Neighbours Paper ’
Issue No 84
Putting the People of Ealing First
Spring 2018
NOW IS THE TIME TO BE HEARD!
Council Elections are on 3rd May and your vote will count!
Also featuring: The Great Civic Sell-Off Isolation Threat to the Elderly Orange Bikes are Everywhere
e e r F ease
Pl One e Tak
Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall
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E ditorial
Contents Contents Editorial................................................ 2 Events Around Ealing.......................... 2
As we go to press there is much concern about the two town hall buildings. Public meeting places are in short supply in the Borough. We cannot afford to lose any. If consultation input is still available, with the many extensions to the process offered, we urge our readers to make their views known. As usual there are concerns about over-development in the borough (see Ealing Notes) and anti-parking moves that particularly affect those less able
to walk and cycle are highlighted on page 9. We continue to feature Ealing Save our NHS (see Ealing Notes) The good news is that, for the time being, NWL NHS ‘s request for funding to progress their restructuring process has been refused as ‘not credible’. Also, on the plus side, we highlight the Borough’s Orange Bike scheme. In addition, we also urge you to vote in the local elections in May. It is really important there is a good turnout!
EVENTS AROUND EALING Hanwell Hootie, Sat 12 May. Across many venues with many BANDS and solo artists performing in what is now LONDON’S LARGEST FREE ONE DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL. THE HANWELL HOOTIE was started to commemorate JIM MARSHALL, OBE who set up his company MARSHALL AMPLIFICATION in HANWELL in 1962 and went on to be a legend himself as ‘The Father of Loud’. The Hootie is a free festival in local pubs and cafes as well as a church venue, a busking bus and outdoor stages (more info on these will be released shortly), all within walking distance of each other showcasing live original music. From raucous bhangra and gypsy folk to ambient synth and soul the Hootie has it all. It is essentially a rock festival so fear not, there is always a heavy dose of guitar driven rock music in all its forms! Full announcement will be made at the beginning of March. See www.hanwellhootie.co.uk, facebook.com/TheHanwellHootie.
Is Orange the New Green?................ 3 Ealing Notes......................................4-5 A Typical 1930's Factory known as 'Hoovers'............................................... 6 Ealing Local Elections......................... 7 The Great Civic Sell Off....................... 8 Isolation Threat to the Elderly............. 9 Ealing Fails in Bid for Culture Prize... 10 Fantastic Films................................... 11 London School of Diving................... 12
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Ealing Food Festival Sunday 29 April 12:00pm to 7:00pm, Dean Gardens, West Ealing Food from around the world. Market stalls, rides, bouncy castle, kids’ activities. Free entry. Gurnell Leisure Centre Redevelopment: Public Consultation Meeting, Weds 21 March 7pm to 8.30pm, Gurnell Grove Community Centre W13 0AR Scrutinise the Council’s controversial plans to create a multi-million pound brand new leisure facility, new housing and car parking. Open to all. See also www.futureofgurnell.co.uk.
EALING FILMS Fantastic Films Monthly at the Royal Harvester, Boston Manor Road. See: Article on Page 11 Pitshanger Pictures Programme of films every month at St Barnabus Millenium Hall, Pitshanger Lane, W5 See: www.barnabites.org/ social/pitshanger-pictures Ealing Classic Cinema Club Weekly films at Ealing Town Hall See: www.classiccinemaclub.co.uk
Editor: Tom Whiting (020 8840 5740) Treasurer: Judy Breens Writers: Judy Breens, Arthur Breens, Manjinder Chijarh, Nick Ferriday, Will French, Michael Holmes, Eric Leach, Rosemary Wallis, Tom Whiting Designer: Jamie Anson 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
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Next copy deadline: 30st April
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Is Orange the New Green? Mobike®, the dockless bike sharing scheme, claims to provide a cheap and eco-friendly way for folks to get around Ealing. NP Editor Tom Whiting investigates: I have a sore bottom. My legs are pumping. What, no gears? I look like an overheated hamster. No wonder I’m getting some funny looks. But I’ve arrived at Northfields station in one piece – thanks to the Chinese. Yes, the previously ubiquitous (but now strangely lonesome) orange bikes from Beijing operator Mobike have added a colourful hue to the Ealing landscape. Bike sharing – will it take off? What about the vandals and the dodgy E3 bus drivers, a cynic might ask. Will Mobike + Ealing = more steel in landfill and queues at Northfields Surgery? Bagging a bike is pretty simple. Download the Mobike app to your phone. Register your details. Pay a £1 returnable deposit via your debit card. Then locate the nearest bike on the app map and it’s reserved for 15 minutes. Find the bike, scan its QR code, and off you go. Cost is 50p for 30 minutes. On completing your journey, unlike with Santander docked bikes, you can leave the Mobike anywhere (okay, not in your garage). There’s a points’ scoring system to encourage good use of the bikes. So be nice to them, or you’ll pay more. As Mobike is a private firm, there is no cost to borough residents, apart from the actual use of the bikes. Operators do not need a permit but, according to Ealing Council, ‘they must have a signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the council before commencing operations and must also agree to share anonymised data on trips and usage for free.’ At least that's the official line on the Council's website. However, the Council’s Media and Communications Officer, Philip Brent elaborated further when I made contact with him. ‘The Mobike scheme is on a 12-month trial period to begin with. There is currently no payment to Ealing Council nor permit required to operate in the borough, but that remains an option.
their bikes better, even though the vast majority do.’ The table on this page shows the five bike schemes scaled out across London to date. Interestingly Obike, the only pan-London operation, was withdrawn after it failed to consult with the boroughs and Wandsworth impounded most of its bikes! A lesson to be learned, perhaps. Moving forward, issues like bike maintenance, codes of practice, environmental impact and road safety concerns will come into play. My opinion? If it’s good enough for the 6 million cyclists in Beijing, then it’s good enough for Ealing. Just don’t forget those padded shorts… Download For more information, see www.mobike.com/uk, or email transportplanningservice@ealing.gov.uk.
the mobile
app and locate your nearest available bike.
‘We are pleased with the success of the scheme thus far. We are aware of some concerns on social media, but Mobike have been quick at removing poorly parked bikes quickly, if reported to them.’ He added, ‘We will be jointly working on an info campaign to inform users how to park
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Ealing Notes Ealing Save our NHS
Ealing’s high targets, is the large number of sites in the Borough, but just where these are, is a closely guarded secret.
As NP goes to print, we encounter daily news stories of a winter crisis of A&E and bed shortages across the country, yet there appears denial from the Government that anything is amiss. Despite this, readers will be aware that North West London NHS have plans to downgrade both Ealing and Charing Cross Hospitals to around 50 beds each, only covering rehab, observation and frail elderly care. They propose retaining current out-patient clinics and Urgent Care Centres but closing all surgical operations and A&E services. Around 500 beds would be lost. On 13 February, Ealing Save Our NHS held a packed Town Hall Public Meeting to oppose these cuts, and two days later Ealing Council also held a Save Our Hospitals public meeting in Southall’s Dominion Centre. They have also collected over 30,000 signatures for their petition against the downgrading plans. It’s good to know that NWL NHS’s request for £513 million to start the ‘restructuring’ programme to progress their plans has so far been rejected, as it was deemed ‘not credible’. In other words, their plans to close hospital beds and replace them with community services just don’t add up, something local Councils and campaigners have been saying repeatedly. On 3 February, many supporters joined a national protest in Central London to demand more funding for the NHS.
Compiled by J udy B reens
Many of Ealing’s new developments will be on smaller sites. These are sites that can deliver fewer than 25 homes on which the new plan says there will be a ‘presumption to develop’ unless unacceptable harm would be caused to heritage assets or privacy. Expect to see a rash of proposals to demolish traditional family homes which will be replaced by blocks of flats extending deep into back gardens. There will be another national protest in central London to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS on 30 June and hospital rallies on 5 July. More at www.ealingsaveournhs.org.uk and www.ealing.gov.uk/soh.
The New London Plan The Mayor of London’s draft New London Plan is out for consultation until 2 March. This will have a major impact on Ealing as it sets a policy framework for Local Plans across London and all planning decisions must adhere to its policies. The new plan provides for London to grow from 8.9 million to 10.8 million people over the next 24 years. Ealing is expected to be one of the fastest growing boroughs in London. Construction in the Borough will double its existing rate. The apparent reason for
A particular concern in Ealing is that while the population is due to grow hugely, the normal infrastructure and services cannot keep pace. In many instances, including Ealing Hospital, our police stations, community buildings and public spaces, are being withdrawn. Prospects for the future quality of life in the Borough do not seem very good.
