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Twickerati 
Strawberry Hill House & Garden presents: Gothic Stories for Grown-Ups
Thursday 31 st October and Friday 1st November 2019
Tour time slots: 6.30pm, 7.00pm, 7.30pm, 8.00pm
Join us this Halloween as Horace Walpole invites you to take a turn in his Little Gothic Castle at twilight.
On arrival, you will be greeted at the castle gates by Philip Columb, Walpole’s Valet for a pre-tour fizz. One of our guides will then collect you for a 60-minute tour of the house where you will be able to explore all that is gothic and gloomth at this most eerie time of year.
Those with a nervous disposition should heed this warning, keep your wits about you, as who knows which other characters from Walpole’s past might appear from shadows.
Early Bird Tickets – (offer ends 2 September)
£16 Standard
£14 Members
Standard Tickets (3 September onwards)
£18 Standard
£16 Members
Please note, this event is suitable for ages 16+.
For more information or to book please visit: http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on or call us on 020 8744 1241.
DecorCafe Christmas Festival at Strawberry Hill House & Garden
Sunday 17th November 2019
10 am – 4 pm
Entry: £5 per person, in advance or on the door
Now in its fifth year, Strawberry Hill House, in partnership with St Mary’s University, have come together to create an even more exciting DecorCafe Christmas Festival for 2019. Visitors can enjoy:
• Bespoke and original hand-made gifts
• Local crafts & produce
• Delicious seasonal food
• New for 2019 – Christmas styling and food talks along with demonstrations by The DecorCafe experts
Entrance Price: £5 entry per person, pay on the door or book in advance. Get free entry to the Christmas Festival when you book an ‘Author Talk’ Ticket.
For more information about the Festival and our ‘Author Talks’: http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/christmas-festival/
Alternatively, you can call us on 020 8744 1241
Strawberry Hill House & Garden presents: Fireside Folktales
Sunday 1st September & Monday 2nd September 2019
Suitable for ages 3+ & 7+
Adult/Child tickets – £8
Both child and accompanying adult must purchase a ticket. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Join us for two days of very special children’s theatre performances from ‘Fireside Folktales’. Choose from Aesop’s Fables (ages 3+), Persephone & The Pomegranate Seeds (ages 7+) and A Tale of Robin Hood (ages 7+), all of which retell myths, legends, and folktales from around the world.
Aesop’s Fables – 30 mins – 3+
Sunday 1st September: 11 am & 2 pm
Monday 2nd September: 11am & 2 pm
Three of Aesop’s classic fables – The Ants & The Grasshopper, The Fox & The Stork and The Hare & The Tortoise – have been woven together into this delightful, funny and engaging play for children of all ages. Harvest time is nearly here and there’s still so much work for the animals to do to make sure they will last through the winter. Can they put their disagreements aside and get the job done in time for the festival?
Persephone & The Pomegranate Seeds – 35 mins – 7+
Monday 2nd September: 12:30 pm & 3:30 pm
There are many versions of the classic Greek myth that explains how the seasons came to be – this is ours! Learn how close the goddess Demeter came to destroying the world when her beloved daughter Persephone was stolen away by Hades, the Lord of the Underworld – and how Zeus and Hermes searched for a solution that everyone could live with. Were they successful? You’ll have to see the show to find out…
A Tale of Robin Hood – 35 mins – 7+ (parental advisory: contains sword fighting and staged violence)
Sunday 1st September: 12:30 pm & 3:30 pm
With Richard the Lionheart absent, corruption and injustice are rife in England. The country cries out for a champion – and in the heart of the forest, a legend stirs… Join Robin and his friends on a daring mission to save Sir Guy of Gisborne’s prisoner, Friar Tuck, from the hangman’s noose.
Fireside Folktales is the latest project from South West London-based theatre company Shadow Road Productions and is run by Emma King-Farlow and Amy Floyd. They specialise in retelling myths, legends, and folktales from around the world, each presented as an original short play performed by a company of professional actors to audiences of all ages in their magical 8m diameter Story Tent!
For more information or to book tickets, please visit http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on or by calling us directly on 020 8744 1241.
Strawberry Hill House & Garden presents The Handalbards Cycling Theatre Company: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.
Sunday 8th September 2019
Doors open at 6 pm
The performance commences at 7pm
Adult – £16,
U18, Student, FoSH & SHH Volunteer – £10
The world’s first cycling theatre company, The HandleBards, pedal from venue to venue with all the set, props and costume necessary to perform environmentally sustainable Shakespeare across the globe.
Join their all-male troupe at Strawberry Hill House & Garden for a bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s ’Much Ado About Nothing’ like no other. In usual HandleBards style, expect riotous amounts of energy, a fair old whack of chaos, and a great deal of laughter.
And what’s the play about? Well – a group of soldiers returns from the war to a household in Messina, causing the kindling of new love interests and the re-kindling of old rivalries. The parallel love stories of Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio, and Hero become entangled with plotting, frivolity, and melodrama in Shakespeare’s famous comedy.
This is an outdoor production, so please bring your own chair or blanket to sit on, a picnic to dig into, and dress for the weather!
Notes on Performance:
*Doors open at 6pm, so bring a picnic and come and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
*Chairs, picnics, blankets, and any other low-level accessories are welcome.
*In case of rain, please don’t bring umbrellas as they block sight-lines for other audience members. Ponchos and raincoats are just as fetching, so please wear these instead.
For tickets and more information, please visit http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk, email enquiry@strawberryhillhouse.org.uk or call us on 020 8744 1241.
To @RiversideVoter (I can’t seem to tag you).
Hands up – no, I was not aware of the large number of faith schools on the Twickenham side of the river. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I live across the river in Ham, so I should have checked with the Green Cllrs there before I replied. Green Party policy is as follows:
“ED176 No publicly-funded school shall be run by a religious organisation. Schools may teach about religions, comparing examples which originated in each continent, but are prohibited from delivering religious instruction in any form or encouraging adherence to any particular religious belief.
ED177 Privately-funded schools run by religious organisations must reflect the inclusive nature of British society and become part of the Local Authority admissions system.”
For more see https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ed.html.
Privately funded schools are almost as much of a problem as faith schools in the amount of car journeys they create, although they do often provide coaches for pupils to get to school.
Green Party MPs would deal with the problem of both faith and private schools, which are a product of national policies by Conservative and Labour governments.
Strawberry Hill House & Garden –Silent Cinema presents: ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’.
Thursday 25 July 2019
Doors open at 7:30pm
The film commences at 8:45pm
With less than a week to go before our very special event, Silent Cinema presents The Rocky Horror Picture Show; tickets are selling fast.
Don’t miss your chance to experience this cult classic during the bewitching of twilight in the Strawberry Hill House Gardens. Join us from 7:30pm and enjoy a picnic in the grounds before the film commences at 8:45pm. Headphones are included and a bar selling refreshments will be available on the night.
Dressing up and joining in is encouraged!
Tickets are available from our website or by calling us directly on 020 8744 1241.
For tickets and more information: http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Surprise, surprise, Solum propose to build a six storey block on the station yard site though they call it “ground plus four with a recessed fifth floor”. The Consultation was all smoke and mirrors. They justify the height by reference to Bridge House, the station and Travelodge and design, basically a big modern block, by adding some brick detail that references the railway shed across the railway line, completely ignoring that the TWAAP says the height, 3 storeys building to 4, and design should reference the Albany and Queens Road Conservation area. The houses opposite the site are side on so it won’t be a problem for them apparently (as long as they don’t go out in their garden) and the houses that face the development are not opposite this site, but the TFL one. They also claim improvements to the public realm including the traffic improvements around the Albany and improvements to the TFL site facing the Albany. However the Council are responsible for and are funding the traffic improvements and any improvements to the TFL site are subject to negotiation, if these plans are approved TFL can progress their plans to build on their site. So in the end they conceded that the improvements to public realm are some trees and continuing the pavements the Council are installing in front of the block. It’s as if the TWAAP and all the months of consultation and Inspector’s visits had never happened though they did concede that they would not have grounds for appeal if these plans were refused. It’s the start of the game of getting the biggest cheapest possible block through the planning process……. Let’s hope this regime are more willing to defend rather than bend the planning framework than the last…….
