According to a story on the Ealing Today website, a fight this morning at the bus stop outside The Gym (old Daniels building) led to one man being stabbed. It doesn’t sound life threatening fortunately. The police have increased foot patrols in the area. Unfortunately, there has been a run of serious incidents in West Ealing over the past months with the most recent – a fight between two gangs – just before Christmas. The whole question of local law and order will be looked at in WEN’s January newsletter which will be published on Friday and will be on our website from then.
Had enough of cooking over Christmas? Give yourself a break and come along to Sally and Steff’s Supper Club on Saturday
If you’ve seen enough of your kitchen stove and sink this Christmas and New Year then give yourself a break and come along to Sally and Steph’s Supper Club at the W7Emporium in Hanwell on Saturday. Sally and Steff met at OPEN Ealing and out of this was born the supper club. It’s a chance to get out and enjoy someone else’s cooking in good company and accompanied by music from two musicians from one of West Ealing’s best bands – Blushing Bones.
Their three course menu is based on the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi with live acoustic folk-based music from singer Tess and guitarist Jibs, of the Blushing Bones.
Date: Saturday January 5th 2013
Time: 7.30p.m. for 8.00p.m.–11.30p.m.
Place: W7 Emporium, 60b,Boston Rd,Hanwell,London W7 3TR (Opposite Wickes)
Price: £30 per head for welcome glass of Prosecco and nibbles, 3 courses + coffee.
Wine and cheese at an additional charge will be provided by the local W7 cheesemonger Claire.
Booking: Please contact Sally on sashrubsall@aol.com Stephanie on s.sundle@btinternet.com or book through the W7 Emporium directly. Please mention when booking if you have special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian or allergies) so that we can take this into consideration. N.B Some recipes contain nuts, and will be present in the food preparation areas.
Menu available shortly from W7 Emporium Facebook page.
West Ealing Neighbours chair gets award in New Year Honours List
West Ealing Neighbours’ chair and co-founder of OPEN Ealing David Highton was awarded a British Empire Medal in this New Years Honours List. The award was ‘ for services to the community in the London Borough of Ealing’. David said’ I’m just the visible tip of the iceberg for this award. There are so many people who have worked tirelessly for West Ealing Neighbours since we were set up and many, many volunteers who gave their all to making OPEN Ealing a great success. These are the people who deserve to share in this award. It’s for all of them as much as it is for me. With their help and hard work WEN and OPEN Ealing have made a difference to our local community’.
Free music from local young musicians at The Drayton Court Hotel on Saturday from 7pm
West London Showcase
Some of the best young musical talent and undiscovered artists from around Ealing can be seen at The Drayton Court Hotel this Saturday from 7pm. Entrance free.
Shooting in West Ealing last night – two people injured
Update
The Uxbridge Road is still closed this Sunday morning (12noon) following a shooting last night somewhere around the post office/Daniels store area. Over a year ago there was another shooting in the same area near an internet cafe. The Ealing Today website has the story as a gang shooting with two people injured but no one killed. More news to follow.
11pm Sunday
BBC News site says four people arrested following this shooting. It seems one man was shot during a fight and another hurt with both being taken to hospital but neither with life-threatening injuries.
2pm Monday
The problem seems to have been an argument between two groups at some late night event that got out of control. I guess the obvious question has to be who on earth turns up at a party or similar armed with a gun and why?
10pm Monday
Quite a lot more information, including a message from the police, on the Acton W3 forum
Creative Ealing launched – bringing together information about what’s happening in the creative arts in Ealing
I went to the launch last night of Creative Ealing, a consortium of creative arts venues in Ealing working together to publicise and promote the work of the four founding local arts venues – The Questors Theatre, The Ealing Club, OPEN Ealing and The Drayton Court Hotel. I was involved in the development of this idea when I was with OPEN Ealing and I’m delighted to see it come to fruition.
Back in the summer, what set me thinking about the need for arts venues to co-operate was my regular walk to do the banking in Ealing Broadway. On my way there I walked past the two new hotels being built almost opposite one another in the Uxbridge Road – Travelodge and Premier Inn (plus the nearby Hotel Xanadu in Bond Street). I wondered how guests would know what entertainment was on locally. What could they go and see or do that day or evening? The answer seemed to be they wouldn’t easily find out this information. There didn’t seem to be any central website or publicity that listed what arts events were happening in Ealing that day or that week. Out of these bank visits came the idea of arts venues in central Ealing joining together to create this central website and joint publicity. And so Creative Ealing was born out of discussions between these founding venues and now it’s real and you can find its website here
I hope this is but the start of Creative Ealing’s journey and, as it gains recognition as a key source of information about what’s happening in the arts in Ealing, other venues will join and a momentum will gather to create an ever more informative site.
The launch of Creative Ealing follows hot on the heels of the launch of The Ealing Music and Film Valentine Festival. From the 14th to the 17th February next year a really exciting looking series of events, concerts, talks and exhibitions will be put on at various arts venues in central Ealing. Highlights for me include blues music at The Ealing Club and Raga Jam at The Questors. There’s something for everyone and it’s another welcome initiative for the arts in Ealing.
More back garden development? – proposed changes to planning laws over back garden extensions
One of WEN’s members is keen to raise awareness about the government’s proposed changes to planning laws to allow larger back garden extensions without needing permission. It’s a topic that’s certainly got a number of local councils stirred up and could affect local residents.
He writes ‘The government plans to change Planning laws so that your neighbour can build a 6-metre extension 4 metres high without needing any permission from anyone – least of all from you.
This may be fine for cabinet ministers who live in spacious areas. But 80% of us live incities, where small gardens provide most of the green space. In our terrace, the back gardens are 12 metres long. Half your neighbour’s garden gone – perhaps on both sides of you? Plus separate outbuildings, if they choose? And you’ll get no protection from Planning laws that used to protect you from overbearing, dominating, character-destroying developments. The government wants this to happen!
The government’s consultation period ends 24 December. We need all our friends across the country to say what they think of this proposal. You can reply online at this location:
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/extendingpdrconsultation
or you can write to Helen Marks via e-mail:
PlanningImprovements@communities.gsi.gov.uk
or on paper:
Helen Marks
Permitted Development Rights – Consultation
Department for Communities and Local Government
Zone 1/J3 Eland House
Bressenden Place
London SW1E 5DU
Tell your MP and David Cameron and Eric Pickles what you think. And get your friends across the country to do the same – or we could all find ourselves in concrete jungles.’
Download this page at kevinraftery.net/attack.pdf
Great session by local band Jacob and Goliath at last Saturday’s West Ealing craft market
I managed to catch some of Jacob and Goliath’s session at Saturday’s craft market and was mighty impressed with this young local band. A great new addition to West London’s alternative/indie folk music scene. Three of the band members braved the cold, blew on their icy guitar picking fingers and really put their hearts in to their music. Lead singer Jacob Simpson has got a very striking voice and already has an impressive stage presence. You can see a recording of a part of their session at the market on a later post on this blog. Watch out for them and find out where they’re playing next on their Facebook page.
Next Saturday we have carols, local folk band Oddfellas and the dynamic gospel choir Singology- more information on the next post down on this blog.
Woolies needs some TLC
The old Woolworths building is a great local example of art deco but it’s getting in a sorry state. There appears to be a tree growing out of its roof and some of the façade is beginning to look unsafe. Is anyone interested in joining us to try to get this building looked after properly? If so, email us at westealingneighbours@gmail.com or join us at our next Saturday morning coffee at Silva Café (opposite Kwik Fit) from 11.30 – 12.30 on Saturday 1st December.
More photos of this lovely building are in the gallery on our website.
The less desirable W13 or an undervalued pocket?
It’s always interesting to read about how others view the area you live in and that’s the case with this week’s Evening Standard review of property in Ealing. The article is mostly about the W5 postcode but W13 gets a mention or two. It is seen as less desirable than W13 though I might be living in an ‘undervalued pocket’ on the Hanwell borders – not sure about that!
Anyway, worth 5 minutes if you’re interested in property prices and how Ealing is seen by others.