September 2020

A group of neighbours have got together to create a community event and have organised a mini jumble trail in Wanstead this coming Saturday 19 September between 10am and 2pm.

“It promises to be a lovely , albeit socially-distanced, event which encompasses the following roads: Spratt Hall Road, Addison Road, Dangan Road, Gordon Road and Chaucer Road. Residents will be filling their front gardens with unwanted furniture, plants, clothes, records and other bits and pieces. Please come along,” said organiser Karen Myers.

If you live on one of the roads and would like to join in, email myers_karen@sky.com.

Woodford-based women’s organisation Soroptimist East London has a big idea and everyone is invited to join!

Members of the organisation are contributing their experience and skills to the #BigIdeasWeek, a week of motivating and stress-busting activities and webinars online with all monies going to charity. “There will be pilates classes, coaching, yoga, a chance to hear from a range of published authors and more,” said a spokesperson.

“Why are Soroptimist East London doing it? To help make other people’s big dreams come true. In this case, it’s the big dreams of The Ideas Partnership a Kosovo and UK based charity which works with the most marginalised communities in Kosovo including through education and income generation projects.  All donations made by attendees at the online events will go to The Ideas Partnership with Global Giving doubling the donations! Soroptimist members have been helping The Ideas Partnership in other ways too including providing online English conversation classes to The Ideas Partnership volunteers in Kosovo during covid lockdown.  In return, The Ideas Partnership have publicly celebrated the ladies as among their most committed volunteers during the covid lockdown which has affected Kosovo as well as the UK.”

Soroptimist East London includes members who live or work throughout East London.  The organisation focuses on empowering women to achieve positive change and sustainable development right here in East London as well as across the globe.

The week of activities is being held from 14 to 18 September 2020 online. Visit www.facebook.com/BigIdeasWeek

Wanstead Climate Action, the local affiliate of Extinction Rebellion, will be holding an event this weekend as part of the late summer rebellion.

“Members of our group will be parading down Wanstead High Street, accompanied by Rolant the Rebel Horse to bring attention to the government’s inaction when it comes to air quality in our local area and London in general. Air pollution has been linked with heart disease, strokes, and a myriad of respiratory disorders and even, in some cases, poor foetal development and reduced bone density. There have even been studies showing links to rises in COVID-19 deaths in areas of high pollution,” said a spokesperson.

Rolant the horse, local doctors and the other local rebels will set up a stall on Christchurch Green to discuss the current air quality situation and what needs to be done to secure a ‘breath of fresh air’ for the next generation. Rolant will have a very special message of his own and will be available to take part in photo opportunities.

The proceedings will take place on Sunday 6 September during the regular community market, meeting on George Green at 11am.

Rolant’s emissions will be donated to the Wanstead Community Gardeners.

“Social distancing will be observed, and masks encouraged.”

Visit www.wansteadclimateaction.co.uk

September is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) awareness month. PCOS is a condition that affects 1 in 10 women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals in the UK and 70% of those with the condition don’t know they have it. Snaresbrook resident Kristine Stacke reports

I’m Kristine, I have PCOS. My PCOS journey started at the age of 13 when my periods stopped for 18 months. Before that, I’d been bang on the 28-day mark and my first period started on my first full day of lessons at secondary school… what a way to start! A lack of periods joined some already pretty dramatic mood swings that I started experiencing when I was 9. My mum is a nurse so she tracked everything going on with me and took me to the GP on multiple occasions to discuss this. Time and again it was put down to ‘just being a teenager’ but eventually they decided it was time to refer me on for testing and sent me off to gynaecology.

Low and behold, my appointment came and so did the first period in a year and a half. I was sent off for an ultrasound, internal examination and blood tests (ultrasounds are no longer recommended for teenagers suspected of PCOS). Everything came back inconclusive but with the possibility of PCOS. I was offered the pill to regulate my cycle but turned it down. Fast forward to being 15 and in a mock Biology GCSE exam when a period started (oh the irony) leaving me faint at my exam desk and I changed my mind.

