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Drop in to the OPEN Ealing shop for a chat and a first-class cup of coffee

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The OPEN Ealing shop in Drayton Green Road has been transformed in to a bright and relaxing cafe, open from Monday-Saturday 10am-4.30pm.  Working in partnership with OPEN Ealing Geoff and Gita have created a lovely space with the aim of giving people the chance to drop in for a first class cup of coffee or tea and have a chat with them or whoever happens to be there at the time.  I’ve dropped in twice and bumped in to people I know and had a thoroughly enjoyable half hour. It’s got the potential to be just the sort of community hub and meeting place West Ealing needs.

In the evenings OPEN Ealing will be continuing with its arts activities and events, so it’s great to see the shop being put to good use all times of day.

What is more, Geoff and Gita really care about the quality of their tea and coffee so have sourced some of the very best for you to drink.  Do drop in if you’re nearby and try it out.

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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

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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.

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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

 

 

 

 

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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

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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

 

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Volunteers needed to help clear footpath and create a stag beetle loggery this Sunday 6th April

From the Northfields allotments team:

We are having the third Workday on the Radbourne Walk (the path behind the Northfields allotments) on this coming Sunday 6th April. Yes it’s a SUNDAY this time!!


We had a total of 21 volunteers on the last workday and created Stag Beetle Loggery as well as the usual path clearance. We will be creating another loggery this time too. We will be at the north end near Mattock Lane at 10 am. If you can stay for only a couple of hours then that’s fine. We will have refreshments and Lunch provided by volunteers.
If you would like to join in you can leave a reply on this post or email me at allotmentsw13@gmail.com


If you have not heard about this plan to clean up the Radbourne Walk footpath that runs along the side of the allotment, then visit our webpage http://tinyurl.com/pathw13

If you have further questions just email me at allotmentsw13@gmail.com