Category: West Ealing

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A charity shop with a difference opens in West Ealing

Newly opened British Heart Foundation shop

British Heart Foundation opened the doors of its new shop today and it set me thinking about charity shops and our high street. I thought first off I’d better count how many charity shops there are along the street between the Lido Junction and the junction with Eccleston Road. I counted 8 (including the Salvation Army) plus the mystery Storefair which threatened to open back in September but has remained resolutely shut for months.

In my experience most of these shops are usually busy and you have to manoeuvre your way round them between the clothes rails and the shoppers. So, I think the BHF shop, which sells electrical goods and furniture, is a clever move as it fills a gap in what charity shops usually offer. Most charity shops won’t touch electrical goods as they have to be properly checked for safety etc. When I went in this morning it was packed both with goods and people and looking at what is on offer in BHF I was impressed. I think it will do well.

There’s a much wider question raised not just about charity shops but also about what sort of future we want for our high street? But I’ll leave that for another time.

David Highton

 

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Wanton destruction of a piece of West Ealing’s social history

Eric Leach reports on the demolition of a local landmark.

Here you can view the on-going demolition of St Helena’s Home, which overlooks Drayton Green. Built in 1896 the home was a refuge for fallen women, run by Protestant nuns, for over 50 years. The women, many of them single mothers and prostitutes, worked hard in the home’s laundry and were effectively incarcerated. However the home must clearly have saved and extended the lives of many women who for one reason or another were excluded from society.

Ironically the organisation which is demolishing the building was founded by a Protestant vicar – Rev Bruce Kendrick – in 1963. He founded Notting Hill Housing (NHH) to help squatters find places to live with improved security of tenure.  NHH is now a property development company whose Chief Executive according to ‘Private Eye’ earns £146,000  a year.

NHH refused to re-use the building and convert it into flats. It wanted to demolish it and build a block of 26 flats in its place. Planning permission has not been granted for NHH to build its legoland architecture residential block – but it’s smashing St Helena’s Home to pieces anyway.

Eric Leach

21 April, 2011

PS There’s a more background to the story of 51 Drayton Green in our July 2010 newsletter here.

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What’s the story of the murals on the front of Sainsbury’s?

Anyone know about this mural?

Chair of WEN, David Highton examines the history of some interesting artwork in the centre of West Ealing

When we first moved here in 1978 there was a small Sainsbury’s in the Uxbridge Road not far from the current one. And I well remember this Sainsbury’s being built on the site of what used to be the library but I can’t for the life of me remember or find out anything about the five panels on the front of the shop. I’ve been to the Central Library and looked through back copies of the Ealing Gazette. I’ve even tried ploughing through pages of Council meeting minutes of the early 1980s but nowhere can I find any reference to these panels and who the artist was.

Sadly, it’s all too easy to forget these panels even exist as they seem poorly maintained. They all show children playing but much of the detail is now hard to see. It’s such a shame for them to go unnoticed. Does anyone know anything about them?

David Highton

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Hair and Beauty shop taking over old Richer Sounds site

Chair of WEN, David Highton reports on developments on West Ealing’s high street.

The owners of Farah Hair and Beauty who sold their shop on the Uxbridge Road a few doors along have taken the lease on the old Richer Sounds shop on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and St James Avenue. I bumped in to the husband of the couple that ran Farah and he is hoping they can open up their new salon in about another three weeks once the fit out is finished.

Catalyst Housing Association owns this site along with a number of key blocks of homes locally.  WEN and then West Ealing Arts tried to secure this shop for its community shop idea but, mainly due to the cost of refurbishment, it all fell through.

That corner desperately needs revitalising and we wish them all the best and hope to see them make it a thriving business. Oh, and I’d still like to see a coffee shop and tables in that bit of St James Avenue.

 

David Highton

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West Ealing’s independent shops give hope for the future

Chair of WEN, David Highton has spotted an interesting blog on shopping in West Ealing.

A shopping blog by North East retail expert Graham Soult finds hope for West Ealing’s shopping centre in its food and independent traders.

He writes:

Even before the loss of Woolworths, West Ealing’s high street had seen significant change in recent decades, with the departure of Marks & Spencer in the late 1990s widely seen as an important loss. That site, next to the old Woolworths building, has subsequently been redeveloped and is now occupied by Wilkinson.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to see West Ealing as a retail centre in terminal decline. It’s true that on my walk along Uxbridge Road and Broadway I noted a lot of vacant shops – including the ubiquitous closed-down Ethel Austin – and cheap-looking discount stores. However, there are plenty of bright spots.

Arguably, it’s West Ealing’s independent shops that give it the brightest hope for the future. Walking through, despite the visible problems, the area has a cosmopolitan and colourful feel, with ethnic food shops displaying their wares in the street. The West Ealing weekly farmers’ market in Leeland Road – which seemed to be well advertised when I visited – also adds to the area’s reputation as a mecca for foodies, and is apparently its trump card in attracting shoppers from other parts of London.

Continue reading “West Ealing’s independent shops give hope for the future”

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Book swapping in West Ealing

Are you bored of the Metro? Or, do you rush out the door and forget to take a book with you on your morning commute? Well, WEN has something that might help you, at least at West Ealing Station.

Several weeks ago, we installed a Book Swap in West Ealing Station – and it’s had a great response since. We’ve been inspired by other successful schemes, such as the one in Wimbledon. The idea is to offer commuters the opportunity to read a good book travelling to and from work.

Where is it, and how does it work?

It’s just inside the ticket office at West Ealing Station, on your right, as you enter from the street.

It’s very, very simple. Just have a look at our shelf, if you see a book you like, grab it!

Do I have to return my book?

If you like, yes, but you don’t have to. There are over 60 books on the shelves and we hope some books get returned for other travellers to read but we’ll also keep an eye out and stock up as and when needed.

If you do have any spare books that you think others might want to read, leave those instead.

Any comments and ideas on the WEN Forum about how we could develop Book Swap in West Ealing are very welcome.