September 2025

Chess has come a long way recently but there is still a missing piece, says 18-year-old Jay Demetriou, whose membership of Wanstead and Woodford Chess Club has helped him connect with the community

With social media providing us all with quick-fix entertainment with little need for thought, it could have been assumed that thought-provoking pastimes like chess would fade into irrelevance. Instead, chess is more popular than ever before; chess.com now has more than 4.5 million active UK users. Many of these new players come from the younger generation, and at Wanstead High, I’ve watched this phenomenon first-hand.

More and more young people are playing chess! Chess has flourished, not because it is so different from other activities, but because it has moved with the times and adapted for the modern world. Chess can be played online, like a video game. The game-mode Bullet Chess (where each player has one minute to make moves) has proved particularly popular in an entertainment landscape which prioritises quick dopamine hits. Streaming series like The Queen’s Gambit have also breathed new life into the game. The boom is great for chess, turning what was once seen as unfashionable into a game for everyone.

This online integration, however, leads to the exact problems we always hear about social media and video games: a loss of a feeling of community; a loss of true connection. While this is frequently used as a way of attacking young people, it is rarely followed by a solution. This is why local chess clubs are important, and why the social atmosphere of Wanstead and Woodford Chess Club is so valuable for us; a way to bridge the gap between the internet and true community.

Our chess club creates this atmosphere through its location, the welcoming Wanstead House, and the accessible nature of chess as a mental sport. A game for all ages. There are two sections of the club: the junior section, which runs every Tuesday from 5pm to 7pm, and the broader club session which runs from 7.30pm to 10pm. The bar is a key reason for the lively feel! From here, teas will be brought to the players during their games. When matches are over, players will often return to the bar to chat. It’s also a meet-up point for a trip to the pub for some!

For juniors, whose first experience of chess may have been from behind a phone screen, playing games over the board with their friends – learning and improving together – allows them to maintain their love for the game. The social aspect of chess should not be overlooked.

While chess is alive and well, it could be livelier if more people were to join clubs and enjoy the social aspect. Providing an answer, though not the answer, to the broader 21st-century problem of a lack of community. So, next time you think of a night-in, why not think of a knight out?

Wanstead & Woodford Chess Club meets at Wanstead House, 21 The Green. For more information, visit wnstd.com/chess

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands is seeking volunteers to help maintain and improve the park’s woodland play area.

“Would you like to be part of a team of local parents and carers who love our play area? Could you come up with ideas for future play equipment, fundraise to make it happen and help complete basic safety checks? If you would like to be a play area champion, please get in touch,” said Roger Woodhouse.

Located behind the Temple, the play area first opened in June 2023.

Email rogwoo@googlemail.com

The Wanstead Book Festival, part of the Wanstead Fringe festivities, is once again hosting a wide range of talents and authors working in various styles, writes Giles Wilson

The link between places and memories is a subject we have covered in a couple of different ways during the years of the Wanstead Book Festival, not least through the work of E11’s resident psychogeographer, John Rogers.

So, it’s fitting that John will be kicking off this year’s book festival as he speaks to another local, Joanna Pocock, whose book Greyhound has just been published. It recounts a journey she made across America by bus and what she learned by repeating the trip 20 years later. She found a country that had become more atomised and on the brink of environmental calamity, but which nevertheless found her memories and experiences overlapping with each other.

A changing society is one Stephen Colegrave chronicles in his daily work as executive editor of independent media outlet Byline Times, and his major work on the history of Punk, which is to be published in the autumn, will remind people of how society was initially horrified but later came to embrace the ethos of punk. He will be speaking to Lord Victor Adebowale.

Tom Shakespeare is a distinguished thinker in the field of bioethics, often broadcasting on the BBC, but his current focus is rather softer – it’s a series of witty feel-good novels, the first of which was described by Alexander McCall Smith as “beautifully observed and highly entertaining.”

For years, Rory Cellan-Jones was a fixture on our TV screens as the BBC’s technology correspondent, and in fact, when he spoke at the Wanstead Book Festival three years ago, social media was the topic. Thanks to the very social media he observed, he has unexpectedly become one of the country’s most celebrated dog owners for the way he has gently coaxed his rescue dog, Sophie from Romania, out from behind the sofa into everyday life.

Alan Connor has yet to write about dogs, but he’s covered an incredibly varied range of subjects, including crosswords, quizzes, the shipping forecast and, recently, the huge range of words we have for rain. He’s a comedy writer, quiz guru and is also crossword editor for The Guardian. And as described by Rory Cellan-Jones, he is “the man with the contents of the Oxford English Dictionary stored just above his left eyebrow… and he’s quite funny too.”

