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valentines balloons and gift from fantasy land

hi all just letting you know we have valentine heart balloons and gifts pop in for a look around fantasy land party shopwww.fantasylandpartyshop.piczo.com

Debbie Dewar ● 6859d0 Comments ● 6859d

Is Fred Still In Brentford?

Does anyone know if Fred who has the rehabilitation place across from the Old White Horse Pub is still around.  He is a wonderful man, I so enjoyed our chats together.

Marlo Hale ● 6860d1 Comments ● 6859d

Canal at Work

Monday is a busy day on the canal as elsewhere.  And although nowadays one thinks of leisure activities associated with the canal there is still plenty of evidence of the waterways ways industrial activity.  Yesterday as I went up to Cowley Lock it was evident that work activities unite many of the communities on the canal.At Cowley a barge brings gravel down the canalIt is loaded onshore for further processingBuilding works at Hayes for a new shopping and residential centre next to the railway.  The towers are the lift shafts being erected – the buildings are then constructed around them.Across the railway tracks Nestles produces cereal, milk and other products.  Further up the canal was where Dr Wander found the canalside location for the Ovaltine factory now closed.Occasionally I’ve seen Micks Tugs going up and down the canal.At Bulls Bridge the modern electric-powerd boat Elsdale II with a happy group of school children.  Elsdale II is used by many West London schools (see http://www.elsdale.co.uk)Just past Top Locks is a boatyard containing I think British Waterways equipmentThe swans patrol their favourite sections searching for foodAnd back to Brentford where at the Iron Bridge  there is another aggregates companty but this time without canal accessFinally GSK modern headquarters on the canal

Michael Fletcher ● 6934d44 Comments ● 6859d

Knife-wielding yob - freed early

Did anyone see this article in today's local?Some real little charmer threatened a lad with Autism & special needs with a knife which he said he stick in the lad's throat if he didn't turn out his pockets. In the event the lad had nothing to steal but got the Police and the yob was arrested. He got four years in Feltham Y.O.I. - He then appealed and three - yes three, Appeal Court Judges (clearly with not one single working brain cell between them) cut his sentence to two and a half years. Said one "This was a street mugging with the threat of force, but there was no physical harm caused and it was an attempt, not a successful offence. The offence was opportunistic and he (the yob) was only 20 had a difficult childhood and left school with no qualifications. We consider that the sentence passed was indeed manifestly excessive and the correct sentence was one of two and a half years". If these three Judges aren't excessively stupid then I really don't know who is, I'd have given the little scrote 5 years just for carrying the knife and added on the two and a half for the rest. Since when did a 'difficult childhood and leaving school with no qualifications' justify something like this - how does the victim feel, he must have been terrified - but no matter - who cares? Zero tolerance - what a joke, and what message does this send out?

Vanessa Smith ● 6861d6 Comments ● 6860d

Edwardian Porch Tiles

Does anyone recommend a tiler who could recreate the decorative tiles to the wall of our front porch. We have a mix of the original (some which need cleaning of cement) and new tiles. It is a specialist job……….Many thanksIain

Iain Muir ● 6862d1 Comments ● 6860d

Hounslow & Brentford Times

They were giving out copies of the new compact colour Hounslow & Brentford Times at the station this morning. I thought the content was good (especially the sports section) and I particularly liked the new look and feel which was quite impressive for a local paper.Has anyone else seen it and if so, what do you think?

James de Vivenot ● 6875d10 Comments ● 6860d

Stolen Caravan

Next message please for pictures.

Linda F Wright ● 6863d10 Comments ● 6860d

Hooray, something decent at last.

After all the festive T.V. dross welcome back CSI Crime Investigation, both Las Vegas and N.Y. and best of all E.R. Will Sara Sidle still be alive when Grissom finally gets to her? 6 months injured under a truck in the desert is one hell of a long time. Will Neela survive in the E.R.? Where's luscious Luka?.................

Vanessa Smith ● 6878d21 Comments ● 6860d

Trees and CO2 emissions

As I sit here writing this vandals with legal sanction are cutting down trees within the grounds of Green Dragon Lane school.This is part of a planning application which was passed to build a sports recreation building. Whilst we at Holland Gardens unsuccessfully objected to the location but not the development itself, can those with sufficient wisdom and integrity answer this:How do we as a society place no significant value on the one (natural) system that converts CO2 back to oxygen whilst spending inordinate amounts of time and column space in any media attempting to convince all we are so concerned about climate change?It simply cannot be right for those responsible for arguing for tree removal, let alone those allowing such planning applications, to have any view for the reduction of CO2 emissions, lest they carry the mantle of hypocrate.  Or maybe they just don't (want to) fully understand the principles of reducing CO2 in our atmosphere for the future generations.

Stephen Browne ● 6860d0 Comments ● 6860d

Posting Photos' ??

How the Devil do you post photos'on the Forum please and thankyou?

Tony Wood ● 6903d28 Comments ● 6860d

Green Dragon Primary School open days

I've been asked to place this here on behalf of Green Dragon Primary:If your child is 3 by 31st August 2008 they can attend a school nursery from September 2008.If your child is 4 by 31st August 2008 they can start full time school in September 2008.Our Nursery and Reception Classes are staffed by fully qualified, experienced Early Years teachers and Nursery Nurses who help every child to develop their skills and confidence in an age appropriate way.  Our curriculum and learning environment fully supports the learning needs of Early years children whilst helping them to make the step into the next phase of their education at 5.Please come and visit us at Green Dragon on:Wednesday 30th January or Tuesday 5th February from 9.15 amDuring the Open Morning parents and carers will have an opportunity to meet staff and pupils and to have a look around our lovely school.Applications for full-time school need to be in in March - we welcome you to come and visit Green Dragon to help you to make the big decision about where your child attends school.If you are unable to attend either of our Open Sessions please call the office to arrange another time, parents are always welcome to visit.www.green-dragon.hounslow.lgfl.net

Matt Harmer ● 6866d1 Comments ● 6860d

The New Multilingualism

On Saturday an old sailor on the top deck of the 237 bus recounted how the previos day in a job interview for a warehouse post he'd been told it was a requirement to speak both Polish and English.  I wonder how our younger generation are going to cope with that environment.

Michael Fletcher ● 6865d4 Comments ● 6860d

River Flow

The rivers around here have been very fast flowing this week, the Thames especially both here and around Staines.  The Colne is looking full.  The weir on the Brent at Brentford Dock was very strong today :-

Michael Fletcher ● 6870d7 Comments ● 6862d

Gordon Brown can't bear to name Ken Livingstone.

Greg Hands, the MP for our neigbouring constituency of Hammersmith and Fulham, has posted the following on www.conservativehome.com today:"Gordon Brown can't bring himself to name Ken Livingstone.The enmity between Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone is longstanding. In Tom Bower's biography of the PM, there are almost as many references in the index to Livingstone as there are to Neil Kinnock. "Major disagreements have included independence of the Bank of England, PPP for the tube, public spending levels in the late 1990s and so on. In 2000, Brown even penned a full-page article in the Evening Standard (19/1/2000 - not available online) urging London Labour members to back Frank Dobson, predicting "disaster" if Livingstone were elected. I recall that at that time Blair set himself a priority that Livingstone should not be a "Labour Mayor" - but Brown went one stage further, urging Livingstone not to be elected at all. "Livingstone is now mired in sleaze allegations, and Brown's first big election as Labour Leader is only 3 months away. At the weekend, Brown had little choice when asked by the press to back Livingstone, but could only bring himself to talk about Livingstone as "he". "Yesterday, at PMQs, I asked Brown about corruption at the LDA and whether the PM would support calls for an independent inquiry into the role of Livingstone. Again, Brown couldn't bring himself to name him, concluding weakly that "we need a Labour Mayor.""A strange world when a Party Leader can't bring himself to name his leading candidate. I think the last time this happened was in the Bermondsey by-election in 1983, when Michael Foot avoided endorsing Peter Tatchell. The omens aren't good for Labour here."-Greg Hands MPAnn Keen MP was also a strong supporter of Frank Dobson MP against Ken Livingstone in 2000 when Dobson was the official labour candidate and Livingstone had been expleed from the labour Party and ran as an Independent.Dobson came third after Livingstone and steve Norris, the Conservative candidate.I wonder does she share Gordon Brown's very evident enmity towards Livingstone ?

David Giles ● 6862d2 Comments ● 6862d

The Hounslow Chronicle Thursday 17th 2008

Two statements appear in this paper in two different articles and they show a strange attitude to upholding the law and public decency.In one on page 6 in an article concerning gay men having sex in public places such as Gunnersbury triangle (the local nature reserve visited by children) ch insp Andy Morgan insisted the practice was not a major issue in the borough and rarely provoked complaints it’s not a crime unless someone says it is. It usually happens late at night in secluded places and between consenting adults.Having spent time having to clear up the area of Osterley by Windmill lane also, used by the cottaging/ cruising/ dogging fraternity, I say it is. The whole area was full of rubbish old needles and discarded Durex. My children, now teenagers visited the Triangle many times as they grew up and many small children still do. The idea that this is not a problem is wrong, ask anyone doing community service about their experience of clearing up these sites if you doubt the seriousness of this problem.On page nine ch insp. Andy Morgan takes a different stance on a illegal practice also often carried out late at night between consenting adults only this time in the privacy of their own homes and with out turning public places into cess pits of discarded filth.I am talking about consuming cannabis. On this issue we get this rant from ch insp Mogan who believes downgrading cannabis has sent the wrong message to users and dealers. When Cannabis became declassified (it should have been but it wasn’t, it was downgraded) dealers thought the potential for them to be caught convicted and sentenced had been reduced, he said. (Why the penalties applicable under class B are the same as under Class C for these types of offences)It created an artificial belief we wouldn’t do much about people importing cannabis.Cannabis clearly leads to other crimes because there are big profits to be made (only because it’s illegal Andy)Also as people become unstable (after smoking the drug) they become more of a problem.  (The percentage of those who may become unstable is very small and in the words of Professor Stanley Zammit one of the authors of the critical overview published in the lancet and misquoted by the right wing press and other fascist types.“In conclusion we found that the evidence concerning mental illness and cannabis to be inconclusive”).They can become involved in harassment, intimidation and other offences. (Sounds more like alcohol users to me or perhaps police officers enforcing the cannabis laws in my experience.So as I understand it there a two types of laws  one were people can be kept terrorised in their home for matters of individual  choice over life style and one were you can outrage public decency by taking it up the rear in public and leaving your discarded filth all over the place and that’s ok. What hypocrisy!

Philip Walsh ● 6865d0 Comments ● 6865d

New Tricks at MSO

Today at 8:00am it was like a silent invasion on Dock Road - trucks, lighting, tripods, people but hardly any noise.  It was a big operation but by 12:00 it was  all finished save for a sound engineer recording an aircraft overhead.  I don't know if Dennis Waterman was there but if it was it would be a return after almost 30 years when with Rula Lenska he opened Brentford Dock

Michael Fletcher ● 6865d4 Comments ● 6865d

Who is painting the pavements & cars?

Last week I noticed a lot of paint all over the pavement outside the old fire station which has now been covered.  Yesterday it was all over the pavement, our car and a few other cars on Wilkes Road.Does any one know who is doing this? It seems like vandalism as I am guessing that a painter decorator wouldn't be so careless.  Since moving to Brentford in Nov 2 months ago we have had both our cars vandalised and 2 of our friends cars vandalised too ranging from having a key scraped down the side to the windscreen wiper torn off.What a lovely welcome to our new home!

sara harrison ● 6871d7 Comments ● 6867d

plane crash at Heathrow

have a look at News 24 now!!!!

mike jefferies ● 6869d11 Comments ● 6867d

The Hounslow Chronicle Thursday 17th 2008

Two statements appear in this paper in two different articles and they show a strange attitude to upholding the law and public decency.In one on page 6 in an article concerning gay men having sex in public places such as Gunnersbury triangle (the local nature reserve visited by children) ch insp Andy Morgan insisted the practice was not a major issue in the borough and rarely provoked complaints it’s not a crime unless someone says it is. It usually happens late at night in secluded places and between consenting adults.Having spent time having to clear up the area of Osterley by Windmill lane also, used by the cottaging/ cruising/ dogging fraternity, I say it is. The whole area was full of rubbish old needles and discarded Durex. My children, now teenagers visited the Triangle many times as they grew up and many small children still do. The idea that this is not a problem is wrong, ask anyone doing community service about their experience of clearing up these sites if you doubt the seriousness of this problem.On page nine ch insp. Andy Morgan takes a different stance on a illegal practice also often carried out late at night between consenting adults only this time in the privacy of their own homes and with out turning public places into cess pits of discarded filth.I am talking about consuming cannabis. On this issue we get this rant from ch insp Mogan who believes downgrading cannabis has sent the wrong message to users and dealers. When Cannabis became declassified (it should have been but it wasn’t, it was downgraded) dealers thought the potential for them to be caught convicted and sentenced had been reduced, he said. (Why the penalties applicable under class B are the same as under Class C for these types of offences)It created an artificial belief we wouldn’t do much about people importing cannabis.Cannabis clearly leads to other crimes because there are big profits to be made (only because it’s illegal Andy)Also as people become unstable (after smoking the drug) they become more of a problem.  (The percentage of those who may become unstable is very small and in the words of Professor Stanley Zammit one of the authors of the critical overview published in the lancet and misquoted by the right wing press and other fascist types.“In conclusion we found that the evidence concerning mental illness and cannabis to be inconclusive”).They can become involved in harassment, intimidation and other offences. (Sounds more like alcohol users to me or perhaps police officers enforcing the cannabis laws in my experience).So as I understand it there a two types of laws  one were people can be kept terrorised in their home for matters of individual  choice over life style and one were you can outrage public decency by taking it up the rear in public and leaving your discarded filth all over the place and that’s ok. What hypocrisy!

Philip Walsh ● 6868d0 Comments ● 6868d

Tuesday rant!

Having popped into Isleworth Library this morning I was amazed to see it now has a pond - the car park is so flooded as to render 2/3 of it impassable unless you are a wading bird, apparently this has been reported umpteen times with no action ensuing. Get home - only to find the recyclers have lost our green box! Last week they left the textiles we put out, which landed up in Richmond's textile recycling and thus contributes to their total. Rant over.

Vanessa Smith ● 6871d17 Comments ● 6868d