Seconded. The height is ridiculous and the design is extraordinarily dull.
Solum the cheap and nasty development company certainly have their fingers in the Twickenham pot.
Twickenham did have the opportunity to have a decent railway station and what they have dropped upon us!
A cheap cladded box. Apart from the fact it is too close to the road the cladding is completely out of character with the surrounding environment. Where on earth did they find their designer/architect.
No parking sitting on top of a railway line these boxes are up on the investment market. Their purpose solely to charge Solum profits – nothing to do with meeting the needs of the housing market.
The whole station project feels like a “ con” utterly tasteless.
It’s a monstrosity completely out of keeping with that part of Twickenham, and will create a block of highrises around London Road – weren’t we told this wasn’t going to happen? what it is about, of course, is setting a precedent for building more of the same. If this is approved, why not more?
Silent Cinema Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Thursday 25th July 2019
Adult: 14.50 – Student, Volunteer, FoSH: £13
Something wicked this way comes..
Silent Cinema is coming to Strawberry Hill House this summer with a screening of the cult classic film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Join us and watch as Brad & Janet, a newly engaged couple, break down in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters.
Bring blankets or chairs to sit on and join us for this ‘time warp’ spectacular – dressing up and joining in is encouraged!
Doors open at 7.30pm for everyone to enjoy the lawns and picnic before the main event – screening will commence at 8.45pm to ensure that darkness is descending (headphones will be provided). A bar and ice creams will be available to purchase on the night.
For more information or to book, please visit http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on, or call us directly on 0208 744 1241
Poetry at the Adelaide, Teddington on Sunday 4th August 6 till 8 pm. £2 entry.
Come and share your work!
It would be good to know what the Green party’s strategy is.
ie. ending the competition for school places would be a good start so children can attend the school closest to their homes.
Bringing local services back in- house so council employees do not have to travel from borough to borough.
Increased unlicensed transport and an end to diesel powered buses.
Just three I can think of. Or is to going to be more unimaginative draconian regulations against the motorist.
Thanks for your thoughts. Some of those are already policy, eg we support public ownership of utilities (see here – https://twitter.com/CarolineLucas/status/1015217071024758784) and stopping the privatisation of services, bringing them back in house where possible.
On diesel cars (not buses, I know) – https://www.greenparty.org.uk/leaders-blog/2017/10/24/caroline-lucas-phasing-out-diesel-and-petrol-cars-is-a-woefully-tiny-step-towards-cleaner-air/, but yes we also want to see an end to diesel buses, but some of this regulation is National or London ie TfL, so we need Greens at every level to enact real, long-lasting change.
Regarding school places, I’m not sure what you mean. State and Primary school places are based on distance from home, siblings or Looked After status, so there is no ‘competition’ as such. Grammar, private and religious schools are exempt from this.
Andree, are you unaware of how many of the local Twickenham primary schools select on faith? St Stephen’s, St Mary’s, St Richard Reynolds, Archdeacon Cambridge, St James’s, Sacred Heart, St Mary and St Peter all have many parents driving their children to school who accessed places by sitting in pews. Meanwhile the parents who do live within walking distance but are not willing to attend church cannot access their local schools and though the situation has improved somewhat with more inclusive places at Twickenham Primary and Old Deer Park there are still parents who drive past one or more local schools to get to an inclusive school . At secondary level there was a huge issue around the handing of the Twickenham site to St Richard Reynolds which selects 100% of its places on faith from the whole borough and beyond when there was an emerging problem of inclusive school place provision in the surrounding wards and Turing House the free school that emerged to meet that need faced opposition to its permanent site in Whitton in part because of the increased number of school journeys that would be taken, though Whitton pupils do travel the other way to the temporary site. This problem has got worse rather than better as governing bodies for whatever reason have increased the proportion of places selected on faith. Vince Cable highlighted the problem some time ago. This was the issue Astorer was referring to and it is a bit disappointing that if you are involved in community politics you are not aware of what is a considerable source of frustration and anxiety for local parents.
A Green Party motion calling on Richmond Council to declare a climate emergency and make the borough carbon neutral by 2030 passed at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday 9 July with the full support of councillors from all parties.
The motion, proposed by Green Group leader Councillor Richard Bennett, follows the Greens’ successful motion of September 2018 calling for Council to take an over-arching approach to tackling Climate Change[1]. In November 2018, the IPCC report warned that humanity has 12 years (now 11) to take emergency action in order to prevent global warming greater than 1.5°C[2]. Above this, the risks to humanity of floods, droughts, extreme heat and poverty become much greater, impacting on hundreds of millions more people. Recognising the dire threat to all life on earth, the Greens have asked Council to declare a Climate Emergency and pledge to make Richmond carbon neutral by 2030, producing the action plans to do so by January 2020.
The motion says:
“Council joins the rapidly growing number of councils that have declared a ‘Climate Change Emergency’. It rejects the idea that this declaration is a symbolic gesture and will give substance to its commitment. Council therefore resolves to become recognised as the Greenest London Borough. It will undertake the factual analysis, target setting, and produce the strategy and action plans necessary by January 2020, in order to realise this goal and become carbon neutral by 2030.”
On Monday 15 July, the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Service Committee will consider Richmond Council’s new Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy[3] that has been produced as a result of the Green Party motion in September. If passed, this will immediately be put out to resident consultation from 16 July-26 September. We call on all residents to have their say and to push Council to be as swift and determined as possible in adopting and enforcing measures to tackle and mitigate the climate emergency.
The station development and Solums promises it would enhance the Twickenham Community was a farce from its inauguration.
Residents warned the plans were not fit for purpose and were right but ignored.
The results are a station that doesn’t look much larger than the old one but with the addition of a couple of lifts.
What is larger is the housing development all without parking and added shops which will add to the woes of existing businesses attempting to make ends meet.
That any of it was required is highly debatable as it appears Solum cannot sell the development except as a job lot investment opportunity.
The coffee coloured cladded cheap facade of this ugly patterned development and its closeness to the busy road ( patio doored balconies ) rubbing along passing double decker buses is a complete aesthetic and architectural mess and in a few years this will show in what will be an outdated white elephant.
Rather than build more little boxes on the Station Road Car Park, Solum should be using the space to address the car parking requirements of the Station development because despite their claims to the contrary the incumbents of the new flats will have cars, most people do.
The whole station development is a fiasco in design and practicality. Another opportunity to improve our environment wasted. But we residents told you so.
*Solum should be using the space to address the car parking requirements of the Station development because despite their claims to the contrary the incumbents of the new flats will have cars, most people do.*
Well, according to the young man from Solum I overheard at the consultation this week, it’s all part of moving towards a world in which people don’t drive. The reality is, of course, we live in a world where people DO drive and any world in which we don’t is far, far away.
Discover local wildlife with nature experts at a fun & educational event for the whole family at Kilmorey Mausoleum wildlife garden, Twickenham – Sunday 21st July 2019, 10am – 3pm
Environment Trust, a charity based in East Twickenham, is running an open day at the Grade II listed Kilmorey Mausoleum for families to discover the wonderful wildlife in the area and learn about the mausoleum on a guided tour.
Visitors will be able to go on an adventurous nature trail through the wildlife garden, learn about the vital work bees and hedgehogs do from nature experts and make a mini-bee-nursery for their garden to expand their habitat.
Rich in history, the mausoleum was built by the 2nd Earl of Kilmorey in 1854 in memory of his mistress and life partner, Priscilla. He moved it with his household several times before landing at Gordon House in Twickenham.
