Entertainment in Parks, the Paragon Building and the Canal Towpath
Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert reports back
Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert
August 21, 2025
I'm taking a long weekend in Jersey so doing this a day early. I seem to be having a lot of holidays this summer. It's not all that difficult to keep up despite that as my ward in particular is pretty peaceful as far as councillor issues are. Of course, that doesn't mean there is nothing, and I have asked for updates on various planning-related matters in the ward and Tom Bruce has promised me an update from the head of planning and the head of redevelopment. I asked about Griffin Park, Ballymore (not in my ward but important to me) and 'Albany Riverside' which actually is what most of us regard as the Watermans and the Police station. A few others have come into my mind and I'll look to add them to the list.
Two lovely events on Saturday. First was 'Piano in the Park' at Watermans Park. These concerts are very laid back and I always enjoy supporting them. It is disappointing that they are poorly supported, I suspect because they are not very well promoted (after all, it's a couple of volunteers at Friends of Watermans Park who do it all on their own).
My friend Edwin was playing a rather unusual piano but he was succeeded by others who did use the piano. I noticed that the boat nearby (I still have failed to get any update on his being allowed to stay there from the council officers) was full Japanese on Saturday. He seems to change his flags daily and there was one a few days ago I couldn't identify, maybe Jamaica.
That was good and then I was in another of our lovely parks, Boston Manor.
This was in the Walled Garden, which is a fabulous location on a sunny evening. I did know of the Oscar Wilde play and assumed I had seen it previously, but if I had it was not a patch on this show by the Arts Centre Hounslow, who are also involved with the Potting Shed Cafe and now with the Manor Kitchen. This is the restaurant in the Manor House and had been poorly supported, Somebody I met at the play said they had had dinner there and thought it was great, so I tried a light lunch there - very good!
Back to the play. I don't often go to theatre and I often don't enjoy it. But this was a blast: huge laughs all through and I thought the production and the acting were really beautiful. This carries on until Monday 25th and it is an absolute joy. Don't miss it!
On Sunday I was feeling short of old cars so I decided to go to Beaulieu - the National Motor Museum. Traffic was annoying. Going to Europe where people follow the Highway Code, only going in the faster lanes when overtaking makes me annoyed at the UK culture. If there is a fourth (slow) lane it is virtually deserted whereas the third and 4th lanes are full of cars, usually with no-one to overtake in the next 5 miles. I think it is insulting to their manhood (or womanhood) to not being in the 'dominant' lane. What's worse is when you follow the Highway Code you get people closing gaps and angry flashing. Of lights, I mean.
Anyway it made a change to go there and quite a lot to see. Being a bit of a nerd I was not all that interested in Icons of F1 (seen it all before) and On Screen Cars (my first car was a Ford Anglia like Harry Potter and I had many Minis like Mr Bean (and who really wants to see a Reliant van.) My favourite was We Had one of Those which had my first company car, a red Vauxhall Cavalier Mk 2. Don't see them these days.
Good to see an offspring of Isleworth - A Fraser-Nash Colmore from 1932
They encouraged me to visit Buckler's Hard - probably all owned by the Duke – which is a little village by the river. Not terribly impressed but had to drive through darkest New Forest to get there. Saw some New Forest Ponies, but I think they must have been drinking Thames Water because didn't look much like the ponies I've seen before.
On Monday I had a free day and it says in my diary 'surprising' which is a note to myself to do something I don't normally do. Something I do normally do is listen to a podcast but this one was about architecture. It was an architect - Thomas Heatherwick - who was lauding a new development in Finchley, right next to the North Circular Road. His argument was that there is nothing to stop new developments being creative and unique, and recommended Edgewood Mews. Normally I would cycle or take public transport, but decided - very stupidly - to drive because the other routes were slow and cumbersome. Like driving as it turned out. This picture from the architect is a good representation of this quirky block.
My own pic is a bit more homely. I thought it was very good , though some old people (not me obviously) might have trouble with the stairs and steps.
I wondered what was there before, and it turns out that in 2020 it was a scrubby bit of land right next to the dual carriageway. Proves what can be done with a bit of imagination and a lot of investment which turns a useless and unpleasant space into decent housing, and they are quite cheap according to Zoopla - under £250K
On the way back I passed Brentfield. Many years ago, when I was a youthful temporary accountant I worked in Great Cumberland Place by Marble Arch, for a company called Sperry Univac. After a few weeks I noticed I wasn't doing anything and asked colleagues why I had been hired and paid a decent wage. Ah, my colleagues said, it's because we are moving soon to our new HQ in Brentfields and our boss wants to retain the 6 desks he has in this office, so your job is to occupy a desk.
I got bored and left (probably went on holiday) and they did move to this massive and iconic HQ. This one.
They didn't last long there and later become Unisys. They were rumoured to be moving to Brentford, where GSK developed their own iconic HQ. No idea where they ended up, but the icon has been unoccupied for decades. Owned partly by the council and partly a developer from (inevitably) Luxembourg. Sounds familiar in Brentford. Brentford/Brentfield?
Unusually, on Tuesday I had walked up to BMP, going along the canal, and inevitably I end up finding issues wherever I go. The burden of a ward councillor, heavy load to carry.
A couple of years ago I worked with some local luminaries, some businesses from the Golden Mile and council officers and we agreed to improve part of the canal towpath to increase the attractiveness for people who work on the GWR to visit the town centre. We had more than one meeting about this and decided this was a good bit to concentrate on. If I recall, plans were made. Yes, well, we often make plans , but it's galling that all that effort was wasted.
Equally, this lovely Charnwood Panama boat decided to explore the bottom of the canal a year or more ago. I suppose it is a problem for the Canal and River Trust charity to deal with it. That side of the canal is not my ward so some other idiot can take that one on!
More positively I noticed this handsome new fence on BMR opposite The Dell. Actually just a replacement for a similar one that was bedraggled but nice to see.
I also reported a number of FixMyStreet issues, flytips, graffiti and a dead bicycle all the way down from the station to the Beehive. Also noticed the library garden. People complain about it, and it certainly could be improved, and I moan to GreenSpace about it from time to time. The relatively good news takes me back to my early days as a councillor. Somebody had decided to cut down the two trees in the garden. They are special trees - more like bushes and I can't remember what they are - but a resident protested to me after one of them had been hacked. Managed to save the second one and the hacked one has mainly recovered.
Should have taken a pic but this one from Google Earth last year must suffice.
Glad to say they have grown a bit and someone has treated the white lime (or whatever it was) on the Carnegie carving. I moaned about it when the library was refurbished and 3 or 4 years later my wish became my command (or more likely someone more important decided to fix it). A result, anyway.
On the way I had a look-see at the Paragon building, where some time soon there will be a lot of students and some tenants and/or part owners of this revived building now owned by Notting Hill Genesis Housing Association. Apparently, though it looks finished from the outside it is a little behind schedule so will not be ready for students the coming academical year. I am arranging to have a look inside, with Ruth Cadbury if she wishes. These buildings were evacuated a few years ago because of safety concerns causing a lot of distress both for the owners and the people who used to live there. They have now been substantially rebuilt and soon will be ready.
I'm off early tomorrow (Thursday) for my short stay in Jersey.
A nice picture to sign off, taken from the bridge over the canal at the bottom of Boston Manor Park. There is a lot of beauty in Brentford.
Councillor Guy Lambert
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