March/April 2017
KEW BRIDGE NEWS
Questions Without Answers Contents On November 29, we wrote to Gemma Armsden, Premier’s regional Pontoon Update 2 operations director, with some questions. Within a few days, we received a www.kbnews.org 2 reply from her PA, Michelle Cooper, saying: “We will provide a considered response next week to address all of your points.” An automated reply to Paddling at Kew 3 a chasing email to Michelle on February 2 informed us that she no longer Meet the Local Artist 4 worked for Premier and advised contacting Gemma! Our chasing email had been copied to Gemma, who did then herself reply on February 7. Brentford: Too many 6 She apologised for the lack of response and said that Michelle had left Developments without passing “the correspondence forward.” She added that, whilst she Charismatic Cheese 7 was prepared to meet us, she did not want her answers published. Vendor Red Carded We then put it to her that her explanation took a bit of swallowing, as the What's On 8 original email was addressed to her alone, and a PA would not promise a “considered response” without authority from the person who was to supply it. This produced a further apology from Gemma (Feb. 9) in which DISCOUNTED RATES she asserted that the original email had been “removed” from her inbox. FROM CHESTERTONS She did, however, provide some answers and she then met us on February The Kew Village office (306 16. She remained adamant that she did not want her answers published. Sandycombe Road, She said Premier did not wish to be “obstructive”. We suggested that that TW9 3NG) is offering any was exactly how it was likely to be perceived. Kew Bridge leaseholder a discount on their standard However, since she only communicated on the basis that we would not commission rates for sales or share her answers, we are honouring that. But we thought you might lettings. like to know the topics and you can make your own judgment about the reasonableness of Premier’s stance. Quote the code on p.3.
• Appointment of a new • Strand House lift We believe these issues concern development manager • External lighting many residents. We would like • Concierge arrangements • Meetings with the KBOA to have been able to update you. • Window cleaning arrangements • Loss of water (hot and cold) See page 2, as to how you can • Recycling • Pontoon costs contribute. • Carpets in Strand and Belvedere • Cleaning Houses • Air-conditioning maintenance
Kew Bridge News is edited by Line Asghar (Apartment 130 - [email protected]), James Richardson (Apartment 141 - james. [email protected]), and Hilary Smith (Apartment 46) - [email protected]) Kew Bridge News is published by J.R. Editorial Services Ltd (Registered in England & Wales, Company No. 06563170. Registered office and address for service: c/o Place Campbell & Co., Wilmington House, High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3AU) . Kew Bridge News is designed and printed by Wyeth Digital Ltd (01420 544 948). www.kbnews.org Pontoon Update
Further to the November all-parties meeting to discuss the licence fees and for the maintenance of the pontoon so long future of the Kew Bridge pontoon, the first meeting of the as it does remain in situ. The licence fee is now £5,100 p.a. working party established to take this forward occurred on and electricity charges are about £365 p.a. One informal January 18 at Kew Bridge under the auspices of the Port of estimate of the cost of removal was £50,000. If that is about London Authority. the mark, then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that this will be repaid in well under 10 years in saved licence fees Unfortunately, Malcolm Wood of St George, failed to attend and electricity alone. despite having been included in all correspondence relating to the date. This meant that limited progress could be made. Whilst residents of 8 Kew Bridge Road are part of the local Malcolm has now left St George. However, the good news is community, for whose benefit the pontoon was intended, that Craig Carson, the new managing director of St George it was for the community as a whole and we see no more (West London) has made it plain that St George will be justification for slapping these costs onto the service charge “happy to engage in future discussions as to whether or not than if St George asked the boat clubs to stump up. [the pontoon] can be removed and the practical and financial considerations.” As soon as Malcolm’s successor as Land We believe that these outgoings should be met by the Director, Ed Noble, is up to speed, it is anticipated that the licensee, and that is St George, that the pontoon is not part working party will reconvene and real progress can be made. of the estate, and there is no justification for them being funded out of the service charge. But the big issue remains: Meanwhile, the debate continues over who should pay the does the pontoon (safety hazard, eyesore and obstruction that it is), stay or go?