Visitors will have the opportunity to go inside the splendid mausoleum and learn about the secret tunnel that was the subject of much mystery and rumour for many years over its existence, until it was discovered in 1966.
The event takes place on Sunday 21st July 2019 from 10am until 3pm at Kilmorey Mausoleum, 275 St Margaret’s Road, Twickenham, TW1 1PN.
The entrance fee is £3 per person. There is a small additional charge for materials for anyone wanting to make a bee nursery. Coffee, tea and delicious homemade cakes will be available, as well as lots of raffle prizes.
There is unrestricted parking in the area all day and all proceeds will support Environment Trust’s nature and heritage conservation work.
Event website: http://www.environmenttrust.org/Event/kilmoreys-wild-neighbours
Event Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/472162500219337/?active_tab=about
Notices from Solum going through front doors in Station Road area that they are planning 44 properties in Station Yard – rabbit hutches, presumably, given the size of the place. So if this goes through, after two years of disruption and inconvenience while the station is being rebuilt, we’ll have more of the same plus more traffic and pollution in that part of Twickenham – but it’s OK, they are gifting us some – unspecified – public realm improvements for the plebs to be grateful.
On the car park opposite The Albany?
With a Housing development masquerading as new and improved Station and taking forever, running behind schedule etc. – it’s – Cheap and nasty facade completely out of character with the surrounding environment, far too close to the busy road that double decker buses run up against residents balconies – what else do you expect from Solum – something tasteful ? You have to be joking!
On the car park opposite the Albany is the only Station Yard I know of :). Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about the danger traffic poses to children walking to Richard Reynolds so the traffic dept at the council has come out with a (ludicrous IMO) plan to calm traffic round that blind corner into Station Road by making changes to the bus turnaround. The same bit that Solum wants to build on. Still, it’s only taxpayers’ money, what the hell.
Solum are having a display of the proposals at the Exchange on 16 July.
Are there any diagrams or maps of exactly where they are preparing to build? My understanding is that the car parking near the Albany that was a private car park open to the paying public, was owned by Railtrack who leased it to a local entrepreneur who then did a deal to sub-let it to Solum for the period of the building. So not Solum’s to build on unless they’ve bought it. Perhaps a speculative planning application.
The site might also be usefully considered as one of the options for part meeting the Councils’ commitment to relocate some of the parking from the riverside, at least in the medium term while we get a grip of the need to reduce the number of private cars.
By the way, as the wraps come off the station building, how appalled are you? Just collected my visiting daughter from the station and met her at m bar where she looked across at the station for the first time in a while. Visibly shocked. Really we have to make sure that something so appalling isn’t built again. Carbuncle award at minimum. Should be shamed. No wonder it seems Solum might be trying to unload the whole thing as a job lot onto the wholesale property investment market. Anyone any info about this?
Hi Ben, I thought that the car park and turnaround was owned by Railtrack as well and part of it was leased out to provide parking for the houses in Mary’s Terrace. So I wonder as well if it’s a speculative application.
The station itself is a ghastly excrescence, hence my concern over the Station Yard letter. Have a look at the Solum site and you can see what you get for your £ 550k and rising – open plan living in a cramped sweatbox on a main road. Lovely for them on rugby days with 80,000 fans walking past and then trying to get into the station :))
I think it’s intemded to go on the side of the station site alongside the River Crane, where you go now to get into the station. There’s supposed to be a public benefit of a footpath along the Crane and a bridge across into Moormeads park. We’ll see on the 16th in the display at The Exchange.
Hi Yvonne, the letter definitely says Station Yard, which is the area in front of the Albany, and the plans for the station on their site show that flats are already planned alongside the Crane, so it doesn’t make sense to me that they’d be presenting those as something brand new for which they are bidding. Nor does the letter mention that this is part of the planned station development. I’ll be sending this letter to the local councillors and the local paper, not least because the letters were delivered in plain unaddressed envelopes with no logo and could easily be mistaken – as I nearly did – for junk mail and thrown away unread. Almost as if Solum doesn’t want local residents to know about it before the process is launched…
Do drop by to speak to the councillors on the stand at St Margaret’s Fair today of you can but I will mention this. James Chard lives on Queens Road overlooking Station Yard so should be aware of any plans.
It is definitely the Station Yard site as it has been identified as a potential development site in the LBRUT Planning frameworks for at least six years. When the TWAAP (remember that?) was being consulted on there was quite a lot of to and fro about what could go there and TFL said at the time that they would need the turning circle to be preserved for operational reasons. The Council proposed a car park which got kicked out by the Inspector because of the access issues which are so much worse now with the school run parents, and Googlemaps sending tech sanctioned rat runners down Lion Road and Station Road for four hours a day. Surely everyone accepts the Albany Corner is a fatal accident waiting to happen, possibly me since I have to navigate it morning and night and I am rapidly using up my nine lives, and that we badly need proper pavements and double yellow lines?
In the final plan (P43 https://www.richmond.gov.uk/media/11660/adopted_twickenham_area_action_plan_july_2013.pdf ) the whole site, bus station and car park are identified….
“Aims – Subject to adequate re-provision of the bus stands, to redevelop
the site with a residential scheme up to 3-4 storeys from ground level. Part of the
site to be developed as a public car park provided it is required to replace other
parking lost from the town centre. Buildings should be of appropriate height and
should integrate well with the surrounding residential area and enhance the setting
of the Albany PH, with improved public realm and landscaping.
7.2.6.2 Uses – Residential development up to 3-4 storeys from ground level,
landscaping, and public car parking if required and feasible.
7.2.6.3 The Core Strategy and Development Management Plan, Twickenham
Station and Surroundings SPD and Design Quality SPD will all apply. In addition,
the following guidance should also be followed:
Height/massing should form an intermediary between that of Bridge House and
surrounding development;
Maximum height of 3-4 storeys from ground floor level to ensure development
is compatible in scale to the surrounding residential area, including the Queens
Road conservation area;
Designed to integrate well with the surrounding residential area including the
Queens Road conservation area;
Excellent design to provide a positive frontage towards the Albany Public House
(a Building of Townscape Merit) and its setting;
The opportunity should be taken to provide a small area of landscaped space
to improve the area closest to the Albany PH;
Relocation of bus stands;
High quality tree planting and other landscaping to improve the quality of the
environment;
Public car parking will only be provided to replace any parking lost to the town
centre as a result of regeneration; and will be subject to a traffic assessment.
They got away with ignoring the Planning framework for the station, particularly in relation to the number of storeys, because Lord True wanted a shiny station to go with the pavements for the RWC crowds that never really came, and he famously whipped his Councillors and stage managed the Planning Meeting to push the plans through. I wonder if the mention of Affordable Housing is Solum playing the political card again this time? I somehow doubt they can build 44 flats on the site in 3-4 storeys with landscaping that don’t blot out the Albany? More likely they will go for referencing the Travel Lodge and the monstrosity they have built on the station.
We should all go along brandishing our TWAAPs………
I wonder if the people who own the Albany know about this? a lot of their custom comes from people using the bus stand as an outside bar on match and concert days. All getting more and more interesting, isn’t it? especially as the council has recognised that this is a dangerous part of Twickenham for pedestrians and is proposing traffic calming measures.
The site is the area currently used for temporary car parking. For clarity, the proposed site does NOT extend to the TFL bus turning area immediately opposite the Albany as Sarah suggests. Hence it does not affect the pavement build out around the Albany.
