St Stephen's Comedy Hoedown 18 October

Save the date: St Stephen's Church is hosting a Comedy Festival on Friday 18 October in aid of the Church Roof Fund, at the Bush Hall on the Uxbridge Road.

The event is titled "Rich Hall's Hoedown" and features American comedian Rich Hall live on stage.

You can buy tickets at the official site here.  For more details, times and tickets, visit: www.bushtheatre.co.uk or call the Box Office on 020 8743 5050.

The event is a fundraiser for St Stephen's Church and its decaying Victorian roof, which will cost £200,000 to replace, of which over £100,000 has already been raised.

Community & Emergency Services Day

Today at 1pm Shepherds Bush Green is playing host to the Community & Emergency Services Day. It takes place today Friday 26th July 2019 near the War Memorial on Shepherds Bush Green W12, and is a free event.

Come along and say hello to your local emergency services teams and other local community organisations.

You can learn about different emergency services roles, and see the emergency vehicles. 

There will be information and recruitment stands, plus displays from the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service, Metropolitan Police, QPR Community Trust, Transport for London, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, Exchanging Places Bike safety display, and historic emergency service vehicles.

Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Green Meeting 3 Sept 2019

FOSBERG

FOSBERG (Friends of Shepherd’s Bush Green) will hold its inaugural Meeting on Tuesday 3rd September 2019 in the bar of the Bush Theatre on the Uxbridge Road, at 7.30pm.

All are welcome.  The purpose of the meeting is to bring together members of the local community who want to make a positive contribution to making our neighbourhood a better place.

Shepherd’s Bush Green needs our love and support. Together we can work to make our community stronger and healthier.

LBHF Summer Grants Scheme Launched

United in Hammersmith & Fulham, our borough’s new place-based giving scheme, has launched a Summer Get Together grants scheme, and is looking for up to 40 local events to fund.

Through the scheme United will help support anyone in the borough organising a picnic, street party, lunch, sporting event, fun day or other community activity with and for their neighbours.

Hammersmith Bridge to Close for Good?

Hammersmith Bridge today

According to a recent article in the London Evening Standard, Hammersmith Bridge "may be shut to drivers for good" as the repair bill for the ailing structure nears £100m.

Rather than find a way to pay for the repairs, our local Council, LBHF, seem to have decided on a new idea - to celebrate the closure instead.  Hammersmith Bridge is being re-branded as a "green" bridge - cycles and pedestrians only. No more polluting wicked cars.

Nick Fairholme, TfL’s director of project and programme delivery, told a conference: “Although we want to reopen it, [a full repair] is not going to be a cheap fix. If there is public support for leaving it as a pedestrian and cycle bridge then we will have to consider that.”

The trouble is, Hammersmith Bridge is a major traffic artery for thousands of Londoners, and the closure has forcibly re-routed six bus routes. LBHF say that they have no money for repairs, but there are two simple ways that the money could be raised.

Hoxton Hotel Wins Planning Permission

The developers of the proposed Hoxton Hotel at 65 Shepherd's Bush Green have at last won their fight to secure planning permission to demolish the old buildings and build a new hotel.

Planning permission for the site was originally granted back in 2017, but the owner of a flat in nearby Pennard Rd successfully challenged it by way of Judicial Review, and managed to get the plans quashed, forcing the developers to re-apply for planning permission with revised plans.

Charity Cricket Match on Saturday 14th September

Cricket at Chiswick House

Save the date - St Stephen’s Church and St Stephen's School will be battling it out on the cricket pitch on Saturday 14th September at a charity fund-raiser to be held at Chiswick House.

The event is being held in aid of the St Stephen's Roof Fund, which is seeking to raise £200,000 to fix the Victorian roof, now leaking and badly in need of replacement. The fund is more than half way there, but there is still around £90,000 to find.

Families and children are welcome, and you are also welcome to bring a picnic.

Hammersmith Bridge Consultation on Tuesday 18 June

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) have arranged a public meeting to discuss Hammersmith Bridge  on Tuesday 18 June 7pm in the Small Hall at LBHF Town Hall.

Hammersmith Bridge closed to road traffic in April, causing  traffic jams in Chiswick and Putney and great inconvenience to many locals.

Induction of Denis Adide on 24 June at St Stephen's

Rev Denis Adide

The Reverend  Denis Adide, the new vicar for St Stephen's church on the Uxbridge Road, is to be inducted into the parish on Monday 24 June at 7.30pm.

The Reverend Adide is currently finishing his curacy at Christchurch, Turnham Green, Chiswick and will begin his new job as vicar of St Stephen’s following his induction.

Reverend Adide's appointment follows the departure of the much-loved Bob Mayo earlier this year.

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.

TFL Plans for Wood Lane & Shepherd's Bush - Jun 5th

TFL have released consultation plans to re-arrange the traffic routes on Wood Lane & Shepherd's Bush Green, and to judge by the number of adverse comments in the threads at NextDoor, lots of locals are unhappy.  But don't forget that these are only consultations, nothing is fixed in stone. Right now TFL are asking local people what they think of the proposals, and the next public consultation is to be held this week at the Bush Theatre on Wednesday 5th June, at 5pm. So if you'd like to know more, come along and have your say.

Westfield Jamie's Italian Closes

Along with most of the rest of the Jamie's Italian restaurant empire, our local Westfield branch is no more.  The sign in the window dolefully records the end of the Jamie's era, and notes the email address of messrs KPMG, the official receivers, in case you have any queries.

To read some of the press, you'd think Jamie's Italian was never any good in the first place, but my recollection is quite different.

When it first opened back in 2008, our local branch of Jamie's Italian was a great place to go - the kind of place you could take your friends, you grandma, even your unruly children.

The food was good, the prices were reasonable, the ingredients were fresh, and the place had a sense of style and excitement about it. The trouble was, it didn't last.

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?