www.kbnews.org Our website features: • A Premier Estates page (with information about • News on the home page Premier personnel) • An events calendar (we have listed 215 events to date) • A directory of local businesses and services To access the Forum and the KBOA page, it is necessary (150 listings to date) to register and to access the KBOA page, it is necessary to • A forum for discussing issues of concern (topics so be a member far: “broadband, wifi, mobile phone signal”, “pigeon poo”, “tradespeople?”, “outside lighting”, “underneath REGISTER NOW (contribute to the Forum, and make the arches”, “litter”, “recycling”, “concierge arrange- suggestions as to businesses and services that we might ments”, “carpeting”, “window cleaning” & “bringing the add and events that might be of interest to residents) Brentford Fountain home”) • A KBOA page (where minutes of committee meetings If you have any difficulty registering or logging in, please contact and other documentation can be found) us (contact details are at the foot of the front page)
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2017 marks Active 360’s sixth year offering stand-up paddle- specials within England. Keep an eye on their website for boarding (SUP) to London and beyond. From their bases at more information: http://www.active360.co.uk/expeditions- Kew Bridge and Paddington Basin, they will be offering group and-holidays.htm trips at weekends and on weekday evenings, and private trips at a time to suit their customers. Beginners will be welcome. Fourthly, there are trips into Central London (Putney Bridge to Tower Bridge) for paddlers who have completed the Depending on the tide, Kew participants will be taken Thames Skills and Knowledge course. The course is run by towards Hammersmith or Richmond. Longer trips will take Active 360 in conjunction with the PLA. paddlers to Putney, or the famous Eel Pie Island. All trips will include a stop for a drink and a snack, as SUP is a great The marathon is back for a fifth year and for the first workout. time there are to be some new four-person boards for a spectacular sprint finale over the last mile. In 2016, the 70 There are various innovations for 2017. First, Active 360 will participants raised £40,000 for St. Mark’s Hospital to aid the be offering combined SUP & SPA sessions. Participants will fight against colon cancer. Participants have until June 24 paddle to Chiswick Business Park, and then enjoy the SPA to do a little bit of training, so why not register your interest facilities at Virgin Active. now: http://www.40tude.org.uk/Events.php?
Secondly, there will be some longer day trips including: Active 360 rent and sell boards at competitive prices and Hampton Court to Kew Bridge, with a pub lunch en-route offer free lessons with every purchase. They only stock at Eel Pie Island; and a tour of the Grand Union Canal from equipment from the top brands, so they say that you can be Paddington to Kew Bridge via Brunel’s last project, the Three sure you will be getting the best. Bridges Aqueduct. As a final encouragement, they are offering Kew Bridge Thirdly, there will be more holiday offerings. The highly- residents 5% off equipment and holidays and 10% off lessons rated Sardinia and Hebrides trips are back, and there are to and trips in London. Use code “kewbridgers” when booking be new trips to Slovenia and Ireland, as well as some one-off at www.active360.co.uk
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Applies to sellers and landlords. Terms and conditions apply see www.chestertons.com/avios for details. Avios are issued and redeemed in accordance with Avios terms and conditions. Meet the Local Artist Dan Schlesinger
“Now we have to document the fact that one of his classmates most certainly did. It Dan Schlesinger is moving up swiftly on the was here that he met the brilliant English two leaders. It’s an amazing fact but if there lawyer, Alison Wetherfield, who was to become is anyone out there who tells me he knows Dan his wife within a year. Schlesinger, they’re crazy.” So said the startled ABC commentator as the almost totally unknown Dan Schlesinger After Harvard, he practised law in New York for a couple of closed on Rodolfo Gomez and Alberto Salazar, the four-time years before being posted to Japan by his American firm. winner of the New York marathon, at the end of the 1982 The posting was welcome as he had always wanted to put his race. knowledge of Japan and Japanese to practical use. Alison, who had been championing women’s rights in America, went It was only the third marathon Dan had ever run, and - in a with him to Japan and soon learnt Japanese herself. After world-class field - he eventually