On the build-out around the Albany, I have to say I respectfully disagree with Sarah’s view of the proposals. As a near neighbour of the site myself I see pedestrians (including school children) navigating that corner every day, and some motorists taking the blind corner at speed (there have been a series of accidents). Narrowing the wide roadway opposite the Albany, pushing the turn away from the wall of the Albany, and providing a pavement are all entirely sensible safety measures. There are also dropped kerbs for wheelchair and pushchair users. A build out has been supported by residents for some years, with vague promises but no firm commitment from the previous administration. I’m proud that as new councillors we’ve pushed the point with Council officers and secured the necessary funding. As I say, Solum’s proposed Station Yard site does not go up to that area so isn’t directly relevant. The consultation is here: https://haveyoursay.citizenspace.com/richmondecs/albany-19/consult_view/
On the proposed Station Yard development, I’d encourage people to go to their exhibition on the proposals, comment there, and send in comments on the planning application in due course (and contact your local councillors, me included, directly too). Again to be clear, my understanding is it is NOT a speculative planning application – Solum have agreed terms with the landowner and would be looking to proceed next year depending on whether planning permission is granted.
Hi James
I have a draft of what I think of the proposals for the traffic calming – not least that widening the pavement outside the Albany will simply make people speed up as they go round the corner after being slowed down in front of the pub. I would expect my local councillor to have the courtesy to wait to hear my objections and considering them before disagreeing with them publicly, but at least now I know it’s a waste of time writing to you and your colleagues, not least because your minds are already made up.
How, exactly, are 44 dwellings going to be built on the car park area without ending up with something monstrously out of keeping with the surrounding area? or doesn’t that matter?
Sarah, the Solum proposals will not have been near our Councillors yet, and won’t until there is a formal planning application. It may be that Solum have talked to Planning Officers and been encouraged in their proposals, they can and do favour developers sometimes (may be an element of Stockholm syndrome since they have been working together for so long on the station) but equally developers will do everything they can to get the cheapest most profitable rubbish past the Planning process, and they always go in big in the hope of getting the biggest possible through at the next attempts, and there was a bigger even worse proposal, or two, for the station site.
However Councillors can and do go against not just developers, but the Council Officers, though they have to mind the costs of appeals and the likely decisions of the Planning Inspectorate. If a proposal is outside the Planning framework which was endorsed by the Planning Inspectorate then they have a strong case for refusing unless there is some overriding consideration, like a community need. This proposal is surely going to be refusable since that car park has not much more than 30 parking spaces so 44 flats in 3/4 storeys would mean each flat had the floor space of around 3 parking spaces… You can bet they are trying to go higher. So as our Councillor said we have to make sure they know how we feel which will strengthen their hand, providing they are listening, hopefully more than the last bunch who lost their seats as a result of not doing.
As to the traffic proposals, did you go to the well attended meeting of residents in the roads from Lion Road to the exit to London Road? We all had a chance to comment ahead of these proposals and this corner definitely was seen as the biggest problem needing action, increasing the pavements and double yellow lines were all discussed and had a consensus and these proposals are now being consulted on further. Do you negotiate this corner on foot? Never mind vehicles speeding up after the corner, anything that slows them down before and provides a safe space for pedestrians in the face of their behaviour is surely a good thing, or do you not think pedestrians worthy of protection? I really do not understand why anyone would think the current arrangements were appropriate for a well used pedestrian route to a school and station versus a route for rat runners, one of those turned their car over on that corner, clearly in need of some serious calming ….
Dear Riverside Voter, I LIVE in Station Road and have done for years, I walk to and fro the station every day and I’m well aware of it being used as a racetrack/ rat run by vehicles. What concerns me is the safety of everyone who uses the whole road, not just the approach outside the Albany. I don’t see how slowing traffic down in one place will not encourage it to speed up in another – a point that I will be raising when I send my reply to the proposals.
I’m very happy to hear your views, Sarah. Do drop me an email and we’ll arrange to meet. I’m always ready to listen to reasoned argument and change my mind if it’s sufficiently persuasive. I’m initially sceptical about your view that narrowing the very wide road in front of the Albany to accommodate pavement would increase the speed with which cars swing around that corner, and indeed think the reverse is likely. As I say, we won’t know if you might persuade me on that unless we have the (two way) conversation.
I would note, as Riverside Voter says, that we did have a well-attended public meeting on road safety issues in the area. I’m not sure whether or not you attended but know you were invited as I delivered the letter to Station Road personally. We listened to the overwhelming majority view expressed there to the effect that the absence of a pavement around the Albany was dangerous and needed to be rectified.
So I’m very happy to do you the courtesy of listening to your views (including on additional measures you’d like to see), but I won’t lie to you by pretending not to have a publicly expressed opinion on this. We listened to views at the meeting and separately, assessed the site with Council officers, and have worked with them to put forward proposals which we believe to be right and for which we have secured funding. Councillors do need to be pro-active to get things done for the area, and do need to take a view on issues even if you don’t agree with every judgement made.
On the proposals for Station Yard, I think your issue is with Solum as developer in the first instance. As I have said, they are not Council proposals. The process is that the developer seeks your views, then submits an application, hopefully with any changes to reflect those, then Council officers make a recommendation one way or another, then the Planning Committee decides. We’re at the first stage of that – there is no Council officer recommendation, and no date for the Planning Committee yet. So you would be well advised to go to Solum’s advertised public exhibition, and ask the (perfectly reasonable) questions you are asking above to them. Then, if you are unhappy with the response, you need to object on one of the planning grounds when the application comes forward. And again, if you drop me a line we can speak in person about the process and your concerns.
Hi Twicketati folks. I really hope this will be of interest to folks in Twickenham. It’s an event that’s really close to my heart, the songs are fabulous and the band is great. Wednesday 10th July – The Exchange Theatre, London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. 7.30pm/10/30pm Tickets £8
Tickets can be bought in advance here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/stmarysuni/t-zjvord
We’ll also be raising money for a breast cancer charity at the same time.
IN HER OWN WORDS
A musical journey through time, exploring the stories and songs of the best loved female singer/songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s.
Starting in 1960, and journeying though to 1979, we’ll be performing songs by Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Sandy Denny, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and more.
Along the way we’ll tell the stories behind the songs and the artists, how these first female artists emerged in a very male dominated industry and how their music went on to inspire future generations from a very unique period of music history.
Performed by Janis Haves – a professional touring and recording singer/songwriter herself for 15 years.
Accompanied by:
Geoff Haves – Guitar and Backing Vocals. Phil Nelson – Guitar and Backing Vocals and Richard Sadler on Double Bass.
You can listen to us here http://www.inherownwords.net
Mamma Mia Movie and singalong
12 June 2019 – 19.30 till the singing ends
£20.00 per person
https://crosswaypregnancy.charitycheckout.co.uk/pagef3072#!/
Mamma Mia 2, singalong hosted by Vocal Tonix, bringing together great food Mamma Mia 2 Movie and an ABBA Singalong for an unforgettable evening.
Being held at The Crossway, 306 Richmond Road, Twickenham, TW1 2PD
The evening includes a drinks reception followed by the screening of Mamma Mia 2 and a Greek inspired sharing platter. Most importantly lots of singing.
There will be a pay bar, so please bring cash to purchase beverages
Dressing up is encouraged.
Bring a group of Friends or family, and take a chance on us
I think you mean 12 July (not June).
Environment Trust calls for artists to donate art to its Secret Art Sale on 28th & 29th September 2019
Environment Trust, an environment and heritage charity based in South West London, is calling on artists to donate works of art to be sold at their fourth Secret Art Sale in September, to raise money for the charity’s nature and heritage conservation work. The Secret Art Sale will be open from 11am – 6pm on Saturday 28th September and 11am to 5pm on Sunday 29th September.
Last year, Environment Trust raised £16,000 from the art donated by Tracey Emin CBE RA, Axel Scheffler, James Butler MBE RA, Peter Randall-Page RA, Prof Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Helen Baxendale, Julian Clary, Deborah Meaden, David Harsent, Rob and Nick Carter and many other artists.
