Issue 1 of The Bush Bugle

WINTER 2023

THE WRITE STUFF Meet talented writer Nathan Bryon

ISSUE 1

BUYER’S MARKET

MARSH MELLOWS

WOMAN OF WILL

A tour of Shepherd’s Bush Market

Catching up with QPR legend Rodney Marsh

Sarala Behn’s extraordinary life

WINTER 2023

Welcome to issue 1 of

Fringe fun comes to Shepherd’s Bush Above: Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen PHOTO BY MIHAELA BODLOVIC

NEWS

Thank you for picking up a copy of the Bush Bugle, a new local newspaper for Shepherd’s Bush.

The paper has been created by the team behind three other local newspapers in London. They include the award-winning title the Peckham Peculiar, which was chosen as community newspaper of the year at the national newspaper awards in April.

So, what are we all about?

The Bush Bugle is a free, hyperlocal paper that will cover the whole of the local area. It will be published four times a year – in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

If you don’t get a copy through your letterbox, it will be stocked at Shepherd’s Bush Market, where there will be hundreds of copies available to pick up and read. And if you’re a local business that would like to stock

copies for your customers, please email shepherdsbushbugle@gmail.com.

Community is at the heart of what we do and we believe that local publications should truly reflect the area they represent. The paper will be a celebration of the people and places that make Shepherd’s Bush special.

Our cover star for this issue is Nathan Bryon, who was born and raised in Shepherd’s Bush. Nathan is an immensely skilled writer who has turned his talents to everything from children’s books to major movies. Turn to page 10 to read his interview.

We would love to hear your story ideas so please get in touch via our email address if there’s someone or somewhere that you would like us to feature.

We’d like to say a massive thank you to our talented team who made

this issue happen, including Laura Mingozzi-Marsh for her design skills and Julia Hawkins for her outstanding photography.

There were many others whose involvement has been invaluable to creating the paper – including our brilliant writing team – and their names are listed below.

We will rely solely on advertising to cover our costs. If you run a business or organisation and are interested in advertising in our next issue, please do get in touch to find out more. This will be the spring edition, which will be out from early March – and as you can see from this edition, you’ll be in great company.

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy the debut issue!

Marcelo Dos Santos’s smash-hit oneman show, titled Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen, is among a typically strong run of plays being mounted at the Bush Theatre on Uxbridge Road over the coming months.

Feeling Afraid, starring Samuel Barnett, begins its run in the Holloway Theatre – the Bush’s main space, which has a capacity of 206 – on 10 November.

The play, described as “seriously funny” by the Guardian, swept all before it at the Edinburgh festival fringe last year, winning a Scotsman fringe first award

and the Stage Edinburgh award to boot.

Its upcoming run at the Bush marks its debut appearance on the London stage.

Described as a “laugh-out-loud exploration of intimacy, anxiety and ego”, Feeling Afraid is directed by Olivier award-winner Matthew Xia and runs until 23 December.

The play is a unique mixture of monologue and standup comedy. It tells the story of an unnamed standup comedian who meets a man he really likes – but one who suffers from cataplexy, a medical condition that means he might die if he laughs out loud.

Writer Marcelo explained to the Bush Bugle the inspiration behind the play.

“Initially the inspiration was just dating, how frustrating but also funny it is as a process,” he said.

“I hadn’t seen that much representation of gay dating on stage before and I wanted to explore it in a funny and frank way. It evolved as I realised the character was a comedian, which opened up really exciting avenues for the style and form of the play.”

Marcelo said he was “hugely gratified and relieved” by the show’s rapturous reception in Edinburgh. “It’s always a risk taking a show up to Edinburgh but the way it was taken up by audiences and critics was just the dream.”

The production at the Bush Theatre will be “close to the original in terms of the text”, he added. “There was a bit we had to cut to fit the Edinburgh hour, which we’re reinstating.

“In terms of staging, the show will be on three sides instead of four and there’s more design elements but it’s very much

still the Edinburgh show. I’ll be really interested to see it in London and at the Bush, which is, for me, the most exciting new writing theatre in the country.”

Marcelo is effusive about the contribution of actor Samuel Barnett to the show. “I’d worked with Samuel on another play and really felt like I got his voice and he got mine and that our neuroses overlapped nicely,” he explained.

“He’s brilliant at channelling complexity but also he’s such a warm performer, which is so important for a one-person show. He deserves all the awards as far as I’m concerned!”

Alongside Feeling Afraid, the Bush also welcomes four world premieres to its main and studio stages between November and May. In the theatre’s main house, Tosin Cole will star in Shifters from 16 February until 30 March. The second play from Susan Smith Blackburn prize-winner Benedict Lombe, Shifters is billed as “a fierce romance for anyone desperate for a different kind of love story”.

Then, from 12 April until 25 May, Olivier award-winner Bijan Sheibani’s The Cord, a “frank and relatable” examination of parentchild relationships, will feature on the Holloway Theatre stage.

On the smaller stage, Kwame Owusu’s Dreaming and Drowning – a play about anxiety, race and relationships – runs from 28 November until 23 December and is followed by Sophia ChetinLeuner’s NHS drama This Might Not Be It, which will run from 30 January until 2 March.

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NEWS

WINTER 2023

Drain supreme Work has begun on a scheme to improve drainage in Shepherd’s Bush Green, an area often plagued with floods and excess surface water during the winter and other times of the year when there is heavy rainfall.

Hammersmith and Fulham council announced a few weeks ago that an unnamed contractor had begun work on a two-month project focused on the western side of the green that will “improve both the appearance and usability of the site” and “make it more resilient to heavy footfall and to major events”.

The council statement added: “We’re aiming to improve the surface water

drainage. A network of underground pipes will be installed, which will channel rainwater into a ‘soakaway’ drainage system.

The ground will also be levelled and new grass seeded.”

The council anticipates that the western area of Shepherd’s Bush Green will be closed until the spring to “give the new grass a good chance to grow and fully establish before the site is reopened to the public”.

It said the bill for improvement works will not be footed by local council tax payers, but instead has been funded directly after “negotiations” with private developers.

As far back as 2015, when Hammersmith and Fulham council produced a surface

water management plan, the ward of Shepherd’s Bush Green was identified as one of the three most at risk from surface water out of the 21 council wards that comprise the overall borough.

In 2018, the council signed off on plans for a widespread makeover of Shepherd’s Bush Green, including landscaping and drainage works, although it is unclear if these works were ever undertaken.

In the years since, Shepherd’s Bush Green and nearby roads have suffered from various flooding events. In January 2018, a burst water main caused flooding chaos on Goldhawk Road and Hammersmith

Grove, submerging much of these streets in water, affecting thousands of properties and preventing many businesses from opening.

Meanwhile, in July 2021, torrential rain across the borough included more than a month’s worth of rain falling in Shepherd’s Bush in the course of just one hour. The resultant flooding of more than 300 properties across Hammersmith and Fulham was addressed by the council’s introduction of a flood risk mitigation programme in March 2022 and the appointment of councillor Helen Rowbottom as the lead member for flood mitigation across the borough.

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Way to go Further changes and delays to a cycleway scheme that was originally intended to incorporate Shepherd’s Bush Green have been condemned by local campaigners.

In response to a freedom of information request made by SafeCycleLDN and subsequently published on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) confirmed the changes.

A council spokesperson said: “This route is no longer proceeding other than the St John’s Gardens element, which will proceed as a standalone two-way cycling scheme.”

They added: “Officers hope to undertake statutory consultation on this scheme in early 2024.”

Original plans announced by Transport for London in May 2019 proposed a £42.2 million cycleway linking Notting Hill Gate and Wood Lane via Shepherd’s Bush Green. However, at a subsequent public meeting, councillor Elizabeth Campbell, leader of RBKC, criticised the proposed 2.3-mile route, saying that she had received “hundreds and hundreds of emails from across the local area” in opposition.

At the end of the consultation period, TfL announced that Hammersmith and Fulham council had supported the plans but that RBKC had issued a “position statement which explained that they could not support the proposals in their original form”.

Amended proposals for an alternative cycleway from Shepherd’s Bush to

Notting Hill were floated in 2020 but met with widespread criticism from cycling advocates and environmental campaigners.

Now there are serious doubts that any

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elements of the original scheme will ever come to fruition.

Clare Rogers, the central London coordinator for the London Cycling

Campaign (LCC), a group that campaigns for safer cycling for all in the capital, told the Bush Bugle: “RBKC’s original decision to reject the TfL plans for safer walking and cycling on Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park Avenue in 2019 was highly irresponsible.

“These roads are a much-needed eastwest route, but are dangerous and hostile for active travel. The ‘alternative’ route is worthless, being indirect and also steep, but delaying even the slight improvements it may have brought to some streets just adds insult to injury.”

Christophe Noblet, LCC Kensington and Chelsea rep and an activist for the Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea campaign, also criticised the latest development.

“In a borough that experienced on average more than nine people killed or seriously injured per month in 2022 – close to all being cyclists or pedestrians – it is indeed hard to comprehend why there is still such an opposition from RBKC to developing and providing safe cycling and walking routes,” he told the Bush Bugle.

“We’ve been demanding for years the implementation of a safe east-west and north-south cycling network throughout Kensington and Chelsea, in which a safe Wood Lane to Notting Hill cycleway could easily feature, with no progress, and no sign that things might change, despite RBKC claiming to be a ‘greener and safer’ borough.”

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

WINTER 2023

WINTER 2023

NEWS

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White city walks

Wonderful stuff

If you want to discover the remarkable hidden story of White City this winter, then look no further than the illuminating guided walks offered by Iya London, which are taking place in November and December.

Founded in 2022 by human rights researcher and local historian Joanna Oyediran, the first walk focuses on White City’s “hidden history” and takes place on 2 December from 11am to 1pm.

Explaining how the walks came about, Joanna said: “During the pandemic I had time to look around Shepherd’s Bush and the surrounding areas and to do some research. I was stunned by how much has happened in White City over the past 120 years, including the 1908 Olympics. I realised there was a whole forgotten history of White City that could be rediscovered if you dig below the surface.”

Joanna identifies Hungarian impresario Imre Kiralfy as a key figure in the area’s history, and his story is one that she focuses on in her hidden history walk. “His story is extraordinary. He came to the UK from the United States where he had been very successful in the theatre.

“He transformed this area from farmland and fields into London’s greatest entertainment venue. The original White City that he built was an incredible complex for exhibitions, amusements and entertainment.

“The walk tells the history of the area after that too, including the story of the BBC Television Centre and the Japanese Garden in Hammersmith

Roachford and the Wonder Stuff are among the range of typically eclectic and high-profile acts headlining at the ever popular Shepherd’s Bush Empire over the next two months.

Roachford, the band led by singer and songwriter Andrew Roachford, will appear at the Empire on 2 December, in a show titled A Soul Christmas Evening with Roachford.

The musician will perform a range of his greatest hits from his impressive 10-studio-album back catalogue, as well as his favourite Christmas songs, including Stevie Wonder’s Someday at Christmas. “[I] can’t wait to get back on the road with my band for the festive season,” Roachford said. “Of course we will be playing some of the Roachford songs you know and love and will also play a few Christmas soul songs.

I always have fun at my shows but we are gonna take it to another level!”

A week after Roachford’s appearance, alternative rock act the Wonder Stuff will take to the Empire stage to perform their album Construction for the Modern Idiot in full, as well as a range of other songs from their extensive 37-year back catalogue.

The performance comes 30 years on from the original release of the iconic album, which was dedicated to the memory of the band’s original bassist, Rob “The Bass Thing” Jones, who died in New York on 31 July 1993, aged just 29.

Among the other musical acts lined up for the Empire over the winter are Heaven 17 (14 November), Michael Schenker (30 November) and Wargasm (15 December). Other highlights include a special evening with Pass the Meerkat, a live version of the popular animated podcast series, which will mix comedy, music and “unmatched vibes”.

The Shepherd’s Bush Empire was built in 1903 by theatrical impresario Oswald Stoll. Throughout its various incarnations as a music hall, theatre and now a music venue, it has hosted performers whose names read like a who’s who of 20th and 21st century showbusiness – including Charlie Chaplin, Shirley Bassey and the Rolling Stones. During its time as the BBC Television Theatre, The Generation Game and Terry Wogan’s eponymous chat show, Wogan, were recorded there.

Among the recent acts to perform at the Empire was Aussie icon Kylie Minogue, who appeared in front of a capacity audience of 2,000 on 23 September.

Above: Iya London’s guided walks reveal the hidden histories of the area

Park, which is the only remaining part of the original exhibition site and is the oldest surviving public Japanese park in the UK.” Another of Joanna’s walks – scheduled for 11 November and 3 December, from 11am-1pm on both days – stretches from Old Oak to White City, telling the history of 20th-century social housing in the area as it goes.

“This walk explores how social housing developed in London in the 20th century,” Joanna said. “The story is told by walking through a series of estates from East Acton to White City. In the space of less than three miles you see an incredible range of architectural layouts and styles and I talk about a lot of the dilemmas that

still plague social housing in London today.”

A qualified Open City guide, Joanna has led guided walks on behalf of a wide range of organisations including Open City, London Historians, Imperial College London, the Royal College of Art and ITV. She has lived in Shepherd’s Bush since 2010 and said: “One of the things that attracted me to Shepherd’s Bush is it’s a very global place. I speak Arabic and I really love and appreciate being able to have access to Middle Eastern food and culture on the Uxbridge Road. I feel very comfortable and really love living here.”

For more information on upcoming walks, visit iyalondonwalks.com

Festive fun for all the family Cinderella is a bona fide boss lady who runs her own business at Shepherd’s Bush Market. One day the handsome Prince Henry, who “dreams of a life less spare”, wears a disguise to the market and falls instantly in love with Cinderella. But with the paparazzi in hot pursuit the prince is forced to flee – and so begins the quest to unite the unlikeliest of likely romances.

Tilly La Belle Yengo will star as Cinderella in this magical new adaptation of the classic tale by award-winning comedian, writer and composer Vikki Stone, who returns to the Lyric Hammersmith after winning best script at the British Panto Awards for Aladdin in 2021.

Cinderella is directed by Tonderai Munyevu, who is the co-artistic director of Two Gents Productions and is currently performing in As You Like It at the Globe.

Returning to the Lyric stage after critically acclaimed appearances in Jack and the Beanstalk in 2022 are Emmanuel Akwafo playing Lady JellyBottom and Jodie Jacobs, who will play the fairy.

Joining them and Tilly La Belle Yengo are Charlie Cameron as Muffy,

Damien James as Prince Henry, Meghan Treadway as Gusset and Maya De Faria, Jerome Lincoln and the Lyric’s Springboard trainee Bella Macdonald in the ensemble.

The Lyric’s pantomime stormed west London in 2008 with Jack and the Beanstalk and since then it has entertained more than 330,000 people at its annual pantomime.

Vikki said: “There’s just something about the alchemy of talent and fun in this building in particular that makes this one of the coolest pantos in the country.”

Tonderai added: “I cannot wait to bring Cinderella to west London this Christmas. Vikki Stone has outdone herself with this show, which takes centre stage in Hammersmith.

“It is very cheeky, it’s very magical and it’s definitely very poptastic! This Cinderella is hilarious and exhilarating festive fun for all the family. We have an exceptional cast ready to dance, sing and make you laugh out loud in the aisles this Christmastime. This will be an unforgettable pitch-perfect panto of your dreams.”

Rachel O’Riordan, artistic director and CEO of the Lyric Hammersmith

Theatre, said: “The Lyric panto is tradition for many audiences in west London and beyond and we couldn’t be prouder to produce a brand new iteration of a much-loved story, Cinderella, by Vikki Stone. Our pantomimes are made right here in Hammersmith, with the glorious costumes being stitched and sequined in our wardrobe department.

“The Lyric panto is part of our west London DNA – since before the second world war we have celebrated the joyful and anarchic art of panto; and this year we celebrate 15 years of a reinvigorated version of this traditional art form.

“We couldn’t be more excited to share this 15th anniversary production with our audience.”

Cinderella will be at the Lyric between 18 November and 6 January

Above: Tilly La Belle Yengo as Cinderella

Above: the Wonder Stuff will take to the Empire stage in December

MUSIC

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n 2001, Charlie Raworth and Emma Hutchinson arrived at a gloomy, leaky hall on Uxbridge Road with a dream: to own a live music venue and music school.

Bush Hall was built by a publisher in 1904 as one of three dancehalls for each of his daughters – and is the only one that survives. The space became a soup kitchen during the second world war and then a bingo hall and rehearsal space for bands such as the Who. It was a late-night drinking den and snooker hall by the time Emma and Charlie visited.

“We got a call asking if we wanted to buy this leaky, old ship. And we went for it, without really knowing what we were doing,” says Charlie, who recalls frequenting the hall with friends while he was studying at university.

The first time she walked into the building, Emma said she knew instantly that she wanted to buy it.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” she says. “I even brought my trumpet along to play and it sounded stunning.”

Since that first visit, Charlie and Emma have poured love and money into the old hall, bringing the remarkable building back to life, restoring its Edwardian splendour and reconnecting it to its musical roots. The venue is still hosting live music 22 years later. “Which I’m sure is a surprise to a lot of people!” says Charlie.

Bush Hall is now firmly established as part of the rich cultural tapestry of Shepherd’s Bush, which includes legendary venues like Bush Theatre and the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

The hall can host 500 people for standing gigs and 300 for seated shows, with its unique acoustics making it the perfect venue for live music. Charlie works hard to introduce emerging artists on to the scene as well as platforming more seasoned performers. “We host musicians from a variety of genres, whether that’s indie, rock, pop, country, or Americana,” he says.

The hall has hosted a phenomenal roster of artists, including Amy Winehouse, Van Morrison, the Killers, Kings of Leon, Florence and the Machine and the Blockheads.

Emma reminisces over one of their earliest gigs. “We were beginning to think it was all a nightmare, when we suddenly got a call asking if REM could play at the hall,” she says. “That really put us on the map.”

Charlie tells me that one of the highlights of his job is being able to see so many different people experience the joy of live music.

“You can host a 70s band like the Blockheads one night, followed by an up-and-coming country singer the next. There is something for everyone at the hall. It’s a really diverse audience.”

Emma agrees. “Owning an old building is like carrying a millstone around your neck but we have brought thousands of people so much joy through music – and that carries us through.”

The couple’s three young sons have also experienced some

WINTER 2023

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STRIKE A CHORD

Emma Hutchinson and Charlie Raworth transformed Bush Hall from a leaking, rundown building into a thriving music and community venue that has hosted performers from Amy Winehouse to the Killers WORDS BY CAITLIN OTWAY

incredible musical moments at the hall. “Our three sons love the hall unconditionally and have grown up immersed in its musical offerings, including participating in gigs, children’s concerts, workshops and parties,” Emma says. She even took their eldest son backstage to meet Adele when she performed at the venue, “having no idea how big she would later become”.

The hall is also a legacy to Emma’s wider family. Her brother helped to

restore the hall for 15 years before he died in 2016. “So much of his work is still in evidence,” she says.

Charlie and Emma’s role goes beyond live gigs and performances though. Bush Hall has hosted weddings, funerals, christenings and even divorce and pre-death parties.

Emma explains that Charlie is also passionate about building and nurturing a social community and he has given young people opportunities to work when they were refused

Above: Bush Hall is one of London’s best-loved music venues

elsewhere.

“Charlie is an inspiration to so many,” she says. “He should be celebrated as a unique entrepreneur who continues to fly the flag for authenticity. As well as music, he believes in people and the importance of social communities.”

Emma also runs Music House for Children, a not-for-profit music school that occupies the building adjacent to Bush Hall. She set up the school in 1994 and dreamed of owning a venue where she could host group lessons, workshops and concerts for babies and young people.

Fast forward to the present day and she has achieved just that. Music House for Children provides earlyyears music to babies and toddlers, instrument lessons for young people and group lessons for families unable to pay for one-to-one lessons.

The school also offers additional needs lessons to nurture language, communication and attachment in autistic children, deaf children and those with communication delays.

Music House for Children has had a profound and life-changing impact on many young families and Emma’s passion and dedication is clear.

“Seeing a young, profoundly autistic boy standing on the stage singing for the first time” was a highlight of her career, she says, as well as “seeing young people from Burlington House

WINTER 2023 School’s sixth form for students with additional needs performing in a gig that they organised”.

Emma also puts on events at Bush Hall for young families, including hosting an afternoon tea party for 120 babies and their parents, as well as running her own business, Music House Courses, where she develops training courses, workshops and musical stories to provide ideas, strategies and resources to develop music, language and life skills in babies and young children.

Sadly, the hall and Emma’s music school suffered during the pandemic, to the point where Charlie believed they might be forced to close. “We’re still feeling the impact of those years,” he says, something that Emma also sees in her work with young people.

“Once we reopened, we were seeing babies who were so clingy, timid and vocally afraid. Children are resilient but so many now have serious language delays because of those pandemic years.”

Charlie and Emma also ran a restaurant next door to the hall, which was forced to shut its doors. “It just wasn’t feasible to keep it going during the pandemic,” Charlie says.

However, their eldest son, Louis, who studied music and is “an occasional sound engineer for Bush Hall” now runs Next Door Records, a record shop, venue and bar that was established at the height of the pandemic in the restaurant’s place.

MUSIC

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I feel very privileged that I can add new stories to what is an extraordinary, living building

As I wrap up my chat with Emma, I ask if she ever feels like the guardian of the building for future generations.

She nods. “It’s easy to sound emotional about a pile of bricks and mortar, but when you go in there, you only have to shut your eyes to know

there is something magical about the place. I feel very privileged that I can add new stories to what is an extraordinary, living building.”

Bush Hall will be 25 years old in 2026 and Music House for Children will be 30 years old next year. “All

Above: Rachel Platten performs at Bush Hall

I can hope for is that if and when we move on, we can pass it on to someone who continues the legacy of bringing music to the hall. And if it all goes tits up, we’ll have such wonderful memories to keep with us,” she laughs.

Long may it continue.

An enchanting clothbound fable from the author of The Fox and the Star

‘A nother triumph!’

Yuval Zommer author of The Big Book of the Blue

‘Exquisite, moving and hopeful’ Lucy Jones author of Losing Eden

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CULTURE

WINTER 2023

Do the write thing

hen a man’s Instagram bio begins with the words “unofficially officially the mayor of Shepherd’s Bush”, you know you’ve come to the right place to get the inside scoop on W12 and its surrounds. And as a proud son of the area whose career began when, desperate to make films but with no experience or budget, he would shoot his own shorts around the cafes and market stalls on the Uxbridge Road, Nathan Bryon does not disappoint.

That those films sowed the seeds of his subsequent evolution into an actor, bestselling children’s author and writer of a smash-hit film makes this story even sweeter.

But before we get to the magic contained within the streets that inspired him, I start our chat with a fanboy confession. It’s not related to Rye Lane, the movie masterpiece he co-wrote that premiered at Sundance in January before it was rolled out in cinemas across the UK, but instead to his series of children’s books about a little girl called Rocket – including Look Up, Clean Up and Speak Up – which has been taking storytime in my home by storm.

Nathan beams his trademark smile as I tell him my four-year-old is a signed-up member of the Rocket fan club. He tells me that he’s not the only one, as children all over the country have been responding to the story of Rocket and her adventures in Jamaica, space and beyond in similar ways.

W

From penning bestselling children’s books to co-writing a smash-hit romcom, Shepherd’s Bush’s very own Nathan Bryon is a truly towering talent WORDS BY LAWRENCE DIAMOND

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You don’t have to be on your own to feel lonely sometimes.

Hello. My name is Julia and I am working on a portrait photography book about loneliness, commissioned by the School of Life.

I’m looking for people, young and old, from all walks of life, who might want to have their photo taken and share their story in my book. I’m particularly keen to hear from those in underrepresented groups.

Interested? Scan the QR code or email me at julia@juliahawkins.com

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WINTER 2023 “Me and Dapo [Adeola – the illustrator and co-creator of the books] were doing a reading in a school in East Dulwich and halfway through the reading, Dapo looks at me and he signals like: ‘Look at the kids.’

“They had basically stood up and were creeping closer and closer and closer to us and the book. The teacher explained it was because they were so hooked on the story they just wanted to lean in closer and closer to it.

“That felt like the most magical moment. To tell stories, to see people react to your stories. That’s the ultimate dream, man.”

The fact I could start this interview talking about children’s books as easily as major motion pictures, or indeed Bafta-nominated sitcoms (his Sky Comedy show Bloods was nominated three times in 2022) shows you the breadth of Nathan’s abilities as a writer. I ask him if he has a label for his work, or if he just sees himself as a storyteller, whatever the genre.

“Yeah, 100%!” he says of the latter. “I have always said that. Initially when I started writing it was about necessity.

So it was like, I’ll write a restaurant menu. I don’t care! Whatever I can do to get my words seen and get me in front of people in the industry.”

Nathan’s career has seen him write for Rastamouse on the BBC and for numerous sitcoms across various mediums, as well as the aforementioned children’s books, before Rye Lane. The film is a pure pearler of a romantic comedy that follows two black twentysomethings who have just been through bad breakups and connect over an eventful day in south London.

It has received rave reviews from critics and filmgoers alike. But 2023’s undoubted summer smash had a slightly less illustrious beginning point than you might imagine: A KFC in Glasgow. Again Nathan’s infectious laugh begins the story.

“Yeah, it was a KFC in Glasgow at 4am. We had just finished filming a pilot for a sitcom that Tom [Melia – Rye Lane’s co-writer] had written called Fail, and we had got drunk at the wrap party and ended up eating KFC in the early hours just saying how much fun we’d had.

“Tom was pretty much like one of the most brilliant writers I’ve ever met, and I was immediately just trying to leach on to him being like: ‘Would you write with me please?’ And he actually said yes, and I was like: ‘OK, this is crazy, I better follow up on this ASAP!’” It’s a meet-cute that would fit nicely into any romcom and one that led to the creation of a film that won the hearts of all who saw it.

Speaking to Nathan about his experiences in Shepherd’s Bush, it’s clearly no coincidence that Rye Lane is a fresh, joyful film that is totally in touch with the world it depicts – indeed the way its characters walk around their neighbourhood just shooting the breeze echoes those early films that Nathan created on the Uxbridge Road.

But how did the king of W12 end up writing a film about SE15 and its most famous thoroughfare? “You

I think the closest thing to living in New York and the feel of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is Uxbridge Road on a scorcher of a day. It’s the most active street in London. You walk down it and it’s just chaos and I love it

Above: writer Nathan Bryon Right and opposite: the film Rye Lane

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know what? The movie was never set in Shepherd’s Bush,” Nathan tells me.

“Because the movie is like a walking and talking movie it was initially going to be set somewhere like Camden, so you can just get lost in those locks and canals.

“But then we met Raine [AllenMiller, Rye Lane’s director] and she wanted to set it in Peckham. And she was the coolest person we’d ever met, so obviously you trust the coolest person you’ve ever met!

“She totally brought it into her multiverse – that’s the only way I can describe it. She brought colours and style and visuals that were beyond what I could put on the page.”

And though the film has taken the film world by storm, Nathan says he has still not quite had a moment to process it. The uncertainty of the creative life meant he was never entirely sure that the film would get to a finished state, let alone find its place in the cultural firmament.

“With Rye Lane it was quite weird, because with film my understanding is that the money could drop out the day before you start – anything could go wrong,” he says. “And we shot in the middle of the pandemic, so we were just on tenterhooks the whole time.

“Then the movie finishes and it goes straight into the edit and that takes ages. I think the first time Tom and I really looked at each other and thought: ‘Oh, do you know what? This might be alright!’ is when we were in Sundance.”

Still, despite his role in making SE15 the postcode of the summer, it’s Shepherd’s Bush that continues to inspire him. As our conversation goes on, his love for the streets you’re probably surrounded by as you read this article is impossible to miss.

“My love for Shepherd’s Bush is the deepest. Like when I come to Shepherd’s Bush Market tube station and I’m walking down Uxbridge Road – I know half the shopkeepers, I’ve filmed my short films pretty much in every park, I’ve filmed in Ochi, I’ve done plays at the Bush Theatre, I’ve shot in different corner shops. That road to me is magic – 99% of my ideas are based on things I’ve seen on that road or people I’ve met. Yeah, my love for Shepherd’s Bush is deep.”

And although Rye Lane has seen critics comparing it to popular British films of the past, be it Notting Hill, Attack the Block or East Is East – as well as a whole exciting new genre of British comedy – Nathan thinks there is something to Shepherd’s Bush that reminds him of the great cinema of a different city: that of the Big Apple and in particular one of his greatest inspirations, Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing.

“I think the closest thing to living in New York and the feel of Do the Right Thing is Uxbridge Road on a scorcher of a day,” Nathan says. “It’s been 35C, it’s about 7 or 8pm, you’re walking down, everybody’s sitting outside the cafes, someone’s hollering at someone else from the other side of the road, everyone’s a bit drunk. It’s the most active street in London. You walk down it and it’s just chaos and I love it.

I love it.”

12

BEAT AROUND THE BUSH

Market Forces PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS

hepherd’s Bush Market originated in the early 20th century and opened for business in about 1914, with shops filling up the railway viaduct.

The market was briefly closed during the first world war to make way for billeted troops. When the soldiers returned home at the end of the war they were offered stalls to help restart their lives.

Now, almost 100 years later, the current market traders sell a wide variety of goods including fabrics, household goods and clothing.

There are also a variety of food and drink vendors selling produce such as juices and smoothies, falafel, Ethiopian food and Japanese food.

S

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13

14

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WINTER 2023 n William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius concludes a speech to his departing son Laertes with an unforgettable piece of advice.

“Above all,” he tells him, “to thine own self be true.”

It’s a line that former Queens Park Rangers and England striker Rodney Marsh first came across as a schoolboy and the same words adorn the banner of his X (formerly known as Twitter) page today.

For Rodney, Shakespeare’s words are far more than an eye-catching aphorism – rather, they are sentiments that have defined and shaped the life and career of one of the truly great talents of English football.

Speaking to the Bush Bugle via Zoom from his Florida home, Rodney – who turned 79 in October but still retains a youthful sparkle – elaborates on the line’s resonance.

“You can do things in your life, you can make mistakes, sometimes you might even hurt people, but as long as you’re true to yourself, I believe that’s OK,” he explains. “Being truthful to yourself – that’s what matters. I’ve always been that way.”

Defiantly and gloriously his own man, Rodney is one of the last of a dying breed – a sporting maverick to whom a deep-held commitment to entertaining fans and conjuring moments of footballing magic mattered more than trophies or international caps.

“I would feel more elation if we lost 4-3 in a match which really touched the heights than us sneaking through 1-0 in one of those grey matches,” he declared in 1974.

Nearly five decades later, Rodney’s principles are unwavering. “It all goes back to my upbringing,” he tells me with a characteristically wry smile.

“I come from the East End where people call a spade a spade. I read a book once by Mark Twain and he said something along the lines of: ‘If ever you’re in doubt, just tell the truth.’ I’ve lived my life like that. If anyone asks me a direct question, I give them a direct answer.”

Ah yes, the East End. Rodney’s family background has been much remarked upon over the years, and he is in the mood to set a few things straight. Born on 11 October 1944, the son of a humble docker and housewife, there was trauma and violence in his early life – in his autobiography, Priceless, which was published in 2001, he revealed the beatings his father subjected him to and that, years earlier, his grandfather had smashed his father’s knee with a hammer.

However, Rodney stresses that to characterise the environment he grew up in as unremittingly violent would be an exaggeration. “My upbringing has been portrayed as non-stop violence,” he says. “It wasn’t that way.

There were incidents but the violence wasn’t continual.”

Rodney admits that his relationship with his father – who also nurtured and encouraged his precocious footballing talents – was complex, while also asserting: “That’s probably the case with everybody, isn’t it?”

SPORT

I

Quality player Rodney After joining QPR in 1966, Rodney Marsh’s prowess on the pitch helped the club win promotion and the League Cup in a gloriously successful season for the side. The legendary striker tells us more WORDS BY LUKE G WILLIAMS Certainly, self-pity isn’t his style.

Indeed, Rodney is a man who oozes positivity. A case in point?

The schoolboyish glee with which he recounts his debut for his first professional club Fulham, when he scored the winner against Aston Villa in 1963 as an 18-year-old.

“What a goal it was!” he smiles. “An edge of the box, first-time volley which flew right in the top postage stamp of the goal. Unstoppable! And we won 1-0 as well.”

Not long after, Rodney’s career was nearly over before it had begun, with a shocking collision during a game against Leicester City sidelining him

for months. “I went for a header, a defender came out and we clashed heads. I cut a nerve and was left totally deaf in my left ear,” Rodney recalls.

“It was devastating. I lost my balance because my inner ear was affected by the concussion. It took me a long, long time to get my balance back.”

On his return, Rodney was a huge hit at Fulham, scoring 22 goals in 63 appearances, until a falling out with manager Vic Buckingham saw him sold to lowly Queens Park Rangers, then a struggling third-division outfit.

“I’d probably have gone anywhere to get out of Fulham,” Rodney admits.

Above: Rodney Marsh in 1968

17

“But coming down two divisions was a culture shock. I made the decision based on [QPR chairman] Jim Gregory, not manager Alec Stock.”

Rodney may have joined because of Gregory, but it was Stock who gave the youngster his creative freedom.

“One of the first meetings I had with Alec Stock, he said: ‘You’re going to be my number 10. I’ve watched you many times, you’re going to play as a free player. The only thing you need to do is produce, I’ve got other people that can do the running.’”

What happened next has entered footballing legend. A little over two years after Rodney’s arrival in 1966, QPR’s average attendance had increased by 115% and they were a top-flight club. In his first full season, Rodney plundered 44 goals in 53 games as QPR swept to the thirddivision title. Remarkably, they also snaffled the 1967 League Cup by defeating top-flight West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Wembley in front of nearly 100,000 fans. It was an unprecedented double.

“It will never happen again,” says Rodney, his pride obvious. “No thirddivision side will ever win a double again. In the past some clubs got close – Swindon won the League Cup but not the league, but no one will ever replicate what we did in 1967.”

Rodney can still recall the spinetingling moment the Loftus Road faithful took him to their hearts in an early match against Millwall. “The Millwall fans were chanting: ‘Rodney is a fairy, Rodney is a fairy.’ Suddenly, completely organically, the whole of the QPR crowd started chanting: ‘Rodnee! Rod-nee!’ It got louder and louder and completely drowned out the Millwall fans. For several years that was my chant.”

Equally as organic was the way the QPR team gelled during that magical 1966-67 season. “It was like all the pieces of a jigsaw came together,” Rodney recalls. “The two players behind me in midfield were Keith Sanderson and Mike Keen. They did all the donkey work and I scored the goals. I was only 21, full of myself and I knew I could play.”

Another crucial part of the jigsaw was strike partner Les Allen, of whom Rodney asserts: “Of all the players I played with, nobody was a more intelligent footballer than Les Allen.

Of those 44 goals I bet you a quarter were made by Les.” Rodney’s recall of the day QPR triumphed at Wembley – still the greatest day in the club’s history – remains razor sharp. “We were 2-0 down at half-time. Everyone was thinking: ‘Oh, unlucky, plucky young QPR.’ Suddenly, bang, bang, bang – we’d won it 3-2. It was pandemonium!

Absolute pandemonium!”

Rodney scored the crucial equaliser, a strike characteristic of his improvisatory brilliance. “It was like many of the goals I scored in my career, because I did a lot of things off the cuff. Mike Keen hit a beautiful pinged pass up to me. I controlled it so well that I lost my marker.

“I looked to the left to Roger Morgan and he was marked, I took

18

SPORT

it to the right and looked at Mark Lazarus and he was marked. I ended up 25 yards out, dribbled past a couple and decided to take a shot. It hit the inside of the post and was unstoppable because it was so accurate. Then all hell broke loose. I went absolutely apoplectic!”

The following season Rodney smashed a further 14 goals as QPR reached the first division for the first time in their history. They fell back into division two the following season, but by the time Rodney left for Manchester City in 1972 his place in west London footballing folklore was assured, with 106 goals in 211 games to his name.

Alas, some of Rodney’s most memorable moments were never captured on film, including a virtuoso performance against Mansfield Town in September 1966. “Mansfield I think were in the top three or four and we were top. Alec Stock got all the players together and said: ‘Look lads, this is a very important game. If we can get a 0-0 result and a point, that would be fantastic.’ “‘Rodney,’ he said, ‘play up front on your own. I don’t care what you do.

Everybody else defend.’ Well, I had the absolute game of my life. We won 7-1 and I was involved in six goals and scored a hat-trick. If that game had been documented on video I would have loved it, but there you go.”

When Rodney arrived at Manchester City, the Maine Road team were several points clear at the top of the first division, but ended up finishing fourth. Ever honest, Rodney freely admits that his signing upset the balance of the side and probably cost them the league championship.

By 1976 Rodney was on the move again, this time to the Tampa Bay

WINTER 2023 Rowdies in the then nascent North American Soccer League. As he departed, he mourned that football in England had “become a grey game, played on grey days by grey players”.

Rodney had long since come to terms with the fact he was far too much of a maverick to succeed within the stifling environment of the England national team. He won just nine caps in all, scoring once and was never picked again after then manager Sir Alf Ramsey warned him he would be “pulled off at half time” if he didn’t work harder. “Crikey Alf,” was Rodney’s response. “At QPR all we get is an orange and a cup of tea.”

England’s loss was America’s gain. Rodney was a sensation for the Rowdies, leading them to two Soccer Bowl finals and earning the respect of the immortal Pelé, who told his New York Cosmos teammates before a match against the Rowdies: “They only have one player. His name is Marsh. He’s English but he plays like a Brazilian.”

Bar a memorable but fleeting return to Fulham on loan in 1976-77, when he linked up with fellow maverick George Best, Rodney’s talents never graced an English football stadium again.

A second career as a pundit with Sky in the UK met with great success, but was curtailed by Rodney’s characteristic refusal to adhere to polite convention and curb his opinions or playful spirit.

Now living in America, where his family and grandchildren live and where he works as a pundit for radio station Sirius XM, Rodney, above all, seems a man devoid of bitterness, a man at ease with the choices he has made and the life he has led.

Many less talented footballers may have won more trophies, earned more

We were 2-0 down at half-time. Everyone was thinking: ‘Oh, unlucky, plucky young QPR.’ Suddenly, bang, bang, bang – we’d won it 3-2.

It was pandemonium! Absolute pandemonium!

They only have one player. His name is Marsh. He’s English but he plays like a Brazilian

money or collected more caps, but that’s not what Rodney Marsh was about. Not then, not now, not ever.

“That Shakespeare quote answers all the questions [anyone might pose about my career],” he says.

“Throughout my whole life and everything I’ve done, I’ve been true to myself. It didn’t matter if I played a hundred times for England.

“People say to me: ‘You only got nine caps, you should have had 90,’ but it doesn’t matter to me because

Clockwise from above: Pelé, QPR’s stadium, Tampa Bay Rowdies tickets

I’ve been true to myself and I played football the way I wanted to play.

Alf Ramsey wanted me to play in a completely different way and I said no.

I was probably in about 25 squads and only played nine times, but I was true to myself. I’m OK with that.”

Rodney flashes his famous smile one last time, and then he’s gone. I’m left with the feeling that, as well as being a great footballer, Rodney Marsh might just be something of a modern-day philosopher, too.

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WINTER 2023 ften referred to as one of Mahatma Gandhi’s “English daughters”, Sarala (sometimes referred to as Sarla) Behn was an extraordinary woman whose social and environmental activism saw her become an icon to many in her adopted home of India, especially among the oft neglected women of the Indian Himalayas.

While influenced by Gandhi’s ideas, it is fair to say that Sarala has often been misinterpreted as a mere disciple of the legendary icon of nonviolence, when in reality she deserves to be remembered as a trailblazer in her own right, who applied Gandhian principles to innovative and active social programmes that she herself initiated, established and oversaw.

Born Catherine Mary Heilemann in Shepherd’s Bush on 5 April 1901, Sarala’s father, Otto Gottlieb Heilemann, was a Lutheran goldsmith of Swiss-German descent while her mother, Emily Sinnock, was English.

When Catherine was seven years old her mother died and she was largely raised by her paternal grandmother, Katharina, who she adored.

Several incidents in Catherine’s formative years were particularly vital in shaping her non-conformist character. Firstly, during the first world war, her father was wrongly interned as an “enemy” national, despite having lived in England since childhood, due to a mix-up with his birth certificate. The injustice of this incident bred in Catherine a mistrust of authority and political institutions, and imbued in her a deep-set empathy for the oppressed or exploited.

The first world war had a profound impact on Catherine, who soon became an avowed pacifist. She regarded the German bombing of civilians in east London, as well as the British reprisal attacks, with horror, labelling them “in violation of all the accepted rules” of war and humanity.

“Why was it,” she later wrote, “that respectable people of society were not able to recognise the simple truth that when two wrongs are joined together, the outcome cannot be right?”

The war also caused Catherine to reject the Lutheran faith within which she had been raised. Her early ambition to become a missionary soon receded, and although she embraced Christlike values of kindness, peace and love, she dismissed the dogma of organised religion for the rest of her life.

Catherine excelled at school and was set to be awarded a scholarship to study at university, only for her headmistress to veto the offer due to her assessment of the Heilemann family as being “on the enemy side”. It was a devastating blow for Catherine, who later observed: “The picture of the future that I had kept before me had been crushed, and my personal despair slowly began to assume the form of revolt against society.”

Catherine secured a job as an office clerk, but it was her observations of the society around her that preoccupied and absorbed her, rather than her work. Distressed by what she saw as the harsh and dehumanised nature of modern England, she sought

HISTORY

The English daughter

O

Shepherd’s Bush-born activist Sarala Behn left an extraordinary legacy in her adopted country of India. We take a look at her life WORDS BY LUKE G WILLIAMS • ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA KENDREW refuge in long walks and communing with nature.

After the war concluded and her father had been released from internment, Catherine’s beloved grandmother died. An argument with her father over whether washing could be hung outside during the Sabbath then led her to leave home. Now living independently, she soon came into contact with like-minded peers, including several Indian students, among them Mohan Singh Mehta, who became a close friend.

Conversations and debates with Mehta fuelled Catherine’s interest in fighting poverty and injustice, and she was particularly inspired to learn of Gandhi’s non-violent nationalist movement, as well as his ideas concerning how to develop greater self-sufficiency and education among ordinary Indians.

“For the first time in my life, I was exposed to ideas that resonated within me,” Catherine later observed of Gandhi’s philosophies, which she characterised as “not simply a practical means of revolt against some foreign government, colonialism, or imperialism, but rather a step taken in opposition to the direction of the machine age that devalued human existence”.

By the late 1920s, Catherine was considering permanently leaving England for India. “It now seemed that the desire I had had in my childhood to become a missionary had found a new direction,” she noted. “I now considered going to India to be part of the movement for national education through constructive activities in spinning, removal of untouchability, and promoting health and hygiene.”

Many family and friends tried to dissuade Catherine from what she increasingly believed was her destiny.

But after training in midwifery, child education and several other practical vocations, she left England in 1932, never to return.

For four-and-a-half years she worked at Vidya Bhawan, a progressive school in Udaipur, learning Hindi and absorbing herself in the local culture. However, this experience left her dissatisfied, and increasingly she became focused on advocating for women’s rights by visiting and working on projects in the north of the country.

By 1935, Catherine was now known as Sarala Behn, or sometimes Sister Sarala by her Indian colleagues and friends. In search of a new direction to her work, she visited the Mahila Ashram at Wardha, where women were being prepared and trained for community service. Around the same time she also met Gandhi for the first time at his ashram in Maganwadi, where she learned how to spin cotton and expanded her economic knowledge and understanding.

Sarala spent several years at Gandhi’s ashram in Sevagram, working with locals, particularly women, on education programmes. Ill health, including recurrent bouts of malaria and dysentery, eventually led her to move further north in search of milder climes in the mountains.

After a period of acclimatisation, Sarala established her own ashram in Kausani, working with and supporting the empowerment of local female villagers in particular and establishing various educational programmes for young girls. “The development of women’s power is ... one of the main duties of our village workers,” she declared. “So that it may become a force not merely for agriculture and dairy production, but for the true development of a healthy society.”

As well as working to empower local women, Sarala was also heavily engaged in the Quit India movement, which was demanding an end to British rule. One of the key organisers and leaders of the movement in the Kumaon district, she supported the families of political prisoners and

Above: Sarala Behn Below: Behn with young women at her Indian ashram

21

was twice imprisoned herself for her actions, including for violations of house arrest orders.

Indian independence was secured in 1947, but Sarala’s tireless work continued. She was instrumental in establishing many land reform, educational and environmental projects throughout the next three decades, including within the Chipko movement, which protested against the commercialisation of forest areas.

Sarala also maintained the pace of her humanitarian work, and it was a symbol of her total assimilation into Indian culture that when Englishspeaking visitors arrived to see her she would only speak Hindi and would refuse to speak English, announcing: “I am now wholly devoted to India and have therefore forgotten English.”

The last few years of Sarala’s life were spent in a cottage overlooking snow-covered mountains by Dharamghar, working on a public education programme focused on women’s empowerment and environmental awareness.

For her devoted compassion and humanitarianism, Sarala was honoured with a prestigious award from the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation in 1979. She died a few years later, on 8 July 1982, and was widely mourned.

An appropriately glowing epitaph is provided by the academic Bidisha Mallik, who said of Sarala: “She fought patriarchy on her own terms, challenging dogma, orthodoxy and repression at every turn. She was a woman of indomitable will and forceful action.”

22 SHEPHERD’S DELIGHTS

WINTER 2023

the bush brainteaser

Steptoe and Son

7 Across is a place in Shepherd’s Bush.

ACROSS

7 THUSBREATHE (anagram) (4, 7) 9 Storyteller (8) 10 Unit of electrical current (6) 11 Dodge, elude (5) 12 Defended, guarded (9) 14 Maintainable, believable (7) 16 Thick syrup (7) 18 Spiral galaxy nearest to the Milky Way (9) 20 To do with sound (5) 21 Abuse, slander (6) 22 Brown sugar (8) 24 Vengeance (11)

DOWN

1 Large family car (6) 2 Air (10) 3 Writing implement (3) 4 Mad rush (8) 5 Conquer (6) 6 Intense mental effort (13) 7 Good buy (7) 8 Fast driver, colloquially (5, 8) 13 Scandalous (10) 15 Pamphlets, brochures (8) 17 Hold (7) 19 Very dry place (6) 20 Picturesque (6) 23 Half a dozen (3)

ACROSS: 7 Bush Theatre, 9 Narrator, 10 Ampere, 11 Evade, 12 Protected, 14 Tenable, 16 Treacle, 18 Andromeda, 20 Sonic, 21 Insult, 22 Demerara, 24 Retribution. DOWN: 1 Estate, 2 Atmosphere, 3 Pen, 4 Stampede, 5 Defeat, 6 Concentration, 7 Bargain, 8 Speed merchant, 13 Outrageous, 15 Booklets, 17 Contain, 19 Desert, 20 Scenic, 23 Six. SOLUTION

Shepherd’s Bush pavilion The Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion is a GradeII-listed building that was originally constructed 100 years ago as a cinema.

Films were accompanied by the Pavilion Symphony Orchestra and a stateof-the-art lighting system created colour effects during the films, such as blue lights for rain and red for flames.

The building was damaged by a flying bomb in the second world war and after some repair and restoration, it reopened halfway through the 1950s.

It changed ownership a number of times, which inevitably led to it becoming a bingo hall in 1983.

The building sadly closed in 2001 and remained empty and disused for much of the next decade.

In 2009, planning permission was granted for conversion into a hotel.

Demolition work began a few years later, with only a part of the building’s facade retained. The rebuilt hotel opened in 2014.

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business at 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd’s Bush.

It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and the lead roles were played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett.

Galton and Simpson were English comedy scriptwriters whose partnership lasted more than 50 years. They met in 1948 while recovering from tuberculosis at the Milford Sanatorium in Surrey. Before Steptoe and Son, they were best known for their work with comedian Tony Hancock on TV and radio.

Four series of Steptoe and Son were broadcast by the BBC in

black and white from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974 in colour.

It was remade in the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal and South Africa.

Two film adaptations of the series were made: Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973).

In 2000, the show was ranked number 44 on the 100 greatest British television programmes list compiled by the British Film Institute.

In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Albert was ranked 39th on the list of the 100 greatest TV characters. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain’s best sitcom.

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