It hadn’t occurred to me until Desire Motorsport opened last week (where Hewden Tool Hire used to be) that this end of West Ealing near the junction with Eccleston Road has a cluster of tyre and car accessory shops. There’s Ealing Tyres in Eccleston Road itself, Kieran’s tyre, MOT and accessory shop in the Uxbridge Road, Kwik-Fit on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and Coldershaw Road, Cartronic Centre in Coldershaw Road and now Desire Motorsport tyre and alloy wheel hub shop has joined them.
I spoke to the owner of Desire Motorsport who lives in Hanwell and has worked locally for many years. He realised the value of being part of a cluster of car-related shops.
Good luck to him and I hope all these shops and businesses, and West Ealing, benefit from being near one another.
David Highton
Newly opened Desite Motorsport joins the cluster of car tyre and accessory shops in West Ealing
Just as I came out of Sainsbury’s this morning I heard this quacking noise and there waiting patiently near the front door was a Mallard duck. Maybe its mate had gone in to shop! After a while it gave up waiting, quacked loudly and flew off.
That’s by no means the first time I’ve seen ducks around that area. I’ve seen and heard them walking the streets around Melbourne Ave and St James Ave a few times over the last couple of years. I do wonder where they come from? Maybe they are based in one of the ponds at Walpole Park and come to visit West Ealing a few times each year.
Now is the time to pick them and make them into a fragrant cordial (ah, the aroma of the south-west corner of the Elthorne playing fields! Nothing like it.) West Ealing Abundance people picked themselves to a standstill yesterday – but there’s plenty out there for everyone for another week or so. Go to the West Ealing abundance cordial recipe for what to do with your harvest.
The community arts project OPEN Ealing, run by West Ealing Arts, has launched its first arts classes and workshops for adults:
Watercolour painting on Tuesday mornings and afternoons
History of 20th century art on Thursday evenings from 2nd June
Silk painting on Saturday afternoons from June
Life drawing soon to start on Wednesday evenings
For details of times and costs visit www.openealing.com or call on 020 8579 5558 or drop in at 113 Uxbridge Road on corner of Culmington Road and opposite fire station).
If you were caught up in yesterday’s (Wednesday) traffic chaos at lunchtime on the Uxbridge Road in West Ealing and Ealing Broadway and wondering what happened, I can tell you as I happened to be there at the time.
I was volunteering at OPEN Ealing, the new community arts centre for West Ealing, and a few of us were talking when we heard the unmistakable sound of a car accident. We rushed out and almost in front of our office at 113 Uxbridge Road a car trying to turn right into Culmington Road had collided with one coming along the Uxbridge Road. There was a large eastbound lorry stopped at the accident so may have had a part in it.
I rang 999 to report the accident, though the odd thing was that no-one seemed to come out to look from the fire station which was 50 yards from the accident. Some minutes later a fire engine turned on its siren and rolled out the 50 yards to the accident scene. In fairness though it probably had to be called in once the police assessed the situation. As it turned out the fire engine was vital as one of the drivers had to be cut out of their car. The other driver was able to get out and she seemed unharmed.
It took quite some time for the driver to be released from his car and I hope he or she soon recovers. It must have been at least an hour for the road to be re-opened.
Pamela Howard School of Dance: One of the new shops on our high street
The recent opening of the British Heart Foundation’s new shop (see previous post) made me think again about the changing nature of our high street. Yes, you could just say it’s yet another charity shop and we already have eight. But, it struck me that this shop is something rather different for West Ealing. Almost every time I go in to one of the charity shops it seems busy as I try to manoeuvre my way between the shoppers and the clothes rails. What BHF seem to have noticed though is that there is a complete gap in the market for a charity shop selling household goods such as electrical appliances and furniture.
Much has been written about how Britain’s high streets are changing. I
have lived in West Ealing since 1978 and, like many others, can all too easily reminisce about how West Ealing’s high street used to have a Marks and Spencer, a WH Smith, Mothercare, let alone the department stores such as FH Rowse and Daniels. But that time has gone and in the last few years the twin impact of the recession and the growth of internet shopping have undoubtedly left their mark as shops have moved out or closed down. In a recent article in the Financial Times Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said ‘Given the structural nature of these changes
there is no point harking back to the old high streets we all claimed to love. We need to be creative in looking for new roles and uses for these empty shops.”
