Forum Topics

Paying for temporary parking permit

do i have to pay for a temporary parking permit, even if i have a permit already? used to be that it was free for one Month.

Cormac Cullen ● 1313d5 Comments ● 1312d

Free talks in Feb - open to everyone !

Age concern Chiswick is proud to present informative talks and lectures this Feb.  1.  Thursday 9th February at 11.30 am:  a talk by a senior Elections Officer from LB Hounslow about the new photo Identity (ID) requirements for voting in local and national elections.  This is very important as you will not be able to vote without the right ID.       2.     Thursday 16th February at 12 noon :  a short talk by a representative of Scottish and Southern Electricity about Priority Services Registers.  All energy suppliers and network operators are legally required to keep a register of vulnerable customers.  He will explain who is eligible and how to get your name recorded. The talks are free and open to all! No need to bookWe are located at :The Friendship Club, Oxford Rd NChiswickLondon W4 4DNNearest tube : Gunnersbury Buses: H91, 110, 237, 267,440For more info, email us at ageconcernchiswick@outlook.com

Age Concern Chiswick ● 1321d6 Comments ● 1312d

Good for Jacinda Ardern

Let's face it front line politics for most people has to be a drain on your sanity apart from anything else. So I am full of admiration to Ms. Ardern for having the honesty and guts to say she's had it. Would that some of our lot (mostly men) would also take a dose of reality both in national and local politics. I well remember Estelle Morgan appointed Education Minster resigning, after saying she was in over her head, startling honesty, is it because women are more secure in who they are or simply just more realistic? Whatever it is, just wish more politicos would take note. When past your sell by date - bugger off.

Vanessa Smith ● 1339d34 Comments ● 1313d

New Education Centre Planned at Chiswick House

Is the refurbishment of the camelia greenhouse fully funded yet?? The wood frame is rotting and needs urgent, expensive work. Instead of opening in February it is closed this spring, as it was last spring. Can the Trustees tell us what is being done to raise funds and get remedial work under way, please?

Una-Jane Winfield ● 1315d1 Comments ● 1313d

The turkey earthquake

How awful - I hope our country goes to help soon -

Helen Bamberger ● 1322d23 Comments ● 1313d

Good Boy Coffee

I was devastated to learn of the sudden closure of Good Boy Coffee on Chiswick Common Road.  The sign on the shop gave no reason of why they closed so suddenly and the staff never gave any indication that anything was awry.  Does anyone have any info?

Ben Geofferson ● 1316d16 Comments ● 1313d

20 Mph speeding fine trial ended

Looks like the government has put an end to Wandsworth Council attempt to start fining people breaking the speed limit in 20mph zones.http://www.putneysw15.com/default.asp?section=community&link=http://neighbournet.com/server/common/ldrswandroad009.htmI'm a big fan of the 20mph speed limit in urban areas - it makes the whole envirnoment much less stressful. However, I'm pleased with this decision. It can be very difficult to stay under 20mph and I think lots of drivers genuinely intending to adhere to the limit drift over. There danger was that giving council's the power to do this would have resulted in another money spinner and lots of people struggling financially getting hit with fines with no real net benefit to road safety.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1319d12 Comments ● 1313d

Objects in the sky

With what has been going on lately does anyone have any theories?I'd rather get away from UFOs and outer space and concentrate on what they possibly are, where they are from, and what they are doing.Given the balloon sighting, this has led to the detection of these last two objects very quickly and the shooting of them down. Have they been overhead for far longer than we know?Have we had these objects over our skies without knowing, could we in time now have our own official sightings?I see something last year during our heatwave and have emailed Howard Hughes of The Unexplained over this as i was totally baffled to what it was and its course and change in direction on a clear hot sunny day. On what has happened lately ive only just yesterday googled objects in sky summer 2022 and have found a video. Not quite what i did see but has similar points to it but it was only one object and very high up. But strangely its around the same time and it was over west london also. By telescope revieled more than the human eye as my first thought was a party baloon. But given height,its movements and weather conditions i ruled it out. But could it have been a surveillance drone. Could it have been something that we now know about in north america Again,forget UFOs,it takes 4 years to get to the nearest star,but it makes an interesting conversation. Well from my point of view it does anyway not that im a expert on this subject https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/14/group-of-3-metal-sphere-ufos-spotted-making-turns-over-london-16996832/

Julian Pavey ● 1314d17 Comments ● 1313d

Chiswick Food Market promoter fails to impress Dragons' Den.

Richard Johnson who is behind the 66 Stall proposed food market on Chiswick High Road was on Dragon's Den last night trying to get investment for his food awards business which seems to be his main activity.  He came over as very engaging on a personal level and clearly a food connoisseur and lover,  but was a spectacular fail on the business presentation front. It is the last pitch on the programme. Thumbs down from all the Dragons. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001j0bl/dragons-den-series-20-episode-6

Susan Engel ● 1317d21 Comments ● 1314d

Right to Manage

Hi, Does anybody have any experience of tenants taking over management of a residential building under the Right to Manage optiona?  We have a flat in South London where the managing agent has been appalling.  (This is the second agent we have used) As residents, we are all considering taking over the right to manage. Would be grateful for any comments from someone with expeience/knowledge  of this? Thanks

K. Gdaniec ● 1319d20 Comments ● 1314d

Estate agent

A friend of mine has finally decided to sell his house in Central Chiswick after renting it out for years.  Any recommendations on a suitable sales agent based on personal experience?  Sensible realistic pricing, professional approach. No approaches from actual agents please. And it really is for a friend, not me! I’m not going anywhere… seems the market is a bit slow.

