View this email in your browser

Hello Hammersmith!

At last, after a year of total closure people are able to walk across Hammersmith Bridge with a spring in their step after Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s independent committee of engineers deemed it safe to open to cyclists and pedestrians.

 

The opening came suddenly three weeks ago, although local campaigners had their suspicions that an opening was on the cards as far back as the start of July. Back then, when the Bugle contacted the Council to ask why the bridge deck was being resurfaced, we were told  that it was to flatten the surface to allow heavy equipment to be placed on the bridge, and that a reopening to pedestrians wasn’t imminent.

 

We therefore join an illustrious band of journalists whose predictions were written in water (the New York Times declaring that manned flight wasn’t possible, just weeks before the Wright Brothers proved them wrong springs to mind), but very happily so.

 

The bridge opening, on Saturday July 17,  drew crowds on the south side, who were entertained by singer Susie Webb whose protest song ‘Hammersmith Bridge is Falling Down’ rang out as the head of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, Stephen Cowan walked across the bridge from the north side to open the barriers. When asked why the bridge had reopened Councillor Cowan said that the decision had been taken that week by the CCSO* whose members now felt that newly installed temperature monitoring and control systems (reported to have cost £420,000) will help prevent any further cracking in the bridge’s pedestals.

 

Local campaigners are hugely relieved that pedestrian and cycle access has been reinstated  “We’re thrilled that the bridge has been reopened and are very grateful that Councillor Cowan has agreed to its re-opening. The impact of the bridge’s closure has been quite devastating for many. With the bridge now open to pedestrians school children can now swap two hour journeys for 15 minute ones, people can get to hospital appointments and commuters can once again have realistic journeys to work“ said a spokesperson for Hammersmith Bridge SOS. “We also very much hope that journeys via rickshaw can recommence to help those with mobility issues to cross the bridge safely.”  

 

However, the stalemate over funding for the multi-million pound works needed to stabilise the bridge and make it a viable crossing for cars continues. The Bugle caught up with Hammersmith’s Councillor Cowan on bridge opening day and discovered that:

 

•	No decision has yet been made on which route will be taken for bridge stabilisation and eventual repair. There are two proposals on the table:

 

1.	the Foster/Cowi bridge-within-a-bridge temporary solution which will allow parts of the bridge to be disassembled and repaired off site whilst letting vehicles and pedestrians to still cross the river
2.	the more conventional on-site repair strategy originally proposed by TfL.

 

Early estimates have shown the Foster Cowi option to be cheaper - £100million versus £160million.  However, Councillor Cowan revealed that the Foster Cowi option is being re-costed.

 

•	Hammersmith & Fulham Council is proposing that its contribution towards the repair works should come from borrowing - using revenue from toll fees over the next 100 plus years as collateral. Councillor Cowan mentioned that money raised by this means could contribute up to 15% of the repair costs. **
•	A toll level of between £3 and £3.50 per crossing is being considered.If the Foster Cowi designed repair option is chosen then tolls will be charged to traffic as soon as the interim bridge-within-a-bridge is opened.
•	There would be no toll charge for residents of Hammersmith & Fulham
•	Hammersmith & Fulham has presented its costing proposal (drafted with the help of experts who put together a similar proposal for the Mersey Tunnel) to the Department of Transport but no response has yet been received.

 

Local campaigners say that just because the bridge has opened now doesn’t mean it will always be open to pedestrians. They are continuing to support the option of a temporary ferry service given the precarious structural integrity of the bridge “Residents of Barnes need to know that this re-opening of the bridge to pedestrians might not be permanent. This current re-opening is only sanctioned for six months and the bridge could close overnight if more stresses and strains on the structure are revealed by the bridge’s monitoring system. There are rumours that once work on the bridge gets underway that the bridge may only open to pedestrians and cyclists for a few hours a day, and that furthermore there are likely to be long periods when the bridge has to shut again to allow work to be carried out. ” a Hammersmith Bridge SOS spokesman says.

 

*Case for Continued Safe Operation committee

** The Bugle has done its own back of an envelope calculation for this and we think our result (which we're not sharing!) either means that the expected car traffic levels are quite low and that interest payments are quite high, or that money for future bridge maintenance is baked into the equation or all of the above. If anybody else wants to do some educated spreadsheet guesswork on this we'd be interested in their conclusions. N.B.The article above gives two potential total costs for repair, the period over which toll revenue could be counted and the range of toll charges.  Prior to its closure Hammersmith Bridge carried 22,000 vehicles each day according to H&FC. We don't know how many of these vehicles were owned by Hammersmith residents or how many people would avoid the bridge due to a toll in future, or what the cost of administering the toll would be - that's where the guesswork comes in, over to you!

