I saw this story on the Ealing Today website whereby a man was seen cutting branches off a street tree in Perivale. He was seen, reported, charged with, and found guilty of, criminal damage and then fined £2,400. I have to say that’s a pretty hefty fine but I was pleasantly surprised that the Council took the vandalism seriously. Similar vandalism has happened near us in a street in West Ealing. I don’t think anyone saw it happen but it’s worth knowing that if there’s sufficient evidence the Council will take action.
WEN Abundance – Pesky parakeets pinch our apples!
Indian ring-necked parakeets – possible apple-eating culprits
There are all sorts of theories about how these Indian Ring-Necked parakeets came to this country – from escaping off the set of The African Queen being filmed at Shepperton Studios in 1951 to Jimi Hendrix releasing them in Carnaby Street in the 1960s. In the last few years their distinctive screeching has been a common sound and we’ve seen some in our back garden. They love to perch right at the top of trees even when the flimsy twigs there barely seem strong enough to hold their weight. However, this year it seems they have taken a fancy to apples.
When we last visited the community orchard there looked to be a decent apple crop. When we went back to start picking we wondered where all the apples had gone? Gone to the parakeets is where they’ve gone. The owner of April Cottage next door to the orchard told us that he has seen parakeets eating the apples this year. They sit right at the top and work their way down. All part of living with nature I guess. Still, we hope to find enough apples from other trees to send some batches off for pressing in to apple juice.
We’re always keen to hear from people who want to volunteer to help with Abundance or who have surplus fruit they’re keen to see put to good use. Whichever it is you can contact us at wenabundance@gmail.com
And watch out for our stall at the SoundBite Festival in Dean Gardens on Saturday 13th September where we’ll have elderflower cordial, apple juice and chutneys on sale – all handmade from local produce.
New pop-up cafe coming to Green Man Lane Estate next week
Every now and then I take a walk by the ever-changing Green Man Lane Estate to see what’s happening. I’m particularly interested in what’s going to happen in the community cafe. And at last there’s something happening. A pop-up cafe is opening next week. It’s run by Coco Labelle who describe themselves as follows:
‘Coco Labelle is a family run local catering company offering exotic foods, live entertainment and childcare.
We are now providing pop ups in London to bring you the mauritian, jamaican and italian flavours that we love! We also share with you the finest musicians in London treating you to live jazz, soul, reggae and pop.
Best of all if you have kids, this is the place to be! A place to relax, eat, catch up with your friends, catch a gig all whilst your kids play safely in our creche enjoying our structured activities.’
The cafe is near the junction of Singapore Road and Brownlow Road. Children’s activities start on Tuesday 12th August and below is a (not very good) photo of their activities for the week. A detailed schedule is on their website
You can find out more about Coco Labelle here
New from WEN Abundance – apricot butter now available as the perfect accompaniment to cheese
Yes, you can grow apricots in this country! They may have come originally from China or Armenia but they have been adapted to grow in colder climates. Normally, the tree on our allotment gets hit by a late frost and that’s usually just about the end of the fruit for the year. However, this year the conditions must have been almost perfect and we had a bumper crop. So once we’d eaten some fresh and frozen some for later we still had a stack left. After a bit of experimentation the decision was – let’s make apricot butter. Fruit butter, like fruit cheese, is a perfect accompaniment to cheese (the dairy sort). The difference is simply the amount of boiling involved. Fruit butters spread like butter and fruit cheeses need slicing.
If you fancy a treat then drop in to Cheddar Deli on Northfield Ave and buy a jar of our apricot butter and just taste how good it is with cheese. It works best, in my view, with hard cheeses and creamy ones. You may want to think twice before putting it with a blue cheese but no harm in trying it.
Cheddar Deli are also selling our elderflower cordial, apple juice, chutneys and lemon elderflower marmalade. Some of our produce is also available through Edible Ealing’s box scheme and we’ve just delivered some to The Fox Craft Barn next to The Fox pub in Green Lane, Hanwell. So, you’ll find our Abundance produce somewhere near you. If you can’t get to any of these outlets then do please email us – wenabundance@gmail.com – and we’ll see how best we can help.
