August 2023

In the third of a series of articles by those who have benefitted from attending Wanstead Youth Centre – which is under threat of closure – Jenny Steedman reports on the work of Forest Twins and Triplets Club

I am the chairperson of Forest Twins and Triplets Club, a friendly, welcoming and supportive playgroup for parents of multiples. We have been running for 48 years this year and we meet weekly at Wanstead Youth Centre. 

The centre is a lifeline for parents of multiples.  I joined the club when I had my twins in 2016 and it was such a relief to find somewhere to go and meet other multiple parents that was easily accessible with a twin pram. The help, advice and support given has benefitted so many families over the years and is invaluable.

If the youth centre does close, then it is highly unlikely our club can continue. We have specific venue needs due to how much equipment we have to store, as well as access and safety requirements. So far, we have failed to find any other venue that can meet our needs. If our club didn’t exist, it would have an extremely detrimental effect on our members. Parents of multiples need our group to have a safe and supportive place to take their children to play and talk to other parents in the same situation. It’s hard enough to get out of the house with one baby; imagine having two or three! I have often had parents say they are too scared to leave the house on their own, but once they have been to our club, they are so pleased they did and are very grateful.

If the centre closes, many new parents will just stay at home, which is really sad. They will miss out on a multitude of help, advice, friendship and support, and their children will miss out on socialising with other children. If the past few years has taught us anything, it is the importance of having a supportive community we can meet up with in person. To think these parents and children could be denied that is heartbreaking. And it is not only our group who would be impacted. There are lots of other groups for older people and children run there, which are so important to the mental health and well-being of all.

The effects of the centre closing would be catastrophic for the wider community! Where will all the fantastic groups go? Will their members just give up on their favourite activity? Will people lose touch with their friends and become lonely? The effect on people’s mental health, fitness and well-being would be very serious and put additional strain on the NHS.

I ask the council to invest in the community by refurbishing and updating the building so it can be kept as a vital centre for the people of Redbridge.

For more information on the Forest Twins and Triplets Club, visit wnstd.com/fttc

Wanstead Youth Centre is located at 144 Elmcroft Avenue, Wanstead, E11 2DB. For more information on the Save Our Wanstead Youth Centre campaign, visit wnstd.com/sowyc or call 07403 649 306

After reading Paul Canal’s article about local car use in last month’s issue, Kris Sangani felt compelled to write a reply. Here, the Aldersbrook resident says motorists, cyclists and pedestrians must learn to share

After reading the article by Paul Canal in the July 2023 issue of the Wanstead Village Directory, I felt I needed to write a reply. In his article, Paul claims ‘idealists’ have declared a war on cars. While some may wish to blame an alliance of local government, cyclists and climate ‘do-gooders’, the real reason it takes longer than ever to get from A to B is because there are more cars than ever before.

Redbridge Council, TfL and Westminster – through a newly anointed agency Active Travel England – are trying to deal with the fact we’re not able to build more roads or allocate more parking spaces to accommodate a growing population in Redbridge and elsewhere in London. This isn’t an attack on civil liberties; framing it as a war on motorists has real-world consequences that could be fatal for more vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians.

No roads are being narrowed; some are being shared with other modes of transport. On Aldersbrook Road, for example, there were two lanes – one for each direction – 40 years ago, and today, there are still two lanes. But now, the council have managed to squeeze a cycle lane on either side. Residents are happier that motorists are not racing down the road between 40 and 50 miles per hour as they did when I was a child. The speed limit is now 20. It’s easier to cross over to Wanstead Flats on one side or Wanstead Park on the other.

Paul’s article also claimed the parklet on Wanstead High Street costs the local economy £120,000 a year. Where on earth did that figure come from? A parklet is a pavement extension designed to provide more space and amenities for pedestrians who make up the vast bulk of visitors to our High Street and who spend the most in our local shops. The simple fact is motorists, cyclists and pedestrians must share the road. That often means encouraging motorists to use other forms of transport if they can do so. A cyclist takes up less space on the road. Therefore, each car journey substituted means more room for disabled motorists who have fewer opportunities to replace their journeys. It’s up to all motorists to ration their car journeys.

My parents were blue badge holders in Redbridge. In addition to free and priority parking on streets with meters, there were disabled parking bays, and you could often park on single and double yellow lines for up to three hours. The criteria for blue badge holders has recently widened to include people whose disability may be hidden. Additionally, blue badge holders get a free allocation of visitor permits if they live in a controlled parking zone – there should be no fear of isolation and loneliness.

Given all the challenges we face, let’s have a sensible debate on road infrastructure.

To read Paul Canal’s article published last month, visit wnstd.com/canalcar

A local naturalist has recorded over 2,000 butterflies on a patch of land adjacent to Wanstead Park.

“Scruffy sites can sometimes be overlooked for their value for nature. One such site is the area of old football pitches near Royston Gardens. I call this Royston Meadow. I did a butterfly transect there and counted an astonishing 2,330 Essex and Small Skippers, plus a smaller number of other species. And this count is just of those close to the path, the true number in the area can only be guessed at!” said Tim Harris.

Local councillors are urging NatWest to reconsider the proposal to close their branch in Wanstead.

“This well-used branch provides a critical service for local people, including those who may struggle with online banking and find it difficult to travel further afield,” said Councillor Jo Blackman. The branch – the last remaining bank in Wanstead – is scheduled to close on 31 October.

In a statement, NatWest said: “We’re getting in touch with customers and engaging the local community to talk through our decision.”

Call 0131 380 6528 

Rainy Day by Satomi McHale was awarded first prize in an art competition at Wanstead House last month. Here, the nature lover introduces her wor

It is an honour for me to receive recognition for my work. It has been said that observation skills occupy a significant percentage in the painting process; I would say I have spent more than 50 years observing the target of my creative desires: nature. I observed the magic of changing colours from sunrise to sunset, shapes and tones, from my insipid office window, being unable to enter that amazing world of creativity for lack of time. 

I dreamt of that day of freedom when my hands would finally make my artistic desire a reality. That day came one year ago. That amazing world of colour and beautiful nature ceased to be a postcard but a part of my life. When I started, I was fearful of being disappointed with the results for lack of experience, but, surprisingly, observation had been working all these years! 

Birds are a masterpiece for me; their colours, perfect shapes and movements are a call for the brushes and paints. 

After having satisfied my first creative experience on my own using watercolour, I decided to enrich my artistic journey with technical knowledge. So, I enrolled on an art course at Redbridge Institute. However, it didn’t last long because of the pandemic, so I continued on my own. When lockdown ended, I enrolled on courses at Wanstead House every Friday with Karina Laymen, and this was a game-changing point in my creative journey. I learnt many mediums and techniques, my favourite being soft pastels, which give a great scope of possibilities and the ability to correct mistakes, due to their malleability. Since I attended that lesson on soft pastels, I fell in love with the medium.

For this picture, I used Rembrandt Soft Pastels. I took my inspiration from a picture of birds in an English landscape after a rainy day, where the drops of water left a string of diamonds decorating the delicate branches that hold this adorable couple of House Sparrows.

Painting nature is, for me, a kind of humble admiration and participation in such a perfect creation, where we can find sophisticated architecture formed by the petals of a flower, the depth of a cat’s eyes or the amazing transition of light crossing the drops of the dew sparkling many colours and glares. All of that is made possible by our own hands, through observation and technique. I strongly recommend these courses to make your creative desires come true.

The competition was organised by art tutor and illustrator Karina Laymen (visit wnstd.com/karina). The judges were Christopher Thomas, Anna Bisset, Brenda Coyle and Patrick Purcell.