Where does that leave the ferry?

For all the reasons listed by the Hammersmith Bridge SOS spokesperson above TfL is continuing to pursue the ferry option but opposition to the proposed ferry is mounting – particularly from rowers and from residents living close to the proposed north side ferry boarding pontoon.

 

Now that boats can freely pass under the bridge, plans for the construction of the ferry pontoons are having to be re-drawn to accommodate the need to let river traffic pass. These new plans should be ready in time for Hammersmith’s September planning hearing and with a fair wind contractors can start digging the piles needed to support the pontoons as early as October.

 

However, time-windows are tight. Digging of piles is only possible until the end of October, any later than that and the work will interfere with the breeding patterns of wildlife on the Thames shore. Natural England has apparently decreed that no work on the shore should be carried out between the end of October and June to protect wildlife.

 

If piles aren’t put in place by the end of October this leaves the door open to the potential scenario of the bridge closing unexpectedly during the winter months and there being no opportunity to construct a ferry boarding area until next summer at the earliest; meaning that Barnes would be cut off once more.

 

The Bugle understands that TfL doesn’t wish to run a ferry while the bridge is open to pedestrians but wants to have the means in place to make a ferry operational as soon as possible if the bridge does close - either for safety reasons or to allow stabilisation works to commence.

 

With piles in place the pontoons (which are currently being fabricated and stored elsewhere) can be moved into position within two weeks of any bridge closure in order to minimise disruption.

Brewery plans quashed

Campaigners in Mortlake are celebrating after plans for the mega Mortlake Stag Brewery development were overturned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan at the end of July. The Mayor turned down the recommendations of his own planning team in order to make the decision to ask the developers to go back to the drawing board.

 

In a hearing at City Hall, campaigners heard the head of planning at the Greater London Authority recommending the scheme despite some of the proposed buildings being taller than the height recommended for the area.

 

The huge scheme had been 'called in' by the Mayor on the grounds that it didn’t include sufficient affordable housing. It had previously been approved by Richmond Council as a development including 843 housing units 12 to 17% of which would be affordable. In the hearing the Mayor castigated Richmond Council for accepting such a low level of affordable homes in the site plan.

 

After the plans were called in, the developers abandoned the idea of including a care home and added extra stories to several of the buildings in order to take the number of housing units up to 1250 and increase the level of ‘affordable’ housing to 30%. These newly submitted plans caused outrage in Mortlake and surrounding areas both because of the impact of so many new dwellings on local infrastructure and the visual impact on the river frontage.

 

While the Mayor’s ruling on the face of it seems good news for campaigners, it was clear in his summing up that he didn’t agree with their contention that the scheme would cause immense traffic problems. His focus throughout the hearing, in which he questioned his own planning team, Richmond’s planning team and local objectors, was the level of affordable housing.

 

Khan made it clear that even getting the level of affordable housing to 30% isn’t good enough and building higher to accommodate more affordable housing isn’t acceptable.

 

The Mortlake Brewery Campaign expressed their total delight at the result and praised the team of nine predominantly local speakers who they say helped to convince the Mayor that the harms of the scheme  outweighed the benefits. You can see the Mayor’s summing up as well as a complete recording of the event here.

Welcome to Barnes Green Lido

Given Germany’s devastating floods last month, Britain got off lightly but Barnes got a small taster of what happens when 10cm worth of rain falls in an intense two hour burst.

 

Businesses and homes alike experienced flooded basements and the staff of Glebe Road surgery had to cancel all appointments as they bailed out the GP practice.

 

Images of Barnes underwater flowed like a torrent on social media. Castelnau was pictured as a gushing river, a burst water main north of Hammersmith bridge saw water jet 50 feet up in the air and over on Barnes Green two intrepid souls swam an impressive front crawl in the brand new temporary Barnes Lido.

 

Beverley Brook, as it almost always does in heavy rain, burst its banks in the epic storm, leading to other parts of the Green flooding.

 

We will just have to hope there are no further extreme rainfalls in the coming months as work to clear debris and maintain the culverts that drain Beverley Brook  into the Thames is to be delayed until 2022.

 

The environment agency had hoped to carry out some flood mitigation works working on the culverts this autumn. The postponement means that the planned closure of the towpath in September will now not go ahead but it does presumably leave Barnes at further risk of flooding.

 

You can read more about the reasons for the delay on the environment agency’s website here.

