Timings: 7-8:30pm (open mic), 8:30-9:30pm (jam), 9:30-10:30pm (open mic)
Location: The Home Guard Club House, 76a Richmond Park Road
Entrance: Members – Free, Guests £3
Thomas Coxhead, organist extraordinaire and Director of Music at Christ Church until September 2024 returns to give an evening organ recital. He will be travelling from his current posting at Newport Cathedral to East Sheen to see some familiar faces and entertain all present!
Basil Alter, Violin, and Julian Chan, Piano, will perform at Christ Church on Friday 21 November 2025 at 7pm, doors 630pm.
Rhydian Tiddy, Ned Pettitt, Jack Myles, who arranged many of the pieces for trombone, and Cameron Bahmaie, made up the Funny Bones at Christ Church on Wednesday, 12 November. A rousing performance.
Next Wednesday 19 November at 12 noon, Timothy Lin plays the Viola da Gamba, an ancestor of the modern cello. It is a bowed, fretted instrument played da gamba, that is ‘on the leg’. It has six or seven strings, as distinct from the cello which has four. It was popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Timothy, from Taiwan, has built a career as an early musician. It should be an interesting lunchtime.
The application is for extended hours to serve food until 2am Monday to Thursday and 3am Fridy to Sunday. The application has been opposed by local residents. Their concerns are:
o the residential nature of the immediate area,
o the potential risks of anti-social behaviour and loitering until late evening.
o the likelihood of rowdy gatherings late at night associated with the operation of the
premises.
o late-night delivery motorbikes associated with the premises, which are likely to cause noise and
disturbance to local residents.
The applicant writes:
I am writing as the business owner of Caprinos Pizza, located at 160 Upper Richmond Road West, in
response to the objections raised regarding our application for a Late Night Refreshment Licence.
Our application is solely to serve hot food during late-night hours. We do not sell alcohol, and there
are no plans to introduce alcohol sales in the future.
The purpose of the extended hours is primarily to facilitate delivery orders, as around 30–40% of our total sales occur late at night. Extending our hours is therefore essential for our business to remain viable in the local area.
We fully understand the concerns raised by residents about potential noise or disturbance, and we
are committed to ensuring minimal impact on the community.
To achieve this, we will:
Focus on delivery-only service during late-night hours;
Monitor and manage driver behaviour to prevent noise or disturbance; and
Keep the premises and surrounding area clean and orderly at all times.
I would also like to highlight that shop 166 Upper Richmond Road West, which is located just two
doors away from us, currently operates until 2:00 a.m. on weekdays and 3:00 a.m. on weekends.
Granting our application would therefore be consistent with the existing trading hours in the
immediate vicinity.
Some objections mentioned concerns about alcohol sales and a recent crime incident on the High
Street. To clarify, Caprinos Pizza does not sell alcohol, and the incident referred to occurred before
11 p.m. at another business with a different internal layout.
Our premises design prioritises safety, with a locked front entrance for staff access only and a kitchen area that is not accessible to the public.
We are committed to operating responsibly and working in partnership with the local community.
We are happy to accept reasonable conditions that the Council considers necessary to ensure public
safety and community comfort.
We therefore respectfully ask the Sub-Committee to consider our application favourably, allowing us
to continue serving our customers safely and sustainably during late-night hours.
If you wish to watch the proceedings contact the Council Democratic Services on 020 8891 7949.
EastSheenMatters rarely writes on international matters, but a letter from the President of Poland to the US President, written earlier this year, has recently come to light. It was reported in Newsweek in March, but does not otherwise appear to have had much coverage in the UK. It is interesting while also of major political significance. It deserves wider publicity.
Your Excellency, Mr. President,
We watched your conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky with fear and distaste. It is insulting that you expect Ukraine to show gratitude for U.S. material aid in its fight against Russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who have been shedding their blood for over 11 years to defend the free world’s values and their homeland, attacked by Putin’s Russia.
How can the leader of a country symbolizing the free world fail to recognize this?
The Oval Office atmosphere during this conversation reminded us of interrogations by the Security Services and Communist court debates. Back then, prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the communist political police, told us they held all the power while we had none. They demanded we stop our activities, arguing that innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms for refusing to cooperate or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Zelensky was treated similarly.
History shows that when the U.S. distanced itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately endangered itself. President Wilson understood this in 1917 when the U.S. joined World War I. President Roosevelt knew it after Pearl Harbour in 1941, realizing that defending America meant fighting in both the Pacific and Europe alongside nations attacked by the Third Reich.
Without President Reagan and U.S. financial support, the Soviet empire’s collapse would not have been possible. Reagan recognized the suffering of millions in Soviet Russia and its conquered nations, including thousands of political prisoners. His greatness lay in his unwavering stance, calling the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and confronting it decisively. We won, and today, his statue stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.
Mr. President, military and financial aid cannot be equated with the blood shed for Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the world. Human life is priceless. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and freedom—something self-evident to us, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet Russia.
We urge the U.S. to uphold the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s borders in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—nowhere do they suggest such aid is a mere economic transaction.
Signed,
Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland “
Wednesday 12 November 2025 12 noon at Christchurch Road SW14
Following the excellent oboe recital next up on Wednesday are The Funny Bones Trombone Quartet, an ensemble formed at the Royal Academy of Music, brought together by their mutual love of chamber music and the way it can be expressed so uniquely through the trombone. They aspire to extend this love of their music as far a reach as they can, enjoying not only the traditional trombone repertoire but also writing many arrangements for the group themselves, with the aim to curate a diverse array of pieces which can cater to the strengths of each player in the quartet.
The ensemble are the 2024 winners of the Musicians’ Company Brass Ensemble Prize, leaving them delighted to be Young Artists of the Company.
Collectively, the members of the Funny Bones have performed at numerous prestigious venues, such as the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Auditorio Nacional de España, Ulster Hall, and as a group are proud to have performed at Regent Hall, within the Royal Academy of Music, in the Birmingham Conservatoire Recital Hall, Ferrandou Musique and in many other beautiful venues across London and further afield.
The Remembrance Day Service takes place at the War Memorial in Sheen Lane from 1045am to 1130am this Sunday 9th November. Get there early to see the arrival of the marching groups!
As a prequel Christ Church hosted Wartime in Sheen 1939 – 1945, a memorable evening of remembrance, in poetry, prose, music and song. There were accounts from people who lived in East Sheen and Mortlake at the time. Some were read by the individuals themselves and others read on their behalf by members of the local congregations. And we all sang along with Vera Lynn and the piano playing of Alison Wilson.
EastSheenMatters plans to publish extracts from the event over the next few weeks with the approval of the authors Bernard Adams, and Mireille Stanton, who had interviewed local residents for their memories. The first are below. To be sure of seeing them all you will have to subscribe to EastSheenMatters, so as to receive the postings automatically by email.
“My brother and I had gone messing around in tiny rowing boats on Adam’s Pond with not a care in the world. They rented out little boats to children back then. Anyway suddenly my mother arrived in a tizzy to take us home immediately because she said the war had started. We couldn’t understand what the fuss was about.”
Richard
“I was only six when the war started. We lived in North London then. I had not wanted to be evacuated when so many children went away, and I was alright until the Blitz started. It was terrible. Night after night we had air raids. We were 150 yards from the railway line. The army had rigged up some ack-ack guns to shoot at enemy planes. The guns were mounted on flat wagons that ran on the lines, and the noise was a nightmare. We did not have a shelter of our own. I spent one single night in the shelter of a neighbour, but that was horrible, all cramped and mildewy.
The shattered windows of the house had been covered over with black roofing felt, but in spite of this I was as happy as Larry during daylight hours. The air raids stopped then, and I ran all over collecting bits of shrapnel. But when night came the hellish noise of the Blitz had me screaming my head off in terror.”
Mike Smith
Damla Tuncer was the first soloist to perform in the Christ Church Wednesday lunchtime series on 5 November.
Damla was brought up and studied playing the oboe in Istanbul. She now lives in West London.
Her explanation of the instrument and its playing was fascinating. The oboe itself is an elegant looking instrument made primarily of ebony or rosewood. But vital to its playing are the cane reeds through which she breathes to create the sound. They are specially grown and made and adjusted. Damla has a stock of a thousand. They have to be changed at least weekly depending on frequency of use and venues. They are sensitive to climate, the weather and temperature.
Teaching is just as much a passion for her as performing. She works with children and adults, beginners and professionals, offering personalised oboe, piano, recorder, and music theory lessons. She is an Alexander Technique Trained Teacher, learnt when she was recovering from Repetitive Strain Injury. It is especially important in helping understanding of the importance of mind–body connection.
Damla demonstrated her skills with a range of music by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Morricone and others.
The Wednesday recitals are free. Donations only. Next Wednesday at 12 noon are The Nex3 Brass Trio.
12 noon Winter Recital Series at Christ Church
Damla Tuncer Oboe
No charge but donations welcome.
630pm Barnes Home Guard Club
Infamy at the Parklands
Free to Members
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