Shepherds Bush Railway Bridge Gets a Makeover

Shepherds Bush Railway Bridge Gets a Makeover

In another small victory for the Campaign To Fix Uxbridge Rd, the Shepherds Bush Railway Bridge has been given a summer makeover.

The Shepherds Bush Market railway bridge has been an eyesore for years: ugly, with peeling paint, and covered in graffiti.  The new paint job successfully brightens up an otherwise unlovely stretch of the Uxbridge Road. 

the Campaign To Fix Uxbridge Rd was launched in 2025 by a number of Shepherd's Bush residents who found themselves frustrated with the poor state of our local streets.  

Humans of Shepherd's Bush No 17 - Tom House

Tom House of Tom House Fitness

"I'm a personal fitness trainer; I live in Shepherd's Bush with my family, and I love what I do, helping people to get fit, stay healthy, and take care of themselves.

My Dad was a dairy farmer, but the big supermarkets made it impossible to make a living in farming. 

I get to work from home - I have a fully equipped gym outside my house, and I welcome clients both in person and online. 

Remembering Claire Hickey of Greenford Timber

Our local community was saddened to learn of the passing of Claire Hickey, a familiar and much-loved presence at hardware store Greenford Timber on Uxbridge Road.

Claire died on 17 April 2026 after a long battle with cancer, leaving behind many friends, neighbours, and customers who knew her for her warmth, kindness, and steady presence.  

Anyone in Shepherd's Bush with a DIY project will have met Claire; her hardware store Greenford Timber at 328 Uxbridge Rd somehow manages to have everything in stock, despite its modest size.   

One local resident said "Claire was incredible, she could always lay her hands on whatever you needed, even when you didn't know yourself". 

Uxbridge Rd Tree Planted - and Promptly Vandalised

Local residents' campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road has had something of a setback as one of the new trees on the Uxbridge Rd has been vandalised.

The campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road has been working with our local council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve our local street scene.  One of the few tangible results of that campaign has been the planting of new trees. 

Unfortunately (and not for the first time) one of the newly planted trees has been destroyed.  

Our council will no doubt be back, most likely in the next tree planting season, to replace it. But this summer a broken tree on the Uxbridge will be a melancholy reminder that the campaign to Fix The Uxbridge Road will be a long one, likely with many setbacks. 

New Trees Planted on Uxbridge Road

Local residents' campaign to Clean Up The Uxbridge Road appears to have scored a small victory in the form of new trees being planted along The Uxbridge Road. 

The campaign has been working with our local council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve our local street scene. 

Uxbridge Road has long felt neglected; just walking up the street can feel like an obstacle course, dodging rubbish, panhandlers, and graffiti-covered phone booths. 

Macfarlane Place Wins Hammersmith Society Award

Macfarlane Place wins Environment Award

Macfarlane Place on Wood Lane has won an Environment Award at the 2025 Hammersmith Society Awards, held last week at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. 

According to the Hammersmith Society wesbite: "Finely detailed brickwork is the feature in this new development on the corner of Macfarlane Road and Wood Lane opposite Westfield, designed by Maccreanor Lavington for Peabody Housing Association. 

Campaign To "Fix Uxbridge Road"

Fix Uxbridge Rd 

In 2025 a campaign was launched by a number of Shepherd's Bush residents to clean up the Uxbridge Road, hoping to persuade our council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve our local street scene.  

We invited campaign organiser Noor to share her thoughts on what the "Fix Uxbridge Rd" campaign is all about, and what it hopes to achieve.

 

Uxbridge Road Jewelery Robbery

Uxbridge Rd Jewelery shop robbed

The Uxbridge Road jewelery shop which was the subject of a ram raid robbery in 2019 has been robbed again, with thieves apparently breaking in last night while local residents (including me) were asleep.  

The criminals appear to have cut their way through the protective steel shutters and then smashed their way through two glass windows.

Petition to "Save Uxbridge Road"

Local Shepherd's Bush residents have raised a petition to clean up Uxbridge Road, one of our neighbourhood's main East-West arteries.

The purpose of the petition is to encourage our local council, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, to focus on cleaning up the Uxbridge Road, dealing with some of the anti-social behaviour and generally tidying things up.

Local residents have long complained about social problems on Uxbridge Road.  Back in 2021 the Uxbridge Rd Police Station closed and was put up for sale, a decision which did little to deter crime and disorder.  

In 2022 Jonathan Pearl, chair of FOSGB (Friends of Shepherd's Bush Green) highlighted the growing problem of anti-social behaviour. 

Cyclists Jumping Lights on Uxbridge Rd Face £50 Fine

Cyclists - jump the lights at your peril

Cyclists beware - running a red light in Shepherd's Bush could cost you £50.  

It's become commonplace for London cyclists to jump the lights; after all, unlike motor vehicles, cyclists are unlikely to get a ticket. 