 

The BCA is also lobbying Richmond Council for a review of our drains after the recent floods. If your street was affected they are asking you to contact them by emailing info@barnes-ca.org.

An everyday story of Barnes folk

Archers fans in Barnes may not be aware that the siren of Ambridge, Jolene Archer – she of the infamous shower scene - actually lives within their midst. Jolene’s alter-ego, actress Buffy Davis, shares an eco-house with her artist husband Derek Pearce in Barnes.

 

At the Bugle we are occasionally struck by Barnes’ similarity to Ambridge so we we’re pleased to hear we’re not the only ones, as when opening the recent Barnes Artists show at St Mary’s, Buffy celebrated the many parallels.

 

There’s the pond, a pub called the Bull and a real-life Lynda Snell (art show organiser Katie James apparently, although the Bugle can think of quite a few other people who better fit the bill!).

 

However, in Buffy’s opinion Barnes competes with Ambridge’s imaginary verdant beauty by sheer dint of our ‘majestic’ open spaces. The show was celebrating Barnes Common and Buffy shared her love of our open land which has been pesticide and fertiliser free for centuries. The artists exhibiting in the show had all been inspired by the Common’s native acid grasslands, meadows and woodlands and Buffy also paid tribute to the expert land husbandry of the Friends of Barnes Common in her speech.

Love a duck

While many people at the Barnes Common-inspired art show may have been familiar with Buffy’s work it was a first-time introduction to that of her husband, Derek Pearce, for many of them. The public clearly liked what they saw because it was his work that was voted Best in Show in an anonymous poll. Derek specialises in wood carving and sculpture and has a particular penchant for making witty tables combining glass tops with sculpted animal forms. His innovative and inspiring duck pond table (above) stole the show but there was much else to admire including gorgeous landscapes and stunning photography.

 

Throughout the spring and early summer, local painters, sculptors, ceramicists and photographers quietly observed and discovered many of the 30 species of butterflies, wild species of plant life, the native meadows, orchards, acid grasslands, woodlands and wetland habitats which make up the greater area of Barnes Common and the Leg o’ Mutton Reservoir.  The result was a glorious exhibition. You can see more on the Barnes Artists Instagram account.

Food Fair: Save the date

With no Barnes Fair, Barnes Food Fair has stepped up to be the BCA’s biggest community event this year. Now’s the time to put the date (September 18) in your diary and look forward to a brilliant family day out.

 

Organiser Charlotte Sharpe Neal says “There will be lots of interesting, unusual, local, and just delicious food to sample with a mixture  of old favourite exhibitors (Churros Garcia, Oysters and Cakehole), Barnes Fair exhibitors (Toast Tins, Jeffersons Brewery) and new faces”.

 

Among the new faces is local Michelin starred chef Phil Howard who will be at the fair sharing the secrets of his brand new food at home project – OTTO pasta.

 

Charlotte is promising a festive atmosphere with a bandstand featuring a full programme of live music, a drinks tent and fairground attractions for small children too. Tickets are available online and there is free entry for the under 16s. And for those who want to support the BCA and also appreciate a bargain, it's worth joining the BCA in advance as members can buy tickets at a discount.

 

Find out more here.

Rubbish news

Due to staff shortages caused by a number of collection crews having to self-isolate the council has announced that it doesn’t have enough staff to offer its usual rubbish collection services. All garden waste collections have been suspended until further notice and last week some streets in Barnes missed out on collection of their recycling black and blue box rubbish. This patchy service is likely to continue until a full complement of staff is available once more. Read more here.

Think bike

If you’ve treated yourself to a new pair of wheels this year and have an old bike lurking in your shed or side return, now is the time to clear space and do something positive for charity at the same time. This year’s annual bike sale at St Mary’s has been delayed by the pandemic to September 18.

 

The band of volunteers behind the sale are now sitting poised and ready to take in old bikes, clean them up and tune them up ready for resale. You can choose to donate your bike to the event or to keep a portion of the proceeds with the rest going to some very deserving charities. Whether you have a Miss Marple, a racing bike, a mountain bike, a hybrid bike or a kids bike they’d love to hear from you and can even organise collection if it’s hard for you to get your bike to St Mary’s for the Saturday August 21 drop off. You can find out more on the bike sale website.  

Word on the streets

The fascinating London Street Guide now has a dedicated section on Barnes and very interesting reading it is too.

 

The Bugle is fairly certain most people who click on this link will just look up their own road, but reading the origins of many of the street names listed in Barnes is a fascinating history lesson and a guide to our sacred and profane past.

