Edition 20 in partnership with Auto West London
The 76 plate arrived on 1 September, and Auto West London on Devonshire Road is the West London home of OMODA and JAECOO, with petrol, hybrid and fully electric models across the range.
Through September the JAECOO 7 plug-in hybrid SUV is available on 0% APR. It is an upright, full-size SUV, and the cabin comes better equipped than the price suggests: panoramic sunroof, head-up display, heated and ventilated front seats, a large central touchscreen and a Sony audio system.
Book an appointment, or just go and look at it.
📍 109 Devonshire Road, W4 2AN
🔗 autowestlondon.co.uk | ig: @autowestlondon_
Welcome back.
Sunday is the day this week. The flower market turns six and is marking it with cake and prosecco, the Duck Pond Market is on at Chiswick House, the food market runs as it always does, and Tidefest brings the river festival back to Strand on the Green. All of it on 6 September, all of it in 28°C.
Also inside: the Learning Hub you helped pay for finally opens, one artwork leaves the High Road and another arrives, and six Chiswick buildings you don't normally get into open their doors for Open House.
Glad to have you with us.
💐 The flower market turns six
Six years ago Old Market Place got its first flower market since 1919. On Sunday it turns six, and the Mayor of Hounslow, Cllr Ranjit Gill, arrives at 2pm for cake, prosecco, and a collection for Age UK Hounslow's dementia services.
🍽️ Brook & Green, Chiswick High Road, the former Silver Birch site
Opens later this month, filling the site The Silver Birch left behind in March after five years. All-day dining across three spaces: a 49-cover ground floor room, a 14-cover terrace, and a new wine room downstairs built around the restaurant's own collection, doubling as a space for tastings and private dining.
The menu draws on Mediterranean, Asian and British cooking, and owner Tim Price is pitching it deliberately as a regular rather than an occasion. "This isn't about building a name around one person or one kitchen. It's about building a restaurant Chiswick will use every week, for years."
Source: Restaurant Online
The local wins, openings and milestones worth knowing about this week.
🏛️ The Learning Hub opens
Chiswick House & Gardens launches its new Learning Hub and Yard with a Community Celebration Day on Sunday 20 September, 10.30am to 3.30pm.
This is the building the crowdfunder paid for. Readers here will remember it: £201,025 raised against a £165,000 target back in the spring, covering the Learning Hub, the Kitchen Garden Hub and the Foyle Learning Yard. It had its first proper outing last week hosting the Queer Global exhibition over the bank holiday.
The launch day is free throughout: activities in the new spaces, free entry to the House itself, and a chance to see inside the Artists' Studios.
Source: Chiswick House & Gardens Trust
🎨 One artwork leaves the High Road, another arrives
On Saturday 29 August, Abundance London took down the London Panorama by Will Pearson, the last surviving piece of the Butterfly Wall at the old police station and one of their most ambitious temporary projects.
Three weeks later they put something new up. The next W4th Plinth is unveiled at the Turnham Green Terrace piazza on Saturday 19 September at 2pm, with what Abundance describe as a stunning new image and some very special guests. The current work, by Tanya Meditsky, comes down first, so this is your last fortnight with it.
The plinth has been running since September 2019, when Sir Peter Blake opened it with his collage of Chiswick Empire music hall performers. The image usually changes every six months, shortlisted by Abundance and put to a public vote.
Source: Abundance London
🏛️ Six Chiswick buildings you don't normally get into
Open House Festival runs London-wide from 12 to 20 September, and six Chiswick locations are taking part this year, with free guided tours if you book ahead.
Chiswick Town Hall opens twice on Tuesday 15 September, the Italianate vestry hall built in 1876 for St Nicholas Parish Council. Hogarth's House runs garden tours across two weekends. The Victorian Society opens its Bedford Park headquarters, an 1880 house on Priory Gardens, on Saturday 12 September, paired with a walking tour of the area led by local historian John Scott. There's also a themed walk starting at Chiswick Business Park, taking in Gunnersbury Triangle and the birthplace of Patrick Caulfield, and a walk following the Stamford Brook, one of London's hidden rivers.