I continued on with the pill for the next 5 years, changing from one to another as none of them quite suited me – mood swings (worse than before), bloating, acne – the list was never-ending. Finally, I settled on one at the age of 19 and I was doing great, but 6 months later I started experiencing migraines, something I had never experienced before. These continued for a number of weeks with me eventually heading off to A and E where my blood pressure was dangerously high and I passed out when they took my blood (still get clammy hands today!). Every other option was ruled out before my lovely junior doctor told me to come off my pill. I now know that those with PCOS are at higher risk of developing blood clots when on the combined oral contraceptive and last year witnessed first hand the devastation that can cause when I almost lost a close friend for that exact reason.

Fast forward another 6 months and I had gone up 2 dress sizes, broken out in acne, developed a moustache and become increasingly depressed… and my periods hadn’t come back. The GP sent me off for all the PCOS tests again and this time they came back with a confirmed diagnosis.

The thing about PCOS is there is no one size fits all treatment, no one quite knows what causes it and there is no cure. At this point, they didn’t really know what to do with me because I couldn’t take the pill anymore. PCOS gets highlighted in the media but usually under the media-friendly symptoms that are heartwarming, positive fertility journeys, or shocking weight gain and male-pattern facial hair. What the media doesn’t always tell you is that PCOS is a life long, chronic condition that you always have to manage. That as a community we have a higher than average incidence of depression and anxiety, body dysmorphia and disordered eating. That there is no ‘one’ specialist that you can go to to help you learn how to manage the condition and you get passed between different clinics. That the most common thing told to PCOS patients is ‘here’s the pill, lose some weight, come back when you want children’. This was what happened to me…but without the pill (and my weight was on the lower side so I couldn’t even be told to lose weight).

I am now 11 years on from my initial diagnosis and just about have my head around my own management. I have had to learn to advocate for myself fiercely – tracking all my symptoms and reading up on NICE guidelines and other regulations before appointments. I have my diet and exercise regime sorted, I have had therapy and CBT to help manage the psychological aspects and I am fully aware of the increased long term risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and endometrial (womb) cancer. It has taken a long time to get there and I am more fortunate than others in being relatively young when I was diagnosed and having stumbled across a supportive community of other PCOS sufferers via Verity, the UK’s only PCOS charity.

My journey isn’t complete though as I haven’t broached my fertility journey yet and I still have menopause to come, an area that is vastly under-researched anyway never mind in conjunction with other conditions such as PCOS. I hope that I haven’t scared anyone away with my diagnosis journey and that if you recognise yourself, a friend or a family member in this story and you aren’t diagnosed that it might encourage and empower you to get tested.

What will Wanstead look like in a post-COVID-19 world? In the fourth of a series of articles, Chair of Wanstead Society Scott Wilding, who is exploring these issues as part of his job, offers his thoughts

By September, a new normal will have set in. We are all used to social distancing, waiting to get into shops, wearing masks and so on. These have become part of everyday life. With the onset of autumn, we begin to take more steps to life as usual, with pupils returning to school.

However, the Chief Medical Officer for England announced in August that we have come to the limits of what we can safely do to open up society. Until, or unless, a vaccine is found for COVID, social distancing is here to stay. So, what does it mean for us?

The death of the commute? Well, possibly for some. At the time of writing, about 55% of people had visited their workplace compared to January, and many service sector jobs doubt if they will return to large London-based offices before January, or at all.

Even if those of us who work in offices do return, it will be very different. Only two people in a lift at any time. Buildings operating at about 30% capacity. Working at home two to three days a week a necessity. This means a very different look and feel to how we live our life. For instance, visits to parks have increased by around 100%. A fairly obvious statistic as this article is written in summer, but as gyms and health centres have been closed – and many people are working from home – the park has become the new exercise space. This is likely to become a more long-term trend as the benefits of outside exercise have reached more people during lockdown.

