Carols From Tredegar Square

Around 150 attended MEOTRA's carol singing in Tredegar Square. It was great to see so many people, both young and old, enjoying themselves without any need for high-tech wizardry: just mulled wine, mince pies, enthusiasm for a festive sing-song and a little help from Santa.  Regrettably, I felt it best to rest my voice and instead opted to perform multiple health and safety assessments on the mulled wine and mince pies, and the childrens' iced gems.


There was a collection at the end which raised £176.54 (up from £62.52 last year and £80.60 the year before that) for local charities. We will let you know which one(s) after the next committee meeting.

Many thanks to all those who helped out by either making or bringing along refreshments; manning the stalls, tidying up, or adding their voice to the impromptu choir. For many "Carols from Kings College, Cambridge" heralds the start of the Christmas festivities, but for me it was our "Carols from the Square". I'm looking forward to next year's already.

Carol Singing in Tredegar Square: Sunday 22nd Dec at 5PM

Our Winter 2013 newsletter is out now and contains details of this Sunday's Carol singing in the Square (see above), as well as lots of other local news and information including numerous planning applications. If you haven't received a copy through your door then you can download one from here.

I hope to see some of you this Sunday for the carols (and minced pies and mulled wine!). Merry Christmas and here's to 2014.

Our Bow: An Interesting Local Website

Residents might be interested in the "Our Bow" website which carries news stories from around the Bow area including Victoria Park and the Roman Road market. There's info on local groups for older men ("The Geezers"), older women ("Bow Belles") and youngsters ("the U13s"). The history section is also well worth a look.

Possible Locksmith Scam

Some of you may have read in the press recently about burglars marking homes with Locksmith stickers. 

The stickers say "24/7 Locksmith" and contain a phone number, which does not exist and was never issued to anybody. At least one burglary in Wandsworth has been linked to the stickers. 

Police officers believe a scout makes a visit during the day to check if anybody is home and at the time they also get an idea about the doors, windows and locks.

Several homes in the MEOTRA area have had identical stickers to the one above placed on their letterbox and one resident believes an attempt was made to force a window at around 3.30am on Saturday night but the burglar was deterred by barking from the resident's dog.

The Metropolitan Police Bow West Safer Neighbourhood Team advice if you find a sticker on your door similar to the one pictured is to remove it immediately and inform them either by phone (020 8649 3521) or email . Please do not dial 101 and only call 999 in an emergency.

Concert at Bow Church: Saturday 19th October

The MEOTRA area forms part of the parish of St Mary's with Holy Trinity, Bow.  The parish church, St Mary's (also known as Bow Church) stands in the middle of Bow Road on the way to Stratford. It is over 700 years old, and very well worth a visit. It is also, like all old buildings, expensive to maintain and repair.

 

St Mary's is holding another of its regular fund raising concerts on Saturday 19 October at 7.30 in the church. This year the theme is "Autumn", with music in a wide variety of styles performed by a choir and an ensemble.  All MEOTRA members are warmly invited. Tickets are available on the door, or in advance from Andrew Sargent (asargent164@btinternet.com). They cost £10, or £7 concessions.

 

The church also runs a Friends of Bow Church scheme for people who would like to help maintain the building and keep in touch. If you would be interested in joining, please contact Andrew or the rector Debbie Frazer revdebbiefrazer@gmail.com

Art Exhibition by local resident Alice Sielle

Local artist and MEOTRA resident Alice Sielle, together with her old school friend Sally McGill, is hosting an art exhibition over various dates throughout October to which MEOTRA members are invited.

The exhibition is split between two venues: Alice's home at 43 Tredegar Square; and NSH Arts at 439 Mile End Road. Further details can be found on either Alice's website  or www.nsharts.org

The Friends of Mile End Park: Dog Show & Community Fair

Sunday 15th September (12-5PM) sees the annual Park Life: Dog Show & Community Fair in Mile End Park on the green near the climbing wall/Palm Tree Pub.

The event will feature fun for all the family, including sports, arts and crafts, T-shirt printing and fun fair rides. Refreshments include the East End Women's Institute tea and cake stall, and there will be pony rides, and an African drumming workshop

The ever popular Dog Show is at 3-4PM (registration from 1PM), and new for 2013 is a Dog Agility Course (both a demonstration and have-a-go opportunity), free dog health checks, animal advice and affordable collars and leads. Dogs aged 4 to 6 months are invited to a puppy party.

It would be great if you could pop over and support this local community event.

Further details are on the Friends of Mile End Park website

Coborn Arms - Planning Application

The Coborn Arms in Coborn Street has recently submitted two planning applications (PA/13/01476 and PA/13/01477) to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) for the following building work:

"Single storey side extension to existing kitchen to increase kitchen and provide improved services and provide new extract system. Demolition of existing side extension to form increased rear external alfresco dining area and improved access. Demolition and rebuilding of garden wall to enclose alfresco dining. Single storey side/rear extension to existing bar with ladies, gents and disabled facilities. Erection of new walk in fridge within existing garage."

MEOTRA has written to the LBTH with our objections to the application.

Redevelopment of the Central Foundation College Terrace Site

Some MEOTRA members have been wondering what is happening with the Central Foundation Girls' School site in College Terrace.

In October 2012 a planning application was submitted to convert the site into residential dwellings (comprising of 10 x 1 bedroom, 13 x 2 bedroom and 1 x 4 bedroom units). This application is still under consideration. 

The Sixth Form has now moved from the College Terrace building, but there are still further phases of work to come at the Harley Grove Campus. These are not due to be completed until the end of 2014/early 2015 and the school will continue to occupy parts of the College Terrace site until then. Whilst the building will not be full, it will not be empty and the owners will continue to keep it safe and secure. MEOTRA will pass on any further news as soon as it is received.

The St Clement's Social Club & Shuffle Festival

This summer sees a myriad of events taking place on the former St Clement's Hospital site. The "pop-up" ST CLEMENT'S SOCIAL CLUB launches this Friday 19th July (6-11 PM) and will be the first time the grounds have been open to the public since it was built as a workhouse in 1848.

A varied program of events runs until 18th August and includes films, poetry and theatre: some themed around mental health issues, whilst others make the most of this atmospheric site.

The SHUFFLE FESTIVAL hosted by the St Clements Social Club and curated by Danny Boyle runs from the 8-18th August and includes films such as 'Slumdog Millionaire','Attack the Block', 'Shallow Grave', 'The Long Good Friday' and Julien Temple's 'London: A Modern Babylon'. For the full list of films, Q+A sessions,and session times click here. The festival will also feature locally sourced food and drink, arts and live music.

DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR E3 RESIDENTS: 40 £5 tickets per indoor screening and 25 per outdoor screening have been put aside for E3 residents and are available from the St Clement's Café from 19th July with proof of address to purchase (e.g. bank statement, utility bill, driving licence or passport).

MEOTRA Fun Day - Sunday 14th July 2-5PM

This Sunday sees the annual MEOTRA Fun Day in Tredegar Square with something for everyone.

For the children: a BOUNCY CASTLE, an INFLATABLE SLIDE, a FACE PAINTER and a CLOWN who can show you how to fashion toy animals from BALLOONS.

Adults are welcome to set up bric a brac stalls (for free) or just come and socialise with neighbours on the grass and relax.

MEOTRA Summer 2013 Newsletter Available

The Summer 2013 newsletter has just been sent to the printers and should be dropping through MEOTRA members' letterboxes any day now. It has lots of news articles and details of forthcoming events in our area including the forthcoming Fun Day in the square on July 14th (2-5PM). You can download a copy of the newsletter here.

2013 MEOTRA AGM Minutes

The minutes of MEOTRA's 2013 AGM are now available for download here

Dead Pet Cat - Mile End (Aberavon Road)

A large white and tabby cat was found dead in Aberavon Road, Mile End, this morning. According to friends of neighbours, it was seen dead in the road the previous evening, Sunday 5 May and they moved it to the side of the road. It has no collar and is not known to people living in this road. The local PDSA hospital on Malmesbury Road, Bow E3, have taken the body and will check for a microchip. They believe it is someone's pet and that the cat was killed by a car. If there is a missing cat in your area that matches this description, please tell the owners. The PDSA will keep the body for the next 7 days in case the cat's owners are found. (There is a photo of the cat, taken for recognition purposes, as the PDSA will not keep the body longer than a week.) The tel no of the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is: 020 8980 5011

(Article taken from Streetlife)

Report on the MEOTRA AGM

Thursday's AGM was a good opportunity to socialise with neighbours from the MEOTRA area over a glass or two of wine and some nibbles.

The "formal" AGM itself went very smoothly and as well as reflecting on MEOTRA's two organised events of the last 12 months (the ever popular carol-singing and Fun Day) there was  discussion on issues affecting the MEOTRA area. In particular: the increased litter since the opening of Subway at 395 Mile End Road (on the corner with Grove Road); filming in Tredegar Square; creating an email list to aid communication between members; planning concerns; and a number of other issues.

The 2012 committee were re-elected (although there was an appeal for new members to come forward and help out.!)

MEOTRA Annual General Meeting

This year's AGM will take place on Thursday 25th April 2013 at 7.30PM. The venue is Epainus Ministries Church in Lichfield Road with refreshments from 7:00PM and the meeting itself at 7.30PM.

Come and find out what MEOTRA has achieved in the past year.

We'll also be electing the new MEOTRA committee at the AGM. Please consider joining the committee - we only meet 3-4 times a year and it isn't too onerous. If you are want to find out more about the different committee roles then get in touch.

Latest MEOTRA Newsletter Available

The latest MEOTRA newsletter is now available. If you can't wait for yours to be delivered then you can download it here