H&F Arts Fest Opens at Old Laundry Yard on 1st June

Hammersmith & Fulham Arts Fest opens on Saturday at the Old Laundry Yard in Shepherd's Bush on 1st June at 1pm.

The Old Laundry yard is one of the most under-utilised sites in our neighbourhood, so it's good news to see it play host to our Borough's annual arts festival. 

Come along on Saturday and help open the festival. The organisers are promising "a fun filled afternoon" to which families and children are very welcome. 

Hammersmith & Fulham Historic Buildings Group Walks

The Dove, Hammersmith

As part of the Hammersmith & Fulham Arts Festival, which takes place from 1-9 June, the Hammersmith & Fulham Historic Buildings Group is organising two walks to explore the history of our neighbourhood, on 2nd June and 9th June.

Walk 1: "Hammersmith Riverside"
Walk 1 is titled "Hammersmith Riverside" and takes place on 2nd June at 2.30pm. The walk starts at Putney Bridge and goes to Furnival Gardens, and will look at the buildings and art works along the River Thames.

The walk leader is John Goodier.

Walkabout Demolished

Walkabout demolished

The old Walkabout pub which, prior to its conversion into an Aussie watering hole, was a historic movie theatre, has been almost completely demolished.

All that is left is a part of the front facade; even the side elevation advertising seats for "1/-6d & 3d" has gone.

It was, of course, a condition of the planning permission granted by LBHF back in April 2017 that the side elevation would be retained. So what happened?

Stanlake Rd Residents Object to Planning Application

Stanlake Mews - Google Maps

A number of Shepherd's Bush locals are unhappy about a new planning application in Stanlake Mews. The application is to convert some of the buildings on Stanlake Mews into a warehouse for Howden Joinery to trade & distribute kitchens.

This would help them to get a central distribution point vs being in an industrial building/estate. Locals are objecting because this new development would then mean that the traffic in the area would considerably increase - with vans & lorries picking up or delivering products to the warehouse.

European Elections Hustings Tonight Tuesday 14th May

Confused about the European Elections? You're not the only one. If it seems odd to you that we're voting for MPs for an institution that we are likely soon to be leaving, you are in good company.

And the Euro elections have always been opaque. Do you know who your local MEP is? Do you care?

Ironically, just as we are (maybe) set to leave the EU, the European election debate seems suddenly vigorous and important - and the outcome matters. If you'd like some answers, come along tonight 14th May to the Irish Cultural Centre in Black's Road, Hammersmith, from 6.45pm till 9pm.

Mr Schumm and Alastair Climb Mount Snowdon

Mr Schumm & Alastair

Head of St Stephen's Primary School Mr Schumm, and PE teacher Alastair, are inviting friends of St Stephen's to donate to their Climb Every Mountain page at Just Giving.

Mr Schumm and Alastair are climbing Mount Snowdon on 17th May to raise money for St Stephen's School "because we love working at St Stephen's".

St Stephen's is one of the best schools in Shepherd's Bush, rated Outstanding by Oftsed and much admired by local parents.

One thing that makes St Stephen's very special is its commitment to teaching pupils with special needs, and incorporating them into the student body.

St Stephen's Needs Gardeners on Saturday June 1st

St Stephen's Garden

St Stephen’s Church on the Uxbridge Road is looking for volunteers on Saturday June 1st to help 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.

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

Humans of Shepherd's Bush - Number 11

Mike Walsh - childhood in Little Percy St

"I lived on Little Percy Rd in the 1940s; it was a street surrounded by bombsites but it was still our playground for street football, cricket & marbles.

The only trouble though was the chance of smashing a window, or being told by an angry neighbour to go and play in the park. But when we went to Ravenscourt Park with our football gear there was a problem.

All the signs read Keep Off The Grass, so if we put our ball down and kicked it around, a big man in a brown uniform with a bright metal badge pinned to the hat on his head would come marching along in his new leather boots and his little walking stick which had a spike on the end (used to retrieve sweet wrappers that had been left on the grass) & shout, "Go on, out of it, gone on away with you. Don't let me catch you around here again!"

Broken Glass in Children's Playground in Shepherd's Bush

Broken glass in the playground

Three years after we first started started posting about the sorry state of Shepherd's Bush Green, and the failure of our Council to do anything about the enforcement of its own laws against anti-social behaviour, things are as bad as ever.

Walk across Shepherd's Bush Green in the morning and you will see piles of fast food, empty bottles and cans, and rubbish everywhere.

As the evenings get longer and warmer the problem will get worse.

On the left is a photo taken by a local parent, who last week cleaned up a small pile of broken glass from the children's playground on the Green.

What sort of person leaves broken glass in a children's playground? And why do we seem to be helpless to do anything about it?

Ghost Stories at the Lyric until 18 May

Ghost Stories is a hit play that started at our very own local theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, and has now returned, playing until 18 May.

Ghost Stories is scary, funny, witty and very clever - one of those plays that you keep thinking about days later, to check whether you really fully understood what was going on.

