Image above: Cllr Ron Mushiso with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Chiswick councillor joins UK community leaders and Christian faith representatives at event hosted by the Prime Minister
Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillor Cllr Ron Mushiso attended an Advent reception at Downing Street on Tuesday (29 November), where he met the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Cllr Mushiso was invited both as an RE teacher and as a local councillor. He teaches PE at St Benedict’s independent Roman Catholic school, with Religious Education as his second subject. Others on guest list were people in community leadership positions around the UK, representatives from charities and the Christian faith.
At the event, the Prime Minister spoke of the importance of coming together as families and as communities in the leading up to Christmas. Cllr Mushiso said he reminded those present of the difficulties faced over recent years when many were unsure how to celebrate during the festive season in the midst of a pandemic.
Cllr Mushiso later got a chance to meet the PM personally and hand a Chiswick Flower Market card to one of his staff. He later Tweeted:
“As a teacher of RE about to start the topic of Advent with my year 7 class, it was an honour to share this moment with our #PrimeMinister and leading figures of the Christian faith as we mark the festive period before Christmas. It is a time for unity, compassion and humility.”
Image above: Cllr Ron Mushisho outside of Downing Street holding a Chiswick Flower Market card
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ronatnumber10xmas.jpeg420630Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-30 15:08:092022-12-05 23:32:24Cllr Ron Mushiso meets Rishi Sunak at Downing Street Advent reception
Residents vent about Tyre Extinguisher protest group
On Tuesday morning (29 November) owners of SUVs in the Grove Park Area of Chiswick woke to find their tyres had been deflated by the environmental protest group The Tyre Extinguishers.
The Chiswick Calendar has spoken to some of the owners of the targeted vehicles who told us they are angry not just because they were inconvenienced, but because the stunt was dangerous and misguided, and also ironic, since the perpetrators appeared to target some less polluting vehicles while leaving some of the more polluting ones.
Tyres on 30 cars were let down across Whitehall Gardens, Whitehall Park Road and Wolseley Gardens, just south of the A4, on Monday night. Some vehicles only had one tyre deflated while others had multiple. All had a yellow leaflet attached to their windshield by the group, explaining what they had done.
‘We have deflated one or more of your tyres,” the leaflet reads, ‘You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car. We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others.’
The Tyre Extinguishers are an international group who specifically focus on SUVs because of the pollution they create. SUVs are estimated to be the second largest contributor to the increase in global carbon emissions from 2010 to 2018 and if they were a country, they would be the 6th largest carbon emitter in the world.
Image above: A Range Rover with The Tyre Extinguisher’s leaflet on its windscreen; the car’s tyre
Resident had to use older, more polluting vehicle for journey after finding out tyres were deflated
Reactions from those whose cars were tampered with range from an irritated shrug of the shoulders to an angry defence of why they own an SUV. Mark Corney said he was very angry after finding out what happened to his wife’s car, a Range Rover Discovery.
“The irony is,” he said, “that car has got this additive called AdBlue that nullifies the emissions. It’s absolutely fine to drive around and meets the current emissions restrictions. Both of the offside tyres were let down and they put lentils in the cap, so it will constantly cause disruption”.
Image above: Mrs Corney’s SUV on Whitehall Park Rd
AdBlue is a diesel exhaust fluid mixture used in all heavy-duty diesel engines produced after January 2010. It reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide, a harmful gas that can damage the human respiratory system, by up to 90%. AdBlue is said to be ‘highly effective’ at reducing hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions by by 50-90% and particulate emissions by 30-50%.
“She then had to go to the mother-in-law’s at the end of the road to borrow her car, which doesn’t meet the emissions standards, paid £12.50 to drive the car… I mean seriously?”
Mark noticed the yellow notice on the windscreen while on his way to work. Initially dismissing it as a flyer related to something else, he considered taking it off the windscreen to post it through the letterbox. “I’m really glad I didn’t,” Mark said, “because if my wife hadn’t seen it, she was taking our daughter to school. She was late, got in the car, saw the thing and realised the tyres were flat.
The deflated tyres were quickly fixed after neighbours found out via WhatsApp and offered to share a pump with those affected. While an inconvenience that can be quickly resolved, Mark said he worries one day someone will not notice there be a serious accident.
“There’s a significant safety concern with that type of behaviour. If someone hadn’t realised, had attempted to drive and wasn’t familiar with what was going on with the vehicle, they could have had an accident. There’s kids crossing roads around here, all sorts. I think it’s dangerous, I think it’s illegal, I think it’s unsafe. I think they should be strung up.”
Image above: stock image of a Toyota Yaris – a hybrid SUV
“Mindless vandalism”
One Grove Park resident, who preferred not to be named in case he was targeted again, said the Tyre Extinguisher protest was just “mindless vandalism”. He and his wife have two children, which he told me is the reason they need a larger car.
“Our tyres were deflated despite owning a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, which is obviously more socially conscious, and something they say on their website they won’t target. So it was a bit more of the mindless vandalism side of you ask me.”
Newer hybrid SUV models, which partially run on electric, release fewer emissions than their counterparts. But a 2020 report by Transport & Environment, described as Europe’s leading clean transport campaign group, found even the newest hybrid models pollute the climate far more than their manufacturers claim, even when starting with a full battery.
The anonymous resident felt the group wasn’t taking the right steps. Other cars were targeted on his road, but tyres on vehicles which polluted more were left untouched.
“The best example is that our car was targeted but there’s like a Bentley which is sitting there, a sports car, a V12 which was unscathed, there’s old SUVs which are unscathed. It just seems a bit random… it doesn’t make any sense.”
Image above: an targeted SUV at the junction of Wolseley Gardens and Whitehall Park Rd, the car’s tyre
“I can drive whatever car I want”
Deborah Liset, who lives on Wolseley Gardens, said she felt “very frustrated” after finding one the tyres on her Land Rover had been let down on Tuesday morning.
“I can drive whatever car I want,” Deborah told The Chiswick Calendar, “and actually I make a conscious effort of cycling and walking far more than I used to anyway before lockdown.”
“If they have an issue, I’d rather them come to the door but clearly they hide behind these sheets [the leaflets]. Equally, these sheets come from trees which they use a lot of clearly. You’d be better off if you want to save energy and save all this climate and save everything, why are you printing out sheets to put on windscreens when you could come to a person’s door?”
Though not every SUV or 4×4 on Wolseley Gardens was targeted, Deborah said “quite a number of people” had had their tyres deflated regardless of whether their model of car was new or old. The Tyre Extinguishers’ process of targeting vehicles confused her a bit, because she said her neighbour’s newer 4×4 BMW was left unscathed.
“We’ve got a great neighbourhood here” she said. “I asked the neighbours on the WhatsApp group if anyone had an air compressor and a neighbour did. We’ve since gone and bought one because I know they’ll probably come back at some stage… It didn’t impact us as much, but I’m sure it did others who had to be places be it meetings or emergencies.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image4-1-e1669825359622.jpg549919Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-30 14:08:392022-12-07 09:10:19Angry Grove Park residents react to their tyres being deflated
Image above: Car targeted by the ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ in Grove Park on the night of Monday 28 November
SUV owners find their tyres let down
Owners of SUVs in the Grove Park area of Chiswick woke up this morning to find their tyres had been let down.
Members of the group who call themselves the ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ let down the tyres of SUVs in Whitehall Gardens, Whitehall Park Road and Wolseley Gardens just south of the A4 on the night on Monday 28 November. They claim to have let down the tyres of 30 cars in Chiswick.
They left yellow leaflets on the cars explaining why they had done it. The leaflet reads:
‘We have deflated one or more of your tyres. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car.
‘We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others.
‘Car companies try and convince us we need massive cars. But SUVs and 4x4s are a disaster for our climate. SUVs are the second-largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade – more than the entire aviation industry.’
The leaflet goes on to talk about climate change, and says if the car owner does not care about the effects of climate change on far away places – drought, hurricanes and flooding causing forced migration and starvation – then they should think about the effect their car has on their neighbours:
‘SUVs cause more air pollution than smaller cars. SUVs are more likely to kill people in collisions.”
This is not the first time SUV owners in Chiswick have been hit. In March Homefield Road off Chiswick High Rd suffered the same treatment.
The Tyre Extinguishers are an international protest group who carry out similar protests across many European countries. Last night’s action was part of a worldwide protest in which members also hit targets in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and the USA.
Altogether the group says it deflated the tyres of nearly 900 vehicles. Other areas of the UK where they struck were Kensington, Clapham, Islington, Hammersmith and Camden in London, as well as several areas of Leeds, Bristol and Dundee.
Update 5 December – response from the Metropolitan Police
A spokesperson for the Met told The Chiswick Calendar:
“We are aware of a statement by Tyre Extinguisher alleging damage to vehicles at various locations in London by them.
“We ask that reports of this nature are made through the Met’s website and we will assess these to establish whether offences have been committed.”
He told us the police would regard letting down someone’s tyres as ‘vehicle interference’ rather than criminal damage.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image0-1.jpg1008756Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-29 09:52:172022-12-07 10:32:29‘Tyre Extinguishers’ hit cars parked in Grove Park
A football World Cup and a Budget, what better subjects could Mihir Bose, former sports news editor at the BBC, Sunday Times Economics Editor David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley wish for, to talk about?
Let’s just say, in a pub quiz if either of those subjects came up, you would want these guys on your team.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.png00Three Old Hackshttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngThree Old Hacks2022-11-29 06:26:532022-11-29 09:07:02Episode 28: A World Cup and a Budget
Cricket authors (and obsessives) Peter Oborne and Richard Heller launched a podcast early in 2020 to help deprived listeners endure a world without cricket. They’re no longer deprived of cricket, but still chat regularly about cricket topics with different guests each week – cricket writers, players, administrators and fans – hoping to keep a good line and length but with occasional wides into other subjects.
Few sights in cricket’s history have been more thrilling than the great West Indian fast bowler Wes Hall in the 1960s bounding in from his long run. He is now Sir Wesley Hall and the subject of a fine new biography Answering The Call by Paul Akeroyd. He creates the same thrill in his spell as the guest in the latest cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller. In Peter’s absence, Roger Alton again faces the bowling.
Sir Wesley speaks of his boyhood determination to get into Combermere High School in Barbados, a great nursery of cricket talent from Frank Worrell onwards (and of other talents, including Rihanna). 1-4 minutes Amazingly, he played all his early cricket as a wicketkeeper-batsman: one expert judge said that he did not run well enough to be a fast bowler. He reveals how “Lady Luck” turned him into one in his late teens. His later career, which earned 192 Test wickets, mostly top-order ones, is almost entirely self-taught. 4-8 minutes
He took encouragement from an early encounter with Tom Graveney (one of the few batsmen to hook him off the front foot) and the mentorship of the great Everton Weekes, and was a surprise selection, aged 19, for the West Indies tour of England in 1957. It was a troubled tour and he was passed over for all the Tests (wrongly, said Fred Trueman). However, he made a big effort to go sightseeing – after learning more at school about the history of England than that of Barbados and the West Indies. 9-13 minutes
He describes the inspiration he received from his mother, on his return, to dedicate himself to achieve the physical and mental strength for a fast bowler. It paid off in a transformational tour with West Indies to India and Pakistan – where he lengthened his run-up to the 30 yards or so which would give him both his speed and his aura. 14-21 minutes
Sir Wesley had an especially strong bond with Frank Worrell. He gives new background to the campaign to make him captain of the West Indies, notably on the unselfish attitude of his predecessor, Gerry Alexander. He expresses Worrell’s philosophy and methods in the role, especially his openness to each one of his players. 22-26 minutes
Sir Wesley bowled two of the most epic overs in Test cricket history, in which all four results were possible at the start. He gives unique personal testimony about his experience in each one.