I think BHF has been creative. We have seen new shops move in and Lidl and Poundworld are now part of our high street. They have been joined by some rather different businesses – British Immigration Solutions and The Pamela Howard School of Dance. West Ealing Arts has opened a community arts project in an old office building a short walk away from the main shopping centre (see later article). The London Residents Forum is hoping to open the old Oxfam shop as a borough-wide resource and drop in centre for tenants.
Yes, our high street is changing, it has to, but I see these changes as a sign that the high street still has a purpose for our community. It is still trying providing goods and services that we need and want. Please let’s just make sure we cherish and use our high street and other local shopping areas.
As a consultation on library services in the Borough draws to a close, and the threat of library branch closures looms, James Guest ofEaling Fields Residents Associationbreaks down the costs of Ealing Libraries, and find that the Council needs to take a closer look at libraries’ considerable overheads if they want to make any cuts.
Key points
Ealing spends £6.7million on libraries annually – £65 million of budget savings are said to be needed
Overheads make up a high proportion of library costs – over £3 million annually
The branch libraries targeted for closure are already closed more days a week than other libraries – hence their lower visitor numbers
Only 42 per cent of current expenditure on libraries goes to staff costs – running libraries on a volunteer basis will not save a great deal of money
Following on from his recent post about Jacob’s Ladder Eric Leach follows this up by saying ‘We have been campaigning for improvements to Jacob’s Ladder for over three years. For those who don’t know, Jacob’s Ladder is the ancient footbridge which crosses the railway line from the western extremity of Waitrose’s car park to Manor Road. The bridge is a vital link between Green Man Lane Estate, St John’s School and the centre of West Ealing and Drayton Green, Drayton Green School and the Berners Drive Estate.
The bridge is rusting badly; the southern staircase is somewhat unstable; and the lighting is extremely poor. In 2008/9 for long periods only one of the three lights was working.
After much toing and froing involving the Cleveland Ward Forum, money was allocated by Ealing Council to replace the poor lighting system with a much improved one (featuring five lights). Network Rail (the owners of the footbridge) eventually and reluctantly agreed to the upgrade – but only after it was agreed to pay them a fee for the privilege. That was in Summer 2010.
Ever since Ealing Council have been trying to get formal permission from Network Rail to actually carry out the work. Lawyers and paper pushers at Network Rail have held them up now for over eight months. How ironic that at a time when financial cuts are being made we have this funded project with cash allocated and a large company’s intransigence is preventing the project from going ahead.’
Charlie Chaplin? Metropolis? Ivan the Terrible? They’re classic films and deservedly great -best of all you see them locally at Ealing town hall on a Friday night. Put City Lghts in your diary for Friday May 13th, Metropolis for May 20th and Ivan the Terrible for May 27th – 7pm Ealing Town Hall, £7.50. You need to be a member so for membership and information : classiccinemaclub@hotmail.co.uk 020 8579 4925
Diane, Gill and some volunteers from West Ealing Neighbours’ Abundance project plan to pick several hundred elderflower heads on Saturday morning, May 14th – weather permitting at a location in West Ealing. We might do a repeat ‘pick’ on Saturday morning, May 21. We’ve found a location where they’re quite prolific, in the ‘fields’ beyond Elthorne Park, although you’d need wellies to wade through nettles in some places, and a crooked stick to pull down the high branches.
We’ll be following the recipe on the WEN Abundance blog http://westealingabundancew13.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/292/ which we used last year to produce the cordial which went down very well at Hanwell Carnival and will will be selling again at this years Carnival on the 18th June, as well as Pitshanger Party in the Park on the 26th June.
Anyone who is interested in knowing more, or getting involved, please email wenabundance@gmail.com.
Now is the time to pick them and make them into a fragrant cordial (ah, the aroma of the south-west corner of the Elthorne playing fields! Nothing like it.) West Ealing Abundance people picked themselves to a standstill yesterday – but there’s plenty out there for everyone for another week or so. Go to the
