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PCA Newsletter 43 - February 2010 |
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Widening
The Lane
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Implementation of the Streets for People scheme for
Pitshanger Lane continues and should conclude with
carriageway resurfacing in April. Traders along the
renovated section between Curzon and Harrow View
Roads are pleased with the smart new look, and the
four-foot indentation for a parking bay appears a
mere nibble from the existing wide pavement. The
majority of the work is planned for March, when we
will see the overall effect of the new layout as the
indents to the southern pavement are put in place.
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Critics of the scheme continue to
press the Council for changes even at this late
stage, believing that the whole of the pavement loss
should be taken from the wider northern pavement
rather than shared between the two. Whether they are
proved right will be evident in a few months,
although it may take longer to gauge whether buses
are getting past each other more easily, one of the
reasons why Transport for London has funded the
work. |
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I.W.D.M.O.M.S.I.P.L.I.O…
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…I.S.E.D.F.N.U.D.!
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“I would do more of my shopping in
Pitshanger Lane if only…” How often have we said,
heard or thought that? Well now’s your chance to
make suggestions for those crucial ingredients,
goods or services that might persuade you. A quick
poll of the PCA committee revealed that fresh
chicken/vegetable stocks, a better selection of
dried herbs, herb plants, greater variety of fruit
and veg, well-priced wrapping paper and cards, fruit
bars, and fresh fish-cakes are among the things that
would make a difference. But we would like to know
what you think.
Please send your suggestions by e-mail
to
shoplocal@pitshanger.org.uk, by post to 12
Sovereign Close W5 1DE, or join the discussion on
our
Pitshanger Voice message board. We’ll collate
the responses and circulate them among the
Pitshanger Traders. In the meantime, the PCA
committee member who insists on a weekly fix of
smoked boar and aduki bean paté has been packed off
to Fortnum and Mason’s.
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…it snowed every day from now until
December! It’s an ill-wind (or snow flurry) that
blows nobody any good, and while some traders saw
hardly a customer during the January freeze, others
– particularly food shops – benefitted from people
swapping Tesco and Waitrose for the Lane.
Meanwhile, do not celebrate another
birthday without the Most Wonderful Thing, which
your editor discovered in that treasure trove known
as Pagoda newsagents. The M.W.T. is a beautifully
tacky cake adornment that, when lit, will have
guests and candle-blowers wide-eyed in amazement.
We’re not going to spoil it, but a mere candle it
ain’t, and although ‘build-quality’ at £4.99 is not
in the Aston Martin class, performance certainly is.
Ask for a ‘birthday fountain’.
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Abundance
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Your editor is among many in the area who suffer
regular autumnal bouts of guilt as fruit falls from ancient
garden trees and rots on the ground. Our cousins across the
Argyle Road – West Ealing Residents – have established a scheme
(Abundance) which aims to collect and process this fruit into
chutneys, juices and similar, and sell it for the benefit of
their members and charities. It’s part of a wider
push for ‘sustainability’, led by the Transition movement,
encouraging us to change our ways in preparation for a world in
which we’re forced to limit our use of oil-based fuels because
of scarcity and exorbitant prices. If this interests you, have a
look at the country’s most developed abundance scheme in
Sheffield at
www.growsheffield.com. You might also like to look at the
local Transition initiatives starting to blossom at
www.ealingtransition.org.uk. |
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Chopin
Festival
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One can only marvel at the wonderful work Hugh
Mather is doing to make Pitshanger a centre of
musical excellence. His latest spectacular is the St
Barnabas Chopin Piano Festival which takes place
over the weekend of 27th and 28th February at St
Barnabas church. Celebrating the 200th anniversary
of Chopin's birth, 38 pianists will play nearly all
of his solo piano works. Afternoon sessions are 1 pm
until 6, evenings from 7 pm till 10, with frequent
breaks and a hot supper between sessions on both
days. Admission is £10 per session, students and
young
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people half price. The church is, of
course, very large and entry is guaranteed.
Details are available
here. All proceeds will go towards the £300,000
the church needs to buy a historic “Hill” organ. |
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Honours
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As if receiving our ‘Pride of Pitshanger’ award a
couple of years ago for her work with local Brownies and the
Brentham May Day Parade wasn’t enough, Pat Chapman has been
given an MBE in the New Year honours “for services to children
and young people”. She works across the borough helping children
who have been victims of domestic violence. St Barnabas
churchgoers will know Gordon Couch, who gets an MBE “for
services to disabled people”. |
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“So The
Big Red Mushroom Does Nothing?”
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Most reaction to the inaugural Christmas Fayre was
positive, but many missed the excitement of the
lights going on. Don’t worry – next year we’ll have
new lights and a big switch-on to mark the occasion.