These are just some of the speakers. And right in the middle of the festival is another family book day with three authors – Sophy Henn, Nima Patel and Crystal Sung – who will be engaging young readers, hoping they will come to love books as much as some of the adults around them do.

For more information on Wanstead Fringe events, visit wnstd.com/fringe

The music programme at Wanstead Fringe 2025 brings a rich mix of community and creativity, with events taking place at what are turning into some of the area’s most beloved Fringe venues. Giles Wilson reports

Opening the festival at St Mary’s Church on 5 September is the much-loved, eve-of-Fringe musical charivari, with Joe Walters again turning impresario. This event has become something of a Fringe tradition – a lively and informal programme bringing people together to enjoy an eclectic mix of musical styles and tastes. It’s the perfect way to set the tone for the days ahead: warm, welcoming and full of Fringe spirit.

The Duke street party – which takes over Nightingale Lane for one marvellous afternoon each September – will have live music featuring their house band The Dukes of Duke, with everything from classic crowd-pleasers to hidden gems to discover.

In the Crossing Continents concert at Wanstead United Reformed Church, the talents of two accomplished soloists will combine to take listeners on a vibrant and exciting journey with music from Latin America, Spain, France and beyond. Ricardo Curbelo will be playing harp, cuatro and maracas, and Fiona Harrison will play classical/Spanish guitar.
We also have pianist Yuki Negishi, who will be playing as a soloist at Holy Trinity Church – a programme including Ravel, Chopin and Beethoven. Yuki will also lead two performances of the Saint-Saëns classic Carnival of the Animals, which paints musical portraits of the lion, swan, elephant and others; a real treat for families who love music.

Another treat for families will be Alice in WonderBand at St Gabriel’s Church, a whimsical journey through the curious world of brass bands as seen through the lens of the classic children’s story. Each part of Redbridge Brass band will take on a different character to bring the story to life. They’re going to be warming up with a selection of tunes based on famous stories: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Matilda, Harry Potter and more.

On 20 September, The Friends of St Gabriel’s present Harmony Happening, a relaxed singing workshop led by Jenny Goodman, whose warm, inclusive approach has made her a favourite among the community choir.

One of the musical highlights is something completely new. Wanstead-based composer Simone Spagnolo has worked with harpist Clara Gatti Comini to create something you will never have heard before. Reveries, taking place at St Mary’s, is a headphone-based immersive play, which combines harp music, narrative text and what is described as “spatial sound design.” It’s going to be a full audio experience that creates an atmosphere where recollections dissolve and truth intertwines with imagined lives – a personal and intimate experience that unfolds inside your own mind.

Finally, the festival draws to a close at St Mary’s on 27 September with the return of the much-loved Natural Voices Choir, an uplifting finale that captures what’s at the heart of the Fringe.

For more information on Wanstead Fringe events, visit wnstd.com/fringe

Local residents helped raise £8,750 for charity by opening their gardens to the public this year.

A number of homes across Wanstead, Woodford and beyond took part in the National Garden Scheme, which raises money for cancer charities, such as Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice UK.

“Ten homeowners volunteered their time and invited visitors to enjoy their gardens. Please continue to support this wonderful initiative,” said local volunteer organiser Teresa Farnham.

Visit ngs.org.uk

Don’t only enjoy viewing the art achievements of others. Take delight in helping to produce some community artwork yourself, suggests Donna Mizzi, founder of Art Group Wanstead

Members of Art Group Wanstead are preparing to show their work at the Wanstead Festival on Christchurch Green on 14 September. But this year, they will also be reaching out to local festivalgoers of all abilities and ages to help create a new piece of community artwork they can all be proud of.

Local residents and visitors, including children, will be encouraged to each create their own small piece of art on blank postcard-sized paper to go with this year’s Art Group Wanstead theme: Colour Me Happy. Participants will be able to create art focusing on any subject using any materials in any colours or tones – do whatever makes you happy. Photos will be taken of each of the postcard artworks. Art Group Wanstead artists Theresa Hardy and Sharon Quinton, who formulated the idea, will carefully knit the artwork together digitally to create a ‘patchwork’ banner that can be displayed in and around Wanstead. The Stow Brothers estate agents will be helping to produce it.

“It’s thrilling to see your own art on display in public,” says Sharon Quinton. “Contributing to a community artwork that will be shown again and again will be particularly rewarding.”

These pages show some of the works local artists have been inspired to create by the ‘Colour Me Happy’ theme, which will also be displayed at the festival.

