November 2024

TfL has created a bus fiasco in Wanstead and South Woodford with its incompetent changes to the W12, W13 and W14 routes, say Save Our Local Bus Services campaigners. Member Donna Mizzi explains

Many elderly and disabled people are put at great risk when they cannot access public transport from near their home. That’s one major reason the Save Our Local Bus Services campaign is demanding urgent and major improvements – before winter hits.

TfL keeps repeating that it will keep bus services “under review”. However, since the changes were imposed in September, many residents have trouble reaching the local hospital, GPs, supermarkets and stations. Others find themselves stranded while trying to travel back home. Children are having trouble getting to school and commuters are reluctantly having to rely more on their cars again. Distraught and perplexed bus users have become an increasingly common sight.

In some areas, including the huge Nightingale Estate stretching from Wanstead to South Woodford, the hail-and-ride bus was reduced from half-hourly to hourly…without any timetable. Common traffic hold-ups on this route stop it being reliable, while Neighbourhood Watch members are concerned about people of all ages walking down the estate’s long streets in the dark.

The ultra-confusing changes to the W12, W13, W14 and 549 routes have severely hit those with mobility and health issues. The ‘lifeline’ W14 now terminates a quarter of a mile short of Whipps Cross Hospital. Incredibly, the W14 has also been designed to miss the most popular stops, including those near step-free Wanstead Tube station, Wanstead and South Woodford amenities, and Walthamstow.

Even, TfL’s own customer service advisers haven’t been able to understand the muddled bus routes – a number of residents reported after they sought travel advice. Meanwhile, buses variously don’t arrive, fail to stop or have wrong destinations on the front.

Another part of TfL’s ill-considered plan is to move the High Street zebra crossing near Wanstead Church School, so the W14 can turn right from Grosvenor Road. But it needs to continue to turn left – to take passengers to the most useful stretch of the High Street.

Local residents are entitled to be angry; their travel needs have been ignored and last year’s so-called consultation was a farce. Last month, following growing complaints, Wanstead councillors hastily organised a small public meeting. TfL provided two officers who were not ‘decision-makers’ and lacked sufficient knowledge of the local areas involved. One W12 user reported that his regular journeys from Wanstead to Whipps Cross were taking about 40 minutes longer because they had been re-routed through highly congested Leytonstone. TfL also ignored warnings to avoid that problem.

Residents are invited to submit their local bus experiences. Drop a note into the special ‘bus post box’ in Wanstead Pharmacy, or visit wnstd.com/mybus, where you can also access the petition.

The George closed its doors as a Wetherspoons pub on 13 October – the day after a successful second Wanstead Beer Festival. The appetite for reasonably priced food and drink remains strong, says Paul Donovan

Wetherspoons called time in Wanstead for the last time on 13 October, amidst many emotional farewells and memories recalled of time spent in The George. The new owners, Urban Pubs and Bars, are to restore the pub’s original 18th-century name. So, it’s goodbye to The George but hello to The George and Dragon.

The Urban Pubs and Bars group run a number of successful pubs across London. The main concern, though, with the loss of The George under Wetherspoons’ stewardship, is price. In these difficult financial times, The George has always offered reasonably priced food and drink. It has been a place anyone can go to, across the generations. Sometimes, just a place to keep warm, have a drink and a bit of company. It is the loss of this community asset that has concerned people most. 

Wanstead has to be a place catering for all tastes. The worry over recent times is that a lot of people are being priced off the high street, due to escalating costs. At the same time, many businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, are struggling to survive. These concerns were reflected in the campaign to save The George. Many people working hard over the months, collecting signatures on the petition and contacting Wetherspoons directly. So, thank you to all those people for their great work. Leyton and Wanstead MP, Calvin Bailey, has also been very supportive. 

Wetherspoons, for their part, could have engaged more. The staff at The George have been brilliant, but getting information out of Wetherspoons’ head office has, at times, been a bit like getting blood from stones. Though it did markedly improve over the last couple of months. To be fair, though, Wetherspoons are a business, not a social service, and their main concern must be the bottom line.

Moving forward, it has to be hoped that Urban Pubs and Bars take the venue forward in the true spirit of The George, a pub of the people for the people. Other options should also be considered, like a micro or pop-up pub?

The appetite for reasonably priced drinks was very much on display at the Wanstead Beer Festival. Organisers promised bigger and better and that is exactly what people got last month. A variety of beers all for less than £5 a pint. By the end of the day, almost everything had sold out, with only the dregs left. An excellent day, well supported by local businesses. The funds raised will go to two nominated charities, CHAOS and Reach Out. 

