As Antrobus Road residents get together to share a Big Lunch

A street party held as part of the Big Lunch event turned out to be a trip down memory lane for two of the residents.

John Newstead, who has lived in Antrobus Road for more than 73 years, and Sonia Harrison (pictured right) were both at the street party held to celebrate VE Day 1945. A number of other of the Road's residents had also been at the street party to mark the Queen's Jubilee in 1977.

Antrobus Road resident Trisha Cochrane told ChiswickW4.com, "We started planning the street party rather recently (it was my neighbour’s idea) and decided to do it in conjunction with the Eden Project’s Big Lunch as they’d already lobbied the councils.

"Planning at such short notice meant that the event was low-key and we aimed simply to have a get-together, with every household bringing food, rather than opting for any entertainment. We leafleted each house to gain an idea of interest and were delighted by the many positive responses.

"So we then set about getting permission and held a pub evening for anybody who’d offered help. We were very lucky as someone offered to design and print some top quality leaflets/name badges/etc. Another resident offered to design a quiz based on local information. Somebody else made bunting.

"About 35 households were able to come, another 20 or so would have liked to but were away or busy that day. I set up a ‘sign in’ sheet on the day, asking how long people had lived here. I discovered three who’d been at the 1977 jubilee party and then two who’d been here in 1945."

She added, "This is already a very friendly street, but the street party has brought even more people together and we’ve had very positive responses, both from older and newer residents."

July 28, 2009