In the first one (of eight balls) at Brisbane in 1960, Australia needed six runs to win with three wickets in hand. He describes taking one of them with a delivery Frank Worrell told him not to bowl, his feelings at failing to achieve an easy run-out and causing a colleague to drop a regulation catch, the pointed humour of Worrell’s advice not to bowl a no-ball and the final two dramatic run-outs which produced the first tied Test match. 27-38 minutes
He shares other highlights of that Australia tour and then speaks of the second great over, at Lord’s in 1963, the one in which Colin Cowdrey walked out to the non-striker’s end with a broken wrist as the last man in. Sir Wesley kept to his policy of not bowling bouncers at tailenders; Cowdrey’s often-overlooked partner, David Allen, took all the remainder of the strike and kept out his well-pitched up deliveries. He rates that match as his best performance – he bowled continuously at full pace for over three hours. 39-43 minutes
With deep feeling, Sir Wesley describes his happy time as a Lancashire League professional in Accrington in the early 1960s, where he befriended and mentored one boy astonished by his first sight of a black person and coached a talented 12-year-old slow left-arm bowler called David Lloyd. He describes a return to Accrington five years ago, and a moving re-encounter with his regular opening partner, then desperately ill. 46-54 minutes
He expresses his philosophy that cricket statistics always meant less to him than presenting himself through cricket as a good human being. The whole conversation shows why he was one of the most feared but also one of the best loved cricketers of his generation.
Peter, Richard and Roger are delighted to put out the appeal again for the MCC Foundation, the MCC’s charity, in the week in which all contributions are automatically doubled. They will be used in support of the wonderful Alsama project in Lebanon which has brought cricket to war-damaged children and to extend the Foundation’s efforts to bring cricket to children in deprived areas at home. To learn more about the appeal and contribute please use this link. https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002MqZHKAA3?dm_i=50AG,O5TN,957ZD,2X7VO,1
Roger Alton, guest host for this episode, was formerly editor of The Observer and The Independent, and is currently the Sports Columnist for The Spectator.
Peter Oborne has been the chief political commentator for the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, a maker of several documentaries and written and broadcast for many different media. He is the author of a biography of Basil D’Oliveira and of Wounded Tiger, a history of Pakistan cricket, both of which won major awards.
Richard Heller was a long-serving humorous columnist on The Mail on Sunday and more briefly, on The Times. He worked in the movie business in the United States and the UK, including a brief engagement on a motion picture called Cycle Sluts Versus The Zombie Ghouls. He is the author of two cricket-themed novels A Tale of Ten Wickets and The Network. He appeared in two Mastermind finals: in the first his special subject was the life of Sir Gary Sobers.
Oborne & Heller cricketing partnership
Jointly, he and Peter produced White On Green, celebrating the drama of Pakistan cricket, including the true story of the team which lost a first-class match by an innings and 851 runs.
Peter and Richard have played cricket with and against each other for a variety of social sides, including Parliament’s team, the Lords and Commons, and in over twenty countries including India, Pakistan, the United States, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, Australia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and Morocco.
The Podcast is produced by Bridget Osborne and James Willcocks at The Chiswick Calendar.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.png00Peter Oborne & Richard Hellerhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngPeter Oborne & Richard Heller2022-11-29 06:19:562022-11-30 19:32:02Episode 107: Another thrilling spell from fast bowling legend Wes Hall
Image above: Concrete barriers and metal doorways at Chiswick Business Park; photograph Iran International
Concrete barriers, which can withstand impact from a 7.5 tonne vehicle travelling 50Mph, among new measures
Additional security fortifications have been installed at Chiswick Business Park in response to ongoing concerns for the safety of journalists working at Iran International television studios, after “severe and credible” death threats were made against them. On 17 December, the Metropolitan Police, working closely with MI5, responded with a show of force to protect the 100 or so employees working in the building.
The armoured vehicles have remained on site while concrete barriers, metal fences and security checkpoints were erected on Saturday (26 November). There is police presence at the security checkpoints, as well as security personnel employed by Enjoy-Work, the company which manages the site.
Image above: Vehicles queue at security point at Chiswick Business Park; photograph Iran International
Pedestrian visitors are required to walk through the metal doorways separating the concrete barriers. The barriers are built to withstand an impact from a 7.5-tonne vehicle travelling at 50 miles per hour.
Similar barriers have been deployed in other UK cities as a protective measure at European style Christmas markets to prevent terror attacks using vehicles as weapons.
Images above: Stanmore Way security checkpoint, concrete barriers at the High Rd entrance; photographs Iran International
440 and 70 buses no longer stopping at site
Metal gates have been erected around the entire building (Building 11) which houses Iran International’s studios. Security staff from Enjoy-Work check everyone’s clearance before allowing anyone inside. The footbridge leading to Chiswick Park is open for pedestrian use, but a barrier has been put at the end of the bridge close to the residential area.
There are security checkpoints for vehicles travelling into and out of the park at both the Chiswick High Rd and Bollo Lane / Stanhope Way entrances. New measures at these barriers for vehicle access include vehicle registration and physical checks. “Various other measures” have been implemented to check delivery and other vehicles which need access more thoroughly.
The 440 and 70 buses will not be stopping at the site until further notice.
Image above: Inside Iran International’s newsroom; photograph Matt Smith
Journalists carry as on as normal in face of intimidation
Iran International has described security measures as one of the largest counter terrorism operations put in place for a non-public organisation in the UK in recent years.
Journalists working at the Chiswick studios have been targeted for their coverage of the recent protests in Iran. Their broadcasts are watched over the internet by Iranian nationals critical of the government and as a result the TV station has been proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation.
UK intelligence intercepted plans to attack the site being discussed and hostile surveillance was spotted outside both the offices of Iran International and the homes of some of its staff.
The surveillance has been carried out by both experienced Iranian state operatives and less experienced, locally recruited people. In one example given to The Chiswick Calendar, two men and a woman with a pram were taking photographs of the building on a cold night at 11pm.
Image above: Inside Iran International’s newsroom; photograph Matt Smith
While the threat is not expected to go away any time soon, workers at Iran International’s studio seemed relaxed on Monday when I visited. Visiting during lunch time I was escorted around the studio for a look around with Adam Baillie, one of the senior studio producers.
Seeing the security measures in person is at first a bit overwhelming, but staff at Iran International seem to have acclimatised to the changes. They remain undeterred in the face of intimidation from Tehran and praised the support the support they have received from the police and intelligence services, which one worker described as the Government effectively saying “you will not threaten British citizens”.
Image above: Chiswick High Rd security checkpoint at Chiswick Business Park; photograph Iran International
Residents and workers say they have been left out of the loop and are disappointed at lack of communication
Residents living close to Chiswick Business Park and workers from other companies have told us they have been “left out of the loop” as security has continued to tighten around the site.
Chiswick Business Park hosts 50 companies and over 9,000 people work there. Some workers in other companies said they would be based from home “until further notice” in response to the increased police presence. Others said on Monday they would be returning to the office at some point this week, while some said they had never left.
One told us the new security arrangements weren’t clear and someone had been “barked at” by a police officer apparently for walking the wrong way.
But Phil Deans, President and Vice Chancellor of Richmond American University, based at Chiswick Business Park in the building next to Iran International, told us:
“There has been no significant impact on Richmond American University London from the security measures which have been put in place over the last week at Chiswick Park. We are continuing to work and teach as normal at the University.
“Enjoy-Work have been very good in keeping us updated on developments, which have included reminders to book parking and to ensure that guests should be registered, all of which were standard practice here before. We have not been advised of any increase in risk so the message from the Police remains: please be alert but not alarmed.”
Residents we spoke to say they are avoiding using Chiswick Park entirely and are advising their children and others to do the same, although public access is not being restricted, because they are worried and uncertain whether its safe to do so.
The general consensus among residents, according to one who preferred not to be named, is that they would have appreciated being kept better informed by Enjoy-Work, who have been “lax” about communicating with them about the security arrangements and what they might mean for the area.
The Chiswick Calendar understands that the annual Christmas Fair, which usually has stall holders and from outside the business park and attracts the general public, will not go ahead this year.
When asked for comment by The Chiswick Calendar, a spokesperson for Enjoy-Work said:
“As this is a police matter, we suggest contacting the Met Police directly with any questions regarding the measures at the Park.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image5.jpg384512Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-29 00:02:002022-11-29 00:23:25Chiswick Business Park fortified against potential terror attacks
Image above: Network Rail engineers work to fix Barnes Railway Bridge; photograph Kristi Tange
South Western Railway say services should be back to normal next Monday
The railway line between Barnes Bridge and Kew Bridge will reopen by “no later than 5 December”, say South Western Railway as Network Rail engineers carry out repairs to the Grade II listed Barnes Railway Bridge.
South Western Railway closed the Victorian bridge last Tuesday (22 November) after regular inspections revealed defects to four of the 86 steel pins, which hold the structural girders in place and support the railway tracks above. Since then, no trains have been running between Barnes Bridge and Hounslow.
SWR said last week they needed to wait for parts to be specially manufactured to repair the bridge, due to the uniqueness of the Victorian structure.
The location of Barnes Bridge, which spans the River Thames, means it has not been easy for engineers to access. They are using a combination of scaffolding, abseilers and boats to reach underneath the bridge to make the repairs. SWR are also working closely with the Port of London Authority to minimise the impact to boat traffic on the Thames.
This means trains are currently still unable to run between Feltham and Barnes. As a result SWR are amending some services to provide an hourly service between Waterloo and Kew Bridge via Hounslow.
Image above: Network Rail engineers work to fix Barnes Railway Bridge; photograph Kristi Tange
Which trains and buses are still running?
Until further notice Hounslow Loop services (anti-clockwise) from London Waterloo via Hounslow and Twickenham are cancelled. Hounslow Loop services (clockwise) from London Waterloo are terminating at Hounslow.
London Waterloo to Weybridge hourly services at 52 minutes past the hour will run as scheduled to Barnes and will then call at Twickenham, Whitton, Hounslow, Syon Lane, Brentford and Kew Bridge, where they will terminate.
For onward travel to Barnes Bridge and Chiswick stations, tickets will be accepted on TfL buses between Feltham and Barnes via Hounslow; London Underground via any reasonable route and London Overground between Richmond and Kew Gardens.
To travel to Waterloo Station via Richmond, commuters who usually use Chiswick Station can get the 190 bus at bus stop Y on Staveley Road to Richmond Station, where trains to Waterloo are scheduled to arrive within every ten minutes. Depending on traffic, this alternative route takes up to 70 minutes starting from Chiswick Station.
SWR told The Chiswick Calendar there are no replacement buses operating as there is ticket acceptance by TFL on local buses and Underground/Overground services. They said it was not possible for any replacement trains to service Chiswick, as infrastructure required to turn trains around does not exist there.
Additional services will run from Hounslow to London Waterloo at every hour at 10 and 40 minutes past the hour, calling at Twickenham only. London Waterloo to Weybridge hourly services at 22 minutes past the hour will be diverted via Twickenham, calling additionally at Richmond and Twickenham. Weybridge to London Waterloo hourly services at three minutes past the hour will be diverted via Twickenham.
Image above: Network Rail engineers work to fix Barnes Bridge; photograph Kristi Tange
Network Rail “working incredibly hard” to reopen railway
Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said:
“I’m really sorry for the disruption this closure is causing to our customers. I’d like to reassure everyone that we’re working incredibly hard to get the railway open as quickly as possible.
“Because the bridge spans the River Thames, it’s incredibly difficult to access the underside of the bridge. Before we can even begin the repairs, we need to install scaffolding and rigging and the replacement pins need to be made to order specifically for this bridge.
“It’s a very complex engineering job and until we start installing the new pins there are still some unknowns. We expect to reopen the railway by no later than December 5, however we’re looking at every opportunity possible to bring the reopening date forward
“I’d like to thank everyone, including local residents, for their patience while we carry out this vital work.”
Peter Williams, SWR’s customer and commercial director, said:
“We’re pleased the railway will be open by no later than December 5 and we look forward to resuming service to these stations.
Network Rail engineers work to fix Barnes Railway Bridge; photograph Kristi Tange
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
A Christmas tree was erected in Chiswick High Rd last week, resplendent with lights. We have Hounslow Council to thank for it. There has been no fanfare, no big switch-on, no press release even, but they have provided trees in different areas around the borough of Hounslow.
Are there going to be lights in the street and is there going to be a ceremonial switching on of them? The Chiswick Calendar has received several emails from people asking about it.
We asked the events organiser at George IV. In pre-Covid days the lights were always switched on with great pomp and circumstance from outside the pub by the Mayor of Hounslow, with the Fuller’s dray horses on show, music and mulled wine from the pub on the last Thursday of November, which would have been last Thursday – but this year they say they have not heard anything about it from the Council.
