A local family took action yesterday in support of the London Parklets campaign asking for the right for residents of the capital
to create small green and socialising spaces on their street. A contrast to all those fuming motorists queueing for petrol over the weekend!
A small table, three chairs, a tomato planter and a houseplant :
that's all it took last Sunday afternoon for a Harlesden family to create a
parklet on a space normally used for car parking.
For two hours, Amandine Alexandre-Hughes, her husband, Ben and their 4
year old son, Barnaby, invited neighbours and friends to come and have a cup of
tea and a biscuit in their temporary parklet.
Amandine Alexandre-Hughes, Ben Hughes and their son on September 26th.
The family is asking for the right to create a permanentparklet outside their house.
Photo by Mary Mitchell
“We grabbed the opportunity of The People Parking Day, created by London
Parklets Campaign, to catch up with neighbours whom we had not
talked to properly in a long time”, Amandine told us.
“We also received very positive feedback from passersby. It’s not
surprising considering the obvious benefits of parklets. They create a space
for spontaneous and friendly interactions between people. Those do not happen
otherwise because our streets are dominated by cars, that cause noise and are a
major source of air pollution”, adds the parklet enthusiast who is also a clean
air campaigner.
“Although half of Harlesden residents don’t own a car, the
neighbourhood is dominated by them. Also, green spaces are few and far between
in our area and trees are sparse. We desperately need parklets”, insists
Amandine Alexandre-Hughes, a Clean Air ambassador for Harlesden Neighbourhood
Forum and Mums
for Lungs activist.
Among the people who enjoyed the
pop-up parklet created by the Alexandre-Hughes family on Brownlow road was
fellow Harlesden resident Mary Mitchell and her youngest daughter.
“I was delighted to have the
opportunity to chat with other neighbours, drink tea, and bring some greenery
to the realm. More thought-provoking acts of reclamation like this are
necessary to bring about a cleaner, healthier, and happier community in our
local areas”, Mary said.
On top of being
community-friendly, People Parking Day organisers highlight the fact that
parklets can help address the climate crisis by increasing biodiversity,
breaking up heat islands and providing extra storm drainage.
Campaigners are calling on the
London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and borough leaders to allow residents to apply to
create parklets in the streets where they live, with an aim to have one on
every road in the capital.
This is the second and final part of Philip Grant's Guest Post on the Macari music shop. The first part can be read HERE.
Welcome back to this
concluding part of an Ealing Road music shop’s story. In Part 1 we met two
Alans, a vocalist and a guitar player, who started a skiffle group with school
friends, and regularly visited Macari’s Musical Exchange. We join them again as
a “beat” group in the early 1960s.
A Musical
Exchange advert from the 1960s. (Image
from the internet, courtesy of Tony Royden)
Alan Hayward and the Haymakers usually practised
at Lyon Park School, and mainly performed at a club based there. One day, while
rehearsing at the school, a teenage drummer called Keith Moon came to hear
them. He showed them what he could do on his drums, and managed to move
the drum kit as far as the door while drumming! The group was not impressed with
him (nor he with them).
The young Keith Moon, from Chaplin Road, was a
hyperactive boy, who joined the local Sea Cadets aged 12, and learned to play
the bugle. On his way home from Alperton Secondary Modern School, he often used
to go into Macari’s Musical Exchange, at one time learning to play the trumpet.
Glo Macari used to see him in the shop, and he
must have been quite an attractive teenager. She used to go with her cousin to
a nearby greengrocers (probably Smith’s Fruiterers at 40 Ealing Road) to buy a
couple of pounds of potatoes, just to see him sweeping up at the back! Keith then
decided that drums would be his instrument, and Glo remembers him buying some
drum sticks from her grandfather. He was allowed to play on drums in the shop,
and took lessons from a local professional drummer, Carlo Little.
[In the early 1960s Carlo was a member of The
Savages, the backing group for Sudbury “singer” and performer Screaming Lord
Sutch (if you’ve ever heard a recording of his one minor hit record, “Jack the
Ripper”, you will know why I have put “singer” in inverted commas!). Carlo
Little was a well-respected musician, and even played a few times for the
“Rolling Stones” in 1962, when another Wembley drummer, Charlie Watts,
was not available because he was still employed as a commercial artist.]
An Macari's advert from the 1960s.
