QPR Return to Queen's Park to Unveil Birthplace

QPR this weekend returned to their roots – namely Ilbert Street, Queen’s Park – to celebrate the club’s 125^th Anniversary.

QPR players and representatives – including legend Stan Bowles – joined Westminster’s Deputy Lord Mayor (Right) and event organisers CityWest Homes, to unveil a plaque honouring the club’s St Jude’s Church Hall birthplace.

1886 saw the amalgamation of two local amateur church teams – ‘Christchurch Rangers’, and ‘St Jude’s Institute’ – to form Queen’s Park Rangers (after the district home to most of the boys). Since then the West London side has gone from strength to strength, climbing their way to the top flight of English football.

Whilst the club has had a record fifteen different homes since – with its current being Loftus Road, Shepherd’s Bush, – 125 years on, the original, St Jude’s Hall Ilbert Street, is now immortalised thanks to Saturday’s plaque-unveiling.

Andy Evans (speaker, left), Chief Executive of QPR’s Community Trust, expressed his delight at the day’s outcome:

“Today’s a really good day; a really lovely warm community feeling at the event, and obviously from a club perspective, for QPR it’s a really proud historic day as well”.

Meanwhile, Darren Levy, Director of Customer Services for CityWest Homes (who teamed up with QPR to bring the event to fruition), echoed similar contentment:

"It’s taken probably a year’s worth of planning. The atmosphere’s fantastic and it’s great to have the deputy Lord Mayor here, and Stan Bowles from QPR.

“Most of the residents I’ve bumped into seem to be having a good time; lots of smiles which is great. The key thing is what we can build from here in terms of nurturing our relationship with Queen’s Park so they can continue to provide things for the kids in the area”.

The day was quintessentially a community celebration with a range of activities on offer. Neighbouring Queen’s Park Gardens hosted face-painting, funfair rides, bike maintenance, Zumba dancing, and a variety of community stalls. A DJ was also on hand to add music entertainment throughout.

QPR provided football coaching to youngsters; and the club kindly also brought their latest trophy with them to allow delighted fans a unique photo opportunity.

Speaking about some of the other community work Rangers do, Andy Evans, the R’s Community Trust CEO revealed:

“We operate across a number of London boroughs at the moment… We have an education department… a football development department … [W]e’ve also got a big social inclusion programme, for example, we deliver four different Kickz projects across different boroughs which purely targets 12-18 year olds during the evenings, giving them positive activities to take part in”.

On league promotion, Evans said great benefits could be extended to the community, with the club being granted access to the Premier League pot fund in the coming season.

As QPR gear up for Premier League action, one certainty that the R’s can put their confidence in is the enduring dedication of their fans. Lifelong Hoops fan Linda Heavey,

accompanied by her son Tristan, 5 (Right); demonstrated her family’s undying devotion to the club, since its inception:

"We’ve [my family] lived in this area for over a hundred years, and since QPR have been going my family have supported them. Cousins, mum, dad… - my father was a steward at QPR for nearly 12 years, - they’ve all got season tickets to Queen’s Park Rangers and I am so happy they have gone up!”

Ms Heavey concluded, “I am so happy to be here today for Queen’s Park Rangers, and the plaque on that wall is fantastic. It makes me proud to be a supporter and to live in this area”.

BRITISH LIBRARY LECTURE, TONIGHT: Legacies of the Emancipations of The Americas

TONIGHT'S EVENT (June 14) held at The British Library promises to explore the long-term legacies of the processes of emancipation of enslaved African populations that began in the later 18th century in different parts of the Americas.

As alluded to by the BL, the broad legacies of emancipation throughout the Americas appear consistent: black people by and large occupy inferior positions in socio-economic terms and in terms of the roles they have historically been assigned. The repercussions of this remain evident in the day-to-day American life and history, with events such as hurricane Katrina exposing these cracks of inequality.

Do such important developments such as the election of Barack Obama represent a turning point for black people across the region? Or will they do little to alter legacies entrenched by two centuries marked by the racialised exclusion and marginalisation of people of African ancestry in the post-colonial Americas?

Speakers include Robin Blackburn (Essex University), Richard Drayton (King’s College), Denise Ferreira da Silva (Queen Mary, University of London), and playwright and critic Bonnie Greer.

Cited largely from http://www.bl.uk/whatson/events/event121913.html, where tickets can also be pre-booked. Tickets £7.50 (£5 concessions)

Event will be held at The British Library Conference Centre - Main Auditorium, 96 Euston Road, LONDON, NW1 2DB. Nearest Rail: King’s Cross or Euston

"60P BURGERS, 30P DESSERTS!": HARD ROCK CAFE RETURNS TO '71 PRICES FOR FORTIETH BIRTHDAY

Today, Tuesday June 14 marks the 40th birthday of Hard Rock Café, and the café invites you to come and rock the day away with them. Hard Rock promises to turn the clock back to the seventies to celebrate, with all food sold at 1971 prices!

The brainchild of music-loving Americans Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett, who envisaged a casual rock-themed restaurant; the first Hard Rock opened in London’s Park Lane, June 14^th, 1971. The ball would roll from there on with HRC developing into a chain of restaurants, hotels and even casinos across the five continents.

As the story goes, the ‘Rock’ phenomenon was immortalised when legend Eric Clapton jokingly offered his guitar to reserve a regular table. Forty years later, HRC London still houses Clapton's ‘Lead II Fender’, along with over 70,000 other guitars and other rock and roll memorabilia.

Four decades after a world famous rock icon graced the original Hard Rock with perhaps its most significant gesture to date; Hard Rock London remains as authentic as ever, drawing visitors and Londoners alike. The Cafe remains famed for attracting the biggest rock stars down for "jamming sessions". Remarkably, according to their website, you will find many of the original serving staff still work the floor today too, which must speak wonders of the Hard Rock environment!

So as Hard Rock Café celebrates its longevity, you are most warmly welcomed to check out and join in the fun that has led to the chain becoming such a global success.

“Burgers at 60p, Ribs at 80p and desserts from as little as 30p.. That's right even our menu is going back to the era of disco, flairs and flowers!”, the Hard Rock website states.

So what are you waiting for? Get down to Park Lane, grab yourself a cheap meal, immerse yourself in some infectious melodies, and Rock On!!

Hard Rock Cafe, 150 Old Park Lane, LONDON, W1K 1QZ. Nearest underground stations: Hyde Park Corner and Green Park.

Hard Rock restaurant opens at 11.30 AM, though due to 'Founders Day' may experience larger queues than per usual.

RSC PRESENTS 'AMERICAN TRADE': A Barrel of Jokes; Yet an Absence of Punch (lines)

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