What have I missed since April 23rd?

In a week where Rupert Murdoch skewered everyone in reach, a man threw computers out of a 5th floor window, and where it just kept on raining, was there any news in West Hampstead to make the headlines... You bet.

Camden police are trying to find 27 year-old Richard Gent, last seen at his West Hampstead home on Saturday. Call 0800 555 111 or 101 with any information.

The Neighbourhood Development Forum continues to make progress. It "can't ban Tesco's but can encourage retail diversity".

In other planning news, I wrote about The mayor's final report on 187-199 West End Lane, and
The new(ish)/revised plans for Gondar Gardens will go before the planning committtee on May 10th; Camden's recommendation is to approve it.

Smoke from a big fire at a scrap metal yard at Willesden Junction was clearly visible from across London.

At the first ever #lovewhamp singles night we raised £195 for The Winch.

The Black Lion opened on West End Lane after a major refurb and repositioning. Initial reports have been positive.

Armed police were spotted on Quex Road, but were executing a pre-planned search.

Four teens were convicted of the murder in Swiss Cottage last April.

Local lobbying and campaign group WHAT is meeting street inspectors to get rid of rubbish,fly tipping and broken computer boxes. If you have examples, please let them know via Twitter or e-mail (whatnw6@gmail.com).

WHAT's March meeting with First Capital Connect discussed improvements to the Thameslink station.

Team Roast completed their review of local Sunday lunch options.

Read a review of April's supper club at The Kitchen Table.

Today is the last day to put your name in the hat for #whampreview at One Blenheim.

The seemingly struggling Sea Lantern is changing tack again. The sign says it's "under new management", I'm left wondering if it's still the same ownership though.

Ladudu meanwhile celebrated a year of operation.

75 years ago, there was a report of a "singing mouse" in Finchley Rd, meanwhile, in 1942 there was a murder in Kilburn.

Due to a typo, there has been some confusion as to where Iceland is opening on Finchley Road. It's moving into the old Peacocks née Woolworths site.

The well-liked Sgt Parry of Swiss Cottage Safer Neighbourhoods has been replaced by Sgt Jason Collins.

Apparently OxjamKilburn could make a welcome return in the autumn.

Camden's full parking review has been pushed back to May, though some changes have already come into effect.

Another person fell under a train at Finchley Road, the air ambulance took them to hospital.

A new Olympics travel congestion map was published, but yet again it says that West Hampstead won't be busier than normal, which is simply (literally) incredible, especially when you remember that as well as having two routes to Stratford, we are also en route to St John's Wood and Wembley - two other Olympic venues. Mind you, the regular failures on the Jubilee Line last week suggest it's the last way you want to use to get to the Olympic Park even though the Jubilee is one of the three lines TfL believes will be under severe pressure.

Coming up
Want to get involved at The Winch? Tonight could be your chance.
There's also an exhibition of iPhone photographs of West Hampstead tonight from 7.30pm at West Hampstead Community Centre.
Don't forget to vote on Thursday for the Mayor of London and the Barnet & Camden London Assembly member. If you don't vote, you can't whinge about it afterwards. Them's the rules.

Tweet of the Week

Sunday Lunch: The dramatic conclusion

One by one we arrived. Amid the clatter of cutlery and pouring of drinks we were the epitome of concentration. The task ahead was clear.

This was the conclusion. This was the final part of the trilogy. By the end of the day we would have found an answer.

It was a Sunday.

We were eating lunch.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Having already dissected and critiqued the Sunday lunch offerings of Kilburn and West Hampstead, we were turning our attention to the borders, the periphery, the crispy outer rim of roast meat offerings. We had five pubs in our sights, 10 meals to go. All the pubs apart from The Queensbury knew we were coming to review them (notably, all were much more engaged with that idea than the others we'd visited before).

And so it began.

Midday: The Clifton
We weren't in Kansas any more - we were on Clifton Hill in NW8. There may have been tumbleweed. As had become traditional, we kicked off with the Bloody Marys and were asked how spicy we'd like them. I like this customisation. But then to the food.

The beef - 21-day aged sirloin - was apparently served medium rare, although ours was definitely on the rare side of medium rare. It did taste very good though. As at the NLT in Kilburn, it was one large thick slice rather than several thinner slices. The vegetables were fine, although the carrots were very underdone, which would be the theme of the day.

A mighty Yorkshire pudding on some (quite rare) beef

The roast chicken was acceptable, though it didn't wow us, and although I know bread sauce is traditional, it doesn't add a lot really when you also have potatoes and a yorkshire pudding. Especially when the Yorkshire pudding was so good.

Roast chicken came with bread sauce AND a Yorkshire

This was a promising start overall though. I ordered a side of crackling. Although roast pork isn't on the menu, the chef buys pig skins specially - I'd suggest not bothering, crispy skin without any of the fat doesn't work so well, what we had was more like pork skin crisps than proper roast pork crackling. Not unpleasant, but a bit pointless.

Throw these pig skins and you'd take someone's eye out

Despite this being our first port of call, Tom was powerless to resist the ginger apple crumble for dessert, which received glowing praise from all.

Roast beef: £13.50
Yorkshire pudding score: 9
Roast potato score: 4
Excellent roast beef and good service
*our crumble was on the house

1.45pm: The Salt House
We'd been told that the restaurant had a big party in, so we'd be seated in the bar. Frankly, I think that the bar area is nicer anyway at this popular Greene King pub on the corner of Abbey Road and Belgrave Gardens.

The food came incredibly (almost too) quickly - one beef and one lamb this time. We had barely made a dent in the bottle of Carignan, which Anna declared a bit too heavy on the cherry just as I said "mmm... cherry" to Claire.

"Mmm... cherry"

The beef came in the Yorkshire pudding as we'd seen at The Alice House earlier. The presentation frankly wasn't the best, but it was very hard to fault the taste of this dry-aged Angus sirloin. The vegetables were all undercooked, and the carrots were actually almost raw. Everything was well-seasoned although perhaps a little heavy on the salt for some of our tastes, but then it is The Salt House. There was some argument over the eventual score for the Yorkshire pudding - it tasted good, but it was too thin at the bottom to hold the gravy so - in Dom's view at least - it was ruined by being too soggy towards the end.

Generous beef but did the Yorkshire get too soggy?

The potatoes, despite being cooked in the obligatory duck fat, were a little underwhelming, they weren't crispy enough although they did taste good.

The lamb was very good - it seems pretty hard to screw up lamb, so if you like it and are wary of a pub's cooking ability it may be the safe option.

Lovely lamb

We again indulged in desserts: a chocolate tart that Tom declared was so good he'd have it for his main course next time, and a sticky toffee pudding that was soft and smooth. We sank another bottle of Carignan as Anna overcame her aversion to cherry. As we went to pay, the manager came over and very kindly said the whole meal was on the house, which was a very pleasant surprise, so thank you Salt House. Doesn't affect the scores of course!

Roast beef: £15.50
Yorkshire pudding score: 8 (Dom disagrees)
Roast potato score: 6
Good all round, quite expensive, buzzy atmosphere

3pm: The Alice House (Queen's Park)
A short cab ride later and we were entering Queens Park's Sunday creche, also known as The Alice House. This offshoot of the West Hampstead Alice House had presented the same challenge of a kitchen that closed for a bit in the afternoon, so we were under strict instruction to be there on time (in fact we were early), and we'd pre-ordered the beef and the pork.

Same menu as the West Hampstead branch, but now with prices!

The beef divided opinion. It had been very good at the West Hampstead branch, with the full yorkshire pudding also proving a hit. This version impressed Tom and Anna, while Dom and I thought it was merely acceptable. Claire was non-committal.

Good selection of greens (eat your greens kids)

The potatoes were good - but again, we were a bit split over how good. We all agreed that the Yorkshires were average, especially compared to the previous two pubs.

Presentation of both dishes was good and the presence of more green vegetables was appreciated, especially the bitterness of the spring greens. The carrots were also actually cooked - still a bit al dente, but cooked.

Some more bizarre crackling on otherwise tasty pork

The pork had good flavour although we derided the attempt at crackling that was artfully placed on top of the meat like a chive on a first round Masterchef plate of pasta

We blitzed through a couple of bottles of Tempranillo but were denied dessert despite being handed menus at about 3.55, no-one bothered to tell us that we'd have to order in five minutes or wait an hour, so we had to forgo this treat.

Minimalist label

The beef here is £1 more than the Salt House, but although Tom and Anna liked it, it was hard to see that it justified the extra price.

Roast beef: £16.50
Yorkshire pudding score: 6
Roast potato score: 7
Good vegetables, beef divided opinion

5pm: The Salusbury
It is a short stumble across the road from The Alice House to the Salusbury. This gastropub has a predominantly Italian menu, but is also happy to offer a traditional roast beef Sunday dinner. Again, timing issues with kitchens meant we'd pre-ordered the beef and also a roast spatchcock chicken, which we were having with all the roast trimmings but is normally served as a non-"Sunday lunch" dish.

blurry - but yes, that is £17.80 for roast beef

The beef (28 day dry-aged rib) was particularly good, with excellent gravy and everything was well seasoned. It was, at £17.80, also the most expensive roast beef in the area. Even the carrots were cooked.

And here's what that gets you - really delicious beef

The chicken was also very good, and as with the Alice House, we were pleased to see some greens alongside the roast veg and Yorkshire.

NB: you can't actually order this combo off the menu.

We were at the stage of the afternoon where my notes become harder to read, I know we had a selection of interesting sorbets including a very refreshing scoop of apple sorbet and what I can only assume from the hieroglyphs in my notebook was a chocolate fondant.

The house wine - a Vin du Pays de Gard - was under par, so we quickly worked through it and upgraded to a Chilean Pinot Noir (and then another one), just to keep Tom happy.

Literally our wine.

Overall, this was a good experience, and I know that the owners believe the quality of food justifies the price. Although we all agreed that it was very good beef, the total cost of the meal was probably a little high for this to be a regular Sunday lunch venue for any of us.We returned to the street and waited for our next and last taxi.

Roast beef: £17.80
Yorkshire pudding score: 7
Roast potato score: 7
Excellent beef, but at that price you'd expect nothing less

7pm The Queensbury
As with the previous two expeditions, we were starting to flag. Nevertheless, we loosened our belt buckles and bravely entered The Queensbury, by Willesden Green station for the final roast of the day. This was the one restaurant that didn't know we were coming to review it (because we hadn't been sure whether we'd make it - but I must say that they were incredibly friendly and helpful in the correspondence about what the Sunday options were).

(not sure why the lamb is in bold and has no price)

I do realise that this late in the day, it's hard for restaurants to deliver the same quality of Sunday lunch that they might do around, say, lunchtime. So, we might be willing to forgive the Queensbury a slightly underwhelming selection of vegetables and trimmings with the roast beef. The broccoli was very undercooked though, which it shouldn't be. The beef itself (sirloin), encouragingly, was actually good with plenty of gravy, and the Yorkshire was one of the better ones of the day.

That is a plate of roast beef. Oh yes.

In a futile attempt to stave off the onset of gout, we veered away from roast meat for our other dish and went for "seared salmon with rocket and anchovy mash". While we might have forgiven any hiccups with the beef, the salmon really should have been spot on yet was disappointing. Seared wasn't the first adjective that came to mind, it looked and tasted more just "fried" (or "pan-fried" as chefs like to call it). It was ever so slightly overcooked. The anchovy mash divided opinion. Tom felt it needed more anchovy and more butter, I actually quite liked it. The rocket though was just odd - did they forget to dress it, or is it meant to sit there dryly like a sort of papery peppery afterthought. Throw on a light lemon juice dressing to help both fish and rocket and the dish would have been improved immeasurably.

You can do better than this Queensbury, I believe in you!

It was our last port of call, so we called for the port - having already demolished two bottles of Petit Syrah. History does not record what we thought of it, just that it cost £17.50 a bottle. We had a second, so I guess we liked it.

We also had desserts - a baked vanilla cheesecake with a berry sauce (good), a chocolate tart, (pastry a bit thick), and cheese (with some leftover rocket!).

Delicious

Roast beef: £14.95
Yorkshire pudding score: 8
Roast potato score: 6
Deserves a second chance for the meat.

It had been a long and expensive day. Anna might have run to the Clifton in the morning, but she certainly wasn't running back home from The Queensbury. Dom staggered back to his house in Willesden, Claire tried to find a bus back to Kilburn, Tom looked a bit baffled by everything and I really really wanted to lie down.

Our quest was complete... on three separate Sundays we had eaten 30 main courses between us and could rightly consider our knowledge of local Sunday lunch options to be unrivalled. And then The Black Lion reopened on West End Lane. Luckily, I have an idea for that...

The conclusion? On average, these "periphery" pubs had delivered consistently better food than their competitors in Kilburn or West Hampstead. They were, however, also more expensive. The Clifton and The Salt House were my two favourites overall, while the beef at The Salusbury was probably the best roast beef overall. Taking all three weekends into account, if you held a gun to my head and asked me where to recommend for Sunday lunch (and this is my opinion, not those of my fellow testers), I'd say in no particular order, The Gallery, The Salt House and The Priory Tavern - all for different reasons.

Gather round The Kitchen Table

Did you know that The Kitchen Table on Mill Lane hosts a supper club? I didn't, but Eugene did and he went along to April's to see what it was like. Here's his report:

"For those of us unfamiliar with Mill Lane, the Kitchen Table is a deli open weekdays and Saturday. Since I moved to the area, I’ve become a real fan of its home cooking. The specials on the menu change daily, the owners Jennie & Tom use high quality ingredients and the cakes are awesome. If I could, I’d eat there daily. That’s what I like about this area – you can talk to the owners of the shops, are made to feel welcome and I believe that small independents like this one are important to the social fabric as well.

Anyway, the owners decided to host a spring supper club. In Britain, we seem to have lost touch with seasonality when it comes to food, especially when supermarkets fly in their vegetables year round. This is not the case here. About 25 of us piled into the small unit, having bought in wines from Vini Vivi next door. The evening was well organised such that there was a wine suggestion for each course, both shops had cooperated to get the best out of the food.

• Amuse: Stinging nettle bon-bons
• Starter: Asparagus and braised chicory gratin with brioche and spenwood crust
• Main: Anchovy & honey mustard braised loin of pork with peas, broad beans, courgette & mint and new potatoes
• Dessert: Rhubarb and custard pannacotta with rhubarb crisps and honey lemon biscuit

There was some debate over the nettle canapés (like, what are they? Will they sting us?). However, once they were cleaned out and nobody was stung, the debate was over. With spring, asparagus comes into season. However, it was the smell of the spenwood that gave this starter away. Our table was debating what it was (cheese, obviously) – the strong smell wafted off the plate before we tucked in and complemented the softness of the asparagus.

For the main course, the pork joint was boneless, not too small and well matched with perfectly roasted potatoes. We all agreed that the sauce was buttery and smooth; it just rolled onto the tongue. Our table had 7 people on it and all plates were cleared.

Braised loin of pork

Finally pudding – I’m never a big fan of pannacotta; I like my desserts richer on the outside or more chocolatey. That said, these were great, just the right portion sizes and perfectly formed.

Overall, the evening was good fun. Service here was great, as usual, However, what makes this special is that Jennie, Tom and their team seem to like what they are doing, namely delivering a great product. If the Kitchen Table was on West End Lane or in St. Johns Wood, the standard of food would mean much higher prices. We should be feeling lucky to have it, especially with the next supper club coming up in May!"

187-199 West End Lane: the Mayor's report

It's been a month now since the dust settled on the 187-199 West End Lane development. You may recall that the plans had to go to City Hall where the Mayor would take a decision on them. His decision, or at least that of Sir Edward Lister, deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff, was to allow Camden to determine the case itself. In other words, City Hall saw no reason to intervene.

Building is scheduled to start in the spring of 2013, although it is unclear when the site is likely to be cleared - which is of specific interest to the businesses on the site, some of whom have commented on a previous post.

Below is the relevant planning report from the Greater London Authority from March 27th, with some paragraphs highlighted by me.
GLA Planning Report 27.3.12 187-199 West End Lane

Neighbourhood Development Forum gets own website

I've mentioned the newly formed Neighbourhood Development Forum a few times before - it's being set up so that locals can have a little bit more say into local planning issues.

The group has just launched a website, so I no longer feel the need to post the full minutes of meetings, but I will certainly continue to link to them when they are published and will keep West Hampstead Life readers up to speed with developments.

The minutes of April's meeting aren't quite up yet, but I have had a sneak preview, and below is an abridged version of item no.3, which is worth reading as it sets out what the Forum and the Plan can and can't do based on a presentation by Camden planning officer Jennifer Walsh and answers she gave to questions. (For much more about the general concept, I'd suggest exploring the NDP website in more detail).

• NDPs have to fit in with Camden planning policy, the London Plan, the national planning framework, plus some aspects of EU legislation.
• Once the Plan is submitted to Camden Council, it then goes to an independent planning inspector for approval. If it is found to be sound there is then a referendum in the area covered by a plan; approval is by simple majority of those who vote. The government has yet to publish the rules about the referenda, so the process is not currently clear.
• If the NDP is approved in a referendum, it becomes at statutory planning document, sitting alongside the Camden plan.
• The NDF can make comments on any current planning application, just like any other local group.
  The NDP has to fit into the national planning policy of ‘pro-growth’. Questions were asked about the growth predicted in both wards; it’s not clear if the Camden plan goes into this much detail for the two wards.
• Once the NDP is approved, it will be used as a framework for development by developers.
  There were questions about how specific the NDP can be – it can’t have a blanket ban on basement conversions; it can mention a general height limit and require new developments are in keeping with existing buildings (the example given was red/grey bricks); it is difficult to be too prescriptive in architectural terms.
• The NDF will need to liaise with Conservation Areas in our area.
• Questions were asked about high streets/shops – we can’t regulate who occupies each shop (eg we can’t have a ban on new Tescos); we can have design guidance (eg for shop frontages); we can seek to promote diversification of shops & facilities.
• Questions were asked about how we express social provisions – eg for schools, health facilities. We need to get the opinions of schools and health centres/surgeries. We are still awaiting data from the 2011 census; information from the 2001 census will be circulated, although this may be significantly out of date.
• The NDP needs to consider where future S106 payments [Ed: that's the extra money developers pay to the council in theory to mitigate any financial impact the development has on public services/public realm] should be directed; into what services & facilities we would like to see more of.
• A new Camden council initiative is seeking to produce a ‘Local List’ for the borough. This is a list of undesignated (ie not currently listed) ‘heritage assets’ – this can be buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas or landscapes – which merit consideration in the planning process. These can be listed in the NDP. It might be possible to protect certain views.
• The NDP can be used to raise issues like the need for a permanent area available for markets.
  In terms of the number of licensed premises, licensing is generally separate from planning, but there is some overlap.

It will be interesting to see how much influence these Plans really do have when it comes to larger planning decisions. The whole process is obviously brand new and although such groups are springing up around the country now, even the pilot schemes haven't been in place long enough to give a clear indication of how it works in practice. Lets hope it's not just a talking shop, nor that the people giving up their time to put all this together end up being frustrated. A few early successes in driving positive change would help enormously in generating support for the idea.

Whampreview goes posh

On Thursday May 10th, whampreview takes place on the West Hampstead / St John's Wood borders at the relatively new One Blenheim Terrace.

One Blenheim is owned by chef patron Ed Shaerf  (previously at The Ivy). According to its website: "our menus bring classic dishes to centre stage again but with an imaginative new performance.We take classic dishes on British menus, strip them bare, re-imagine them and then re-present using only the best ingredients. We aim to achieve style with a bit of cheek and chic."

Very kindly, the restaurant is offering us a 30% discount on the night, so those upmarket prices are slightly more within reach, but we're still looking at ~£30 a head for three courses before wine (and we'll go easy on the wine).

There are just 16 places available for this one. As usual, if the event is oversubscribed then names will be drawn out of a hat next Tuesday (May 1st).

A recap of whampreview basics: dinner will be at 8pm and we'll meet at The Salt House on Abbey Road for a drink from 7pm. During the evening whoever is running your table (there'll be two tables of eight people) will note down comments about the food/service/value etc., which will go into the write-up, although the evening is more about meeting people than being ultra-critical about restaurants. The bill is split equally between your table unless there's been a large discrepancy in alcohol consumption. Any questions, just ask.

To put your name forward, or Tweet to @WHampstead
before Tuesday May 1st.

If your name is picked, I will need a mobile number and active e-mail address from you. Please don't commit to this on the offchance you might be free. Dropouts have been creeping up again recently - it's a headache when that happens. If I contact you to say you're in, please check your diary and lock it in. It's not always easy to find last minute replacements, especially for somewhere a bit more expensive like this.

Of course, I understand there are always one or two genuine last-minute dropouts, so even if you're unlucky, I may come back to you at short notice to see if you're still interested.

Read more about whampreview and see where we've already been.

What have I missed since April 16th?

Imagine it: sunshine and showers in April. But what's been happening between the downpours in the finest neighbourhood in Old London Town? No, I don't mean St John's Wood.

Tragically, a woman died at Finchley Road tube station on Monday.

Netherwood Day Centre has finally been saved from closure.

Acol Nursery will be transferred from the council to a parents group.

West Hampstead is getting a weekly market - get your views in quickly for what sort of market you'd like to see.

Planning news aplenty: Abbey Area, Hampstead Cricket Club, and a round-up of everything else.

A butchers, Feng Sushi, and a new salon: it's all change up near West End Green.

Cutting Crew has taken over from Gigi Barbers on West End Lane.

The new (Old) Black Lion decided to embrace Twitter - there was both confusion over the name, and some fallout over prices. It opens this Thursday.

Costa Coffee on West End Lane was broken into early last week. Apparently only coffee syrup was stolen!

Some of you saw some drama (literally) on the Thameslink service on Thursday.

On the evening of May 18th, there'll be a free outdoor film screening of Oscar winning coming-of-age film Breaking Away on Fortune Green. Put it in your diaries.

Brioche has had a paint job.

Tom found room for a Wet Fish Café crumble.

What did we make of Guglee when we subjected it to the whampreview treatment?

Kilburn's Powers bar has revamped its website.

Congrats to HampsteadCC's women's team who took silver in a 6-a-side competition last Sunday.

Karahi Master appears to have closed (although last I announced this, it was a false alarm).

Tweet of the Week
Really more for the hashtag than anything:

All change by West End Green

The stretch of West End Lane from Nando's to Walnut is set to see big changes over the next couple of months.

As many of you will have read on Twitter, or (heaven forbid) seen with your own actual eyes, Walnut has closed. The ethically minded restaurant has been a fixture on the corner for just over 10 years, but came up for rent back in June (at just under £2,300 a month if you're interested). Feng Sushi - also known for its ethical stance - will be moving in this June. Indeed work has already started on what will be the chain's eighth outlet.

£18 for the 22-piece selection box

There's much more detail on the design of the 50-cover restaurant here. Feng Sushi expressed an interest in West Hampstead a long time ago, so may feel a bit miffed that in the meantime, the area has become sushi capital of NW London. Alongside MeLoveSushi on West End Lane, there's also newly opened Sushi Kou on Fortune Green, competing head-on with the well-established Yuzu. There are two newish sushi places on Finchley Road, and the longer-standing outlets Sushi Gen (with an ominous For Lease sign outside), Atari-ya on Fairfax Road (for my money the best of the local options), and Yo! Sushi in the O2 centre.

If the rumours that Karahi Master has closed are correct, hot on the heels of Bon Express shutting down, then are we finally relinquishing the mighty kebab for the healthier sashimi?

Still, if you're missing your meat fix, rejoice. Apparently some of you haven't yet caught up with the news that a butchers is coming to town. Since I started this whole blog/Twitter thing back in 2009, this has probably been the single biggest moan of locals: "Why can't we have a butchers". The fact that such places have to make a profit in what is a tough market has largely washed over you. So, I don't want to hear a single person complain that Hampstead Butcher & Providore is too expensive. The high-end butchers already operates on Rosslyn Hill in Hampstead, and has done so for a couple of years now. The only way that a butcher is likely to survive in a high rent area like West End Lane is going to be to target the higher end of the market, and differentiate itself from the supermarkets.

£54 for this "Meat for a week" selection

Hampstead Butcher & Providore (I assume it's not changing its name for us) will be at 260 West End Lane, where the Chinese medical centre has been (next to Domino's).

If you fancy a chop with your chop, then step next door. 258 West End Lane is becoming a new salon. Because that's what we really need in the area. Marco Aldany is a new name for me, but then I'm not really a salon kinda guy. It appears to be a Spanish chain of hairdressers. I can't tell you much more about it, but I can show you a picture of what the front will look like if it gets past the planners, and tell you that the glass will be armour-plated. Should you be thinking of driving a car into it or anything.

Throw in the changes to The Lion - which has been learning the hard way about the power of Twitter - and the northern end of West Hampstead will have a very different feel to it by the end of the year.

A market for West Hampstead

I got a very exciting e-mail yesterday from Cllr Gillian Risso-Gill announcing that an agreement has been reached with First Capital Connect for the West Hampstead Business Forum to hold a Saturday market on the widenened pavement area by the new Thameslink station on Iverson Road.

The site is not big enough for a full, accredited, commercial farmers market, which I know a lot of you are keen on. However, in order to try and maximise trade, the organisers are keen to know what locals would actually want. This will help them determine whether the focus will be on food, or antiques, or crafts, or something else.

An early poll on Twitter yesterday suggested food was by far the most popular, although there was a significant vote for crafts/antiques/flea market. Perhaps different weeks could be different markets?

The hope is that a pilot market could be arranged in the next 5-6 weeks.

If you are interested in having a stall, I suggest you contact Gillian at Gillian.Risso-Gill@camden.gov.uk in the first instance. If you'd like to have your say on the type of market you'd like to see, then please leave a comment below. I've already noted comments via Twitter so please don't vote again!

Planning on the streets of West Hampstead

Alongside the Abbey Area and Lymington Road proposals, Thursday's Development Control committee meeting was also meant to discuss 163 Iverson Road - known as the "garden centre site". This had been postponed from the previous DC meeting, but was now removed entirely from the agenda of this meeting. The reason was not given at the time, but I heard later from cllrs Risso-Gill and Rea that the developers are increasing the proportion of affordable housing in order to comply with Camden's own planning guidelines (the council's planning officers were recommending rejecting the proposal). So this one is still to run.

Fortune Green ward councillor Flick Rea posted a useful summary of other local planning news this week. The headlines are:

"The Gondar Gardens reservoir site proposals rumble on - having appealed the previous refusal by the Council,(decision by Government Inspector pending) the developers also submitted a new plan which still didn't find favour locally - it encroaches on the open space and towers over the rear of the houses on Sarre Road. It was withdrawn for further consultation and will probably come up for decision in May."

"The new block on Maygrove Road is complete but an application for its neighbour "Handrail House" was basically refused by Camden before it ever got to Committee decision. In a way its a shame as they had worked out a good deal for improvements to the Peace Park and Sidings Community Centre ( a new cafe for example) which may get lost with a new application."

"From 1st April most developments over a certain size will have to pay a special levy to the Mayor which will go towards the mounting costs of CrossRail and therefore have less to spend on local improvements."

Hampstead Cricket Club to become temporary school

When I gatecrashed the Crediton Hill Residents Association meeting a few weeks ago, it wasn't just to see how many of the celebs who live on West Hampstead's poshest road I could spot. It was also a great opportunity to catch up on the proposal to turn part of the cricket club land into a temporary school - temporary being two years. The proposal went before Camden's Development Control committee last Thursday and was narrowly passed.

The background
South Hampstead High School, a private girls school in Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead, is undergoing an enormous refurbishment/rebuilding program. It had initially hoped that the school could function around these works, but it became increasingly clear this was not viable, so an alternative was needed.

The school is run by an organisation called The Girls' Day School Trust, which conveniently owns the cricket club land in Lymington Road. So, the proposal is to relocate the majority of the school to the cricket club for two years while work is carried out. Despite owning the land, this isn't something the school can do without planning permission as it's a change of use and requires the present day squash courts to be knocked down (and then rebuilt afterwards). All the details are in the document below (the tick marks show the most important pages).

South Hampstead High School Design Access Statement (annotated)
Crediton Hill voices concern
The idea has been discussed for some months now but, although public meetings have been held, judging by the mood at the residents association meeting (held in the bar in the cricket club itself) some local residents remain sceptical. The primary concern is traffic and parking, noise is a secondary concern, and for actor, local resident, and keen cricketer Greg Wise, the risk of girls invading the cricket pitch itself.

The deputation from the school and developers handled the discussion rather well I though - if a little caught on the back foot initially. They argued that today, some 80% of their 500 pupils walk or cycle to school, and that they are working very hard to explain to parents that driving their child to the new site is a bad idea. Maresfield Gardens is about a 10 minute walk away from the sports ground, and depending where you live a child's new route to school might involve walking down the less than user-friendly Finchley Road. It's hard to believe that some parents - especially of younger children - won't be tempted at least initially to run their kids down rather than have them walk further along a busy road. Of course, the reverse also holds true and perhaps some kids will now live nearer and that will make life easier for them.

There is simply no parking along Lymington Road, so a little bit of coordination with Camden council could see revenues from parking tickets soar!

Aside from the traffic, noise is understandably a concern - one resident who works from home, clearly envisages two years of high-pitched screaming ahead of her. The school argued that while, of course, some noise was inevitable at breaktimes and as pupils arrive and leave, the girl at South Hampstead were generally a well-behaved lot and there were so many school activities organized at lunchtimes that they weren't generally running around the place. Lunch would be held in the large room in the cricket club.

The deputy head also explained that not all the children would be on the site at any one time - most sixth formers and approximately a fifth of the other pupils would be at the Maresfield Gardens site as some lessons will stay there (I think largely for science, so no bunsen burners to burn down the portacabins... temporary modular accommodation. Equally, she was sure that the girls would respect the wicket and although they couldn't be stopped from walking over the outfield of a lunchtime [here she adopted a slightly steely gaze and politely reminded Mr Wise that the school owned the land], many of the girls were keen on sports and would quite understand.

Some residents were keen to pin the school's deputation down on exactly how many children, teachers, and other staff would be on site at any one time, but given that the existing site will still be operational, this number seemed hard to come by but around 400 seemed to be the broad consensus.

Over to Camden
On the surface, this might have looked like a fairly simple decision. A school needs land, whether its private or state-owned. The school owns the land, and visually it is not an eyesore. In fact, it turned out to be a rather contentious application. The planning officer's report, which recommends apprival is below.

Camden Report on SHHS Hampstead CC Application - annotated
There were strong objections here from residents of Alvanley Gardens and from West Hampstead ward councillor Keith Moffitt (who does not sit on the Development Control committee). The objections boil down to three topics: increased risk of flooding, noise and traffic. The flooding issue is hard to understand without diving into the details, but given that hard surface tennis courts are going to be built on I'm certainly not sure what the additional impact is meant to be - it would be different if the units were being built on grass or open land.

Cllr Marshall made the point that it's hard to consider noise at school breaktimes as a serious planning consideration in an urban area, especially when one factors in that this is weekdays, working hours, and term times only. The planning officer pointed out that noise is a legitimate planning consideration, but far more so for a restaurant open in the evenings than for a school active only during weekdays. Cllr Freeman suggested that it was a sad indictment of our times when the innocent noise of schoolchildren is deemed offensive.

Traffic was unsurprisingly by far the most legitimate consideration. There was some disagreement about the impact on traffic, with the school arguing that it is putting in place all sorts of measures to mitigate the impact on traffic - and from the meeting I went to on this, I believe they really are doing this. At the same time, it's "a stretch" as Cllr Marshall put it, to believe that parents are going to drop their kids at the Maresfield site and let them walk down.

For Cllr Simpson and others, the traffic plan currently in place was simply too vague. There was a high degree of scepticism that any attempts to dissuade parents from dropping their kids off could be enforced; concern about the girls crossing the Finchley Road; and general worry about a main east/west road being cluttered up with cars at peak morning times. My personal view on this is that the school should be given the benefit of the doubt but that the situation should be very carefully monitored and if traffic and short-term parking levels become unaccpetably high, then further action should be taken.

There was a broader point that the Girls Day School Trust is a wealthy organisation, so although it's clear that trying to combine the work on the Maresfield site with the running of the school would add substantially to the time taken for the build, and thus the cost, this shouldn't mean that local residents have to suffer for two years as a result of saving money. I suppose a counter argument is that the pupils deserve a reasonably quiet educational environment with minimal disruption, especially those in exam years - and that is independent of their parents' ability to afford a private education.

There was also some confusion about the number of pupils on site at any given time. The vote was taken as to whether to grant planning permission conditional on a limit of 500 pupils (which is the size of the school, so not going to be breached, and who's going to count anyway) and, more importantly, a much stronger travel plan to be submitted ahead of work starting on the site.

On that basis, the decision was approved by six vote to five.
Councillors in favor: Hayward, Apak, Freeman, Marshall, Braithwaite, Nuti.
Councillors against: Simpson, Gimson, Rea, Risso-Gill, Sanders.

The whole webcast of the discussion is available below:

Loading...

Abbey Area application passed by Camden

Three local planning applications were on the agenda for Thursday's Development Control committee meeting (Where Camden councillors vote on large planning applications).

The major decision to be made was regarding the Abbey Area development. This a proposal by Camden council itself, so naturally planning officers were recommending approval. The full 171 page report is here (sorry, not annotated this one!). There was a lengthy discussion in the meeting about this, with some strong views concerning the mix of housing in the new proposal as well as the impact of another large-scale development. Kilburn ward councillor Mike Katz perhaps captured the challenges of the plan most eloquently, pointing out that although the plans might not be perfect, "The best is often the enemy of the good and there's much good about this development" He went on to address one of the criticisms head on: "I rather take objection that by trying to address our housing needs in NW London that you create a ghetto."

Loading...

Eventually the vote was unanimously in favour, with two abstentions (Cllrs Rea & Braithwaite). There was no news of what might happen to the businesses that will see their premises destroyed - both under Emminster (Oscar's Den, the piano shop, the pub), and in the car park (the framers, the upholsterers etc.). The entire webcast of the discussion can be viewed here.

Whampreview takes Guglee for a spin

Guglee seems to have been pretty much a hit since arriving in all its bright orange glory on West End Lane. The clean design and pared down menu makes a refreshing change from old-school curry houses, but there's no let up in the flavours. It was time to put it to the Whampreview test, so 24 of us descended on it last Thursday.

We'd already agreed that we'd have a set menu with a choice of main courses, but I think both Tom and I were expecting the "mixed starters" to come as a platter or two between each table of eight. Instead, each person received a veritable bounty of Indian delights on their own plate. There was a piece of Hariyali Chicken Tikka - deliciously fresh and green; a piece of tandoori chicken - lovely and succulent; a pani puri; one of Guglee's famous chat street food dishes; and an Aloo Tiki potato cake. It really was a great selection. Tom, who hardly ever eats chicken, claims he could have eaten "tonnes" of this, while Tony reckoned these were a "very generous portion size for a starter". Even the poppadums got the thumbs us, being less greasy than is often the case.

As we neared the end of our starters, and already several glasses into the wine and beer, our waiter came round with an extra treat - the Sev Puri Chat. These are "down in one" crispy pastry 'shots' that explode with yoghurt and spices on the first crunch. They were a good table bonding ritual, especially for those first timers. Tony was pleased that the waiter had warned us not to attempt to nibble them delicately, as there would have been some clothing casualties otherwise. Some people found them a little large to cram in all at once. 

We were now quite full.

So naturally it was time for the main courses. Guglee had given us a good selection to choose from; my table shared most of them while seven of Tom's table went for the fish option and six of Nicky's table went for the lamb. Clearly I chose the more imaginative diners!

Alongside the main courses we got naan breads, rice, tadka dahl, chana masala, and "Veggie Veggie 5", which is a mixed vegetable side dish. These were generally very well received, the dahl on Tom's table coming infor a whole heap of praise.

The Indian Railway Special Lamb Curry (aka a Rogan Josh) is what I think of as Guglee's house special. I had it when I came before and have ordered it several times from the Finchley Road branch. I have to say this time around it wasn't as good as it has been. The sauce was thinner than usual and although it still tasted nice, it lacked the depth of flavour I associate with it. "Not special enough," said Jayanti. It was the most popular choice on Nicky's table, and everyone liked it although Susan and Matt wondered whether the meat might have been more tender. I would definitely order it again - having had it so many times, I think this was a blip.

The Goan fish curry, which dominated Tom's table, was to my mind a far gutsier affair. Thick with coconut and with the fish chunks still nicely solid it was the hit of our table. Nicky and Claire, however, found it a bit too rich and not spicy enough - better as part of a selection of dishes than on its own. One person's "not spicy enough" is Dom's "a nice kick, but not too much". 

We also tried the Chicken Tikka Massala, that famously British dish, which was also pretty good. It's never been my favourite, but I would have happily eaten the lot had I been able to squeeze any more food in. There were two vegetarian options - sag paneer and kadhai vegetables, both also got the thumbs up.

Perhaps the universal refrain was that people would have liked to have tried more things but were too full. Ryan just wished he had more room and Tom said he'd have liked starters and mains to have come at once so he could have tried everything.

We all seemed to leave a lot of food. There was talk of doggy bags and Thom and Debbie both made good use of them. Sadly, I was out the next two nights so decided against, but it seemed a shame to waste so much. A bit like with Spiga, the restaurant's generosity had been its undoing.

A few hardy souls felt it was their duty to test the desserts, which Guglee was kindly giving us on the house. Nicky's table went for the Rose & Honey Kulfi: "They looked like posh Mini Milks to me. But I like Mini Milks, and I really liked these ones, despite being disappointed there was no joke printed on the stick." They were a nice, refreshing end to the meal, fragrant with real rose petals. Unfortunately my table's waiter somehow forgot to order our desserts in the kitchen and by the time we were wondering where they were, it was really time to leave. Tom's table tried the rice pudding, which was described as "interesting, with a lovely hit of cardamom." Debbie said the carrot dessert was "hard to explain"!

All the tables opted for the Indian wines - there's a Shiraz and a Zinfandel for the reds and a Sauvignon Blanc as well. The Zin is more expensive, the Shiraz is much better - so that's a no-brainer. Non-Indian wines are also available, and some of us stuck to traditional Cobra. Despite their curiosity being aroused by the cheeringly-named 'Thums Up', Nicky's table decided to avoid it when Susan told them it's a popular Indian brand of super-caffeinated cola. She warned ominously "you won't sleep if you drink it".

We'd agreed a set price for the food of £23/head, and the total bills varied from £35 to £40 a head across the tables depending quite how many bottles of wine got consumed!

Overall, Guglee offers interesting Indian food that you're not going to find in every London neighbourhood. The restaurant is buzzy and welcoming with friendly staff and modern decor. Also, I should reserve a special mention for Sachin, one of the two brothers who run the restaurants. It was both his birthday and his wedding anniversary on the day, and he cheerfully helped ensure everything went well, when I suspect he'd probably rather have been at home celebrating.

Scores:
Jonathan's table: 7.1
Tom's table: 8.5
Nicky's table: forgot to score. "It would probably have been a 7.5 or 8".

Guglee
279 West End Lane
NW6 1QS
T: 020 7317 8555
W: guglee.co.uk


Apologies for the lack of photos, mine were all terrible. Thanks to Tom & Nicky for their notes.

A Tale of Two Lions

The Old Black Lion on West End Lane was established in 1751. It was a beerhouse not a tavern, meaning it could sell only beer.

The Black Lion on Kilburn High Road is older. It dates back to 1666. (The Red Lion on Kilburn High Road dates back to 1444! Thankfully now it's called The Westbury).

Both pubs were rebuilt around the start of the 20th century. The Black Lion in 1898 and The Old Black Lion in 1912.

Click for full-size, taken from The Streets of West Hampstead, Camden History Society

When I first moved to Kilburn, the Old Black Lion was a Rat and Carrot. Yes, carrot. The Railway was a Rat & Parrot. The Rat & Carrot chain was fairly short-lived if I recall. It reverted to being the Old Black Lion.

Only a few years ago, the Old Black Lion underwent a transformation from fairly straightforward pub showing sport to The Lion - which always reminded me a bit too much of an All Bar One.

The Black Lion meanwhile became very popular, and I believe its ceiling is actually listed - if you can list a ceiling.

A few months ago, rumours were flying around West Hampstead that The Lion was closing and being sold. I contacted Greene King, the owners, who assured me this was not the case. It was being refurbed and would be all new and shiny and exciting. It took a while for that to actually get started but the refurb is taking place at the moment.

Then today I was followed on Twitter by @TheBlackLionNW6. Its bio clearly says it is in West Hampstead. The Black Lion in Kilburn (also in NW6) tweets - albeit rarely - under @BlackLionLondon (which might have pissed off some of the other Black Lions within the M25).

"Black Lion" search in Google Maps. "B" is Kilburn's. West Hampstead's isn't there yet

This afternoon, The Black Lion (West Hampstead), tweeted a couple of photos of its dinner and lunch menus. They look quite expensive - it's competition for The Alice House, not The Railway. At the bottom of the menus (very sensibly) is a website address: www.theblacklionnw6.co.uk. Don't confuse this with The Black Lion's (Kilburn) website: www.blacklionguesthouse.com.

I visited the website (of the Black Lion West Hampstead). It's obviously not quite fully fledged yet, but it does have a contact page, giving its address (295 West End Lane) and a handy Google map. Which shows the location of The Black Lion in Kilburn.

West End Lane is suddenly the Kilburn High Road

With a degree of irritation, I pointed this out to the good people at the new (Old) Black Lion who said that that was indeed a mistake and they'd correct it asap. Hurrah.

In the meantime, the pub opens on April 26th. I am prepared to spend a lot of time explaining to people that there are two Black Lions (like there used to be) on two different roads but in the same postcode area. Before the internet this clearly wasn't a problem as both coexisted for about 250 years. Now, everyone needs a unique identifier and perhaps "NW6" wasn't the best one to pick. For a start why not go back to The Old Black Lion, or even call it "The New Black Lion".

I shall leave the last word to Shannon, whose common sense could have saved the day.

What have I missed since April 2nd

Two weeks of local news to catch up on, so we'll dive straight in.

Camden Development Control Committee voted in favour of the Abbey Area development and the Hampstead Cricket Club/South Hampstead Girls School temporary relocation. Full details on the website this week.

The application for the Kilburn Feis festival during the Olympics was completely withdrawn (the annual Kilburn Festival goes ahead as planned on July 8).

A local couple admitted selling goods stolen from the Met.

Kilburn Gaels player Cathal Forde died suddenly during training.

Walnut has closed, to be replaced by Feng Sushi. Bon Express has also closed.

Emmanuel School will add an extra 30-child reception class this coming year.

A woman fell between the carriages of a tube train at Swiss Cottage station, but was fortunately not seriously injured.

"Professor Whitestick" gave us a guide to changing stations in West Hampstead from a visually impaired person's perspective.

West Hampstead hockey team clinched a second straight promotion.

Local sixth-former Arthur Gallimore is running 12 marathons in 20 days for charity.

Oscars Den and The Wet Fish Café both launched new websites.

The South Kilburn regeneration scheme has taken its next step.

Do you want to donate to the Kilburn Plaque scheme? The next one is for George Orwell

Whampreview at Guglee was a success - full write up this week.

April 12th's Rush Hour Crush in the Metro featured West Hampstead.

Local estate agents Martin & Wright stumbled across a guy behaving oddly at West Cottages - turned out he was wanted by the police for burglary.

Not registered to vote in the Mayoral elections? Do so by April 18th. More Mayoral and London Assembly coverage on the website this week.

Kodak Kilburn posted a nice colour photo of Kilburn High Road ca 1905, and there were also historic photos of St Cuthbert's on Fordwych Road and West End Lane in 1959.

The West Hampstead breakfast blog tackled Mill Lane Bistro and Brioche.

The Railway now serves Costa coffee.

The Mill Apartments on Mill Lane will apparently sell for between £383,000 and £1.4 million.

In a week where horse racing made the news for good and bad reasons, here's a photo of our favourite race horse Kilburn.

Tweet of the Fortnight

What have I missed since March 26th?

VAT on pasties, postage stamp rises, and petrol panic at the pumps! But what was pertinent for the people of West Hampstead as March petered out?

City Hall gave the all-clear to the large development at 187-199 West End Lane.

Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick mentioned this development on the campaign trail.

A Loomis van was robbed outside Sainsbury's on West End Lane in broad daylight. Police quickly recovered the getaway car, but are yet to catch the robbers as far as I know.

West Hampstead will be one of the first Overground stations to get WiFi (and it will remain free after the Olympics).

Iceland looks like its moving into Finchley Road.

The CNJ covered the scaled down plans for the Feis festival during the Olympics.

Is a new WH Smiths opening at the Thameslink station?

Fabric magazine ran a spread (puff piece) about West Hampstead: Page 1 & Page 2.

A meeting in Swiss Cottage about HS2 seemed to go nowhere fast.

A new knitting club has started on Thursday evenings at Sainsbury's O2. Contact @MrsChurchman for more details.

There were blogs on Pizza Express, and Banana Tree.

West Hampstead men's hockey team were knocked out of the HA Trophy by Guernsey.

Tom went to Guglee, which will be the location of the next #whampreview on April 12th (put your name in the hat by Tuesday).

I posted the write-up of the last whampreview at Little Bay.

Coming up
Monday: Actor and writer George Layton is doing a reading and Q&A at Brioche (7.30pm).
Wednesday: Digital Switchover - you'll need to retune your TVs/set-top boxes if you want to carry on watching television (you'll need to do it again on the 16th).

Tweet of the Week
Stiff competition this week, but I rather liked this from @PNKnox