British Artists’ of the late 20th century so there’s lots to go yet. They are every Thursday evening from 7-9pm at OPEN Ealing (113 Uxbridge Road) and cost £7.50 each. So you can always dip in and out if there’s something you particularly want to hear about.

David Highton

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The history of Northfields station

 

Northfield Avenue in 1903 with a cart going south towards the bridge over the railway line

In his second post on local history David Shailes gives a brief history of  Northfields station.

The stretch of line from Acton Town (then called Mill Hill Park) to Hounslow was opened in 1883 by the Hounslow and Metropolitan Railway. The motivation behind its opening was property speculation in the Spring Grove area of Isleworth and the line passed through open countryside. At the time what we know as Northfields was farm land, so no station was provided and the nearest being at South Ealing and Boston Road (Boston Manor).

The line was a sleepy steam-hauled branch line, which was electrified in June 1905 as part of the modernisation of the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR). By the time a station was provided in April 1908 housing development in Northfields had been underway for some time. In 1911 it was renamed Northfields & Little Ealing. The station was on the opposite side of the road to the current station and at platform level the canopies and fixtures were of a similar style to those that remain at Boston Manor today.

By now the MDR was part of the Underground Group (UG) and the District Line with its many branches was becoming severely taxed in terms of line capacity. So the UG resolved to extend the Piccadilly line from Hammersmith to Acton Town and for the Hounslow and South Harrow services to be transferred to the Piccadilly Line. This was funded by a cheap loan provided in 1929 by the Government for the purpose of alleviating unemployment.

Northfields was chosen as the site of a ‘Car Shed’ which required considerable earth moving. Work started in 1931 and the four tracks from Acton Town to Northfields along with the new Northfields Station, in the handsome ‘Adams, Holden & Pearson’ style on its current site, opened in December 1932. Piccadilly Line trains had reached Hounslow West in February 1932 and took over all services (sharing peak hours with the District) in March 1933. As part of further service changes in October 1964 the last District Line train ran to Hounslow West and the line became exclusively used by the Piccadilly services.

David Shailes

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West Ealing food blogger listed for blogging prize

Following on from the success of West Ealing garden designer Lesley Faux at the Chelsea Flower Show , it’s now congratulations now to West Ealing food blogger Katie Bryson (thanks to Ealing Today for spotting this story). Katie’s blog Feeding boys and a firefighter has been shortlisted for The Mum and Dad (MAD) blog awards.

Katie’s blog has been shortlisted in the Best Food Blog category. Visit www.the-mads.com for more information and how to vote.

David Highton

 

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Invite to launch of new art exhibition at OPEN Ealing on Friday

OPEN Ealing is launching its second contemporary art exhibition this Friday evening from 6.30-9pm. Please do come along. We ask you to bring an open mind and your imagination with you!

The exhibition is entitled Insert Title Here and we have  asked people to give us written descriptions of how they see particular works of art or images and put these on the gallery walls. What we are asking visitors to do is to use their imagination to interpret these descriptions in their own way and, with our help, produce your version of any one of the descriptions. So, for example, one description is ‘Something too beautiful to describe’. How would you interpret that? Others descriptions are more ‘traditional’, so there is something here for everyone. We will then collect these interpretations and use them as the basis for this exhibition and build up these images in the gallery over the exhibition’s three-week run.

OPEN Ealing is at 113 Uxbridge Road (opposite the fire station) and its number is 020 8579 5558.

David Highton

 

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Why do people shop in West Ealing? A recent survey gives some answers

‘Why do people shop in West Ealing?’ is the title of a survey late last year of 400 shoppers carried out by Brunel University on behalf of Ealing Council.  The answer – buying food is the main reason people come to shop in West Ealing, but there’s a good deal more valuable information in the results of this survey than  this one answer.

The final report is 20 pages long but here are some of the key findings from this survey:

What’s good about shopping in West Ealing:

1. Buying food was the main reason for people shopping in West Ealing.

2. Buying specific non-food items came second

3. Eating and socialising ranked third as a reason to come to West Ealing

Overall, West Ealing is liked for its varied, multi-cultural location that is good for food shopping, pubs, eating and socialising.

What needs to be improved about shopping in West
Ealing:
1. Better shop fronts

2. Improved cleanliness

3. Better safety and security

Interestingly, in an entry last December in his shopping blog (www.soultsretailview.co.uk/2010/12),  expert retail analyst Graham Soult sees independent shops as West Ealing’s brightest hope. He writes:

‘Arguably, it’s West Ealing’s independent shops that give it the
brightest hope for the future. Walking through, despite the visible problems,
the area has a cosmopolitan and colourful feel, with ethnic food shops
displaying their wares in the street. The West Ealing weekly farmers’ market
in  Leeland Road – which seemed to be well advertised when I visited – also adds to the area’s reputation as a mecca for foodies, and is apparently its trump card in attracting shoppers from other parts of London.’

WEN has been arguing for some years that West Ealing is a great place for food shopping and that we need to build on this strength as a central part of any plan to regenerate the high street. We’d love to hear your views about our shops.  Use our forum to tell us where locally you like to buy your food, why and what you’d recommend others to try out.

David Highton