Shepherd's Bush Green Road Closed

Traffic is being re-routed on Shepherd's Bush Green today, as works continue on what looks like a burst water main. 

Traffic traveling along the south side of the Shepherd's Bush Green cannot turn North, at least until the works are complete.

Ginglik Applies for Planning Permission for Restaurant

Edwardian loo, later Ginglik nightclub, now derelict

The former Ginglik nightclub on Shepherd's Bush Green has put in an appplication for planning permission (note that you may have to log in to the LBHF site to see the details).

The application is for a change of use, from a nightclub to a restaurant.

This surely good news for this long-neglected corner of Shepherd's Bush Green.

Brook Green Market Moving to Masbro Rd

Brook Green Market, which takes place every Saturday morning, has outgrown its old home and is moving to bigger premises on Masbro Rd from tomorrow, Saturday 6th March.

Brook Green Market is moving to a new, bigger site, down the road at St Mary's Catholic Primary School, 40 Masbro Rd, Brook Green, W14 0LT.

The new larger location is able to host more stalls, more fresh produce and street food. 

The family-friendly Brook Green Market takes place every Saturday from 9.30am until 3pm. 

To see more details, visit their official site:

http://www.brookgreenmarket.co.uk/

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?

No Bridge? How About a Ferry Instead?

A new campaign has been formed to petition Richmond Council for a ferry to replace Hammersmith bridge for up to five years, while our Council, TFL and Whitehall argue over who should foot bill to repair Hammersmith Bridge.  

The campaign needs more signatures; would you support a ferry being in place for five years to replace, temporarily, Hammersmith Bridge? To offer your support, click on this link and then click on the box that invites you to leave a comment.

Sponsored Community Cookathon for Shepherd's Bush

On St Valentines Day, February 14th 2021, Shepherds Bush families are taking part in a "Sponsored Community Cookie Cookathon for Streetyltes" to raise £5,000 for a new oven for St Stephens Church in Shepherds Bush. 

The new oven is needed to feed homeless people in Shepherd's Bush, as the old oven is broken, and you cannot serve hot meals without an oven.

BBC Car Park on Wood Lane Sold to Peabody

Proposed Peabody Trust Buildings on Wood Lane

Peabody Trust, one of the UK's oldest charitable housing associations, is to acquire 142 affordable homes at Television Centre in White City, on Wood Lane. 

According to a recent press release, developer Stanhope have have exchanged contracts with Peabody for 142 new affordable homes in two new buildings at Television Centre, London, W12.

The buildings form part of the Television Centre development.

Designed by Maccreanor Lavington Architects, the new buildings will replace the existing former BBC multi-storey car park on Wood Lane, W12, opposite Westfield. 

Lockdown 3.0 in the Bush

As Shepherd's Bush endures our third Lockdown, pity the local businesses who barely survived the first and second Lockdowns. Those that are still solvent must endure it once more, with no end in sight.  Below are some resources for surviving Lockdown 3.0 in Shepherd's Bush.

On the plus side, our Council's Covid-19 tests continue. The test takes just 5 minutes. You can visit test centres in Fulham, Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush.   Book now: www.lbhf.gov.uk/gettested

Westfield Sparkles, But No Lights for Shepherd's Bush

Westfield sparkles

Westfield sparkles again this year, but our local Council have again failed to find any money to put up Christmas decorations on Shepherd's Bush Green.

Every year, Westfield puts on a display of light and colour, while Shepherd's Bush Green and the surrounding streets are left with nothing to cheer the place up.

Our Council seem unable to hang any Christmas decorations in our shopping streets.

John Gordon-Smith Leads Hammersmith Park Cleanup

John Gordon-Smith leads the cleanup on Sunday

John Gordon-Smith is one of the unsung heroes of our neighbourhood, a local volunteer who regularly gives up his time to maintain and preserve the Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park.

The Japanese Garden is one of our most distinctive local landmarks and a legacy of the Japan-British Exhibition of 1908, part of the original Great White City exhibition.

Yesterday John and his fellow volunteers were once again cleaning out the pond in the Japanese Garden, giving up their Sunday to clear the water of pondweed and algae. 

John was assisted by Mick, the park gardener and a number of other local volunteers including Richard, a gardener from Kew Gardens, who all worked hard to help restore the garden.  Many thanks to all of them for their hard work and dedication.

St Stephen's Leaky Roof Needs Your Help

St Stephen's - leaky roof

St Stephen's church on the Uxbridge Road has almost raised the £220,000 needed to re-roof the church buildings, but is still short around £20,000. Can you help?

This Christmas there will be many worthy causes competing for your attention. A church roof is not a fashionable good cause, and yet roofs must be repaired. It has taken the best part of a decade to raise the money, largely through the persistent and dogged efforts of the indefatigable Juliet Byford, chair of the St Stephen's Roof Committee. 

Why contribute to the St Stephen's roof?  St Stephen's is a church that welcomes people from many different backgrounds, one of relatively few places in Shepherd's Bush where our many disparate communities come together.  

To make a contribution this Christmas, follow this link.

Temporary Cycle Lanes in RBKC Removed

Temporary cycle lane on High Street Kensington

Few things get Londoners more upset than cycle lanes. If you are a cyclist, the absence of cycle lanes in central London verges on the barbaric - what civilised city would expose cyclists to the danger of occupying the same route as cars and lorries?

If you are a driver, then little gets you more annoyed than the often empty cycle lane next to you as you sit in one of London's frequent and endless traffic jams. 

RBKC are removing the temporary cycle lanes on High Street Kensington, but are they right to do so? Many locals think not, and have launched a petition at Change.org.

Supporting Older Folks in Shepherd's Bush This Xmas

LBHF Xmas Party 2019

As a local resident and a wheelchair user, I was disappointed to learn that the Christmas lunch for older people has been cancelled this year. 

Whilst I am personally fortunate enough to be younger and do have family to spend Christmas with this year, many are not so lucky.

In 2019 Hammersmith and Fulham council hosted a lunch for 260 people, but the event will not take place this Christmas.

Hammersmith Park Tennis Lockdown

Thou Shalt Not Play Tennis

Lockdown is a confusing time in Shepherd's Bush.  Exercise is permitted, but tennis appears to be banned. At least, it must be, because our council has padlocked the gate to the tennis courts in Hammersmith Park. 

There is no sign of course, and no explanation as to why – but the answer to everything these days is Covid. 

An enterprising local has found their own solution – someone has cut a hole in the fence, to make a handy entrance to the tennis courts.  

This past Sunday all three tennis courts were full, even the one that doesn’t have a net – our Council still haven’t found the money (we've been waiting for many years) to replace it.  

Hammersmith Bridge Protest on Saturday 5 December

On Saturday 5 December from 2-3pm there will be a Hammersmith Bridge Protest Meeting.  Hammersmith Bridge is now closed not just to vehicles but also to bicycles, pedestrians and river traffic. 

The bridge is to remain closed indefinitely, as our Council, TFL and central government argue over who should pay. 

When will the bridge re-open? It has been closed since April 2019, following a long and sorry saga of temporary closures and regular postponement of the necessary repairs.

If you're fed up with the endless delays and prevarications and would like to see our council do something about repairing the bridge (which they own), then show up and let your voice be heard.

D-Day-style Solution for Hammersmith Bridge?

Proposed temporary bridge by Tim Beckett

According to a recent article in the Daily Mail, Shepherd's Bush author and journalist Robert Hardman has identified an imaginative solution to the perma-closure of Hammersmith Bridge - a "D-Day"-style steel replacement. 

The temporary bridge is the brainchild of marine engineer Tim Beckett and his team at Beckett Rankine, builders of harbours, bridges and piers. 

Cooke's Pie and Mash Reborn?

Photo: Helen Carey

Cooke's Pie and Mash is back - or is it? Cooke's Pie and Mash closed its doors on 25 July 2015, a casualty of the aborted redevelopment of Shepherd's Bush Market that never was. 

Cooke's Pie and Mash had been a feature of the the Goldhawk Road for over a century, and was made famous by the cult film Quadrophenia, as well as being a favourite haunt of the Sex Pistols. 

Cooke's was part of the local landscape, and when they closed they even lost the right to use their trading name.  

The original building signage is being restored, but sadly the shop is not re-opening. Today, it is a plain old office building, but one that is celebrating its heritage with a new paint job. 

Shepherd's Bush Lockdown 2.0

Empty trains on the Central Line

Shepherd's Bush is back into Lockdown. Pity the businesses who barely survived the first Lockdown; now they must endure it all over again. 

There are however some rays of sunshine, such as the empty Tube train which opened its doors to me during my morning commute on Thursday - the first time in my adult life when I have sat in an empty train during "rush hour".  

For those who aren't getting out much, or indeed at all, below are some resources for surviving Lockdown 2.0 in Shepherd's Bush.

Humans of Shepherd's Bush - No 14

Amar, aka Tony

Meet Amar, also known as Tony. Amar's father, Amaro, came from India to London in 1954 and started this shop at Shepherds Bush Market in 1960.

In the beginning Amar sold men’s ties in Petticoat Lane in East London on Sundays; he moved the business to W12 a few years later.

"Most of the shops here were run by women during the week, while the men had day jobs in factories.  My father cut rubber at a foundry nearby and worked in the market on the weekend for an extra income. The market ran for three days as it was also hard to get much stock in due to London rebuilding after the war".

Tony’s mother, Manjit, joined his father 15 years later from Punjab. She was chosen by his grandmother as a suitable wife for the then 19 year old Amaro while he was still in London.