In total, 429 works went on sale, all donated by a wide range of people including Royal Academicians, art students, as well as local artists, actors and personalities. Every penny of the profits went to improving and protecting the local environment and heritage in South West London.
Axel Scheffler, the best-selling illustrator of many favourite children’s picture books, including the award-winning The Gruffalo is one of the charity’s patrons and donates an illustration every year.
Axel says, “The Secret Sale is a unique way to raise funds for the important work that Environment Trust does. I’m delighted to take part again this year and I encourage other local artists to contribute a piece of art for this great cause.”
Gill Smith, an artist and printmaker based in South West London, and a regular supporter, says, “The Secret Art Sale is a fantastic event that showcases a wide variety of different art works from anonymous artists. I live in South West London and Environment Trust is a wonderful local charity that I can support by donating my art. I look forward to working on this year’s piece and attending the sale.”
Environment Trust is looking for art that is A5 in size. The art can be a painting, drawing, sketch or photograph. Those who contribute can have their details and biography promoted on Environment Trust’s web site and they will be invited with a friend to a special party for artists and VIPs on the evening of 28th September.
The works will be exhibited anonymously, and each will be sold at a price of £40. This enables buyers to purchase works of art they like at an affordable price, whilst offering them the chance of owning work by a renowned artist or celebrity. Only when buyers purchase their art will the name of the artist be revealed.
Berny Simcox, CEO of Environment Trust says, “This is our main fundraising event each year and we hope even more artists will contribute to make this our biggest and best Secret Art Sale yet. We are a small charity, but we have big ambitions, and this is a great way for local artists, famous or not, to make a difference and support our conservation work.”
The Secret Art sale takes place from 11am on Saturday 28th September to 5pm on Sunday 29th September at The Exchange in Twickenham. 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE.
Anyone wishing to contribute art should contact Lucia Pekarova from Environment Trust for an information pack on 07860 878462 or lucia.pekarova@environmenttrust.org.
For more information about Environment Trust, including projects and forthcoming events visit http://www.environmenttrust.org
New Lease of Life for Moormead Pavilion
Derelict for decades, efforts are now underway to rebuild Moormead Pavilion as a community space for St Margarets. A new charity and website has been set up and crowdfunding launched to raise money to take the project to planning.
Regenerating Moormead has been a vision for St Margarets resident Gariesh Sharma.“My family have used Moormead for ten years now, moving on from the playground, to football and junior parkrun and, along with many other local families, I have been frustrated by the lack of facilities, especially toilets, at Moormead so I am really pleased to have the project up and running.”
The campaign is supported by many local residents, junior sports clubs who train at Moormead, and by St Stephens Primary School who use Moormead for their PE lessons.
Local architects 50° North and SLR have provided free designs for MMCSP and Gariesh is hoping they will spark enthusiasm and debate. The charity are looking for support from the St Margarets and Twickenham community to move the project forward. Donate at http://www.swlen.org.uk
Twickenham Stadium and Metallica Concert
Pity some Fans have no sense of common decency or hygiene.
Up to eight males and one female peeing in my neighbours garden again following the Metallica concert.
Two more guys standing on the pavement peeing against the railings and one inside the garden against his front door.
I invite anyone to visit his garden and smell the stink of urine and poo emanating from it.
Unfortunately my neighbour died last week.
I’m thinking of creating a Facebook page to publish the RFU Peeing Problem in our streets and gardens and sharing it with Twickenham residents whom it affects to see if we can shame the council and RFU into action.
Any suggestions for the pages name please ?
Twickenham Stadium and Metallica Concert
Pity the Fans have no sense of common decency or hygiene.
Up to eight males and one female peeing in my neighbours garden again following the Metallica concert.
Two more guys standing on the pavement peeing against the railings and one inside the garden against his front door.
I invite anyone to visit his garden and smell the stink of urine and poo emanating from it.
Unfortunately my neighbour died last week.
Art & Soul – Art House
A free community arts workshop where visitors can explore the wellbeing benefits of creative activity and the ‘visionary outsider art’ style of Canadian Artist Sandra Silberzweig.
https://www.facebook.com/Silberzweig.Artwork
All materials provided. All welcome.
This event takes place during Richmond Art House and includes a small exhibition of Art & Soul participant artwork. Session led by Julia Ruppert, HCPC registered Art Therapist
Click to access richmond_art_house_open_studios_brochure.pdf
Please confirm your participation via event Brite
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arts-for-well-being-drop-in-workshop-tickets-62652924584,
Date And Time:
Sun, 30 June 2019
14:00 – 16:00 BST
Location:
Richmond Library Annex
Quadrant Road
Richmond
TW9 1DH
Richmond and Twickenham Green Party hosts; “What are Citizens’ Assemblies?”
Presentations and discussion, July 4th, at The Exchange, 75 London Road, Twickenham TW1 1BE.
“Our democracy is under stress. People feel frustrated, divided, powerless and have lost faith in politicians and experts. It can be different with people put at the heart of decision making” But how?
Hear Dominic Ward from Involve, “the UK’s leading public participation charity”, Remco Van Der Stoep of Compass, which promotes progressive collaboration, and Melanie Nazareth from Extinction Rebellion which is seeking a Citizen’s Assembly on the Climate Emergency.
Chaired by Green Party Councillor Andree Frieze, with plenty of opportunity to join the discussion.
Refreshments. Doors at 7.30 for 8.00. Over by 9.30.Free but please register at; https://what-are-citizens-assemblies.eventbrite.co.uk. First come, first served! This is the 3rd of our public events and we anticipate a good turn out.
The Green Party; Encouraging Debate, Exploring Ideas, Finding Solutions!
Now even more timely as Government announces use of Citizens Assembly model for addressing Climate Emergency.
parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/business-energy-industrial-strategy/news-parliament-2017/climate-change-and-net-zero-chairs-comments-17-19/
Does anyone recognise this? Can’t seem to add a photo, but it’s a very distinctive bunch of keys. A key ring saying LOVE YA! With a photo of a child. Another one from the 2012 olympics with the Union Jack, showing the Olympic Rings to the right and london to the left. It was dropped in Wayside Court, StMargarets a few weeks ago. Seems such a shame, as it would cost a lot to replace the lock!
Silent Cinema Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show [Edit: Thur 25th July]
Adult: 14.50 – Student, Volunteer, FoSH: £13
Something wicked this way comes..
Silent Cinema is coming to Strawberry Hill House this summer with a screening of the cult classic film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Join us and watch as Brad & Janet, a newly engaged couple, break down in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters.
Bring blankets or chairs to sit on and join us for this ‘time warp’ spectacular – dressing up and joining in is encouraged!
Doors open at 7.30pm for everyone to enjoy the lawns and picnic before the main event – screening will commence at 8.45pm to ensure that darkness is descending (headphones will be provided). A bar and ice creams will be available to purchase on the night.
For more information or to book, please visit http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on, or call us directly on 0208 744 1241
Any particular day?
Local Artist offering Art, Craft and Design workshops in Twickenham, and I’ve just built my own website – please check it out here http://www.dominiqueholt.com
Great to see another artist in the Twicker’s community and as a working artist and tutor myself I’m only too happy to add my support to art in Twickenham both as a teacher running local workshops and and art for interior design in your home. I’m at http://www.allanstorercontemporaryart.com.
Another skyscraper in Twickenham ??? https://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-80362424.html
should be easy to spot, it’s the one at the base of the mountains
All welcome to watch or exhibit at Dog Show on Diamond Jubilee Gardens: Saturday June 8th. Registration 1230 onwards, Show Time 2pm – 4pm
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘The Old Man & The Gun’ (USA) at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 11 June
Richmond Film Society’s 2018/19 Season concludes with its Twickenham Festival screening, the acclaimed biographical crime comedy, ‘The Old Man & The Gun’.
