Mile End Park: Community Fair and Dog Show: This Sunday 14th July 11-4PM

This Sunday's Dog Show and Community Fair is just a few days away and is going to be jam-packed with something for everyone. It takes place just off Grove Road between the Texaco Garage and the Brittania Fish Bar.

Activities Galore

Face Painting | The Ice Run Adventure | The Horizontal Bungee | Go Karts |

Coconut Shy | Bouncy Castle | Inflatable Mid Dragon Slide

Climbing Wall | Inflatable 5-a-side Football Pitch | Jewellery Making | Rollapaluza

Stalls 

  Animal Wardens' Advice Stall | Friends of Mile End Park | Arts and Crafts 

Refreshments 

Smoothie Bikes | Ice Cream Van | Onion Bhajis & Samosas | Free Fruit 

And of Course The Dog Show which this year is being looked after by The Tower Hamlets' Animal Warden Service. There will be TEN categories including:

1. Most Fabulous Fella
2. Loveliest Lady
3. Most Endearing Rescue Dog
4. Most Courageous Golden Oldie (7 and over)
5. Best Puppy (under 12 months)
6. Best Trick
7. Look-a-like (Dog most like their owner)
8. Dog and Bone race (dog on lead)*

Prize rosettes for the top four in each category with each winner receiving a gift donated by Hounds of Bow. Each category winner will be entered into the Best in Show competition at the end to win a trophy.

*Still working on this one, but it is likely to be a "treat and spoon" race with a statutory sit halfway. No eating the treat until the end!

Fendi getting her fur done ahead of the Show

MEOTRA Fun Day - Sunday 7th July 2-5PM FREE (Tredegar Square)

This Sunday, 7th July, we are holding our annual Fun Day in Tredegar Square from 2-5PM

This is a FREE event organised by the MEOTRA committee for residents.

There will be free bouncy castles, splat the rat, face painting and music. It is a very child-friendly event.

Residents can bring along items they'd like to sell and set up their own stalls (or use a blanket). They can keep the money the proceeds or donate them for their favourite charity. There will be a variety of book, plant, cake, and refreshment stalls so bring some money if you want to buy anything.

The afternoon is a great chance to have a chat with neighbours, let the kids find new local friendships or have a picnic if you like.

Holy Trinity Church Morgan Street - Exhibition finishes this Sunday 30th June 13.00-17.00) Admission Free

Image: John White

Many of us walk along Lichfield Road or Morgan Street and cast a gaze at the rather imposing bulk of the Holy Trinity Church. In Winter we ignore it, and hurriedly shuffle passed, head down en route to the tube; or perhaps the Lord Tredegar Quiz Night? At dusk, we may spot a fox slipping through the fencing with a KFC takeaway to be enjoyed, undisturbed, in the graveyard. In Spring no doubt the fox is still there but lies hidden by the long stems of the cow parsley with its soft aniseed-like fragrance.

THIS SUNDAY from 1-5PM, for the first time in 30 years, there is a chance to step inside Holy Trinity. Not only can you marvel at the architecture of this Grade-II listed building, but you can enjoy a delightful art exhibition "Gathered Relics" organised by Stepney Green resident and architect Julian McIntosh where items of significant architectural interest will be on display in the church revealing the buildings unique history.

Image: John White

Image: John White

Liveable Streets Bow - Deadline for comments Tuesday 21st May

Tower Hamlets Council's Liveable Streets Bow programme aims to improve the look and feel of public spaces in Bow. By creating a better environment, the council wishes to make it more convenient to get around by foot, bike and public transport.

You only have a couple of days to submit your thoughts.

Maybe there are areas you'd like to see turned into pocket parks, or you have ideas to reduce rat running, encourage more walking or cycling in the area, or you've pet peeves about traffic issues? Whatever, your ideas the council wants to hear them.

As you can see from the screenshot above, lots of comments and suggestions have already been put forward as part of the consultation process. Please take a few minutes to add your ideas/comments about a particular area of Bow, via the consultation page.

