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Burn out hits Barnes Common

Picture: Barnes Common Instagram

O ur exceptional recent weather conditions mean that Barnes Common is tinder dry and a very high fire risk. As you can see from the picture above of a burnt-out car on the common, fire can have a devastating effect on open land.

The car is the second to have been driven on to the common and set fire to this year.
The first was a getaway car for a robbery and the most recent (in July) seems to have been a car stolen by joyriders which was then burnt to get rid of evidence.

However, it’s not just car fires that pose a risk. “We’re urging everyone to be hypervigilant.” says Mike Hildesley of Barnes Common “We’re very pleased that several supermarkets are stopping the sale of portable barbecues as these have been the source of a few fires on the common over the years and have also caused significant wildfires across the country. We also know that just a spark from a cigarette or bit of broken glass can set off a fire in these current conditions.

“If people do see a fire, it’s really important to call the fire brigade immediately as they, rather than the team at Barnes Common, are the best people to deal with wildfires. They know how to put out flames efficiently and are also aware that fire can go underground and may need damping down for up to 24 hours to prevent re-ignition later when the fire has seemingly been put out.”

The team at Barnes Common are keeping a very watchful eye on the health of plants and trees that have been highly stressed by the hot weather. Many trees have already shed their leaves as a defence mechanism: some more established trees will possibly grow new sets of leaves before the autumn if the weather cools over the next few weeks but we will really only know the damage next Spring.

Newly established trees are the ones that are most at risk in the current heat and the Council has recently asked house owners on streets where new street trees have been planted to water the saplings with two buckets of water (one in the hose pipe and one onto the soil) every few days.

Also in need of water are small mammals, like hedgehogs, and birds and you can help prevent them from dying in the heat by putting out shallow bowls of water in the garden.

Although it is tempting to tidy up dried out leaves etc, if you leave these they will help reduce evaporation from the soil beneath and provide foraging opportunities for ground-feeding birds. You might also think about adding more pockets of shade with logs or garden trimmings, and use waste water to keep some damp shady spots.

Take me to the river

The hot weather has also driven our swan family away from the pond. There's simply not enough vegetation for them to eat, so the adult pair have upped sticks and taken their brood with them to the river down by Small Profits Dock.

This is not the first time this has happened in hot weather, and according the BCA's Greenkeeper, Russell Greaves, the likelihood is that the parents will return to the pond to breed but that the cygnets will remain in our newly burgeoning swan colony to find mates.

Hammersmith Bridge feels the heat but keeps cool

Since it was a heatwave that caused the sudden closure of the bridge to pedestrians in 2020 it isn’t surprising that Barnes residents and local pressure groups had concerns about the effect of the recent record temperatures on the bridge structure.

The good news is that the temperature regulation system installed on the bridge by Hammersmith & Fulham Council seem to be doing its job well, saving us from further unwelcome closure.

Local MP Sarah Olney reports that “Sources in LBHF tell me that the engineering team has been given approximately £30,000 to combat the heatwave. This is in addition to the £420,000 temperature control system installed since last summer.

Lights, camera, action

While there is very little action to report* when it comes to the redevelopment of the former Stag Brewery – the controversial project has been mired in planning difficulties – the site is not being left to lie fallow.

Its owner, Reselton Properties, has let it be known that it is intending to apply for temporary planning consent to lease some of the buildings and outside space for film production.

The site has already been earning its owners some revenue through being let out to film production companies and, as we have reported in previous Bugles, the brewery has already been used to film a major new Anglo French drama starring Eva Green and Vincent Cassel ('Liaison', which will be shown on Apple TV).

Reselton properties says it is in discussion with several major production companies who are interested in using the Brewery site for film and TV production.

It is anticipated that whilst most of the filming and post-production activity will take place within the existing buildings on the site, there will be some external street filming which will involve the erection of temporary sets in the external yard areas. Reselton properties says that visual changes to the site will be kept to a minimum and hours for filming will be restricted. 

*The current state of play on the proposals to develop the site is that the third revised set of plans have been submitted to Richmond Council and are likely to be considered by the council in September.

She said yes!

Volunteers at St Mary’s Church who opened the tower on Barnes Fair Day were thrilled to discover that one of the couples who climbed up to the top did so not just to enjoy the view.