Booking is through the festival's own site, and spaces are limited.
🔗 openhouse.org.uk
The volunteer group behind Chiswick's pocket parks, the W4th Plinth, and this Saturday's Apple Day. Small account, just over 1,500 followers, but it's the best way to see what they're actually up to: tree planting, fruit harvests, guerrilla gardening, and updates on projects most people walk past without knowing who's behind them.
Two reasons to follow this particular week. Apple Day is Saturday, and the next plinth artwork goes up in a fortnight.
💐 Pick and arrange your own bouquet | Fri 4 Sept | 2.30pm to 4.30pm | Kitchen Garden, Chiswick House
Florist Lilian Highmoor takes you through cutting and arranging, and the bouquet goes home with you. Places limited. More info.
🎐 Gong Bath at Hammersmith Quakers | Fri 4 September | 7-8pm | Hammersmith Quaker Meeting House
W4 Gong Bath's Gabi Lozano runs an hour-long sound bath session. Details
🍏 Abundance Apple Day | Sat 5 Sept | 1pm to 3pm | Outside Chiswick Library, 1 Duke's Avenue, W4 2AB
The end of the picking season. Help press the fruit, mould cob clay into insect houses, paint pebble insects, go at some big paper with paints, and drink the juice. All free. More details.
💐 Chiswick Flower Market | Sun 6 Sept | 9am to 4pm | Old Market Place
Sixth birthday, with cake and bubbles at 2pm. Over 40 stalls and dahlias at their peak. Details.
🚣 Thames Tidefest | Sun 6 Sept | Strand on the Green
Kayaking, paddleboarding, boat trips to the islands, river dipping and the angling competition. Free or low cost, and the riverside pubs are serving. Details.
🦆 Duck Pond Market | Sun 6 Sept | 10am to 4pm | Chiswick House & Gardens
Arts, crafts and homeware, monthly. More details.
🥖 The Food Market at Dukes Meadows | Sun 6 Sept | 10am to 2pm | The Pavilion, Market Drive, W4 2RX
Every Sunday, proceeds back into the park. Details.
🎶 Hogarth Singers, first rehearsal of the term | Mon 7 Sept | 7.30pm to 9.30pm | St Michael and All Angels Church, Bath Road, W4 1TT
Friendly local choir, no audition, actively recruiting. This week's rehearsal and next Monday's (14 September) are both free open sessions, so it's a no-commitment way to try it out. £10 a term for under-25s, and new bass and tenor singers get 50% off their first term. More details.
Further ahead
📖 Chiswick Book Festival | Wed 9 to Mon 14 Sept | Multiple venues
Opens with the Local Authors Showcase at the George IV. Among the twenty two-minute slots: Karen Liebreich on the history of Chiswick in apples and pears, now £5. Details.
🕰️ Chiswick Antiques & Vintage Market | Sun 13 Sept | 9am to 3pm | Old Market Place
Second Sunday of the month.
🎺 The Phil Brown Swingtet plus guests | Thu 17 Sept | 8pm to 10.30pm | The Duck and Ball, Chiswick Cricket Club, 12 Riverside Drive, W4 2SP
Six-piece band covering everything from Armstrong to Basie, running every third Thursday. Regular guest vocalists and musicians join throughout the evening. Free entry.
🎨 The next W4th Plinth is unveiled | Sat 19 Sept | 2pm | Turnham Green Terrace piazza
New image, special guests, and the last chance to see Tanya Meditsky's before it goes. More details.
🐕 Chiswick House Dog Show | Sun 20 Sept | 11am to 4.15pm | Cricket Pitch, Chiswick House
22nd year, 17 classes, fancy dress theme is The Traitors. £6 a class, spectators free. More details.
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