Hello! There weren't many of us, but I am sooo happy!
Here is how the day went: (Be prepared for long sentences, please.)
We got on very well, saw a lot, met a few interesting
people, visited a shop run by an Indian family who sell a book by their elderly
neighbour about his boyhood in West Ealing during the war, felt most welcome
and were incredibly well fed during our visit to the Hindu temple in
Chapel Rd, met a volunteer at the soup kitchen of St John's Church (the one
that lost the spire), saw what is left of the Biblical Garden by the church and
decided to keep away from the crowds queuing to the main attractions at the
allotments, but still saw a lot, including lots of kids and adults in fancy
dresses and talking to some cheerful volunteers ushering people around.
Then, walking along the fences we talked about the old
ponds, the first crowdfunder, Lido Volunteers Centre and the building
predecessors, crossed the former Jackass
Common and animal pound, pondered over the bygone years of the area mentioning
the old pubs, coaching inns and stables, the Victorian Gardens and garden
owners, the nearby Orchard Cafe and Open Ealing with its exciting offer for the
art, craft and food connoisseurs, noticed the variety of ethnic restaurants on
the way, took pictures of ourselves in shop windows and of many sights.
And of course, after we met, we didn't fail to browse
through the stalls at the Avenue Vintage and Antique Market, talk about the
Vietnam leader's links with the Drayton Court and about the first three churches in the area as well as other places of worship. We glanced at the artwork at the Hilltop Roti, passed Cherry Pye Boutique looking at it from the other side of the road, stopped by the bank on the corner to talk about more and less distant past and headed towards Ealing Broadway but only until we took left into Hartington Road with some interesting brick houses. That's where we started exploring the Five Roads
Home Zone with its six mosaics (a community project) and were met by one of the
local community leaders. Charmion took us to see the current project they are
working on. The mosaic artist used to live next to her. You can't imagine how
difficult it was for me to find out who designed the mosaics! I searched online,
asked around and on social media. Finally, Mandie from the Orchard Cafe put me
in contact with the right person! Well, I am still waiting for the artist to email me back. That's life, people are busy.
Well, as it’s October, we also
celebrated the Black History Month. No tour of West Ealing would be complete
without talking about Eric and Jessica Huntley and their Bogle- L’Ouverture
Publications and bookshop in Chignell Place.
Thank you for reading about this recent tour and see you soon! J
How about Sunday, 5 November?
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