They have to apply for a special licence to sell drinks outside at events like these, and if there is to be a ceremonial switching on, they will not now have time to do that.
We asked the Council, who told us Cllr Joanna Biddolph is taking the lead on that. We asked Cllr Joanna Biddolph, who said as soon as she had details, she would let us know.
As well as the provision of Christmas trees around the borough, LB Hounslow have made community grants available for festive celebrations. The Council told us:
“As part of our funding for festive events in the borough, we allocated up to £1,000 to Chiswick after Cllr Biddolph asked for funding. The funding will be used for festive purposes with the details revealed shortly.
“Cllr Biddolph has funding from another source for an additional tree which will be installed soon.”
So, watch this space, it sounds like we will be getting Christmas lights and another Christmas tree, but for now it’s just one of those Christmas secrets.
Meanwhile on Sunday 4 December the Chiswick Flower Market have plans for the biggest market yet, with activities for children and live music from many of the schools and performing arts groups in Chiswick.
They are putting lights around the Gingko tree outside what used to be the police station, with decorations designed by students at Chiswick School.
See what they have planned for the Chiswick Flower Market Christmas market here:
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
Image above: Chiswick Flower Market December 2021; photograph Anna Kunst
Biggest flower market yet, with music, the vegan market addition, Christmas lights and activities for children
The Chiswick Flower Market is holding its biggest market yet this Sunday (4 December) – 60 plant and vegan market stalls, with the Flower market where it usually is in Old Market Place and the Vegan market extending right down the High Rd.
As well as plants and Christmas decorations from stallholders and food and drink from local vendors, there will be free children’s theatre at the George IV at 11am and 12.30pm, free arts & crafts sessions and the big man himself, Father Christmas will be putting in an appearance with little gifts for children, from 11.30 to 1pm and 1.30 to 3pm.
There is also a full schedule of music performances lasting all day from ten groups representing schools, children’s performance groups and adult music societies. The Ginko tree outside what used to be the police station is being decorated with Christmas lights which will come on once it gets dark. Students from Chiswick School have designed special decorations.
Image above: Chiswick Flower Market December 2021; photograph Anna Kunst
Plants, flowers, Christmas decorations
First the plants and flowers. The market will be overflowing with colour and scent to fill your spirits and homes with flowers, plants and natural design. Some of the best suppliers in London take stalls at the market, supplying seasonal flowers and plants, many of them British grown.
It is a great place to come to buy Christmas decorations – silver willow, door wreaths, holly and mistletoe, all sorts of natural decorations and traditional poinsettias.
The Fire Station will be serving mulled wine, and there will be be hot crepes on sale.
Images above: Chiswick Flower Market December 2021; photographs Anna Kunst
Vegan Market
The Chiswick Flower Market will be joined by the Vegan Market, which will run along the south side of the High Rd, bringing together a variety of vegan street food vendors, artisan bakers and craft brewers, together with some more durable Christmas gift ideas from ethical jewellers, sustainable chandlers and local artists.
Workshops
Alongside the market, traders will be running workshops.
Sara Ward from Hen Corner in Brentford will be holding a Christmas wreath-making workshop from 2-3.30pm, price £45.
Image above: Students from Chiswick School’s steel band from the Christmas market 2021; photograph Anna Kunst
Live music
Most of the primary and secondary schools in Chiswick, and several adult choirs and bands, including the United Brass Social Club, will be playing festive music to entertain your Christmas shopping at two locations – the area by the Hogarth statue and the Christmas tree, and the area around the Ginko tree, outside what used to be the police station.
Programme
Gingko Stage
10.30 William Hogarth School
11.00 Ravenscourt Park Prep School
11.30 CTA Performing Arts
12.00 Strand-on-the-Green School
12.30 Chiswick School
13.00 CTA Performing Arts (dancers)
13.30 ArtsEd
14.00 Belmont School
14.30 Chiswick School
Hogarth Stage
12.00 West London Choir
12.30 Chiswick Rock Choir
13.00 Brass United Social Club
13.30 West London Choir
14.00 Chiswick Rock Choir
14.30 – 1500 Brass United Social Club
Image above: Really Big Pants theatre company
Children’s theatre and activities
The Flower Market is offering free craft activities with Maggie & Rose, and two free children’s theatre shows in George IV’s Boston Room – HO HO HO (A REALLY BIG NON-PANTO SHOW). A ‘heart-warming’ and interactive show for all children by the Really Big Pants Company (11am and 12.30pm).
Come early to help make paper chains, and take away a craft gift template at the end. Book here to be sure of your place or just turn up.
Father Christmas will also be visiting the market with little gifts for children, from 11.30 to 1pm and 1.30 to 3pm.
Image above: Christmas lighting designed by students at Chiswick School
Lighting up the Ginko tree
As it starts to get dark the final act will be to light up the Ginko tree outside what used to be the police station. Students at Chiswick School have created a specially commissioned and designed lighting display for the occasion.
Chiswick Flower Market is on Sunday 4 December from 9am – 3.30pm in Old Market Place, Chiswick High Road, London W4 2DR.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dec2021-4348-1.jpg6831024Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 22:17:222022-11-28 22:21:46Start your Christmas at the Chiswick Flower Market, Sunday 4 December
Image above: Leah St Luce as Jack in the Lyric, Hammersmith’s production of Jack and the Beanstalk
High energy all-singing, all dancing entertainment
The Lyric, Hammersmith’s production of Jack and the Beanstalk is an assault on the senses from beginning to end – and I mean that in a good way. It is a very high energy production with lots of singing and dancing and audience participation. I know that’s what you’d expect from a panto, but I have seen many a pantomime in my time and this was louder, more energetic and just more full-on than most.
The story went AWOL in the first half, but nobody seemed to mind. The audience on Saturday evening (26 November) absolutely loved it, screaming their approval throughout. It didn’t much matter what the characters were supposed to be trying to achieve or why, as each and every one was entertaining.
Image above: Emmanuel Akwafo as Dame Trott
I took two boys – Jesse (13) and Jason (9). Jesse’s favourite character was Dame Trott, aka the Milkmaid, played by Emmanuel Akwafo (Eastenders, The Crown), respledent in pink (mostly, there were many costume changes), while Jason’s favourite was Simon, Jack’s little brother, played by Finlay McGuigan (various productions for the Hull Truck Company).
“Why?” I asked. “Because they were funny”.
Of course, why else?!
Image above: Finlay McGuigan as Simon, centre stage with Leah St Luce as Jack
It’s hard to pick a favourite as the cast are all strong. Leah St Luce gives a flawless performance as Jack (stage credits include The Lion King, Dick Whittington and Mama Mia in the West End).
Maddison Bulleyment (stage credits include Six, the Musical UK tour and Bridges of Maddison County at the Munier Chocolate Factory) plays Jill, the hero, Jack’s best friend and the character who pulls them all together and keeps them on task.
They have a beautiful voice which came into its own in their rendition of Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever. Their character is the most empathetic; you would want them as your best friend.
Jodie Jacobs is great as Fleshcreep, the evil villain. I remember her from Dick Whittington a few years ago, she’s an old panto hand, well able to ad-lib when things go slightly off piste and clearly having lots of fun playing the baddie.
Image above: Jodie Jacobs as Fleshcreep
They were helped by the audience. One little girl sitting just infront of me was completely invested, taking Fleshcreep’s mischief making very seriously and telling her so in no uncertain terms.
The band were excellent too, playing their versions of numbers by Beyoncé and Lizzo as well as Billie Eilish.
This is, according to some, the ‘coolest’ pantomime in London. Lyric, Hammersmith, has a habit of sharing the honours among the cast and bringing on new young talent rather than relying on someone you recognise off the telly to hold it all together. They also had a totally different take on the giant, but I won’t spoil it by telling you what that is.
Image above: Cast of Jack and the Beanstalk
Director Nicholai La Barrie told me the Lyric placed great emphasis on giving actors opportunities and bringing on talent:
“The Lyric always wants to be able to give people their first shot at having a part or taking a lead role.”
Finlay McGuigan makes his pantomime debut in this production. Leah St Luce was recently nominated for ‘Best Performance in a Play’ in the UK Theatre Awards. Emmanuel Akwafo was also nominated in the Black British Theatre Awards for ‘Outstanding Performance in a Play’ for Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, at the Royal Court.
Nicholai La Barrie has been Associate Director at the Lyric, having previously been Resident Director on The Tina Turner Musical.
Image above: Maddison Bulleyment, Finlay McGuigan, Emmanuel Akwafo and Leah St Luce.
Where’s ghost? BEHIND YOU !!!
Jack and the Beanstalk opened on 19 November and runs until Saturday 7 January. Book tickets on the Lyric’s website: lyric.co.uk
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Jack-and-the-Beanstalk.jpg6621291Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 18:13:352022-11-28 18:31:40Jack and the Beanstalk, Lyric Hammersmith – Review
Image above:The Arts Society Chiswick members looking at entries to the Koestler Arts exhibition
The Arts Society Chiswick – Catering for catholic tastes: everything from the Atlas mountains in art to Wind in the Willows
The Atlas Mountains of Morocco, as painted by French artist Jacques Majorelle, two Great Hellenistic cities: Alexandria and Pergamon and the Jewellery of René Lalique are all part of the programme of lectures organised by The Arts Society Chiswick (TASCH) for 2023.
The topics are deliberately wide-ranging and diverse, to suit different tastes and the lecturers are chosen from a pool of speakers who have all had to audition with the national Arts Society to be considered, so they are of a reliably high standard.
Other topics for the coming year include: ‘The Wind in the Willows Revisited through its illustrators’, the work of architect Norman Fowler, ‘Britain’s Archistar’, the Carry On films and the Statues of Easter Island.
‘The Arts Society’s core belief is that the arts are essential to enriching people’s lives. For the past 50 years, it has been committed to opening the world of the arts for everyone, connecting people to the arts and to each other’.
The lectures are held at POSK, the Polish Centre in Hammersmith, which has a good restaurant and bar, but during the pandemic meetings had to be held online and with fewer costs to cover, the society racked up a small profit, which it is now spending on a range of worthy causes, particularly sponsoring young artists.
Images above: Art works by young offenders at Feltham
Inmates at Feltham Young Offenders Institution and nursery children among those to benefit
Feltham Young Offenders Institution is one beneficiary. The society has just given money to Koestler Arts, which encourages young people in the criminal justice system to change their lives by participating in the arts. They have sponsored a display of art at the Supreme Court by inmates in prisons and secure hospitals, including Feltham: 29 pieces in all, including photography, woodwork, drawing, spray painting, poetry and collage.
The Arts Society Chiswick’s funding was matched by funds from The Arts Society Patricia May Memorial Fund and the work is on show at the Southbank Centre until 18 December. Five Pieces of work from Feltham Young Offenders were chosen and the artists given £25 each.
“Having people show an interest in their work and having it publicly recognised like this is a huge confidence booster” says Caroline Lees, the committee member who looks after Young Arts for the Chiswick branch.
Image above: Woodbridge Park education centre nursery garden
The society has also given money to the Woodbridge Park education service, which caters for young children not able to be educated in a mainstream setting and has centres in various parts of Hounslow. In 2022 The TASCH bought them two Black & Decker portable workbenches and a set of tools for woodworking.
The society has supported Hounslow Music Service, which provides instrumental and vocal lessons to learners of all ages and abilities, working alongside schools across the borough. This year they sponsored a trip for the Junior Brass Band to perform at the National Youth Brass Band Championships in Derby.
Images above: Students at Hounslow Music Service
A Symphony in Blue – January lecture
They have also given funds to Magic Lantern, an arts education charity that uses great works of art to help children observe and explore the world around them.
The Arts Society Chiswick has been going for 15 years now, holding lectures on the second Thursday every month except December and August. It also organises art trips for members, including a foreign trip each year, which in 2023 will be to Lisbon.
The January lecture will be ‘A Symphony in Blue – The Artist, the Couturier and “Atlas, the Most Fabulous Mountaine of all Africke”, discussing the Atlas Mountains and the paintings of Jacques Majorelle.