 

On the sacred side many street names bear testament to the long relationship between Barnes and St Paul’s Cathedral. Today St Paul’s School is the most obvious link, but delve into the street names and you can see that they commemorate a plethora of former Deans and Cannons of St Paul’s – Henry Melvill, Edward Stillingfleet, Alexander Nowell, Richard de Kilmington and many more.  In fact Deans of St Paul’s Cathedral have been Lords of the Manor of Barnes since Saxon times and Barnes’ history is inextricably linked with that of the Cathedral.

 

Other roads whose names have a religious link are Castelnau and Boileau Roads whose names come from the protestant Huguenot Boileau family who fled to England in the 18th century to escape religious persecution in France. The family settled in Mortlake and lived on the banks of the Thames in a house they named Castelnau House after their home town of Castelnau-Valence near Nimes. In the 19th century the grandson of the original emigrants was responsible for the building of many of the fine houses in Castelnau and the stucco villas of Lonsdale Road.

 

On the profane side many streets have names related to beer and brewing. Malthouse passage and Maltings Close are named after the small business that prepared and housed malts for nearby brewers. Thorne Passage and Thorne Street are named after Benjamin Thorne who ran a small brewery next to what is now the Bull’s Head on Lonsdale Road.

 

Lyric Road and Ranelagh Avenue commemorate grand country clubs used by well-to- do Londoners in the 19th century. The Lyric Club was particularly racy and went bankrupt in spectacular style.

 

As a desirable country area on the outskirts of London, parts of Barnes in the 17th and 18th century were owned by aristocratic families including, most prominently, the Lowther family whose family seat is in Cumbria - which is how Ullswater and Cumberland Roads got their names.  Washington Road celebrates a member of the Lowther family, Sir Gerard Lowther (Gerard Road) who was ambassador to Washington. His posting in Constantinople also led to the naming of Galata Road.

 

Not surprisingly, if you are a scholar of Britain’s aristocratic past, you don’t have to look far to discover views and deeds that we find appalling from a 21st century perspective so Sir Gerard Lowther was known for distributing anti-Semitic texts and another local land-owner Nathaniel Spriggs (owner of the St Ann's estate after which St Ann's Road is named) made a fortune in the Jamaican slave trade.

 

So, wherever you live in Barnes your street may be named after a sinner or a saint.

 

Click here to see if your road is on the list.

Most wanted poster

Barnes Bridge has never looked more grand and imposing than it does in Adam Cockerton’s poster for this year’s Barnes Film Festival.  A limited edition of 50 posters signed by the artist has been produced for sale and they make perfect gifts for lovers of film, lovers of Barnes or indeed Barnes film lovers. The gorgeous poster costs just £30 and is available from online shop Etsy.

Shed gets go ahead

The prospect of Barnes men’s shed project getting off the ground has just got closer with the approval by Richmond Council’s planning committee for a building to be situated in the London Wetland Centre’s car park. The brilliant idea behind the Men’s Shed project is to provide a space for men to bond by taking part in practical carpentry and craft projects that help the local community. Those who join can also just use the facilities to work on their own projects but the ethos of the men’s shed movement is to be a community space that encourages bonding and friendship.

Philosphically speaking...

When Dr Barbara Underwood – student of philosophy and jazz singer – started the Barnes Philosophy club as a small project ten years ago, she had no idea that it would grow to have over 100 members, attract such distinguished and interesting speakers from the world of philosophy and become affiliated to the Royal Institute of Philosophy to boot.

 

In July this year, she and her husband and co-organiser Simeon, stepped down from their organising roles, but the club carries on, now under the stewardship of Nick Aldridge who studied philosophy at Cambridge and in his day job runs PayPal Giving.

 

Barbie’s achievements were celebrated with a 10th anniversary party last month and the party gave an opportunity to members to tell her what a difference she and Simeon have made to their lives.

 

Over the 10 years of talks friendships have been formed, new pathways of study found (one member went on to take an MA in philosophy) people’s prejudices confounded and minds opened to many different ways of seeing things.

 

At the celebration Barbie spoke of her pride in how the club has encouraged its members to ask the most interesting and difficult questions, to think rigorously, energetically and creatively and to truly observe the world and our place within it. At the event club members were queuing up to thank Barbie and from all the messages from members read out at the event one word stood out – inspirational.

 

Barbie summed up what the club is all about by saying “My view is, the minute we start to think, to form some sort of argument, that’s philosophy.”  

 

Copyright © 2021 barnesvillagebugle.co.uk  All Rights Reserved.

 

The Bugle is a member of the IMPRESS regulation scheme. To find out more go to our website.

 

If you want to unsubscribe from the Bugle click here.