Wanstead-based knitting group Social Knitworks has launched a new range of poppies.
“Our 2022 red poppies will raise money for the Royal British Legion. Poppies cost £4 each and are available to buy directly from us. Alternatively, if you are a local business and would like some poppies to sell on our behalf, please do get in touch,” said Liz Hickson.
The group has been knitting and crocheting to raise money for a variety of charities and projects since 2019.
Email lizzieofizzie@gmail.com
Connie BarrettThe founder of a Wanstead nursery was named Entrepreneur Senior Leader of the Year at the Black British Business Awards in September.
“As a mother of five amazing children, I set out to provide flexible, guilt-free childcare to parents,” said Connie Barrett, who set up Kids in Charge – which is based at Wanstead Youth Centre and also in Ilford – in 2007.
The Black British Business Awards celebrates the exceptional performance and outstanding achievements of black professionals and business owners in the UK.
Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School in Wanstead has joined Redbridge Council’s School Streets scheme.
It follows a consultation in June in which the initiative was supported. Vehicular traffic is now prohibited from entering Chestnut Drive and Highstone Avenue during term time. The restrictions are in place from 8.15am to 9.15am and from 2.30pm to 3.45pm. “Letters have gone out to residents on the affected roads, who must apply for a free exemption for their vehicle to avoid getting fined,” said a spokesperson.
©Geoff WilkinsonLocal photographer Geoff Wilkinson will be holding a new exhibition of images documenting the East End of London next month, with the display also featuring Wanstead scenes.
“The East End continues apace with change, which is why I still feel compelled to capture the traditional mood and atmosphere before it disappears,” said Geoff, who will be opening his gallery at 84 Nightingale Lane on 19 November from 6pm to 9pm for the show.
“In the time since my last exhibition in 2019, change seems to be happening at an even faster pace. These latest images, therefore, are even more significant. With these pictures, I have expanded the area I capture to include Wanstead and South Woodford. When I look at changing inner east London, it’s easy to forget the streets and buildings closer to home, which are also changing.”
Call 020 8530 1244
Residents will have the chance to put their questions to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Members of the London Assembly at an event in Woodford next week.
“Topics up for discussion include transport, policing, the environment and London’s economic recovery,” said a spokesperson.
People’s Question Time Redbridge – chaired by Assembly Member Keith Prince – will take place at the Sir James Hawkey Hall on 2 November from 7pm (free; tickets required; livestream available).
Visit london.gov.uk/pqt
One rather grey and miserable day in early March 2008, I was having a day away from the office working at home (working at home isn’t purely a phenomenon of lockdown!). At lunchtime I decided I needed to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. Normally, I would have gone in the direction of Wanstead Park, but this time, for some unknown reason, I turned left instead of right out of our gate and then headed on to Redbridge Lane West towards the A12, past Wanstead High School and the leisure centre.
Despite having lived in our house for 17 years at that point, I had rarely, if ever, walked in this direction. Imagine my astonishment when I came upon some allotments behind tall metal gates on the other side of the road from the leisure centre. I had no idea these even existed. As a keen gardener, this started me thinking, and in no time at all, I had checked out allotments in Redbridge.
The following weekend I persuaded my slightly reluctant husband, Ray, to come and have a look too. We were lucky that day as two plot holders saw us peering through the gates and invited us in for a look around. These two (Gemma and Sandy) had been working their plot for just over a year at the time and we were very impressed with their warm welcome and enthusiasm and the progress they had made in developing their own plot in a relatively short time. Their beautifully fitted-out shed and immaculate raised beds, all painted in a shade of horticultural green, made a special impact.
Gemma and Sandy pointed out some plots close to theirs that had recently become vacant, and as soon as we got home, I applied (I did agree it with Ray first!). By the end of April 2008 we had signed our agreement and obtained the keys for our very own plot, and we set to work immediately.
At that time, Ray and I were both still working full time, but later that year I took early retirement and so had more time to spend on our new plot, which was completely overgrown with very uneven and compacted stony soil. By the end of that summer, and after a lot of hard work, we had established two beds and were able to grow courgettes and runner beans. It was very rewarding to be able to pick and eat our own fresh produce. By then, we had also put up a shed which Sandy fitted out for us with items all reclaimed from local skips, including a laminated floor and work bench and lots of neat and inventive storage spaces. We felt very lucky.
Sadly, we will shortly be losing this plot and our much-loved shed when our neighbour Cadent, the global gas giant, takes over part of our allotment to carry out an upgrade of its adjacent site.
For more information on Cadent’s plans, visit wnstd.com/cadentplan
Be sure not to miss the art being displayed by local artists at the Wanstead Festival, moved to Sunday 2 October. In addition to showing a fabulous range of work, Art Group Wanstead members will be running a rescheduled ‘Hands On’ workshop. The free, multi-media workshop will be open to children and adults.
Once that has whet your appetite, there will be more opportunities to enjoy a wide range of visual art from Art Group Wanstead members in the coming weeks and months.
Just a few examples of their work are shown on these pages. The Stow Brothers estate agent, which has generously supported our local artists year after year, is mounting a special exhibition in its High Street premises. It will run from Friday 14 October to early January. Kenny and Andrew Goad, the founders of The Stow Brothers, are keen to help more artists show their work, and are delighted to be creating an enjoyable browsing space for local residents and visitors to the area.
To introduce the changing exhibition, an opening reception is being held at the venue on Thursday 13 October from 6.30pm, with drinks and nibbles for artists and local people. Drop in if you can, or pop by to see the exhibition during office hours.
To help accommodate the artwork produced by our numerous members, the exhibition space is being extended during the first weekend, with extra art being shown at the Allan Burgess Centre, just a few steps away from The Stow Brothers. This ‘corner house’, used as a weekday activity centre by Age UK, will be open for the art show from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 15 October and from 12 noon to 3pm on Sunday 16 October.
The Stow Brothers is located at 117a High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL.
For more information on Art Group Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/art
Fifty years ago, in 1972, many things were different; miners were striking, Ted Heath was prime minister, Sir John Betjeman was made poet laureate (more on him later), a pint of beer cost 16p, and the tragedy of Bloody Sunday occurred.
1972 was also the year that a small group of young people in east London formed something called the Wren Action Group. They wanted to find ways in which young people could be motivated to take practical action to understand and protect the natural environment around them. Fifty years later, and now called the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, we are still going strong and are celebrating our half-century anniversary.
It is fair to say that the average age of Wren membership is somewhat higher than it was back in 1972, but the driving principles of engaging locally to promote and protect the wildlife on our doorstep – most particularly the southern end of Epping Forest around Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats, but also encompassing Leyton Flats, Hollow Ponds, Gilbert’s Slade and other areas across three London boroughs – are still alive and largely the same.
Some of the challenges facing the Wren Group are different. In the mid-1970s, Wren committee members went to visit fellow young members who had been locked up in remand homes. But some of the challenges remain the same. In the 1970s, Wren was concerned about falling bird numbers just as we are today.
Back then, members were noticing falling numbers of willow and even marsh tits; sadly, those birds have long since gone from our local area. Buzzards were rare birds back then and red kite sightings unthinkable, whereas today, both are commonly reported. And we have recently, sadly, lost meadow pipit as breeding birds on Wanstead Flats, which would have been common back then.
In the 1970s, the group wrote to Sir John Betjeman to ask him to be our patron. He responded earnestly but said he would agree to be “a patron, but not the patron” and so we reached out to another public figure who agreed to join Sir John. The Wren Group is hugely proud that Sir David Attenborough has also been a patron for over 45 years. Sir John passed away long ago, but we have just agreed a new partnership. We are thrilled that renowned international but locally-based artist Dr Gayle Chong-Kwan will join Sir David as a new patron. Gayle will address the membership on 8 October at our anniversary celebrations and will, no doubt, touch on the major piece of art she did recently inspired by Epping Forest.
Since Wren was founded, we have a huge amount to be proud of. We were instrumental in getting an ancient east London churchyard recognised as a nature reserve, we have organised hundreds of bioblitz events, walks and talks, we have worked with local children and youth groups, we have lobbied to protect local wildlife (such as successfully getting temporary fencing around the skylark breeding grounds on Wanstead Flats), and we have done thousands of hours of practical work helping to protect and enhance local habitats.
Like all dynamic organisations, we have tried to adapt to the times. We know our virtual meetings during lockdown were welcomed by those who may not have felt safe to go outside. We also, increasingly, engage through social media with our members and followers as well as through our digital newsletter and I hope we will continue to adapt and grow, to help embrace new local and wider challenges (doing our bit to fight the climate crisis, stop biodiversity loss and encourage greater diversity in local engagement with wildlife). If we do that, we might even be around in another 50 years. I hope so.
For more information and to join the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, visit wnstd.com/wren
Bella TrombaA main aim of Redbridge Music Society is to encourage local community appreciation of the musical arts by bringing a diverse range of high-standard, live musical events to the borough at affordable prices. This month, at Wanstead Library, we are putting on a special concert of royal-related music entitled Monarchs, Music and National Unity, dedicating it to the life and work of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
The concert will be performed by the brass ensemble Bella Tromba: Jo Harris, Rebecca Toal, Katie Lodge and Emily Ashby. The evening will explore how music and monarchy have impacted on each over the centuries and how both have the power to unite people in times of national crisis and celebration. Music to be played will include works by Handel (Royal Fireworks Music), King Henry VIII, (Greensleeves), John Bull (The King’s Hunt), Elgar (Pomp and Circumstance March No.1), Parry (Jerusalem), Jack Pettis (Bugle Call Rag), Telemann, Arne, Holst and others.
Bella Tromba, founded in 2004 by four students at the Royal Academy of Music, is an all-female brass quartet whose current members regularly perform with the London Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, the Britten Sinfonia and at leading West End shows and Championship Section Brass Bands. The group perform using a variety of trumpets, including B-flat trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and piccolo trumpets. They have created an outstanding brass repertoire of works by leading composers and arrangers and have been key to the success of the trumpet quartet.
The group’s dynamic and engaging recitals have reached audiences nationally and internationally and they have broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Their commitment to inspire young players has led to educational collaborations with a number of UK music academies and to international performances at brass industry conferences in Canada, Germany and Poland.
Bella Tromba has been awarded Selected Artist status by Making Music and is a recipient of the Dorothy Parkinson Memorial Prize and the Dartington International Summer School Scholarship. Support from the Park Lane Group, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and the Britten-Pears Foundation has ensured a wealth of commissions by many contemporary composers.
We do hope you can join us for this very special evening of commemorative music-making.
Bella Tromba will perform at Wanstead Library on 25 October from 8pm (tickets on the door; visitors: £12: members: £8). Call 07380 606 767. Redbridge Music Society is supported by Vision RCL and affiliated to Making Music.
©Geoff WilkinsonThe tithe apportionment of 1841 for Wanstead shows there to be a house on this site owned and occupied by Joseph Knight. At the time, this was known as Wanstead Cottage with nearly two acres of land, which stretched up to what is now Wanstead Place, where Knight also owned two properties. Knight died in September of the same year and the house was sold at auction in April 1842, where it was said to have “good out-buildings, stabling, coach-house, productive garden, pleasure ground, and two paddocks, bounded by a new brick wall and natural fences.”
George Duley is listed in the 1851 Post Office Directory but it is not until his death in 1855 that it is said he was of Evergreen Lodge. It is not clear whether the house was simply renamed or rebuilt to turn Wanstead Cottage into Evergreen Lodge. Mr JT Winney took over the house for a time but the house came up for sale again in 1870, and then again in 1873. It is maybe here that its most significant owner, John Cockett, enters the picture. The earliest reference I can find for him living at the Lodge is having been named as an executor in an article from June 1876. About this time, the Cocketts were joined in the house by their nephew, William Patrick Tulloch Forbes. Forbes would later marry and live in Sylvan Road where he and his wife Edith had their only child, Douglas Tulloch Forbes, later to serve as a lieutenant during World War One when he was fatally wounded in early 1916.
John Cockett’s name was to come up in Ilford circles when, at the sale of the Clements Estate in August 1879, the following week’s Chelmsford Chronicle noted that a Mr JE Cockett, Wanstead, bought three lots, numbered 13–15, totalling just under three acres. It would appear the land was not to remain in Cockett’s possession for very long since a Rate Book of 1882 listed houses in Queen’s Road, laid out on lots 13–15, were owned by Ilford builder George Barnes.