RCA Design Student Re-Imagines Shepherd's Bush Green

Shepherd's Bush Green - could it be improved?

Shan Erh Yang is a student at the Royal College of Art studying Interior Design, and is currently working on a project to re-design and re-imagine Shepherd's Bush Green.

Raised in Taiwan, Shan Erh Yang has spent the last couple of years studying interior design in London.

Today, Shan Erh Yang is looking for feedback from the local community on how Shepherd's Bush Green could be improved.

Hammersmith Society 2019 Environment Awards Open

2018 winner - Queen's Wharf Building

Nominations for the Hammersmith Society 2019 Environment Awards are now open.

If there is a new building in our neighbourhood that you like and admire - or even one you loathe - now is your chance to put it forward: for an Award - or a Wooden Spoon.

The 2019 Awards will be presented at the Society’s  AGM at Olympia on 12th June at 7.00pm at Olympia. The deadline for nominations is 15 May.

Cathnor Park Neighbourhood Watch Needs You

Cathnor Park Neighbourhood Watch 

Residents of Greenside, Leysfield, Cathnor, Goodwin and Melina Roads are banding together to create a new neighbourhood association and Neighbourhood Watch group - The Cathnor Park Neighbourhood Watch.

Concerned about anti-social behaviour and rising levels of crime, local residents are getting together with their neighbours to try and keep the Cathnor Park area a safe and friendly community for themselves and their families.

St Stephen's Gets New Vicar

Rev Denis Adide

St Stephen's church on the Uxbridge Road has a new vicar. St Stephen's announced yesterday the appointment of The Rev’d Denis Adide as Vicar of the Parish of St Stephen & St Thomas, Shepherds Bush.

Denis is currently finishing his curacy at Christchurch, Turnham Green, Chiswick and will begin as vicar of St Stephen’s in the summer.

Denis was born in Northern Uganda and came to London as a child. He is married to Anna Fiona and they have three young children.

The PCC and congregation at St Stephen’s are greatly looking forward to welcoming Denis and his family to Shepherds Bush.

Japanese Garden Community Picnic on Saturday 11th May

Hammersmith Park is celebrating its recently expanded Japanese Garden with a Japanese Garden Community Picnic on Saturday 11th May, from Noon until 5pm.

The Japanese Picnic will feature lots of activities for families and children, including the chance to make origami, follow a treasure trail, do a calligraphy workshop, listen to Japanese music, or buy Japanese snacks.

The event is being held to celebrate recent improvement works: the installation of new Japanese-style gates and rows of stone lanterns in the Japanese Garden.

You can see more about it at the Japanese Embassy official site. Don't forget to bring your picnic!

Hammersmith Bridge Closed Indefinitely

Local residents are furious as Hammersmith Bridge has been closed by our Council "indefinitely".

This is the latest development in a long-running and sorry saga of delay and neglect, in which our local Council has continuously kicked the long-postponed repairs into the long grass.

Back in October we reported - to a furious response from LBHF - that the price tag for repairs had risen to £36m from the 2014 estimate of £25m.

New Playground for Hammersmith Park

New playground at Hammersmith Park

The children's playground at Hammersmith Park has been finished at last, having been redeveloped after the children's climbing frames were removed in February and March of 2018.

It took a while, but full credit to our Council for getting it done, and to a high standard.

New Fountain Proposed for Hammersmith Park

Proposed Design

Our local Council have proposed a new water fountain for Hammersmith Park. You can see a draft of the proposed design on the left.

The idea is to have a new water fountain so that visitors to the park can get a drink of water on a hot day.

So far, local opinion is (as is frequently the case) rather divided. A number of locals are against it, suggesting that it adds to the clutter of our neighbourhood and, anyway, why spend scarce public money on an expensive new fountain when anyone who needs a drink can always pop into Play Football and get a glass of water?

Personally, I think it's a good idea, on balance.

Italian Ice Cream Comes to Shepherd's Bush

Creams brightens up the Uxbridge Rd

Italian Ice Cream has arrived in Shepherd's Bush; the ice cream parlour Creams has just opened on the Uxbridge Rd, in the space that used to be occupied by the unloved high interest loan outfit Oakham.

Walk past its wide-open doors and you get assaulted by the sweet smell of ice cream and chocolate; the tables are filled with happy children inhaling improbably tall heaps of ice cream and sprinkles.

Moped Deliveries Disrupt the Peace of Caxton Village

Moped delivery drivers waiting for work in Caxton Rd

Think of Shepherd's Bush and you might think of chicken shops, pizza and kebabs. We are - for good and bad - one of London's fast-food hubs, with delivery mopeds whizzing around our streets at all times of day and night making 24 hour deliveries.

However not everyone in our neighbourhood is entirely happy. In the guest post below, Shepherd's Bush resident Edward Elletson explains why Caxton Village is getting overwhelmed by delivery drivers, and what needs to be done to fix the problem.