There will be free workshops and demos on the Art Group Wanstead area of the big event throughout the day, ranging from mosaic to botanical painting to calligraphy and collage. If you believe you lack the ability to paint, watercolour tutor Brenda Coyle will help instil confidence with her one-to-one ‘Painting for the Petrified’ mini-sessions. Students from her Wanstead House classes will also exhibit their work.

Many local residents will have viewed some of Art Group Wanstead artists’ work last month at a pop-up gallery on Wanstead High Street. Local artists are always looking to display work, and this much-appreciated shopfront space was generously made available by Alan Patient & Co accountants.

Wanstead Festival runs from 11 am to 6pm on 14 September on Christchurch Green.

For more information on Art Group Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/art

A local gardener is urging residents to help prevent the spread of two problematic weeds.

“Guernsey Fleabane and Knotgrass have become widespread across Wanstead. Pulling them up by the roots early is simple, but once established, it’s much harder. These thuggish weeds suppress the germination of wildflowers and other species and reduce the capacity of young plants to grow. Please look out for these damaging weeds in our streets and your gardens,” said Sally Parker, a Pollinator Pathway volunteer for Warren Road.

Woodford Pantomime received an award for the best production of a traditional pantomime at the NODA London Awards, held in June.

The honour was in recognition of the amateur company’s January production of Sleeping Beauty, with preparations now underway for their next show.

“Rehearsals have begun and excitement is building as we prepare to bring the tale of Dick Whittington to life in 2026,” said a spokesperson. The panto will take place at Sir James Hawkey Hall from 1 to 11 January.

Visit swvg.co.uk/wpanto

Live theatre is one of the main pillars of any fringe festival, and Wanstead is no different. Camille Leadbeater runs through some of the plays she’s looking forward to this September

This year’s Wanstead Fringe once again does, for theatregoers, two things: it continues to develop our local dramatic enterprises while bringing in a raft of creatives from out of town, transforming the neighbourhood. The programme at our two theatre venues – upstairs at The Bull and at The Wanstead Curtain on Hermon Hill – is bold, diverse, and brimming with unforgettable performances for all ages.

An Evening with Jack the Ripper reimagines the East End’s most infamous true-crime mystery for the stage, as award-winning broadcaster Steve Morgan leads audiences through the foggy streets of Victorian London in search of the elusive killer. Love and Human brings a chilling sci-fi twist to the programme, while in Quiet Light, a shipwrecked stranger and an eerie lighthouse keeper confront their pasts.

And for younger theatregoers, Myths, Maps and Monsters: Zeus’ Birthday Bash! promises high-energy, interactive fun as children race to save Zeus’s birthday by solving puzzles. Also at The Bull: Screwloose Improv returns with a five-star, prison-themed hit, fresh from a sell-out run at Colchester Fringe.

Over at The Wanstead Curtain, audiences can embark on an epic musical voyage with Resurrection: The Musical, an adventure inspired by The Buccaneers Legend trilogy. Families will also love The Magic Bookmark, in which panto dame and Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Mama G leads a lively and heartwarming mission to protect the world’s stories from vanishing forever.

Three local favourites are returning this year. Wanstead Theatre Co is staging a screening of its behind-the-scenes mockumentary once at City Place. At The Curtain, Baloney Theatre Company is also back with a must-see production, BuzzFest, an immersive and wickedly funny journey into the heart of British festival culture. Equal parts chaotic and heartfelt, it blends live performance, multimedia and razor-sharp character work to capture the highs and lows of a weekend in the fields – booze, bad decisions, awkward tent flings and all. But beyond the laughs and mud-splattered antics lies a deeper commentary on connection, mental health and community.

And following the success of Miss Julie at last year’s fringe, East London Theatre Company return with Constellations by Nick Payne, a brilliantly inventive and emotionally charged play that explores love, time and the infinite possibilities of choice. The company brings its signature clarity and intimacy to a modern classic, staged in the round for an immersive and emotionally resonant experience.

Wanstead Fringe 2025 proves yet again that local theatre can be daring, dynamic and endlessly inventive.

For more information on Wanstead Fringe events, visit wnstd.com/fringe

With real ale, real community spirit and really good causes, Wanstead Beer Festival returns this October with more brews, new names and a fundraising mission. Paul Donovan reports

The third Wanstead Beer Festival is set to return on 4 October. Bigger and better than ever, there will be more beers and ciders this time, topping the 50 mark. Gin, wine, prosecco and a selection of soft drinks will also be on offer. Our hosts, Christ Church, will again be offering their superb burgers and hot dogs.