Posting an image of a happy couple on Instagram, the St Mary’s Church bellringing team said “How wonderful that this young couple became engaged today on the roof of our bell tower! They, like so many others decided to climb the 74 steps to reach the top to admire the spectacular views of London on this glorious day as part of The Barnes Fair. However, clearly this young man had more important things on his mind than the wonderful views, and what a relief she said YES! A lovely part of the story too is that the young lady’s parents were married at St Mary’s Barnes 40 years ago. I wonder whether we will be asked to ring bells for their wedding …….”

The newly engaged Laura replied saying “Thank you for your lovely post! I’m still in shock what a wonderful view it was from the top!”
 

Watch out for Chiswick traffic issues

With many of us driving over Chiswick Bridge more frequently as a result of Hammersmith Bridge’s closure, the bad news is that work on another bridge is set to cause more traffic disruption in Chiswick starting in August.

TfL is warning of significant extra congestion in the area as a result of works on the Great West Road near Harvard Hill (that's just by the Russian Orthodox church if that helps pinpoint the spot for you).

From August 5 until the end of the year refurbishment works will be carried out on the bridge which crosses over the railway line that runs between Gunnersbury and Kew Gardens.

From Saturday August 6 until September 15 just one lane of the A4 westbound will be open. Later in the project there will be a full overnight closure of the eastbound road from Junction 3 of the M4 to Chiswick Roundabout and more full westbound closures between Chiswick Roundabout and Hogarth Roundabout.

You can read more about the planned works here.

As a result of the closures current traffic restrictions in Hartington Road, Staveley Road in Grove Park are being temporarily removed, together with the restrictions in Strand on the Green. This is good news for those travelling to the A4 from Barnes as they will once again, albeit temporarily, be able to drive down Hartington Road to cut through to the A4 bypassing the Hogarth roundabout. 

Survey reveals Putney High Street is a hotspot for traffic fines

A  survey conducted by price comparison website Confused.com has revealed that Putney High Street has the dubious honour of being in the top 10 UK locations for Penalty Charge Notices.

PCNs can be issued for parking offences, driving in bus lanes and blocking yellow box junctions, and in the High Street’s case the area just north of Putney Bridge offers plenty of scope for all three types of fines.

A public information request revealed that in the financial year 20/21 Wandsworth Council issued 8,751 notices raking in £539,597 in fines.

You can read more here.

Over 1,000 flats could be built at Kew retail park

A  redevelopment of the Kew retail park site could see up to 1,200 new homes, including affordable housing, being built on the site. Architectural firm JTP which is involved in the planning process for the new development on behalf of the site’s owners St George and Marks & Spencer has drawn up a vision for the site after consultation with local residents.

The plan includes a public square, tree-lined streets, community allotments and new pedestrian and cycle routes. 

As part of the plans M&S would retain a retail presence on the site moving from its current site into a new store with homes above.

Barnes local, Charles Campion, who is a partner at JTP, says: “The knowledge and creativity of the local community should be at the heart of planning and placemaking. This is a pivotal site in Kew, which the community has recognised can deliver a lot of benefits, better walking and cycling connections and provide for more sustainable local living in the future. We will continue the open participation process and arrange further community workshops, exhibitions and visits over the coming month as we develop the proposals for the new neighbourhood.”

The design team will now develop the plans with the council and residents. A planning application is expected to be submitted in June 2023. If the plans are approved, work is anticipated to begin at the end of 2024 and would take around ten years. M&S would continue to operate throughout this time.

You can find out more here.

Float on, new bridge section comes upriver

The new pedestrian bridge walkway being constructed on the north side of the river by Barnes bridge has hit a new construction milestone with the placement of the central span of the bridge on supporting pedestals.

Appropriately enough the new bridge section arrived by river barge and the picture above shows it passing the Houses of Parliament on its way upriver.

The aim of the bridge is to provide walkers and cyclists alike with an uninterrupted journey through one of the borough of Hounslow’s most scenic areas. Hounslow council says it believes the new bridge (which can be seen below in the left of the Barnes Bridge picture) will attract many more visitors and encourage people to come out and explore local green spaces.

Barnes Bridge in the news

Image: Moxon Architechts

The plans to bring the abandoned railway bridge that sits right next to the current Barnes bridge back to life are getting quite a bit of press coverage.
The project, now named The View at Barnes Bridge, has been covered by the BBC’s website and Barnes’ Town Centre Manager Emma Robinson has been interviewed on the bridge itself by ITV news.