The first visit of the year will be to Tate Modern on Thursday 19 January, for tea/coffee from 11am, followed at 11.30am by a one-hour introductory exhibition lecture with an expert Tate guide, 12.30 buffet lunch and timed tickets to the Cézanne exhibition.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Koestler-exhibition-1_web.jpg15841189Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 14:51:582022-11-28 15:01:39The Arts Society Chiswick supports young artists in West London
Image above: Students at the Richmond American University, based at Chiswick Business Park
Can’t stop the small boats? Then stop the students
Guest blog by Phil Deans, President and Vice Chancellor of Richmond American University, based at Chiswick Business Park
The fixation on limiting immigration among some in government is threatening profound damage to a vital sector of the UK economy and to the UK’s soft power.
Apparently incapable of tackling the structural issues that see people wanting to live and work in the UK, an easy target has appeared which would create an illusion of success – reducing the headline immigration figure at the cost of destroying the £26bn-a-year international student market.
Last week the Office for National Statistics released figures on UK immigration, which showed an all-time high net migration figure of over 500,000. Much of the increase was driven directly by government action to support Ukrainian and Afghan refugees, new rules for Hong Kong residents, and recruitment into the NHS, as well as post-COVID movements.
What seized the attention of some though was the record 476,000 visas issued to overseas students. Within hours, noises emerged that there should be increased control of international student numbers, restrictions on accompanying family members, limits to post-study work opportunities, and restricting international students to small number of “high quality” universities.
This followed on from hostile comments from Suella Braverman in October (in her first incarnation as Home Secretary under PM Truss) calling for a clampdown on international student numbers.
This attack on international students and the university sector is perverse and damaging. Our universities are a jewel in the crown of the UK economy and British society.
International league tables routinely show British universities crowding the top 10 and the top 100, far out of proportion to the financial base and state support of their international competitors. The quality of UK higher education is not just at the top, but pervasive throughout the sector. It is rigorously monitored by an independent body, the Quality Assurance Agency, that is the model for the rest of the world.
A student coming to the UK, no matter where they enrol, can be confident of receiving a world-class education whether it is in philosophy, physiotherapy or physics. The Home Office, through the UKVI, is remorseless in its control and monitoring of international students – Home Office figures for 2020 show that at least 98% of foreign students left on time, with the likely figure even higher. Rogue students, like rogue institutions, are vanishingly rare.
Image above: Students at the Richmond American University, based at Chiswick Business Park
International students pay UK residents £390 per person annually
International students generate an annual surplus (after use of public services) of £26bn, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). Even the most cautious and least welcoming Brits rarely twitch their curtains at foreign students. The Daily Mail, not normally a supporter of incomers, was prepared to accept an annual £390 per person benefit across the UK from international students.
Tax-payer support is negligible, and possible costs to the NHS are covered by an up-front payment from each student. This is before we consider how many students will, on graduation, contribute directly to the NHS as staff or as researchers finding the next generation of therapies and treatments.
Furthermore, international students are distributed across the UK and are able to bring both money and skills to areas identified as part of the ‘levelling up’ agenda. International students are permitted to work part-time, so those that do work are not in the grey economy, but contribute directly to the UK’s tax and national insurance income, and fill vital gaps in the labour market.
Image above: Richmond American University
International students’ tuition fees keep university departments open
International students contribute. They don’t cost. And they contribute much more than money. The University sector does not ask for government handouts or take finances from other parts of the economy that are in need. Our international students more than pay their way, with their tuition subsidising UK students and keeping subjects and departments viable that would otherwise close down.
During their strictly limited time in the UK they either melt in to the wider British way of life or live happily in a campus community. The overwhelming majority report a positive experience of living and studying in the UK – modest but justified complaints about the weather and occasionally the food notwithstanding.
The quality of the education provided is recognised, as is the welcome of the communities into which the students move. These young people chose their place of study not just on university ranking but because of factors as diverse as proximity to a Premier League football team, Downton Abbey and Peaky Blinders, or the hometown of a famous band.
Image above: Students at the Richmond American University, based at Chiswick Business Park
The soft power of a British university education
At university they enrich the classroom experience of everyone, bring diverse perspectives to every topic from medicine to politics, and create friendships and connections that will stay with them, and us, for life. A recent HEPI report indicates that over one-quarter of countries in the world have a monarch, president or prime minister who was educated in the UK tertiary sector.
This is at the heart of British soft power, the ability to shape the preferences and opinions of other countries through appeal and attraction rather than coercion. The latest round of headline chasing sees this being sacrificed to placate a wholly unrepresentative subset of people who have hijacked the Conservative Party.
Richmond American University London relocated to Chiswick in August 2022. We brought with us a diverse student body of around 1000 students from over 60 countries. We have encountered warmth and welcome from our new neighbours in Chiswick, from the local and global companies on Chiswick Park, and from Hounslow Council, its councillors and our new MP.
We have tried to reciprocate by opening our doors for free public talks and lectures covering everything from health and wellbeing, to international leadership styles, to classes on Korean food and K-POP. Our students are volunteering in the community, working with the less fortunate, and delivering environmental projects.
None of this would have been possible without our international student body. One of the Brexit promises was to be able to open Britain to the best and brightest of the rest of world. It appears the plan for doing this is by slamming the door on talent, and telling those we need most that they are not welcome.
Image above: Richmond American University
Phil Deans is President and Vice Chancellor of Richmond American University London, located on Chiswick Park. He spent three years as a foreign student in China, and eight years as an immigrant worker (or ‘ex-pat’) in the Japanese university sector. Details of upcoming public talks and events can be found on the University’s website.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/American-University-students-1_web.jpg9391409Guest Bloggerhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngGuest Blogger2022-11-28 13:43:292022-11-28 13:55:43Home Secretary’s “attack” on international students is “perverse and damaging” says university Vice Chancellor
Image: Reece Newcombe; photograph from the Gofundme page to raise money for his baby daughter
Richmond Bridge murder victim named and man arrested
Detectives have named the man who was killed during a fight on Richmond Bridge on Saturday as 31-year-old Reece Newcombe, from Egham.
Police were called at around 4am on Saturday (26 November) to a fight on Richmond Bridge. Officers attending found Reece had been stabbed with what they think was a piece of broken glass.
Officers administered CPR prior to the arrival of paramedics before Reece was taken to hospital. Despite the efforts of all involved, he died later in the morning. His next of kin have been informed.
A man was arrested on Monday (28 November) on suspicion of murder.
Reece worked as a boxing trainer with celebrities including former footballer Ian Wright. His family said in a post on Facebook they were “truly heartbroken”.
His friend Jamie Dobson has organised a Gofundme page to raise money for Reece’s baby daughter Misse, which has already raised nearly £75,000. On it he says:
“Reece was a loveable, fun guy loved by all. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body. He made an impact on everyone he met. Devastatingly over the weekend Reece was murdered, leaving his daughter Misse behind.
“I want to raise money to give Misse the first Christmas and start in life her dad would have wanted.
“This is a very tough time for us all but to see the generosity of so many people and to see how loved Reece is brings us warmth. We are blown away with the amount so far.”
Witnesses may have video evidence on their phones
A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin is leading she investigation. She said:
“We believe a number of people watched the incident unfold and some onlookers may have recorded footage on their mobile phones.
“Anyone who has yet to speak to us is urged to come forward immediately. My team are working to provide Reece’s family with answers and the public could have valuable information that will help our investigation.”
Anyone with information that could assist police should call 101 or tweet @MetCC ref CAD 1099/26NOV.
To remain anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Reece-Newcombe.jpg400713Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 11:45:042022-11-29 07:39:40Detectives appeal for witnesses of murder on Richmond Bridge
Traffic brought to a standstill at Shepherd’s Bush Green
Just Stop Oil supporters stopped traffic at Shepherd’s Bush Green on Monday (28 November), marching slowly in the road and causing traffic delays. Police arrested two people for obstruction of the highway.
They are expected to continue their campaign of traffic disruption over the next two weeks to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.
This marks a renewal of their campaign after a two-week break following six weeks of continuous disruption and civil resistance, which included stopping traffic at various points around the M25, during which the police made over 700 arrests. There are currently 27 Just Stop Oil supporters in prison.
On Monday 13 Just Stop Oil supporters wearing hi-vis vests walked onto the road at Shepherds Bush Green at 8am and proceeded to walk slowly in the road. They also demonstrated at Aldwych in central London.
A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said:
“Wanting to prevent the end of human civilization is not a “cause” and Just Stop Oil is not a protest movement. Our supporters are ordinary people who are using all possible peaceful means to ensure a future for humanity. They are engaging in nonviolent direct action to stop new oil and gas because history has shown that it is the only way to achieve the scale of change that we need.
“We will not be intimidated by changes to the law or government posturing on tougher policing tactics. Just Stop Oil supporters understand that this is irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter and the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities. The government can end this disruption tomorrow if they agree to halt new oil and gas licences and consents.”
Alex Mackaness, 28, a charity worker from Bristol said:
“The warnings of the world’s top scientists about our future terrify me- we’re heading towards catastrophe but seem unwilling to do anything about it. I’m doing this for those who can’t yet speak up, like my five-year old cousin, who should be looking forward to his future on this beautiful planet.
“I’d like to ask our leaders what they expect us to do when we hear the UN General Secretary tell us that we’re on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator? My message is that we won’t be silenced and we will continue to do whatever is non-violently possible to force the government to end new oil and gas.”
The UK is currently going ahead with plans to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025.
Image above: Just Stop Oil activists climbed onto gantries over the M25 in November
Police crackdown on protest
The Metropolitan Police announced on Monday (28 November) they were prepared for protests from 28 November to 14 December. A Whitehall source told PA Media Home Secretary Suella Braverman will summon police chiefs to Downing Street for a meeting about how to stop the protests towards the end of this week.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
Airport replacing its own stock but wants units in good working order to go to good use
Heathrow is giving away defibrillators to local community groups, charities and small organisations around the airport. The life-saving devices are free of charge to any local community group that could benefit from one in the neighbouring area.
The airport has recently updated all the devices in its terminals and, after thorough testing, wants to make sure the previous models which have plenty life in them go to good use.
Becky Coffin, Director of Communities and Sustainability at Heathrow, said:
“Defibrillators can provide a vital lifeline when someone suffers a cardiac arrest and increase their chances of survival while medical help is on its way.
“Heathrow is offering to donate Lifepack 1000 units, all of which are under 10 years old and still in full working order with new batteries, a carry case and strap. The units only require new pads, which cost around £10 to replace. There are 65 devices still available.”
Requests should be sent to communityrelations@heathrow.com by Monday 12 December.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Defibrilator-image-Heathrow-Philips.jpg491790Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 07:21:052022-11-29 11:05:59Heathrow giving away defibrilators to community groups
Image above: 2021/22 West London Local Chambers Business Awards
Chiswick businesses – including two members of The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card scheme – win awards
Mari Deli, the Italian delicatessen and cafe on Chiswick Mall, and Room2 hotel in Windmill Rd, Chiswick, are among the winners in this year’s West London Business Awards, organised by the West London Local Chambers of Commerce.
Mari Deli won the ‘Best Business for Hospitality and Leisure’ award and the Lamington group, which runs Room2 hotel won the ‘Best Green Business’ award. Both businesses are members of The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card scheme.
Mario, the owner of Mari Deli, told The Chiswick Calendar:
“I would like to thank you the West London Chamber of Commerce for this much appreciated recognition of the work done by me, my mother Maria and our team.
“I would like to point out that this goal was achieved also thanks to the people who support us every day and fill us with positive energy to continue giving our best in our work. Grazie a tutti.”
Images above: The Mari Deli team at the West London Local Chambers Business Awards
Chiswick Business Park ‘Business of the Year’
The team which runs Chiswick Business Park won ‘Business of the Year’ and Brentford Football Club won the ‘Community Award’. The awards were presented at the Clayton hotel on Thursday 24 November.
Lamington’s Managing Director and Founder of room2, Robert Godwin told The Chiswick Calendar:
“We are delighted to win this award and truly grateful to the West London Local Chambers for all the work they do in supporting businesses like ours.
“We place a huge emphasis on our connection to our local communities and it has been an incredible achievement to open the first whole life net zero hometel in this part of West London.
