Gallery owner Daniel Gask: “I am pleased to be showing Williams wonderful drawings and paintings. His work is mysterious and beautiful and must be seen”.

Despite being the grand age of 83, William’s creative spirit is still shining strongly but the Hampton Wick resident feels that this might be the last time his work is shown at a gallery.

Born in St. Albans, William certainly knows a thing or two about art – he has studied at Sutton, Kingston Schools of Art and the Royal College of Art, leading him to work in art education and becoming a senior lecturer in the Fine Art department of West Surrey College of Art & Design.

The exhibition is running from 28th August to the 25th September. Handmade Frames (107 Stanley Road) is open from Monday-Saturday 10am-5.30pm.
For further information contact handmade.frames@yahoo.com.

As well as providing the hugely popular pottery painting on location, the company will offer a coffee shop with fresh sandwiches, cupcakes, flapjacks and old-fashioned boiled sweets – so is likely to be a mecca for those with children! More details will follow soon.

Nicolas has closed its Teddington branch and all stock is being divided up and sent to nearby shops including the closest at Twickenham (14 Heath Road).

Fear not though if you require some expert alcohol advice – there is no need to look any further than Direct Wines which opened its new Teddington branch in July.

To walk past this off-license you might just assume it’s another high street chain but it is in fact a small independent company with very experienced staff on hand to advise you on what to buy to accompany particular foods, budget or occasion.

On the right-hand side as you enter the shop is a section of more unusual and rare wines that you’re not likely to find in the more common high street off-licenses. Shop staff have decades of experience in the industry and are only too happy to answer any questions.

Those who have noticed the “To Let” sign above Play Inside Out toy shop needn’t worry – it is gearing up to move to a nearby location only a stones throw away which is much larger than the current shop and will allow a larger stock and more room for pushchairs!

Despite stiff competition from online companies, traditional local toy shops still clearly have a place in our town centres – Play Inside Out recently opened a third shop in South-West London and now also combines its shop sales with a new web shop.

One that is however confirmed will be on the site of TBM bathroom shop on Station Road (near Natwest) which is currently undergoing renovation to become a showroom for Kindle wood burning stoves.

As well as looking rather lovely and providing a focal point for the room, these can reduce your fuel bills and dependency on mains power (providing a backup if needed). With fossil fuel prices expected to rise again sharply this winter, alternatives are always looking more attractive – especially fuels such as wood which is sustainable and carbon-neutral.

Exclusive, high-end hair salon Laurel.S currently services VIP clients in Twickenham and Richmond and will soon be adding a Teddington branch to its offering. You will be able to find it just behind the teddy bear shop that was Pinnochios but will be relaunched as the “Shambles Shop” before the end of the year.

Work is progressing well with the Kings Head transformation into a Blanc Brasserie – along with the Weybridge Queens Head, these new venues will be spearheading the groups new “White Brasserie” arm and if successful will see the purchase of other sites across London for the same treatment. Each of the two new sites are having £800,000 spent on them for refurbishment and each will also be available for corporate events/hiring.

Due to open in mid-September, the Kings Head will feature a mouth-watering menu similar to this sample which includes a ‘Dine with Wine’ deals section so you can sample their fine stock of wine along with the fine dishes – you can plan your first visit in advance!

China Garden will re-open on the 24th of August after a wait of almost a year for fans of their tasty offerings – work is almost finished on repairs and refurbishment after the fire. To celebrate the grand re-opening they are offering 10% off prices for two weeks.

Although Waitrose would welcome the opportunity the bring a store to Teddington in the future, they have unfortunately not been able to find a suitable site that is viable and available to achieve this. That’s not to say they will not look again in the future – clearly there is a desire for such a supermarket and definitely the right customer demographic in the area!

Some businesses are away on a well-deserved summer break – Retro is closed from 2nd to the 17th of August, Mela Mela from 21st August – 8th September and LeatherBeanBag, The Powder Rooms from 7th to 31st August and Sammy’s Bar for the whole of August.

New Age hair salon has now closed New Age Salon remains open until further notice, after which work will begin to refurbish this unit into Gillion Million’s first shop.

You can now enjoy the tasty pizzas and other popular dishes at Scarpetta whilst working if you are so inclined – the restaurant now has added WiFi to its list of features.

For those who missed the last one, another cigar-roller will be in-house at La Casa Del Habano next week and you will get another rare opportunity to own a cigar rolled before your very eyes – this time from Romeo and Julieta.

