Friday, February 5th,

A case of flooding

The court case involving the property in Teddington was concluded last Friday. The two parties came to a settlement, the details of which are confidential.

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Twickenham anniversary match

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of Twickenham Stadium as England take on Wales at the start of the 6 Nations Championship. The Rugby Football Union (RFU) will be celebrating the anniversary with the help of the Twickenham Operatic Society, Teddington Choral Society, Hampton Choral Society and the Whitton School Choir as they will sing Jerusalem and the National Anthem prior to the match. The match will also be shown in cinemas across the country in 3D, which will mark the first 3D broadcast of a Rugby match anywhere in the World.

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Tuesday, February 2nd,

Richmond Park protest short film

To view the key points of the speakers at the Richmond Park protest click here

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Lib Dem request for House of Commons debate

The Lib Dems have requested a debate in the House of Commons concerning the proposed car parking charges for Richmond Park. This has been supported by Nick Clegg leader of the Liberal Democrats. Susan Kramer MP for the Richmond Park constituency has said of this development:

“I’m sure this move will be supported by all parties, but we have requested the debate in the name of the Liberal Democrat frontbench in order to increase the pressure on the Government.
“I now urge residents to contact Ben Bradshaw MP, the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport to call for these plans to be debated on the floor of the Commons.
“The Government must realise that the huge opposition to the introduction of charges is not going away, and that the battle is not over yet.”

Read Susan Kramer's website concerning the request.

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Monday, February 1st,

Great photos of the Richmond Park protest

Fellow local blogger Riversniffers has taken some marvelous pictures of the January 30th Richmond Park protest.

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Saturday, January 30th,

Richmond Park protest

On a sunny, crisp, winter morning hundreds came to Richmond Park to protest the proposed car parking charges.

More>>>

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Friday, January 29th,

Tearfund in Haiti

Tearfund based in Church Rd, Teddington have sent a team out to Haiti to help in the aftermath of the earthquake. Christine Williamson has begun blogging from the country with news of their work and the conditions they are facing.

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Thursday, January 28th,

Weather set fair for Richmond Park protest

The weather forecast for the weekend is sunny and dry.This should encourage a good turn out for the rally in Richmond Park at Pembroke Lodge car park 10.30 am, to protest the proposed car parking charges.

Above: Keep Bushy Park Free Alliance comment on the charges.

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Report a pothole

Richmond Council are asking residents of the borough to report a pothole. After the snowy conditions footpaths and roads may have suffered damage. With the icy conditions that we have experienced, any existing small pothole is likely to have increased in size. Water would have turned to ice within the fissure and expanded as a result, thus making the hole bigger.

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Eel Pie Island on the radio

The BBC Radio 4 show "Open Country" will be repeating the program about Eel Pie Island today Thursday 28th January at 3.00pm.

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Wednesday, January 27th,

Getting rid of plastic shopping bags in the borough

Greener Upon Thames have started an initiative to get rid of plastic shopping bags in the borough. The initiative started by Kew Traders which was officially launched last week, wants to see the end of the use of plastic bags within the borough. Nicola Pound, who is one of the organisers said: “Before long we hope to have shops throughout the boroughs of Richmond, Hounslow and Kingston pledging to scrap plastic bags or, in the case of bigger chain stores, at least charging customers for every plastic bag used.”

The campaign has drawn much praise from local MP's, the council and the London Mayor.

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A case of flooding

A court case being reported in the The Independent and The Daily Mail concerning the purchase of a house in Teddington makes for interesting reading. I wonder what the residents of Cross Deep, Strawberry Vale and beyond think?

The Thames is tidal (and free navigation) until after you pass through Teddington Lock. Everybody knows that.

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Tuesday, January 26th,

Richmond Park & Bushy Park charges not before a general election

According to parliamentary guidelines it is more than unlikely final approval can be given to the implementation of parking charges in the Royal Parks of Richmond and Bushy Park before a general election. If the election takes place on May 6th, (the most likely date) then parliament would be dissolved on April 1st. This would mean that the process in making the proposed charges law would have to wait until after the general election.

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Eel Pie Island on the radio

The BBC Radio 4 show "Open Country" will be repeating the program about Eel Pie Island on Thursday 28th January at 3.00pm.

A book detailing the history of Eel Pie Island was published in October 2009. Written by Michele Whitby & Dan van der Vat the book has been selling well. Michele is also the owner of the shop Par Ici in Church Street Twickenham.

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Michelin Star for The Bingham

The Bingham Hotel in Richmond located on Petersham Road and by the Thames has received a Michelin star in recognition of the very high quality of the food served. The Bingham has also been awarded best gastronomic experience and best small hotel/B&B of the year at the BT Visits London Awards at the end of last year.