“Sustainability is at the core of everything we do at our room2 Chiswick hometel, and we have proved that you don’t have to compromise or sacrifice on style, convenience, or comfort to be more sustainable.”
Room2 attracted a great deal of publicity across the media for its sustainability policy when it opened a year ago.
Images above: room2 hotel in Windmill Rd
Club Card offers
Room2 hotel offers The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card holders 14% off standard rates – click here to access the link and code.
Mari Deli offers complimentary appetisers when you present your Club Card at Mari Deli & Dining, but it also has a special Christmas offer, for Club Card members only, for the next few weeks: a Christmas party with bespoke four courses for £35 (minimum eight people).
Mario is also offering discounts on foodie ideas for Christmas presents:
Save 15% on Homemade panettone and Prosecco or Artisan Panettone and Franciacorta Antinori – usually £59.50
Save 10% on Parmigiana (six people) or Lasagne (six people) – usually £42
Save 10% on all their in-stock wine range
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Mari-Deli-3.jpg1024768Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-28 07:07:402022-11-29 11:20:02Mari Deli and room2 hotel among the winners in West London Business Awards
Images above: Jackie Collins’ jewellery L to R Blue topaz dress ring; Diamond pendant necklace with dyed green quartz carved bust of Budha; Pair of lavender jade and diamond earstuds
From her personal collection
Jewellery from the private collection of Jackie Collins (1937-2015) comes up for sale at Chiswick Auctions on Tuesday 6 December. Most of the ten pieces for sale were bought by her in later life, while she was living in California.
Unlike some of her famous showstopper pieces, these jewels were part of the author’s everyday style: less ostentatious diamond necklaces and earrings that would complement every outfit in her wardrobe.
As estimates range from £200-900, they are potentially more obtainable than the jewels of most Hollywood celebrities. Highlights include a blue topaz dress ring (estimate £200-300) and a diamond pendant necklace set with a carved bust of Buddha (estimate £700-900).
Head of Jewellery Department Sarah Duncan commented:
“The world Jackie Collins wrote about in books such as The World is Full of Married Men or The Stud was all about glamour and exclusivity and these jewels allow her fans to take home some of her own personal glamour.
“We’re thrilled to be offering this collection of the late Jackie Collins’ jewellery as it represents what we strive for here at Chiswick Auctions, making fine jewellery accessible and celebrated for all.”
Jackie Collins’ jewellery forms part of a wider 180-lot offering of antique and vintage jewellery that is perfect for Christmas shopping. It includes pieces by iconic brands including Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Mikimoto and Van Cleef & Arpels alongside antique classics such as diamond encrusted Victorian jewels.
And for those looking for serious carat weight, the auction includes a 5.59 carat square-cut diamond ring with a laboratory report from EGL (estimate £18,000-20,000) and a 4.01 carat brilliant-cut diamond ring with a laboratory report from the GIA in New York (estimate £20,000-30,000).
Diamond Birkin – a bag owned by some of the most glamorous women in the world
One of the rarest and most coveted of all Hermes handbags comes for auction in London this month. The Diamond Birkin is spoken of in hushed tones by handbag aficionados. The ‘sister’ bag to the Hermes Himalaya (the world’s most expensive handbag) it is made from farmed saltwater crocodile skin and adorned with hardware made of 18k white gold encrusted with diamonds.
These bags have been made in a series of different Birkin sizes (from 25 to 40cm) and in a range of colours. The bag that comes for sale at Chiswick Auctions as part of their sale of Designer Handbags and Fashion on December 6-7 is in Shiny Black and size 35cm.
Made in 2008, it includes padlock, keys, clochette, rain jacket, dustbag and box and is condition graded B. A true collector’s item – a bag owned by some of the most glamorous women in the world – it has a guide of £65,000 – £85,000.
With very few being produced, the Diamond Birkin is extremely rare and -like many Hermes Birkin bags – subject to a waiting list. Buying a vintage or ‘pre-loved’ piece from a reputable auction house, one that deals with Hermès pieces on a regular basis, is one way to secure the rarest models.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Jackie-Signed-pic-7-7-21-lot-1029.jpg977610Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-27 10:20:132022-12-06 10:44:56Jackie Collins’ jewellery on sale at Chiswick Auctions
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery ⭐⭐⭐ Review by Andrea Carnevali
Famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece for his latest case. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be playing in selected cinemas and then on Netflix on 23 December.
In 2019 writer/director Rian Johnson, just off his gigantic (and controversial) Star Wars sequel, found refuge from the Twittersphere and its trolls in a modest little film called Knives Out for which he managed to recruit a huge cast from Jamie Lee Curtis, to Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Toni Colette, Christopher Plummer and many others.
At the helm, the biggest name of all, none other than James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, in the role of Benoit Blanc, an eccentric, colourful and heavily Southern accented version of Poirot.
With its whip-smart dialogue and its cracking sense of humour, the film played on nostalgia for whodunnit stories, poking fun at them while being legitimately suspenseful at the same time and in doing so it in such a way that it has re-energised the genre.
The film was hit, not just with the public, but with the critics too. A sequel seemed inevitable.
This time Rian Johnson tries to build on the winning formula and expand his scope in every possible way: the film is bigger, flashier, lusher and… longer. None of which makes it necessarily a better film, in fact it’s also a little bit looser and slower and at times it feels it’s over-reaching.
It certainly has its moments and it’s quite entertaining from time to time, but the good bits are a little bit too diluted in a lengthy middle section, which loses some of that sense of fun and the suspense which made the original unique.
The fact that it’s set in sun-dappled private Greek island and a lush glass house somehow plays against recreating that tension that existed within the classy confines of the house of the first film.
Daniel Craig by this time truly inhabits the vests of Benoit Blanc in all his goofiness and despite being a little bit two-dimensional, part of the fun of the film is to see him play against people like Ed Norton, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn, all of whom are clearly more than happy to appear as silly as they can, but they are mostly caricatures rather than real human beings.
Meanwhile the plot that unravels in front of our eyes is at times so absurdly complicated that it actually feels quite a hard task to keep up with it and unpeel all the layers of the ‘onion’. It’s probably trying to be a little bit too clever, but let’s face it, this ain’t Agatha Christie.
It may all be dazzling, shimmering and lush to watch (courtesy of some great set design and costumes), but beyond the layers, the ‘glass onion’ is actually a little bit empty.
Andrea Carnevali is a Bafta winning film maker who lives in Chiswick, and a co-creator of the Chiswick In Film festival.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be playing in selected cinemas and then be available to watch on Netflix on 23 December.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Glass-Onion-3_web.jpg675540Andrea Carnevalihttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngAndrea Carnevali2022-11-26 12:21:032022-11-29 12:58:27Andrea’s film review – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Image above: Sign warning motorists they are entering a ULEZ zone
Mayor of London announces ULEZ expansion will be accompanied by new support scheme
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced that the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be expanded to a greater area of London.
Coming into effect on Tuesday 29 August 2023, ULEZ will operate across all London boroughs. Drivers who still own older models of cars which do not meet the ULEZ emissions requirement and are the most polluting, face paying £12.50 a day to drive within the Greater London Authority boundary, whether they are residents or just driving through.
ULEZ was introduced in central and inner London in 2019 and the Mayor’s office says it has helped to reduce roadside pollution levels by 44% in central London and 20% in inner London.
Toxic air caused by road traffic has been identified as a contributory factor in thousands of deaths in London each year. The greatest number of health issues related to air pollution occur in outer London areas.
Image above: ULEZ map showing the current ULEZ area in darker green and the proposed expansion in lighter green; source Transport for London
A support scheme to help those on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, charities and small businesses and sole traders will be rolled out in the run up to the expansion.
Successful applicants who drive certain vans and minibuses will receive a grant to scrap or retrofit their vehicle. Successful applicant who are car owners can opt to receive a smaller grant and up to two free annual bus and tram passes.
Chiswick is already in the ULEZ zone. To find out whether your vehicle meets the emissions standard required by ULEZ put your vehicle registration into Transport for London’s vehicle checker here: Check your vehicle
To find out if you live in the expanded zone, enter your post code into Transport for London’s postcode checker here: Where it will operate.
60% of those consulted against expansion
Image: Nick Rogers AM
The Mayor’s announcement follows a public consultation which ran between May and July 2022, in which 59% of respondents agreed that more needed to be done to tackle toxic air.
But the consultation revealed 60% of respondents were opposed to the expansion, a point which has been seized upon by The Mayor’s opponents on London Assembly.
Nick Rogers, Conservative Assembly Member for South West London, has criticised the decision. He tweeted:
“It’s official: an overwhelming majority, about 60%, oppose the ULEZ expansion.
“This increases to 68% when you exclude organised campaigns. 70% of people who live and 80% of people who work in outer London are against.
“The people have spoken. Sadiq Khan must scrap these plans.”
Consultation “hijacked” by pro-car groups, says Khan
Image: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan has said that the consultation was not a referendum or legally binding. He says it has been “hijacked” by motoring groups. Announcing his decision to expand ULEZ, the mayor said:
“The latest evidence shows that air pollution is making us sick from cradle to the grave. Londoners are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma.
“And it’s especially dangerous for children due to the long-lasting impact on their health and life chances, with kids in our city growing up with stunted lungs.
“The ULEZ so far has been transformational, reducing harmful pollution levels by almost a half in central London. But there is still far too much toxic air pollution permanently damaging the health of young Londoners and leading to thousands of early deaths every year, with the greatest number of deaths in the outer London boroughs.
“Expanding the ULEZ London-wide will mean five million more people will be able to breathe cleaner air and live healthier lives.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Sign_for_London_ultra_low_emission_zone_geograph_6183970-2.jpg6671000Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-25 00:43:322022-11-29 01:09:42Ultra Low Emission Zone to be expanded
Eight more dates set for rail strikes over the Christmas period
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have announced a fresh series of 48 hour strikes in December and January, after industry bosses failed to offer any new deals to reach a settlement.
Earlier this month the RMT called off strike action to enter further negotiations with rail bosses after a new pay offer was made, which the union hailed as a victory, but the Rail Delivery Group and Network Rail cancelled a meeting on Monday evening at the last minute, ceasing all talks with the union.
Over 40,000 members across Network and 14 Train Operating Companies will now take strike action on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.
There will also be an overtime ban across the railways from 18 December until 2 January, meaning RMT be taking industrial action for 4 weeks.
Only Transport Secretary can sort out negotiations now, say RMT
Image: RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said:
“This latest round of strikes will show how important our members are to the running of this country and will send a clear message that we want a good deal on job security, pay and conditions for our people.
“We have been reasonable, but it is impossible to find a negotiated settlement when the dead hand of government is presiding over these talks.
“The employers are in disarray and saying different things to different people sometimes at the same time. This whole process has become a farce that only the new Secretary of State can resolve. When I meet him later this week, I will deliver that message.
Strikes will cause further misery but deal in sight, say Rail Delivery Group
The Rail Delivery Group responded, saying:
“We have made real progress over the last fortnight and for the first time in months we can see the outline of a credible deal.
“Any strikes will only cause further misery for customers and struggling businesses in the run up to Christmas and beyond. The RMT leadership should now remove any uncertainty around Christmas and commit to protecting everyone’s first festive period post Covid from any strike disruption.
“The alternative is a bleak winter of industrial action, making it harder to find workable solutions to bring about the much-needed changes that will help secure the railway’s future and unlock the funds for a pay offer. Revenues are still 20% down on 2019 level and this dispute has brought the industry’s post-pandemic recovery to a shuddering halt – with strikes since June resulting in lost revenue of £250-£300m.
“We urge the RMT leadership to stay at the negotiating table so we can build on that progress and end a dispute that is harming passengers and businesses, the industry, and their members.”
Image: Transport Secretary Mark Harper
Government denies intervening in negotiations
The RMT says Transport Secretary Mark Harper is ultimately responsible for negotiations and have blamed him for intervening in the current negotiations. The Government have “categorically denied” this and Mr Harper has said he will “do all he can” to help facilitate a deal, but stressed negotiations are “ultimately between the train operators and the unions”.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said the rail strikes were “concerning”. He said:
“Many people come from outside London – the day trippers – to the theatre and to spend money in our shops.