******STOP PRESS****** Hanwell's residents and other groups have come together in a new organisation called Hanwell Future, to produce a vision for Hanwell that will show the Council and developers what the people of Hanwell want for their borough. Posters of the Vision will be appearing in Hanwell's streets before long – so keep an eye out!
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Ealing Notes continueD Heathrow Airport By Nick Ferriday For almost 50 years, the aviation industry and its lobbyists have promoted a new runway in the southeast. Since then, successive governments have oscillated between wanting to press ahead and putting it into the ‘too difficult’ box because of social and environmental impacts. But following the report of the Airports Commission the government decided it wanted a new runway at Heathrow. The runway would lead to massive direct impacts – homes demolished, communities destroyed and Green Belt devastated. But the biggest impacts arise not from the runway itself but from the massive increase in aircraft and passengers proposed – 260,000
flights and 45 million passengers a year. The aircraft and the extra road traffic would generate noise, air pollution, congestion on road and rail and, last but not least, a massive increase in climate changing emissions. These effects will spread well away from Heathrow to Ealing and beyond. We have been subject to a huge PR exercise by Heathrow Airport, claiming large economic and jobs benefits from a third runway. The claims are utterly misleading. The official estimate of ‘net economic benefit’ of the whole UK is a range from minus £2.2bn to plus £3.3bn. Compared with the UK’s economy of about £2 trillion every year, the impact of Heathrow expansion is at worst negative and at best negligible.
Following government consultations, Heathrow has started its own consultation. This is not an official consultation but a public relations exercise, designed to make people think a third runway is decided and to divert their attention onto details of the scheme. But a third runway is not a foregone conclusion – there has to be a vote in the House of Commons, probably in the summer. In the meantime, we are advising people either NOT to respond to Heathrow’s consultation, or to take advice first on how to respond so as not to fall into the many traps whereby answers given to the questions could be construed as supwport for expansion. Email nic.ferriday@ntlwotld.com and see www.no3rdrunwaycoalition.co.uk.
Exposurebox This is new video news site for Ealing residents, created and run by Ealing residents. The mastermind behind this venture is Mo Nabbach whose main business is hairdressing based in South Ealing. ‘I felt there was a need to provide local news in a video format. Ealing news coverage in the ‘Ealing Gazette’ has deteriorated in recent years, and people are welcoming our channel as a way of discovering the good, bad and the ugly aspects of life in Ealing’.
Exposurebox is keen to video Council meetings as it feels that residents would like to see how and why Council decisions are made. Mo believes that the ‘gap’ between the people and local Councillors and Council Officers is widening and he seeks to expose this and provide a solution in narrowing that gap. Planning decisions and overdevelopment plans seem to be a mystery to many people and Exposurebox is keen to interview people who can explain what is happening. In contact with a number of local
campaigning groups, it recently covered the launch of the new panEaling group of volunteers called ‘Ealing Matters’. ‘The goals of this group match very closely with Exposurebox’s mission, and we will be giving it our continuing support’, added Mo. Recently added to the site is an online forum. You can use this to comment on news items and make suggestions about news and issues Exposurebox might cover. More at www.exposurebox.com.
Ealing Filmworks For all its fame as the home of the British film industry Ealing has lacked cinema since the much-loved Empire Cinema was demolished almost 10 years ago. We have, however, been promised continuously that a replacement was on its way.
Securities sold their interest in the site to developers St George, but even then, we still being were promised the replacement might open in 2017. Optimism mounted late in 2016 when it was announced with much fanfare that construction had begun.
In 2015, developers Land Securities persuaded a Compulsory Purchase Order inspector they were all set to go and on this assurance the inspector granted them their CPO allowing them to commence a mainly residential development. Thereupon, Land
But before demolition of the existing buildings had even commenced, work ground to a halt and has not resumed. The prospect of a new cinema in Ealing even by 2018 now looks increasingly remote. Many are now asking whether it will even happen at all.
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A TYPICAL 1930s EALING FACTORY KNOWN AS 'HOOVERS' By Rosemary Wallis This company ‘created’ Perivale in the 1930s. A very small village rapidly expanded when Hoover arrived. Its two buildings had Art Deco frontages and interiors, eventually Grade II listed, with a natural spring in their backyard. The site has been stripped of some of its external finery now, and its hive of industry long gone. Hoovers earned a reputation as a superior engineering factory, its practices common elsewhere. It provided not only various levels of work for a vast amount of local people, but most of their leisure hours could be spent there too. Work hard, play hard Hoovers was valued by young people for their training schemes. The Sports and Social Club occupied the whole of the smaller building and they employed at least two full-time staff to produce many events. The top floor of the front of the main building was occupied by the elite Board of Directors. The same floor also housed large administration departments, for example, its post room employed twenty juniors with two supervisors to sort and hourly collect and deliver mail throughout the building and prepare and post external mail over an eleven-hour day.
The tool room was clean with white coated workers. They received formal apprenticeship training and became the elite professionals.
Guernsey. Regular old time and modern dances were held on a large dance floor, and lavish children's parties were well attended.
The paint shop was enclosed with glass and misty with cellulose paint. The workers earned danger money and often looked pale and ill. The casting shop was where metal was smelted, cast into moulds, then rapidly wate cooled. The result was many purple scarred faces from the spitting metal.
There were double security gates, continuously manned by burly security officers. Though one time, a criminal gang was caught, stealing parts and hiding them in cricket bags.
Group bonuses The general assembly worked on a group bonus system, where a group of workers would do a single operation and pass on to the next man. Speed was essential to earn the bonus. If a man slowed down, he would be threatened or dealt with violently by his work mates. There was a cricket club with a good first eleven, an amateur boxing club hosting regular tournaments with clubs who came from afar, including
Other floors housed a tool room, machine shop, paint shop, casting shop, press shop and general assembly with a lethal degreaser vat and a large dispatch department.
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Supporting the war effort The company was thought to be the most progressive employer. There were ties with sister branches in Cambuslang, Scotland and Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, with worker exchanges. During the Second World War, the Hoover factory manufactured aircraft parts for the RAF. In 1989, Tesco purchased the building. More recently, episodes of the TV drama series Poirot have taken advantage of the Art Deco architecture for location shots. In 2017, work started on the front section of the building for conversion into luxury flats.
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Ealing Local Elections: 3 May 2018 By Eric Leach Every four years, we get the chance to pick new Councillors or ‘Elected Members’ in Government jargon. In your local Constituency, you vote for three Councillors. There are 23 Constituences. The next election is coming up on Thursday 3 May 2018. You need to be Registered to vote. All Registered voters will receive a voting card which will tell you where and when you can cast your vote. If you are not Registered or unsure, contact Electoral Services on 020 8825 7777 or e-mail elections@ealing.gov.uk. The deadline for registering is 17 April 2018. Labour Rules Unfortunately, we are currently living in a ‘one party state’ in Ealing with Labour Party Councillors holding 53 of the 69 Councillor ‘seats’. Apparently, there is some conflict going on in Ealing Labour Party as to whether Councillor candidates should be so called ‘Blairites’ or ‘Corbynistas’. There are 12 Conservative Councillors and four Liberal Democrats. Rumour has it that Ealing Conservative Party members think they will be lucky to hold onto their 12 seats! Hustings Look out for election ‘Hustings’ in your area. At these public events, Councillor candidates can be questioned about their plans and Party policies. Not all current or future Councillors run regular Councillor ‘surgeries’ at which
you can question them and request their help. Ask the candidates about surgeries. You might also want to ask the candidates at the Hustings about how they are going to represent your interests and communicate with you.
both the business referendum and the residential referendum 50% or more of those who vote say ‘yes’, the plan will become the legal, local spatial plan for central West Ealing.
Purdah This is the term to describe the preelection period when there are publicity restrictions imposed on Government staff. The term originates from Persia and means curtain or veil. For the upcoming elections the latest date Purdah can start is 27 March 208. After that date and up to 3 May 2018, any communications have to be lawful, cost effective, objective, even-handed, appropriate, have regard to equality and diversity and issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity. West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Plan Those who live or run a business in central West Ealing will be able to vote on accepting or rejecting this spatial plan. The West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum (WECNF) – all volunteers – has worked for almost five years on this plan. In 2017, the London Borough of Ealing (LBE) made modifications to this plan. The 2011 Localism Act empowers Local Authorities to act in this way. This WECNF/LBE hybrid plan can be viewed at www.wecnf.org. If in
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The Great Civic Sell-Off
By Will French
Ealing Council’s plans to dispose of many of its venerable civic buildings has run into opposition across the Borough. Here we look at three of the most contentious cases: Victoria Hall
Acton Old Library
The outcry over the Council’s plans to dispose of the Victoria Hall’s assets rumbles on. The Hall and its associated rooms were built as part of the Ealing Town Hall in 1893 as a place for public gatherings. It was paid for from public donations and has been run ever since as a charitable trust.
Bidding has reopened for parties interested in taking over one of Acton’s most prominent buildings, the old Acton Library. In 2014, Ealing Council agreed a deal with Curzon Cinemas to convert the vacant library building into a cinema, restaurant, bar and three flats. But the deal has broken down and the library remains empty and unmaintained.
The Council’s plans to dispose of the Hall, together with the rest of the Town Hall complex, to Mastcraft for a hotel development on a 250-year lease are being complicated by the Charity Commission which has insisted that key stakeholders be consulted first. The consultation has triggered a tsunami of objections from the public questioning the Council’s right to dispose of assets that do not belong to them.
Southall Town Hall A separate campaign is underway to save the Grade II listed Southall Town Hall which was built in 1897 as the centre of local government in the old Southall district. The town hall was the site of demonstrations in 1979 at which the New Zealand protester Blair Peach lost his life. The Council had handed over the town hall building to the Southall Community Alliance 20 years ago when it decided it no longer had a use for it, but in 2017 it announced that the SCA would have to quit the premises as it wanted to dispose of them on a 250-year lease.
Objectors complain that the Trust has been mismanaged over many years. Proper accounts have never been kept, and too little is known about the extent of the Trust’s assets and how the Council plans to compensate the Trust for their disposal. The Council twice extended the consultation to give it time to produce information that objectors are calling for. It then increased the uncertainty by announcing a fresh consultation with a new set of questions, even though many of the most important details remain unavailable. A General Purposes Committee has been set up by the Council to decide what to do next and Council officers will report to its first meeting in March. The row has forced the Council to announce it is putting back its plans for closing the Hall and the public will be able to continue to hire it now until the end of October. 8
The SCA has used the building as a busy hub and a meeting place for Southall’s many different groups, many of them representing and supporting people living at the very margins of the community. Now that the Police station has closed, the Town Hall is the last remaining public building in Southall. Its loss as a meeting place open to everyone will leave these groups with nowhere to meet or come to for support. The SCA, which is coordinating efforts to save the building, say it is to be sold for less than the money they have invested in it. They have submitted a legal challenge contesting the Council’s disposal plans, so the fight to save the Town Hall for the community’s continued use is likely to be a protracted one. See the Campaign Facebook page for further information. Putting the People of Ealing First
A community-based group that made a bid for the building when it first appeared on the market in 2014 is now dusting down its plans to bid again. Their vision last time round was to transform the library into a community hub with a small cinema, theatre space, coffee bar and workshop space. Initially, both the Council and Curzon Cinemas claimed they wanted to be partners to these plans, but they ended up agreeing their own deal, leaving those who had worked on the community bid feeling badly misled.
The Library building has great local significance. It was gifted to the community by the Victorian philanthropist Passmore Edwards, an internationally renowned champion of the working classes. Another of Edwards’s gifts was Shepherds Bush Library which Hammersmith and Fulham Council gifted to the highly successful Bush Theatre at a peppercorn rent. It offers a fine example of what can be achieved. More at www.saveealingscentre.com and www.ealingvoice.com.
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Isolation Threat to the Elderly By Arthur B reens Over the last ten years, Ealing Council has favoured cycling and walking. Senior officers have encouraged the general population to cycle by improving cycling parking, cycle routes (few), cycle training and cycle maintenance. To further improve take-up, there has been a consistent theme to ensure the public get the message that cycling is good for your health. That’s the carrot approach. The move to CPZs The stick? Impose Controlled Parking Zones to prevent movement of cars freely around Ealing and make sure that all new flats are car-free by not allowing their owners and tenants to buy parking permits for their vehicles, even though other homes in the area can do so. Quite unfairly, this means they can’t have cars. To quote Animal Farm, ‘Some animals are more equal than others’. Added to this is the drive to build many more flats that also must be car free. We need more stop and shop bays. To further discourage car use, the Council make it as difficult as possible to park near shops, parks and stations by exchanging the pay and display machines and free stop and shop bays for the ‘RingGo’ system, forcing drivers to use this or not bother. My feeling is that many drivers don’t, or can’t, rise
to the challenge of using RingGo and move on. Where 30-minute free bays remain, in some areas, Ealing confuses the issue by allowing RingGo registration to pay for parking beyond the 30 free minutes. Whilst helpful in some ways (like near West Ealing shops) the turnover facility is removed and the bays could get blocked all day by extended time RingGo payers. However, it is noticeable that bagged over pay/display machines are often next to empty RingGo bays, indicating a lack of take-up. Elderly being penalised Other than commuters, those most likely to use a car to go about their business are the elderly and the physically compromised. They either use their own car or are driven by a friend. Applying for a resident’s parking permit or changing one is not easy. Visitors may arrive in a car but they have to be covered by their host at a charge, either by paper visitor tickets or the council’s preferred RingGo system, neither of which is easy to organise. All this palaver makes the elderly less independent. It’s more difficult for them to either access shops in West Ealing or other entertainment, friends and services. It might well increase loneliness in this vulnerable group.