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Monday, January 25th,

Richmond United Group unveil new website

The Richmond United Group (RUG) have revamped their website and includes a community forum. The aim of RUG is to

(a) To support resident participation throughout the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in decision-making with the local council and promote open and fair consultation by local government.

(b) To offer advice, where possible, to individuals and groups throughout the Borough in formulating representations in respect of planning applications or other issues which affect them.

(c) To be inclusive by the use of referenda encouraging engagement with the community.

The new forum will allow discussion on the issues of the Borough and create a greater sense of community as people are able to express their opinions and put forward ideas. Though the content of the website is still being added to, the discussion forum is ready and taking comments.

To view the forum

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Friday, January 22nd,

Car park charging economics

Royal Parks are intending to spend 2.9m in improving the car parks of Richmond Park and Bushy Park which would involve resurfacing , installing the pay machines and also to introduce traffic calming measures. They estimate that they will receive from parking charges £430,000 a year. Thus it will take a few years to cover the costs of these improvements. The Royal Parks say the charges would be evaluated after eighteen months.

The majority of local residents and park users are totally against these charges and there is cross party oppostion. With the strength and depth of feeling against the imposition of the charges, the opponents can take heart that there is much support and the campaign to opppose the charges will gather momentum and strength. In many ways this is a very English uprising to what is seen as a mean minded, uneconomic and senseless decision.

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Thursday, January 21st,

Keep Bushy Park free website

Bushy Park users will be attending the rally at Pembroke Lodge on January 30th to protest the proposed charges for car parking in the park. They will be demonstrating under their own banner and details of their campaign can be found here.

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Wednesday, January 20th,

Vince Cable's statement on the charges

Twickenham MP Vince Cable has stated concerning the proposed car parking charges for Richmond Park and Bushy Park;

"There is a high level of opposition locally to the charges which are unnecessary, petty, irrelevant to the Royal Parks' objective of reducing through traffic and will undermine the role of the parks as a place of relaxation, where residents are not harried by parking wardens and constantly clock watching.

"We shall use parliamentary procedures to put up as much opposition as we can, but the best way of stopping this proposal now is for both opposition parties to make it clear to the Royal Parks that in the event of a change of government, the decision will be reversed."

With opposition to the charges including Lib Dems, Tories, a prospective Labour candidate, Friends of Richmond Park and Friends of Bushy Park, the rally in Richmond Park is certainly cross party and does not rely on political affiliation. We must keep the historical tradition of free parking in the parks.

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Tuesday, January 19th,

Kew Gardens on Google Street View

It is now possible to take a virtual tour of Kew Gardens thanks to Google Street View.

Full Details

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Twickenham Riverside costs so far

The Richmond and Twickenham Times has through a Freedom of Information request obtained total spending on the Twickenham Riverside so far.

See their article

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Monday, January 18th,

Article: Why the Arcadian Times opposes the implementation of the proposed car parking charges for Richmond Park.

More>>>

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Kramer and Lourie oppose the parking charges

The Lib Dems have confirmed that they will fight the charges.

See the statement.

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Saturday, January 16th,

Royal Parks press release

The press release from the Royal Parks concerning the implementation of charges in Richmond Park and Bushy Park can be seen here.

The proposed charges are:

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Friday, January 15th,

Twickenham anniversary

This article Twickenham: from cabbage patch to international game’s cathedral in The Times today celebrates 100 years of Rugby at the stadium.

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Rally will go ahead

Zac Goldsmith has confirmed that the protest against the implementation of car parking charges in Richmond park will go ahead as planned.

"The rally will absolutely go ahead as planned on January 30th. (Pembroke Lodge car park, 10.30am) It is vital that we get a big turnout. I believe we will.".

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Go ahead for parking charges for the parks

Margaret Hodge the Minister for Culture has given the go ahead for parking charges in Richmond Park and Bushy Park.

The process has to go through Parliament and local MP's Susan Kramer and Vince Cable have vowed to fight the charges. There is a 40 day window to fight the implementation. Zac Goldsmith prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park constituency has already organised a protest scheduled for January 30th at Pembroke lodge car park in Richmond Park. It remains to be seen whether this will go ahead.

For all those who are against the charges and there are many, now is the time to make your voice heard. Susan Kramer is believed to be organising a demonstration at the Houses of Parliament at this legislation.

Details here

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Thursday, January 14th,

No need to get cut short

The Lib Dem website has announced details of their Community toilet scheme. The Council pays the venue £600 a year to allow unrestricted access to the toilets. The council is pleased with the initiative and has been inundated with enquiries from other boroughs with regard to the scheme.

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Milder weather to come

The weather seems milder today and the continued light snow that was predicted for today has not materialised. Indeed the weather seems to be slightly improving. With a forecast for Friday that temperatures will rise to about 6°C the current cold snap may be on the way. We shall see.