But now it’s time to let you in on the secret of the
big red button that Steve Pound pushed every year –
it does nothing! Really! Instead, it was all done by
a man whose privacy we will protect by calling him
“The Lamplighter”. Here he lets us in on the tricks
of his trade: “I can reveal that the lights were set
by individual timers in the lamp standards (which
provide the
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power) to all come on at exactly 6.30
pm – the time that our MP Steve Pound was instructed
to hit the red mushroom. Whether any members of the
audience guessed what was actually happening, I
don’t know. “This year we've had a lot
of problems keeping the lights on consistently. When
they installed the new lighting columns the
Council’s electricians used circuit breakers that
couldn’t handle the load, so each day about a third
of the lights tripped and we had to switch them on
manually. “Anyway, the present lights
are coming to the end of their useful lives: winds
and rain have lashed them, birds have nested in
them, buses and other large vehicles have bashed
them, and the trees have grown; one has even
forgotten to be deciduous so its lights are almost
hidden. Next year we will probably have quite
different lights but what they will be you will just
have to wait and see!” [Or will you? There’s a
taster elsewhere in this Newsletter – Ed]. Your
committee would like to thank “The Lamplighter” for
his devotion to duty over the past eight years. |
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Crackers
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Raffle
Winner – It Could Be You!
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We forgot our regular Yuletide request
for your groaniest Christmas Cracker jokes, but that
didn’t stop member John McCann getting his turkeys
in. This year he wins both categories – the under 3s
with “What did the policeman say to his stomach?
You're under a vest!”, and this surprisingly
sophisticated offering in the under 7s: A marshal
asks a contestant at an athletics meeting: “Excuse
me, are you a pole vaulter?” “No I am German but you
have the right name”. All together now…aaaargh!
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Congratulations to Ribaya Alloo who
won £500 in the PCA Christmas Raffle. Another lucky
person, who ticked the box for no publicity, won two
prizes and would like to offer one of them, Fit for
Sport holiday kids’ club vouchers, to PCA members.
If you know a deserving recipient who wouldn’t
otherwise be able to go to a holiday club please
contact our secretary, Debbie Edwards, on 07976
577232 or email her at
debbie.edwards@pitshanger.org.uk.
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Pitshanger Pictures
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Ian Hamerton tells us that January’s inaugural
screenings at St Barnabas church hall went “really well”, and
the group have planned three further dates there. The first of
these is Saturday 13th February which will include two classics
“which deserve to be rediscovered” – Disney's Bambi at 3 pm, and
the 1960 classic A Bout de Soufflé (Breathless) at 6:45. This
will be followed at 9 pm by 'The Hurt Locker'. Saturday 13th
March has a 5 pm family film, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The
Soloist as the evening feature at 7.30. Bookings
are not necessary, though those who want more information or to
join the mailing list can email
cinema@barnabites.org. Afternoon ticket prices are £3.50 for
children, £5 for adults (to include juice or coffee and
popcorn), and evening showings are £7.50 (to include wine and
nibbles). |
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The
Light Stuff
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It’s full steam ahead on fundraising and planning
for the new tree lights. A modernised Lane will have
a modernised design, and the PCA’s Lighting
Director, Andrew Dixon, is keen to get someone, or
even a school or college art department, actively
involved with the development of the new look. Can’t
say too much – top secret, old chap, committee yet
to sign it off – but let’s just say, if the attached
photo really did show one of the new colour-changing
lights being tested, what would you put in the tree
to enhance the effect? Contact Andrew via
andrew@adlight.co.uk.
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Meanwhile, Lynda Pullman’s brilliant
idea “The Book Of Light” seems to have captured your
imagination, having raised over £1000 so far. To
remind you, you can buy one or more bulbs and write
a dedication in the book. It’s presently being
hosted by the Pitshanger Bookshop, but will go ‘on
tour’ to various PCA events throughout the year. |
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PCA
Events
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The New Year was only a few hours old when the PCA
held its first event of the year, a quiz with mulled wine and
mince pies in the Play Centre in the park. Malcolm and Anne
Darvill walked away with a bottle of Champagne for their answers
to a surprisingly challenging set of questions. We’re planning a
members’ dinner shortly (details to be advised) which you’ll be
able to run off in the Fun Run scheduled for Sunday 9th May.
Before that Karen and David Jacks will host another of their
quiz spectaculars – beware of low-flying bonus prizes – on
Friday 30th April at the Brentham Club. Tickets are £11 a head
including a bangers and mash supper, available from Karen on
8566 7383 or email
karen.jacks@pitshanger.org.uk. Our big event of the summer,
Party In The Park, has been moved forward a week to Sunday 20th
June to avoid a probable clash with an England World Cup match.
Needless to say there will be more events to come in the second
half of the year. You can keep abreast of these and
other dates by checking the
Pitshanger Community Calendar. |
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