Forum Topic

Northfields Avenue revisited

As Gerry said recently. Northfields Avenue seems to be on the up and several Forum Posters have mentioned possibly moving into the area. The collection of privately run sole trader shops looks interesting and makes for pleasant meandering and window shopping. Lots of cafes and restaurants too.Anyone visited this shop?

Jim Lawes ● 7705d58 Comments

Jim Lawes ● 7705d

There are a host of attractive shops in Northfields Avenue....have you popped in here?

Jim Lawes ● 7705d

Wasn't this shop once occupied by Ruperts.. the old wireless collector? I remember calling in there some 15 years ago and he sold me a 1950 Bush Radio that is still working to this day. Great on long wave..and hilversum and all those odd places!Anyone a customer of The Mill. What's their line?

Jim Lawes ● 7705d

Did this one used to be Caves Toy shop many years ago. If not it is very near where Caves used to be. (I think Caves closed in the early 80's or late 70's)

Dan ONeill ● 7705d

Yes, the Northfields area is a very desirable enclave of Ealing. Location, location, location is all and the roads off Northfield Ave have got it. House prices have been going up, as befits an upwardly moving neighbourhood and its getting better all the time. We've known the place well for 40+ years and we have family living there now. Northfields is a gem, so anyone looking for a des res would be well advised to get in quickly, before prices get to banana republic figures.

Gerry Tan ● 7705d

I went in to get a couple of books for my children to take on holiday. The young staff chatted about books to the kids, they got the book I was looking for brought in the next day and it was a really nice atmosphere. I'll be going in again.

Caroline Cabraal ● 7705d

Delightful Polish shops always add value to local shopping parades..don't you agree?Do you visit this one? Or the one on the corner of The Avenue and Gordon Road?  Notice those personal ads in the Northfields window..excellent source of help for the locals..get the job well done!

Jim Lawes ● 7704d

Northfields Avenue is really full of surprises..and we haven't visited the cafes yet!What treats do Darch and Duff have....and if you call there,please ask about the bald headed man who appears at the top of the building!

Jim Lawes ● 7704d

Lovely independent shops in Northfields Jim - the area is becoming a little "Islington in the West". Thanks for posting these shop pix - more please!

Gerry Tan ● 7704d

Glad to hear that you enjoy the shop pix Gerry.This is www.thaicooking school.co.ukAnyone called in here?

Jim Lawes ● 7704d

Any ideas what must go on here..there must be a market for their services and their products!

Jim Lawes ● 7701d

As I took this picture, two gorgeous girls wandered into this coffee bar establishment..and I'm surprised that the photo isn't blurred from all my frothing!  Is this one of Gerry's hideouts?

Jim Lawes ● 7698d

Haven't tasted the delights of the Cila Creperie yet. I made a note to go there when they opened some months ago - never got round to it. My favourite butchers is directly across the road so on my next visit I'll drop into Cila's for a coffee next time I get my lamb chops. Northfield shops are such a delight. Thanks for reminding me Jim and thanks for the great photos you've posted. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7698d

Lovely shop pictures, Jim.  I'd have to stand at the far side of the street to have a hope of remembering where these shops are...30 years!My youngest daughter bought me a s/h print in one of the old junk shops along there (1968ish) and he allowed her to pay 1/- per week until Christmas!  I still have the picture hanging in my hall.  On Christmas morning it was the only gift wrapped in newspaper because it was too big for Xmas wrapping!  (She was only 11).

Ann S. Allridge ● 7697d

Its nearly the end of the day..and most of the cakes have been sold..and eaten no doubt!!

Jim Lawes ● 7685d

Thank you Ealing Forum for the recommendation!

Jim Lawes ● 7685d

So there are two Darch and Duffs shops?And then there's this one along the road..with the balding gentleman at roof-top. I did ask the shopkeeper if she knew anything about him..and she didn't. She suggested we contact an Ealing Historian who lives in Elers Road.(no other details)

Jim Lawes ● 7685d

Jim Lawes ● 7685d

Parkers is a great shop Jim, thanks for posting this lovely shot. The shop front is quite unique, dressed in black glass and with the attractive name sign. Its my favourite bakers - I go there early in the morning sometimes( 7.35am!) for two of their almost warm crusty rolls. On occasions I see the two bakers in the side door at the back coming out for a breath of early morning air, they having been there all night at the ovens in the back. The girls open the shop about 7.30am and the aroma when one walks in to buy is like heaven. Northfield Ave is such a lovely place.

Gerry Tan ● 7685d

Such a great little old fashioned cobblers shop with a lovely Indian couple who run the busimess. Another gem of a shop in trendy Northfield Ave. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7685d

Jim, my two little grandaughters, who live in the next street, love these two excellent shops. They love the girlie things in there and spend a fortune when they can persuade their parents(and us their grandparents) to part with a few bob. Northfield Ave is blessed with some fabulous shops - its a real up-'n-coming place to live. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7685d

Pretty as a picture Jim. I always said, Northfield Ave is THE place to live. Anf the Forrester Pub has a good Thai food operation.  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7685d

OK Gerry that is absolutely enough. You keep on and on about it and we can smell the fresh bread, so now shut up and let us poor souls go to Safeway or Albertsons wherever to get our soft unappetizing rolls/bread... Enough said I guess... sorry if I offend - and if your dare post another picture of a great English breakfast I wont read this site again..... LoL

Audrey Walton ● 7685d

Ha ha - OK Audrey, got your point. Sorry to have gilded the lily regarding the Northfields community, but you must forgive an old man for going on, and on, and on and on........!Its 6.45am on a coldish morning here in Ealing. To fortify my spirits on a chilly autumn morning, I'm gonna go to Nell's Cafe soon for a lovely fry-up of bacon, egg, a fried slice, two nice crispy warm rounds of well buttered toast and chunky marmalade, rounded off with a mug of filter coffee! Please don't leave this site Audrey - we need your bright banter. Stay happy. ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7685d

Perhaps this was a daring paint colour to choose...but doesn't the exterior look smart and cheerfulwww.yacoubandcroyle,com

Jim Lawes ● 7679d

You seem very fond of Northfield Avenue Jim?

Francis House ● 7677d

Lovely shop, bought my husband a very nice chopping board in here, have some lovely laundry sprays from USA here as well..very nice and rustic

Click here to enter name ● 7675d

Francis.You will agree it is a charming road...and it's becoming even more desirable now Gerry has been publising the cafe Nell!

Jim Lawes ● 7470d

Thanks Jim for resurrecting this old thread - re-read it again with a smile and gee what a load of old 'cobblers' I've written!!Which reminds me, there's a very good shoe repairer in Northfield Avenue, opposite TescoExpress.

Gerry Tan ● 7470d

Theres a guy on Chiswick W4 asking about Northfields, and the replies give the area a glowing report. I've put a good word in for you over there Gerry.

Colin Vaughan ● 7470d

How sad to see that Thorogoods the butchers have reduced their hours.  The shop is now only open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  When you think what they must be paying in business rates and other overheads, it makes you wonder if this is not a 'nail in the coffin' for a once thriving local business.Is Northfield Avenue big enough for two butchers?  Not so long ago there were three.

Mark Percy ● 7457d

Sad to hear that Thorogood's butchers shop is cutting down their opening hours. Its a good little butchers shop. Our family have always used Richardson's across the road - have done so for 40 plus years. Its so good that at Christmas time and Easter, the queue outside the shop extends past two of their neighbouring premises. On Christmas eve, dear Mrs Richardson used to give those of us waiting in the queue a glass of sherry and one year, she had an enormous frying pan on the pavement and gave all her customers in the queue a hot sausage or one of their lovely hamburgers. Now that's great service, which is why Richardsons rates as good as Mackens of Chiswick and possibly Lidgates os Holland Park Road IMO! Anyway, the shops in Northfield Ave are great - all of 'em.  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7457d

Actually it surprises me that Northfields Avenue has survived as a shopping area as long as it has. Indeed from the descriptions that I have read, it appears to have survived to an extent much as it was when I remember it 40 years ago. A little up market from South Ealing Road, but exactly what people want from a local shopping area. In my area of London most of the shops are gone slipping slowly down to die to be replaced by Building Societies, Charity Shops, Pitza Deliveries etc. Sad that. Hope Northfields Avenue lasts a little longer.

Colin Vaughan ● 7457d

I agree...........it is an anomoly in this day and age and is solely due to the middle-class nature of the area and people championing the local shops. I do wish we had one charity shop there though......I love them and it would e a handy place to drop stuff off too.

Penny Crocker ● 7455d

My wife, Marcelle Todd, runs CraftWorks on the Avenue. The shop sells craft materials/products and offers workshops and kids parties. Having talked to other traders, it is clear that, while the Avenue has got great shops, restaurants and local businesses, the plain fact is that not enough people are using them. So along with other local traders,we're getting together to organise a local Traders Association. We are holding our first meeting next week, and our objectives will be to re-vitalise the Avenue with planters, public seating, Christmas lights, less graffiti etc etc. We want to re-establish the Avenue's identity so that it can play its part in supporting Northfields as a thriving local  community.If anyone has ideas, contacts or comments, please feel free to contribute!

Malcolm Todd ● 7455d

My wife, Marcelle Todd, runs CraftWorks on the Avenue. The shop sells craft materials/products and offers workshops and kids parties. Having talked to other traders, it is clear that, while the Avenue has got great shops, restaurants and local businesses, the plain fact is that not enough people are using them. So along with other local traders,we're getting together to organise a local Traders Association. We are holding our first meeting next week, and our objectives will be to re-vitalise the Avenue with planters, public seating, Christmas lights, less graffiti etc etc. We want to re-establish the Avenue's identity so that it can play its part in supporting Northfields as a thriving local  community.If anyone has ideas, contacts or comments, please feel free to contribute

Malcolm Todd ● 7455d

Magnificent Malcolm. The Avenue and its area is a great shopping and community enclave.Apart from Tescos, are there any other national high street names in Northfields? Do you want more? Was there an ESSOs there once? What do residents want?

Gerry Tan ● 7455d

Ther already is an organsation called NATO - used to be run by the chap at Thorogoods butchers

Verification required ● 7455d

Ther already is an organsation called NATO - used to be run by the chap at Thorogoods butchers

Verification required ● 7455d

Good on you and best of luck. I only wish the pathetic bunch (traders and residents) in the much bigger South Ealing local centre would get themselves similarly organised. The apathy and lack of local/ civic pride round here have to be experienced to be believed, and the results are all too manifest on the ground.A couple of suggestions:-1)  Youse want to get next to the West Ealing Neighbours group/ forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/westealingneighbours/). As well as, not instead of your Association. This covers the whole community, not just residents and not just commercial interests, and one West Ealing shop trader was particularly articulate at the recent WEN public meeting.2)  A friend of mine formerly living in a bedsit above the Avenue shopping parade area tried to start a campaign for crossing facilities at that end of the Avenue particularly to calm through traffic and enable the elderly to cross in reasonable safety. I strongly suggest you take on that worthy cause  -  it's a nasty little stretch of road as regards the unsatisfactory balance between the motorised and other road users including local shoppers.

Chris Veasey ● 7455d

Thanks Bob - As I understand it, Paul Thorogood's excellent NATO project was formed with the single intention of achieving parking spaces for shoppers. Once that was won, the group had no further role to play.

Malcolm Todd ● 7454d

It's nearly the end of the day...and the bread and piles of cakes are depleted.

Jim Lawes ● 7454d

We like NORTHFIELD Avenue...and perhaps we must do more to save the shops.  A visit to Nells is my usual pleasure..but I like the cobblers too...and the Clock repairer..and the Polish shop..and the tile shop...and the Bathroom display shop..and and.

Jim Lawes ● 7454d

Is it still owned by the Parker family and by how many generations now. I remember queuing outside Parkers on the Uxbridge Road in the late 50's.

Peter Wright ● 7454d

Yes i agree the Northfield road is a troublesome road to cross, Just this year my son whom is 4 and I were hit by a car on the zebra crossing opposite joes friends.Luckily my son was unhurt, however very distressed, we were pushing our bikes and i belive that saved us.My bike acted as a cage. I did howver sustain severe chest and breat bruising and a back injusry. the lady driver was driving very fast and hit us in the middle of the crossing.. i do recall posting a message here about this before ..drivers do not as a rule stop at these crossing until you are on the crossing..then they hit you! we need a pelican crossing or lights . A lot of young families and children use these roads..!People drive very fast on this little road!

Click here to enter name ● 7454d

As a long-time Ealing resident I have always had the option of shopping centrally in Ealing Broadway, or in West Ealing or in Northfield Avenue. I generally prefer to shop in Northfield Avenue because most of the shops are staffed by people who seem to go out of their way to be friendly and helpful.  This is such a refreshing change from other parts of London. 

J.M. Nicholls ● 7453d

What most locals don't realise is that The Owl and the Pussycat is not just a children's bookshop.You can also order books for "grown-ups".  Their ordering service is second to none and very often your book will arrive by the end of the following day.I have given up the hassle of buying books over the internet and now use The Owl and the Pussycat to order all my books.  They have years of experience behind them and the owners also have two other bookshops, one of which is "The Pitshanger Bookshop" in Pitshanger Lane.If the Owl and the Pussycat have one failing is that they don't seem to advertise their book ordering service in their windows.I agree with your comments re: the staff. They are always cheerful and friendly.

Ruth OCallaghan ● 7136d

There is a watch repairer along here somewhere!!On the corner opposite Parkers?

Jim Lawes ● 6840d

"There is a watch repairer along here somewhere!!"You may be thinking of Oscar in the pet shop.  (It's on a corner but perhaps not opposite Parker's.)  He did a marvellous job on our Victorian carriage clock, correcting the bodged repairs of supposedly more "professional" watch and clock repairers.  It's slightly unnerving leaving your prized timepiece in a pet shop, but I thoroughly recommend him.

Richard Jennings ● 6840d

Does he do watches too?  I have an old Longines automatic that was bodged by a "professional" watch repairer - would be lovely to have it working again.

Leon Markham ● 6840d

"Does he do watches too?"I think so.  Suggest you phone and ask.  Contact details:Oscar's44 Northfield AvenueLondonW13 9RRPhone 020 8840 2734

Richard Jennings ● 6839d

What an excellent road is Northfield Ave. Such great independent shops. There's a wondeful second hand furniture shop, near the Park Cafe greasy spoon and nearly opposite Richardsons butchers shop, where, if you're into retro furniture - G-Plan dining tables and Cintique armchairs etc - there are some classic pieces to be had. Sometimes, I walk the whole length of Northfields, just for the hell of it - a delightful way to pass an hour away gawping into shop windows. Great stuff!  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6839d

Sounds like an Oasis in a Desert of run-down High Streets Gerry. I have read somewhere that the reason that these Havens exist is because most of the shop owners own the Freeholds, thus keeping Greedy Landlords, who actually are very often Insurance Companies, 'Evil Star' etc, away.

Colin Vaughan ● 6839d

Gerry,One "second hand goods" shop in Northfield Avenue has a penny farthing bicycle hanging up for sale.  Is that where yours has finished up? ;0)

Jim Lawes ● 6839d

----------------------------------------------------------Best granary bread for miles around?And baked on the premises,I believe.---------------------------------------------------Another winner for Northfield Aveune.

Jim Lawes ● 6838d

"Is that where yours has finished up?"No Jim !  I still have my old "sit-up'n beg" Raleigh bicycle, with a sign boldly displayed on it saying "Made in Nottingham, England"! It has served me well and continues to so do. When eventually I leave the cycle lanes of this world, I'll bequeath my trusty bike to my children, when it'll be a veritable and valuable antique.My old bike knows its way through Northfield Avenue - its been up and down this wonderful road so often it drives itself(well almost!).  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 6838d

Wish I had kept my 'bilasminated' Claud Butler.

Colin Vaughan ● 6837d

I just got my watch repaired at Oscar's - superb job, managed to fix something which had been mangled by another watch repair service.  Lovely people as well!

Leon Markham ● 6792d