A team including Emma Robinson and retired engineer Peter Banks has been working quietly but energetically behind the scenes to get local councils on both sides of the river and Network Rail on board with the plans for many years. As we mentioned in the last issue of the Bugle designs for the refurbished unused walkway have now been revealed and you can read more about the project on its very own website.

Look out for an interview with the team behind the project in next month’s Bugle and find out how you can get involved

High Street works taking longer than expected

Image: Emma Robinson

The major changes to Barnes High Street are taking longer than expected for reasons including the weather and the availability of workforce. Pavement works will continue at least until Friday 19 August and then carriageway works start Monday 22 August.  Parking bays on the High Street are only suspended when they have cones in them so you can park there if there are no cones.  Bus stop and seating, planters and bike racks will follow in September.

Puppy love

Image and video @TheBullsHeadW4 on Twitter

It seems that our little stretch of the Thames is so tempting to seals that we’re not just seeing adult seals but also, rather marvellously, smaller seal pups.

The video above was taken by someone walking by the Bull’s Head at Strand on the Green and shows the young pup wallowing in the mud and then swimming away.

If you do spot the pup on our side of the river the advice from marine conservation charities is very clear – keep a safe distance and keep dogs on a lead. Close human contact is likely to cause a seal distress and as the incident with Freddie the seal a couple of years ago in Barnes shows, even well behaved dogs can be a danger to seals.

Taking the plunge

Before she retires as director of local charity FiSH Micky Forster has decided to take part in one last charity fundraising event – a one mile swim in the Serpentine. She’s even penned a poem which she hopes will inspire people to sponsor her:

Remember, remember the 17th September
When once again I’m braving the septic slime
To swim a mile in the Serpentine
Ploughing through water so seriously green
About 16 degrees and none too clean!
If FiSH Neighbourhood Care wasn’t close to my heart
I’d not be so daft as to ever take part

You can sponsor Micky by clicking here.

Advertorial

New star name joins Bookfest roster

In exciting news for lovers of detective fiction, the Barnes Bookfest has announced a last minute addition to its roster of star authors for the event in September.

Anthony Horowitz is both hugely prolific and hugely successful. For teenagers he writes the Alex Rider spy series and for adults his detective fiction novels include the fiendishly plotted Magpie Murders. He’s also well known for his TV work as the man behind Foyle’s War.

At the Bookfest he will be talking about the latest novel in his Daniel Hawthorne crime series – The Twist of a Knife.

Horowitz will be in stellar company with other authors scheduled to appear including Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry), Ben Macintyre (Colditz), Robert Harris (Act of Oblivion) and Gill Hornby (Godmersham Park).

Other unmissable events include Patricia Hodge in conversation with Michael Billington, Hugo Vickers and Simon Heffer on writing historical non-fiction, Barnes husband and wife Peter and Anne McMillan talking about their new book Kings & Queens, Dame Eileen Atkins in conversation with Gyles Brandreth and actor Richard E Grant interviewing jeweller and bon vivant Theo Fennell about his new memoir.

You can see the full line up  of events and book here on the Barnes Bookfest website.

 Paying it forward with the Brown Dog and Barnes Primary

Some people say that virtue is its own reward but what if you could get some other sort of reward for volunteering? That’s the principle behind a brand-new initiative dreamed up by Barnes-based communications expert Lauren Scott Harris. Her new venture, Earnt, aims to encourage people to give up their time for good causes and be given access to exclusive rewards for doing so.

For example, a sports company might give exclusive access to a special limited edition of its trainers to those who join an Earnt beach clean up or a musician might only sell seats in the front row of their concerts to people who have volunteered for one of their pet causes.

It could be a very creative way to introduce people to the joys of volunteering. Earnt is just starting out and running small local projects as a proof of concept and Barnes has been the test bed for the project's very first scheme. Last month Lauren teamed up with Barnes Primary and The Brown Dog to test out the scheme for the first time.

In a win-win arrangement people who volunteered to spruce up an area of the Barnes Primary playground were rewarded with a personalised tankard and a first beer free offer every time they visit The Brown Dog in August.

Lauren says "We know there are lots of lovely people in the world (and Barnes especially) who volunteer, but we were truly overwhelmed; not only by the amount of sign ups we got, but also by how much was accomplished over the weekend. All in all the school were very happy with the work done, The Brown Dog got some new regular customers (and will see our volunteers lots during August as they bring in their tankards) and we were thrilled to see the concept successfully launched."