Our overall travel patterns have also changed. TfL estimates that weekday Tube travel is down by about 70%, although weekend travel patterns are increasing. So, we are either travelling less in general or doing more by car. Although general traffic has increased since lockdown was eased, it’s not up to pre-lockdown levels. Freight traffic is about 15% down on March and general traffic is down about 10%. This may be a general trend towards less car use. A possibility supported by the fact that cycling is up 146% in England to July.

Apart from more cycling, the other good thing about lockdown, which we seem to be keeping, at least for now, is improved air quality. Since March, nitrogen dioxide pollution is down significantly on 2019 levels. It’s unclear as we approach winter if this will continue, but with less road traffic and fewer flights, it’s possible London is heading for one of the cleanest years in terms of air quality.

Lockdown and COVID represent real challenges, but an old Chinese proverb claims that in every crisis is an opportunity. Perhaps our opportunity is the ability to move away from four wheels to two, and to keep the benefits of cleaner air we have so far enjoyed.

Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into her life with cerebral palsy. In the second of a series of articles, the aspiring actor talks about Chicken Shed Theatre

I’ve been acting from the age of seven at Chicken Shed Theatre. I started in children’s theatre and took part in some Christmas shows, then I moved up to youth theatre and took part in a few more performances. My favourite show was Feel The Love because it was about all kinds of love and saying everyone’s equal, but I especially enjoyed the nightclub scene because I love a good party!

Chicken Shed changed my life. Before joining, I hated leaving the house as I was embarrassed for people to see me because I was ‘different’. Every time my mum tried to get me out of the house I would have a meltdown. I actually remember her forcing me to sit in my car seat to get me to my primary school, and one day, I was so strong she couldn’t physically get me in the car!

Then Chicken Shed called saying there was a space for me. My mum was in shock because she heard the waiting time can be up to 10 years. The reason I got in so quickly was because my mum took me to the children’s workshops on the weekends and they saw how bad I was. They thought Chicken Shed would really help build my confidence so they invited me to a week called Summer Shed. I remember kicking, hitting and biting my mum when she was trying to get me into the room. The lady in charge was expecting me, so when she heard screaming and crying, she knew I was there and came over. I even kicked her. Then she introduced me to my one-to-one and I went to the group, but I didn’t join in.

After a few months of going, I started getting more confident. After a year, you couldn’t get me away from Chicken Shed. I was enjoying it so much. I was only seven, but from that age, I knew I belonged and fitted in and I went to my primary school saying I was leaving and going to school at Chicken Shed, but that wasn’t true because it’s a college.

I went to a special needs secondary school,  which at the time was the best school, but after two years of being there it really changed. When I started, most people were like me, physically disabled, not mentally disabled. But that changed and most people were mentally disabled, so again, I just wanted to study at Chicken Shed. I was 14, so I still couldn’t go, and it got to a point where I wouldn’t go to school because I didn’t fit in.

Because my school was attached to a mainstream school, I used to talk to the ‘mainstream’ pupils through the fence. Then at the age of 15, I applied for Chicken Shed, and one day after school I got home to a letter saying I had an interview. My school did everything they could to help because I was quite naughty there, so the staff couldn’t wait to get rid of me! Three months later, I got another letter saying I got in. So, June last year I left school and started college. I finally felt I was getting somewhere in life.

In March, lockdown forced The Music School on the High Street to close for the first time in 18 years. As the school prepares to reopen, Liliana Dimovska explains why children and adults alike should listen up

The interruption that lockdown brought prompted us to reflect on the values and benefits of participating in music activities and why it is so important now, more than ever, to offer high-quality music education to the Wanstead community. As an experienced music performer and educator, I am thrilled to be introducing, for the first time, an Early Years programme based on the colourstrings method, as well as well structured courses for adults, starting this month.

The colourstrings approach is a unique general musicianship education for children from birth to five years and provides a foundation for future musical training. The classes have a relaxing and positive atmosphere that encourages creativity, listening and active participation. Hungarian violinist Géza Szilvay developed the colourstrings method in Finland in the 1970s after finding the need to help his own children through the early, challenging years of playing. He wanted to make the learning process more joyful, more natural.

When children are five, they are ready to start learning to play a musical instrument. The colourstrings programme provides them with a fun and engaging introduction to the violin using nursery rhymes they love and vibrant, colourful visual representation. As all children learn in their own way, lessons can be taken on an individual, paired, or small-group basis. Individual lessons are good for those who want one-on-one tuition, and paired and small-group lessons are good for social interaction and learning to listen to other players.

But children are not the only ones who benefit from musical activities. Adults can make new social connections when they learn an instrument. Maybe you learnt to play as a child and want to brush up old skills, or you wish you had learnt, but never had a chance. It is never too late. Research shows the benefits of participating in music as it relates to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Music lessons have been shown to improve memory in a study of adults between the ages of 60 and 85 (Jennifer Bugos, University of South Florida), and it can also reduce anxiety, depression and loneliness.

During lockdown, we all had to learn and adapt to a new way of online learning. Our experience was so positive that we will continue to offer a full online programme for those who are shielding but still want access to lessons. On the other hand, for those who prefer face-to-face tuition, we plan to re-open on 7 September with all necessary safety steps in place in line with government regulations.

Redbridge Cycling is keen to hear your feedback on proposals to open new cycle routes through Wanstead Park. Gill James and Haydn Powell report on an often contentious subject

The last few months have been tough for everyone, so it is good to have silver linings. During lockdown, Wanstead Park was a haven to those wishing to get some fresh air and exercise. Park wardens report a 122% rise in visitor numbers.

For the climate crisis, the exponential growth in the popularity of cycling has been another real positive.

At present, a 1950s by-law restricts cycling in the park to a 200m stretch from the entrance at Wanstead Park Avenue up to the tea hut, then bearing left along the north-eastern edge of the Heronry Pond. Cycling is forbidden in all other parts of the park, but the signposting is, at best, erratic.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands Facebook page witnessed some lively discussion, including complaints about cyclists not sticking to the sole designated route. Offline, users have also reported more serious incidents, including an altercation between a cyclist and a dog walker, and bikes being ridden in Chalet Wood, home to a notable colony of bluebells, which are easily damaged by trampling.

Since the park’s keepers began returning to work, the by-laws have been more rigorously enforced, notably around the Ornamental Water, where cycling is off limits.

At a meeting in July, the Friends of Wanstead Parklands committee members discussed the possibilities of expanding cycling in the park. The current situation is an area of dissatisfaction for all parties. Cycling has become a free-for-all, which is antagonising some pedestrians. In contrast, government and local council support for increased use of bikes has stoked demand for improved cycle routes through the park.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands committee supported, in principle, the opening up of a shared-use route between the gate at Wanstead Park Avenue to the gate at Warren Road. This would make a good general ‘artery’ route for crossing the park.

Other proposed shared routes which Redbridge Cycling would like considered are:

The wide path between the River Roding and the Ornamental Water, connecting Warren Road with an entry from the Ilford side of the park. This route is good for family cycling.

A small section of pathway from the southern tip of the Ornamental Lake to the tea hut, north of Perch Pond. This would complete a circular leisure cycle route, which would be a tremendous benefit to safe family cycling. Resurfacing would also improve access for wheelchair users.

Redbridge Cycling wants to hear your views on the concept of new cycling routes around Wanstead Park.

When Darrell Toakley resurrected the name of ‘Truffles’ to add to his travel agency in the High Street – which now sells chocolates as well as holidays – he asked Dr Colin Runeckles to look into the building’s history

Wanstead residents will remember the demolition and reconstruction of the building that comprises 46-48 High Street a decade ago (The Closet and Truffles). The original building can be seen on the tithe map of 1841, where the index shows the owner to be Thomas Barker but the occupant as Miss Ann Slater.

