Chiswick, the Duke is back 🍻

Welcome back to Inside Chiswick, your weekly guide to the people, places and stories that make W4 tick.

This week, an old favourite returns. The Duke of Sussex has reopened on South Parade after a six-figure refurbishment, with a fresh look, a reworked garden and a menu that leans happily towards Spain. We’ve got the full tour below.

Elsewhere, it’s a very Chiswick mix. Two locals have been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours, Bedford Park Festival has opened in the sunshine, The Mulberry Centre is marking 25 years of cancer support, and we meet two local businesses worth knowing: one looking for its next owner, the other quietly building a following on Turnham Green Terrace.

There’s also a World Cup art competition for young local artists, a guide to where to watch the football in W4, and one quick favour from us. We’re running a short reader survey this week. It takes about three minutes, helps shape what we do next, and one reader will win £50 to spend at the newly reopened Duke of Sussex.

Glad to have you with us.

We've grown a lot this year, and we want to make sure Inside Chiswick keeps being the newsletter you actually want in your inbox. So we're running a short reader survey, seven questions, about three minutes, and it genuinely helps us shape what goes in each week.

As a thank you, one reader will win a £50 voucher to spend at the newly reopened Duke of Sussex. Fill it in by the end of June and you're in the draw.

It’s anonymous, apart from your email, which we only use to draw the winner.

Thanks. It really does make a difference.

The Duke of Sussex is back. The South Parade pub, which dates to the 1840s and takes its name from Prince Augustus Frederick, reopened on 12 June after a six-figure refurbishment. Inside there's a new colour scheme and reworked layout. Outside, the garden has new paving, planters and seating, with extra tables out front. There's also a new logo built around the Sussex Martlet, the mythical bird that gives the county its name.

Two locals recognised in the King's Birthday Honours
Two Chiswick names appear in this year's King's Birthday Honours. Design journalist, photographer and Green Grads founder Barbara Chandler receives an MBE for services to the design industry, capping a career that's taken her work from the Evening Standard to exhibitions in New York, Paris and Tokyo, and more recently into championing sustainability-minded graduates. Councillor Jack Emsley, who represents Chiswick Homefields and now leads the Conservative group on Hounslow Council, is awarded a British Empire Medal for public service, recognised for a strong record on local casework. A good week for two people who, in very different ways, give a lot to the area.
Source: The Chiswick Calendar

A sunny, record-crowd start to the 60th Bedford Park Festival
Green Days opened in glorious sunshine on Saturday, drawing big crowds to Acton Green for the first weekend of Chiswick's favourite fortnight, now in its 60th year. Local singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor declared the festival open at 11am, telling the crowd how rooted her family is in the area. There was a moment of local heritage too, as Peter Land spoke about life on The Avenue with his late wife Dame Gillian Lynne, the choreographer behind Cats and Phantom, and launched a new memoir in her honour. The fête's two new Kids Zones and the High Roller Tombola pulled the crowds, and the festival runs on to 28 June with concerts, talks and exhibitions across W4. It's organised by St Michael & All Angels and raises funds for the church and local charities, among them The Mulberry Centre, marking its 25th year.
Source: ChiswickW4.com

Two local businesses this week, both built by women who back themselves. One is looking for its next owner. The other is just getting started and worth a visit.

BusyLizzy Chiswick: a community looking for its next owner

This first one is a little different. It's not a business to visit, but one to take on.

BusyLizzy Chiswick is a pre and postnatal fitness club for mums, parents and babies, run out of the Hogarth Youth and Community Centre on Dukes Road. Zarna Dasani built it from scratch in January 2025, and in a little over a year it's grown into something closer to a village than a timetable: a loyal membership, experienced instructors, and a proper community of local families. It was named Operator of the Year at the 2025 Active Pregnancy Foundation Awards, which tells you something about how it's run.

Now Zarna is looking for someone to take it forward. A change in family circumstances means it's time to pass it on, and she'd love to find a local mum or parent who shares the same values to lead it into its next chapter. Whoever steps in inherits an established member base, existing venues, trained instructors, strong local recognition, and the backing of the wider BusyLizzy franchise network. It would suit a parent after a flexible business of their own, someone in fitness, wellbeing or childcare, or anyone who wants work with real purpose behind it.

If that sounds like you, or someone you know, Zarna would love a confidential chat. Email her at [email protected], call 07457 405568, or message @busylizzychiswick on Instagram.

The Loft Chiswick is a boutique Pilates and Barre studio on Turnham Green Terrace, built over its first six months entirely on word of mouth. It runs Reformer Pilates, Mat Pilates and Barre, all in small classes with expert instructors, so you're guided rather than left to figure out the kit on your own.

There's a class for wherever you're starting from. Complete Beginners sessions give newcomers a proper introduction to the Reformer, and there are specialist Mum & Baby Reformer and Barre classes where babies come along, so there's no childcare to sort first. Prenatal Reformer classes are launching later this month too.

