July 2021

A review of the bluebell season – with specific attention to protecting the flowers from being trampled – took place at a meeting of the Wanstead Park Liaison Group last month.

“Given the large visitor numbers this year and the impossibility of policing the area, the consensus was that the informal barriers had worked well. However, licenced bushcraft activities in the wigwam area had led to some local trampling, so that may be moved elsewhere in future years,” said a spokesperson.

Judith McCann of the Aldersbrook Horticultural Society introduces the group’s second annual open garden event, with 17 creative spaces to explore across the Aldersbrook and Lakehouse Estates

On Sunday 11 July, Aldersbrook Horticultural Society will be holding its second open gardens. The event – postponed from last year – will see 17 gardens across the Aldersbrook and Lakehouse Estates open from 12 noon to 5pm.

We are excited to be extending the trail to the Lakehouse Estate and have three gardens opening on Belgrave Road, ranging from a small garden that has evolved naturally, to larger gardens with trees, shrubs, lawns, flower beds and a pond.

On Aldersbrook Estate there is a range of gardens opening, many for the first time. Neighbours Sonya and Ray in Wanstead Park Avenue are opening their gardens together; a testament to their friendship is the open access to each other’s garden through a gap in the fence. Both spaces are beautiful and individual, while linking well together.

In Westmorland Close (entrance via Arran Drive), you will find a small garden – designed by Gosia Rokicka and her friends from Permablitz London – created with dogs, wildlife and a good use of space in mind: it has fruit trees, climbers, herbs, a lawn, a frog and hedgehog area, bird box, bicycle racks, table, hammock, and even a foldable desk for the summer office. Come and see for yourself!

Old favourites from our first garden trail include the pop-up pizza restaurant. “We are looking forward to welcoming you again to Aldersbrook’s own pop-up, open-air pizza restaurant serving simple but delicious homemade pizzas from the wood-burning oven in our garden, with all proceeds going to the day’s charities. Pizza eating is not compulsory; you are welcome to come and enjoy the curves, texture, sound and scent of our garden, and to see what has been done to this typical terraced house plot,” said Carolyn Jones of Empress Avenue.

Sunderland Community Garden at the end of Empress Avenue has evolved enormously over the past year and is always worth a visit. This communal allotment provides a social space for local residents to meet, share knowledge and grow plants. Individuals use the space at their own leisure but the group meet twice a week (Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm and Sunday from 12 noon to 2pm) to grow things together. If you’d like to get involved, come and join us.

Many of the open gardens will also be selling refreshments and plants, and all money raised will go to charity: Cancer Research, CHAOS (an East End charity that sends local children on holiday), Allotments for the Homeless and Seeds for Rwanda.

Gardens will open from 12 noon to 5pm on 11 July. Tickets: £5 (accompanied children free; single ticket for all gardens; buy tickets on the day from the first garden). For a list of gardens, visit wnstd.com/ahs

Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into life with cerebral palsy. In the ninth of a series of articles, Grace’s boxing fail goes viral

Hello everyone, it’s me, I’m back. Who’s missed me? LOL, just kidding! I hope you’re all well. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe how long it’s been. Too long, like three months, and a lot has happened, hence not being able to write for a while.

My social media has gone mental overnight, literally. I posted a TikTok of me boxing at the gym from a few years ago. I went to do a massive right hook and missed the boxing pad, and with such momentum, I sent myself flying. I went spinning round three times on one leg, then started to fall, but luckily, my brilliant personal trainer – who you might have seen me with on the green lately – managed to catch me in time (I don’t know how he did it). I posted that on a Sunday afternoon, and by 4pm, it had 650,000 views! From there, it went up and up, and before I knew it, I had eight million views by midnight and 105,000 followers! So, that’s where I’ve been for a while, focusing on TikTok more than anything else.

I used to post on YouTube once a week but I haven’t had time for that, and from getting so many views on my TikTok, I had a direct message from Evie Meg. For people that don’t know who she is, Evie is quite a famous influencer with Tourette’s. She said she was arranging a music video with some other influencers and asked if I’d like to be part of it. I tell you, I screamed! She didn’t say who else was doing the video, so I was just expecting smaller influencers like me to be in it. Then it was the day of release, and OMG, there were so many famous influencers in the video, such as Cheethams With Dreams and Amy and Nikki Lilly from CBBC. I was watching it on my bed and literally burst out crying because I couldn’t believe I was in a video with all those amazing people.