We can be certain about who ran the shop and what trade they were in between 1900 and 1955 from Kelly’s Directories – successively watchmaker, china and glass dealer (1900), watchmaker (1903–12), plumber (1914–15) and finally, tailor (1923–1955 and possibly later). Edward Perry had the shop the longest, from 1923 to at least 1955, although a different tailor is listed in the 1939 register – a sign Perry served in the forces during World War Two perhaps?

The contextual position of the shops is important in understanding them. Before the expansion of the High Street further towards Snaresbrook from the 1860s onwards, the village was concentrated around the area from The George with the 18th-century manor houses to the north and across the road towards Woodbine Place. Numbers 46-48 High Street had an alleyway on either side leading to Woodbine Place – the one on the south side next to 48 was Slater’s Alley, the one to the north next to 46 was Dark Alley. Slater’s Alley disappeared with the building of flats that make up 50 High Street.

But what was at the rear of these shops was, if anything, more interesting than the shops themselves. Going by an 1860s Ordnance Survey map, there were originally 12 small cottages behind the shops in a terrace that went to Woodbine Place. Census returns of the 1800s record some being in Slater’s Alley (the ones closest to the High Street shops), while the remainder are in Dark Alley – although this is sometimes Long Alley or Brooks Alley. From this difference in location, I’m left wondering whether some had their front doors facing one way towards the south and Slater’s Alley, and others to the north and Dark Alley. Over a period of time, the numbers of cottages behind the shops gradually reduced down to five in Slater’s Alley in the 1950s. There was a sixth, but this was opposite the long terrace on the south side of Slater’s Alley.

The people who lived in these were, like those in Wanstead’s cottages, mainly labourers, gardeners, stockmen, carpenters – in short, the working-class men and women of Wanstead. But look in the tithe index of 1841 at those living in the cottages nearest Woodbine Place and you’ll find not occupants’ names but instead “Paupers etc”, probably in receipt of relief under English Poor Laws.

I don’t know when the cottages in Slater’s Alley were finally demolished. Do any readers remember them being there?

As Wanstead Parish churches prepare to take part in a covid-secure Open House weekend, Penelope Garlick invites you to share memories of Christ Church and St Mary’s, and to submit your ideas for their future

In July, we announced a £72,500 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant awarded to Wanstead Parish to plan how both St Mary’s and Christ Church can better serve the wider community. This month, an architect-led team will join the Heritage consultant supporting the parish with the project.

Consultation with groups and residents in and around the parish is now beginning to better understand what people value about the churches, what they’d like to see more of and how the churches can serve their community. This will inform a series of options for making the buildings and churchyards more accessible. The project will also seek to find how the parish can reduce their negative environmental impact and enhance environmental benefits in the buildings and through their work.

St Mary’s was built in 1790 and is a fine example of Georgian architecture; it’s also the only Grade I listed building in Redbridge. With the railway coming to Wanstead, Christ Church was built in 1861 to provide a church nearer to the new centre and received a grant of £250 from the Incorporated Society for the Building of Churches to provide free seating for 200 adults and 70 children.

Now the buildings have reopened after lockdown, we would like to hear what these churches mean to you. Do you remember a special day, maybe a wedding or a christening, or even a funeral? Do you have ancestors buried in the churchyard? Did you come to a flower festival, a concert or to watch your child in a nativity play? Is your memory of coming to a church school leaving service? Maybe you have come to the toddler group, a fair or just enjoyed the quiet of the church grounds.

Please share your memories with us via photos, words or video clips. We will include as many as possible in a small exhibition we are planning for Open House London this September at both churches.

This year, Open House London is taking place on 19 and 20 September. Both churches will be open, but to meet current requirements, visitor numbers will be limited and a one-way system will operate around the venues. Please book if you would like to come along.

The parish is also asking readers to feed back their ideas for how the buildings might be used in future as part of the first phase of community consultation. The findings will be shared with the architects to help shape their initial ideas for plans as mentioned above.