Readers get a soft landing on price. The intro offer is three classes for £50, and Inside Chiswick readers get an extra £10 off any class pack with the code INSIDE10.

W: theloftchiswick.com
IG: @theloftpilatesstudio

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One for the dads this Sunday
It's Father's Day on Sunday, and W4 has it covered. The newly reopened Duke of Sussex is doing its Sunday roasts (followed by a 7.30pm quiz if Dad fancies it). The Chiswick Cheese Market is on the same morning with a "treat Dad" theme and 200-plus cheeses to graze. For something gentler, there's a 3pm trombone and piano recital at St Nicholas, with tea and cake afterwards. And if he'd rather be watching the football, our World Cup guide below has every pub in the area showing the games. Whatever he's into, there's a good excuse to get out together.

Chiswick Cheese Market: Affineur of the Year special | Sun 21 June | 9.30am-3pm | Old Market Place
The UK's only specialist cheese market returns this Sunday, and this one's a treat. They'll be showcasing the cheeses entered into this year's Affineur of the Year competition, so you can come and taste the entries yourself. Alongside them, the usual spread: 200-plus cheeses, chutneys, crackers and olives, tastings, expert advice from the makers, and hot food doing toasties, raclette and crepes. It also happens to be Father's Day, so it's a good shout if Dad's a cheese man. Run by local volunteers and not-for-profit, having given over £68,000 to charity and to supporting new cheesemakers. And a nice bit of trivia: Chiswick was originally 'Cheesewick', Old English for cheese farm.

Sunday Afternoon Concert: Trombone & Piano | Sun 21 June | 3pm | St Nicholas Church, Church Street, W4 2PJ
A lovely way to spend Father's Day afternoon. Trombonist Jonathan Stevens, currently studying at the Royal College of Music and a BBC Symphony Orchestra Pathways player, joins pianist Oliver Cuttriss for an afternoon recital. The programme runs from Tomasi's Concerto for Trombone to Clara Schumann, Brahms and Guilmant. It's a monthly fixture (with a break over July and August), and all profits go towards supporting emerging young musicians at St Nicholas. Tickets £10 on the door, students £5, with tea and homemade cake afterwards for £5. Cash or card.

Hogarth Summer Wine Tasting | Thu 25 June | 7pm | Hogarth Youth & Community Centre
A reminder that one of Chiswick's loveliest summer fixtures is next week. Eight wines with Master Sommelier Tim Syrad, a quiz, raffle and silent auction, all raising money for the Hogarth's summer residential trip for 35 local young people. Places are limited to 70 and going fast! Book your place.

Bedford Park Festival Young Art Competition | Entries close Sat 27 June | Open to all local children
The Festival's new Young Art Competition is open for entries, on the theme of the World Cup 2026. It was launched on Green Days by Sangeeta Weatherley, the artist judging it, and Dunwoody, the pig from Trotters on Turnham Green Terrace. There are prizes from Trotters up for grabs, and winning paintings will feature in a book. A lovely one for budding artists at home. Entries close at the end of the World Cup group stage on Saturday 27 June. Enter at bedfordparkfestival.org

100MilesforMax charity ride | Sat 20 June | Isle of Sheppey to Weston-super-Mare
A local cycling team is taking on one of the UK’s toughest one-day rides this weekend in memory of Maxence, a former Southfield School pupil who died after being diagnosed with a brain tumour aged four.

100MilesforMax, made up largely of parents from the school, will ride 204 miles from the Isle of Sheppey to Weston-super-Mare on Saturday 20 June as part of Chase the Sun. The team is raising funds for The Brain Tumour Charity and aiming to reach £200,000 in total. You can support them at justgiving.com/team/100milesformax1.

The House of Consequences | Tue 14 - Fri 17 July | 7.30pm | OSO Arts Centre, Barnes
A Chiswick-directed Agatha Christie revival, just over the bridge. Local resident Jane Gough directs three rarely staged one-act Christie mysteries, performed together as The House of Consequences, with three members of St Michael's Players in the cast. These aren't the usual Poirot-and-Marple fare: expect a chilling phone call from beyond the grave, two lovers framed for murder, and a woman who may or may not have fallen from her balcony, all set in a single Kensington house across 1960, 1980 and 2000. A treat for Christie fans, and a short hop over the river. Tickets available here.

This is our local guide to where to watch the World Cup, and what a start. England opened with a 4-2 win over Croatia last night, roared on in packed pubs across W4. The tournament runs through to 19 July, and there's plenty more to come.

England's remaining group games: Ghana (Tue 23 June, 9pm) and Panama (Sat 27 June, 10pm). Both are big nights, and most places take table bookings, so get in early.

Here's where to watch, with booking links where available.