Here’s some more big news. Back in March, I entered an online talent show, just for a bit of fun, not expecting anything. I just wanted to show people my dancing. Then, in April, I got a call saying everyone loved my dance and thought it was amazing. So, I have made it to the finals in Manchester. I’m off there in a few weeks!

I will also be graduating from college this month and will then be going to university in September. Yes, me. I got into university and even I am in shock! I am so happy to be graduating because it will be on the day before my 18th birthday. And then, on 14 and 15 August, I will be at Social in the City – an event for all things online video and social media – at London ExCeL. So, yeah, that’s me for now and I’ll see you soon.

To watch Grace’s videos about life with cerebral palsy, visit wnstd.com/grace

To follow Grace on Instagram, visit wnstd.com/graceinsta

To follow Grace on TikTok, visit wnstd.com/gracetiktok

Redbridge Council will formally launch its Climate Change Action Plan this July. It’s all part of the effort to tackle the climate emergency, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride

With the UK hosting a key global climate summit later this year and the recent G7 meeting in Cornwall, there is renewed attention on what we can do to tackle the climate emergency. Much of the responsibility falls on fossil fuel companies and governments who have failed to act, but we should all be doing our bit, and that includes Redbridge Council.

In June, Redbridge Council’s cabinet adopted a three-year action plan, setting out more than 100 actions the council will undertake towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and zero carbon by 2050. Emissions directly associated with the council only account for 2.4% of borough-wide emissions, so it is crucial to work with communities, businesses and residents to help reduce all of our emissions. We need everyone in the community to help tackle climate change – it must be a collective shared responsibility.

We are planning regular sessions with environmental groups to explore how we can work together on each of the priorities identified in the three-year action plan. The analysis showed that buildings account for the biggest share of emissions generated by the council, followed by transport, then waste. So, what are we doing at Redbridge?

• We will be launching our Climate Change Action Plan on 14 July.
• We are working to switch to green sources of energy across the council estate, as well as supporting landlords to improve energy efficiency with the Redbridge Go Green grants scheme.
• We are supporting the transition away from diesel and petrol cars with the installation of 18 new electric vehicle charging points across Wanstead and South Woodford.
• We are supporting a School Streets programme in five localities (which has been supported by parents and teachers) to encourage active travel at drop-off and pick-up times.
• We are providing additional cycle storage and electric charging points at our mobility hubs on Wanstead High Street and George Lane, South Woodford, as well as four new bike hangars across Wanstead and South Woodford.
• We are negotiating with the waste authority to expand the range of recyclables we can accept to include plastic pots and trays.

We are making progress but need to go further. For this, we need help from the government to set the right legal framework and provide resources. We’ll be watching how they commit to the climate emergency when discussed at the global summit in November.

A virtual launch of the Redbridge Climate Change Action Plan will take place on 14 July from 6pm. Visit wnstd.com/ccplan

A total of 18 new electric vehicle charging points have been installed across Wanstead and South Woodford, adding to the 13 already in place.

“The move is designed to encourage the wider use of electric vehicles to help reduce levels of air pollution in the capital and reduce the borough’s carbon footprint,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson. A community electric charging hub has also been installed in the Mulberry Way car park in South Woodford.

Visit wnstd.com/evcharge

Redbridge Council’s Community Crowdfunding programme will be hosting an online workshop on 14 July (4pm to 5pm).

“The second round will open soon for local community groups to bid for projects that vary in scale from under £1,000 for smaller projects, up to £20,000 for larger projects. If you have a project idea and are eager to find out how to get involved, please sign up for the next workshop,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/ccfund

Wanstead resident Jean Medcalf published her first poetry book last year. To Everything There is a Season is a collection of lyrical, spiritual poems about nature. In the ninth of a series of articles, Jean – who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year – recalls her children’s schooldays

Last month, I told you about having my babies, and that brings us to their schooldays. All my children went to Nightingale Primary School, which was very good with a strong ethos. Mr J Mansel Davies was the headmaster. He was extremely proud of his school and expected the best from his pupils.