Susan Engel ● 1321d23 Comments ● 1314d

Discussion on Midwifery Then and Now

A brilliant 15 min discussion between two midwives:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j3jf

Philippa Bond ● 1314d0 Comments ● 1314d

Update on energy companies SSE and OVO.

ILLEGAL TRANSFER FROM ENERGY PROVIDER SSE TO OVO.A response given on Trustpilot on 26-1-23  by energy provider SSE regarding my illegal transfer from energy company SSE to energy company OVO which are part of the same company."Hi, Thank you for your recent email, I apologise for the delay in my response.We appreciate you contacting us. When I check your account, it has already been transferred to OVO Energy. As a result, your account has been closed and we no longer have access to it. I suggest you to get in touch with OVO Energy because they are the team that can assist you.Thank you for contacting SSE."John from OVO has informed me that I was tricked by SSE to sign up to OVO with a false promise of a £50 energy credit.And the response given on Trustpilot by OVO. Thanks for getting back to me, Neil.I've checked over your account and I can see you've managed to reach the team. I am sorry that the letter has caused such confusion, but the install would have had to have been with SSE.Thanks,Dave.Both SSE and OVO are continuing to argue that the other party are to blame for the illegal transfer. I have to wait about 7 weeks for SSE and OVO to sort the mess out before the Energy Ombudsman will intervene. Anyone wishing to change energy providers would be wise to check on Trustpilot the company they are thinking of using before deciding. SSE and OVO are having shocking reviews. See part of Which magazine review of OVO below.                                                              "Ovo Energy came near the bottom of the table in 13th place out of 16 energy companies rated by 10,197 members of the public in the annual Which? customer survey. This is a big drop from last year, when it came joint second. It had poor two-star ratings for almost all of the aspects of service we looked at, managing an average three stars for just one - the accuracy of its payments."One dissatisfied customer said: 'It’s impossible to contact them. Online options don’t make it easy to solve problems.'

Neil Milkins ● 1326d16 Comments ● 1314d

Front garden renovation

Hi, We are looking to get our front garden renovated. Does anyone have any recommendations please? The plan is to have a black and white tiled path with larger grey tiles on rest of the garden, we also need to get the wall rebuilt and new railings and a gate. Thanks in advance

Alison Taylor ● 1319d9 Comments ● 1315d

Ambulance and A & E  at Charing Cross Hospital

A very different Sunday morning compared with last week when, at this time, I was just getting home from hospital after an epileptic seizure.Sincere thanks to the great ambulance crew and to the wonderful Accident & Emergency professionals at Charing Cross Hospital.

Les Wilson ● 1323d10 Comments ● 1315d

Ealing Hospital Declares Walking Aid Amnesty

Can't see this posted to you good folks from W4 but in case anyone has been to Ealing hospital and still has some of their kit - Physiotherapists appealing to people to return unused walking aids to Ealing Hospital.Thousands of aids are given to patients every year, but many aren’t returned when patients no longer need them.Victoria Manson, Principal Lead Musculoskeletal and Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, at Northwick Park Hospital, said, “We do have a shortage of crutches, frames and walking sticks.“This means it can be a struggle to provide patients with the support they need, which in some cases can lead to discharge being held up. It costs tens of thousands of pounds a year to replace walking aids.“We’d really appreciate it if people can have a check at home and return any aids they have. That will allow us to clean them up and re-use/recycle them for other people to use.”If you have a metal Zimmer frame, crutches, or walking sticks, return it to Ealing Hospital - Level 1 Orange Wing, Physiotherapy department.Wooden walking sticks and commodes will not be accepted.

Peter King ● 1319d3 Comments ● 1315d

They should ban those dangerous bikes

Interesting article on the front page this evening about collisions on C9 in Hammersmith. Who’d have thought that those nice gentle cyclists might cause the worst injuries.‘Of the four incidents in which cyclists were injured during the year, one involved a car, one involved a goods vehicle and one involved a motorcycle (with the motorcyclists receiving slight injuries. The fourth which occurred at 8.05pm near the junction with Leamore Street on Friday 22 July 2022 was a collision between three cyclists in which one of them was badly hurt.’

Simon Hayes ● 1318d48 Comments ● 1316d

Chris Calvi-Freeman

Interesting little piece in today's 'i' regarding falling street lamps in Wellington N.Z. And who should get a mention? None other than CCF, well known to Chiswickians and other Hounslow residents from his time as a traffic officer for L.B.H. Seems there is a problem with metal fatigue in some street lamps installed only five years ago, and could possibly fall down without warning, could cause 'injury or death'.  Nice to know Chris is on the case.

Vanessa Smith ● 1317d6 Comments ● 1316d

The Breaks at the George IVth tomorrow night

Anyone fancy an evening of blistering rock covers, The Breaks are back at the George IVth tomorrow evening (11 Feb) from 9.00pm to late, free entry...www.the-breaks.co.uk

Charlie Makin ● 1317d1 Comments ● 1317d

TABLE TOP SALE 18th February, St Michaels, Elmwood Road

Table Top Sale, Saturday 18th February, 11am - 2pm. Set up from 9am. Tables £15. St Michaels Church Hall, Elmwood Road W4.For more information/ bookings, email Sue White on:sue.d.white2@gmail.com

Vanessa Cobb ● 1317d0 Comments ● 1317d