So, now it is onto the 2025 beer festival. The bar is rising but the appetite is clearly there for reasonably priced food and drink. Let’s hope the next festival and other local pubs – including The George and Dragon – continue to deliver.

For more information on the Wanstead Beer Festival, visit wnstd.com/beer

The Wanstead Charity – an initiative which supports the homeless – is appealing for donations and sponsorship.

“We are once again almost completely out of funds, which is hindering our ability to support the homeless. It costs about £75 a month to provide snack bags for our homeless friends, and sponsorship could enable us to continue providing these. It would be absolutely amazing if any local companies could sponsor a month or two per year,” said Suzi Robinson.

Email thewansteadcharity@gmail.com

Nightingale Primary School is looking for a new governor.

“This is a great opportunity for someone who would like to get more involved in supporting their local community by contributing to our vibrant primary school. Governors are asked to commit to attending six meetings annually (five of which are in the evening) and make some additional visits to the school. This vacancy is not open to parents with children at the school,” said a school spokesperson.

Email admin@nightingale.redbridge.sch.uk

The A12 tunnel under George Green in Wanstead has been open for 25 years. Architect John Goldsmith – who was influential in its design – and his wife Margaret Igglesden share their memories of its creation

Margaret and I were walking to Wanstead Library recently, crossing the grassed roof of the A12 tunnel under George Green, when she asked: “How old is the tunnel?” I had been involved in the struggle to ‘save Wanstead’ from the original plan to extend the A12 from the Eastern Avenue at Redbridge Roundabout to Central London, so was able to recall the A12 extension was opened in 1999. 

“That makes the tunnel 25 years old!” said Margaret. “Surely, that’s worth some mention?”

So, to help friends and neighbours recall and learn how the tunnel was conceived, rather than the option of an eight-lane surface road, which had been the original scheme, here are some memories of that time.

Two architects living on the line of the chosen route of the road happened to come up with an idea to use the traffic plan to improve the environment. It is sad that despite the efforts of a lot of people, the ultimate scheme (as we see now) falls short of what might have been.

Malcolm Lister lived in Leytonstone. He was a landscape architect practising in London. I was an architect in a partnership in South Woodford. We were both members of the South West Essex Chapter of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). By chance, we both wanted to change the way major roads cut through established residential neighbourhoods. The Chapter decided we should get together and prepare a plan.

The Green Man junction was the problem, but it became clear a tunnel forming an ‘S’ bend was possible. The resulting scheme called ‘The A12 to M11 Link Park’ or the ‘Lister Goldsmith Scheme’ was endorsed by the Chapter.

Malcolm’s design was for a straight, double carriageway, each of three lanes and a hard shoulder, which would be aligned alongside the Tube railway cuttings from Leytonstone to Leyton stations. A concrete roof was designed to carry a landscaped linear park. One wall of the tunnel would be open to the railway strip allowing natural light and air to remove the sense of being in a tunnel.

My scheme was for a dual, three-lane ‘cover and cut’ route starting at the east end of the Eastern Avenue and as far as the slip roads of the Green Man junction. By using the idea of ‘cover and cut’, much of the noise and dust of construction is contained under the preformed roof of the tunnel.

The Government’s Department of the Environment (D of E) was instructed to examine the schemes and a report was produced by WS Atkins, the engineering consultant, comparing five proposals.

Margaret asked: “Why did you become so involved and why did it take up so much of your time?” There is a simple answer to that.

When the Department of Transport decided the M11 route should be through the Roding Valley rather than the Lee Valley, they claimed the M11 junction with the North Circular Road at Woodford was “complete in itself.” It needed no further extension into London. We realised this was very, very short-sighted or duplicitous, and waited for the inevitable. As soon as the actual M11 construction began, an announcement was made that five alternative routes would now be considered for the extension of the M11 into London. One route was the surface road through Cambridge Park and the others swept around Wanstead using Wanstead Park, Wanstead Golf Course and Wanstead Flats in a variety of cuttings or surface routes, ultimately connecting with a long-preserved route along Ruckholt Road, Leytonstone.

An immense furore developed; it became a political issue and many residents became involved. Save Wanstead Action Group (SWAG) was followed by the Link Road Action Group (LRAG) and an extensive poster campaign resulted in many houses proclaiming the message: ‘TUNNEL IT’.

