Sunday, 28 February 2010
NW6 then and now
Via the excellent NW6 blog, with the orginal photos here, is NW6 then and now. My own small contribution on Kensal Rise then now is here.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Out and about
We went for a Kensal Rise stroll today - and a few things are worth mentioning.
It began in the library, which has had a refurb and although my initial sceptical view was that it would mean fewer books, and I'm not entirely sure that isn't the case, the automatic machines to get books out are amazing. Once you scan in your library card, you simply put ALL the books below the machine, and it immediately recognises all of them without any scanning or opening etc. I assume this is RDS technology, but it's very impressive.
Next we went to Retrouvius, a tardis of a second-hand furniture/collectables place. It's quite trendy and is featured a lot in magazines such as Living Etc, and well worth a visit from time-to-time.
Then we looked in the window of Ammonite2000, and then moved on to the William IV. This was refurbished last year and we liked it, although it doesn't quite work - it falls a bit between being the Paradise and being a All Bar One style place. The menu looked good though and I'm glad there are pubs still showing the football.
Finally, back on Chamberlayne Road we asked at the pizza place that was opposite Tesco what was happening. Apparently it is going to be the same people running a pizza place, but this time a restaurant, and it will also do Mediterranean food, whatever that is.
It began in the library, which has had a refurb and although my initial sceptical view was that it would mean fewer books, and I'm not entirely sure that isn't the case, the automatic machines to get books out are amazing. Once you scan in your library card, you simply put ALL the books below the machine, and it immediately recognises all of them without any scanning or opening etc. I assume this is RDS technology, but it's very impressive.
Next we went to Retrouvius, a tardis of a second-hand furniture/collectables place. It's quite trendy and is featured a lot in magazines such as Living Etc, and well worth a visit from time-to-time.
Then we looked in the window of Ammonite2000, and then moved on to the William IV. This was refurbished last year and we liked it, although it doesn't quite work - it falls a bit between being the Paradise and being a All Bar One style place. The menu looked good though and I'm glad there are pubs still showing the football.
Finally, back on Chamberlayne Road we asked at the pizza place that was opposite Tesco what was happening. Apparently it is going to be the same people running a pizza place, but this time a restaurant, and it will also do Mediterranean food, whatever that is.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Lack of posts and Scarlet & Violet
Apologies for the lack of posts around here, I was off getting married and then in Venice on a honeymoon. I think Kensal Rise could learn a lot from Venice, the Grand Union Canal would surely benefit from 15th century mansions and a few more squares and fewer cars etc.
Anyway to bring this back to Kensal Rise I would like to say that at short notice we got the buttonholes, bouquet and table decorations from Scarlet & Violet, and very good they were too.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Whyte's deli seems to have closed down
I passed it today and it appeared to be empty. This is rather strange as when I went in two weeks ago they were just getting a new fridge. It's a shame as we were becoming regulars - the bread and soup were excellent.
Council plans to change bus stops
Thanks to the commenters who linked to this public appeal from Minkies. Read it all, but in short the plan is for some buses to stop in a new bay outside Minkies on Chamberlayne Road, instead of on Station Terrace.
I am tempted to be against, simply because it is done by Brent Council, who don't seem very impressive. A closer look reinforces that view, simply because the bit where the buses turn into now seems how you would design such a bus stop if you were going to, rather than on the crest of a hill of a busy road. It also seems to suffer from tinkering for tinkering's sake.
n the other hand there are presumably some other issues which commend the plan - Minkies mention themselves the annoyance to residents near Station Terrace of buses turning around (although where would they turn around with the new plan?). Anyone have any strong views either way?
I am tempted to be against, simply because it is done by Brent Council, who don't seem very impressive. A closer look reinforces that view, simply because the bit where the buses turn into now seems how you would design such a bus stop if you were going to, rather than on the crest of a hill of a busy road. It also seems to suffer from tinkering for tinkering's sake.
n the other hand there are presumably some other issues which commend the plan - Minkies mention themselves the annoyance to residents near Station Terrace of buses turning around (although where would they turn around with the new plan?). Anyone have any strong views either way?
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