With Art Trail Wanstead taking a year off, we invited local artist Christopher Thomas to present one of his paintings here instead

I was born in South Wales, studied at Cardiff College of Art and graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic with a degree in Fine Art. After graduation, I stayed on in Birmingham and continued painting, drawing and exhibiting work with the financial assistance of West Midlands Arts.

By the end of my twenties, the urge to travel was strong and I spent most of the next 10 years overseas in the Far East, Asia and Latin America.

When I returned to Britain, I was eager to resume my involvement in drawing and painting and decided to attend life drawing classes. The life room has provided me with a discipline that has remained constant in my work to the present day.

Over the past three years, I’ve produced three books which narrate stories pictorially. Not Countin’  Mexicans is a biography of the brief but eventful life of Billy the Kid. Every Day is a  Good Day is a biography of the long and bemused life of Hotei San. And John Barleycorn is a folk song which deals with the personification of the crop and an allegory of Christ’s passion.

Another aspect of my work deals with walking and the environment in which the walker finds himself. Some years ago, I produced an extensive sequence of drawings entitled Underneath the Arches, which concerns itself with the London churches of Nicholas Hawksmoor, their genii loci and the linear space between them. More recently, I’ve been working on other themes relating to walks and treks I’ve made both at home and abroad. Over the years, I’ve made many treks in the Nepal Himalaya, and on the last two, I took a drawing book to supplement my usual photographic endeavours. With the aid of memory, drawings and photographs, I’ve been making paintings of Himalayan landscapes. In tandem with this, I’ve also been making paintings of Wiltshire’s neolithic landscape.

There are many influences on my work. It often has a basis or a correspondence in literature, myth, the Bible and folk song. I spend a great deal of time looking at and copying from the Old Masters in order to gain insights into formal problem solving.

With Art Trail Wanstead taking a year off, we invited local artist Jola Spytkowska to present her work here instead, including her lockdown-revamped garden shed

I spent lockdown tackling my garden shed and transforming it. I have wanted to do this project for over 20 years and it took a global pandemic to create the time and space to sort it, but it was worth the wait.

It was inspired by my love of Polish folk art and the charming, traditionally painted cottages I saw in a village in Poland.

I am based in Forest Gate and consider myself very lucky not only to have the beautiful Wanstead Park around the corner, where I enjoy my daily walks with my terrier Mishio, but also to have a garden. Not a luxury everyone had during lockdown.

The gift of lockdown for me was that I had no distractions and was therefore able to relax. This, in turn, helped my creativity. Most importantly, the good weather allowed me to spend most of my time outdoors.

With time to think, I started to imagine how my environment could be a fun space to live in. Starting with the shed, an eyesore for many years!

I did some research, prepared sketches, took measurements and made a plan. Luckily, B&Q had just reopened so I bought shed paint and a set of Nova Acrylics from Amazon, which are suitable for outdoor surfaces.

It was a liberating experience painting those flowers and on a large scale. It was also exciting, partly because it felt forbidden, in the way we were not allowed to paint on walls as children.

Because I have enjoyed this project so much, my hope is that this will lead to a few commissions in the future, however small or large. I would be happy to take on anything from garden and allotment sheds, beach huts and compost bins to furniture. In whatever style or design desired.

I am a ceramic artist and a ceramics tutor by profession. My work is also inspired by colourful folk art, amongst other things, and I primarily make creatures which have a humorous and quirky quality to them.

I usually exhibit in galleries and craft fairs and have shown my work a couple of times in Art Trail Wanstead and had a feature previously in the Wanstead Village Directory.

The shed – or shrine as I now call it – houses  all my ceramic work, materials and tools.

I would like to think that I may have inspired others to feel adventurous to pick up their brush and have a go at painting something in their garden or home.

I surprised myself, and now I have made a start, I feel undaunted by my plans to continue to transform the rest of my house and garden.  The stairs are next!

Incidentally, that cat flap was somebody else’s bright idea for my cat to live in the shed! It was never used, and because it annoys me, I may have to paint a cat on it one day.