What’s New
Wandsworth Bridge Road Spring Fayre
On Sunday 15 May there will be a temporary street closure on Wandsworth Bridge Road for the first WBR Spring Fayre. Supported by H&F Council and opened by the Mayor, the event will take place from 11-5pm on the street which will be closed from the junction with Ryecroft Street/ Bovingdon Road to Narborough Street/Oakbury Road. There will be market stalls, street food, children’s activities from arts and crafts to games, a performance stage featuring live music and more; set up at the Hazlebury Road junction.
Wandsworth Bridge Road was selected by the Greater London Authority as one of London’s “High Streets for All” regeneration initiatives and the Spring Fayre is an integral part of that. The Wandsworth Bridge Road Association are the organisers of the event and they want to hear from Fulham locals. If you’d like to offer help with the organisation of the event, if you’re a local business or sole trader who would like to take a stall, if you are a musician, entertainer, face painter or have a talent to share get in touch on info@WBRAssocation.org.uk or visit their website to find out more, join their association or apply for a stall.
We spoke to Natalie Lindsay who told Urban Village LDN “the Wandsworth Bridge Road Association, supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Council, are excited to announce the first ever Wandsworth Bridge Road Spring Fayre and we are thrilled to have the event opened by the LBHF Mayor PJ Murphy. Building the community is a key foundation of both the GLA’s plan and the WBRA's own ambition. We would like to make this Spring Fayre a wonderful community event with local enterprise, street entertainment, live music and old-fashioned Fun Fair games. This is our chance to enjoy our local High Street as never before. All businesses and residents are invited to get involved, we hope the community is as excited by this as we are!” The traffic on Wandsworth Bridge Road is a subject that comes up repeatedly when we talk to Fulhamites so what a treat to see the street closed and without cars, we will be there as just this in itself will be a sight to behold!
New Creative Workspaces in SW6
Projekt are an affordable work and event space provider that works with developers, housing associations, local authorities, government bodies and agencies to shape the character of new communities and revitalise unloved spaces. Working with The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) they are turning six derelict Victorian Townhouses on the east side of Empress Place into 8,500 sq ft of work space for creatives and innovators, who live and/or work in Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea.
There will be 30 new spaces, due to open in May 2022, created “to provide affordable studio and office spaces supporting the arts and science industries”. An open call application has been issued for new tenants interested in Empress Studios via their website and is aimed particularly at creatives from the surrounding area. “The successful applicants will be welcomed into this burgeoning community, as part of the wider vision for Earls Court. This will include link-ups and discounts with other nearby businesses to support the local economy, and the opportunity to showcase their products/ work at the local pop up shop on Lillie Road”.
CEO of Projekt, Nick Hartwright, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be working in partnership with The Earls Court Development Company on what we feel is a fantastic new development on this iconic London site. This area of London has been under-serviced for the type of spaces we provide, and we are looking forward to being part of London’s newest neighbourhood and creating new spaces and opportunities for local businesses.”
Uniq Sushi
Sushi comes to Fulham Road with the opening of Uniq Sushi. This new independent business opened its doors at number 819 literally days ago; at the time of writing! We popped in and had a quick chat with Amar the owner, who has the biggest of smiles and greeted us warmly. He told Urban Village LDN about Uniq’s offering, how their first few days of trading had been and what their future plans are; he also went immediately to sign up to Urban Village LDN - thanks Amar!
Uniq’s menu includes sushi and “oriental fusion” food, they also have a selection of oriental groceries. Amar told Urban Village LDN “there is a small selection of groceries to start with but we’ll be adding to the range which will also include organic products”. Take away is currently available to order from Just Eat but Amar told us Uniq Sushi will be available on Deliveroo and Uber Eat soon. There are are a small number of seats in store so you can sit quite happily and comfortably at the front of the shop enjoying some sushi watching the world and Fulhamites passing by. Uniq Sushi launched serving cold food but hot food will be on offer soon with dishes including Ramen, Katsu Curry and Korean Bowls. Amar told us there is a “Happy End of the Day” sale every day from 8-10pm where you get 40% off before they close their doors for the day.
We checked out the menu which Amar handed us and we think there is a lovely variety from salads, poke bowls, Gyoza, Sashimi, Maki, Onigiri, Uramaki (inside out rolls), crunch rolls, speciality rolls, sushi boxes and platers (mixed or vegetarian) and Japanese desserts including Mochi and Dorayaki, a Japanese pancake. The shop was light and bright so we will be back to try some sushi and report back, in the meantime we’re sure if you pop in to say hello you will also be welcomed warmly by Amar and the team.
Holistic space opens at Le Wag
We wrote about Le Wag when they first opened the doors to their bricks and mortar salon located in Parson’s Green in May 2021. They are now expanding their offer so in addition to the salon, their cafe and shop they have recently created and opened a holistic space. Owner Sasha told Urban Village LDN “we are delighted to launch Le Wag Retreats, a holistic space where both you and your furry companion can find sanctuary. We have specifically created this wellness sanctuary which offers a comfortable, cosy environment to retreat to, find your calm and bring pup along too”.
Le Wag are running various classes which include Petitation (meditation with your pet), Sound Healing and Mindful Massage so if you, your pet or both of you need to take some time out and are in need of some soothing, head to their website to find out more and book a class. We look forward to seeing pictures of these classes on their Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/lewagofficial/ they are bound to ooze cuteness and brighten anyone’s day.