In 1882, Cockett applied to the Local Board to build four houses at the north end of the estate. These were known as St Augustin, Tryfan, Overton House and Dowlais House, and later 16–22 High Street. The Cocketts were to reside at Evergreen Lodge until the opening years of the 20th century. John Cockett was to die in October 1902 and the notice in St James’s Gazette said he was very well known in the railway world, having been manager of the railway advertising department for WH Smith & Sons. His widow, Sarah, moved to Pinner shortly afterwards and the house went to the Warren family, firstly to Joseph who died shortly afterwards in June 1904, then to his widow, and then to his son, Frederick. However, one act of John Cockett’s executors is relevant to our understanding of how the Evergreen Field came to be as it is today. The Redbridge Heritage Centre holds a plan for the building of two houses just south of the four built in 1882. These were known as Royston and Summerfield, later 24–26 High Street.
The house came up for auction again in June 1921 at Harrod’s in Brompton Road, and for this, the Essex Record Office holds the auction catalogue, which contains a full description of the house. It was three-storeyed with a basement, had a large porch, three good-sized rooms and a billiard room (installed in 1903) on the ground floor as well as kitchen, scullery and store cupboards. On the first floor, there were six bedrooms and a bathroom, and on the upper storey, there was a large servants’ bedroom, store room, three box rooms and a photographic darkroom. In size, it would appear to be similar to the Manor House across the road.
Now, you might have noticed in the previous article there was mention of two houses, whereas I have only so far written about one. Two years after the sale in 1921, the old stable was converted into a house. In the 1924 Kelly’s Directory, it was shown as Hailey’s Cottage, but by 1927 it had been numbered as 28, Evergreen Lodge itself as number 30.
By 1933, the Lodge was occupied by a physician and surgeon, Eric Long, who had previously carried out his practice in a large house across the road. As the previous article says, the two houses were bombed, but the 1949 building survey carried out by Wanstead and Woodford Council states they both had “substantial war damage repairs” and were now occupied again. The 1952 and 1955 Kelly’s Directories show both houses occupied, number 30 by another physician and surgeon, Arthur Boney.
The last reference I could find to the house was in a February 1967 edition of the Torbay Express and South Devon Echo, which reported that Ann McGeever of Evergreen Lodge, E11, had been left £100 under the terms of a will. If the Lodge and the converted stable were demolished in 1967, we’re left wondering what circumstances led to that action.
To view the Evergreen Field development proposals, visit wnstd.com/field
Some 25 years ago, I went to an evening class to learn about patchwork and quilting. I loved it and I was hooked. I made my first quilt, which is still hanging on the wall at home. Since then, I have made many quilts and accumulated lots of fabric and equipment. I now belong to a group called Marsh Quilters, which meets regularly in Leytonstone.
The Marsh Quilters formed in 1979 when a group of women who supported the Save The Walthamstow Marshes Campaign began meeting in their homes to create a quilt. This quilt was used by the Walthamstow Marsh Society to promote the marshes as an educational resource. From this humble beginning, other quilts were made to raise funds for charities, and we celebrated our 40th anniversary in 2019.
After I had made quilts for all my family and friends, I wanted to carry on making them but wanted them to be useful. One of the members of Marsh Quilters was a coordinator for a charity called Project Linus. The name comes from the character Linus in the Peanuts cartoon. Linus always has his security blanket with him. Project Linus provides handmade quilts and blankets to sick, terminally ill and traumatised children. Volunteer coordinators cover all the areas of the UK, collecting quilts and distributing them.
I started to make quilts for children and passed them on to the coordinator, Linda. In 2018, I joined Linda as a coordinator for the east London area. I collect quilts from my fellow quilters, check them, label them and distribute them. The quilts are for any child up to the age of 18 who is in need of a hug. We can help to provide a child with tangible evidence that someone cares, along with the physical reassurance that comes from being snuggled in a quilt.
We make quilts of all sizes and in many designs using cotton fabric. The quilts and blankets are all washable and they are for the children to keep. We take quilts to The Royal London Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, The Baby Bank and to foster care agencies. All the London hospitals are covered by coordinators. The hospital staff are very keen to have quilts to give to the children in their care because it makes the environment less clinical. Some of the children have multiple visits to hospital and often take their quilts along with them.
In the last five years, Linda and I have given away more than 1,000 quilts. I still make some myself, but the majority of them are made by other members of Marsh Quilters. We will be holding an exhibition of our work in Wanstead this month, and I will be there with a display of Project Linus quilts.
The Marsh Quilters will be holding an exhibition of their work in Christ Church hall on 15 October from 11am to 4pm. For more information, visit marshquilters.org
A former National Archives family history specialist will be giving a presentation at Wanstead Library this month.
“David Annal has more than 40 years of experience as a family historian. He has written a number of books and contributes to Family Tree magazine,” said a spokesperson for The East of London Family History Society, which is hosting the event on 26 October (7.30pm; visitors: £3).
The talk will explore the problems of tracing ancestors in London in the period before civil registration and census returns.
Call 07762 514 238
Queen Elizabeth II, 1926–2022The Queen has just always been there. I remember when I was younger, sitting at a huge, long table with everyone in the street eating jam sandwiches and gazing at Union Jack flags and bunting. The riot of colour was so exciting for a young child. The Queen’s Jubilee was a day that brought everybody together and, to me, that’s something the Queen, even in her death, has continued to do.
Nobody can say she didn’t serve her country above herself. She helped bring peace in Northern Ireland, her passion was the Commonwealth and was it really an accident that she passed away in Scotland, or was she just reminding the Scots of her love and the desire for our countries to stay together?
Harry and William greeting the crowds together felt like a huge step forward, and I hope they heal the rifts between them. Charles professing his love for Harry and Meghan really moved me, despite the cynicism of people saying his comment about continuing their life together abroad meant he was banishing them. I took it as a sign of acceptance.
The Queen has given so much of herself, it felt only right to drag myself out of bed at 2.30am to go and pay my last respects as she lay in state. You can’t help feeling there’s a sense of completeness and her time had come. Whilst deeply sad, it was a life well lived and I’m grateful she had a quick and peaceful end. Typical of her to work until the final day. I think the thing that saddens me more is that in my and my children’s lifetime there will never be another queen. She has been part of my life since I was born. A strong, female role model; warm, kind, tough and a lover of animals.
So, I arrive at Tower Bridge at 4am and get my gold wristband. Some 16,000 steps and 12 hours of waiting lay ahead before paying my respects to our late Queen Elizabeth II. The atmosphere in the queue is jovial and there is a strong sense of community; stoic waiting, aching backs and tired legs. As we get nearer to Westminster Hall, the atmosphere changes and butterflies riot in my stomach. The laughter and camaraderie of the queue have fallen away and the sadness seeps in.
I’m finally going to say goodbye to the nation’s grandmother. It’s hard to explain how it feels as you enter the hall. I stood at the top of the steps surveying the scene below. It’s almost surreal. I feel like I’ve stepped into a painting. The grandeur of the hall, the beautiful, yet tiny crown. The guards look impressive on TV, but in real life, their stillness is eerie and they look like they are carved in stone. It was moving and emotional and well worth the wait. As I stood there, I thought of the WH Auden poem Stop All The Clocks. A part of history, the end of an era.
Goodbye, ma’am. We’ll meet again.
For more information on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, visit wnstd.com/queen
The Woodford and District National Trust Centre will be holding a special event at Copped Hall in Epping on 19 October.
“Archaeologist Nathalie Cohen will be giving a talk about Knole House. When Copped Hall was sold in 1701, many treasures were moved to Knole House in Kent, where they are on display to this day, creating a special bond between the two landmarks,” said a spokesperson. The presentation starts at 11am (booking required; tickets: £10) and will be followed by a guided tour.
Call 07774 164 407
Queen Elizabeth II riding the horse Burmese in July 1986The death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II has brought great sadness to many people around the world. She played a unique role in our lives and the history of our country, and most of us have never known another head of state. She has been a constant reassurance in this ever-changing world, embodying the concepts of dedication, duty and public service. While remaining steadfast, she has relentlessly and imperceptibly moved the monarchy forward with the times. There are several snapshots from her long life and 70 years of service which I believe reveal what a truly remarkable woman she was.
Archive footage from her coronation in 1953 shows a beautiful young girl seemingly effortlessly assuming the burden of regal responsibility. Although she was just 27 at the time, she bears the crown with such dignity and grace – an early indication her reign will prove to be something special.
In 1981, during a Trooping the Colour ceremony, shots (later found to be blanks)were fired at her as she rode down The Mall. While riding side saddle, her only concern was for the horse, a 19-year-old mare called Burmese. With a few words, she gently calmed him and rode on to complete the procession while policemen sprang into chaotic action behind her to tackle the assailant.
It felt like there was an audible gasp across the country when she turned and said: “Good evening, Mr Bond,” in that famous clip recorded for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London in 2012. The fact she had agreed to appear with the actor Daniel Craig, who portrayed the fictional spy, astonished everyone watching and revealed her much-rumoured mischievous sense of humour. When she arrived in the stadium later that night, there was a definite twinkle in her eye.
Earlier this year, while grieving the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and affected by mobility problems, she appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of events to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Although she was 96 years old, she remained determined not to let people down and to join the long-planned celebrations and thrill the expectant crowds.
On her 21st birthday in 1947, the then Princess Elizabeth made this vow in a radio broadcast from Cape Town in South Africa: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” Throughout her unprecedented reign, she never let us down and kept her word to the very end. We shall not see her like again. Thank you for everything, Your Majesty, and farewell.
God save the King.
For more information on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, visit wnstd.com/queen
Funding has been approved for the next phase of work preparing the ground at Whipps for building a new hospital; £28m for a 500-space, multi-storey car park and access roads was announced in August. This is being hailed as a breakthrough after a rather long government silence. But there is still no announcement on what funding will be given to build the new Whipps, nor final confirmation that it can go ahead.
Whipps is part of the national New Hospitals Programme, announced in 2019, with £2.7bn of government funding. Whipps is one of eight ’pathfinder’ hospitals in this scheme and £350m is likely less than half the real cost, hence the pressure to build our new hospital too small and sell off too much of the land. A warning: as the new Royal Liverpool Hospital is finally opening – with fewer beds – the larger hospital it replaces was declared at full capacity under extreme pressure.
Whipps, like most of the NHS, is operating under pressure now. Barts Health Trust hospitals have had the highest volume of A&E attendances in England. Pressure needs to be designed out of the system, not into it. Under pressure, mistakes happen and safety can be compromised. A three-year-old child died when he was sent home from Whipps A&E on a night when the department was under such pressure on a shift described as ‘extremely challenging’ by the medical director.
The four-hour maximum wait in A&E before admission target is never met these days, and that is largely because beds are full. Systems are now in place for early discharge to free up beds. This can only work safely if community services and health and social care have the capacity to provide sufficient support. The reality is they often do not. ‘Elsie’, who was getting out and about before a fall and hospital admission, was discharged unable to get up to her bed; no rails installed. Awaiting a home assessment, she fell again and fractured her hip, and is now too frail to live at home. Adding indignity, she was told she should wee in her pads (she was not incontinent). This indignity, I fear, is being built into the system.
The Action 4 Whipps campaign has been informed by Barts Health of transformation programmes for health and care services within the Whipps catchment area, led by North East London Integrated Care System. They want to measure the impact on hospital admissions, length of stay and health, influencing the number of beds in the new hospital. From the off, we have been urging decisions on bed numbers to be grounded in the reality of what is happening in the community. Which is where readers can help. Please get in touch if you have experience of hospital discharges or community care we can feed back. And, of course, do get in touch if you want to be involved in our campaign to ensure the new hospital truly meets the needs of the future.
To join the campaign or share views, email whipps.cross.campaign@gmail.com
Visitors to Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats are urged not to leave food for waterfowl on the banks.
“Food left on the banks turns mouldy and is extremely toxic to waterfowl, causing a fungal respiratory illness. We encourage the feeding of birds, particularly as we are now entering the colder months, but please feed them in the water and refrain from throwing in more food until they have finished what is already there. Good foods are seeds, wholemeal bread, peas, spinach and lettuce,” said Swan Sanctuary volunteer Louisa Green.
By the time this issue of the Wanstead Village Directory goes out, it will have been almost two weeks since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. As the longest-serving monarch in British history, the event was incomparable to anything most of us will have seen in our lives. In this article, I look back at the Queen’s visits to Redbridge over the years.
The then Princess Elizabeth’s first visit to what is now Redbridge was on 9 May 1945, the day after VE Day. The Royal Family visited Ilford on a tour of parts of east London that had been most affected by bombing during the Second World War, meeting local civil defence workers outside the bomb-damaged Ilford Super Cinema across the road from Ilford Station.
Elizabeth visited Ilford again on 25 October 1949 to celebrate the 1,000th house built by Ilford Council as part of the new welfare state after the end of the war. Local people gathered in crowds to catch a glimpse of the young princess, and several residents were lucky enough to meet her in their new homes (see photo above).