finished third, just over two four years, the family (now with two boys, Noah and Ben) minutes behind Gomez, who had finished four seconds moved to Richmond, where Dan spent the final two years behind Salazar. Living in Richmond since the mid-1990s, of his legal career working for the City law firm, McFarlanes “track-and-field” is just one of five major themes running (having requalified as a solicitor). through this extraordinarily colourful and gifted man’s life, the others being family, art, Japanese studies and the practice of It was while he was in Japan that Dan’s artistic character law. began to predominate. To fill his time when the volume of legal work dropped off following the downturn in the Born in New York, his father was a businessman and Japanese economy, he began by doing woodblock prints, musician, and his mother was an artist who encouraged him which he started to sell when he came to England. However, to paint and draw from an early age, but he never seriously this was extremely labour-intensive and he soon turned his considered it as a profession in his youth. A conscientious hand to water colours and pastels, with his first exhibition student and mad-keen athlete (state champion), he majored being in a church hall in Richmond. Working in a garret at in Japanese studies at Yale, learning the language over four the top of his house, once he had given up the law, he was years. Then followed a Marshall Scholarship to Oxford, doing mainly drawings and pastels. Small-scale shows at pursuing a post-graduate degree in Japanese studies. Not Pembroke Lodge followed. content with learning Japanese, he got himself a job in Korea where, over the course of two years, he quickly picked up Then came a fairly big break. Dan, who is nothing if not Korean whilst working in a patent and law office. It was at this gregarious, had got to know a fellow-passenger on a flight point that he took his athletics even more seriously, running from Japan. Her name was Yuko Matsuoka. Yuko worked (but not racing) 100 plus miles a week for two years. as a simultaneous Japanese-English interpreter, and they became friendly to the extent that she would visit Dan and On his return to the USA, he entered one of the most Alison every time she was in London. On one occasion, prestigious road races in the athletic calendar, the Falmouth she broke the sad news that her husband had died. Every Road Race, in which he came fifth. This was followed by two cloud has a silver lining, however, for she had inherited his marathons, in the second of which he finished in 2:13:59, thus small publishing house. She consulted Dan and Alison as qualifying by one second for the elite group of 72 runners to publishing ideas, she herself having some idea about in the 1982 New York marathon. It’s on Youtube - Google publishing a medical dictionary. Alison had a better idea. “Dan Schlesinger 1982 NY marathon” and look out for Dan in Her boys had just finished reading a children’s book that they bright yellow. had very much enjoyed. She suggested to their Japanese friend that she contact the author whose first book this was As if all this were not enough, he entered Harvard Law School and ask if she could have the Japanese publishing rights. at the same time - the fall of 1982. Now sponsored by Nike, Suitably encouraged, Yuko fired off an email only to get a Dan continued to compete at international level and took a reply within 24 hours agreeing to the proposal, the email year out of law school to train for the 1984 Olympic trials, but being signed at the bottom by one “J.K. Rowling”. injury intervened and he was unable to compete. And so Harry Potter, translated and published by Yuko made Dan didn’t enjoy law at Harvard very much but he stuck at it to Japan, and Dan and Alison’s friend went almost overnight it, knowing that all sorts of opportunities await Harvard law from print runs of 3,000 to sales of 380,000 copies of the graduates. The law may not have grabbed him hugely, but Japanese edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
March/April 2017 in the first three months. And who to get to illustrate the of such a young lawyer, who was far from being a household Japanese edition? That was easy. Dan was your man. With name, speaks for itself. The opening paragraph described 10% of world sales being achieved in Japan (25m sales of her as “a path-breaking lawyer and versatile problem solver Harry Potter in Japan and counting), Dan quickly became a who combined prodigious intellect and zest for life with celebrity, being invited to appear on countless television talk a disarming squeeze of irreverence.” To which should be shows. In consequence, he was contacted by a Japanese added that she came across as the personification of charm art entrepreneur who wanted to put on a show of Dan’s work and modesty. This piece could not possibly do justice to in Japan, but pastels didn’t cut it in Japan. The man wanted her. However, no tribute should fail to mention her fearless oils. As luck would have it, however, a second Japanese promotion of women’s rights in America and in Japan, where art dealer then contacted Dan to say “If you do me 50 oil she became a leading scholar in Japanese labour law, and paintings, I will exhibit them for you.” Dan had never worked her work on behalf of victims of torture when she returned to in oils, but this was a challenge he could not resist and he had the United Kingdom. three months in which to produce the 50 paintings. Dan’s two sons, now 25 and 23, have clearly inherited their He found that he loved working with oil. But the deal parents’ genes, and are both pursuing successful academic “cratered”, although Dan was able to rescue the situation by careers on the east coast of the United States. offering the paintings to the first dealer, who accepted the offer and organised everything, shipping, marketing, etc. Dan has exhibited at some of the most prestigious galleries The rest is history, Dan having been a prolific painter in oils in London, including the Mall Gallery, the Medici Gallery, the ever since, initially using a brush, but now relying on a palette Walker Galleries and the Courcoux & Courcoux Gallery. knife. He has dabbled in ceramics “working with an amazing teacher” at Richmond Adult Community College. “Anything As for Dan’s singular style, technique and use of colour, come she fired came out beautifully.” However, now that he is and see for yourself. He will be exhibiting a selection of his living at least half the year in the United States, ceramics have paintings here at 8 Kew Bridge Road on June 4 (2-7 p.m.). taken a back seat. One of the themes to which he has returned from time to time is “Trees”, and this will be the principal focus of the exhibition. Dan now divides his time between Richmond and Boston. You will perhaps notice the influence of some of the great The move to Boston followed on the great tragedy in Dan’s Impressionist painters in his work, but the way he uses paint life. On July 31, 2012, having just returned from a trip is entirely distinctive, the product of his rich experience and abroad, Alison died suddenly at home of heart failure, at the intense dedication to his art and inspired quest for beauty. way-too-young age of 50. Alison is a story in herself. The fact that The Times (September 3, 2012) carried an obituary Apartment 141 - June 4 (2-7). All welcome!
March/April 2017 Too Many New Developments! Packed Meeting Demands a Clear Vision for Brentford
Around 150 people, including at least two Brentford councillors (Mel Collins and Guy Lambert), filled St Paul’s Community Hall in Brentford on Friday, January 25, to hear speakers from Hounslow Council, Brentford Community Council, St Paul’s Primary School, St Paul’s Community Space and Essential Living (Developers). The meeting was then thrown open to the floor for a lively Q & A session.
The main subject of debate was the proposed re-development of Morrisons Supermarket which would replace the existing store and car park with a new complex of mainly residential apartments, some blocks proposed being eight to ten stories high (only three or four stories lower than the neighbouring former police station). The headmaster of St Paul’s voiced many concerns, saying the proposed buildings would be too high and too dense. With specific reference to the children at his school, he said that there would be deprivation of light and a feeling of being hemmed-in which would impact on their sense of well-being. Essential Living own this site and Morrisons’ lease expires mid-2018. They are currently in discussion with five supermarkets, including Morrisons, but during the estimated construction period of two years Brentford will be without a supermarket but will be blessed with a large building site at its heart!
Another proposal for planning approval is that for Watermans Arts Centre to be moved to the site currently occupied by the former police station in the centre of town. Its site will then be occupied by yet more blocks of flats so that the exceptional view of the Thames, will be lost to the local community. Even our local MP, Ruth Cadbury, has weighed into this debate criticising the ugliness of the proposed new development. In a letter to Steve Curran, leader of Hounslow Council she stated “The design is of poor quality and is inappropriate for such a prominent site on the river.”