(Image from the internet, courtesy of Tony Royden)
Keith Moon
left school at Easter 1961, not quite 15 years old, and got a job. His earnings
helped him to buy his own Ludwig drum kit. By the end of 1962 he had joined a
semi-professional group, The Beachcombers. They all had day jobs, but played in
the evenings and at weekends. In April 1964 he went to the Railway Hotel,
Wealdstone, to hear a group called The Who playing. They needed a replacement drummer,
and Keith grabbed his opportunity. The rest, as they say, is history!
Keith Moon drumming with The Who.
(Image from the internet)
You can hear The Who singing “My Generation”,
and see Keith in action on the drums, here:
Gary was another young Wembley musician who
often visited the shop. He remembers Rosa’s husband, Derek, being the manager
there at the time, and that Grandpa Macari would sit in the shop with his
accordion. He sometimes played along with customers, and Gary once joined him
on guitar as he played “Under the Bridges of Paris”. Gary recalls seeing Keith
Moon practicing there, and being told to calm down in case he damaged the drum
kit. One of the instruments Gary bought in the shop was a second-hand Fender Stratocaster,
for about £60 – this iconic guitar would cost a lot more now!
A 1957 Fender
Stratocaster guitar. (Image from the
internet)
Gary worked as a courier, and the shop would
call him if a customer needed help getting purchases home, such as large
amplifiers. He remembers that the Macari’s bought the shop next door (46a, on
the corner, which Rosa ran as Derosa Ladies Wear), and them making a recording
studio behind the shop. He helped with the work on this, sticking dozens of old
egg boxes to the walls as soundproofing.
Glo Macari told us the recording studio was in
a room at the back that her grandfather had originally used for giving
accordion lessons. It had three booths, and wires going up through the ceiling
to a control room in the flat above. There was a two-track machine that
recorded the music and songs straight onto demo discs. Groups would send these
discs to local agents, to get bookings for gigs, or even sometimes to record
companies, in hope of something bigger!
By the early 1960s, Glo’s father Joe and Uncle
Larry were working at Musical Exchange branches at Denmark Street and Charing
Cross Road during the day, and playing some evenings in hotels or for wedding
receptions. She began going along with them as a singer, and made some demo
discs in the Wembley studio herself. In the Spring of 1965, still aged 14 and a
pupil at St Gregory’s R.C. School in Kenton, she got a recording contract.
Glo Macari
singing for some friends in the shop, March 1965. (“Wembley News” photo, courtesy of Glo!)
This photograph of Glo Macari, singing in the
Ealing Road shop, appeared in the “Wembley News”, with a story about her
contract, and her musical family. Her first single, released on the Piccadilly
label, was “He knows I love him too much”, written by Carole King and Gerry
Goffin, and recorded with the Ivor Raymond Orchestra. You can listen to Glo
Macari singing this song here:
Glo’s records never made it into the “Top
Twenty”, but she went on to be a successful songwriter and musical arranger.
Some of the songs she wrote were recorded by 1970s groups such as Smokie and
Racey.
Record label for
Glo Macari’s song “Boy Oh Boy”, a 1979 single by Racey. (Image from the internet)
Not all of the musicians helped by Macari’s
Musical Exchange in Ealing Road could be recording artists or become rock and
roll legends (or experience the problems that came with a “superstar”
lifestyle). Most just played for fun, for their friends and contemporaries, or
might have made a small amount from playing at dances in youth clubs, church
halls or pubs. But playing a guitar, in a group, you were part of the beat
music scene that made such a difference to popular music, in this country and
beyond, from the 1960s onwards.
Alan
Hayward and the Haymakers, playing at Lyon Park School c.1964.
L-R: Alan Clarke, Roger Horsborough, John Hammond, Alan Hayward and Pete Scott.
(Photograph courtesy of Alan and Barbara Clarke)
Alan Hayward and the Haymakers had a small
popular local following. This picture of them, playing in a classroom at Lyon
Park School, was taken by a Wembley Observer photographer in 1964. Around that
time, they were allowed to play several songs during the interval at one of the
Saturday night ballroom dances at Wembley (later Brent) Town Hall.