In 1952, Elizabeth became queen and was crowned the following year on 2 June 1953. Peter Lawrence of Woodford, aged 10 at the time, remembers that “the Coronation [was] the event that brought people into the television age,” with many across the country buying a TV set to watch the first-ever televised Coronation. Local people also bought souvenirs like plates, teacups and biscuit tins, many of which are now in the collections at Redbridge Museum. Street parties were held across Redbridge to celebrate the Coronation. Residents decorated their streets with Union Jack flags and bunting, and came together for food, singing and dancing. Similar festivities took place for the Queen’s jubilees over the years, including the Platinum Jubilee four months ago, which marked 70 years of the Queen’s reign.
The Queen made her first visit to Wanstead on 9 May 2002 as part of her Golden Jubilee tour of east London. She and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the allotments on Redbridge Lane West, where they met members of the Redbridge Food Futures project which supported people with learning disabilities, many from the Woodbine Clubhouse in Wanstead. The Queen was even presented with a basket of vegetables grown on the allotment! Plot holders Donald Doody and John Harrison met the Queen.
She was back in Redbridge on 29 March 2012, this time to Valentines Mansion in Ilford as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour. At the Mansion, the Queen viewed exhibits from Redbridge Museum as part of the ‘London Pride’ art and design festival and remarked: “Goodness, how things have changed!”
And how! The passing of the Queen brings about the end of an era characterised by several momentous events that have left a lasting impact on the social, political and cultural landscape of the United Kingdom. As a new chapter in British history begins, the new Redbridge Museum will look back on the past to allow new and existing audiences to understand how and why we are where we are today.
Redbridge Museum is located on Clements Road, Ilford. Visit wnstd.com/rm
To complete a survey on what should go on display, visit wnstd.com/rms
Queen Elizabeth II, 1926–2022By the time this edition of the Wanstead Village Directory is read, the seismic and utterly unique circumstances which happened to the UK in September 2022 after the death of our dear Queen will be passing into the near distance of the autumn.
Millions of words, both written and spoken, not just in the UK, but globally, about the most famous woman in the world, have been articulated.
It is quite clear we will never see her like again. We all know that she has been praised for her selfless devotion to duty, her friendliness, her humour and her hard work for 70 years in representing this country and the Commonwealth. She was ‘our’ Queen, but to the rest of the world, she was ‘the’ Queen.
Her dedication to duty in front of the camera at such a young age to confirm whether her life be short or long clearly told us we were dealing with someone special. In time, over many years, she became the nation’s granny and has earned our deep respect.
The announcement of the Queen’s death on the afternoon of 8 September 2022 was received with shock, even though we all knew that at the age of 96 she would not live forever. Nevertheless, we hoped her life would not end. When the end came, we were simply not prepared for the news.
My firm was started by Cyril Wiseman in East Ham in the year of the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, and there are not now many people who remember those days, when Winston Churchill was prime minister, the four young men who became The Beatles were still at school, sweet rationing was still in force and the man who is now king was four years old. King Charles III has had the longest apprenticeship in the world.
Some years ago, when the Queen and Prince Philip visited Essex, we were told their car on returning to London would progress along Cambridge Park, Wanstead, before turning left into Blake Hall Road. I left my office and as the car passed we all applauded. It only took a few seconds, but those who witnessed it knew we had to be there to pay our respects.
Since her death, the Queen has been referred to as Elizabeth the Great. I would like to think to the generations that follow she will become known by that title.
I can think of five words, which for me, summarise the last 70 years in the words of Paddington Bear at his famous meeting with the Queen earlier this year: “Thank you, ma’am. For everything.”
Wiseman Lee is located at 9–13 Cambridge Park, Wanstead, E11 2PU. For more information, call 020 8215 1000
A climate picnic took place on Christ Church Green last month.
“We had group discussions and experts speaking about community gardening and biodiversity, recycling, food waste, composting, air pollution and active travel, fast fashion and home insulation. Plus, we had workshops on creating hedgehog-friendly gardens and origami animals for kids. A lovely and informative afternoon was had by all,” said a spokesperson for Wanstead Climate Action, which organised the event as part of the Wanstead Fringe.
Visit wnstd.com/wca