Brentford Blogs

As those who read this stuff will know, I am very young indeed and eager to discover more about the world around me. I subscribe to a 'newspaper' called the London Minute which gives really short updates on stuff that is going around the Big City, and I sometimes find things that I want to take a look at. So I cycled to Kew Gardens (where I was picking up a book from Hewson's Bookshop, much lamented in Brentford but still going in Kew) and took the District line through to Bl

This weekly blog has a tendency to grow like Topsy (who is Topsy?) so I will try to truncate it this week. Whether I succeed I will tell you in about 10 hours when I finish writing the ruddy thing. It has not been my purpose to bore Brentford into submission but it seems to develop that way. Perhaps I should announce that Brentford is going to invade Richmond because we need it for security. Tariffs on anything coming in over the river. That'll do it, but I might settle for

Thursday was a good day with a bit of good news. Well, it wasn't exactly news, but the arrival of Middlesex Cricket Club at the former Beecham sports ground in Swyncombe Avenue has moved on a stage. I remember when I was canvassing in 2022 I talked to a couple on The Ride (the other side of the sports ground). They asked me what was happening to the old sports ground. Now I have to make a confession. I had never noticed it was there. I knew there was a sports field, but I th

Still feels slightly fraudulent to write 2026. What happened in 1926? That was sightly before I was born. Well, quite a bit actually and my late mum was only 9 and my late father 17 in 1926 so they would have been struggling. What happened was the General Strike. I doubt the centenary will not be remembered by a repeat performance but these are difficult times. For some reason Googling 1926 raises the matter of the Tolpuddle Martyrs who seem to have been in the news nearly

2 weeks blogless - how does Brentford survive? Probably like me watching ancient films like Jaws and The Godfather on the gogglebox and on one occasion in my case visiting the friendly local Everyman for a new film called Eternity. Sort of fun if a bit empty and no patch on A Matter of Life and Death. I also got interested in numbers but you can read my erudite thoughts on the universe elsewhere https://www.guylambert.blog/post/numbers-and-a-bit-of-the-universe That aside I h

One of my erstwhile colleagues in Labour has had to resign from the Cabinet after the Solicitors Regulatory Authority closed his firm. Now they say " This person is allowed to practise as a solicitor, but 'conditions apply' means we restrict what they can do". Never fear: his wife (also I think chair of the council Labour group and of the constituency Labour party in Feltham and Heston) has been appointed as chair of planning, which should make up for the loss of Cabinet Spec

On Friday I caught the district line to St James's Park and made my way down to SMith Square. The meeting was in Transport House. Women of a certain age, and men of similar age like yours truly, remember Transport House as one of those places where meetings in smoke-filled rooms allegedly decided the future of our country. This was the headquarters of the Transport and General Workers Union, led by the legendary Jack Jones. His other half amongst the 'Terrible Twins' was Hugh

Well, as predicted, I went to the Holy Trinity Church in Hounslow to recognise Disabilities Day. The attraction for me (am I becoming anging groupie?) was not the speech from the always warm Ajmer Grewal or from the equally pleasant council officer who looks after these matters, nor even the speech from Louise Murphy from the highly respected independent thinktank Resolution Foundation. No, the attraction was the people from Speak Out in Hounslow. I find it impossible to see

Gosh it is astonishing that it has got round to December. Drizzly on my balcony this morning but not too cold, and a cormorant saw mw coming out and decided to fly by and wish me good morning. Incidentally, is it me? I have seen an unprecedented number of swans on the Brent this autumn and when I cycled through Dukes Meadows this week I had never seen so many of the blighters infesting the Thames. My social media has been infested recently with right wing correspondents assur

Back to my current obsession - extortionate fines. I heard of another one this week. An unusually discounted fine (to a paltry £500) had been sent to one of the boats moored in The Hollows, near Kew Bridge. We've already had 2 there, and another to a flat served by the same overflowing cardboard bin, but as well as the lower fine (no idea why) this is addressed to someone who doesn't live there and nobody seems to know who she is and why she has been sent a PCN at that addres

As predicted, I made a trip to Armenia on Thursday. Well, really the enclave of Armenia in Brentford at the Armenian church centre which used to be the Princess Royal. The lengths that people will go to to avoid being renamed Ann Mountbatten-Windsor. There were few people there when I attended but the ubiquitous John Dale and his sidekick Robin. Oh sorry, I'm confusing him with Batman - his sidekick is called Barney. He was digging the turf with my Green comrade Tony Firkins.

I might be getting obsessed with two things - old cars and council extortion about alleged flytipping. I will try to get these out of the way first so perhaps we can get on to something of more interest (or not, according to taste). If that's your preference you can skip what Private Eye describe as Page 94 , but on this occasion is on page 1. On Friday I drove up to Brummagem to the NEC for the Classic Car Show. I decided to go on Friday on the basis that was likely to be th

This has been a rather momentous week for me because I have become a Green. I am still a youthful looking pinkish (in two respects) handsome man (in my opinion) , but now green inside. I have been saying that I will stay as an Independent councillor and stand as an independent next May. But things have moved on in the Green party world and I have been reading and hearing Zack Polanski's vision for the party, and have talked to some friends who have left Labour for the Green p

As promised (or threatened) last time I went to a motor museum on Thursday. This was in deepest Somerset. I had vaguely heard of the Haynes Museum but I had no idea of what a splendid collection it is, based in a quite remote area of the country. I knew of Haynes Manuals (who has ever had a car and not known Haynes) but I didn't know the story. John Haynes had a remarkable life which seems to have blended ntural entrepreneurship, passion and serendipity, but he built a fantas

Boring old man here. My ‘innovative’ coffee morning has happened! On Friday I visited a resident in Grosvenor Road. She has a council home with persistent issues with damp. I'm afraid this is a familiar story: work is done time and again which fails to deal with the fundamental problem. There is a lean-to at the back with a nice slate roof but inadequate (or poorly installed) flashing means that water gets in through the cracks and affects the wall between the lean to and the

When Kathleen Richardson suggested I might write a weekly update for BrentfordTW8.com I had never written anything much. It sounded interesting, as I had just really started a new life as a councillor, having spent most of my life working in industry, originally as a financial clerk, then as an accountant and latterly as an executive. I knew little about being a councillor and knew I had a lot to learn. Communication was important as a new-minted politician so I embarked on

Well, a week in Italy makes it seem a long time ago where I pick up the threads. I was actually quite busy on the Thursday and Friday...

On Friday I spent some time in the morning delivering invitations for my planned coffee morning in October and it was nice to walk the...

Well, now, I've actually had an unusually busy week with fun things, some family things and more than usual meetings etc. On Friday I...

Back to scaffolding. I was sitting here doing my emails when suddenly there was a head outside my window, slightly disconcerting on the...