On Monday, a bunch of locals met at The Gallery to re-ignite Transition West Hampstead. Marcia MacLeod reports:

“Fancy growing your own veg? No garden? You could put your name down for an allotment – but Camden’s waiting list was, the last time I checked, 40 years, and unless you can see yourself tottering around with a Zimmer frame as you water the tomatoes, there’s no point even trying.

Flowerbed planting at Kilburn tube. Photo via Kilburn Times

But there is another possibility: Transition West Hampstead’s food growing project – and if you walk down Abbey Road later this year, you might just see the first green shoots behind St Mary’s Church.

The church, at the corner of Abbey Road and Priory Road, has donated some land to Transition West Hampstead to enable local residents to experience The Good Life. Led by David Abrahams, the group plans to turn the 20 square metre space into raised beds in time to start planting in the spring.

Any crops grown will go to the people who worked on the site and the project hopes to include Abbey Community Centre and other community groups.

Once Priory Gardens Food Growing Project gets off the ground, there are likely to be more. Even London Overground is apparently keen to see food growing at West Hampstead. Hmmmm….beans and cabbages would certainly make a change from graffiti!

Transition West Hampstead is always keen to recruit new volunteers so, if you’re interested in finding out more, contact David at or call him on 07724 894145.”