'Little Japan' - a Sunday stroll in January sun

A pleasant walk we took with a friend on a sunny Sunday of January 22nd! Perfect for sweet postcard-style picture taking.My smartphone produced a slide show with background music to it. I didn't have to do anything! We went 'backstage' behind a row of mock-Tudor houses near along the Central Line tracks in search of a small section of a stream which was supposed to run uncovered on its way down Hanger Hill to end up hidden to all in the Thames in Chiswick. Discouraged by the 'Private' signs we discontinued our search and went back to the ordinary streets of the Hanger Hill Garden Estate and beyond, towards the hill.

Ealing Broadway - walking and talking in the rain

Walking in the rain at Walpole Park

Today I led another of the Walking Talking and Exploring Group walks, this time around Ealing Broadway. I titled it 'The Heart of Ealing' or 'Ealing Then and Now'. It was a cold and rainy day. I kept receiving messages from people who couldn't come because of the rain or not feeling well. I understand. It's a working day tomorrow, better to save the energy at this time of the year.  So far I had been incredibly lucky with the weather on my tours. I always put a lot of effort into  preparing and advertising my tours, but this time I went an extra mile and advertised on a big Polish website which meant I wrote a long text describing the idea behind these tours in my native tongue. Expecting the rain, I also prepared an alternative scenario - visits to little known indoor locations.

It was no fun riding a bike in the rain to the meeting place. At least I could leave my vehicle under the roof. Right next to the taxi rank in Ealing Broadway there is a bike station, one of the many London owes to the previous mayor, great fan of bicycles, just like me. The area around the station is undergoing major changes to do with building Crossrail. It's not the first time, there are works in the station area, mind you. After all, the first trains arrived in Ealing in 1838!

Well, looks like I have no time to write more here and now, but I don't want to leave this page without telling you, Dear Reader, about our unplanned visit to the Welsh Presbyterian Church on Ealing Green.

Welsh Presbyterian Church, Ealing

The door was open and we saw people leaving the place after the service so we asked permission and walked in, introduced ourselves and had a lovely chat with the people inside. From a senior congregation member dressed in a dark suit that we were introduced to, we heard about an eminent  man born in Wales to Polish parents who has strong connections to this church. His  Welsh wife belonged to this congregation until quite recently, when they moved to Cambridge. Wikipedia confirmed what I learned yesterday: Professor Sir Leszek Borysewicz is currently the 345th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, his term of office having started on 1 October 2010.  now You are welcome to read Professor's biography following this link.

Next to the church is Jehovah's Witnesses' Hall and across the street  the United Reformed and Methodist Church. Did you know that the original Methodist Church was the neo-gothic building in Windsor Road where now Polish people pray? The congregation at the Methodist Church in Windsor Road had become so small that the two churches merged leaving the Windsor edifice designed by Charles Jones (like many others around Ealing) neglected. Hence the Polish community could purchase it and turn it into a hub not only for the practising Roman Catholics, but also for those who need help. There are 12-Step group meetings there and much more on offer. Should you wish to know, before that took place, Polish people prayed at St Mathew's in Ealing Common.

The other pleasant visit was to the tea rooms at The Questors Theatre in Mattock Lane. It is run by Pam, a lovely lady who is also a director at this renowned amateur theatre, the largest of its kind in Britain. Tea Darling is a place to go for a quality time over a cup of tea served in a proper china cup, but that's a topic for another story, Dear Reader.:-)

Tea Darling, Pam, at the Questors

On our walk we passed the Polish church in Windsor Road. Full of people attending a Sunday service it was, as one would expect. However, I led my tiny group through a Polish restaurant next door to the staircase at the bottom of which I showed them an important painting. It depicts the Polish martyr priest Father Maximilian Kolbe. He gave his life to save the life of a father and husband who was selected to die by the Nazi at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The man broke in tears begging to be spared for the sake of his family. This is when Father Kolbe offered to replace him. Mr Google will quickly tell you this:

'Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan Friar who was sent to Auschwitz for hiding Jews during the Second World War. When the Nazi guards selected 10 people to be starved to death in punishment, Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger. He was later canonised as a martyr.' 
And Ms Wiki:

'Continuing to act as a priest, Kolbe was subjected to violent harassment, including beating and lashings, and once had to be smuggled to a prison hospital by friendly inmates.^[2][16] At the end of July 1941, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!", Kolbe volunteered to take his place.^[8]

According to an eye witness, an assistant janitor at that time, in his prison cell, Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer to Our Lady. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. “The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection.^[11] His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.

The man Father Kolbe rescued survived the war but didn't have a happy life.Did you know that you could seethe saint's statue among other 20-century saints when you look at the front of Westminster Abbey?