Some ideas that we've heard are:

1. The blocking off to vehicles of Coborn Road at the railway bridge. This would reduce rat running along MEOTRA streets significantly by traffic "doing a left" at the corner of Tredegar Road and Coborn Road; or conversely by traffic using Aberavon/Rhonda/Tredegar and Coborn Roads to by-pass Bow Roundabout.
2. CHEAP on-street cycle storage
3. Making Holy Trinity's churchyard a permeable pocket park linking Lichfield Road and Morgan Street.
4. Perpetrators of ASB currently feel they "own" the streets, Heavily graffitied streets discourage walking, especially of an evening. The council needs to adopt a zero tolerance approach to "tagging" and find ways to speed up removal, especially on walls to private-rented properties where the current process of waiting for an absent landlord to give permission take months.
5. Turning the car park bound by Ford/St Stephens/Roman Roads into a pocket park and Village Green 
6. Turn all of Bow schools into School Streets (ie a complete closure to motor vehicles at school drop off and pick up times) to reduce pollution and create a space for parents and children to socialise.

Of course, you can email info@meotra.org.uk as well and we will absorb these into our grouped suggestions to the council.

TfL flesh out Hackney to Isle of Dogs Cycle Route

TfL has provided further info on the proposed Hackney to Isle of Dogs Cycle Route. Yours truly has work in the morning and so a detailed appraisal will follow at the weekend, but a quick assessment notes:

1. Grove Road through Victoria Park will become cycle/bus/taxi only 7am-7pm
2. They've got the Bow Liveable Neighbourhood area wrong! It should reach all the way down to Mile End Road and include the MEOTRA region too.
3. No left turn from Mile End Road into Burdett Road (this will add to the Southern Grove/Hamlets Way rat run that has already led to a number of serious accidents). LBTH have been asked to sort this out.
4. The right turn from Burdett to Mile End Road is reintroduced.Yippee! 
5. Mile End Junction has its own page
6. Removal of the loading bay on the south-east corner of the junction will have a massive effect on the Benjy's Tower development. This was, if I recall correctly, their main area for deliveries.
7. The awful location of the bus stops near Mile End Station hasn't been looked at:  the westbound bus stop leaves pedestrians blind to oncoming traffic, whilst the eastbound bus stop has buses backing up right on to Mile End Junction especially when National Express buses are loading suitcases. This often blocks the movement of Grove Road/Burdett Road traffic.
8. Widening of the east side of the Grove Road pavement (again!)

The detailed plans are here

It is great to see some joined-up thinking between LBTH and TfL so that our borough's Liveable Neighbourhood plans for Bow, and the TfL plans from Old Ford Roundabout to Mile End Junction are going to be looked at alongside one another.

Don't forget this Saturday at the Bow Idea Store, 1 Gladstone Place, Roman Road E3 5ES,  10-12 noon is your chance to meet those drawing up plans for how to spend the £3.3 million pound grant on encouraging active travel in Bow. ie More walking, cycling and public transport.

Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum Workshop and AGM 27th April (2-4.30PM)

The 27th April sees the AGM of the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum at St Paul's Church, St Stephen's Road. The AGM is combined with a workshop and should be an ideal opportunity to find out more about the Council's Liveable Neighbourhood initiative.

The initiative, which is due to go out for consultation this month, seeks to transform the way people move around Bow by encouraging more walking, cycling and use of public transport and reducing car use. It aims to reduce rat running, will likely incorporate the introduction of "school streets" to our area (e.g. Malmesbury School) and the proposal that has got all the attention: making the Roman Road a one way.

This coming Monday 15th April is the Friends of Mile End Park's AGM at the Eco Pavilion (which is just off Grove Road between the Brittania Fish Bar and the Grove/Roman Road junction). 

Yes for those of you that missed the MEOTRA AGM there is another chance to swig wine from a plastic cup whilst enjoying the ergonomics of plastic folding chairs

The past year has been a busy year for the Friends with lots of activities including: litter-picking, planting thousands of bluebells, snowdrops and wild-flower seeds, their Annual Community Fair and Dog Show, closer links with Tower Hamlets Cemetary Park and the Friends of Meath Gardens and of course keeping an eye on the Park. At the AGM there is a chance to hear about these topics and their future plans.

The Park Management will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Free nibbles, soft drinks and wine will be available.

Think this: Seven Cygnets Swimming 

Not this: