Greedy Cow Restaurant - Closing Tonight After 14 Years.

 

Tonight the Greedy Cow closes as a restaurant after 14 years.

This is such a sad day for our area.

Without a doubt, Reg's opening of "The Greedy" lifted this part of our area and kickstarted the regeneration of that small row of local shops. The Pizza Room, The Coffee Room and it have formed a wonderful triplet of eateries which have given us a reasonable choice of local places to walk to for a bite to eat. 

How many of us have wandered by and let our stomach choose which to go to? That choice won't be there after tonight.

The owner of the building is converting the first floor into flats and putting another storey or two on top with more flats. The ground floor will be much smaller to allow for a new stairway to the flats. It is disappointing that the planners have allowed this lovely old building to be ruined. Meanwhile 15 staff now start their New Year out of work.

Many residents will have experienced their first exotic burger at "The Greedy" whether that be Camel, Bison or Crocodile to name but a few. For me the venison is my poison (literally as I have haemochromatosis!), but many of us will have started the weekend off with a relaxed Egg's Royale or Benedict.

Painting by local artist Mira Connolly

Before it became The Greedy Cow, it was the Prince of Wales and one longtime Lichfield Road resident was the DJ. His son and daughter have both gone on to work for Reg there. You can't get much more local than that.

The Prince of Wales was originally the Prince of Prussia. But during WWI it was renamed to something less Teutonic after having its windows put through too many times. The photo below shows the building line from those days with the 277 tram partially obscuring the exterior.

Prince of Wales (nee Prussia)

Thank You Reg for being such a part of our community - Yes you donated "Meals for Two" as raffle prizes, but beyond that you have been a genuine friend to many of us. Good luck with your next adventure and good luck to all the staff Pierre and all the front of house staff, and Mani and all the kitchen staff.

2022 hasn't been great for local businesses. The Texaco Garage will be closing shortly and a pretty boring line of tall flats will replace it. Though the 24 hour car wash won't be missed! Tariq's shop by the bus turn around closed so the owners can demolish it and triple the height overshadowing homes in Aberavon Road; and Mile End Sandwich Bar in Mile End Road is changing hands and going all turkey bacon on us. (Many will miss the latter's lovely wraps).

Festive Tea Dance - Thursday 15 December

Tower Hamlets residents over the age of 50 are invited to an afternoon of live music and song from The Sunshine Kings, dancing with Tony Lane and performance from St Paul’s Way Secondary School. Light refreshments will be served.

Tower Hamlets' annual festive tea dance takes place on Thursday 15 December from 1.30 - 4.30pm at The Art Pavilion in Clinton Road.

The tea dance is free to attend but advance booking is essential. Bookings open Thursday 1 December.  Please call 020 7364 7902/ 7900 from 10am - 2pm Monday to Friday or email festivalsandevents@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Help the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Plan – 5 minutes online help

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The Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Plan was formally approved on November 16 by the entire Tower Hamlets Council after receiving support from more than 70% of residents in a referendum.

Our Plan now has full weight in all planning decisions within the neighbourhood planning area (which is approximately the wards of Bow East and Bow West). This means that the Neighbourhood Plan, together with the London Plan and Local Plan for the borough, comprise the Development Plan for Tower Hamlets.

"The Neighbourhood Plan gives the people of Bow a voice in local planning decisions and will help shape development in Bow over the coming years." Mike Mitchell, Forum Member.

Neighbourhood Forums are the group that formulate the Plan. They only have a five year life span before they have to undergo a process of “re-designation” (ours was designated on 16 August 2017). It may seem odd that we have only just got the Plan adopted and we are having to get it “redesignated”. But this is pretty standard as doing a Google shows

The Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum is currently in the process of re-designation. Have a look at the application and constitution for the forum and email in any comments to the council at neighbourhoodplanning@towerhamlets.gov.uk before the 12th January 2023.

Need for Committee Members

The Forum committee is keen to welcome new members, particularly women and members of the Bangladeshi and other minority communities. You would serve until the next annual general meeting in summer 2023, when all the committee stand for election by the Forum membership.

The committee currently meets monthly in the evening. The Forum needs a secretary to maintain the Forum’s membership and list and take minutes at committee meetings, and a media officer to help with newsletters and social media posts.

A heart for the area and its people is more important than any experience of planning, so do please contact the Forum using the email address below: forum@romanroadbowneighbourhoodplan.org