The Grosvenor packed for its opening night

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A group of us went for dinner to The Grosvenor on its opening last night (Tuesday).  We expected it to be busy but it was packed- luckily we had booked a  table.  The decoration, inside and outside, has been carefully thought through with the highlight colour being the green from its stained glass.  It’s interesting how they have refurbished it with many original features retained.  They have created a very pleasant atmosphere which worked well both when it was packed out last night and at luchtime today when we dropped in for a drink and lunch when it was much quieter, though a steady trickle of people dropped in, perhaps curious to see what it looks like.

I’m very wary of attempting to review its food as the first night was a bit of a dry-run to see how it all worked.  Even so, I can say that all six of us thoroughly enjoyed our food and would very definitely go again.  We also all thought the staff in the dining area did a great job with a real sense of enjoyment and that helps create a very pleasant experience.

A lot of thought has been put in to the refurbishment and the owners have put in a hefty investment to transform this once run-down pub.  The choice of colours works well, the stained glass windows are now a stand out feature and the tables in the dining area have been cleverly set up at various angles, and not too close together, to avoid any sense of being jammed together.  All in all, I’d definitely recommend you go and try it for yourself.  It’s got off to a fantsastic start and has the potential to be a great success and an asset to our local community and beyond.  I wish it every success and we will certainly be going back soon.

Details of booking a table etc are on their website

 

 

 

 

Crossrail at West Ealing: highlights of last week’s public meeting

The full report of last week’s public meeting about Crossrail, attended by some 200 people,  is on the West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum site.   Here’s a brief summary of the key points:

  • No detailed plan yet for the new station at West Ealing and some questions raised on its exact location in Manor Road
  • Ealing Council is not happy with the initial design for Ealing Broadway station so has appointed architects to help on designs for all five Crossrail stations in the borough
  • A strong desire at the meeting for step-free access to the new station  from the south/high street side
  • A strong desire at the meeting to see the area surrounding the station redeveloped
  • Can something be done to make Jacob’s Ladder better and accessible to wheelchair users and parents with buggies?  This will cost a lot of money. How can it be raised?
  • No detail yet on car parking, dropping off or cycle bays

Seems almost everything is still to play for and WECNF will organise another meeting when there is definite information available.

 

 

An invasion of dozy flies

Is it just me or has anyone else had a sudden invasion of very dozy flies?  I first thought something had died for so many flies to suddenly appear. But no, no tell-tale nasty smell and the wrong sort of flies anyway.  Normally flies are had to swat or usher out of the window but these ones are very slow moving – most odd.

Is the government really serious about restricting the number of high street betting shops?

I really hope it is. I’ve posted before about there being too many betting shops on our high street but I think it’s a really important issue for the future of high streets.  I’m certainly not arguing for all betting shops to be closed but it just feels that people are being  exploited, especially by Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. It’s getting these FOBTs in to as many high street sites as possible that’s been driving the ever-increasing number of betting shops in high streets.   The government plans to give local authorities powers to restrict the number of betting shops. I’ll believe it when I see it but a long overdue step in my opinion.  How effective it will be also depends on the willingness of the local authority to use any future legislation. Surely we already have more than enough betting shops for our local population?

I thought a good starting point is to go out and count the number of betting shops and loan shops along the Uxbridge Road in West Ealing to give a base line so someone can count again in a few years time and see what’s happened.  As of today I counted six betting shops ( seven when BetFred opens on the ground floor of the new hotel being built in Melbourne Ave), two gaming/fruit machine establishments and five loanshops/pawnbrokers:

Betting Shops

  • Ladbrokes
  • Coral x 2
  • William Hill x2
  • Paddy Power

Gaming shops

  • Cashino
  • Reels

Loan shops/pawnbrokers

  • Cash Converters
  • Money Shop
  • Cash Generator
  • H&T Pawnbrokers
  • Albemarle & Bond pawnbrokers

 

 

 

 

Researching local and family history talk Saturday 10th May

Local History Workshop at Ealing Central Library on Saturday 10th May 2.30pm. Cost £4

Speaking from personal experience , there’s always a surprise waiting when you start researching your family history. In my case it was my paternal great-great grandfather and how many children he had by whom and when – and I still haven’t got to the bottom of it. Let alone why on earth he appears to have sent his very elderly parents from Liverpool to a large house on the Isle of Man in the mid 1800s – a complete mystery!

Whether it’s local history or family history you might be interested in the Local History Workshop run by historians Dr Jonathan Oates and Dr Piotr Stolarski on Saturday 10th May in the Green Room at Ealing Central Library at 2.30pm. The cost is £4.  Places are limited so you can book by calling 020 3700 1052 or email reading@ealing.gov.uk

There are other talks as well:

Shops of Yesteryear by Prof Alan Gillett on 8th May at 6.15pm

The Private Asylums of Ealing by Paul Lang on 26th June at 6.15pm

 

 

 

 

Meeting tonight about plans for Crossrail at West Ealing

Public Meeting at the Drayton Court Hotel on Tuesday 22nd April at 7.30pm.

  • Trains 200 metres long
  • Carrying up to 1500 passengers
  • New station in Manor Road
  • Up and running by 2019
  • 14 minutes to Bond Street, 21 minutes to Liverpool Street, 28 minutes to Canary Wharf

 

  • What are the plans for the new station and its surrounding area?
  • What arrangements for taxis, cyclists and to  drop-off?
  • What are the plans for buses?

 

Come along and find out more from representtaives of Crossrail, Ealing Council, West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum and the newly created West Ealing Business Improvement District.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 10

Today is the start of Week 10 of our 150 days of community project. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Then click here. Here are some of the things that we’ve been up to in West Ealing in the past week:

Leila posted in West Ealing Neighbours

Leila Molaei
Leila 3:27pm Apr 11
Home – Ealing Involved

ealinginvolved.org
Make a difference in Ealing today. Donate Time, Money and Goods to community groups, have your say o…
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Hi, has anyone a ladder that I could borrow for an afternoon? I need to repair something in our garden and don’t want to buy a new one for just this one thing. Preferably someone near Waitrose. Thanks.

  • Rosie Pearce likes this.
  • Sally We have a smallish step-ladder – probably about 6foot tall if that’s any use to you. We’re on Mattock Lane but at the West Ealing end, on the corner of Mattock Lane and Chapel Road.
  • Inge Can you be more specific? Are you looking for a large stepladder or something like an extending ladder to lean against a wall?
  • Birte I think an extending ladder would be best. We need to get our washing line back on the wall. A large stepladder should hopefully do the trick as well.

Did we miss anything? Let us know!

We have another great list of seven ‘acts of community’ for this week – see how many you do – maybe you already do them!

  • Sign up for an evening class
  • Talk to your children about the different faiths in West Ealing
  • Talk to people about voting, and encourage it
  • Persuade a local restaurant to have a designated “meet people” table
  • Host or go for dinner before or after a town meeting
  • Take dance lessons with a friend
  • Say “thanks” to public servants – police, firefighters, bus drivers, councillors, waste recyclers, street cleaners.

We’d love to hear from you if you do any of these things, or anything else that makes people smile in West Ealing. We have loads more suggestions of things you can do, if you want to jump ahead!

Ways to send us your contributions:

Send us an email – 150daysofcommunity@gmail.com
Write on our Facebook wall – https://www.facebook.com/groups/124290860921562/
Tweet at us – @WENeighbours
Add a comment to this blog post (below)

OPEN Ealing arts project needs your support

I spoke to Anthony Shrubsall, chair of OPEN Ealing for an update on the latest plans for OPEN and the planned community café on the Green Man Lane Estate. ‘We are going into partnership with A2 Community Involvement (A2 Dominion are the developers) with a view to substantial use of the cafe theatre space for continuing OPEN’s arts activities while A2 Community Involvement run the cafe.  We are working with them to submit an Arts Council bid with a view to providing a full programme of professionals doing small scale shows including music, theatre, spoken word, storytelling and poetry recitals. The view is also that we will also provide a range of OPEN workshop activities complementing and expanding upon the range of performances.  We are pursuing fine art based activities via a different route although there may be more cross-over once we are actually operating from there.   The intention is to open in late spring.

