June

"The month of leaves and roses, When pleasant sights salute the eyes and pleasant scents the noses.” - NATHANIEL pARKER wILLIS

South Park “Fun” Dog show: Saturday 8 June

Now in it’s third year the South Park “Fun” Dog Show will take place on Saturday 8 June from 12 noon to 2.30 pm alongside the Friends of South Park - Picnic in the Park (12 - 4 pm). This friendly competition run by the Hammersmith & Fulham Council Parks Police raised £710 last year in aid of the Mayhew, an animal welfare charity for dogs and cats.

Registration starts at 11 am (£2 per entry) and dog show classes include Golden Oldie, Best Rescue, Best Dog in Fancy Dress and of course Best in Show; won in 2018 by Bow the English Pointer owned by Fulham local Sharon Moran.

Chestertons Polo in the Park: 7 - 9 June

Can you believe it’s already the 10th anniversary of Polo in the Park? This three day event starts with International Day on Friday, Ladies Day takes place on Saturday and the event concludes with Family Finals Day on Sunday. To celebrate Polo in the Park’s 10th anniversary under 10s are free! The family day hosted by Sharky & George includes a pitch invasion from 11.30 - 1.30 pm and a Survival of the Fittest competition. Fun challenges include tug of war, a space hopper steeple chase, strawberry bootlace and edible bug eating and all the fun and games conclude with a water fight! For grown ups, as well as watching the polo of course, there are gardens by Fever Tree, Lanson Champagne and Mahiki, plenty of things to tempt you in the shopping village and the grazing paddock will be serving all sorts from empanadas to mac n cheese.

Fulham has long been associated with the sport of polo. For those who don’t know, weekly polo fixtures were played in Hurlingham Park over 100 years ago, which was Hurlingham Club’s number one polo field, the number 2 field was where Sullivan Court now stands.

https://www.polointheparklondon.com/

@polointhepark

Garden Party, Lady Margaret School: Saturday 22 June

Lady Margaret School welcomes everyone to it’s annual Garden Party. Sponsored by Carter Jonas Fulham, this event takes place from 11 am - 3 pm on Saturday 22 June with a barbecue, drinks, live music, boutique stalls include Laura Kennedy (crochet bags). Sarah Bonner (ceramics and watercolour prints), Tangerine Dream (gifts and accessories), there’s a fabulous silent auction, teen vintage fashion, styling station with photo booth and lots more; there really is something for everyone. Proceeds will be put towards the purchase of equipment to benefit all pupils of the school.

It’s a great opportunity to visit the school, should you be considering it for your daughter, a different way to see it in action if your daughter is donning the infamous black and red blazer in September, perhaps as a past pupil you’d like to take a trip down memory lane and if you’re a Fulham local who’d like to support a local school LMS would love to see you there. As their poster says “All welcome”.

http://lmspta.org/new-events

@lmsparsonsgreen

How does your garden grow?

Are your window boxes, planters and front garden head turners? If you think so why not consider entering the Fulham Society’s Best Front Garden Competition? There are two categories front gardens (must be seen from the street) and window box or planters. Entry is free, you don’t need to be a member of the Fulham Society to take part, but you must live in Fulham.

Simply send two photographs taken in the month of June to gardens@fulhamsociety.org or The Fulham Society, 104 Napier Court, London SW6 3XA before the final entry date of 30 June 2019

Winners will be announced at the Fulham Society Annual Party on 15 July.

http://www.fulhamsociety.org/

Don’t forget: Father’s Day 16 June!

Cheers!

Did you know that London’s first urban winery opened in Fulham in 2013? Tucked away down a little alleyway in SW6, the Roberson Winery in Seagrave Road is housed in an old Victorian warehouse which was once a gin distillery. Imagine our delight when we heard about the May launch of two new wines called Rosaville Rd and Hurlingham 1869. Could they have been anymore appropriately named for our “What’s New” in Fulham page this month?

