** NOTE: the planned party for the 7th August has now been postponed until September – update to follow **

Over the past year thanks to generous donations the shop currently has 10,000 books in stock and has sold an incredible 122,000. A quarter of these were children’s titles and to thank those who have been bought titles or been entertained by bedtime stories over the last year, there will be a party in the store next Saturday that will include:

• Face-painting
• Fancy dress competition
• Free refreshments
• 3 for 2 offer on kids books
• Story-telling

Pixie the rocking horse looking after the children’s book section

Fara Books would like to say a big Thank You to all their regular customers and warmly welcome anyone visiting them for the first time. You can pick up books in the shop at roughly a quarter of the price you will find them new elsewhere. Amongst the more common titles are hidden treasures including rare box-sets and first editions.

The anniversary festivities will take place on Saturday 7th August 2010 from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Why not have the kids dress as their favourite book character and pop down to join in the fun!

This celebration of food is where customers will be able to visit seven countries in seven days through the medium of their fabulous fare.

If you fancy something different to the normal pub grub then look no further – each day there will be five dishes and a drink or two available from the relevant country (in addition to the normal menu).

Starting from today:

Hosted by Greg Davies, this new format unscripted show will feature 12 comics who will try to out-do each other by creating ridiculous suggestions as well as having the nerve to act them out.

The line-up so far is:

• Stephen K Amos
• Russell Kane
• Phil Nicol
• Lee Kern
• Rob Deering
• Charlie Baker
• Micky Flanagan
• Katherine Ryan
• Kirstin O’Brien
• Holly Walsh

The recording will take place on Wednesday 28th July at 7.00pm (doors close 7.15pm)

Tickets are issued via e-mail and over 18s only – check out LostInTV for details on how to apply.

FARA Children’s Charity is holding its third annual 5km Fun Run on Sunday 5th September (starts 10am) to raise funds to extend the new FARA St. Michaels Centre in Romania enabling young adults and children with disabilities to receive the specialist education and help they deserve.

The South-West London-based charity raises money for this fantastic cause through its 48 shops and various fund-raising events held each year. Shop staff, family and friends will be taking part in this fun day out and those not running are encouraged to cheer on participants and picnic in the park after the race.

If you would like to take part or for further information call Sacha on 07960 070650 or email sacha.faracharity@yahoo.co.uk to discuss participating and sponsorship.

This year’s 7k Wedding Race will take place on Friday 30th July at 7:30pm in Bushy Park (near Hampton Hill Cricket Club).

This charity race always causes a few double-takes because some participants take the fancy-dress competition as seriously as those chasing their personal best time.

The park often sees the bizarre and delightful sight of brides, grooms, vicars and other wedding-related costumes whizzing by. A children’s 1.5km race is also held at the same time as the main race for those with smaller legs.

Organisers Stragglers are looking for volunteers to help marshal the race – contact Tony at stoak@btinternet.com if you can help out (particularly bicycle owners).

If the thought of even a half an hour run in the park scares you then spare a thought for Jason Arday – a sports lecturer from London who will soon be starting the mammoth challenge of completing 30 marathons in 35 days to raise money for Shelter.

Starting from Monday July 19th, the 24-year-old will test his endurance to the limit by running the London Marathon route every day for 15 days followed by a run from Piccadilly to Teddington and back again for the second part of the challenge.

To follow his progress check out Jasons blog or help him out with this worthy cause via this fund-raising page.

Also don’t forget that parkrun have a weekly 5km in Bushy Park 9am Saturday mornings. The event is kept free by sponsorship and being volunteer driven (helpers are always needed! email BushyHelpers@parkrun.com for more info).

Photo: Lloyd England

The run is as relaxed or competitive as you wish – pace-runners keeping to clearly labelled finishing times can keep you on track with a particular goal in mind, or just bring along the dog for a pleasant walk, run and sniff along the route.

Participants are also welcome to join the post-race coffee at the Pheasantry Cafe. You must register in advance and have your bar-code with you on the day – it’s the only way that the 500+ runners can automatically have their times recorded and accessible online each week.

parkrun Bushy Park also holds a junior 2km race on the first Sunday of each month to get the kids interested in keeping fit – the next is on 1st August 2010.

Only the highest pedigree of rollers are allowed to visit other countries to demonstrate their skills and roll bespoke cigars to promote this proud tradition along with the cigar companies that employ them.

All the tobacco carried into the country is weighed upon entry and also on the route back so that the duty for any remaining is returned – along with the rolling technique itself it’s a very efficient process to ensure that no tobacco is wasted.

The light to medium strength cigars themselves make a great present and are a real talking point – labelled with the maker’s name and rolling date, they should be smoked within 3-4 days or after this point left to infuse for a longer time. The cigars are £16 seperately or £12 when purchased with two other cigars from the humidor.

Even if you’re not a smoker yourself, why not pop in to the shop and marvel at how Anibals 25 years of experience of traditional rolling look so simple!

Following the strong backlash Network Rail received after new fencing was installed without any local consultation, they have finally bowed to pressure and agreed to remove the barbed wire and change the fence for a more acceptable alternative.

Richmond and Twickenham Times are to feature this story soon and are asking that residents to turn up tomorrow morning (Thursday 1st July) at 9:50am at the Station for a photo to accompany the article about how the community fought and won this battle using ‘people power’.

[Update] Thanks to all those who turned up for the photo that accompanied the story in the printed paper.

Photo: Brian Holder (Teddington Society)

See also Network Rail letter to Vince Cable confirming the changes that will be made.

Brasserie Blanc is expanding by moving into the pub market with the acquisition of the Kings Head lease in addition to the Queen’s Head in Weybridge. Up to £1 million will be invested in the Teddington location alone which will retain the long-running pub side of this business alongside the brasserie.

Ice-cream lovers who have been clamouring for news of the up-and-coming ice-cream parlour won’t have to wait much longer! Il Gelato is aiming to have its grand opening this Friday and if the weather forecast doesn’t change, it will be perfect timing – in the midst of the hot weather that we’re currently enjoying.

To celebrate the launch free ice-cream will be handed out to lucky customers.
[Update] this looks like it will take place at 5pm during their opening party on Friday, not necessarily during the day!

A few empty shop units are under offer – stay tuned for updates. One confirmed new addition will be British Bookshops which will be next door to Headmasters on Broad Street and sell discounted stationery, books, cards and newspapers.

They are currently recruiting for shop staff – if you’re interested then call 01273 507999 or email customerservices@britishbookshops.co.uk.

If you’re still undecided where to watch tonight’s match and like Octoberfest then you might want to consider Steins Bavarian Beer Garden.

Established in 2004 this company has been a popular attraction on Richmond river-side. For the World Cup they are hosting a series of beer garden events at the BoatHouse next to Teddington Lock.

As well as the football shown on HD screens, there is Munich beer, wine and great German food (and yes, including sausages and Schnitzel!).

All England matches will be shown (free entry) but bring cash as there will be no credit-card facilities. To ensure your place is reserved you can call 020 8948 8189 or email info@stein-s.com.

Clockwise from top-left: England-inspired cooking equipment on display at Kitchen Sync – also win £50 of vouchers by guessing how many sweets are in the jar on the counter. The new training horse at Park Lane Stables is supporting England throughout the competition. Hosting your own England match party or BBQ? themed party-ware at The Fun Factory.

If you fancy combining the World Cup with some very fine food then you will be delighted to hear that Al Borgo have set up a “TV lounge” to show matches. If you do not want to miss out on the footie, you are more than welcome to watch the most important games on their 42″ flat screen TV, whilst enjoying some truly authentic Italian food for lunch or dinner.

If you’re not that into football, they have plenty of tables in safe distance away from the screen!

Bilas Tandoori are also showing matches on their big screen help diners enjoy “beautiful game, beautiful food and drink, beautiful summer”.

PS if at any time you want to switch to the World-Cup supporters version of this site click here – it’s just like being there!

To celebrate the shop’s two-year anniversary and the launch of their new website they are hosting a party on Saturday 12th June from 4-9pm.

If you haven’t yet been to the shop then you are most welcome to browse the wonderful treasure trove of clothing with a glass of bubbly in hand, just like in the 1950s boutiques that the shop is designed to emulate.

Die-hard fans are encouraged to dress vintage on the day for a change to win a prize for the best outfit. As well as 10% off their first purchases, guests will also enjoy a raffle for a gorgeous 1950s vintage beaded bag and bubbly and nibbles for everyone and their guests.

Mela Mela will also be drumming up support for their on-line charity auction of an original Christian Dior coat with all proceeds going to Fara Children’s Charity

Those with little vintage fans in tow will also be pleased to hear that there’s a sale across the road at Tedds children’s clothing store.

Mela Mela Vintage
74 High Street
Teddington
Middlesex
www.melamela.co.uk

This popular day has been running since 2003 and since then has had over 400 teams of six enter the competition. Awards were initially based on altitude and distance but now include landing accuracy combined with flight-time.

The schools event in the afternoon is fully booked, but the Open Event (for older rocket enthusiasts) which starts at 6pm still has some places available if people would like to enter a team – full instructions and registration forms are on the NPL website: www.npl.co.uk/waterrockets.

If you don’t want to enter a team then you are more than welcome to come along and spectate (entry £2 – all proceeds towards Shooting Star Hospice) – the NPL Pavilion will be providing a BBQ and serving beverages.

If you have any further water rocket-related enquiries, contact waterrockets@npl.co.uk.