On Friday I received an alert from FehrTrade reader Catriona that there are plans afoot to demolish part of Goldhawk Road, the best concentration of high quality, low price fabric shops in London (and, arguably, most of Europe)!
Hammersmith and Fulham Council are proposing to demolish 30-52 Goldhawk Road in order to build high-rise flats. Included in this row of shops are my beloved Classic Textiles and A One Fabrics (IMHO, the two best fabric shops in the whole of London!) as well as a fantastic little caff which I’ve stopped in every time I’ve been shopping, and a pie & mash shop that’s been around since 1899. Every single one of these shops is an independent business which will be completely ruined by this demolition.
Other cities around the world are losing their fabric shops as they go out of business due to lack of sales, but Goldhawk Road is thriving and prospering, and I can barely make my way through the crowds most Saturdays!
So I beg of you, fellow sewers – if you’re a Londoner who shops at Goldhawk Road, or you’ve travelled to London to shop here on your holidays, or even if you’d just like the chance in the future to buy fabric at these shops you’ve heard me go on about, then PLEASE make your objections heard now!
Please register your objections by email at SBMarket@lbhf.gov.uk or call Jackie Simkins in the council’s planning department on 020 8753 3460.
UPDATE: There is a better, updated feedback form to fill in here, so please use this instead of the above address.
If you’d like to read more about the proposals, you can join the Facebook group, read through this local forum thread, or read an updated newspaper article here.
Here’s what I’ve just written:
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I have just heard of the proposals to demolish the shops at Nos 30-53 Goldhawk Road and I would like to register my extreme objections to this plan.
I am a keen sewing enthusiast, and Goldhawk Road is by far THE best concentration of fabric shops anywhere in London. I’ve had countless emails from other sewers both from London and around the world who have made a point to visit Goldhawk Road during their time in London. This is London’s Fabric District, and as such, should be preserved and promoted as a tourist destination in its own right, NOT demolished. Demolishing these buildings will ruin one of the unique areas left to this part of London, and I am certain that the trade to these thriving, independent businesses would never fully recover.
Please, please leave these shops alone!
thank you, Melissa Fehr
resident of [postcode]
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By way of a reminder of what treasures these shops contain, here’s a quick rundown of a few of the most recent garments I’ve made using fabrics bought on Goldhawk Road:
