Neighbours' Paper Issue 81

Neighbours Paper ’

Issue No 81

Putting the People of Ealing First

Summer 2017

Peek at Ealing's Old Cinemas Also in this issue: Summer Events Town Centre Development Walks in the Borough

West Ealing The Log Cabin Yoga and Rowing

e e r F ease

Pl One e Tak

Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall

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E ditoria l

By NP Editorial Team

Summer is back in Ealing! We look at the many exciting summer events below and at summer activities like rowing and walking in Ealing Borough.

We highlight development issues this time featuring Central and West Ealing and concerns about our Council granting planning permission for huge numbers of homes across the borough whilst services and facilities appear to be shrinking.

In contrast we offer articles on Meditation and on local Cinemas. Please contact our Editor if you would like to join the team or write for us!

Contents Contents Editorial................................................ 2 Events Around Ealing.......................... 2 Homebuilding or Sardine Packing.... 3 Ealing Centre Development Mess..4-5 Cinemas of the Past..........................6-7 EPTUG................................................... 7

EVENTS AROUND EALING Conjuring at the Court

Party in the Park

Drayton Court Hotel, 2 The Avenue W13.

London’s longest-running monthly magic show takes place on last Thursday of every month. Next shows: Thursday 29th June, Thursday 27th July and Thursday 31st August. £11 in advance, £12 on the door. See tickets@ ConjuringAtTheCourt Tel: 07775 587708 www.ConjuringAtTheCourt.com

Sunday 25th June: Pitshanger Park 1.00PM–9.00PM £3, Free for kids.

Bring a picnic or enjoy food from the “gastrodome” tent. Games, sports, arts & crafts, music and dance by local schools on open-air stage.

Music continues in Beer Tent through evening. See www.pitshanger.org.uk

Eat Drink Ealing

Sat. 8th July Ravenor Park.

12.00noon–7.00PM FREE. Entertainment, Activities, Live Music, Dance, Food Stalls, Markets, Funfair and more…. celebrating the best food and produce in West London. £3 per person

Sat 1st-Sun 2nd July at Ealing Common.

Food meets arts at Ealing’s new foodie festival – jam-packed with entertainment and delicious eats.

Nibble and lounge on hay bales or wander around varied food stalls in the main bandstand…. a walking banquet, celebrating the best food and produce in West London. £3 per person

Ealing Beer Festival Wed 12th July –Sat. 15th July Walpole Park 12.00–10.30pm (Sat until 6.00pm) Ealing by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) £3 for members £5 for non- members. Hundreds of Ales shipped in from around the country.

Ealing Comedy Festival Thurs 20th & Fri 21st July Also Wed 26th–Fri 28th July Walpole Park Top Comedians.

Gates open 6.30PM Shows 7.30-10.30 £22 per show.

London Mela Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd September Gunnersbury Park

See www.ealingsummerfestivals.com for full details and to book tickets.

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Greenford Carnival

Acton Carnival Sat 15th July Acton Park: 12.0–7.00PM £2 or family £5. Children 12 and under free.

Carnival Procession Woodlands Park 12.00 to Acton Park at 2.00PM. Entertainment, Activities, Live Music, Dance, Food Stalls, Markets, Funfair….

Ealing Blues Festival Sat/Sunday 22nd/23rd July Walpole Park Biggest dedicated Blues event in Britain. Local and International Performers. Shows from 2.00PM – 10.30PM Tickets to book £5.50 per person, £11 both days £ 7.00 on gate Children 12 and under Free.

Ealing Jazz Festival Sat 29th & Sun 30th July Walpole Park Local and International Performers. Shows from 2.00– 10.30PM Children 12 and under Free. £5.50 entry per day w/e £11 if booked. £7.00 on the door. Possibly Fringe Events in other venues.

Putting the People of Ealing First

West Ealing........................................... 8

Sahaja Yoga........................................ 9 The Log Cabin................................... 10 If you go out in the woods................ 11 MAA Boat Club.................................. 12

Neighbours’ Paper Subscribe for a year: Just £4. Send a cheque to The Publisher, Neighbours’ Paper, 12 Waldemar Avenue W13 9PY Twitter.com/NeighboursPaper Facebook.com/NeighboursPaper Email: neighbourspaper@hotmail.co.uk Editor: Tom Whiting (020 8840 5740) Treasurer: Judy Breens Writers: Judy Breens, Arthur Breens, Manjinder Chijarh, Foluso Dawodu, Will French, Michael Holmes, Eric Leach, Michael Mina, Rosemary Wallis, Tom Whiting Designer: Jamie Anson Cover: Jamie Anson Cover Photo: Ealing Christian Centre Webmaster: Sonia Nimley Advert Designer: Sandy Anson Printer: Pollyprint Ltd, 263 Northfield Avenue, Ealing W5 4UA, 0208 579 1441, www.pollyprint.co.uk Advertisement rates: Single Box £25, Double Box £45, Triple Box £70 Next copy deadline: 31st July

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Homebuilding or Sardine Packing?

By Save Ealing’s Centre

Research by Save Ealing’s Centre has found that new homes are being approved across the borough at a startlingly fast rate that is unplanned and – in terms of the Mayor’s London Plan – not sustainable.

In justifying the now abandoned development at 9-42 The Broadway, Ealing Council and developers Benson Elliot both argued that overdevelopment of the site was needed to help alleviate London’s housing shortage. So SEC decided to test this argument by counting the new developments in Ealing since the local plan was approved in 2012.

SEC was astonished how many new homes have been given planning permission or are at an advanced stage in the planning process. Adding the major developments approved

by Ealing’s planning committee from 2010 onwards to schemes that are under consultation, reveals a total of 18,431 new homes are under construction, approved or at an advanced planning stage.

At an average of 2.72 (Ealing’s average household size) people per home, these new homes alone will increase the borough’s population by over 50,000 people.

The new homes will be distributed all across the borough, from Southall to

Acton and from Greenford to South Ealing wherever space can be found into which to squeeze them, regardless of the impact on existing communities or carefully formulated planning policies designed to ensure that new development is sustainable and in keeping with what is here already.

The

Growth this rapid is way in excess of the expectations of Ealing’s planning strategy which plans for 15,000 new homes in 15 years. Similarly, the London plan which says the Borough needs to build 12,970 new homes between 2014 and 2024.

Plans like Ealing’s core strategy and the London Plan are prepared with great care and public scrutiny to ensure new development is sustainable and makes places better to live in. For example, the growing population puts pressures on public services like schools and hospitals, and on public open space.

It therefore looks very alarming that so many services within the Borough are being scaled back drastically just as the population is growing so fast. Our hospital is faced with being downgraded to become little more than a poly-clinic, libraries

property squeeze is on in

Ealing .

with their heavily used study spaces are downsizing significantly, the town hall which for a century has been the civic centre of the borough is to become a hotel, and across the borough, safeguarded open space is being privatised and/or built upon.

Even the improvements that the Borough has been promised with the opening of Crossrail are being delayed. Although hoardings have gone up around some stations no work seems to be taking place and improvements like new lifts at Ealing Broadway which were promised to start in 2015 have still not begun.

SEC says it is time to take stock of what is happening. We say the Government requires Councils to report progress annually, and it is surprising that the last year progress in Ealing was reported on was 2014.

Save Ealing’s Centre is a group representing 25 Resident and Community Associations. More on www.saveealingscentre.com.

Conjuring at the Court – London’s Longest-Running Monthly Magic Show Witness the impossible as top magicians take to the stage

Next shows Doors open 7.30pm, show starts 8pm • Thursday 29th June • Thursday 27th July • Thursday 31st August Venue Drayton Court Hotel, 2 The Avenue, West Ealing W13 8PH

Tickets and information • Tel: 07775 587708 • tickets@ConjuringAtTheCourt.com • www.ConjuringAtTheCourt.com • £11 in advance, £12 on the door Every show is completely different

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Ealing Centre is a When I first arrived in Ealing in 1967 the town centre was low rise, boasted some glorious Victorian architecture, had few flats and only a handful of restaurants. It had the very pleasant air of a thriving, bustling country town. 1985 saw the opening of the first ‘modern’ development – the Ealing Broadway Centre (EBC). This red brick, vernacular style mixed retail and office centre has proved remarkably sustainable.

In November and December 2008 two huge, high and residential and retail developments were agreed by Ealing Council – Glenkerrin’s ‘The Leaf’/ Arcadia and St George’s Dickens Yard.

Save Ealing’s Centre (SEC) was formed in November 2007. SEC is an alliance of 26 Ealing residents’ and community groups. SEC and others fought both developments. We won Arcadia in December 2009 but lost Dickens Yard.

In 2008 SEC produced and published a ‘Vision for Ealing Centre’. SEC significantly updated the vision in 2012.

Ealing Council has consistently ignored the vision and the vision update.

Dickens Yard Dickens Yard is still being built. The construction has polluted the air, and caused traffic congestion for over eight years. Its feature-less box architecture offends the eye for every perspective.

None of the built retail space on the ground floors of all the residential tower blocks has ever been occupied.

The only retail that is operational is a residential sales office in the old

repurposed Fire Station, a restaurant in the old repurposed Stable Block and a lettings agency which occupies a glass box tagged onto the eastern end of the Stable Block. Dickens Yard is a ghost town. Many flats were sold abroad and some of them have never been occupied.

Arcadia/9-42 The Broadway As for Arcadia, developers Glenkerrin went bust and Benson Elliot (BE) snapped up the site for allegedly £40 million in 2012. The western half got developed with some building re-use.

The development of the eastern half almost adjacent to Ealing Broadway Station ran into opposition and was sold to British Land in May 2017.

BE allegedly made profits of over £40 million in just five years. So you see, again, it’s all about money.

Cinema Site The last film screened in the 1934 cinema was in 2008. Since demolition in 2008/9, the front of the site looks the preserved remains of an ancient Roman or Greek temple. Empire Films promised to develop the site but never did. Land Securities (LS) bought the site in 2014 and later sold the site on to St George

in August 2016. We now await new plans from St George. Although a multiscreen cinema is eventually promised for the site, the plans will focus on building 209 flats (174 of them private).

So…seven years of planning blight and no working cinema. Oh dear.

Haven Green Haven Green lies at an ancient crossroads. In the Middle Ages sheep and other livestock grazed on the green on their way to market in London. In recent years Ealing Council has ‘stolen’ bits of the green for use as bus stops, a power unit for a Christmas ice rink and for bike racks.

This all turned out to be illegal and we await the outcome of a March 2017 Government Hearing at which Ealing Council tried to re-write history.

Ealing Broadway Station Access to Ealing Broadway Station platforms has been unfit for purpose for decades. Lots of steps, no escalators

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Putting the People of Ealing First

HE RE TO GE T

you

THERE

NORTHFIELDS / 020 8579 1611 NORTHFIELDS@HUNTERS.COM

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Development Mess and no lifts. Drop off and pick up by private cars is currently a nightmare with no sensible arrangements. Nobody could be proud of the new station plans. There will be no escalators, only small lifts, no bike racks and no dedicated pick up and drop off for private car passengers outside the station. 31 May 2018 is the latest completion date but this is hardly credible as work on the station itself had not begun by June 2017.

Ealing Town Hall This 1888 Grade II listed building was built with money raised by public conscription to be the civic hub for Ealing. The Town Hall is now being lined up for commercial development.

The building currently hosts Ealing Council meetings and Councillor and democratic offices. Council and local stakeholder meetings are held there.

Although the civic function will remain, the Council chose Mastcraft Ltd in 2016 to convert half the building into a hotel.

Mastcraft is well known for tax evasion and running a slum hotel for asylum seekers in Southall, whilst pocketing £millions in Government grants. Why is Ealing Council ‘partnering’ with such a disreputable company? What sort of due diligence went on here?