The Greater London Council became involved and invited Malcolm and me to present our ideas. The Department mounted a travelling exhibition which compared the routes. We were invited to submit details of the Link Road Park and these were displayed alongside the D of E schemes. Over 90% of signatures recorded in the visitors book at the exhibitions supported the Lister Goldsmith or Link Road Park scheme. At the end of the consultations, the Department announced the dates for the public enquiry. It gave Malcolm and me about six months to prepare. We decided we must meet the case with similar descriptions to the evidence to be presented by the D of E consultants. This involved debating the written submission with members of LRAG. Detailed maps and models were produced.

Margaret asked: “Did you get paid for all the work you had to do for this?” I replied: “Yes. Malcolm and I shared a fee of £25 given by the RIBA Chapter.”

Despite considerable support, the inevitable criticism was the cost. Had the rural M11 route been included as a whole, we contended the scheme was value for money. But by splitting the route in two, with the semi-rural length achieved at a reasonable cost per kilometre, the odds were stacked against the intense urban length, which carried much higher costs due to the proximity of the housing and the underground railway. Yet, the two most expensive sections at the Green Man and at Wanstead Central Line station were included. 

After seven weeks of submissions from the local authorities, residents and organised groups, the inspector, Major General M Tickell, wound up the inquiry. It was over a year before the decision was announced amidst considerable disappointment. The basic reason for rejection of the Link Road Park was cost. A further inquiry took place, but the outcome was as we see now, open cuttings producing noise and pollution suffered by the housing flanking the road. Covered areas at Leytonstone station, the Green Man and George Green bringing some relief.

Fortunately, the short tunnel at George Green has helped to preserve the special character of Wanstead Village. We thank all those who gave up their time to support this.

Bernie Clarkson walked a mile a day on Christ Church Green throughout October, raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK and taking time to remember her friend Jill, who died last year 

Tennessee Williams said: “Life is partly what you make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” At the time of writing, I’m walking a mile a day in October in remembrance of my good friend Jill. Jill died about a year ago and I think I’m still coming to terms with that, so I decided to take time each morning to think about our friendship and also to raise money and awareness for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, the disease she died of.

Her death has made me think about friendship, and the quote above, which makes a point about ‘choosing’ friends, made me consider whether we choose friends or is there some strange chemistry that draws people together in true friendship?

I got to know Jill through another friend. We were often together in big groups of parents and children, slowly getting to know each other through shared experiences, both good and bad, happy and sad, building a history together and connecting in ways we didn’t even realise. Divorce also featured in the conversations, and sadly, the death of her beautiful son, Dan. We made a point of being there for each other.

However, I don’t want to think about Jill with sadness; she’d never have wanted that. So spending 30 minutes each morning thinking about her friendship and raising awareness and money feels like a gift.

Firstly, I have a sense of her walking with me. Weirdly, it’s as if she’s a warm shawl wrapped around my shoulders and it feels so good to think of her in this way. Secondly, the whole process of walking each morning is slowing me down in a very positive way, even if it’s just for 30 minutes. It’s as if I’m saying everything else can wait, this is important. Thirdly, I stop taking everything for granted in those precious walks. I remember nothing is certain, no matter how many organisational lists we make planning our day, sorting out tomorrow and next week and next year. We literally don’t know what the rest of the day has in store for us. 

So, instead, I really try and look at what’s in front of me. Trees, autumn leaves, squirrels, dogs, crows, the church, park benches, rays of sunshine, and attempt to have a sense of gratitude for all the things my beautiful local nature walk is offering.

I know soon normal life will resume and local, national and international issues will once again dominate my thoughts and, of course, we can’t always be in a strolling, reflective mood, but it was so wonderful to carve out that 30 minutes in October each day. Thank you, Jill, thank you, Christ Church Green and, weirdly, thank you, Pancreatic Cancer UK for giving me the incentive to actually engage in life rather than charge through it.

To make a donation to Bernie’s fundraiser, visit wnstd.com/31miles

The George in Wanstead ceased trading as a Wetherspoons pub last month.

It follows months of speculation, with Urban Pubs and Bars confirming they will be taking over the historic venue.

“We are very excited to be coming to Wanstead. We plan to return the pub to its original name: The George and Dragon. After refurbishment, we should open in the new year. The pub will be a traditional London pub serving great food and drinks, such as Sunday Roasts with meat from our award-winning butcher,” said a spokesperson.