Part of the bid to the arts council also requires feedback from the local community on what people wish to see and how much support there is for the arts in the local area.’  This is where OPEN needs your support. There is an online survey which OPEN needs as many people as possible to complete. Click on the following link to complete this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GMLResidents. They aim to get the bid submitted to Arts Council by the end of April.

150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 9

Today is the start of Week 9 of our 150 days of community project. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Then click here. Here are some of the things that we’ve been up to in West Ealing in the past week:

It’s nice when you have a good experience with local trades people so I thought I’d post it. We just had out garden done by Christopher Cain (07505483463). He done a great job and is very reasonably priced. We are chuffed with our garden. So I would defiantly recommend him
-Mary Rose


Did we miss anything? Let us know!

We have another great list of seven ‘acts of community’ for this week – see how many you do – maybe you already do them!

  • Have digital and device free family dinners and read to your children
  • Run for public office
  • Ask someone who looks lost if they need directions
  • Host a street party or an open house
  • Start a DIY group – friends willing to help each other clean, paint, garden, etc.
  • Offer to serve on a town committee
  • Volunteer as a Streetwatcher

We’d love to hear from you if you do any of these things, or anything else that makes people smile in West Ealing. We have loads more suggestions of things you can do, if you want to jump ahead!

Ways to send us your contributions:

Send us an email – 150daysofcommunity@gmail.com
Write on our Facebook wall – https://www.facebook.com/groups/124290860921562/
Tweet at us – @WENeighbours
Add a comment to this blog post (below)

There’s more to the Community Shop project than meets the eye

You may know the Community Shop in West Ealing Broadway but do you know about Accession Social Enterprise?

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The Community Shop in West Ealing

Accession is a Community Interest Company that trades to tackle social problems, improve communities and people’s life chances. Accession manages social enterprise businesses across West London which provide sustainable pathways into the job market by developing business enterprises that survive and flourish in the mainstream economy, based on viable and commercial business models, and not reliant on grant funding. Accession offers employment opportunities, training, volunteering and personal development to those who are economically marginalised, prominent amongst this group are people who have learning difficulties including those on the autistic spectrum and people with enduring mental health needs.

Accession is not a clinical or social care service and does not offer therapeutic activity or respite care. Accession operates on a belief that people with mental health needs and people with learning difficulties are able to work.

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An Accession cafe

Our Social Enterprise Businesses

Arts & Crafts – Accomplished Upholsterers and Seamstresses who design and make a range of high quality crafted products.

Catering – Expert caterers who manage a chain of cafés and provide external catering, create menus which are personalised to suit specific tastes, diet and cultural requirement and budget.

Design and Print – Highly skilled design and printers who offer a complete range of high quality print and design services from conception through to fruition.

Digital Archiving – Professional Archivists who document historical documents and artefacts.

Horticulture – Experts in Ornamental Horticulture (Floriculture/Landscape), Olericulture, Pomology, and other related services such as plant conservation, garden design, maintenance and fencing.

Horsenden Farm – Community destination area based in Perivale, including a trendy café, farm shop, woodland nature trail. OPENING SOON

Picture Framing (Frame It)Established picture framers who deliver a professional and quality framing service.

Retail (Community Shop) – A chain of vintage/second hand shops selling quality clothing, furniture and bric – a – brac.

Website: COMING SOON and you can contact us at info@accessionpartnership.com

Sally Penycate, Accession Social Enterprise