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Launch of alternative rock guitar orchestra – Sat 24th May 2pm

An exciting new music project in Ealing. AN ALTERNATIVE ROCK GUITAR ORCHESTRA! With drums, bass and keyboards. DEVELOP YOUR GUITAR SKILLS AND GET EXPERIENCE PLAYING WITH SESSION MUSICIANS: Then perform and record what you’ve learnt. Playing various musical styles including: rock, blues, soul, well known tunes and original material.

Rehearse once a week for 10 weeks, then perform and record in the Ealing area. 

*Mandolin, harp,banjo, double bass, electric bass and uke players also welcome; as are any other instrumentalists. 

LAUNCH MEETING: Saturday 24th May. 2pm until 5PM

If you’re interested in finding out more about the guitar orchestra, there will be a meeting on Saturday 24th of May. Bring a guitar with you and join in with the music.  There will be a discussion and Q and A session about the summer season of rehearsals. Most importantly there will be a chance to make some music with other attendees/orchestra members and the orchestra leaders; Nev Hawkins and Richard Carter. If you’d like to attend, contact Nev Hawkins.

Rehearsals start on Saturday 31st of May, 2pm – 5pm. Then continue every Saturday until the 26th  July.

Performance date:  26th July.

Venue: Contact Nev Hawkins for venue details.

If you’d like to attend, contact Nev Hawkins for venue details and more info. 
tel: 07906 328 273/ 0208 621 3336
email:nevhawkins@yahoo.co.uk

Recording session date: TBC

*for intermediate to advanced players. 

Membership Fees for summer season: £200

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Six more short plays at OPEN Ealing on Friday 9th May 7.30pm

SIX short plays 6

 

Open Ealing 6 short plays
Our sixth evening of SIX short plays is on this Friday 9th May, 7.30pm.

Six performed readings by playwrights Polly Churchill, Simone Marsha James, Sally Sheringham, Liam O’Grady and Wally Sewell, performed by Mary Drake and Jane Sheraton.

Prepared on the day and served fresh for your delectation in the evening!

OPENShop, 13 Drayton Green Road, W13 0NG.

£5 on the door.
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150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 11

After one week’s break, we’re back with Week 11 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 last couple of weeks:

Elaine Hill 10:52pm Apr 23
Hi everyone, the annual Beating the Bounds walk around the old parish boundary of Hanwell will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 5 May, to raise funds for Hanwell Carnival.It’s a circular walk of approx 8 miles, starting and ending at the Fox pub in Green Lane. If you’d like to find out more about Hanwell’s history and enjoy a good walk, the main walking group will be leaving the Fox at around 12.30 and the full walk takes around 3 hours. Wear suitable walking shoes as some of the route may be muddy and bring water and snacks as there are no scheduled refreshment stops on the way.If you have small children, you may wish to do the southern half of the walk which takes in most of the boundary stones and head back to Hanwell town from the top of Grosvenor Road where it rejoins Uxbridge Road.

Pick up a walking guide with maps and historical information at the registration point at the Fox from midday on 5th May in return for a donation to Carnival funds. For more info about the walk and its origins see the “get involved” page at www.hanwellcarnival.co.uk or PM me. Many thanks.

Eve Kelly 7:31pm Apr 19
I got to say I do love north Hanwell, the people are truly lovely and I’m so glad I live here…I just wish we had something like a W7 Emporium up at the Greenford avenue/Shakespeare Rd row of shops. Any budding cafe/bar peeps looking for a new venue? :o)

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!

  • Fight to keep essential local services – your A&E post office, police station, school, etc.
  • Become a school governor
  • Gather a group to clean up a local park or cemetery
  • When somebody says “government stinks,” suggest they help fix it
  • Turn off the TV, put down your phone or tablet, and talk
  • Hold a neighbourhood barbecue (if wet in the hall)
  • Bake biscuits for new neighbours or work colleagues

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)

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

chat & meet logo

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.