To Hill and Back

The network of street websites has now widened to include St John’s Hill and a very welcome addition it is too! Did you see the photos of us all at the launch party, kindly hosted by the fabulous ladies of ACE Fusion? The St John’s Hill community now has its very own website, thanks to the 10 Founder member traders who supported this project from the very beginning. This lovely SW London street already has a tangible sense of community - people say hello (even to the local police officers!) to each other and many of the traders consider themselves pals - this atmosphere is fairly rare in London, but certainly something which needs to be both promoted and encouraged - if this website can encourage people to get connected, to shop more locally and feel like they belong to the place where they live/work/both, then it is doing its job. I urge any and all readers to join the website (top right hand corner of the screen) as this means you will receive occasional emails containing exclusive special offers AND it means you can comment on the blog, the forums and write reviews on all your favourite businesses too! So JOIN TODAY and have your say!

The Festival day was fantastic! In fact, it exceeded my expectations - I just couldn’t believe that so many people from the community came out and enjoyed Lavender Hill, all together on such a beautiful, sunny day! The official police figures were that the Hill received over 10,000 people that day and certainly the bars and restaurants reported record takings that day - it was great to see all the wide selection of eateries, full to bursting with customers - it shows that people DO know where Lavender Hill is! And meanwhile £2,500 was raised for our chosen charity: Breast Cancer Care - well done to everyone who fund raised and took part in the day. I would like to thank the team of youngsters who helped on the day - they were the ones wearing the pink and black OFFICIAL ORGANISING TEAM t.shirts - all deserve special commendation for their energetic attitude and exemplary behaviour - great to see teenagers taking a positive place in the community - well done to them all.

The photos and stories from the day are on the Home Page of LavenderHill.co.uk - so do take a look and leave your comments of the day on the Forum - we are glad to hear from you all!

p.s. There are already mumblings around the Hill that a Christmas event is being planned… IN JULY?? Leave off.

There are just 8 short days to go until Lavender Hill hosts its very first Lavender Festival! Before the day can officially open, we must recruit our very own Town Crier to ring the bell and spread the word around Clapham Junction that the summer fair has begun.

To do this, we will be holding the Open Audition at the Taybridge pub, at 7pm on Wednesday 18th. ALL are welcome to participate and I have promised to buy all entrants a FREE beer just for taking part. There is a prize for winning the audition, kindly donated by the Anthony Laban salon at 69, Lavender Hill. Competitors will be asked to stand in front of the pub and project the words (written on a card) for all to hear - may the best pair of lungs win!

The official Town Crier of London Mr. Peter Moore, will be attending the Audition, to act as judge and to give the winner a pep-talk before the big day, 22nd June 11am-5pm. So if you fancy seeing a somewhat unusual, yet very worthy spectacle, then see you at the Taybridge pub on Lavender Hill - Wednesday 18th June 7pm!

The Lavender Festival is coming up this month and I have been totally run off my feet organising the details for the day - I am happy to report that the Mayor of Wandsworth will be attending and I hope so will all of you!

The visiting French food market means we all need to bring our shopping baskets, plus there will be tonnes of other fantastic stalls selling children’s clothes and books, jewellery and other accessories. ASDA will be hosting the adult sized bouncy castle and providing a face-painting service too! There will be apple bobbing, a caricaturist and even an open attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most Ferrero Rocher in one minute! So if you think you can scoff more chocs than the average person, see you at The Taybridge pub at midday when the competition will start!

Currently I am working to recruit a Town Crier for the morning of the Festival, to stand in the Clapham Junction area and bellow out the “Hear Ye Hear Ye” news that the fun activities can be found the length of Lavender Hill, perfect entertainment for all the family. If you think your dad/husband/brother/uncle/grandpa has a loud voice and is available to take on this challenge on behalf of the people of Wandsworth, then please email emma@LavenderHill.co.uk immediately as the open audition will be held a week before the Festival. Anyone can enter - you need only to bring the lungs and energy for the role, we are lucky enough to have been offered a free Town Crier teaching session with the official Town Crier of London, Mr. Peter Moore, so that he can impart some Crier knowledge to our volunteer!

I would like you to join with me in crossing all available fingers for good weather on Sunday the 22nd June- see you on the Hill for the first ever Lavender Festival!

CHANGE OF DATE

The decision has been taken to hold The Lavender Festival - Lavender Hill’s Summer Fair - on the 22nd June 2008

Keep your eye on the dedicated Festival page for updates and to see our list of Official Sponsors and participants.

It began with a few people talking about how lovely it would be to have a summer fair along Lavender Hill - a day for all the community to enjoy - everyone seemed to think it was a lovely idea - so as this number of supporters grew, so has the reality of making this day happen. The idea is to embrace the theme of ‘lavender’, as it is a way to celebrate the history of our little corner of London. So, together with some other local residents, I have begun the huge undertaking of making this vision happen, with the support of our local Wandsworth Council and Lorinda our town center manager.

On Tuesday the 4th of March, there will be an open meeting at the Taybridge pub on Lavender Hill from 3-6pm. Everyone is welcome to visit at any moment between these times, to come and give their ideas, wishes, comments, suggestions and of course, any offers of help and volunteers for the organising committee are more than welcome. We need a few more hands to make this light work!

Please put the 8th of June in your diaries - I’ll look forward to seeing you on the Hill!