Mr Davies had a presence that commanded respect. He always wore a suit with a waistcoat, a snowy white handkerchief in his breast pocket and polished shoes. Everybody stood when he entered the classroom.

Class sizes were large; over 40, but the teachers maintained order without any problems. The main punishment was staying behind after school and writing lines, although the cane was still in use. There was a Head Boy and Head Girl, prefects, and lots of monitors – milk monitors, dinner monitors, late monitors and blackboard monitors. There was a religious assembly every morning and the children loved singing hymns. They sang grace before meals and another song at hometime.

The uniforms came from Warne’s Outfitters on George Lane, and in those days, the children had to wear skirts or shorts – long trousers were not allowed, however cold it was.

The children enjoyed school as they studied interesting topics ranging from heraldry,  Latin, calligraphy and craft projects. They were taken on educational visits to the Tower of London, Verulamium, Canterbury Cathedral and the zoo, and a theatre trip every Christmas. Children could learn musical instruments after school, including violin, cello or trumpet. There was an after-school film club on Fridays, and even a chance to go on the school cruise every summer to the Mediterranean.

By today’s standards, the playground was dull, with no play equipment, but the children made their own fun with skipping, singing games, hopscotch, jacks, conkers, cricket, French knitting and off-ground touch.

The only things my children didn’t like were the school milk and the dinners: spam fritters, cabbage, processed peas, swedes, lumpy custard, prunes and blancmange. Dinner ladies were very strict; everything had to be eaten, and children had to remain at the table until they had finished. Mine hated the dinners and regularly had to sit in the dining hall with a plate of unappetising food in front of them, watching their friends playing outside in the sun. One boy was even slapped for refusing to eat semolina. The only good thing was chocolate crunch pudding, and when rumours of: “It’s chocolate crunch today!” reached the dinner queue, it was greeted with rapturous excitement.

I am happy to say that my little grandson now goes to Nightingale and loves it just as my children did – apparently, the dinners are now delicious… and they still serve good old chocolate crunch!

Jean’s book To Everything There is a Season is available in paperback (£5.75). Visit wnstd.com/jean

In the second of a series of articles by plot holders at the Redbridge Lane West allotments in Wanstead, Deborah Williams of Sprout There! explains the importance of the site for adults with learning disabilities

Sprout There! is a plot to plate horticultural project for adults with learning disabilities – part of Ilford-based charity Uniting Friends – situated at the Redbridge Lane West allotments. We share this historic site with other allotmenteers, tending our plots adjacent to the A12. It is a hidden gem, important not just for our vegetable growing but for the incredible biodiversity it supports.

We began 10 years ago as a lottery-funded initiative to engage people with learning disabilities in the entire process of fruit and vegetable cultivation, harvesting, eating more healthily and learning skills for personal development. We offer art and craft activities on site and create cosmetics incorporating some of the plants grown. We have also led workshops for children from local special schools. The service we run on this site is a key part of the charity’s business, which supports its running costs, including the employment of staff and trainees with learning disabilities.

The benefits of gardening and nature have been well researched for mental and physical well-being, and for our members, it is a vital ‘green gym’ for individuals who can have an array of complex support needs. For some, it is learning about gardening and provides employment opportunities; for others, it is being part of a supportive social group in a relaxing and beautiful environment.

During lockdown, coronavirus impacted us all, but for some people with learning disabilities, it was disproportionately devastating. They were six times more likely to die from covid-19 than the rest of the population. As an organisation, we were very aware of their vulnerability, and the project was able to provide a safe space to counter boredom and feelings of social isolation by reconnecting with each other and nature.

Now, we are under a different threat from the gas company Cadent, who want to use the allotment area while they make repairs on their adjoining site. As I write this, we are still unsure of the details, but many of the plots could be destroyed. The ramifications for all of us and the wildlife would be catastrophic.