Among the beers to look out for are Milestone Brewery’s Cromwell Best, a deep, slightly malty bitter. Then, there is the lighter East London Brewing Company favourite, the award-winning Cowcatcher. The always popular, champion-winning beer Captain Bob from The Mighty Oak Brewing Company will again be available. And those who like a dark beer can’t go far wrong with Brentwood Brewing Company’s stout Walrus of Love. Harvey’s Brewery’s Sussex Best will be on tap.

Among the ciders, there will be a good selection from Somerset-based Farmer Jim. Get in early for the tasty Rhubarb Bob.

The Wanstead Beer Festival is once again seeking to blend the local with national in the selection of beers. Among local breweries contributing are Brentwood, East London, Redemption, Neckstamper, Pillars, Pressure Drop, Mighty Oak and Pretty Decent. These are tough times for the hospitality sector, with pubs and breweries under pressure. Thousands of pubs are closing every year; it is a real case of use them or lose them. So, we all need to do our bit to support the sector.

Sadly, since last year, Walthamstow brewer Beerblefish has stopped trading. They were an early backer of the Wanstead Beer Festival. Whilst Beerblefish will be missed, we have a new brewery to add in Leyton-based Libertalia. It is hoped that among Libertalia’s offering will be the popular new bitter Private Eye.

Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss out. Bought in advance, tickets cost £10, which includes the unique beer festival glass. This year, there is a new twist, with a bit of colour added. Tickets on the door will be £12 and we aim to keep drinks around £5 a pint.

Proceeds from the event are to be split between three charities: the Wren Wildlife Group, Wanstead Community Riding Stables and the Christ Church restoration fund. The funding for the stables will be going towards buying a big horse. “A horse that is safe, strong, kind, well-schooled and suitable for riders with disabilities,” said a member of the fundraising team.

Thanks go to all the local businesses who have sponsored the event and helped make it possible. The Wanstead Beer Festival is a real community effort all round.

The Wanstead Beer Festival will take place in the halls of Christ Church on 4 October from 1pm to 11pm. For more information and tickets, visit wnstd.com/beer

The Parish of Wanstead’s Heritage Lottery Fund bid to save Christ Church’s tower will be decided this month.

“The tower needs significant work to make it structurally sound. This will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds,” said Rev James Gilder.

As part of fundraising efforts, 70 people from Wanstead completed a sponsored walking pilgrimage to Canterbury in July, raising £13,000.

“We’re determined to ensure Christ Church remains a much-loved feature of the local landscape for years to come.”

Visit wnstd.com/inspire

There’s a buzz in the air. Just like in the grand drawing rooms of Wanstead House in the early 19th century, word is spreading: something’s happening in Wanstead, writes Camille Leadbeater

Wanstead House, a mansion built in the 18th century, was once home to Lady Catherine Tylney-Long and her husband William Wellesley-Pole, known for his wild and outrageous lifestyle. The couple hosted events of legendary opulence, none more so than a dazzling celebration in 1814 marking Napoleon’s defeat by the Duke of Wellington. That day, Wanstead became the epicentre of high society, not just for its guests, but for the crowds who gathered outside, climbing trees just to catch a glimpse. It was one of the most lavish social events the area has ever seen.

Over a thousand locals rushed to the grounds to share in the festivities. You didn’t need a printed invitation to know something was happening at Wanstead House that day – you just felt it, heard it, maybe you saw the carriages lining up. The privileged few went inside; the rest found ways to be part of it anyway.

Fast-forward over 200 years, and Wanstead is still a place where stories unfold and people come together. But today, everyone is welcome – not just the titled, the wealthy or the well-connected.

At Wanstead Fringe 2025, the message is clear. Outside every venue, you’ll see a banner: ‘Something’s happening here’. It’s a public invitation, not a private summons. Whether it’s a play at The Bull, a film at The Curtain or a throwing class at Wanstead Pottery, you are part of it.

In that spirit, we can look back to Geraldine Roberts’ 2015 book, The Angel and the Cad: Love, Loss and Scandal in Regency England. Roberts brought to life the glamorous world of Catherine and William, retelling the tale of the party that transformed Wanstead into the centre of London society for one shimmering moment. Back then, it was about being seen. Now, it’s about being included.

As part of this year’s Fringe, and in homage to the glittering world of Lady Catherine, we invite you to a unique and atmospheric event on Thursday 12 September to mark the 200th anniversary of her death. In this reflective tribute, we’ll bring the past vividly to life with readings, music and costumes.

So, whether you’re performing, helping, watching, wandering or just curious, if you see that banner, step inside. Something’s happening here. And like Catherine’s party, it might just become a story we tell for years to come.

This is your invitation. No corset or calling card required.

Wanstead Fringe 2025 runs from 6 to 27 September. For more information on the events, visit wnstd.com/fringe