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In its rush to change the life style of the couch-potato, the pleasures and convenience of its older citizens are becoming overlooked. Loneliness is as dangerous to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Try getting that message across to our transport planners who have just won £8.7 million grant to promote cycling and walking in West Ealing. They just aren’t interested in the facilitation of parking to make for fuller lives of the elderly. Worse, two senior transport planners didn’t understand the function of disabled parking bays close to services/destinations. If you are elderly in West Ealing is there a place here for you? It looks as though you might need to move to Torquay!
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Ealing Fails in Bid ..for Culture Prize By Eric Leach On 27 February 2018, the London Mayor/the London Assembly announced that Waltham Forest and Brent were the respective winners of London Borough of Culture for 2019 and 2020. The winners receive £1.1 million, but must secure 30% of this in ‘match funding’. There were also grants of £50,000 to £200,000 for ‘exemplary’ cultural projects. Ealing failed to win any of these titles or grants. Try as I might, I can’t locate a copy of the failed LBE bid in the public domain. One can only speculate as to what might be contained in that bid. I’m not aware that LBE engaged with any volunteer cultural groups in formulating its bid.
old Ealing and Acton have somewhat similar cultures but Southall has a very different Indian/Pakistani rooted culture. We have probably the largest Polish community in England.
On the plus side, Ealing has choirs, orchestras, and annual festivals of beer, comedy, music, dance, speech, drama and opera. It has an excellent amateur theatre, and a well established and active Ealing Civic Society. Ealing In some ways, there is some kind of Studios is famous worldwide for the Ealing cultural deficiency in Ealing. What is ‘culture’ anyway, one might ask? One Comedies. Millions are being spent on definition is ‘the arts and manifestation renovating Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole and Gunnersbury Parks. The iconic of human intellectual achievement Hoover building has been renovated regarded collectively – the ideas, customs and social behaviour’. A cynic – its art deco facade has survived a might argue that a borough that wants Tesco implementation and conversion to flats We have The Ealing Club with to sell off its Town Halls, give away 61 acres of Metropolitan Open Land to an a rich national Rhythm & Blues and Rock n’ Roll heritage. Dusty Springfield, out-of-town professional football club Adam Faith, Freddie Mercury, The Who and regularly ignores local, regional and Jim Marshall were born or rooted and national planning guidelines here. Writers W.S. Gilbert, Henry Fielding, should win no cultural awards. Frank Richards and Neville Shute all have strong Ealing connections. Ealing is a very large town formed by the merger of three smaller towns in 1965 – Acton, Ealing and Southall. The On the negative side, Ealing has no
The Ealing Club , despite frequent closure threats , has a rich musical heritage stretching back decades . substantial art gallery, arts centre or professional performing arts venue for theatre, music, opera or dance. Many of our annual performing arts festivals take place outdoors in tents. We do not have a cultural centre, heritage centre or tourist information centre. Much of our culture is historic and not current. Hanwell and Southall, for example, have a rich Brunel heritage but this has never been promoted widely. Ealing Film Studios/Ealing Comedies have not been part of any substantial heritage-based regeneration initiative. The Ealing Club continues to be threatened with demolition. Waltham Forest were one of the favourites, but Brent wasn’t. Many of us were not surprised that all Ealing’s cultural proposals failed to impress the judges.
8 St Johns Parade, Mattock Lane, Ealing W13 9LL
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Fantastic Films By Manjinder Chijarh Over the new year, my interest in film has curiously peaked. The historical importance of the film medium and its ability to influence decades of popular culture led me towards an intriguingly named event: The West London Fantastic Film Society. Perrys in tandem Every first Thursday of each month, inside The Royal Harvester pub on Boston Manor Road, The West London Fantastic Film Society showcases a variety of genres including science fiction, fantasy and horror on 16mm reel celluloid film. Trained film projectionist Darren Perry, helped by his father Norman Perry, inspects, prepares and switches over 2,000 feet of film every twenty minutes for a seamless, uninterrupted experience between 7:30pm to 11pm. The event started as a desire to watch something different. As Darren couldn’t understand why these film societies didn’t exist, he decided to start one himself. Since 2003, he has been operating in venues ranging from a church hall to a preview theatre, and now The Royal Harvester pub. It has been attended by dedicated academics such as actress Caroline Munro, composer John Scott and director Richard Stanley. Tickets are £5 per person. Classic films To begin with, a variety showcase was unveiled, including the Donald Duck theatrical animation short ‘Donald’s
Snow Fight’ (1942), ‘Lindemann’s Catch’ (1972) from the horror anthology series Night Gallery and the official trailer for James Bond’s ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (1981). The audience demographic consisted of ten to fifteen attendees, generally 30+ years – most likely regulars. Once the thirty-minute interval ended, we moved on to the 1981 science fiction thriller ‘Outland’ starring Sean Connery and Peter Boyle. Viewing these scenes on an eight-foot projector screen with visible film grain and film noise, dimmed lights and the audible rolling of a 16mm projector really added to the authenticity of this film experience. There were countless times where these elements came together and my enjoyment of the film multiplied. Colour fading was present (magenta deteriorates the slowest) resulting in a reddish tint on some clips. Despite this, the night’s content was diverse and satisfying enough, so I can definitely see myself returning in the future. A unique film-going experience Before leaving, I conversed
with Darren about film stocks, television standards and other technical jargon. He has fond memories of how cinema used to be: coloured lighting, distinct smells, the huge distance between audience and screen. For him, the pleasure of projecting film to people and sharing the love of cinema is the most rewarding thing. The West London Fantastic Film Society is a great way to experience film on a fading film format of yesteryear. Food and drink can be costly, but you should be able to bring food from outside. While the interval was quite lengthy, it is a comfortable environment to mingle in the presence of some vintage films while they still exist. For more information, contact Darren on 07939 395 128 or e-mail filmhorror@yahoo.co.uk.
Fantastic Films every month in B oston Manor .
£15 Putting the People of Ealing First
x100 Business Cards Single Sided
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London School of Diving By Michael Holmes Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced diver, London School of Diving (LSD) provides opportunities for all. Experience the underwater world like never before whilst learning new communication skills. NP reporter Michael Holmes met up with Blue Norris, Diving Instructor at LSD. May I start by asking when was the club founded? The school was launched approximately 10 years ago. We provide a number of social opportunities in addition to diving tuition which is our primary function of course. For example, the club membership offers a wide range of trips and events to suit all levels of diver along with regular social events, and that allow members to get to know each other both in and out of the water. What is the membership to date? There are 100+ members on our books and that number is expected to grow with more new people showing an interest in diving and underwater activities. Among those activities is Open Water Referral. This is a performance-based course leading on to open water completion. A swim of 200 metres and 10-minute survival float is required to ensure you have the right skills.
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What about the club’s achievements? Yes, we’ve been awarded by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) the best Career Development Centre 2017. We have achieved the same award several years since 2009. Having the right equipment and training in place means many of our divers, whether new or experienced, go on to have a successful career in the sport and have gone on to train others. Also the club has many other PADI awards for contributions to diving. These include PADI Europe, Middle East and Africa, Retailer and Resort Association for Outstanding Customer Service and Divers Alert Network (DAN) Business Partner. How are members trained? We have a pool on site which is used to simulate underwater experience. All trainees need to swim and float for a
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Trainees at the London School of Diving based in Chiswick .
certain period of time for safety and skills reasons as mentioned earlier. Why would anyone want to learn to dive? It’s a beautiful experience being able to see a new and different world underwater. Also diving teaches you self-control and the ability to communicate using hand signals, because of course there is no talking underwater. In addition, the social benefits the club offers its members include trips around the UK and abroad. Good talking to you, Blue! For more info about the club you should visit: London School of Diving, 11 Power Road, Chiswick W4 5PT, or see www.londonschoolofdiving.co.uk.