The charity’s members, staff and volunteers are all anxious about the potential loss of the site. Mark thinks: “There won’t be anything left. No plants, no veg. We have a fox den and the birds and the nests would be gone.” Mike has been at Sprout There! from the start: “It’s been brilliant. I’m always learning and pick up ideas.” Tony, who is an experienced gardener, loves nature: “Animals have a right to live. You would kill their habitat.” He also thinks the plot is: “Great for… meeting people and chatting. It helps with anxiety.” And Daren speaks for many: “We’ve been coming here for years and we can’t turn our back on it. Everything we’ve done here would count for nothing.”

For more information on Sprout There!, visit wnstd.com/st. To view the petition to save the allotments, visit wnstd.com/rlw

A petition to ‘save the Poppy Pantry’ in the City of London Cemetery has received over 5,000 signatures.

It follows the landlord’s decision to put the café site out to tender, with the Poppy Pantry’s five-year lease coming to an end this October. “I took over vacant premises in 2016 that nobody wanted and spent a vast amount of money and time building it up to a very successful café and wake catering service. I decided to start a petition to see who the public wants to run this café,” said Paul Charters.

Visit wnstd.com/pp 

A consultation over plans to update the parliamentary constituency boundaries in England – which includes a change for some local residents – runs until 2 August.

Under the proposals, the entirety of the South Woodford ward will be added to the Leyton and Wanstead constituency. “Recent changes to the law make it likely our recommendations from this review will be implemented, so we encourage you to participate,” said a spokesperson for the Boundary Commission for England.

Visit wnstd.com/boundary

In a year when everyone wants to get back to normal, Giles Wilson, chair of the Wanstead Fringe, explains his hopes for September, when the theatre, music, comedy and cultural events will hopefully return

The high point of the Wanstead Fringe for me comes at an unexpected moment. It’s not during the open-air Kinema, or at the jumble trail, or even at a theatrical production. No, the memorable moment comes when there are two or three events taking place simultaneously and I am flitting from one to another to see if everything is going OK.

The last time we held a Fringe, in pre-pandemic 2019, it happened when, having been at a masterclass at La Bakerie, I went to Wanstead Golf Club to check on the live comedy night.

Seeing that our comedy impresario John Fentiman had everything as under control as stand-up nights ever are, I slipped out to go to St Mary’s Church which, for the first time, was hosting a Fringe event. Jazz ensemble John Petters and the New Orleans All Stars were to play inside this most unlikeliest of venues – Dixieland jazz spirituals inside an exquisitely genteel 18th-century building, which is more accustomed to hosting period TV dramas.

But as I walked towards the church, with the voices of a comedy audience still fresh in my ears, the sounds of clarinet, trumpet, double bass, drums and more wafted through the leaded windows into the dusk. That, for me, was the moment of Fringe 2019 – magnificently different cultural events, sprinkled all around, acting together to transform Wanstead.

Fringe 2020? Forget it, it didn’t happen.

But earlier in the spring, the group of Wanstead residents who each year come together to get the Fringe going had a Zoom call and were of one mind: if it can be done safely, we need a Fringe in 2021.

We realised things might not be the same – no one knows what the Covid situation will be in September. But we knew we should try, and our friends at Redbridge Vision Culture and Leisure were taking a similar approach to the Wanstead Festival.

This will be the eighth Fringe – all without a penny of public money. Our patrons at Petty Son and Prestwich, Edwards Duthie Shamash solicitors and THP Accountants have kept us on the road, as have the squad of event organisers and event attendees.

Which is why I’m writing now. Have you got a cultural event inside you, desperate to break free and become part of the Wanstead Fringe? Can you help create an unexpected moment of magic? Can you help transform Wanstead into a home for culture? If you can, please get in touch with us. You’ll be among friends.

Wanstead Fringe 2021 is scheduled to take place between 3 and 19 September. For more information and to take part, visit wansteadfringe.org

South Woodford’s Electric Gallery – located at 12 High Road – has become the exclusive partner for Getty Images in east London and Essex, providing access to a large collection of iconic photography.

“We are delighted to be working with Getty. I’ve admired and collected works from their photographers over the years, and it’s thrilling to see their images on the walls,” said gallery founder Jai Francois.

An exhibition of acclaimed photographers – including Michael Ochs, photographer to the Hollywood elite – runs until 17 July.