Robert Redford, in his final performance, plays Forrest Tucker, a career bank robber whose eighteen audacious prison breaks included one from Alcatraz in a homemade kayak. Following that escape at the age of 70, he and two elderly colleagues (‘the Over-the-Hill-Gang’) embarked upon to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded the authorities. No ordinary criminal, smartly dressed, charming and impeccably courteous, Tucker robbed banks with a casual opening of his jacket to reveal a gun and a few kind words for his victims.
The chemistry between Redford and Sissy Spacek, the last love-interest in Tucker’s life, is a beguiling highlight of the film, whilst a stellar cast includes Casey Affleck as the obsessive Dallas detective on his tail. The result is a captivating and thoroughly enjoyable comedy drama, aptly summarised by ‘Time Out’ as “a throwback to an era when making beautifully understated crime comedies was the peak of Hollywood’s ambition (before all the spandex took over).”
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. The bar opens at 7:00pm, drinks can be brought into the auditorium and coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
Our next season commences on 10 September. For further information on membership and our programme, please visit http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
Big Funny Fest – Richmond Comedy Festival – Sunday 16th June – Father’s (Go FREE) Day
Location: Old Deer Park, Twickenham Rd, Richmond, TW9 2SL (5 minute walk from Richmond station)
Timings: 2pm to 10:30pm
Website: http://www.bigfunnyfest.com
Ticket Link: https://www.seetickets.com/event/big-funny-fest/richmond-old-deer-park-london/1314456
See Tickets Discount Code: DAD
Big Funny Fest – Richmond Comedy Festival – Father’s Day Special – Bring your Dad for free!
It happens every year, but it doesn’t get any easier. Dads are notoriously tricky to buy for, so when Father’s Day rolls around each summer, finding the special gift can be somewhat difficult.
Richmond’s inaugural Big Funny Fest takes place on Father’s Day Weekend, the 15 & 16 June and it’s packed full of the hottest, most exciting new and established comedians performing live at the historic Old Deer Park, in Richmond Upon Thames. What better way to celebrate the big day than bringing your old man along for a day of food, fun, sun and laughter (and his ticket is free).
There are three shows in a fully seated Big Top, an afternoon, early evening and evening, each featuring 4 comedians. The fully seated Little Top hosts 4 shows. Every show ticket gives full access to see all of the shows and comedians performing at the Big Top and on a first come basis at the Little Top.
Big Top Line up for Sunday 16th June
Desiree Burch, Hal Cruttenden, Gary Delaney, Mark Dolan, Jen Brister, Angelos Epithemiou, Darren Harriott, Olga Koch, Nish Kumar, Andrew Maxwell, Glenn Moore and Lou Sanders.
These star-studded shows take place inside the historic landscape of the Old Deer Park and the riverside location boasts a competitively priced bar and a selection of hand-picked local street food vendors.
Bat species in Richmond-upon-Thames are under threat, but you can help save them!
Despite Richmond being home to eleven bat species, numbers have been in consistent decline for decades. Increased urban development is resulting in loss of habitat, reduction in food sources, poisoning from building chemical treatments and pesticides, light spillage and disturbance to their commuting routes.
Sadly, the outlook for our much-loved neighbours is only going to get bleaker if a number of local sites earmarked for development are built upon.
The South West London Environment Network have launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £1,560 to purchase a state-of-the-art Anabat Swift Bat Detector. This detector will be deployed at various sites at threat of development and will collect vital evidence of bat activity crucial in protecting their habitats and feeding grounds.
For more information on the project and how you can help, to go to: https://swlen.org.uk/projects/batting-for-bats/
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘Glory’ (Bulgaria) at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 28 May
When Tzanko, a shy, reclusive state-railroad worker, finds a substantial amount of cash on the tracks and hands it in, Julia, a cynical PR executive, sees an opportunity to turn his good deed into a distraction from a corruption scandal involving the Minister of Transport. After Tzanko is presented with a cheap digital watch as a reward at a set piece media event, Julia removes his wristwatch (a family heirloom) and proceeds to lose it. His quest to recover it turns into a bureaucratic nightmare and sets in train an escalating sequence of events which mines urban-rural, generational and class divisions.
Shot and edited in a naturalistic, documentary-like style reminiscent of the the Dardenne brothers and the Romanian ‘New Wave’, the result is a tense and, at times, darkly comedic fable of political and media corruption in contemporary Bulgaria.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. The bar opens at 7:00pm, drinks can be brought into the auditorium and coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information on membership and our programme for next season (commencing on 10 September), please visit http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
Strawberry Hill Flower Festival 2019 – An Evening of Tours & Talks
Part of the Strawberry Hill Flower Festival 2019 – Sunday 23d June – Wednesday 26th June 2019
Strawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
An Evening of Tours & Talks – Monday 24th June 2019 – 18:30 – 22:00
British flowers are having a resurgence and The Strawberry Hill Festival of Flowers is celebrating a new sustainable floristry by inviting florists and growers to create arrangements that reflect Horace Walpole’s ideas about design. His garden was naturalistic showing a love of flowers and scent and this exhibition will reflect Walpole’s ideas about visual impact; colour and the drama of light and dark, as well as using flowers grown in his eighteenth-century garden.
Join us for a bespoke tour of the Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival. Gather in the Great Parlour for a glass of fizz and meet your guide for a tour of the house. After the tour, you will be taken to the Gallery where Sandra Pullen, our resident garden historian will give you a brief tour of Horace Walpole’s garden through contemporary 18th-century watercolours. This will be followed by artisan flower grower and florist Sarah Whiting of Nettlewood Flowers talking about working with flowers from seed to bouquet and author and teacher Claire Bowen, of Honeysuckle and Hilda who will speak about environmentally sustainable floristry including foam free techniques.
Florists include Fiona Pickles of Firenza listed by The Telegraph as one of the Top 20 creative florists in the country and Creative Director for the 2018 Castle Howard Flower Festival, Claire Bowen of Honeysuckle and Hilda, floral designer, art historian and environmental campaigner, Brigitte Girling of Moss and Stone Floral Design, floral designer Leigh Chappell, visual storyteller and designer Janne Ford and local flower farmer and floral designer, Sarah Whiting…all with sustainability at the heart of their practice.
Tickets start at £18
Tickets can be booked at http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on/ or by calling 020 87441241
On Sunday 23rd June, Monday 24th June (daytime only) & Tuesday 25th June – Wednesday 26th June, the Flower Festival will be available and free of charge when booking a ticket to the House. Standard admission tickets start at £12.50, with concessions available.
FREE EVENT – Strawberry Hill Gothic Bookclub: The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall
Strawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
Wednesday 17th June 2019 – 19:30 – 21:00
The ever-popular Strawberry Hill Gothic Bookclub returns with an in-depth discussion of The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall.
England is in a state of environmental and economic crisis. Under the repressive regime of The Authority, citizens have been herded into urban centres, and all women of child-bearing age fitted with contraceptive devices. A woman known only as ‘Sister’, leaves her oppressive marriage to join an isolated group of women in a remote northern farm at Carhullan, where she intends to become a rebel fighter. But can she follow their notion of freedom and what it means to fight for it?
Book your place today and join us to discuss your views on this futuristic dystopian masterpiece.
This is a free event but tickets must be booked in advance via the Strawberry Hill House website.
Tickets can be booked at http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on/ or by calling 020 87441241
Strawberry Hill Music & Fun Day 2019
Strawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
Sunday 9th June 2019 – 12:00 – 19:30
Entry by suggested donation: Adult £4, Child £1
The fabulous family fun day in support of Strawberry Hill House returns with live music, street food, craft stalls, fairground rides and slides, face painting, children’s activities and more.