Perceval House Built in 1982 it currently houses Council Officers, a walk-in ratepayer/visitor information and service centre and the NHS Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group. The Council want a company to convert/demolish the building and car park to create new homes, a new

customer service centre, re-houses a bit of the Central Library and create a new HQ building. A winning candidate is expected to emerge in ‘mid 2017’.

Central Ealing Neighbourhood Plan (CENP) This is a volunteer project being carried out under the auspices of the Localism Act 2011. Ealing Council has provided very poor support for this initiative and the plan, and is now wanting to change the plan at the last minute to suit its purposes.

Who is to Blame for the Mess?

Planning over the last 10 years has changed. It is still changing and will most likely go on changing – mostly for the worse. Some of the blame must reside here. Ealing Council’s Planning and Regeneration Officers and its Planning Committee of elected Councillors have consistently ignored local, regional and national planning guidance. So more blame there.

A personal view by Eric Leach

in Ealing. In April 2017 he rather abruptly resigned. Mr Hayes pioneered annual trips by Ealing Council to MIPIM in Cannes. MIPIM is the world’s biggest property exhibition and conference. The Council’s annual presence there is paid for by large property developers and land owners active in Ealing. Mr Hayes is responsible for hundreds of private luxury flats being built in the centre of Ealing which in themselves solve no known Ealing housing problems.

The other individual is Mr Julian Bell, Leader of Ealing Council 2010 to date. He has held the Cabinet’s Regeneration Portfolio all this time.

He is also something of an expert on housing allegedly owning one house in Ealing and also being a Housing Association tenant in Ealing. He is also a regular annual visitor to MIPIM. He must share the responsibility for the development and planning shambles in the centre of Ealing.

Crossrail’s expected arrival in 2019 has created a ‘Gold Rush’ amongst property speculators, land owners, property developers and large and small investors.

Two individuals however must share some of the blame.

Mr Pat Hayes arrived at Ealing Council as regeneration boss in January 2007.

He came from TfL where he worked on the failing West London Tram project. For some 10 years he was been responsible for regeneration, planning and housing

Putting the People of Ealing First

P resent

view of

Ealing Cinema

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Ealing Cinemas of the Past

By Rosemary Wallis

In the 1930s cinemas were managed by suave men, in evening dress with bow tie, and brylcreamed hair, and also staffed by uniformed usherettes.

Their duties were to guide filmgoers to their seats with the help of a lowered torch. Just before an interval, the heating miraculously increased, to encourage the sale of ice creams or soft drinks from usherettes' display trays. Of course, during WW2, refreshments were unavailable. Visits were events, as money and time were short. Prices were at their lowest for the front stalls, with frequent bad behaviour which was stopped by a quiet visit from the manager – 'behave or you’re out!' Middle stalls at 1s/9d were for families, leaving back stalls at 2s/3d for boys to impress girlfriends, with the back row for snogging!

and corridors were concrete and this uncomfortable cinema was only visited when an interesting film was showing!

THE WALPOLE, Bond Street had a grand façade (still stored in the alley behind the site). Its outside side walls had painted ticket prices and its dustbins were always full of edited film clips. Children rifled them and had treasured images of Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche. It was well attended, especially by Ealing Schools for educational, afternoon showings, i.e. Henry V featuring Laurence Olivier, and Scott of the Antarctic.

However, the most regular visitors were mice, who happily crept across the backs of seats in the semi dark.

THE LIDO, Northfields Avenue, was an entertainment centre, very popular with its local community. Saturday morning pictures allowed children to be legally rowdy. Flash Gordon was cheered and booed whilst the odd elastic band whizzed by ears.

Evening audiences enjoyed not only the main film and a B-grade film to commence the programme but the interval included an organ playing for a general sing song, or a music hall act, such as The

THE PALLADIUM, Uxbridge Road, Ealing Broadway was located on the same side as what is now WH Smith. It had been an ice rink and its conversion in the thirties was purely functional. Staircases

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LIDO Cinema c. 1950

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Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com Butterfly Dancer, waving her gauzy arms above her beaded head dress.