Emma@LavenderHill.co.uk

Early this week I opened up my email account, as per usual, to find an unrecognized email address in my inbox - at first I thought my spam filter had let me down, but far from it - this was an email from Sabrina in Vallon-en-Sully, France. She wrote that she is a school teacher, teaching the English language to Junior students. She went on to explain that her students had found a stray balloon in a field, attached to which were the words: “Northcote Road Christmas Fair, Friday December 7^th, 4pm -8pm”. Sabrina said that the children were very excited about the thought that it had flown all the way from London to their small corner of France and asked me to confirm that indeed this place does exist and to explain to the children what a Christmas Fair is!

It is here in this very Blog that my name is attached with the words Northcote Road and Christmas Fair, after all I did attend the event in question. Immediately that I read and digested the message, I felt lucky that it came to me and that I am charged with the task of answering these French children, but I have hesitated in writing to them, as I feel the weight of the children’s expectations resting on my reply email - if you have any suggestions of what I should include in my reply, then please leave me a comment! Did anyone else attend the Fair that evening? Did anyone let off a helium balloon? Do let me know!

I’m always more than a little hopeful that a sprinkling of snow may appear over our little corner of South West London and the early days of the year are the most likely. I know it messes up public transport and causes untold havoc on the roads, but there is something magic in the atmosphere when the weather man turns everything white.

I live alongside the Common, so I often hear the patter of runners’ feet on the pathways, even more now that the new year’s resolution bus has recently been past. I admit, I don’t have the discipline to join a gym, but I have been known to train out on the grass on the lesser soggy days. Perhaps I might be able to further motivate myself if I buy some good kit from Ceelect Sports (who have recently moved into the unit next door to the one they previously occupied) then I shall have no excuses.

My birthday comes just 3 days before a new year start, this time I had my party at Bar Social and on the night much fun was had. For me this time of year is always full of reflection, planning and shopping at the sales(!). I have only made one resolve going forward and that is to improve my baking skills - biscuits and cakes I can manage, but I want to move up to pies and puff pastry. I took myself up to the top floor in Debenhams, where I not only discovered a coffee shop (why do I get so thirsty in department stores?) but loads of great reductions on all types of home-ware. I started the year by producing a colourful batch of iced fairy cakes, around which my friends seemed able to act only 10% of their age. I suppose baking and sharing good food is just another way to show my affection for those around me and a chance for them to enjoy a childish indulgence, despite the fact that in doing so I am probably undoing their well made new years resolutions!

Please keep all your fingers crossed for some snow this month and good luck with whatever your equivalent to baking and running may be - please feel free to let me know what new year’s resolutions you are holding yourselves to by writing a comment on my blog - I’m always happy to hear fellow Lavender lovers.  

 Happy New Year to all.

Its the twinkly time of year again - how quickly the weeks seem to pass since the summer (did anyone see it?) time - already we are seeing the decorations and seasonal special offers up and down the Hill. I do think it is a real shame the Christmas lights do not extend the whole length of Lavender Hill. I do like the hustle and bustle of the Clapham Junction area, but just because the footfall to Britain’s busiest railway station (Clapham Junction’s annual entry/exit is just over 12.5 million) is much higher than say that of Latchmere Road, should that mean the Christmas cheer ends at ASDA? I think a good part of the magic winter atmosphere is made up from flashing neon’s and fat Santas! I am not saying I’m one of the “put everything onto the tree” kind of festive decorators, I do like my baubles to match my tinsel, but when it comes to twinkly lights, more is definitely not less!

I passed by Olivier’s Lounge and Lillidiva this evening and admired their stylish Christmassy window displays… I wonder if my boyfriend is such a magpie as me - here’s hoping because both boutiques have lush girly gifts inside! I was particularly proud of myself this week because I bought my first Christmas present - for my mother. Every year I am faced with the haunting question: what do you buy the woman that has EVERYTHING? I know she has everything, because every time I go to her house, she tries to give me things! Do not misunderstand me, I am hugely grateful for her contributions to my household, but seriously my kitchen cupboards are full to bursting! I now have a medley of electric contraptions, none of which “he” will allow to live on the surfaces and with Christmas well on its way I can feel “him” cringing already with what chopping/mixing/heating/toasting machine will be prematurely bequeathed to us next! Anyway, I bought her a huge pink calculator (approximately A4 sized) from Design Me on the corner of Queenstown Road, as I know her old one broke recently and even she will admit that her eyesight is not perhaps quite what it was.

This is a very busy time for the majority of us, plus it is a big time for PARTIES! Has anyone else drowned in perfume advertisements whilst watching evening television lately? Well aside from making sure I smell good this festive season, I have promised myself that I will successfully make and keep an appointment with my hairdresser at the Anthony Laban Salon, to make sure my locks are looking good and I can see past my fringe this Christmas! Not only is it time for Santa to visit me, but it is also my birthday before the New Year - I won’t tell you how old I will be - if a lady tells you her age, you never know what else she might say!

And on that note, I will sign off and just wish you all… Happy Seasonal Shopping*!

 *especially on Lavender Hill !

I sincerely hope it is never too late to change! Certainly my attitude to Saving The Planet and my habits with things like recycling have altered (and hopefully improved!) hugely, as the subject has been discussed in the media and I have become better informed. I believe that through education (information sharing), we CAN protect the London landscape.

I would like to draw your attention to this page from the Guardian’s website, first the original article and then the comments which have been left by Agnes Poirier’s readers. I found the political ranting fairly amusing, but at its heart is an important campaign and indeed, the motivation for launching LavenderHill.co.uk: to support our local, independant retailers and to SAVE OUR SHOPS!

 http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/agnes_poirier/2006/03/death_of_the_independents.html