One day, around 1967, Gary got a ‘phone call
from a friend who was at the shop, telling him to come down straight away with
his guitar. He arrived and joined in with a “jamming” session in the shop which
included Pete Townshend of The Who, Eric Clapton of Cream (whose drummer,
Ginger Baker, lived in Wembley Park at the time) and two members of Status Quo.
A modern picture of 46 Ealing Road, now Kenya
Jewellers. (Image from the internet)
I’m not sure when the local branch of Macari’s
Musical Exchange closed, but it was probably around 1970. By the early 1980s,
Ealing Road was becoming a centre for businesses run by families of South Asian
origin, from East African countries, where they had been made unwelcome after
independence from British colonial rule. The two combined shops at 46
Ealing Road became Kenya Jewellers, and they still are.
During it’s time in Wembley the Macari’s shop
had encouraged many young people play musical instruments, at the birth of
modern Pop Music in Britain. The business continued, with its main shop in
Charing Cross Road, before moving out of London, but is still run by
the Macari family and supplying
instruments to musicians today.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these two
articles, and listening to some music from that time. If they have brought back
any memories for you, which you would like to share, please feel free to add a
comment below!
Philip Grant
Editor's Note - These articles have provoked considerable interest along with earlier ones by Philip. HERE you can find a personal account of the enduring friendship between Ginger Baker and Charlie Watts.
ice&fire –and Matthew Schmolle Productions are
delighted to announce the London tour of a brand-newall-immigrant
variety show.WE LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE ITis performed by a clown collective of
immigrant performers, who take the audience on a journey of variety and satire.
grapplingwith our decade’s stickiest subject; immigration. It’s a
show where karaoke meets moral philosophy, incorporating a stand-up pigeon
double act, smorgasbord of characters, plenty of juice, plenty of biscuits and
plenty of food for thought.
ice&fire have established
themselves as a theatre company renowned for their use of performance to
explore human rights issues, in WE LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT, the cast do just
that. Because while Brexit is now ‘done’ it seems we are
still far from done with the age-old immigration
‘question.’This
all-immigrant variety show, has been created by Olivier award winner Donnacadh
O’Briain (Ireland) and playwright Amy Ng (Hong Kong), with a company of
actors; Jahmila Heath (Jamaica), Tomoko Komura (Japan), Gaël Le Cornec
(Brazil-via-France) and Sergio Maggiolo (Peru). Collectively they are over
29,000 miles from home.
Touring to every corner of London, including in Brent visiting
venues in Wembley, Willesden
Green, South Kilburn, Harlesden and Neasden, and serving up jokes, songs
and satire, the performers ask;‘What is behind our societal
acceptance of immigration control? What does it say about us and what do
those who have come to the UK from somewhere else want to
say about it?’
Christine Bacon from ice&fire says:‘As
a company, ice&fire have for some time been concerned with the here
and now of human rights stories and what can be done to make current
systems more fair. With this project, we are trying to take a big step back and interrogate how and why immigration controls are seen as a common sense and 'natural' feature of our world. But with clowns, so it will make you smile.'
Matthew Schmolle says:‘We are passionate about getting
this show out beyond the traditional theatre-world-echo-chamber, getting
it in front of the broadest audience possible and seeing what all those
people have to say about these over-looked issues which underpin so much of modern discourse
around immigration’.
Extract from Brent’s housing projects map, with
‘not yet in public domain’ schemes in black.
Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity
Three weeks ago, I wrote a guest blog about Brent Council plans for “infill” housing
schemes which were ‘not yet in public domain’. In the comments beneath it, I
shared the text of an email I’d sent to the councillors and Council officers
most closely involved, offering them a “right of reply”.
I did receive a short email the same day, from one
of my Fryent Ward councillors who I’d copied the email to. Shama Tatler, who is
also the Lead Member for Regeneration in Brent’s Cabinet, wrote:
‘Thank you for your email. Yes,
you can be assured that we as ward councillors will be involved early with any
proposal and will ensure resident voice. We have been doing the same in other
projects in the ward.’
Encouraging words, although they do beg the
question: “if they had been involved early in the four ‘not yet in public
domain’ proposals in their ward, why hadn’t residents been given a chance to
have their say about them yet?”
I had to wait a couple of weeks for a substantive
reply, but on 16 September I received Brent’s response to my article from Cllr.
Eleanor Southwood, Lead Member for Housing. I will set out its full text below,
and would encourage you all to read it.
I believe that all citizens of the borough should
be able to express their views, on issues they feel strongly about, to those at
the Civic Centre who make the big decisions. But we also need to consider what
they say. Having these exchanges of views publicly available can help us to
understand each other. (It can also be useful in trying to ensure that the
Council lives up to the words of the elected members who represent us!)
Here is the Council’s response:
‘Thank you for your email and again
apologies for not responding sooner.
For clarity, the map that you
included in your blog, entitled by you or other, ‘Brent’s secret housing
projects’ was published alongside a cabinet report providing detail of all of
Brent’s current housing projects – this report and its appendices were public
and therefore by definition, everything included in it is not a secret.
However I agree that the term ‘not yet in the public domain’ used as a key on
the map was unhelpful, and as such we will not be using this term in future to
explain sites that are at the feasibility stage.
I absolutely agree that Brent Council must work with residents to shape housing
development projects, not just on the housing itself but also on the
improvements that are made as part of each development we deliver. We
take this responsibility seriously - with workshops, public events, newsletters
and questionnaires all used to discuss and get input on our proposals.
You’ll no doubt have seen my written response to a question at Full Council re
the Kilburn Square development, which I think is good evidence of this.
However, as I’m sure you’re aware, the
process isn’t that linear. As you have also pointed out, in addition to
our duty to existing residents, we also have a duty to residents who are
homeless or in priority housing need – as at August 2021 there were 1487
families and individuals living in Temporary Accommodation, to whom the Council
owes a housing duty. Just for context, if we do nothing more to increase
our housing stock some of those families could be waiting more than 15 years to
get a suitable house that they can call home. This is unacceptable and
we’re committed to changing this outlook, which inevitably involves balancing
differing views and priorities.
The approach to addressing the
housing shortage in Brent is multi-pronged – we are working with Housing
Associations and private developers to bring forward housing sites with good
levels of genuinely affordable housing, we are reviewing and improving
management of our existing stock so that we can make better use of what we have
and, we are building our own housing for social rent to our residents.
We don’t have a surplus of suitable
land for development, so we are reviewing lots of sites across our borough to
understand which might be suitable for housing – this is the feasibility work
referred to earlier. We’re always keen to engage with ward Cllrs and
local residents ahead of any proposals going to planning. I appreciate
that proposed developments can create anxiety and that compromise is often
required. In addition, all of our work in housing development is framed by
policy at a local and regional level, which provides strict requirements in
terms of density, open space, parking etc, in order that Brent and London
continue to provide homes whilst protecting what’s important for existing
residents.
I agree that working with residents
is key and this will continue to be a core part of developing any proposals for
new housing, balanced with the needs of residents who are currently homeless
and the requirements of planning policy.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Cllr Southwood’
Encouraging words again, especially her agreement that ‘Brent Council must work with
residents to shape housing development projects’, but we do need to see that
happening in practice, and at an early stage of any proposed “infill” schemes. If
you live at Campbell Court, Elvin Court, Westcroft Court or Gauntlett Court, or
if you know anyone who does, have residents there been consulted about the
Council’s proposals yet? Please add a comment below with the answer!
I had read Cllr. Southwood’s written response to
the question on Kilburn Square. Some of the points she made in that,
particularly that 'the most cost
effective building occurs when the council is able to build on land that it
owns', reminded me that no one from Brent had responded to an email I sent to
all members of the Cabinet on 13 August. That email was about my article on Council
housing on the former Copland School site. I also had a
letter on the same subject published in last week’s Brent & Kilburn Times
(16 September).
An elevation drawing
from the Council’s plans for the Wembley housing development.
The Council owns the
vacant site, and has full planning consent to build 250 homes there. It has
access to over £100m of grant funding from the GLA to build social rent housing
over the next five years. Yet Brent’s Cabinet has agreed to invite a private
developer to get involved in the project, and to let that developer have more
than 150 of the homes to sell at a profit!
I have replied to
Cllr. Southwood, and raised this issue again. I can’t understand why, with the
urgent need for Council homes that she emphasises, Brent isn’t building all of
these 250 homes (including sixty-four 3 and 4-bedroom family dwellings) for affordable
rent, instead of just 52!
I will include the
text of my latest email to her in the comments section below. And I will, of
course, share any response I receive with you.