There are currently 8 units currently under offer for new businesses to move in so the high street is continuing its return to form this year.

For those who haven’t tried the utterly delicious freshly roasted coffee at Astrora Coffee then you can now sample the various beans at their Fresh Coffee Brew Bar.

Choose the bean you want to try and the brewing method – cafetiere, filter or aeropress (all £1.90 a cup) and see what flavour you might prefer – you can learn about the varied and sometimes subtle differences caused by the variety, climate and soil type, washing/drying method of the farm where grown as well as roasting technique and timing.

There’s definitely more than more than meets the eye in the world of coffee and with a knowledgeable and quality roaster in Teddington you might find yourself becoming something of an expert! Current coffee of the week is Brazil Fazenda Lagoa.

Coffee-fans further afield can now order coffee on-line for delivery from their new online store.

This chain has stores in Sunninghill, Ascot and now Teddington, the specialise in fine wines, champagne and beers. The also provide glass loans and can offer promotions for wedding and promotion orders.

Nicolas, the only other dedicated off-license on the high street is currently closed until the 3rd of August.

Gillian Million currently designs and creates bridal jewellery for brides all over the world, including celebrity and royal clients. Her designs feature regularly in fashion and celebrity magazines and her successful business was created when she found that the right hair accessories to compliment her own wedding dress were in short supply. After positive feedback to her designs, Million Design Company was launched in February of 2002.

Soon after launching, Liberty in Regent Street took the entire collection and Million has been a sought-after name ever since. Currently appointments for bespoke items are held at her home in Teddington but you will soon be able to browse the eye-catching designs on the high street when the company’s first shop opens on 1st October 2010.

The new location at 34 High Street (currently New Age hairdressers) sits nicely within Teddington’s boutique shop area and near ‘The Dress’ wedding dress shop. It will showcase bespoke luxuries, lingerie, perfume range, silver jewellery for weddings and special occasions. If you can’t wait that long however, items are currently for sale through the online shop at www.milliondesign.com.

** 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!

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!

The recession has hit commercial landlords specialising in office space hard and Teddington has not escaped this general trend – different uses for empty offices are increasingly being explored. Budget hotel chain Travelodge are seeking to secure a long-term 25 year commitment which is much greater than the normal short-term office space leases.

As for the need for a large hotel in Teddington, the planning application states that demand regularly outstrips supply in the area – aside from some bed & breakfasts, more upmarket Park Hotel and the Lensbury are the only notable hotels in Teddington itself. General tourism, being with short distance from Heathrow and subsequent easy access to London, Hampton Court etc would mean that rooms would be regularly filled, as well as other local draws such as Teddington Studios (audiences regularly travel from far-afield) and there is also a steady stream of visitors to the NPL who already has corporate rates in-place with other nearby Travelodges.

The existing building conversion will happen almost entirely internally only so will hopefully have little impact on the look of this prominent building – a separate application will be submitted for the advertisement signage. It will be converted into a 113 bedroom hotel and the smaller ‘studio’ building next door will be demolished and rebuilt as an adjoining four-storey annex which will contain an on-site bar/cafe – usable by hotel guests only.

The building sits within the CPZ and although the number of self-contained car-parking is well within the recommended ratio vs room numbers, there is a risk that guests will simply park on surrounding roads outside of the CPZ-restricted hours and add extra pressure on already-crowded roads.

Currently 140 office workers occupy the building (using three of the five available floors) – as a hotel, about 100 employees will work here and an estimated 150 guests per night will stay, benefiting the local economy alongside local suppliers.

Travelodge’s own survey shows that private bar/cafe’s are only used by a minority of guests – almost three-quarters prefer to eat at local cafes, pubs and restaurants instead. Guests on average add £35 every day to the local economy and the total economic benefit to the neighbourhood could be between £0.6 and £1.2 million each year.

It should be noted that this planning application is independent of plans for a similar project in the centre of Twickenham also involving Travelodge, who have expressed their intentions to secure hotels at both of these locations.

Given that the site is within a mixed-use area that includes residential properties a public consultation to these proposals is to be urged. The full detailed plans can be found here.

[Update] After meeting with the building owners and Travelodge representatives, “Teddington Society will not oppose Travelodge for the town”. Most of the objections raised against the development seem to be concentrating on parking/traffic issues. If agreed, work will start on this development in March 2011 and is expected to take 12-15 months.

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.

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