For more information on art courses at Wanstead House, visit wnstd.com/house

As plans continue to brew for the first Wanstead Beer Festival, Revd James Gilder samples some of the ale currently available in Wanstead

Ale brewing has a long and illustrious history throughout the UK. Well into the 20th century, many a working-class Londoner would have ‘enjoyed’ a few weeks of hop-picking in Kent, which served as a kind of paid holiday (for a good account of what back-breaking work it actually was, George Orwell’s A Clergyman’s Daughter is a pretty good read).

By the 1960s, brewing had become a rather miserable affair. The advent of the pressurised metal keg, which could be transported more easily than the traditional larger wooden cask, and the disappearance of small local breweries in favour of the huge national corporations, meant that almost the only beer produced commercially in the UK was insipid, gassy and tasteless. However, this homogenisation also led to a brave backlash amongst those who wanted to save local brewing and preserve the ancient recipes and methods that brought subtlety of taste and significant variety to real ale. Nowadays, there is a huge flourishing of small breweries, many of them in London, and new technologies have meant both keg and cask ales have come a very long way from the dark days.

As anyone who has ever watched Father Ted knows, clergy and alcohol together can be something of a mixed blessing, even if it is also a combination almost as old as the art of brewing itself! Monks were often master brewers when brewing ale was a healthier alternative to the often-brackish water that was available to drink. In later years, church bellringers became famous for storing casks of ale in their towers, which they consumed during services. I’m partial to a real ale myself, and as our very first Wanstead Beer Festival is due to be held in the parish halls at Christ Church in October this year, I thought I’d see what good beer Wanstead has to offer.

My first stop was at the newly renovated Cuckfield for a pint of Neck Oil, an IPA that has become so popular in the 10 years since its inception that it can now be found canned in supermarkets. Brewed by Beavertown, just down the road in Tottenham, this is a beer to make the purists howl (particularly as the brewers have recently sold out to the mighty Heineken). Whilst Neck Oil might not truly qualify as a real ale, it is undoubtedly a quality beer: it’s light and citrusy, with an aftertaste of mango that strikes all the right notes on a summer’s evening.

Next stop was The Duke, a pub which always has a great community feel and lots of events. Here, the pint of choice was Hopspur, a cask ale from Redemption Brewery Co, again Tottenham-based. Another citrusy ale, this time with a delicious grapefruit taste which seems to be all the rage at the moment. Not everyone likes their ale as sweet as this but I thought it was definitely worth its apparent Gold Medal.

Sadly, the best beer in Wanstead cannot be purchased from any of our public houses, for it is brewed by the ‘Wanstead mystery brewer’. Famous for their beer deliveries on Oak Hall Road, the mystery brewer apparently regularly delights residents with free gifts of a range of home-brewed ales to rival any artisan brewery. Fortunately, the rector of the parish was able to sample a selection and can attest to the quality! We can see why house prices in Oak Hall Road are on the up!

It’s clear there is a strong demand for good beer in Wanstead. If you like tasting fine ales, do come along to the first Wanstead Beer Festival. There will be an opportunity to savour a wide range of ales as well as other drinks, and to collect a Wanstead Beer Festival pint glass (no doubt soon to become highly collectable). Tickets will be on sale soon, so watch this space.

On a more serious note, it should, of course, be acknowledged that a lot of people do struggle with alcohol, and if you’re reading this and wondering whether your drinking has become a problem, Wanstead Alcoholics Anonymous meet regularly (call 020 7407 0700).

The Wanstead Beer Festival will take place in the halls of Christ Church on 14 October. For more information, email beer@wnstd.com

Local councillors called a meeting with TfL last month to discuss the proposed changes to the W12, W13 and W14 bus routes.

“We highlighted concerns about the adverse impact on some residents who would get a reduced service, including a longer route around Leytonstone that would increase the time it takes to get to Whipps Cross Hospital on the W12. TfL said they’d take these concerns on board and will likely announce final plans in October, for implementation in September 2025,” said Councillor Jo Blackman.

Visit wnstd.com/bus