Councillor Theo Dennison gave an interesting insight into how the planning application system works. He admitted that we don’t have the local infrastructure for these new developments but informed us that such issues cannot be considered when dealing with planning permissions! Developers buy land and submit plans for approval piecemeal. There is no vision, no town planner and no one looking at the bigger picture. There are currently around 20 applications for planning permission in the Brentford area and at present local primary and secondary schools are being expanded only to cope with CGI of Morrisons Development: View from High St current expectations. Roads are inadequate and air pollution is appalling but it appears that these problems are not being addressed.
The over-riding opinion in the hall was that these developments are ripping the heart out of the community of Brentford. There is too much mass, they are too dense and they are out of character here. There was great concern expressed about the target demographic of these new apartments when the need here is for affordable three-bedroomed family houses.
Anyone concerned about these issues is encouraged to look at the website of the Brentford Community Council (www. brentfordcc.org.uk) who meet at The Griffin Public House, Brook Road South, on the second Monday of every month. This is one of the four pubs on each corner of the Griffin Park Football Stadium and the next scheduled meeting will be at 7.15pm on Monday, March 13. Albany Riverside (current Watermans site)
March/April 2017 EARTHLIFE WELLBEING & FITNESS Just across the bridge you can find Earthlife; a unique and tranquil facility in the arches of Kew Bridge, where emphasis is placed on Fitness, Health and Wellbeing. Our aim is to provide a personal and holistic approach to wellbeing and fitness in a place of calm and relaxation.
FITNESS WELLBEING MOTHER & BABY Hatha & Teen Yoga Various Massage Treatments Pregnancy Treatments Iyengar Yoga Reflexology - Aromatherapy Pregnancy Yoga Yoga for Athletes Acupuncture - Hypnotherapy Hypnobirthing Dynamic Hatha Yoga NAT (for Frozen Shoulders) Mum & Baby Yoga Lotte Berk Method Chiropractic - Osteopathy Buggyfit Ballet for Adults Craniosacral Therapy Baby Massage Stretch Class Homeopathy - Nutrition Baby & Child First Aid Pilates Facials - Body Treatments
Earthlife Wellbeing & Fitness No Membership Arch 2, Kew Bridge Arches, Richmond, TW9 3AW or Joining Fees! Tel: 020 8940 0888 [email protected] - www.earth-life.co.uk
Charismatic Cheese Vendor Red Carded
Visitors to the traditional cheese van of Frenchman, Michel Letzelter at the Homebase car park in Richmond were saddened and angered recently to be handed flyers publicising his enforced move to a pub car park in Sheen. The new owners of Homebase (Aussie conglomerate, Wesfarmers) have designs on the car park and have told Michel to leave at very short notice. It appears that they have plans to develop the area, i.e. build on it.
From Wednesday, March 1, you will find Michel down the road in Sheen at the car park of The Pig and Whistle at 86, Sheen Lane, SW14 8LP, open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 to 3. He hopes to see his many regular customers and to welcome new ones to savour his extensive (and brilliant) selection of cheeses brought over weekly from the world’s largest wholesale market in Rungis, Paris
March/April 2017 Boat Race Richmond Theatre 2 Apr Boat Race - Oxford v. Cambridge www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre/ (Putney to Mortlake) 6-11 Mar Gaslight Women’s Race (4.35pm); 12 Mar Bay City Rollers Men’s Race (5.35pm) 13-18 Mar Not Dead Enough 19 Mar Count Arthur Strong - The Sound of Music 20-25 Mar Shirley Valentine Chiswick House & Garden 28 Mar - 1 Apr Gabriel www.chgt.org.uk 1 Apr Seven Drunken Nights: 6 Mar - 2 Apr Camellia Show The Story of the Dubliners 3-8 Apr Out of Order 9 Apr Noel & Gertie Curzon Richmond 11-15 Apr The Crucible www.curzoncinema.com/richmond 16 Apr Bowie Experience 17 Apr Remembering Fred 9 Mar NT Live: Hedda Gabler 18 Apr Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play 6 Apr Twelfth Night 19 Apr The Searchers 20 Apr Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 21-23 Apr Dinosaur World 11 Mar Met Opera: La Traviata 24-29 Apr Abigail's Party 25 Mar Idomeneo 30 Apr Fascinating Aida’s Dillie Keane 25 Apr TED2017 Opening Event 30 Apr Highlights Exclusive Rose Theatre Kew Gardens www.rosetheatrekingston.org www.kew.org 25 Feb - 2 Apr My Brilliant Friend (World Premier of two part adaptation of best- 6-12 Mar International Garden Photographer of selling epic family saga by Elena Ferrante) the Year 2017 6-30 Mar Richmond Printmakers’ Exhibition 19 Mar - 10 Apr Lindt Gold Bunny Flavour Trail 13 Mar An Evening with Gyles Brandreth 1-17 Apr Easter With The Moomins 6-16 Apr The Twits (Age 6+) 16 Apr Easter Egg Hunt 7-30 Apr Danny Link - Photographic Exhibition 19-30 Apr Junkyard Olympic Studios Barnes www.olympiccinema.co.uk The Bull’s Head, Barnes 7 Mar Ziggy Stardust And The Spider From Mars www.tickets.thebullsheadbarnes.com 9 Mar NT Live: Hedda Gabler Live Jazz Nightly 23 Mar Olympic Live Session: Unsung Singers 11 Mar Katriona Taylor 25 Mar Ian Siegal Live & Unplugged Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond 26 Mar The Barnes Blues Band www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk 6-25 Mar Low Level Panic The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham 12 Mar Jonny and the Baptists - Eat the Poor Home of Richmond & Twickenham Rhythm & Blues 18-25 Mar Twelfth Night - Shakespeare Up Close www.eelpieclub.com 19 Mar My Generation 9 Mar Cyril Davies Tribute 30 Mar - 5 May The Lottery of Love 23 Mar The Rollin' Stoned 6 Apr Kat Pearson (American blues vocalist) Richmond Music & Drama Festival, 20 Apr Joe Jammer’s All-Star Chicago Blues Revue incorporating the Barnes Music Watermans Brentford Festival 2017 www.watermans.org.uk www.richmond.gov.uk/music_and_drama_festival www.barnesmusicfestival.com 10 Mar Cabaret - Lilli La Scala - Siren 11 Mar An Evening With Dilraj Interlocking festivals of music, dance and drama. For full 11 Mar Family Cinema: Ballerina details of the 34 events, see the calendar on our website 12 Mar Goldilocks - Fun Filled Traditional Glove Puppetry (www.kbnews.org) 18 Mar Family Cinema: Shaun the Sheep 19 Mar Leaf - Interactive Show for the Very Young Richmond Park - Walks 24 Mar Cabaret - Myra Dubois www.frp.org.uk royalparks.org.uk 25 Mar French Impressions - Talk - Career of Isabelle Huppert 1 Apr 10am Sheen Gate Car Park 26 Mar The Curious Adventure of Pinocchio ( + Walk the Wall option) 2 Apr A Real Alien Galactic Adventure 17 Apr 5am Dawn Chorus Walk - Sheen Gate with Shadow Play 29 Apr 8am Spring Bird Count 6 Apr NT Live: Twelfth Night Informal Birdwatching Walks - Fridays - Pen Pond car park 7 Apr Cabaret - Dusty Limits - Black coffee shop (9.30am) Dogs (of Death) 12 & 31 Mar Isabella Plantation - Guided Walks 9-10 Apr Oliver In The Overworld - Meet Broomfield Hill Car Park 11am
For more information and updates, see the Kew Bridge News website - www.kbnews.org