EastSheenMatters

Important Update: MCA Reopening

Our refurbishment works at Mortlake Hall are taking a little longer than expected. While we’re disappointed not to welcome you back quite as soon as planned, our priority is making sure the building is fully ready, clean, safe and comfortable for everyone before activities resume.

Our revised reopening dates are:

• Most classes and activities will resume from Monday 14 September

• Mortlake Community Singers will resume on Tuesday 29 September

• The Wednesday Community Hub returns on 30 September, when we look forward to welcoming you back with some special treats from our newly refurbished kitchen

Thank you for your patience and understanding while these important improvements are completed. Read below for more details on our activities.

What We’ve Been Up To

Although we’ve been away from Mortlake Hall, MCA hasn’t been quiet!

Our refurbishment project has continued throughout the summer, while Helen and the gardening group have been hard at work at Alder Road, harvesting potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, courgettes and raspberries. Meanwhile, Alan Hertz has continued sharing his popular history lectures from St Mary the Virgin.

We also enjoyed another fantastic seaside trip to Worthing. Despite one of the hottest days of the year, we had a wonderful time. Many thanks to the Barnes Fund for helping make this much-loved outing possible, and our volunteers Toby, Gill and Catherine.

September Activities

We’re putting the finishing touches to our September programme and will send full dates and details next week.

You can look forward to the return of:

• Mortlake Community Hub
• Balance & Stretch
• Drawing Group
• Embroidery Group
• History Lectures
• English Classes
• Community Garden
• Knitting Group
• Chess Corner
• Ruils Health Checks
• Crosslight Financial Advice
• Richmond Housing Partnership Support

• Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): A resilient, aromatic herbaceous perennial featuring flat-topped clusters of small white-to-creamy flowers and finely divided, feathery, fern-like leaves.
• Habitat & Growth: Commonly found thriving in lawns, meadows, and disturbed grasslands, often staying green and blooming through summer droughts while surrounding grasses go dormant.
• Ecological Value: Highly attractive to beneficial insects, butterflies, and pollinating bees.

• So don’t mow it off your lawn!

Five minutes in Kozy on the Upper Richmond Road

One cargo bike cycled past the window heading east doing about 20 mph on the pavement.

On the other side of the road two minutes later a father and daughter cycled west past a pedestrian. She shouts ‘it’s illegal’. Father calls back, unintelligble but probably not complimentary, as they cycle on.

Perhaps one solution to this now commonplace illegality is a shouting match!

Before and After Pollarding

This is a response to the post below on 17 August from Graham Kench, a Mortlake resident. Its length warrants a separate post rather than simply a Comment.

https://childlawobserver10.com/2026/08/17/speed-limits-for-cyclists-is-it-possible/

“I have been banging on about this for years to no avail,  initially by confronting pedal cyclists and telling them it is illegal to ride on the pavement. The responses included ” no it’s not ” , ” **** off ” and threats of physical violence. Not one cyclist has ever dismounted. I have also spoken to local councillors and my MP, via her agent and I have raised the matter at the local Police Liaison Group 

Councillor Roberts,  in addition to being Leader of Richmond Council,  is a Member of the London Assembly and is the Liberal Democrats spokesperson on Crime and Policing. He describes himself as “husband, father, cyclist “. It is good that someone of his standing has been prepared to take up this important matter at a high level.  He did not mention that there is a Fixed Penalty,  currently £50 , for cycling on the pavement,  and more severe penalties for causing injury,  including life imprisonment for causing death to a pedestrian. 

The Highway Code (Rule 64) states (cyclists) “YOU MUST NOT CYCLE ON THE PAVEMENT “

In recent years there has been a large increase in cycling for all sorts of reasons,  probably commencing with the Olympic Games in 2012. The benefits are clear: health and fitness,  air quality,  environment,  cost,  convenience. The biggest increase is in electric hire bicycles. Richmond ‘s new contract with Forest has increased the cap from 250 machines to 750 with an option to increase to 1,000.

Either cyclists genuinely believe that they have the right to ride on pavements and are unaware that they are committing an offence; or they just don’t care and know that they will never be apprehended.

So,  what can be done? First the relative rights of pedestrians and cyclists should be emphasised. Pavements (footways) are for pedestrians. Highways (roads) are for carriages (including cycles).  The law should be enforced, mainly by issue of Fixed Penalties.

The hire companies should be required to inform their customers that they must comply with the law and the Highway Code or they will be liable to prosecution. But  Fixed Penalties can only be issued by police officers, and one is more likely to see a Martian than a police officer on the streets these days,  so there needs to be a greater/regular/occasional police presence,  particularly at vulnerable areas e.g. Chalker’s Corner,  Lower Richmond Road, Upper Richmond Road.

If cyclists claim they have to use the pavement because the road is too dangerous, there is a simple solution — dismount from the bike and push it. “

And from another local resident: Como mayor hit by electric bike and issues blanket ban in Italian city https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8n077vxd7o

The Mayor of Richmond does not have quite so much power!

Heathrow is now crowing that complaints about noise and night flights have descreased. And putting that canard to good use in its advertising.

Reports | Heathrow

Well of course they have!

Who is going to make daily complaints as might well be justified?

Local residents may well feel that there is little purpose in complaining. Who will actually bother to read it? And even if they did it is highly improbable, given Heathrow’s determination to achieve their objectives at all costs, that they would take any notice or place any weight on complaints.

BUT numbers alone it seems will help the objectors’ cause.

Well advertised, useful work.

Why can’t Cadent be as sensible?

There is a new bench by the cricket pitch in Palewell Park. It is in memory of the late wife of Giles Browne. Giles writes: “We were together for 37 years (32 years in Sheen) of which I played cricket every Saturday and Sunday for at least 25 years, during which time Christine ended up making an awful lot of cricket teas. She did enjoy it as she loved baking cakes and she famously did the tea on Sheen Common for when the Middlesex Ladies U25 Team played the Japanese Ladies International Team, who were on tour celebrating 100 years of cricket in Japan. The Japanese Ladies next match after that was at Lords.”

Photo: Dick Barfield

The Sheen Park 1st & 2nd X1s play on Sheen Common and the 3rd X1 play at Palewell Park. They have been there for over 15 years now. Teas are now provided by Ranjeet in the Park Cafe. 

The position of the bench was very important as that is where the Sheen Park Team is situated on match days and they were desperately short of seating.

The Council cut the outfield but while the Club employ a professional cricket pitch expert to oversee the work on the square, a lot of the manual work is done by the Club Chairman Mike Ashbery.

Sheen Park Cricket Club, Fife Road, London SW14 7ER

Instagram