7:17 AM
Jo-Anne Rowney
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STRICTLY star Russell Grant is backing a plan to save a pie and mash shop he has visited regularly since he was a child.
Russell, who is appearing in the latest series of Strictly
Come Dancing on BBC1, has written to the owners of A.Cookes Pie, Mash and Eel shop
urging Hammersmith and Fulham Council to reject plans to develop Goldhawk Road,
in Shepherd’s Bush, which would mean the demolition of the Cookes shop.
The famous astrologer, who now lives in Wales
He said: “This isn’t a
selfish protest to the local council… we have all watched the riots in
Tottenham rip through this historic community and devastate it and although it
is a completely different way, an act of vandalism is set to perpetrate
Shepherd’s Bush in the wanton destruction of a community but this time with the
backing of the elected Council.”
Russell remembers the shop from visits when he was young with
his grandmother Lily, who owned a fish and chip shop nearby in Askew Road,
Shepherd’s Bush.
In a letter to the owners of
Cookes the celebrity said: “My grandmother Lily…fed me pie, eels and mash from
a baby.
“Cookes is a landmark, not
just to people who live in the Bush, no, but to people who, like me, were
brought up in leafy Middlesex but made the trek via the 607 trolley–bus from
Uxbridge to the Bush Market and had our lunch at Cookes for as long as I can
remember.”
Russell said even now when
working at the BBC he sends out his driver to get him his favourite local food
to take back to Wales
Middlesex born Russell said
he was proud of his many links with Shepherd’s Bush and included Cookes pies,
eels and mash in his bestselling book, The Real Counties of Britain.
He said: “[Cookes is] at the
heart of an ancient community that goes back over a thousand years and to see
it no more would be a travesty.
“It will reveal that whoever
is behind this plan and supports it by giving it the go-ahead has no interest
in their community, its roots, identity or heritage, whatever their reason,
there is no justification in what they aim to do as it will be a little bit
more of our past that is given up to mindless modernity and crass consumerism.”
Husband and wife, Audrey and
Mike Boughton, currently run the local Pie and Eel shop on the Goldhawk Road,
Shepherd’s Bush.
Mike Boughton, 59, of Line
Close, West Clandon near Guildford, said: “Russell has been a great champion
for us. He’s one of our regulars. We serve people from all works of life, from
Russell to Joe Bloggs the window cleaner.
“We get mods and rockers
coming on pilgrimage to the shop as we appeared in the 70s film Quadrophenia,
but we also serve local families.
“This is a family business. We’re
a one off and there are not many pie, mash and eel shops left. Our customers
are very upset.”
Cookes has been run by the
same family for over 70 years.
Mrs Boughton, 52, of Line
Close, West Clandon, near Guildford, said: “None of us want to go. We just
can’t understand why in the current economic climate the council would want to
destroy a business that is working, and has been for the past 77 years.
The mother of two said: “While
no plans have gone through yet, the developers came and measured up our shop
the other day. How can they do this when permission hasn’t been granted yet?
They shouldn’t presume they’ve won the battle.
“The shops affected have
come together and set up the Shepherd’s Bush Action group. We’re prepared to
fight to keep our shop.”
Hammersmith and
Fulham Council are currently deciding whether to grant planning permission to
Orion developers who want to build 200 flats above the shops on Goldhawk Road,
Shepherd’s Bush.
If permission is
granted the shops as they stand will be demolished and rebuilt. The council has
invited the local community to send comments on the proposed development to
them by 15 October 2011.
The Shepherd’s Bush Action
Group is running an online petition allowing the public to show their support. www.ipetitions.com/petition/savegoldhawkroadshops/
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