Having contemplated this act of sacrifice we climbed upstairs to 'investigate' the source of music coming from Windsor Hall. It was a rehearsal of a Polish folk group! The wall at the top of the stairs held another painting, a much larger one. It depicts Stanislaw Kostka, a Polish saint who lived in the 16th and died very young. 

To me a surprise was that my walking companions hadn't known about the walled garden at Walpole Park despite the fact they had visited the park a great many times and even sat on the grass almost next to it, obviously when the weather was better. 

Taking a picture of each other. What fun!:-)

I also showed my guests where the Ealing Synagogue was, what the impressive building is used for these days and told them why this is so.


We touched on lots of topics from a very distant past to today and beyond. 

This young lad, Conor, was handing out leaflets of the long established local  Polish travel company. his mother is Polish and dad is Irish.

Conor giving out ATLAS TRAVEL flyers

We caught a glimpse of a Polish folk group rehersal.

Sauerkraut in the Gryf Restaurant kitchen

I thought it was a real flower, it looked so convincing

 How can you not mention the Ealing Studios, Ealing comedies and Sir Michael Balcon who lived conveniently near his workplace!

Who's that inside Sir Michael Balcon's house?

One of Ealing blue plaques

Ealing Studios

On seeing friendly squirrels even Margrit took out the camera at Walpole Park.

Was it the only moment Margrit reached for the camera?:-)

Is Sunday the only day there are no protesters outside Marie Stopes Centre?

The Grapevine Bar at the Questors lends its walls to present the works by local artists and you can buy something for your collection!

Tea Darling upstairs is getting more and more character under Pam's management.

 It's only in the recent years that Ealing Broadway hasn't had a cinema. There was a time when you could choose among as many as four!

It's not the first time and first venue I have noticed this type of 'street art' in the area.

There was some exhibition 'hatching' at the popup gallery in Bond Street and I recognised the hand of my friend Hassan, a calligraphy master!

 The other artwork also looked familiar and later on I found out that the exhibition of The Ark artists was opening that evening.

There was much more we did and saw, but I really have to go now. Please tell me what you think of a Sunday walk like this in the comments. :-)

Encounters at St Dunstan's in East Acton

Today it was getting dark when I was cycling past St Dunstan's Church in East Acton and heard the most beautiful organ music. The lights were on at the church. I turned left, left and left again and found myself by the open entrance gate. When I pushed the door open I decided to bring in the bike as I didn't really want to leave it outside. Apart from the organ music coming from the church interior, there was a lot going on in the room that led from the entrance hall into the church.

A woman in charge let me in so I could listen to the music and explained to me that she and other volunteers were preparing beds for the homeless people as part of the scheme churches in London run to help these people survive the cold season. I didn't want to disturb the volunteers and went inside the church.

There was the organ music, a beautiful dark interior, me and an elderly man who soon left to help the volunteers next door. I had it all to myself, could look at the details, take pictures and even make a little recording. Time was not a problem, lucky me, that evening.

After a while I went back into the room where the beds had almost been made in the meantime and had a chat with the lady called Jackie who let me in. I learnt more about the project and about the fact that they are always in need of more beds and bedding. There are several churches in Ealing Borough that take turns providing accommodation for the homeless between November and March every year. I think St Mary's in Acton is one of them. I was allowed to take pictures, the volunteers didn't mind.



As we were talking I noticed the elderly man in a bright red jumper working with the volunteers. Somehow, we started talking and this is how I met Derek. He lives nearby, on the other side of the M40, close to John Perryn School and St Dunstan's has always been his church. He was christened there and his parents gave him two names: Derek Leonard, after his grandfathers. He was seven when WW2 broke out. On finding out that I had come by bike, as he was seeing me off, he smiled broadly and told me that he was a member of The Middlesex Road Club for many years. So many happy memories he surely has of those years. When he held the door open for me he pointed at the font which occupies a strange place: outside, opposite the entrance on the lawn. Derek is not at all happy about it. He said he had protested against it being left outdoors at the mercy of elements and local vandals, but to no avail. I can understand him. After all, it's the very same font he was christened in. I looked at the scene at that very moment and simply had to preserve the scene with my smartphone camera. Derek agreed for me to take a picture of him in the bright red jumper, the font behind him and the dark blue sky in the background.


Regretfully,  I couldn't stay longer to listen to Derek's memories. I gave him my card if he wanted to call me for a chat, but I don't think he will call. As we were parting I gave him a  hug and we stayed close for a moment, and I tell you, Dear Reader, a very powerful moment it was.

To me it was a very meaningful experience, this relatively short time with an old man I may never meet again, a man who has stories to tell, but not someone to listen to them.