Think bike

Two new shops come to White Hart Lane

Images: Emma Robinson

The residents of Little Chelsea are not short of places to buy flowers or get their hair cut now that two new businesses have arrived on White Hart Lane. In what was the old antique shop you will now find the street's third florists Elsa Brown. This will be a sister business to the Elsa Brown Surbiton branch. Meanwhile closer to the river there's The Barnes Barbers which is run by Yahya who has previously run barber shops in Sutton and Croydon.

Leaving White Hart Lane this month is hairdresser Pelo, which is closing as the owner is retiring. 

The scrap eat challenge

How often do households end up throwing away odds and ends from the fridge, or items in the fruit bowl that are past their best? Now imagine what happens with restaurants who have bits and bobs to use up.

Putney restaurant Home, has come up with an innovative solution to the food waste issue, the ‘scrap eat challenge’. Every Monday in August they’ll be offering a £20 five-course menu featuring dishes made from whatever is left in the kitchen on a Monday morning. It will be up to the restaurant’s chef Sergio to put together a mystery menu based on what needs to be used up. Potential dishes include leftover beef trimmings from Sunday's Beef Wellington transformed into a beef tataki with pickled onion from the restaurant’s shrimp burger or left over chicken schnitzel used in a mini crispy Caesar salad. It’s a book in advance only menu just click here to reserve your table.

Has Beverley Brook had a lucky escape?

L ast April, the shocking spillage on pollutants into Beverley Brook after an illegal release of noxious chemicals into the drains upriver in Merton was the cause of much consternation. Notices went up by the Brook in Barnes asking people not to let their dogs play in the water and the RSPCA had to clean at least one bird whose feathers were clogged up with oil.

Since the spill the team at Barnes Common have been monitoring the Brook closely and it seems like the damage caused has not been as bad as anticipated.

Taron Ingvorsen, Project Manager at Barnes Common says "The good news is that river invertebrate surveys even in the immediate aftermath showed good counts and no more variation than normal.  We also had no local reports of dead fish or birds suffering after the initial problems.  The clean up seems to have been as effective as we could have wished.

 
"We still observe some consequences when the silt is disturbed but it is secondary to other issues which impact water quality.
 
"Recent fish surveys have also been very encouraging with four species not previously recorded in the lower catchment area.  We've also observed a breeding kingfisher with nest in the river bank.
 
"Our biggest concern right now is that contamination will be very high when the first rain comes after such a long dry spell.  The first run off is always an issue but may be worse than normal this year. Also, if we get a big storm there could be some releases of sewage into the Brook from the authorised combined sewer outfalls from other boroughs. 

"Dog owners and parents whose children like to paddle should be aware that water quality varies significantly and cannot be assumed to be of bathing quality at any time."

If you see any oil, pollution, raw sewage, etc. in or entering the Brook, or any dead/dying animals in the Brook you should call the Environment Agency’s Emergency Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60 immediately.  However, if you see a wildlife crime or any other crime occurring please call 999 if safe to do so.

Sing, sing, sing

If  you’re looking to be cheered up in the current atmosphere of general gloom you can do no better than check out this lovely video of the Barnes Community Choir singing. 

Choirs are inherently sociable – a group of people coming together to share the joy of singing – but obviously Covid put paid to live rehearsals and performances. 

Undaunted by the pandemic, the Barnes Community Choir moved online and sang together via Zoom and found the whole experience rather rewarding.

To commemorate this strange time in the choir’s history they commissioned lyricists Adey Grummet and Chris Ash to write a new song which the choir then performed individually on their phones. The patchwork of videos was sewn together and the result is a delight.

The choir is now back singing together live rehearsing at Lowther School and occasionally gathering post rehearsal at The Bridge pub. 

After a holiday break the choir will be resuming sessions at Lowther School in September and new members are welcome. You can find out more here.

Did you know Paddy Turner?

C ould a Bugle reader be the person that helps fill in the missing jigsaw pieces for someone who is researching his family's history? We've been contacted by Barry Turner who is trying to find out more about his grandfather - Paddy Turner - who he believes started the Castelnau Youth Club. William Howard Turner to give him his full name lived in Castelnau and then on Lonsdale Road and died in 1966 whilst working at the Mall School in Twickenham. If anyone knew him please email us here at the Bugle and we'll pass your details on to Barry. 

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