“I would encourage Mark Harper, I would encourage the private train operating companies, I would encourage the RMT to get round the table and resolve this.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
Maren, a young woman, learns how to survive on the margins of society. Out in cinemas 23 November.
It won’t take you long to work out that this is not your average love story between two lost souls who find each other in the most desperate time (though to a degree, the film is also about that).
There’s something darker lurking behind the scenes. Within the first few minutes Bones and All reveals itself to be brutal, bloody and gory and though some of the most shocking moments are all very brief and mostly happen off screen (aided by some quite uncomfortable and very effective sound design), there’s no denying that their effect is over lasting in the viewers’ memory.
It is a film about cannibals after all (yes, you heard me right), and yet behind the unsettling atmosphere and the pure horror (because let’s face it, this is what this film is), there is also some deep tenderness and sweetness that goes well beyond that of the human flesh.
What makes Bones and All work so well is that it’s a touching love story (though a rather unorthodox one) as well as a veiled social commentary on outcast people and drug addiction.
Unsurprisingly Timothée Chamalet is as magnetic as ever, but when he turns on his charm to pick up his victims, he is also chilling and diabolical. Here he is once again paired with Italian director Luca Guadagnino, after their previous collaboration on Call Me By Your Name. That breakout role won him an Oscar-nominated and launched him to stardom. He truly is the best actor of his generation.
In contrast to his exuberant charisma, Taylor Russell (also incredibly good) is quiet and restrained as she tries to grapple with both fear and confusion for her unspeakable ‘eating disorder’.
It is by no means a perfect film, it’s too long and I often had the feeling that I had seen a lot of it before. Arguably I watch a lot of films… but it reminded me of the first film by Kathryn Bigelow, Near Dark, though that one was about vampires instead of cannibals.
But the two leads and the rest of the cast (Mark Rylance for example is so creepy!!) are all so strong that they carry the film and suddenly make you care about… cannibals. I do wonder if I would have liked it as much without Chamalet and Russell.
Andrea Carnevali is a Bafta winning film maker who lives in Chiswick, and a co-creator of the Chiswick In Film festival.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Bones-and-All-2.jpg1200810Andrea Carnevalihttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngAndrea Carnevali2022-11-23 12:46:272022-11-29 12:56:40Andrea’s film review – Bones and All
Image above: Participants in the Chiswick Area Forum, Tuesday 22 November
Council officers try and answer questions against a barrage of abuse from residents
A bad-tempered meeting at Chiswick Town Hall on Tuesday night showed just how divided Chiswick residents are over LB Hounslow’s transport policy.
Chiswick Area Forum, organised by Chiswick’s Conservative councillors, invited Tim Hurley, Operations Manager for Hounslow Highways, and Sabeel Khan, Head of Highways PFI at Hounslow Council, to give a report and answer questions on Cycleway 9, the A4 roadworks and the general upkeep of the roads.
Jefferson Nwokeoma, Assistant Director of Transport, Parking and Environmental Strategy, and Cllr Katherine Dunne, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport, took questions about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, focusing mainly on the traffic restrictions in Grove Park and Strand on the Green.
It was hard to hear at times for the barrage of catcalls and derisive laughter from the public. A woman two seats along from me kept a loud sweary commentary all the way through the three hour meeting about how the effing council were useless and disgusting.
“You’re not listening” she shouted, apparently without irony, and “you don’t know what you’re on about” as the officers tried to explain what they were trying to achieve and why some measures had now become permanent while others had not.
Blocked drains … increased journey times … penalty fines
Blocked drains, roads slippery with fallen leaves, traffic jams, increased journey times, people receiving fines because they were confused about where they could and couldn’t drive … the Council’s officers fielded a torrent of complaints from residents, several of whom said they’d lived in Chiswick for decades and the traffic problems had never been this bad.
Each comment or question from the audience met with loud applause.
It seemed the meeting was unanimously against everything the Council had tried to do to promote cycling and reduce the flow of commuter traffic through residential areas – not only against it, but angrily hostile, unprepared to accept anything the officers said, insisting they were making up data.
Until that is, a woman stood up and said her life and that of her children was much improved by the introduction of the traffic restrictions in Grove Park. The reduction in traffic meant her neighbourhood was now quiet and peaceful and she and her children could cycle around it safely.
“It’s not just me who feels like this” she said, “I speak for the silent majority who welcome the changes”.
Grove Park now a “much nicer place to live”
Another woman then said before access to the A4 from Harvard Rd was closed off there were huge traffic jams in the surrounding streets and she could always tell how bad the traffic was when she woke up in the morning by the effect it had on her breathing. All that had changed and her quality of life had improved as the quality of the air had improved. It had also had a hugely positive impact on the young children at Falcon’s pre-preparatory school, she said.
Both these residents’comments received equally loud applause. A doctor thanked the council for the brilliant cycle lane which meant his kids could cycle safely to school by themselves and a professor of engineering noted the reduction in traffic and corresponding improvement of air quality in Chiswick High Rd.
The doctor, Ed Seaton, got a laugh when he described the One Chiswick campaign group as “One-tenth Chiswick”, to say they did not represent the views of most people in Chiswick.
“I speak on behalf of the hundreds of people who think the cycle lane is brilliant and the thousands who think it’s ok or at least don’t have a problem with it.”
The professor of engineering, Tom Pike, told the meeting:
“The air has never been cleaner. We have about half the amount of traffic we had in the early 2,000s. Cycle lane usage peaks at about 4,000 a day and we have half the number of cars we used to in Chiswick High Rd. We should make decisions based on data, not on comment.”
Image above: One Chiswick members present ‘cheque’ for £10 million
Cllr Mushiso “Turn It Off” order picked up as a chant
There was a surreal ten minutes or so during which the chair, Cllr Ron Mushiso, insisted the meeting hear about a petition started two years ago which had gathered 19 signatures. There was thunderous applause for a man who said it meant Chiswick was being divided into “ghettos” until Cllr Gabriella Giles firmly put the argument to bed by explaining the petition was obsolete as the proposal it was set up to oppose had long since been dropped.
Rob King, chair of the Grove Park Group, said the Council had dismissed their suggestions for improvements to the traffic scheme in south Chiswick out of hand. He was interrupted by two women who unfurled a huge cheque for £10 million, claiming that was the sum raised by the council in fines in just six months.
The Conservative chair Ron Mushiso kept the meeting largely under control but he himself shouted down the Labour Deputy Leader Cllr Katherine Dunne, demanding that she stop speaking and ordering her repeatedly to turn off her microphone after she had already stopped speaking, which was quickly picked up by the audience as a chant, “Turn It Off, Turn It Off.” Reminiscent of the Make America Great Again lot shouting “Lock Her Up” at Hilary Clinton.
What did we learn? Not a lot. The work being carried out in Chiswick High Rd on the cycle lane is ahead of schedule, will stop for a few weeks over Christmas and be finished in January.
The number of cars going through Grove Park and Strand on the Green has dropped hugely and air quality has improved both south of the A4 and on the High Rd but confusion remains over who can drive where without being fined and there is a great deal of frustration about how long it takes to get anywhere in Chiswick by car.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Chiswick-Area-Forum-audience.jpg8771177Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-23 11:17:402022-11-25 10:58:27 Acrimonious town hall meeting highlights divisions over traffic policy
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ – Review by Andrea Carnevali
An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story, with miraculous results. On in cinemas from 25 November 2022. Available to watch on Netflix from summer 2023.
It’s probably a bit unfair to compare this film to the stage version, by which it is inspired and from which it is adapted. After all, films and theatre are two different things and they work on different levels. When transposing a story like Matilda onto the stage, a story in which everything is over-hyped and with characters which are so extreme, you get away with a lot more than you can in films, where suddenly everything looks a bit more ‘real’.
When I first saw Matilda on stage a few years ago, I was blown away by its exuberance, its impeccable pace and its sheer inventiveness. To this day, it remains one of my favourite musicals.
Surprisingly I found this film a bit uneven and not as vibrant and energetic (and fun) as I was expecting and as I remembered it.
Director Matthew Warchus (the same man behind the stage version) decided to use the medium of cinema to get as close as possible to his characters. The film abounds with close-ups on the actors’ faces, and that’s probably ok, but let’s face it, this ain’t Hamlet. It’s a musical! Let’s just have fun with it!
At times the film slows down a little bit too much, and yet its central character, Matilda, still remains elusive and rather bland, even outdone by some of the other students who occasionally get the biggest laughs. Musicals always walk on a knife-edge to find the right balance between whimsical, emotional and real, but at times this Matilda seems to stumble slightly in finding the right tone.
And then of course we have Emma Thompson as Principal Trunchbull (a part which was originally intended for Ralph Fiennes), with one of her greatest scene-stealing performances I’ve ever seen her in. She must have had a lot of fun with this role, despite the long daily sessions to get her prosthetics and make-up to work (which is really exceptional).
She really lights up every single moment she’s in, lifting the film on one hand, but at the same time highlighting the blandness of some of the rest, including the character of Matilda herself.
Nothing to do with Alisha Weir, who plays her beautifully, with what she’s given. There is something about her character which never quite clicks with me and in this version ends up being more like a child-friendly version of Stephen King’s Carrie, who uses her telekinesis powers to get her revenge, than anything else.
This is something that never bothered me too much in the book, nor on the stage, and yet here, despite being the main character, I felt very distant from her. It doesn’t really help that some of the most exciting musical numbers are given to the ensemble cast of kids and not to her.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable film and all those who have not had the pleasure of watching the stage adaptation are probably going to enjoy it, but it’s certainly not Paddington, nor Mary Poppins.
The film is out in cinemas from 25 November and then on Netflix from summer 2023.
Andrea Carnevali is a Bafta winning film maker who lives in Chiswick, and a co-creator of the Chiswick In Film festival.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical came out in cinemas on 25 November 2022 and will be available to watch on Netflix summer 2023.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
Image above: Trains from Chiswick Station cancelled
Urgent repairs needed to Barnes Railway Bridge
Commuters turned up to Chiswick station this morning to find there were no trains running between Barnes Bridge and Hounslow ‘until further notice.’
Those caught out by the announcement then struggled to get across Chiswick to a tube station, joining hundreds of others on buses stuck in traffic as roadworks continue on the A4.
South Western Railway only made the announcement on Tuesday.
‘The line between Barnes Bridge and Hounslow is closed until further notice due to engineers needing to access the underside of Barnes Bridge to undertake repairs.
‘Engineers carrying out planned inspections using specialist ultrasonic instruments found a small number of defects underneath the 1900s Victorian, Grade II listed structure which they need to repair before the bridge can reopen for passenger services.’
They say they will now have to wait for parts to be specially manufactured to repair the bridge, due to the uniqueness of the Victorian structure.
The closure affects Barnes Bridge, Chiswick, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Syon Lane, Isleworth and Hounslow stations.
Image above: Barnes Railway Bridge
“Sorry for major disruption”
Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “We’re extremely sorry for the major disruption this has caused to train services. The safety of our customers always takes priority.
“Engineers found that four out of the 86 large steel pins that are used to hold in place the structural girders, which support the railway tracks above were slightly damaged. Due to the location of the bridge which spans over the River Thames, this makes gaining access to replace the pins much more complex.
“We’re continuing to work closely with our train operating partners at SWR to produce a revised timetable to serve as many stations in the local area as possible.”
There were no replacement buses organised for passengers on Tuesday, as there usually are when engineering works cause cancellations.
Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford & Isleworth, commented:
“I accept services can’t use the bridge if a safety risk. But comms could be clearer for those dependent on the loop-line service Roughly what time each hour? Will it effectively be a shuttle? And please don’t say “some disruption” When you mean “no service/severe disruption.”
South Western Railway say: ‘Train timings will be available in journey planners as soon as possible.’
“Not worth trying to get into work”
Stranded passengers waiting for an E3 bus told The Chiswick Calendar they were considering their options.
Charles Parchment, a diplomat, told us he was just texting colleagues as he had a series of meetings and would have to get other people to stand in for him. As we talked a bus arrived and he got on it, but the work is expected to take weeks.
“It doesn’t make sense for me to try and get into work as it takes too long. I am thinking about whether I should work from home again.”
Jan Prescot, who had been hoping to get a train to Waterloo to meet a friend, told us:
“I’m supposed to be there for 10.30. Now I have to wait for a bus to get to Turnham Green tube station and I won’t be there until at least 11. Coming home it will be in the rush hour and there will be all the traffic [caused by the roadworks] from the A4.”
Image above: Damian Wojnarowski, Short & Tall Coffee
Short & Tall coffee left without customers
The coffee cart, Short & Tall Coffee, run by Damian Wojnarowski, lost 70% its regular business on Tuesday morning. Most of their customers are people using the station.
“A lot of people didn’t know about it and they bought a coffee before they left” he told us “but tomorrow it will be worse.”
During the pandemic when very few people were using the trains he was supported by residents in the surrounding streets, who kept the business afloat, so he is hoping they will come and buy their coffee from him over the next few weeks as they did then.
“The Chiswick community is the best community in the world, they are so supportive.”
Even though he is facing a huge drop in earnings he remains philosophical.
“I come from Poland. There is a war on our border and children are dying, so I am not going to worry about this.”
Train tickets valid on other services
Peter Williams, South Western Railway’s customer and commercial director, said:
“We are amending some services in the area to provide an hourly service between Waterloo to Kew Bridge via Hounslow. We are very sorry for the delay that this will cause to journeys’’.
For onward travel to Barnes Bridge and Chiswick stations, tickets will be accepted on:
Transport for London buses between Feltham and Barnes via Hounslow.
London Underground via any reasonable route
London Overground between Richmond and Kew Gardens.
The closure will also have an impact on river users, as Network Rail needs access to the underside of the bridge.
A spokesperson for SWR told The Chiswick Calendar:
“There are no replacement buses operating as there is ticket acceptance by TFL on local buses and Underground/Overground services. SWR is also operating an hourly service from Waterloo to Kew Bridge via Hounslow which serves Isleworth, Syon Lane and Brentford. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to run this service to Chiswick as we can’t turn trains there.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_7395.jpg7561008Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-23 09:10:482022-11-23 16:24:19No trains from Chiswick station
Images above: Barnes Bridge Walkway during its construction; a present from the birds perched on the railway bridge above
Pigeon poo spoiling bridge during final phase of works
The opening of the new pedestrian footbridge in Dukes Meadows has been pushed back to 13 January, as engineers and Council officials try and work out how to stop birds messing up the new walkway from Barnes Bridge by dropping excrement on it.
The walkway was due to open on Thursday 24 November. The Mayor of Hounslow was scheduled to be there to cut the ribbon and a band from Chiswick School were all set to perform live music. The bird problem is just one of several issues which have caused a delay, including unfinished handrails and the need to remove the access stairs leading to Barnes Bridge.
Knights Brown, the company in charge of the build, told The Chiswick Calendar there were still “some bits which need ironing out and sorting out” before the bridge could open fully to the public, one of them being that birds are perching on Barnes Railway Bridge and leaving their droppings on the walkway.
Knights Brown said had LB Hounslow opted to go ahead with this Thursday’s planned opening, if any other issues cropped up they would not have been able to address them because workers would not be here over the Christmas period.
January’s opening date will apparently give the contractors enough extra time to fix any problems they have identified and, they hope, any they have yet to identify. LB Hounslow told The Chiswick Calendar once the bridge is handed over to them in January, they will fix anti-bird netting to the location to prevent the pigeons nesting overhead prior the bridge opening.
Barnes Bridge Walkway is one of the lowest carbon and most environmentally conscious bridges in the UK according to its designers, Moxon Architects, who created the initial designs.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dukes-Meadows-Footbridge-e1669054497172.jpg10521200Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-22 08:56:352022-11-25 12:10:17Barnes Bridge walkway delayed as pigeons keep pooing on it
Image above: Royal Mail workers striking in Chiswick in September
Christmas plans disrupted as key industries strike
A number of unions in key industries have announced strike dates over in November and December which will affect public services including mail, rail, tube and buses.
As the cost of living continues to bite with inflation rising to 11.1%, most workers want their pay packets increased in line with inflation, and some also have specific grievances over pensions and working conditions.
The Royal College of Nursing recently announced nurses would go on strike, saying NHS nurses have suffered a real-terms pay cut of 20 per cent since 2010. No official dates have been confirmed for strike action yet, but nurses are expected to begin striking before Christmas.
Civil servants will also be going on strike from mid-December, though no dates have been finalised. The general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union said these strikes would be tailored to cause maximum disruption across public services, including passport and border checks, driving tests and farm payments, throughout the Christmas period.
See below for the strikes expected to affect London and Chiswick.
Image above: a RMT picket line in west London
Rail strikes
Train strikes have been going on for months, but they show no signs of stopping yet. Transport union Aslef has said it is still waiting for a pay offer from rail operators, with a series of talks ongoing.
Earlier this month the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) called off strike action to enter further negotiations with rail bosses after a new pay offer was made, which the union hailed as a victory, but the Rail Delivery Group and Network Rail cancelled a meeting on Monday evening at the last minute, ceasing all talks with the RMT.
Further strike action across the rail network before Christmas now seems likely. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said:
“We can sense the hand of the Tory government in this as we believe they are not allowing an offer to be made.”
Images above: RMT Gen Sec Mick Lynch, Aslef Gen Sec Mick Whelan
Aslef rail strikes set to go ahead this Saturday (26 November)
In a separate dispute, train drivers represented by Aslef will walk out on Saturday 26 November. The action is likely to bring many services by following 12 operators to a complete halt:
Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; LNER; London Overground; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Transpennine Express and West Midlands Trains
Aslef General Secretary Mick Whelan said he was saddened passengers would be inconvenienced but said the union had been left with no choice but to strike.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, urged union members to reconsider the “counterproductive strike action” to instead work with companies to “secure both a pay deal and the changes needed it for it to thrive in the long-term and improve reliability across the network.”
Image above: a shuttered Tube station
Tube strikes resume on Friday (25 November)
The next Tube strike is planned for Friday (November 25) and will affect only a few key stations, unlike previous network-wide strikes.
If it goes ahead, the stations may open later and close earlier or at short notice. Tube trains will run as normal from other points along the line.
According to TfL, these stations are likely to be affected: Euston, Green Park, Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, Heathrow Terminal 4, Heathrow Terminal 5, Hatton Cross, Hounslow West, King’s Cross St Pancras and Victoria.
TfL have encouraged customers to check before travelling by using their online tools.
No further Tube strikes have been announced yet, but more could be announced in the run up to Christmas.
Image above: an Abellio operated bus
Bus strikes resume on Tuesday (22 November)
Bus strikes begin on Tuesday 22 November and will mostly affect services in south and west London.
The dispute is a result of the bus operator Abellio failing to enter into meaningful pay talks, despite the Unite the Union indicating that it was prepared to do so. Workers’ pay is due to increase from January 2023, but Abellio have yet to make an initial pay offer. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Abellio’s failure to even enter into meaningful pay talks was “cold-hearted and callous.”
Strike action is planned for the following days: Tuesday 22 November; Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November; Thursday 1, Friday 2 and Saturday 3 December; Friday 9 and Saturday 10 December & Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December.
Route 481 will operate but with fewer services on weekdays from 7.30-8.00am, and from 3.00-4.00pm. Remaining services will be busier than normal.
24-hour routes: 24, 111, 159, 285, 344, 345
Night routes: N3, N27, N63, N68, N109, N207, N381
School routes: 671
Image above: Chiswick Sorting Office closed during a strike day
Royal Mail workers extend strike action to Christmas Eve after “unacceptable” pay offer
Royal Mail workers associated with the Communication Workers’ Union have extended their programme of planned strikes after members said they “simply [could not] agree to” to company’s recent pay offer.
The union have now announced further strike action on Friday 9 December, Sunday 11 December, Wednesday 14 December, Thursday 15 December, Friday 23 December and Saturday 24 December. This is in addition to the action already going ahead this week on Thursday and Friday (24 and 25 November) and next week’s action on Wednesday 30 November and Thursday 1 December.
Workers who sort and deliver parcels and letters will walk out as part of the strikes, affecting sorting offices in west London including Chiswick, Acton, Brentford and Ealing. Royal Mail said they would do what they can to keep services running, but said customers would likely face disruption.
The CWU said Royal Mail needed to “wake up” and realise the union would not allow the company to “destroy the livelihoods of postal workers”.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said:
“Our preference is for an agreement with the CWU, but the change we need is not optional. They should be focused on a resolution to this dispute for their members and the long-term health of the business, rather than damaging strike action.”
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Fd6NE3tWQAEhTgX.jpeg12001017Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-22 08:38:232022-11-22 09:26:35Strikes in November and December: mail, rail, tube and bus services face disruption
Image above: Armoured police vehicles are seen outside the headquarters of Iran International on Nov. 19; photograph Iran International
Workers in other buildings reportedly told to work from home on Monday
A large armed police presence remain deployed outside the Iran International television studios in Chiswick Park, after “severe and credible” death threats were made against two journalists who work there.
Workers at other businesses in Chiswick Park were told on Monday (21 November) to vacate the area when they arrived at work. One employee in building 4, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Chiswick Calendar that all staff at their company were now working from home “until further notice”.
The Metropolitan police confirmed its officers are working in response to potential threats projected from Tehran against “a number of UK-based individuals” and have been at the site since last Thursday. Iran International, which is based in building 11, said they did not request an armed response from the police and believed the Met were there to reassure staff and deter action against them.
Staff at Iran International don’t know how long the armed vehicles will be deployed, but said staff would ‘continue to take precautions as previously advised by our security director.’
Faced with nationwide anti-government protests since mid-September, Iran has accused foreign-based Persian broadcasters such as BBC Persian and Iran International of “fomenting unrest”. Iran International, which has been showing the recent protests in Iran 24/7, has been proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation by the regime, but can still be accessed via the internet.
Image above: Iran International’s studio
Iran ‘targeting channel because they are editorially independent’
Up to a hundred people work in the building in Chiswick Business Park. Adam Baillie, one of the senior studio producers at Iran International, told The Chiswick Calendar the police presence at the studio has reassured those working in the building that they are safe, but this development represented a marked increase in the Iranian state’s intimidation of news reporters working for the channel.
“No one can go home [to Iran]. They’re journalists and there’s no such thing as a free press, an uncensored press in Iran. They’ve all got friends and family, a lot are British citizens of course, who have always been subject to a level of harassment. But since the protests, really since they began in November 2019, this channel has been targeted by the regime.
“We don’t hold any political positions we’re not aligned to any group of any kind. But we’re independent, we’re editorially independent and we are the main source of uncensored news in Iran. And it’s not just about Iran, it’s Iran-related news from the United Nations in Geneva and New York, from governments. It’s a very wide range of other agencies that we report…
“We have always been subject to a lot of attacks in Iranian official and semi-official media because that’s just parroting the Iranian government lie.”
Reporters are subject to “a massive scale of intimidation”
The scale of the police deployment to protect a media organisation is unprecedented in recent years. Iran International say this is a sign that UK authorities take the threat to the news outlet seriously.
Adam said the Iranian government have upped the ante recently with their attacks on the channel, in response to their ongoing coverage of the protests in the country.
“We report thes protests 24/7, so the threat level against us has been commensurate with that, as the protest and the unrest continues each week everyone watches Iran International. They try and block us, which you can’t because we’re on seven platforms there are many ways of seeing us so that’s why they’ve done it.
“It’s a massive scale of intimidation, people can’t phone home easily to talk to their cousins, mothers fathers and all that and vice versa, because they record it there… We’ve been designated as terrorist organisation which kind of provides legal cover for the Iranian government to stop bank accounts and all that sort of thing.
“So that’s the kind of thing we’ve been living with for five years… so it’s not out of the blue but it’s an added level of, stress is the wrong word, it’s an added level of burden on [the reporters].”
Image above: a protest in Iran
Journalists not taken to safe-houses, Met tells public to be “alert but not alarmed”
Adam said he believes the police are reviewing their presence daily after assessing the risks but hasn’t been given a timescale for security reasons.
“They don’t share information… they make their own assessments and then they just inform us that they’re there” he said. He also dismissed reports that some of Iran International’s journalists had been taken to safe houses for their own protection, claiming they were “not at all” true.
“If the threats went to an extreme level then they’ve made that contingency and we can just remove [the journalists]. But we haven’t got people in safe houses, no.”
A Met spokesperson said:
“A number of protective security measures have been put in place to mitigate against these threats. While we will not go into detail as to what these are, it does include the presence of overt armed police officers in the vicinity of the west London offices of a UK-based Persian language media company.”
The Met has advised the public to be “alert but not alarmed” and report anything that doesn’t look or feel right to them, by calling 0800 789 321 or call 999 if it is an emergency.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/f140ee3b6a70a138a2147925d6d74f53124aa588-1080x674-1.jpeg5401279Matt Smithhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngMatt Smith2022-11-22 08:17:302022-11-22 09:25:31Armed police guard Iranian TV studio in Chiswick Park after death threats to journalists
Hounslow’s Assistant Director for Transport, Jefferson Nwokeoma braves Chiswick residents
The Chiswick Area Forum takes place tonight (Tuesday 22 November) at Chiswick Town Hall. Organised by Chiswick’s councillors for LB Hounslow, it is a chance to talk about issues in Chiswick which are decided or influenced by the Council.
The formal meeting begins at 7.30pm, with drinks beforehand at 6.30pm. The agenda tonight includes an update from Hounslow Highways on its programme of works affecting Chiswick.
All residents are invited to attend. There is no need to pre-register, however, there is an Eventbrite link where the organisers would like attendees to register to help them plan for numbers.
The chair of the Chiswick Area Forum, Cllr RonMushiso told The Chiswick Calendar:
“We want to give our residents the platform to express their views. There are several issues dominating conversations across Chiswick at the moment, and people are rightly furious that the council on the whole don’t seem to be listening. Our forum will listen and more importantly, it will act on our residents behalf.”
Image above: Junction of Cronbrook Rd and Chiswick High Rd where the Cyclelane works have been completed and a permanent, paved barrier has replaced the temporary wands, to make the road segregation clearer
Transport, traffic and parking
On the agenda tonight is the issue of transport, traffic and parking. Hounslow’s Assistant Director for Transport, Jefferson Nwokeoma, will give a presentation on Cycleway 9, the South Chiswick Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN), the East Chiswick Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) and the refurbishment works being carried out on the A4 by Transport for London.
Here is the overview of all these current projects from the Council:
New ‘informal’ gathering introduced before the meeting starts
Although it is an opportunity to find out at first hand what is going on at LB Hounslow, Chiswick Area Forums have in the past been quite poorly attended. In an effort to attract more residents to come, the councillors are introducing informal drinks before the meeting starts.
‘This new section before the start of the formal meeting will include marketplace style stalls, where residents can speak with Council officers about individual issues, meet and speak to their specific ward Councillors and hear about local community groups and initiatives.’
Typically the people who tend to come feel very strongly about one issue or another and the meetings can get quite heated.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Chiswick-Town-Hall-e1623164125442.jpg297331Bridget Osbornehttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngBridget Osborne2022-11-22 07:51:242022-11-22 07:53:27The Chiswick Area Forum discusses transport, traffic and parking
Images above: Jack Emsley shaking hands with Chiswick Calendar reporter Matt Smith on election night; Jack on Council business via Zoom while on holiday in Sweden
Guest blog by Cllr Jack Emsley
It is just over six months since the local elections in May. Chiswick elected two first time councillors – one Labour and one Conservative. We asked them both to write a guest blog for The Chiswick Calendar about how their first six months had gone.
Here is Jack Emsley’s piece – Conservative councillor for Chiswick Homefields.
It’s almost six months to the day since I was elected as a councillor for Chiswick Homefields. The Chiswick Calendar’s editor reminded me a few days ago that on election night (a bleary-eyed affair as the count stretched into the small hours of the morning – see the headline picture!) I promised to write a guest blog on what it’s like being a newly elected, first-time councillor. So, from casework to council meetings, and markets to community groups, what have I been up to since May?
Casework and surgeries
Perhaps the most recognisable job of a councillor is to advocate for local residents and raise issues through casework. In my first six months, casework has been varied, with the two most common issues being, perhaps unsurprisingly, housing and transport related. Some issues we can fix right away (helping residents connect with the right member of the housing team, for example, or working with residents to deliver new bike hangars for local streets) whilst others require larger structural or policy changes from the council.
On housing, these structural changes revolve around the way in which the council maintains local authority owned homes, and the speed at which it turns around empty council properties. On both counts the council is currently falling short (nearly 4% of council owned properties are currently empty in Hounslow – over double the national average!)
I’ve been getting stuck in as a member of the Housing Scrutiny Panel to investigate these failings and make recommendations for improvements – as part of our investigation, the panel is asking local residents across the borough to let us know how the council has handled maintenance where they live – if you’ve been affected by poor maintenance of a council owned property, please do get in touch with me as any and all examples will be useful in compiling our report.
On traffic and transport, meanwhile, I’m sure some of the big challenges require no introduction to regular readers of the Chiswick Calendar! In my first six months I have been able to work together with colleagues across the political divide to secure changes to the council’s poorly implemented traffic schemes in South Chiswick – more needs to be done, but there have been positive steps forward.
Outside of the council’s South Chiswick schemes, I’ve also been working on more localised traffic issues, from working with colleague John Todd to help residents on Ennismore Avenue secure an enhanced Controlled Parking Zone, to lobbying TfL alongside our brilliant GLA member Nick Rogers to install pedestrian crossing lights on the dangerous Hartington Road/A316 junction just before Chiswick Bridge (no permanent solution yet, although some promising first steps to making this junction safer for cyclists and pedestrians).
Image above: Chiswick Flower Market director Ollie Saunders speaking at a public meeting about the future of the market space last month
Backing Chiswick’s Markets
One of the best parts of representing Chiswick is being able to support our brilliant local markets, from the Sunday High Road markets to the Dukes Meadows Food Market.
Markets are good for local businesses, good for the local community and good for putting our area on the map and attracting visitors from right across London. I was enjoying our local Chiswick markets long before I was elected but, as a local representative, it’s exciting to be able to support more practically these fantastic and committed community groups who are making Chiswick even better.
It’s fantastic to see local groups like the Flower Market team coming up with innovative ways to make Chiswick even better, and as a councillor I’m here to help facilitate a wider conversation across Chiswick about the future of our town centre.
Image above: Jack with a Chiswick Gators training session earlier this year
Supporting Community Groups
If the markets are the heart of the Chiswick community, then our brilliant local community groups are its backbone. From the fantastic sports clubs that offer local kids a place to go during weekday evenings to the environmental groups supporting Chiswick’s biodiversity and green spaces, we’re lucky to have so many people who are working hard to improve our local area – being able to support these groups is what being a councillor should be all about.
My work supporting these community groups has been varied over the past six months: I’ve worked with the Dukes Meadows Trust in support of their visionary project to transform the area between Edensor Gardens and Alexandra Gardens; I’ve drilled Hedgehog Holes with WildChiswick to protect our local wildlife (the Grove Park area is home to one of the largest hedgehog populations in the country!)
I have also attended my first ever basketball matches to watch our brilliant local team, the Chiswick Gators, based at Chiswick School – much more than just a sports team, the Chiswick Gators have recently set up a new charity, the Coach Ali Foundation, in memory of Ali Abucar Ali, a former player and coach at the club who was tragically killed last year.
The foundation will aim to widen access to the sport to young people from all backgrounds, a continuation of Ali’s legacy as a much-loved coach at the club.
It’s been an exciting, and incredibly rewarding, first six months as your local councillor in Chiswick Homefields: helping to solve local challenges through casework, supporting our brilliant community groups and advocating for Chiswick in council meetings has kept me busy since May, and it’s been tough to condense it all into this article.
Hopefully, though, this has given you an insight into what it’s like being a newly elected councillor, and how privileged I feel to be able to represent our local area.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Jack-Emsley-with-Gerald-MacGregor-and-John-Todd_web-e1657283761796.jpg444372Guest Bloggerhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngGuest Blogger2022-11-22 06:45:022022-11-22 11:09:46My first six months as councillor for Chiswick Homefields ward
Riverside ward Councillor Amy Croft (R) out canvassing for Labour at the weekend
Guest blog by Cllr Amy Croft
It is just over six months since the local elections in May. Chiswick elected two first time councillors – one Labour and one Conservative. We asked them both to write a guest blog for The Chiswick Calendar about how their first six months had gone.
Here is Amy Croft’s piece – Labour councillor for Chiswick Riverside.
It has certainly been a busy six months since the Council elections back in May, there is a lot to learn as a Councillor and it has been a steep, but enjoyable, learning curve. The first two or three months, as I am sure all current Councillors will agree, has involved a large amount of intensive training sessions; training which is vital to understand quite the degree and scope of services and processes for which the Council have responsibility.
I feel really privileged to have been appointed as a trustee to the both Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, and the Chiswick Pier Trust; getting to know both of these organisations and working with them to see how, both I individually, and the Council more generally, can help ensure that residents of the Borough are able to gain the most enjoyment from these wonderful community assets, has been very rewarding.
I am the Vice Chair of the Council’s Licensing Committee, who are responsible for providing licenses to people and premises for a variety of reasons, and I also sit on the Audit and Governance Committee, who act as scrutiny for the finance, conduct and priority setting of the Council.
Outside of the more formal parts of the role, by far the most rewarding part of being a Councillor is getting to know residents and helping with casework on diverse issues ranging from fly tipping, LTN’s, parking and planning to hedgehogs and rosebushes.
I hold a surgery once a month at the St Michael’s Centre on Elmwood Road, my next one is on Saturday 3 December from 5pm until 6:30pm, however I am always happy to meet residents via Zoom or Teams, if residents wish to meet at other times. I have also been out door knocking in my ward, at the weekends, to introduce myself, and to see if there are issues where I can provide help to residents, I aim to get around the rest of the ward in the coming months.
I am in a somewhat unique position, as a ward Councillor for Chiswick Riverside, and the only Labour Councillor in the three wards which make up Chiswick. I think that brings with it some challenges, but these are far outweighed by the benefits.
I think that when you have an area, like Chiswick, where historically, the Councillors have been in opposition, it is very difficult for a “them and us” mentality not to creep in, especially where there are developments which split public opinion. I do not think this is specific to any party, and in honesty I think much the same would apply if the situation were reversed.
I think that this combination has led to a divide in opinion which has caused ill feeling amongst some residents both towards the Council, and/or towards other residents. This is deeply regrettable, and definitely a challenge, although one which is certainly not insurmountable.
As a Chiswick Councillor in the Labour group, I will work towards rebuilding these important relationships. I am also keen to ensure that residents are heard on the issues which affect them and that myself and the other Chiswick Councillors work towards positive resolutions to these issues. My ward and area colleagues, have, to their credit, been very welcoming and I look forward to continuing to work together with them for the benefit of residents.
The new administration of the Council has pledged to be a listening Council and from my experience of the last six months this is definitely the case; the amalgamation of the two exemption schemes in Riverside ward to allow residents better access is an example of this; and I am hopeful that this will be the first of many examples.
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.
We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Amy-Croft-featured-image.jpg9641083Guest Bloggerhttps://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TCC-white-on-white-1.pngGuest Blogger2022-11-22 06:22:022022-11-22 07:55:13My first six months as a councillor for Chiswick Riverside ward
We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
Other external services
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
Privacy Policy
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Support The Chiswick Calendar
Support The Chiswick Calendar
A football World Cup and a Budget, what better subjects could Mihir Bose, former sports news editor at the BBC, Sunday Times Economics Editor David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley wish for, to talk about?
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Alexa
Stitcher
TuneIn
Podcast Addict
Podchaser
Deezer
Listen Notes
Player.fm
Google Podcasts
iHeartRadio
Overcast
PocketCasts
Castro
CastBox
RSS
Support The Chiswick Calendar
The fixation on limiting immigration among some in government is threatening profound damage to a vital sector of the UK economy and to the UK’s soft power.
The Mayor’s announcement follows a public consultation which ran between May and July 2022, in which 59% of respondents agreed that more needed to be done to tackle toxic air.
Image: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
Image: RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch
The Rail Delivery Group responded, saying:
