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PCA Newsletter 42 - December 2009 |
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Christmas Fayre No Damp Squib
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We promised you something different,
and so it was. No fireworks, no switching on of the
tree lights, no hordes of teenagers banging off
silly string in that dark space between the stages,
and altogether a calmer and more community and
family focused evening. |
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As expected there were a smaller
number of visitors, some deterred by the wet weather
while others seemed confused by what was going on.
“What time did it start?” asked one puzzled visitor
before the event had even begun, unaware that the
lights had already been on for a week at the request
of the Pitshanger traders.
People strolled among the street
market stalls meeting and greeting friends and
neighbours and picking up gifts and goodies for
Christmas. A small stage in the middle of the market
offered a variety of entertainment – choirs from
Montpelier and North Ealing Schools, dancers from
Ealing Dance Studio and the Davydova Dance School
(including a stunning demonstration of Russian
dancing by the principal, Anna Davydova), a
ridiculously talented group of 12 year-olds
appropriately named Height Order (pictured),
finishing with the 40-strong Ealing Rock Choir on
full power.
More shops were open than last year,
and the traders seemed generally pleased with the
changes. The Duke of Kent’s Hog Roast quickly sold
out as did the PCA’s own barbecue, which continues
to amaze organisers by performing so efficiently
every year despite the constant stream of alcohol
flowing from the Village Inn. Much credit should go
to lighting director Andrew Dixon who created a
magical quality of light by stringing pea lights
along the market stalls and reducing the level of
overall illumination, enabling visitors to actually
see the tree lights for once. |
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Cobweb
Removal
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Calendar
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Get down to the park on New Year’s Day
and blow those cobwebs away! Stroll round the park
and join us for mince pies, mulled wine, and an
‘indoor quiz’ in the Play Centre at 2 pm. Entry to
the quiz is £1, but there are drinks and chocolates
as prizes.
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Final reminder – the ‘Pitshanger
Memories’ calendar is available from the Pitshanger
Bookshop, price £9.99 including postal envelope.
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St
Barnabas Odeon
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Member Ian Hamerton is part of a group setting up
a cinema club, specifically for local people, to show films
"worth talking about". The venue is St Barnabas Millennium Halls
and the first event is scheduled for the 16th January. The group
plan meetings every six weeks or so, and at each there will be
separate showings for children, ‘early evening’ adults (usually
a film with some controversial material or topic), and 'late
night'. The January show will have a family
screening of Bugsy Malone (U) at 3pm. The main feature at 6.45pm
is Moon (15), and the late showing at 9pm is District 9 (15).
Tickets are £3.50 each for children, including a carton of juice
and popcorn, £7.50 for adults which includes a glass of wine and
nibbles. |
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And The
Winners Are…
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On two Saturdays in October teams from eleven
Pitshanger streets battled it out at St. Barnabas
Church Hall, wrestling with ten-round quizzes set by
quizmaster Ian Hamerton, ably assisted by his wife
Anne. General and local knowledge was tested.
Questions such as ‘What was the original colour of
the doors and window frames of houses on the
Brentham estate?’, ‘In which area adjacent to Ealing
was the Royal Agricultural Show first held?’ and ‘In
which year did the first May Day parade
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take place at the Brentham Club?’ were
eagerly discussed whilst copious amounts of wine
were consumed. After the first two rounds, the
leading teams were Princes Gardens and Kenmure
Mansions. However, the final, held on
Saturday 21st November, threw up lots of surprises,
when the title of the brainiest street in the area
was won by the dark horses from Barnfield Road, who
came from behind to achieve the highest score. The
PCA would like to thank Ian and Anne Hamerton for
the huge amount of effort put into the compilation
of the quizzes and the provision of enormous fun for
the local community. |
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News
From The Lane
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Your editor has been sitting in a corner wailing
“where will I get two and a half inch size ten screws at 5
o’clock on a Saturday afternoon now?” ever since hearing that
Robert Dyas is closing on Christmas Eve. The shop is “no longer
economically viable”. However, there is better news
elsewhere on the Lane. Mike Matthews, manager of the recently
closed Wine Rack has teamed up with Harrison Vintners, a local
wine wholesaler looking to expand into the retail market, and
they are aiming to open in Pitshanger Lane early in 2010.
Hopefully we’ll see Mike back in his rightful position behind
the barrels before long. Click
here for details of a special Pitshanger pre-opening offer. |
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Northfields Do It Again
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Party In The Park sponsors Northfields have got
another gong – they’re “Best Independent Estate Agency of the
Year” according to The Negotiator magazine, “the leading
publication for estate agents today”. |
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One Deck
Or Two?