The bowling green at Grove Gardens,Teddington yesterday.

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Wednesday, 13th January,

More Snow

It seemed as though the thaw had begun but snow fell overnight and is continuing to fall this morning.

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Tuesday, 12th January,

Zac Goldsmith and the donations

The Sunday Times ran an article in the last issue concerning donations to the Conservative party from Zac Goldsmith. It was reported donations had been attributed to a wealth management firm called Unicorn Administration rather than the actual donors including Zac Goldsmith.

Administrative errors have been admitted by the Conservative party however a Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, said he would write to the Electoral Commission calling for an inquiry and whether there was a breach of electoral law.

In his blog Zac Goldsmith addresses the issue of these donations and concludes it is another attempted smear by the Lib Dem attack unit. What is clear, the Lib Dems certainly do not want to lose the Richmond Park constituency and the electioneering is brewing up into a very heated battle for what should be a closely contested seat.

Politics is a dirty game and if these past attacks on Zac Goldsmith are anything to go by, expect a follow up letter in the Richmond and Twickenham Times this Friday from a local Lib Dem.

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Beginning to thaw

After the snow and icy conditions that have been experienced in the past few days, the weather does seem to be improving for the moment. The temperature is above 0° C and thawing seems to be happening.

During the past week the pavements have been quite dangerous around the area and gritting has not really been that widespread. For those not so steady on their feet staying in would be the preferred choice because of the hazardous nature of the pavements. Let us hope the worst of the arctic conditions are over for this year.

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Thursday, 7th January,

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Richmond Park protest is non political

The protest in Richmond Park organised for Jan 30th at 10.30 am, (meet at Pembroke Lodge car park) against the proposed car parking charges is a non party issue. Vincent Cable (MP for Twickenham) has vowed to fight the implementaion of charges in parliament, but is concerned that the protest might be seen as party political.

Zac Goldsmith organiser of the protest has written to his supporters stating,

"The Liberal Democrats have issued a press release claiming that a rally I have organised against plans to introduce parking charges in Richmond Park risks becoming party political.

For the avoidance of any doubt, the rally is absolutely not a party political event and there will be no political banners of any colour (please!).

We want as many people as possible to help us send the Government a clear and strong message, and if Vince Cable or Susan Kramer want to support it, we would obviously appreciate that.

We are expecting a huge turnout for the rally, which is a reflection of how strongly people feel about the proposed charges.

It will start at 10:30 in the car park at Pembroke Lodge on Saturday January 30th. I hope you'll be able to join us."

This issue should in no way be seen as party campaigning, but rather a show of strength against an implementation of a charge that goes against the historical freedom of non charging of visitors to the park who arrive by car. The protest should be seen as regardless of political affiliation. To this end Arcadian Times fully supports the protest against the implementaion of the charges.

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Wednesday, 6th January,

Snow!

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Tuesday, 5th January,

Terrace Gardens Online

Terrace Gardens in Richmond has been subject to £1m of restoration work in the last two years. The gardens have received various awards including the London in Bloom Best Park in London Award and the British Association of Landscape Industries Principal Award Winner for Soft Landscaping over one hectare. The Borough Council have put the Terrace Gardens online with a virtual tour in the hope that this will attract visitors to the area to enjoy this magnificent and historical amenity.

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Friday, 1st January, 2010

A beautiful day to mark the beginning of the New Year which is also a Xacobeo year.

The afternoon saw a high tide on the Thames and Radnor Gardens was slightly flooded.

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Thursday, December 31st

In the seven months that Arcadian Times has been online, there have been many people that have taken an interest and have appeared in the articles. I would like to thank everybody who has come across the Arcadian Times for their good natured interest and happily consenting to their inclusion in the website. Also, I would like to thank all the readers for looking at the website occasionally and would be more than happy for anybody to submit an article wherever you are from. Indeed impressions of the area from overseas visitors would be very welcome. Happy New Year to you all!

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Arcadian Times Poll on the Riverside

The Arcadian Times has set up its own independent poll on the Twickenham Riverside. The Poll is completely unofficial and only serves as a reflection of the views of readers of the Arcadian Times. Each voter is limited to one vote per unique IP address. The question,

"The Local Council's vision for the Twickenham Riverside represents the best solution to the redevelopment of the site?"

it is believed is completely fair. In the interest of fairness, Arcadian Times will not contact anybody about the poll, or advertise the poll other than on the website.The ONLY notice about this poll is the notice you are reading now. Arcadian Times will not vote on the poll.

If you would like to vote, please click here.

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Local History, An article on the King's Observatory, Kew and the Transit of Venus 1769.

More>>>

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Local History, A little corner of Richmond in honour of the Chilean statesman Bernardo O' Higgins who lived two years of his early life in Richmond...

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