THE FORUM, Uxbridge Road (just opposite the Town Hall), was a 'Jane Russell' cinema – dark, warm and voluptuous. A square shaped exterior, with many thick glass doors, and an interior where all floors and stairs were thickly carpeted. The staircase walls were covered with autographed framed photographs of film stars.

Always comfortable, it was the most popular cinema, sadly missed because of its 'constructive destruction'.

THE ODEON, adjacent to Northfields Station, was the most glamorous cinema. Film-goers entered a lobby which was an Art Deco set for Fred and Ginger. Onyx table, marble floor, Art Deco settees and a large 'Inglenook' fireplace, often with a warm log fire welcoming its cold customers. Good behaviour was expected in the seating area, where the gilt interior and well placed gauze and lights made it sometimes more interesting to view than the film. Just outside, on the railway bridge, was an air raid siren, its alarm was loud and frightening, which hastened film fans to the 'safety' of home.

Inside the

old

O deon -now Ealing Christian Centre

[Editors Note: Neighbours Paper has received this request from a local group. This is a really important issue and they would love your help.]

Improving our public transport – could you help?

By Michael Mina Ealing Passenger Transport Users’ Group has been actively campaigning since 2001 to improve services throughout the borough. Its many achievements during that time include:

During WW2 the Northfield Avenue trees were painted with white circles around their trunks, allowing a safe walk home in pitch black for filmgoers, or alternatively a dash into the underground shelter in Dean Gardens, where smells and conditions seemed just as dangerous as the Luftwaffe!

• Face-to-face meetings with two ministers for transport about the overcrowding on FGW trains, resulting in five extra 5-coach trains and new trains put into service

During the respite of evening bombing raids, a Cypriot café beckoned the evening crowd to try their Viennese steaks (rissoles) where the evening could be happily ended with the addition of a strong cup of tea.

• Secured a stop for the 607 bus at Christ Church Ealing, plus a Sunday service and late running on the route

• Successfully argued for more bus shelters, and for new lifts and escalators at local stations

• Fought for and achieved the reopening of the southern exit at Hanwell Station, greatly improving access

Putting the People of Ealing First

EPTUG works with all political parties and has cross-party support. But there are always new challenges ahead and EPTUG urgently needs more members. For example, we are striving to ensure that adequate bus access to Crossrail stations is made available, and that bus links correspond with the NHS reorganisation. We want the Old Oak Common site developed for the benefit of Ealing. The list goes on... The more support we have, the more notice TfL and the train operators will take of us. Could you help?

Please get in touch, at info@eptug.org. Also see: www.eptug.org

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W est Ea l in g

By Arthur B reens West Ealing is our town centre.

It’s where we go for our banking, household and food shopping, coffee shops and restaurants. So it was a privilege for me as part of a group to allocate a ‘Mayoral Riot Recovery Fund’ of £300,000.

A third was to be spent on setting up the West Ealing Business Improvement District (WEBID) by the Regeneration Department of Ealing Council, Pat Hayes director.

Business improvement scheme?

WEBID was to gather services like electricity and waste collection under one roof and get a better deal for all shops leaving money to improve the shopping area. Successes?

Some food hygiene training and ….. ? The organisation was not arranged democratically because there was no ‘one shop one vote’ principal. The small traders I know were simply not ‘in the know’.

A West Ealing parking plan Later, under the Localism Act, West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum was established to form a plan for West Ealing. We were very lucky to have two top professional transport engineers on board. We produced a plan to increase vital shopper parking by over

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60 extra free bays of on-road spaces.

The existing onroad parking is designed to improve turnover, 30min stop and shop. Yet 30 mins allows only enough time to get to the bank and back! Little else. However mobile phone users can pay for 2hrs using the RingGo system. Only an inconsistent LBE could arrange this.

We proposed a minimum 60 mins free system for all instead. Other areas are mysteriously unavailable to the public (like Maitland Yard with around 40 spaces). This is adjacent to Dean Gardens car park which charges.

Another LBE anomaly. Our plan would action this so that shoppers could use it.

Unfortunately, our drawings and plans for increased on-road parking provision to sustain West Ealing businesses were rejected by various departments of the council and local councillors. We promoted the car parking behind the Library. Again, LBE never shared the detail and gifted spaces to a private company (called Library use) against their own planning guidance. Holiday Inn received similar favours. Planning permission was granted on a no car basis. However, LBE sold the hotel 20 spaces in the Ealing Dean car park for £5,000 p.a. We lost the much loved

Putting the People of Ealing First

Photo: Shaz Moghaddam Luckhurst Butcher in the hotel build and other active shopping frontage, again against LBE’s own planning guidance. More manipulation?

Clean up those streets Canberra Road is at the centre of our town. A consistent feature is that of overloaded commercial wheelie bins.

These attract fly-tipping of hazardous domestic rubbish, all attracting flies.

My favourite restaurant is only 120m away! Such bins should be in the close and curtilage of the owner’s premises (Environmental Protection Act 1990). I sent numerous emails to Walpole Councillors with no reply. With a file of unanswered e-mails, I visited MP Rupa Huq’s surgery. A simple, warm and charming process. Next day a man was sweeping Canberra Road. Who was most amazed? The sweeper; that an old man with a beard rushed over to hug him or me; to see half of Canberra Road so clean!

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Kundalinī, Çakras and Yoga Meditation

By Manjinder Chijarh I’ve walked past the Sahaja Yoga Meditation poster over the years. A few weeks ago, I was at Ealing Town Hall and the free weekly class from 7.30pm–9pm peaked my curiosity.

Taking my seat in the Nelson Room, it was clear this Thursday would be a different experience.

In May 1970, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is believed to have achieved ‘selfrealisation’ – assimilation into the Divine – in Gujarat, Western India. She has since practised her methods en masse to help others realise their true potential. For 41 years, she founded various international schools and health centres, including a Music and Arts Academy. She was also a guest speaker at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995, Beijing. While Shri Mataji passed away in February 2011, Sahaja Yoga is now established in 100+ countries including Australia, France, Kenya and the Philippines.

Here are some keywords being discussed that day: Sahaja Yoga: ‘spontaneous, innate spiritual union’.

Kundalinī: dormant spiritual energy located at the base of the spine (Sacrum bone). Visualised as a resting, coiled serpent that, once awakened, passes through the body’s chakras to ultimately bring about spiritual enlightenment.

Chakras [Çakra]: seven energy centres arranged vertically along

the spinal cord, bottom to top: root, sacral, solar, heart, throat, third eye, crown. Visualised as lotus flowers and activated via Kundalini ascension: Chakra imbalances can result in various nutritional, hormonal or allergic disorders, to name a few.

Channels [nāḍī]: basic energy channels which the Kundalini travels through. Located on either side of the spine: left (lunar/feminine energy, mental processes), right (solar/masculine energy, vital processes) and central [suṣumṇā] which connects all seven chakras.

The evening began with an introductory speech about Sahaja Yoga and its integration of Kundalini, Chakras and Channels, primarily illustrated by a large colourcoded poster. Past footage of Shri Mataji was also played where she explored and discussed these concepts with personal anecdotes, stressing how regular meditation to a routine is most beneficial.

Following this, twenty minutes of meditation involved closing our eyes, placing our right hand on various chakra points and repeating a set number of affirmations to ourselves i.e. ‘Mother, am I my own master?’ or “Shri Mataji, I forgive everyone including myself’. A sensation of cool breeze emanating from the Fontanelle area’s crown chakra [Sahasrāra] is the desired result.

Putting the People of Ealing First

Free weekly classes teaching Sahaja Yoga are available in Ealing A ten minute optional workshop was also available where experienced members help maintain and raise another person’s Kundalini via circular, knotting and semicircular hand motions.

With my session complete, I enjoyed two nice biscuits and some lovely peppermint and lemon tea. During this time, I was informed that the sensation at my throat could signify a thyroid blockage of sorts. As I write this, the sensation has not manifested since.

Sahaja Yoga provides an interesting insight into the deeper aspects of self-realisation. These concepts can be tricky to understand so it’s worth reading about them in detail. For further information, visit www.ealing-meditation.net, email ealing@ukyoga.org or call 0203 524 3546 / 07958 799 208.

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The Log Cabin Charity

By Foluso Dawodu ESQ Back in 1977 Mary Lorde, the former Mayor of Ealing, convened a session with other notable professionals and stakeholders within the Borough of Ealing to establish the Log Cabin Charity. From this came into formation a community based adventure playground in Northfield Avenue under the same name for children and young people with additional needs or disabilities.

Purpose-built play areas Managed by Sharon Flynn with other competent professionals, staff and volunteers and a Board of NonExecutive Trustees, the centre consists of a purpose-built building with an exciting outside area including a multi-use games area for sports, play structures, sand and water play and accessible swings as well as a quiet garden. Inside

there is a large hall, soft-play room, arts and craft room, multiuse games room, reading room and multi-sensory room.

More than 350 children and young people use the Log Cabin every year.

Minibuses collect children from special schools, and walking escorts collect children from local schools, and bring them to the After School Club, where they can engage in a wide variety of play activities suitable to the age and needs of each individual child. Additionally, they provide places for some children who require (one on one) support or more.

Activities for most days of the week Children are given a two-course meal during the weekday sessions when the day finishes at 6.30pm. The Saturday Club session is also provided in the same manner from 9am to 5pm to support parents and children, while the centre is closed on Sunday except for social use of facilities by locals for children’s birthdays and other gatherings.

In partnership with Mandeville School, the Log Cabin also provides school holiday activities.

The experienced staff are able to offer practical techniques and strategies for supporting children's needs. The sessions specialise in sensory-based

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Putting the People of Ealing First

and stimulating activities for a variety of needs. There are resources and activities for a wide range of additional needs and disabilities.

Activities are chosen with parents and carers in mind, so that they are able to recreate them at home.

Counselling services Counselling services are there to help through difficult times: family issues, depression, lack of confidence, relationship difficulties, additive or destructive behaviour or any other personal circumstances that are emotionally difficult. One member of staff will always be present to support the school groups and to assist with activities.

In recognition of excellent services, the current Mayor of Ealing has appointed the Log Cabin as the Charity of the Financial Year (April 2017 to March 2018). Fundraising events such as quizzes and raffles ensure the sustainability of the centre and continued professional support to our children.

Find the Log Cabin at 259 Northfield Avenue, W5 4UA, Tel: 020 8840 3400. For more information, see www.logcabin.org.uk.

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If you go out in the woods today‌

By Tom Whiting

Summer is here, the sun is shining, and what better way to enjoy the great outdoors than by taking an invigorating walk in one of the many green spaces in and around Ealing. The following are two of my favourites:

The Grand Old Lady of Canals Walk along Distance: Approx 3 miles (5km) pavement Duration: 1 hour beyond the Hare Level of difficulty: Easy, and Hounds pub, mostly flat terrain with main road Start/finish: Hare and Hounds to your left, as it car park (TW7 5PR) passes under M4.

A further 400m, turn right through a metal railing to join a footpath with fields on your left hand side.

Cross over railway line and emerge onto an industrial estate. Continue on and cross over the canal via the roadbridge and turn right, then right again, leading down to the towpath with the Grand Union Canal on your left.

You will soon come to picturesque Hanwell Locks, a set of six locks, with colourful barges passing through.

Beyond this is Three Bridges, so called because of the railway, canal trough and road intersecting here.

This walk is so pleasant that you can turn around and retrace your steps back to the Hare and Hounds car park. So good, you can do it twice!

Interesting history. IK Brunel engineered the Three Bridges, completed in 1859. The Hanwell stretch of the canal was opened in 1794 to provide a shorter route between London and Birmingham. Hanwell Locks is a designated Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Catch a snack. The Fox Inn, Green Lane W7 2PJ, turn right just before Hanwell Locks.

Watch out for more walks in future issues.

Savour the views at Horsenden Hill From Horsenden Hill Distance: Approx 2.5 miles (4km) car park walk down Duration: 1.5 hours the road past Ballot Level of difficulty: Medium (some Box pub. Turn right gentle ascents/descents) onto tarmac path Start/finish: Horsenden Hill car park through tree-lined woods. After about 500m turn right, before houses, to enter Horsenden Wood.

Take left-hand fork, it’s a gentle climb upwards, before hitting tarmac road. Stay right and continue towards top of hill, towards golf course and viewpoint.

Beyond the triangulation pillar, take the second footpath on the right that leads down the hill. Keep descending, through a cow field, stay right and down until you reach the road.

Cross over footbridge, turn left and left again onto the Grand Union Canal. Continue along the towpath for about 500m (Perivale Wood on the left) before crossing a wooden footbridge that takes you onto the right bank of the canal.

Turn left along the footpath, keeping the playing fields to your left hand side. Continue along the path for about 800m, you will see a road straight ahead in the distance. You will see the Ballot Box pub again. Turn right on the road and follow it up back to the car park.

Interesting history. Horsenden Hill used to be dense woodland where wild boar and wolves roamed. Ancient Perivale Wood becomes a sea of bluebells in spring, and contains 100-yearold oak trees. In the 19th century, hay production replaced wheat growing because of the thickness of the London Clay in the fields here.

Catch a snack. The Ballot Box Pub, named after the hotel where boatmen voted in the 19th century after walking from the canal.

Putting the People of Ealing First

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Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club by

Michael Holmes

Running On Water Incredible Noble Genius? Not quite. Although you would if you could! Just an acronym for ROWING, a technique used by athletes to propel a boat on water using oars. I had the pleasure of meeting Mervyn Lee, Head Coach and Alice Jenkinson, Vice Captain at the IBIS Boat House where Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club (MAABC) is based.

May I start by asking of you Mervyn what is Rowing? Well Michael rowing is a sport originating back to Ancient Egyptian times, based on one or more persons in a boat pushing it through the water using oars. When the rower uses one oar on one side, it is called sweep rowing and the single oar is called a "sweep" oar. When the rower uses two oars at the same time, one on each side, it is called sculling, and the two oars are called a pair of "sculls".

part if the present-day MAABC. It was established in 1877. Next came Anglian Boat Club, which started in 1878. It merged with Mortlake Rowing Club in 1962 to become Mortlake Anglian Boat Club. Chiswick Rowing Club was the result of the amalgamation of two local clubs, Bedford Park and Bedford Park & District and later merged with Mortlake Anglian Boat Club to become Mortlake Anglian & Chiswick Boat Club. Alpha Women's Rowing Club formed in 1927 and was to merge with Mortlake Anglian & Chiswick Boat Club in 1984, since when we have been: Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club.

Why was the club started? The club was started because people enjoy sharing the river. Rowing in the 1920s and early 1930s was a very mixed sport and consisted of both professional and amateur oarsmen. Mortlake Rowing Club is the oldest component

Alice, what achievements has the club made? To start we are honoured to have students from Cambridge and Oxford universities join the club.

Having taken part in the famous boat race held annually which ends here at Chiswick the students bring a wealth of experience to share with other club members. Also there are a number of competitions the club takes part in and our members have won many medals/ trophies. For example some recent success: Pippa Wilson represented England at the Commonwealth Rowing Regatta 2002 (Nottingham), winning Silver medals in Women's Double Sculls

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Putting the People of Ealing First

with Charlotte Dalton from Thames RC and Women's Quadruple Sculls with Charlotte (TRC), Jen Smith (Warwick), and Jane Fisher (Worcester). Pippa & Charlotte were also winners of Double Sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta 2002.

What direction now for the club? Moving on from our current position we would like to encourage more people to take up rowing. It's a fun and enjoyable sport that helps you get and stay fit.

We provide training for beginners and cater for immediate/professionals. You don't have to become a member to train with us, however we would love you to come on board following the course. In addition the club house is a great venue that's available for hire and hosts a number of social events and activities. Please see www.maabc.com for more info.