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In October’s newsletter we asked what you thought
about the double decker buses on the E2 route. We received about
20 emails and a couple of comments on the Pitshanger Voice
message board. Based on this small survey, the tide of opinion
is running against the double deckers. Respondents generally
thought they are cumbersome, unsightly, noisy, often empty
(particularly the upper deck) and cause damage to trees,
especially in Woodfield Road. However, some rush hour commuters
find it easier to get on the first bus to arrive these days, and
one respondent likes the fact that noisy children use the upper
deck, leaving the seats downstairs free for the rest of us. And
it was pointed out that double deckers have been operating in
Pitshanger Lane for some years now – the night buses.
There was some praise for the new “Enviro” buses, but not
everybody has noticed any difference. We received some
constructive ideas, for instance running the double deckers only
during rush hours and getting drivers to persuade more people to
use the upper deck. The most popular answer was to go back to
the past – a single decker service with extra buses during the
rush hours, but even that has its problems as more rush hour
buses could lead to worse traffic congestion. We will take these
results to Transport for London and let you know what they say. |
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Annual
General Meeting
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The PCA Annual General Meeting took place at St
Barnabas Church Hall on 14th December, attended by about 45
members. The two big topics this year were the success of the
Pitshanger Centenary – in terms of both events and community
co-operation – and the long struggle towards straightening out
the PCA accounts. The good news on the financial
front is that all cash has now been accounted for, and the AGM
agreed that a verified baseline would be adopted as the starting
point for the 2009-10 accounts. The bad news is that the
accounts for the previous two years are still not ready for
independent inspection, the remaining problem being centred on
the depreciation of fixed assets. The PCA Committee is now
concentrating on moving forward from the 2009 baseline, and we
have adopted strict new procedures to ensure we stay on top of
things from now on. However we would like to hear from anyone
with accounting acumen who could take on the challenge of
working back from the 2009 baseline and unravelling the final
strands of the last two years’ accounts. If you are that person,
please email
pca@pitshanger.org.uk for further details.
Elsewhere on the AGM agenda, revisions to the PCA constitution
were agreed that ratify the better accounting practices already
adopted and will provide access to the PCA accounts via the web
site. |
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Furnishings
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The Book
of Light
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The picnic tables in the playground,
provided by the PCA several years ago, are to be
refurbished with £1,500 from the Cleveland Ward
Forum budget. This is going hand in hand with the
Play Builder scheme to renovate the playground and
provide new equipment.
Elsewhere in the Park, we have been
promised that the Superloo will open soon, after a
delay following a dispute over who’s responsible for
a water leak.
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The PCA launched an appeal at the
Christmas Fayre to raise £10,000 to help buy new
tree lights for the Lane. The present ones have
suffered a lot of damage and are becoming difficult
to maintain, so in 2010 we intend to replace them at
a total cost of about £20,000. We’ve already been
allocated £5,000 from the Cleveland Ward Forum
budget, thanks to our local Councillors, and the
rest will be raised in other ways.
As part of this, The Book of Light is
an opportunity for you to buy a light bulb or
multiple bulbs (£1 each for under 16s, £5 for
adults). Purchasers can write a dedication in The
Book of Light, put their name on a sticker, and
attach it to our pop-up tree banner. The Book of
Light is available at the Pitshanger Bookshop,
thanks to Walter and Bee Wyeth, but will be
appearing at PCA events next year.
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That Was
The Year That Was
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Has this been the PCA’s best-ever year? Certainly
it is if you go by the number of events we’ve held – the PCA
quiz, the biggest Party In The Park yet, summer’s ‘Pitshanger
Memories’ exhibition, the Pink Tea Party, September’s first ever
family Picnic In The Park, Ferret Racing, the Street Wars quiz
tournament, and of course the inaugural Pitshanger Christmas
Fayre. In addition we’ve worked to achieve improvements in the
park (more coming soon) and to amend the Council’s Streets for
People plans. Relations with our local Councillors, MP, and our
superb Safer Neighbourhoods Ward Police Team have never been
better. We supervised the Pitshanger Lane centenary celebrations
and have also put much effort into improving our internal
practices and procedures. The management committee
has attracted new talent in John Waters, who has brought rigour
to event planning and site management, and Jan Vaughan, our new
membership secretary who’s adding an entrepreneurial aspect to
the job’s traditional administrative duties – watch out for much
more PCA publicity at events. We were unfortunate to lose Martin
Kelly, who resigned as events director, and Barbara Boyle, whose
second stint as membership secretary ended sooner than it might.
In all, a good year, but challenges remain. Finding a place for
young people to meet, raising money for the new tree lights, and
above all helping the Pitshanger traders to get through these
difficult economic times. Your committee would like
to thank all of you who help at events – it is the complete
truth that we couldn’t do it without you – and to wish members
and their families a very happy Christmas and a rewarding New
Year. |
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