Coach Stuck on a Flyover Nearly Beats Covid-19
That was the year that was – the top stories of 2020 on ChiswickW4.com
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One criticism that can’t be levelled at the much reviled 2020 is that it was dull in terms of news.
This was particularly the case at a local level where a constant flow of significant updates and controversial local issues combined with residents being in lockdown meant that articles on ChiswickW4.com were regularly read more than 10,000 times.
The year saw the highest readership in the site's 20 year history according to Google Analytics with over 620,000 visits.
Inevitably, the most viewed news item of the year concerned the impact of the coronavirus in the area but readers retained an appetite for the off-beat. Not far behind was an item on a double deckeer National Express coach getting stuck on the Hogarth Flyover.
Stories on the local property market, local pubs and restaurants and crime also appear each year in the top ten most read items on the site each year and 2020 was no different. Residents are still very interested in big ticket local house sales and the purchase of Eamonn Andrews’ former home for a knockdown £8,000,000 provided a very popular item.
Some small comfort might be taken from the fact that only one crime story featured in the top ten this year but the topic that replaced it in predominance was traffic and the council’s traffic measures in the area. Stories on this theme made up four of the top ten with two specifically about the access restrictions on Turnham Green Terrace.
It was a terrible year for the local hospitality trade and one of the items on the site concern the closure of all the pubs owned by The Restaurant Group including the Steam Packet and the Roebuck. The good news here is that, according to our latest information, both will be fully reopening under new ownership but with the same names when lockdown restrictions end.
The hope would be that for 2021 the only mention of Covid-19 in the most popular articles of the year is one which declares that the virus has been completely wiped out in the area.
A very Happy New Year to all our readers especially our advertisers and those readers who have made donations over the course of 2020 which have helped keep the site going at this difficult time.
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January 3, 2021