What’s New, On & Happening in Fulham

Haus of Pilates LDN

Haus of Pilates LDN (HOP) is a small Pilates studio with a big personality. It soft launched in January and is located above Dexters on the corner of Fulham Road (number 567). Urban Village LDN caught up with its creator, Becca to find out more.

“As a resident of Fulham I have worked and lived in the area for the past couple of years, since returning to the UK from living in New York. I've happily watched the growing popularity of Pilates over these last 2 years, in particular reformer Pilates, however I felt like a lot of studios were popping up all over London and 'cashing in' on the movement of the moment and unfortunately really felt many of these studios were prioritizing quantity over quality.  This combined with many of the Pilates studios I attended having no brand consistency (for example you could attend a class today and really love the style of class, and go tomorrow and it could be completely different) left me feeling like I couldn't 'trust' a particular studio to really continue my practice with”.

We asked Becca what makes HOP LDN different “my mission is to create a studio running small reformer classes for Pilates bad asses!  We focus on quality movement (just 5 students per class) in a space students can trust with their Pilates journey. We offer three varieties of class styles while maintaining consistency within each of those so that students can familiarize themselves with our teaching style, get plenty of support where needed in the small class sizes and really notice how they grow in their practice with us!”.

Becca wanted to make the space “astetically fun and a beautiful place to be” and there are quirky features; think funky music, scents, lighting and disco balls. Check out the reader offer below so you can take a look for yourself and try a class. The class programme starts with Full Haus and after you’ve done three of those (entry level and suitable for all) you can move onto Blazin Haus which is higher intensity (longer holds and more challenging spring options) yet still low impact and finally if you’d like a little more cardio in the mix then Jump Haus is for you. To find out more hit the button below which will take you through to the Haus of Pilates LDN website or give them a follow on Instagram @hausofpilatesldn

READER OFFER: £10 off your first booking at Haus of Pilates LDN use code URBANHOP10

The City of Stardust

Fulham local Georgia Summers has just published her debut novel “The City of Stardust” and we were invited to the book launch at Waterstones, Piccadilly. Along with other Fulhamites, friends, family, neighbours and a growing fan base of readers we listened to Georgia in conversation with fantasy award winning author Tasha Suri. Georgia summed up her book as a seductive magical tale influenced by her love of Victorian literature and talked about how it started life as a “hodge podge of ideas and a short story I wrote at university”.

Violet is the main character in the book and travels a similar route, in her quest to release a curse on her family, to the one Georgian undertook during a back packing trip in 2015. “I started writing “The City of Stardust” during Covid and as I couldn’t go anywhere at the time, I wanted a sense of what I was writing about and to build a picture based on what I knew. I could revisit places and museums that I’d been to during that trip. I could go nowhere, Violet could go everywhere!”.

When we chatted to Georgia she told Urban Village LDN “I’ve always loved books and taken writing seriously. After I graduated I was a book seller for two years before going into publishing and I loved all aspects of the cycle. Having been a publishing editor I was well aware of the long process that is often involved but in the end it was very quick for me. The book went out to submission in May 2022 and I had an offer within a week which doesn’t happen very often”.

Tasha asked Georgia “what’s it been like being a published author?” Georgia’s response was “It’s been a relaxed and phenomenal experience. Calm in some ways knowing the process, the timelines involved, but with experience I could also see all the ways it could go wrong”. To round things off Georgia talked about what’s next, she’s currently writing another fantasy stand alone inspired by time spent in book shops, a murder mystery “basically about a book thief who inherits a magical book shop”.

Here at Urban Village LDN we’re only on Chapter Three of “The City of Stardust” but can report that we are enjoying it so far, it has an incredibly cinematic vibe to it. We haven’t read enough for a full all out book review but we can tell you that we’re already hooked and eager to find out more about Violet, Aleksander and whether or not the curse can be lifted and Violet’s mother found. Find out more and pick up your copy to support this local author’s debut below or follow Georgia’s journey on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ge_summers/

All of the Above

We chatted to Fulham local Stefania Warren who, along with her business partner and best friend Rain Nicole, has opened a curated second hand fashion pop up located at 604 Fulham Road.

All of the Above will be open throughout the month of February and we caught up with Stefania to hear more. “I worked in-house as a fashion stylist for over 20 years for brands including McQueen, Roland Mouret and Missioni. After starting a family 10 years ago I found it a hard industry to go back into in an in house role so I started projects that could work around having children. Not being able to find classic children’s art for my children I created handmade water colour and pencil prints but I also wanted to get back into fashion again. I met Rain when our daughters were little, we’re business partners as well as the best of friends and have been holding pops in the Fulham area for four years now”.

Stefania told Urban Village LDN that as well as curated second hand fashion there are also brand new pieces and consignments so what they offer is “a mix but always curated. Every week we have new stock and at the moment we’re focused on coats, trench coats and classic pieces for a capsule wardrobe. We’re not seasonal we’re more about curating classic beautiful things!”.

All of the Above is open Weds - Saturday from 10am - 5pm. Head to the link below to follow All of the Above on Instagram, find out more and see what pieces and new stock they have available.

Scooperb

As we head towards the spring and summer months there’s a new arrival on Wandsworth Bridge Road that will be a great destination for post school and on the way to South Park dessert treats. Scooperb started out in 2017 and they opened their 10th branch in Fulham at number 279 last month.

After digging around to find out more, we put two and two together and worked out that the founder Jas Alg, billed to us as a business owner in the Wandsworth Bridge area with 30 years experience, had to be Jas who previously owned ALG. More times than we care to remember ALG helped us out of a pc fix or two back in the day! Small world and great to have Jas back in the area bringing Scooperb to Fulham, run by his son Banjeet.

All ice creams and desserts are eggless, vegetarian or vegan and the ice cream and sorbets are sugar free! Scooperb tell us they are “handcrafted and churned with very little air, resulting in purer more robust flavours and the creamiest textures”.

The flavours have been inspired by the aromatic spices of Indian where Jas spent his childhood and include: Shahi Gulkand a blend of delicate ice cream and refreshing Rose Petal, enhanced with pieces of Cashew and Coconut, Kesar Pista Kulfi a blend of saffron and pistachio and Rajbhog rich Indian ice cream made with saffron/cardamom and crunchy nuts. More traditional flavours include: coffee, chocolate, caramel and vanilla.

From 8am Scooperb will also be serving up hot drinks everyday. You can also order and enjoy milkshakes, waffles, crepes, mini pancakes, croffles, sundaes, baklava, cookie dough, sizzling brownies and more in store. ScooperB is open seven days a week: Sunday to Thursday 8am to 10pm and Friday/Saturday 8am to 11pm. 

READER OFFER: 10% off the whole of Feb for all readers who mention Urban Village LDN 

What’s On

Tea Dance with a Difference: Fri 9 (1.30pm - 4pm)

Join DanceWest for an afternoon of live entertainment, performances and dance in the main hall at the Sands End Arts & Community Centre. Featuring pop up classes and freestyle sessions to show off your best dance moves, you can dance along to your favourite tunes. When you’re all danced out, relax and enjoy some refreshments and soak up the atmosphere. Free for over 60s, £10 under 60s. Tea, coffee and refreshments are included with your ticket. Booking is essential, please book your tickets via Eventbrite.

Valentine’s Wine & Choccy Tasting: Sat 10 (7.30 - 9pm)

Celebrate love with the ultimate pairing of delicious wine and handcrafted chocolates from Blowing Dandelions at Kenrick’s Fulham candlelit Wine & Chocolate Tasting. Kenricks have found the perfect opportunity to join forces with famed chocolatiers Blowing Dandelions for this pre Valentine’s Day event, putting together two of life’s greatest gifts together. For those looking for a romantic evening with something a little different head to their cosy shop on Wandsworth Bridge Road.

Tickets cost £25 Book your tickets here!

Celebrate the Lunar Year of the Dragon: Fri 16 (4 - 8pm)

4 - 7 pm: dumpling making demonstration, Walnut Tree Cafe at the Sands End Arts & Community Centre (SEACC). Nothing symbolizes Chinese New Year more than dumpling-making, when the entire family or group pitches in to fold minced meat and vegetables into thin pastry skins for the soup pot. So why not come and see it for yourself as members of the Chinese community demonstrate their traditional New Year pastime and you might even be lucky enough to enjoy the taste of a juicy Chinese “jao zi” dumpling or two.

7 – 8 pm: Chinese New Year concert, Main Hall (SEACC). To celebrate the Lunar Year of the Dragon, Sherry Music Academy will perform music from the four corners of China – Xinjiang in the west to Jiangsu in the east, Mongolia in the north to Hong Kong in the south – featuring Chinese traditional instruments and songs. Presented by Professor Gabrielle Lester, Assistant Head of Strings (Orchestral), Royal College of Music. Audiences are invited to listen and enjoy young musicians from Sherry Music Academy play their demonstration pieces, and receive the professor’s feedback on their performance.

Free tickets but booking required. Please visit Eventbrite to book. All Sherry Music Academy events are free entry, however donations to the Academy are welcome.

Chinese New Year Concert: Sun 18 Feb (3- 4.30pm)

Get ready to immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of the Chinese New Year as the Sherry Jazz Ensemble bring you a unique fusion of jazz music and oriental culture. Their talented line up of musicians will create an experience that will leave you tapping your feet. Unwind, enjoy a glass of wine whilst listening to the music in The Walnut Tree Cafe which will provide a cosy and intimate ambiance and transport you “On a Slow Boat to China”.

Whether you’re a jazz enthusiast or simply looking for a delightful way to spend your Sunday afternoon, gather your friends and family, and join them for an afternoon filled with soulful tunes, cultural delights and good company to celebrate Happy New Year of the Dragon!

Free event, book on Eventbrite or drop in. Donations for the musicians are appreciated.

Cheese & Wine Tasting: Thurs 22 (7-9pm)

An evening of cheese and wine at Kenrick's Wines. Indulge in three wines which have carefully paired with a selection of three artisanal cheeses. Savour the flavours, mingle with fellow wine enthusiasts and expand your palate. Located on Wandsworth Bridge Road, Kenrick's Wines is such a friendly environment to unwind and discover new wine and cheese pairings. https://www.kenrickswines.com/events/sydenham-cheese-wine-jhtjm

What’s Happening

Seal Watch

Everyone of us can feel the weight of all that’s happening in the world right now and powerless about what we can do to make a difference. Climate change, concerns for the environment and the sad fact that we are losing lots of species are topics that are always front of mind so it was a joy to have an uplifting conversation with Mary Tester who set up Seal Watch in 2021.

Here at Urban Village LDN it has always been our aim to create positive content so it was so heart warming to hear that seals are thriving in the Thames, incredible given that 60 years ago the Thames was biologically dead, which now has 125 species including fish, endangered eels and four thousand seals. This river ecosystem is flourishing and even better news is hearing that this will only improve once Tideway is up and running reducing pollutants into the river by 98%.

What part can you play as the river flourishes, what can you do to help protect seals with growing numbers of them in London which Mary described as a safe place as there is a lot of food and no predators. Mary called seals the “unicorns of the Thames because they pop up then disappear quickly so it’s very special if you get a sighting”.

The story of Seal Watch starts in a sad place but out of a tragic event has come much good so we urge you to keep reading. Freddie the Seal was attacked by a dog in Putney and Mary was the British Drivers medic on the scene. After the disturbingly sad loss of Freddie, the realisation that there were holes in legislation, awareness and education that desperately needed filling Mary, originally from California, was spurred on to work alongside the Seal Alliance and Zoological Society of London to take action.

Seal Watch and these organisations have been working tirelessly to build a campaign about the code of contact when sharing space with seals and to place signs in key areas along the Thames especially when seals “haul out” and are at their most vulnerable as they can’t move as quickly on land. They want to raise awareness with members of the public, river users, dog owners, Thames path walkers, cyclists, joggers etc so that we can all be on the same page to prevent what happened to Freddie ever happening again.

Did you know that seals haul out to mate, feed pups, to malt and that to do this their skin has to be the right temperature so for them to be on land and undisturbed is vital to their survival. Mary told Urban Village LDN “if a seal looks at you then you have disturbed them, if they dive quickly you’ve scared them” and her advice is make like a National Geographic Photographer and to observe at a distance, “seals shouldn’t realise that you are there” and selfies with a seal are a huge NO.

Signs have been put up and down the Thames with the help of DEFRA and H&F council who funded the sign you may have spotted by Fulham Reach. Mary told us “we put them in places where you see a lot of seal sightings and in spots where potentially they could haul out and people might be tempted to go down to see them with pets. Dogs coming across seals is a more regular occurrence than people might think. Getting close is a danger not only to the seal but also to people and their pets. Seals are curious, really puppy like and adorable. We’ve heard many stories of seals getting on to paddle boards and popping up alongside rowers but like any animal, wild or domestic, they get scared and can attack in defence just as Freddie did when people tried to intervene because he was afraid. We are asking people to be mindful, it isn’t worth the risk to the seal, dog or the person”.

Seal Watch advice is that if you see a seal put your dog on the lead, never chase, touch or feed a seal, report sighting onto the ZSL sightings map. This code of conduct can be carried to other places. Mary talked about Cornwall which we all know is “Fulham on Sea” in the summer. In high season seals are disturbed every 7 minutes, Mary used the comparison of us being interrupted in our homes constantly which really put it into perspective. There have been stampedes of seals due to people getting too close resulting in blood trails across rocks, seals falling causing injury or death and pregnancies being terminated. Ring frisbees shouldn’t be taken to the beach or places with seals as they are getting entangled in them, there have been lots of incidences the most recent was in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago.

Mary told us that in California since 1972, under Nixon, there have been Marine Protection laws in place but here in the UK there are huge gaps for example if a person harms a seal that is illegal but if a dog does nothing happens. There is a policy currently in parliament to strengthen laws let’s hope that gets passed sooner rather than later with attention elsewhere in an election year and the environment seemingly way down the agenda. Apologies we got a tad political there when we always said that wouldn’t be our remit!

An education programme is underway with Mary speaking to children at Fulham Boat Club to encourage them (and their parents!) to love and observe seals but to do so in the right way. There is also a "Wild Scheme” for riverside businesses which is currently optional but Mary hopes it will eventually be mandatory for tour boats who now also take people out to see seals, boat operators, paddle board companies etc “they will be trained to avoid marine disturbance just as Scotland has a scheme in place for the protection of basking sharks”.

If you want to find out more head to the Seal Watch button below or follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thamessealwatch/?hl=en and if you’re a riverside regular Mary has asked if you could please save the hotline numbers below to your phone.

In the meantime, if you didn’t know, there are two types of seals in the Thames: Grey seals described as dog like, darker in colour and with a big roman nose and Harbour seals like Freddie who are smaller, cat like, lighter in colour and spottier. Males are darker with less spots.

Let’s hope as Mary says that “this huge awareness campaign is eye opening and that we can learn from our mistakes”. We’ll keep you posted as the next seal survey, having not taken place for two years, will be undertaken this August. Mary is interested to hear the results, as are we!

Numbers to call for different marine mammal emergencies:

Seal unwell or in danger: BDMLR 0182 5765 546

Deceased marine mammal: CSIP (Cetacean Stranding Investigations Programme) 0800 652 0333

Report a witnessed wildlife crime: 0800 555 111

Report a crime in progress: 999