Local politicians join in condemnation of Israel

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Hounslow Council's Labour group has joined the Borough's two Labour MPs in calling on Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to stop the violence against Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the planned evictions at Sheik Jarrah. Since the weekend Israel has faced international condemnation over the ongoing violence in Jerusalem, with repeated clashes between police and Palestinian worshipers in Jerusale

Chiswick Cheese Market launches this Sunday

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The forecast for this Sunday is Gouda with light Bries, as a brand new Cheese Market pops up on the High Road. Truckles and wheels of specialty cheeses will be rolling in from all over the UK as far north as the Highlands. There will also be some of the best Europe has to offer, including Red Cow Parmesan, claiming to be the best in the world, and Alpine cheeses from France. 20 Cheese stalls

Tickets on sale for this year’s Bedford Park Festival

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By Torin Douglas Tickets have gone on sale for the 55th Bedford Park Festival, which will take place in front of live audiences next month, after being held ‘at home’ and online last year because of the pandemic. The Festival – known as ‘Chiswick’s favourite fortnight’ - will run from June 12th to 27th in St Michael & All An

PM confirms lockdown set to ease on 17 May

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The Prime Minister has confirmed that the easing of England's lockdown restrictions will go ahead, claiming the data supported the decision. As a result the UK's covid alert level has been reduced from level four to level three, prior to the planned easing of lockdown on 17 May. The joint decision was made by the Chief Medical Officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as case

Drug dealers sentenced after being found with £300,000 worth of crystal meth

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Two men have been jailed after being caught with almost £300,000 worth of crystal meth. Michael Harkin of Canterbury Place and Mehrab Akbari of Ealing Road were sentenced on Friday (7 May) to a combined total of 14 years and nine months in prison, following an operation led by the Met’s Specialist Crime Command. Officers' suspicions were raised when Harkin was observed having meets in car

Whale stuck at Teddington Weir put down

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The baby minke whale which was stranded in the Thames has been euthanised. The whale, which was rescued in the early hours of Monday morning after getting beached by Richmond Lock & Weir, broke free from the rescue team near Isleworth and continued to swim further up stream before becoming stuck in Teddington. On Monday afternoon The British Divers Marine Life Rescue said the juvenile mi

Sadiq Khan re-elected London Mayor

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Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been re-elected as Mayor of London. His victory was announced from City Hall on Saturday night. Sadiq Khan won 39% of first preference votes to Shaun Bailey’s 37%. After the second preference votes were counted, he took 1,206,034 votes, compared to Mr Bailey’s 977,601. In the 2016 London mayoral election he won with 44.2 per cent of the first preference vot

Conservative wins London SW seat

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The Conservative candidate Nicholas Rogers has won the London SW seat on the Greater London Assembly. He will now represent LB Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames and Kingston upon Thames on the GLA. Speaking soon after his victory was announced, he said: “I want to thank the voters for placing their trust in me as their Assembly Member. Our three boroughs represent t

Police release video of armed arrest in Chiswick

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The Metropolitan Police have released body worn video footage which shows armed officers arresting David Longhor, who was carrying two Skorpion machine guns and 40 rounds of ammunition in his back pack.  The BWV footage shows the moment of the arrest Longhor, 19, from Ealing was arrested in the early hours of Monday, 2 March close to C

New Antiques Market opens this Sunday on Chiswick High Road

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Fancy a mooch around an antiques market this Sunday? Now you don’t have to travel far. A new monthly popup market starts on the 9th May with dealers from all over London and the Shires bringing their latest finds to showcase along Chiswick High Road. This once a month market will spread out along the south side of the High Road from the Police Station eastwards towards Hammersmith, wit

Richmond Park clamps down on dogs off their leads

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Dogs will be required to be on leads in all areas of both Richmond and Bushy Park, from Tuesday 4 May, as the deer enter their birthing season. Dog walkers are "strongly advised" not to walk their dogs in the parks at all over this time, with lead-wearing being compulsory until 2 August. Up to 300 new fawns are expected to be born over this period. Along with their pregnant mothers, these d

Petition launched to prevent telecoms masts on ‘iconic’ Chiswick building

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A petition calling to scrap the plans to install telecommunications equipment on the roof of a 'iconic' Chiswick building has been launched. The petition was submitted by a local resident, Lynne Metherell, who claims the masts will be a 'blot on the open spaces we value in the centre of Chiswick, visible from all sides.' The plans would see assorted steelwork including six antenna apertures

Good news and last push for Yeats Memorial

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The London Borough of Hounslow granted planning permission for the WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project on Friday (30th), which means it can claim a grant of £35,000 from London Borough of Hounslow’s Thriving Communities Fund to add to its final fundraising flurry. Celebrities and locals have rallied to support pledges for the artwork, Enwrought Light, which reaches its crowdfu

Surge testing in Hounslow after South African variant identified

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Residents over the age of 16 who live in and around the Woodlands area of the London Borough of Hounslow will be asked to take a PCR COVID-19 test from tomorrow (Tuesday 4 May), whether they are showing COVID-19 symptoms or not. This follows the notification to the Council that a single case of the variant of concern first identified in South Africa has been identified in the Borough. Workin

Chiswick Lifeboat urges caution to river pub-goers

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Chiswick Lifeboat are urging caution to pub-goers planning on drinking at venues along the Thames. Because current COVID guidelines do not allow for indoor drinking, pubs are making use of their outdoor spaces to accommodate customers more than ever. Chiswick RNLI fear this may increase the risk that those under the influence will end up in the river. Whilst noting there hasn't been any spec

Local elections: Meet the candidates for the SW London Assembly seat

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The local elections are coming up this Thursday (6 May). The elections decide who runs local services - such as schools, libraries and bin collections - in 143 councils across the UK. Hounslow council isn't in the running this year, but residents will be able to vote in the London mayoral election, as well as vote for the London Assembly member for South West. The Chiswick Calendar's Matt

Woman’s body recovered from Brentford canal identified by residents

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Image above: Eva's photograph, posted on the Brentford Friends' Facebook group A woman's body has been recovered from a canal in Brentford on Tuesday 27 April. She has been identified by local residents as a woman called Eva, who was homeless. Police were called at 6.48 am on Tuesday to the Grand Union Canal near Transport Avenue, to reports of a body in the water. Metropolitan Pol

Chiswick has a new mural

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A mural of the singer and songwriter Eva Lazarus has been painted on the wall next to the Villa Di Geggiano restaurant. The 'Spring' artwork was created from a photoshoot by the street artist Zabou, who then hand-painted the edited picture onto the wall. Zabou is a French street artist based in London. She creates large-scale murals mainly focusing on realistic portraits. She travels and pai

The Junkyard Market comes to Chiswick

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Image above: Junkyard Market (not in Chiswick) Chiswick is getting a Shoreditch style food and drink venue, with street food, vegan beer and cocktails, served from shipping containers redesigned as bars, and a bit of background music out in the open air. The 'Junkyard Market' is so-called because it is defined by the furniture: in this case three recycled containers and the tabl

Ravenscourt Park Farmers Market will defy council and continue

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Image above: Ravenscourt Park Farmers Market The organisers of the Ravenscourt Park Farmers Market, RMS Markets, have said that they will continue to hold their weekly markets in Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith on Saturdays and in Bishops Park, Fulham on Sundays, despite Hammersmith and Fulham Council withdrawing their licence to trade. The Ravenscourt Park food market was set up

Ravenscourt Park considered for Parkrun location

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Image above: parkrun LB Hammersmith and Fulham is considering Ravenscourt Park as a location for parkrun. The Saturday morning meet-ups have become popular in parks all round the country. Parkruns are free, community events which now take place all around the world. The runs are 5k and take place in parks and open spaces. There is one in Richmond Park, Gunnersbury Park and Bishops

Chiswick Horticultural & Allotments Society elects a new chairman

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Image above: Dennis Flaherty Chiswick Horticultural and Allotments Society has elected a new chairman. Dennis Flaherty, previously the society's Allotments Secretary, was voted in as chairman by 219 votes to 58, beating the incumbent Henry Gewanter by 161 votes. There have been some ‘heated, emotional and bitter rows’ between members of the society over the past year, which

Bus strikes suspended as drivers consider new pay offer

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Planned bus strikes which were meant to go ahead on Monday (26 April) have been suspended, following a revised pay offer given to drivers. Bus drivers employed by London United, a subsidiary of French company RATP, based at seven depots in South and West London have been involved in a series of recent London-wide strikes in a dispute over pay. Drivers feared losing £2,000 a year due to chan

Thousands march on Ealing Council demanding end to LTNs

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Thousands of protestors marched on Ealing Council on Saturday (24 April) to protest against the council's controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes. The procession stretched over a mile, travelling northbound along Northfield Avenue and turning right onto Uxbridge Road until arriving at the council's premises Percival House and Ealing Town Hall. East bound traffic along Uxbridge Road was

Royal Trinity Hospice welcomes “phenomenal” response of shoppers and donors as shops reopen

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The local hospice for central and south west London has seen a “phenomenal” week of sales and donations in its charity shops since reopening on Monday 12 April for the first time in 2021. As the shops reopened in the second phase of the Government's roadmap for easing out of lockdow

West London Coroner blasts uncaring ‘care in the community’ after woman is stabbed to death

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Image above: West London Coroner's Court; photograph Nigel Cox

Uncaring ‘care in the community’ contributed to woman’s death

The Assistant Coroner for the Western Area of London, Dr Séan Cummings, has criticised the North West London NHS Foundation over the death of a woman who was stabbed to death by her housemate, and warned that more deaths could happen if they do

We’re in Wisden!

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Our podcast is reviewed in Wisden! And favourably at that. Peter Oborne and Richard Heller have been delivering their cricket podast for a year now. They started with Wisden 2020 and have just reviewed Wisden 2021. Wisden has noticed. Imagine their thrill when they opened this year's cricketing bible to find that the podcast reviewer James Gingell regarded our podc

Hounslow planning officers approve Yeats sculpture

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Image above: Artist's impression of Yeats sculpture by Conrad Shawcross, planned for Bedford Park Planning officers at Hounslow council are recommending that the planning committee approves the proposal for a sculpture to commemorate the Nobel Prize winning Irish poet WB Yeats, in Bedford Park. Artist Conrad Shawcross was commissioned to create a design for a piece of art work

Rupa Huq criticises decision to delay students’ return to campus

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Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq has criticised the Government’s decision to delay the return of students to university campuses in England until at least 17 May. During an Urgent Question session in Parliament on 16 April, the Universities Minister Michelle Donelan MP confirmed that a return to in-person learning for around a million students would be put back until mid-May at the earlie

Horticulture wars – tempers still running high in local society

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Images above: Henry Gewanter; Dennis Flaherty The Chiswick Horticultural & Allotment Society has found itself in the middle of an incendiary leadership battle, one born out of an 'unpleasant atmosphere of growing unrest' between members. In February, The Chiswick Calendar reported there had been 'heated, emotional and bitter rows' between members of the society. These argume