St Stephen's Xmas Fair on Saturday 2 December

Advent starts on Friday - and from December 1st it will be officially time to get into the Christmas Spirit. On Saturday the 2nd December from 12pm to 4pm our local primary school - St Stephen's - is hosting a Christmas Fair, raising money for one of the country's top primary schools.

Come along on saturday to buy Christmas gifts, cakes, and maybe even come and meet Father Christmas, who (it is rumoured) may make an appearance in his grotto. 

Other kid-friendly treats include a bouncy castle, a kid's tombola (there's one for grownups too), teddies, and "Strictly Come Dancing" classes with St Stephen's very own song-and-dance thespian Miss Whiting. 

Shepherd's Bush Taco Bell Gets Late-Night License Until 2am

Local journalist Hannah Neary reported at Shepherd's Bush W12 yesterday on the reaction to the Uxbridge Rd Taco Bell getting a late night food license until 2am, which is making many local residents unhappy.  

Here at The Shepherd's Bush Blog, we attended the licensing hearing on Monday night to express our own view.  I have never seen more people attend a licensing hearing, nor heard a more passionate expression of resistance to a late license.  

Some conditions were granted, but the Licensing Committee controversially agreed to Taco Bell being open until 1am Sunday to Thursday and 2am Friday and Saturday nights.

Gardening at St Stephen's Church on Sunday

St Stephen's Church Garden

St Stephen’s Church on the Uxbridge Road is looking for volunteers on Sunday November 14th from 2.30pm to 4pm to help weed and maintain the church garden.

St Stephen's relies entirely on volunteers to help maintain the church and its grounds. It's a family-friendly event, and children are very welcome.

There will be hot chocolate, coffee, tea and biscuits for volunteers. 

Got an hour or two spend on Sunday? Perhaps you have green fingers and - like most of us in the Bush - a tiny or even non-existent garden?

Shepherd's Bush Police Station For Sale

Shepherd's Bush Police Station

Shepherd’s Bush Police Station is for sale.

The police station, which occupies an ugly grey building on the Uxbridge Rd, was first scheduled for closure back in 2013.  

In 2015 the public counter closed, making it impossible to report a crime in person. 

Scaffolding Goes Up at St Stephen's Church

Scaffolding goes up at St Stephen's

St Stephen's church on the Uxbridge Road has finally raised most of the £220,000 needed to re-roof the church buildings, and scaffolding is going up for work to begin.

It has taken the best part of a decade to raise the money, largely through the dogged efforts of Juliet Byford, chair of the St Stephen's Roof Committee. 

St Stephen's is an inclusive church that welcomes people from many different backgrounds, a place where diverse communities come together.  

World Book Day Comes to Shepherd's Bush

Spot the real Mr Twit

World Book Day came to Shepherd's Bush today.   World Book Day is a charity event held annually in the UK and Ireland on the first Thursday in March. 

On World Book Day, every child in full-time education is given a voucher to be spent on books; the event was first celebrated in the UK in 1995.

Local primary school St Stephen's Head Teacher Michael Schumm got into the spirit, leading the dressing-up as a very plausible Mr Twit from Roald Dahl's classic children's tale "The Twits". 

Yellow Post Box on Uxbridge Rd

Some things in life are just supposed to be, like red buses, red phone booths - and red post boxes. A yellow post box isn't part of the British landscape, it just feels - wrong.

And, yet here is one today, on the Uxbridge Rd, freshly painted, in all its garish finery, as if to say "look at me, I'm a yellow post box. What are you going to do about it?" 

There is even a helpful chalk mark on the ground announcing "wet paint" to prove its newness.

What can this mean? Is the Post Office changing its colours? Or perhaps they have run out of red paint?

Bush Hall Needs Your Help

Bush Hall Needs Your Help. Like many businesses in our neighbourhood, Bush Hall has been crippled by Covid-19 and the subsequent Lockdown.

The music venue is therefore "reaching out for your support", hoping to raise money to cover the cost of cancelled gigs and lost revenue.

Bush Hall have set up an emergency crowd funder page and are asking everyone who can, to support them.

SEN Classes at Music House

Music House for Children on the Uxbridge Road is celebrating 25 years of bringing music to babies, toddlers and children.

Music House on the Uxbridge Road is offering music classes for children with special educational needs (SEN) at a specially discounted rate.

Music House was founded in 1994 by Emma Hutchinson, who also co-owns the Bush Hall and Bush Dining Halls with her husband Charlie.

Music House is a not-for-profit organisation which focuses on making music accessible to all; their pricing for group classes, workshops and events is purposefully kept at affordable rates.

My own children went to Music House when they were very young, and were welcomed by the friendly staff even when they weren't exactly well behaved - which was almost all the time.

Ramraid in Shepherd's Bush

Ramraid

Tonight saw a dramatic ramraid in Shepherd's Bush, as the new Uxbridge Road jewellers were the victim of a smash and grab robbery involving what appeared to be a stolen Range Rover, driven at speed into the plate glass window of the shop.

The new shop had only been open a few days, its windows full of sparkling jewellery, its owners no doubt hopeful of making a go of their new venture.