Rosaville Rd, yes named after the road in Fulham, is a rose made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes grown in Surrey; in fact these exciting winemakers only use grapes exclusively sourced from English vineyards. We’re been told Rosaville Rd is a pale and delicate rose with aromas of pink grapefruit and fresh strawberries, best drunk young whilst at it’s freshest, and that it’s delicious in the sun. Well that’s us sorted on the rose front this summer!

Martin Bishop, a Hurlingham Club member, received a birthday gift visit to the Roberson Winery two years ago. This led to a collaboration that produced an English wine called Hurlingham 1869 in celebration of the Club’s 150th anniversary. Made from Bacchus grapes sourced from vineyards in Sussex and Kent, this wine is described as the essence of English countryside with characteristic aromas of elderflower and freshly mown meadow. We need to find a Club member so we can try a glass ourselves - Happy 150th Anniversary Hurlingham Club!

https://www.robersonwine.com/winery-and-tastings/tours-and-tastings/

@robersonwine

Hidden gem

In our May edition you might have read about Spacemasks founder and Fulham resident Harriet Inglis talking about Ichiro being a favourite local haunt. After we spotted some great reviews on Nextdoor, Urban Village Ldn decided to head over to North End Road to check out this Japanese restaurant for ourselves; good excuse to catch up with Harriet too. Ichiro, the Japanese word for first born son, is a small but comfortable hidden gem owned by ex Nobu and Sushi Samba chef Chef Stalinberg "Balong" Bergonia. Between us we had miso soup, always a must, melt in the mouth salmon/avocado maki, shrimp tempora, without that disappointing over kill on the tempura and minimal shrimp, and we shared an Ichiro salad with fabulously tasty dressing. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food was stunningly fresh, astounding quality; mouth wateringly good but not at eye watering prices. We loved the authentic Japanese feel of the interior, especially the gorgeous mural. Since our lunch we’ve tried to order take-away but they were inundated so our advice is venture over or get your order in early!

Shopping Palace, 345-347 North End Road, SW6

https://www.ichirorestaurant.co.uk/

@ichirolondon

This meal was not gifted by Ichiro

Mum’s the word

Bundle London co-founders and Fulham residents Amanda Thompson and Deborah Harrington launched their Fulham based company earlier this year to provide a different type of antenatal and postnatal care. With the African proverb that it “takes a village to raise a child” at the forefront of what they do, they have access to a huge team of experts. Predominantly based in the local area, their team is knowledgeable on a wide range of topics from acupuncture to nutrition. Amanda says “our courses are 25% labour focused but the rest is all about life with baby and helping parents to not just look after their baby but also themselves”. 

Bundle’s care does not stop when a course finishes instead it continues on into the early stages of a child’s development, to help parents build a solid foundation for family life. Being long time Fulham residents Amanda and Deborah know their urban village well and are keen to build a community amongst parents offering social functions including coffee mornings, meet the expert talks and other opportunities for new parents to meet locally.

Quote Urban Village Ldn for 50% off their antenatal course - 5 sessions normally cost £395

https://www.bundlelondon.com/who-we-are

@bundlebabylondon

Pavilion Cafe opens

After the nursery school closed and a revamp, the South Park cricket pavilion has now opened as a new cafe venture for the Pagliaccios’s team. With BBQs in the summer, fresh fruit, for post sports matches, locals have already been taking advantage of the recent sunshine to gather and chat over a cappuccino or a cuppa. Pagg’s are having a “Party at the Pavillion” on Sunday 2nd June. Celebrity chef Aaron Craze will be there with a live cooking demonstration from 12.30 - 1.30 pm, there is a boxing session with Roy, a personal training workshop with William Nall-Cain and live music from 2 - 5 pm.

Aragon House re opens

The scaffolding is down, new railings have been installed and the front door has a fresh coat of blue paint. This Grade II listed building, built in 1805 - architect unknown, reopened its doors to the public at the end of May. Aragon House gets its name from being on the site of a dower house belonging to Catherine of Aragon and we first heard about the ambitious plans for its refurbishment on an extremely cold November day back in 2017, so we’re chomping at the bit to get a look inside. So far we like what we see - art work adorned walls, red banquettes in the dining room - and what we hear - “Arthur’s” cocktail lounge, a 15 bed boutique hotel, The Club Room, a members work space, and a keenness to meet the local community and businesses. We’re looking forward to finding a spot in their “sun filled” garden with a chilled glass of something in hand. There might be a review heading your way in July!

https://www.aragonhousesw6.com/

@aragonhouse

New plans for Fulham Town Hall

Did you have your say on the conversion proposals for Fulham town hall? Urban Village LDN went along to the public exhibition last month to see the proposed plans for the rejuvenation of this Grade Grade II listed building last used in 2014. It had been a long time since we’d stepped into any part of the building, most likely collecting a parking permit many moons ago. The building is looking quite sad, dilapidated and weather damaged but work is expected to begin this Winter to change all that.

New Fulham Town Hall will become a 82 room hotel and members club. There will be a co-working space on the first floor of the Harwood Road side of the building and a Lounge Bar for hotel guests and the general public will be open on the ground floor on the Fulham Road side on the spot where the old post office counter used to stand.

The refurbishment is being undertaken by RARE, the same architect firm that carried out the renovation of the Town Hall Hotel, Bethnal Green and we were delighted to hear a specialist is being found to repair the clock on the Harwood Road side of the building; incredibly it stopped working relatively recently.

Fulham Palace re opens

Urban Village LDN were incredibly lucky to be invited to the press launch of Fulham Palace on Wednesday 22 May. It was a gorgeous evening, we were blown away by the face lift, new additions and stories behind the restoration. Four years in the making, aided by 20 thousand volunteers, £11,000 raised through their brick campaign and £1.9 m from the National Lottery Fund. We thought the Palace looked magnificent with a brand new museum, restored rooms and new planting.

The new Palace entrance is very smart, has a fantastic gift shop selling amongst other things Walled Garden preserves and bags with a beautiful illustration of the Tudor Courtyard. The first exhibition showcases the archaeological finds unearthed during the restoration including the bones of Caspar the Bull Mastiff, Golden Wonder crisp packets took us down memory lane and we can report that the rat beloved by mini Fulhamites is still there! There are new beds planted with exotic plants that were originally brought to the palace (and this country) by Bishop Compton 1675 - 1713 and the grounds were looking as beautiful as ever awaiting jazz, picnics, open air films, theatre productions and more this summer.

Sian Harrington, CEO of Fulham Palace Trust praised the Fulham community for “their support in helping us realise our vision for the Palace” as did Stuart Hobley, Head of the National Lottery Fund London “players have helped create an exciting future for Fulham Palace”. We don’t condone gambling but we’re pleased that the money we’ve spent on lottery tickets has been put towards something incredible in our urban village.

https://www.fulhampalace.org/

https://www.instagram.com/fulhampalace/?hl=en

Party people

If you’re entertaining this summer and looking for something special to serve your guests, checkout the colourful platters created by Katy Labadie. Katy is a South London-based mum who swapped fashion buying for food. Katy says Dish Delish “combines my creativity and love of colour to create beautiful, relaxed, social feasts that focus on delicious homemade food”.

Katy creates grazing platters using locally sourced, quality, fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetables to make stunning centrepieces for social gatherings be it a baby shower, summer drinks party or simply a gorgeous platter of sweet after dinner home made treats. Whatever the occasion, time of day and whatever your food preferences, vegetarian, vegan, gluten free Dish Delish can cater for them all. They can also add extras for a more substantial feast and special touches using flowers and greenery.

https://www.dishdelish.co.uk/

@dishdelishlondon