Top 2011 Shepherd's Bush stories

Slightly behind the curve here's a snapshot of the year that was in W12 based on what you have been viewing on here ....

• January saw large protests outside the Town Hall, you can see the video here, provoked by our Council's cuts to Children's Services
• February witnessed Free Schooler Toby Young write an open letter to our MP calling him a liar. Ooh, Matron!
• March was the month in which two kids were stabbed outside Westfield on Wood Lane W12
• April saw a shooting incident off Askew Road which was completely ignored by our friends in the local press.
• May was the month that a young man was executed with a gun on Lakeside Road, prompting an extraordinary community debate on this blog in the comments, leading to a personal blogpost by the Metropolitan Police Borough Commander for Hammersmith & Fulham on here  too. A prelude to the riots perhaps.
• June was a month in which I spent a Saturday night with the Shepherd's Bush Police - arrests, drama and a sad interview with a frightened burglary victim ensured.
• July was the month when I interviewed Ken Livingstone about Shepherd's Bush Market in the Pie & Mash shop on Goldhawk Rd - which our Council want to knock down. Comments he made to me subsequently made the national media.
• August was the month of the London riots which, despite the best efforts of our local press, didn't come to the Bush. In fact I could reveal that our local Police were deployed to Hackney instead.
• September was the month in which I saw bizarre voodoo like evidence on Shepherd's Green and you supported me against the increasing abuse of the local print press
• October allowed me to join a raid on a Crystal Meth factory in Shepherd's Bush with the Police while our Council prepared gritters for the snow we were told was on the way in a deep freeze winter. I've worn t-shirts throughout December.
• November was the month where we saw the return of senseless stabbings of young people, this time off Old Oak Road and our Council spent £7,184 of your cash on a party.
• December peaked with a display of people power as the seemingly impervious Council was stopped in its tracks by Boris over the King Street redevelopment - which didn't go unnoticed among traders of Shepherd's Bush Market.

That was the year that was - over the year I had 87,553 unique visitors to this site - and it averages about 15-17,000 unique users per month these days which isn't bad for something I do in the squeezed minutes of my spare time. Most come back daily or weekly.

Next year I plan on opening this blog up to other contributors because a local audience of that size frankly deserves more than I can give - so if you're interested in becoming a local author let me know by emailing shepherdsbushblog@yahoo.co.uk

Happy New Year Shepherd's Bush