Your chance to say how you’d like to see Central Ealing develop
As with West Ealing, Central Ealing has a neighbourhood forum. The Central Ealing Neighbourhood Forum is working on a plan for the centre of Ealing Broadway. They want to hear from as many people as possible about the issues and options that could be covered in their plan for the area. To help them with their planning they have put a survey online Please do take a few minutes to complete it and give your views on the issues and options. There’s a bit of background to the Forum and its work below:
‘The Central Ealing Neighbourhood Forum was set up in 2012 to give local people and businesses a voice in changing our town for the better. It brings together residents, community groups, businesses and other key stakeholders, aiming to make Ealing a vital, thriving and sustainable centre. Under the Localism Act, the Forum has the power to create a local plan. This means that all of us can have a greater say in how our area should change and develop over time, whether we live, work, shop or study here. It can affect where shops, offices, housing and community facilities should be, and how they should look and feel. A neighbourhood plan is mainly about how land should be used and developed. Its policies can influence decisions on future planning applications. But in putting it together, the Forum can also stimulate projects which help to build a stronger, more inclusive community.
To create the change we want to see in Ealing, CENF is creating a Neighbourhood Plan. The Neighbourhood Forum (local residents and businesses working together) is overseeing the delivery of the Plan. Everyone can take part. It’s free to all who live, work, study or just visit here to join and to contribute ideas. The Forum wants to hear from you now. We’ve just launched our second round of discussions, called “Issues & Options”, on what should be covered in our Plan. Do have a look at the choices we have set out under a number of topic heads. You may think we’ve missed some obvious things, or have got the wrong idea about what people want. Let us know, so that we can consider all ideas before the next stage of policy development.’
You can keep up to date with the Forum and its work by signing up as a member of the Forum at http://eepurl.com/p8405, or visit their website, and follow them on Facebook/CentralEalingForum or Twitter @EalingForum.
OPEN Ealing: showcasing London artists at Westfield, Shepherds Bush 4th-10th August
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Northfields Night Market is back with great selection of stalls and live jazz – Sat 5th July from 6.30pm
Northfields Summer Night Market is back with a brand new layout, live jazz and great selection of local businesses selling a wide array of products and food. All under cover so no need to worry about the weather.
Saturday 5th July at Kingsdown Methodist Church in Northfield Ave from 6.30-9.30pm. Free entry.
150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 16
Welcome to Week 16 of our 150 days of community project. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Then click here. Here are a few things that we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks:
https://twitter.com/muse_oye/status/476353269363904512
Tracy Vize –
8:18am Jun 16
Don’t forget the Hanwell Carnival is on next Saturday
http://hanwellcarnival.co.uk/
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Felicity Sandford 8:05pm Jun 14 Dropped a pile of cards and a £10 in a cab on Thursday night- bank, credit, library, gift voucher, Tastecard etc. All have just been returned to me by the taxi driver who managed to track me down via LinkedIn! Technology is both spooky and splendid! –feeling lucky.
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I live near Blondin and am campaigning for London to become the world’s first National Park City, a new kind of national park.The campaign is building momentum and, if you like the idea, I would love to have your support. Please take a moment to sign our petition here:http://www.change.org/en-GB/
Please do let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. |
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‘Shops you may never have tried in West Ealing’ – has anyone got any ‘secret’ shopping tips for users or potential users of what the Broadway has to offer? I need encouragement to move beyond Sainsbury’s…and I don’t just mean Lidl! Has anyone tried any of the many fresh fish shops for example and, if so, what do you recommend?
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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!
- Cut back on screen-time
- Help carry something heavy
- Plan a reunion of family, friends, or those with whom you had a special connection
- Find out what’s going on at your local library
- Read the local news faithfully
- Buy a BBQ and invite others over for a meal
- Fix it even if you didn’t break it
- Pick it up even if you didn’t drop it
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)
Fielding School CPZ rejected
Paul Conlan, one of the new Walpole councillors, has posted on the Ealing Today Forum that the votes have been counted and the proposed CPZ for the Fielding School area has been rejected. No further details yet available.
Visit the WEN Abundance stall at the Hanwell Carnival this Saturday
Saturday is the longest day of the year so there’s plenty of time to come and visit our Abundance stall in the Artisan Food Tent at the Hanwell Carnival this Saturday from 12noon – 6pm. We’ll have elderflower cordial, lemon and elderflower marmalade, and a selection of chutneys on sale. All our produce is made from locally sourced ingredients and hand-made in small batches.
There’s loads more to enjoy at the carnival:
- craft tent
- dog show
- children’s activities
- live music
- sports zone
- animal zone …and much more
Full details here