Welcoming back some of our favourite bands as well as some new talents, the music kicks off at 12.20pm with a fantastic line-up:
12.20 – 13.05 PowerJam
13.15 – 14.05 The Deputies
14.20 – 15.10 The Milk Men
15.25 – 16.15 The Launchers
16.25 – 17.15 The Persuaders
17.25 – 18.20 The Mustangs
18.35 – 19.30 Nark Drool & The Shudders
* Entry will be by donation (suggested donation £4/adult & £1/child)
* No dogs or other pets permitted
* Picnics welcome (No glass & No alcohol permitted – see note below)
* Licensed bar onsite
Help raise plenty of funds for Strawberry Hill House, the UK’s finest example of Gothic architecture.
PLEASE NOTE: A new Alcohol & Glass Policy will be in force for 2019. This means that for the first time in the history of the Strawberry Hill Music & Fun Day it will not be possible to bring any alcohol to this event or any glass bottles, glass crockery or tableware. While we appreciate that this may be upsetting for some people, it is in the interest of public health and safety for both the visitors throughout the day and for Strawberry Hill House’s neighbouring communities. The full explanation is provided in the Alcohol & Glass Policy downloadable from http://www.strawberryhillmusicday.co.uk/whats-on/.
For your safety, security checks will be in operation before entering the festival grounds. Alcohol, illegal substances or any other illegal items will be confiscated. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Know Your Place: Strawberry Hill – From At-Risk to Award Winning
Part of “Know Your Place – a Celebration of the Heritage of Richmond Upon Thames”
Strawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4ST
Wednesday 25th September 2019 – 18:30 – 21:30
Twickenham’s historic gem, Strawberry Hill House was saved by the initiative of local supporters. This talk will cover how the house went from at risk to winning awards including the top European prize for restoration within 10 years of setting up the Friends of Strawberry Hill. The lecture will illustrate the house before, during and after the restoration and take a closer look at some of the skills and craftspeople involved.
Speaker Terry Smith is a founder member of the Friends of Strawberry Hill and a founder trustee of the Strawberry Hill Trust. Terry is a Twickenham Architect and was a chair of the restoration project committee.
This lecture has been organised as part of the “Know Your Place – a Celebration of the Heritage of Richmond Upon Thames”. All proceeds will continue to help fund the maintenance of the House.
Tickets are £10, £8 (booked in advance)
Tickets can be booked at http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whats-on/ or by calling 020 87441241
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years’ at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 21 May
Richmond Film Society, in conjunction with The Exchange, presents ‘The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years’. Copyright : © 2016 Apple Corps Limited. Distributed by STUDIOCANAL LIMITED
The screening is part of The Exchange’s ‘Beatles in Twickenham’ events. The film will be preceded by a short introduction from Dr Richard Mills, a Senior Lecturer at St Mary’s University, an expert on The Beatles and author of the forthcoming book ‘The Beatles and Fandom: Sex, Death, and Progressive Nostalgia’.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. The bar opens at 7:00pm, drinks can be brought into the auditorium and coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information on our programme and on membership for next season (commencing on 10 September), please visit our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
Hi Guys – Just want to shout out about this show which promises to be brilliant.
12th June 2019
TOKEN MAN COMEDY (Part of the Twickenham Festival)
Tickets £10/£8 adv Doors 7.30pm – doors 10.30pm
The Exchange Theatre, 75 London Road, TW1 1BE
Tel: 020 240 2399 email: exchangetwickenham@stmarys.ac.uk
Five cracking women – one pretty good bloke!
Presenting the best in female comedy and female comedians but because we think it’s important to be inclusive, we always have a chap on the bill and he’s always one of the good ones so fear not!
Reversing the zeitgeist of the traditional, box ticking girl, on most traditional comedy nights or game show panels, we thought it would be fun to see how it works the other way round.
Headlined by the brilliant Catherine Bohart.
(high res photo on request)
Catherine started performing stand-up in 2015 and has enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks of UK and Irish comedy. In 2016, she was a finalist in both the BBC New Comedy Awards and Funny Women, drawing praise in the former for having “a distinctive voice and a story you’d like to hear” (Chortle) and in the latter for being “pretty much the perfect comedy package” (Beyond The Joke).
Catherine’s burgeoning broadcasting career has seen her appear on Comedy Central UK’s Roast Battle, BBC2’s The Mash Report, ITV2’s Stand Up Sketch Show and BBC NI’s The Blame Game. She has written material for BBC shows The Now Show, The News Quiz, Newsjack and Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, co-hosted BBC Radio 4 Extra Comedy Club with Arthur Smith and appeared on Reasons To Be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd. In 2017, Catherine was named on the BBC New Talent Hotlist, dedicated to listing the most exciting new broadcasting talent in the UK.
Also featuring Arielle Souma, Sally Firth, The Dirty Carols
Token Man – Luke Toulson
MC Janis Haves
Full details of all artists and performance clips on http://www.tokenmancomedy.com
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)’ (France) at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 14 May
Richmond Film Society’s season continues with Robin Campillo’s drama on AIDS/HIV activism in early nineties Paris, focusing upon the ‘Act Up’ group, who lobbied for legislation, research and treatment to combat the global pandemic and perceived government indifference. The film meshes the political with the personal to powerful effect and won 47 awards worldwide, including the ‘Grand Prix’ at Cannes.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. The bar opens at 7:00pm, drinks can be brought into the auditorium and coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information on our programme and on membership for next season (commencing on 10 September), please visit our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
All are very welcome, so do please come along and join us at The Exchange.
THE TEMPEST – STRAWBERRY HILL HOUSE – FRIDAY 31ST MAY
Performance starts at 7pm
Doors open at 6pm
The world’s first cycling theatre company, The HandleBards, pedal from venue to venue with all the set, props and costume necessary to perform environmentally sustainable Shakespeare across the globe.
Join their all-female troupe at Strawberry Hill House & Garden for a bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s ’The Tempest’ like no other. In usual HandleBards style, expect riotous amounts of energy, a fair old whack of chaos, and a great deal of laughter.
And what’s the play about? Well – a shipwreck washes the court of Milan up onto a mysterious desert island, inhabited by magicians, sprites and monsters, where nothing is as it seems. There’s magic, musicality and mystery a plenty!
This is an outdoor production, so please bring your own chair or blanket to sit on, a picnic to dig into, and dress for the weather!
Notes on Performance:-
Doors open at 6pm, so bring a picnic and come and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
Chairs, picnics, blankets and any other low level accessories are welcome.
In case of rain, please don’t bring umbrellas as they block sight-lines for other audience members. Ponchos and raincoats are just as fetching, so please wear these instead.
To book tickets go to: http://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/whatson
RUGBY DAY CAKE SALE – Saturday 4th May 11.30am – 1pm – Twickenham Riverside (next to the White Swan Pub). Raising money for 2 yr old Esme Handley who desperately needs funds for lifesaving Leukaemia treatment. Join us for some delicious cake and please give what you can!
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘Truman’ (Spain) at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 30 April
Richmond Film Society’s season continues with ‘Truman’, the award-winning Spanish drama-comedy – a film about the most essential subjects: life, death, love and friendship. Julián (Ricardo Darin) has terminal cancer. His oldest friend, Tomas, flies halfway round the world to be there for him and to tie up loose ends, including finding a home for Truman, a rather morose, elderly Bull Mastiff.
The film garnered 29 awards worldwide, including five Goyas.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. The bar opens at 7:00pm, drinks can be brought into the auditorium and coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information on our programme and on membership for next season (commencing on 10 September), please visit our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
All are very welcome, so do please come along and join us at The Exchange.
Free Guided Meditation at Heart, Twickenham
Sunday, May 5, 2019
4:00 PM 5:00 PM
SUB/MERGE is a meditative practice introduced by Cocoon for modern folks who feel they need to find their roots. The guided meditation is simple and concise, and takes you deeper into your own being, or consciousness.
The construction of consciousness is the basis of this modality: in the spiritual world, the mind is like a tree, and with excessive stimulation, desire and fear, it becomes overgrown and difficult to manage. S/M is designed to tend to the mind, so that it becomes the joyful instrument it was intended to be.
Everyone is welcome to share this universal practice. The full series of SUB/MERGE workshops are free of charge and open to all.
For more details or to register please visit:
http://www.cocoonacademy.com
or drop a line to:
info@cocoonacademy.com
Congratulations to Richmond Council for their ‘kind’ gesture to gardeners this morning. The centre of Twickenham was choked by eager folk driving to the Holly Rd car park to collect their free compost. But hey by midday they had run out and had sent for more rations. I didn’t get mine but decided it wasn’t worth hanging around for half an hour to pick up my allocation of two plastic bags of compost the size of packets of frozen peas!
I know the sweet folk at Richmond Council need to think of their backs when lifting said bags but was it really worth handing out soooo many planet-fouling plastic bags as well as inviting all those smelly cars to descend on town in anticipation of receiving something worth going out for? You could almost have popped them in your pocket and I bet not one of those dirtied dirt bags get re-used afterwards.
What a disaster.
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘Sweet Country’ (Australia) at 8:00pm on Tuesday, 16 April
Richmond Film Society’s season continues with ‘Sweet Country’ (Australia), Warwick Thornton’s acclaimed drama, which is set in the Australian outback in 1929. Loosely based on an actual case, it tells the story of a middle-aged Aboriginal farm-hand who, in fear for his life, kills a violent, boorish and racist landowner whilst acting in self-defence. Lacking any faith in the local justice system (“I’m a blackfella who killed a whitefella”), he and his wife flee and are pursued across the bleak and beautiful landscape by the town’s police sergeant and his posse.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. On screening nights, the bar opens at 7:00pm and drinks can be brought into the auditorium. Coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information, please visit our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
PLANT SALE FOR WILDLIFE
Charity fundraising event – Sunday 28th April 10am-3pm. Kilmorey Mausoleum wildlife garden, 275 St Margaret’s Road, Twickenham, TW1 1PN
Bring wildlife into your gardens by coming to our Plant Sale! We will be selling a wide range of plants which encourage and sustain local wildlife including annuals, biennials, perennial, herbs and MANY more. Whether you have a huge garden or tiny outside space, there will be plenty of bargain plants to get your gardens buzzing.
Our wild animals and plants have been losing their homes over the years – over half of UK species have declined over the last 50 years (State of Nature report, 2013) – so it’s very important we look after them. Many of our most beautiful garden plants are attractive to wildlife and any garden, however small, can be turned into a sanctuary for wildlife.
So please join us for our second Plant Sale for Wildlife at the beautiful and historic Kilmorey Mausoleum Garden in St. Margarets. Our plant sale will be combined with the mausoleum’s Open Day, so as well as buying some plants you can also explore the wildlife garden and have a look inside the mausoleum where our volunteers will be giving fascinating tours. There will be something for all the family to enjoy!
Entry is £3 which includes refreshments, tour of the mausoleum and wildlife garden.
Delicious homemade cakes will be available.
Raffle with lots of great prizes!
Unrestricted parking in the area all day!
All proceeds will support the Environment Trust’s nature and heritage conservation work.
For more details please e-mail lucia.pekarova@environmenttrust.org or call our office on 07860878462 .
Kindly supported by Petersham Nurseries
Mumming Co-working with Pop-Up crèche for work-from-home entrepreneurial mums who want some focus time and adult conversation- spread the word! We have sessions Mondays at The Royal Oak Twickenham (check website for dates around Easter and bank holidays) https://www.mumming.org/
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘Faces, Places‘ (France) at 8:15pm on Tuesday 2 April – please note the slightly later start time
There will be a short Members’ EGM before the film at 8:00pm. As a result, the screening will commence 15 minutes later than usual at around 8:15pm and not – as stated below – at 8:00pm. Our apologies for the confusion.
Ample time will be allowed for everyone to take their seats before the film commences and the screening will now conclude at around 9:50pm.
CURATOR’S TALK AT TURNER’S HOUSE – Miniature Lands of Myth and Memory 6th April, 11.30am-12 noon FREE with catalogue included in general admission of £8
Join historian and curator Dr Jacqueline Riding as she discusses J.M.W. Turner’s exquisite book illustrations for two of Sir Walter Scott’s epic Poetical Works and The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte.
Dr Riding is the author of Jacobites: A New History of the ’45 Rebellion (2016) and Peterloo:The Story of the Manchester Massacre (2018)), and was consultant on the Mike Leigh film Mr Turner. She is a trustee of the house Turner designed for himself in Twickenham and curated its first exhibition of their collection of Turner’s lesser-known masterpieces.
J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) were two of the most influential and successful celebrities of their day, with Scott’s poetry and prose breaking publishing sales records and Turner, praised for his sublime, romantic landscapes.
Turner and Scott first collaborated in 1818 on the Provincial Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of Scotland, while Turner was still living at his Twickenham villa, Sandycombe Lodge. This exhibition, the first ever to be staged at Turner’s newly-restored home, is focused on their last collaboration before Sir Walter’s death in 1832; the illustrations to his Poetical Works and Turner’s next commission, the designs for the Life of Napoleon Buonaparte.
Combining Turner’s exquisite designs and Scott’s powerfully evocative text, Miniature Lands of Myth and Memory will take the visitor on a time-travelling journey through the north of England, the contested Border country between England and Scotland and the wild Western Highlands. Visitors are invited to follow a trail of landscapes, antiquities, folk tales and ballads that inspired Scott’s poetry, before turning to recent history, the warmer climes of France and Italy and the battle fields of Napoleonic Europe.
Jacqueline says: “Our first exhibition focuses on two of Georgian Britain’s cultural greats. Turner and Scott were uniquely suited. Both viewed topography as landscapes of myth and memory, the silent witnesses of past ages and more recent history. Turner’s exquisite designs, translated into elegant engraved miniatures, are a fitting celebration of the source of Scott’s inspiration and his extraordinary creativity.”
Admission price of £8 includes the curator’s talk, admission to the house for a self-guided tour and a full colour 22 page exhibition catalogue.
Love Your Local Care Home Week 25th – 31st March
Care home staff do an amazing job looking after some of the oldest and frailest people in our communities, and we want them to know how much the work they do it appreciated.
You can get paid more for walking a dog than looking after our older people! Let’s show these committed carers across the Borough of Richmond some love.
Simply pop into your local care home between 25th – 31st March with a box of chocolates or similar for the staff, and a little note saying how much their work caring for our older people is valued.
You can find more info on our website http://www.embracingage.org.uk
Please share and spread the love! 🙂 Thanks
Richmond Film Society – screening of ‘On Body and Soul‘ (Hungary) at 8:00pm on Tuesday 19 March
Richmond Film Society’s season continues with the 2017 Berlinale Golden Bear winner and 2018 Foreign Language Oscar nominee, ‘On Body and Soul’. Two abattoir colleagues experience the same recurring woodland dreams, though they are not aware of it. When it comes to light, despite their contrasting characters, they try to understand what it means for their personal lives. An eerie, disorientating but mesmerising love story about two withdrawn outsiders.
‘On Body and Soul’ was one of ’25 must-see films’ identified last month by ‘The Observer’ film critics as defining a century of European Cinema.
Members go free. Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange’s Box Office (in person or by telephone on 020 8240 2399) or online at http://exchangetwickenham.co.uk/events/. Tickets are also available on the night (cash only).
Films are screened at The Exchange, opposite Twickenham Station at 75 London Road, Twickenham, TW1 1BE. On screening nights, the bar opens at 7:00pm and drinks can be brought into the auditorium. Coffee, tea and snacks are also available.
For further information on our current season of films, please visit our website at http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk or email admin@richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
All are very welcome, so do please come along and join us at The Exchange.