As social media use grows, media law is no longer just for the rich and famous. It now touches everyday life, says Alex Cochrane of local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash

Media law is often perceived to be the preserve of the rich and famous, of celebrities, sports stars and royalty. For example, Prince Harry has been involved in high-profile litigation against several English newspaper groups. However, such a perception is misplaced. Media law plays a part in all our lives, particularly with the widespread use of social media. The main areas of media law that permeate our daily lives are defamation, privacy and harassment.

Defamation is the communication of a false statement to a third party that causes or is likely to cause serious reputational harm. If you have been the target of false allegations on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter), for example, or if your business has suffered similar treatment, for instance, in online reviews, you may be able to use defamation laws to protect yourself. If the statement published is false, it identifies you (you do not need to be identified by name), and it has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to your reputation, then you would have an actionable claim in defamation. Although it may be distressing, it is imperative you do not delete the posts – take screenshots because this will be important evidence for your claim.

Misuse of private information is a legal cause of action that protects an individual’s right to protect their personal information. It covers the unauthorised publication of private information where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Examples of private information include medical records, personal photographs and private correspondence. If, for instance, following the breakdown of a relationship, your former partner shares or publishes photographs of you of an intimate nature (which you may have previously exchanged consensually), that would amount to a serious misuse of your private information. This is sometimes referred to as ‘image-based abuse’, or ‘revenge porn’. Such conduct can also give rise to criminal offences.

Harassment is unwanted, unwelcome and uninvited behaviour – which can be verbal, physical or online – that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment. It involves a pattern of behaviour, or ‘course of conduct’, which causes distress, fear or alarm. Common examples of harassment include unwanted communications (such as repeated phone calls or texts), physical conduct (such as unwelcome touching) and abusive messages on social media. If you are the victim of repeated and unwanted abuse which is causing you fear or distress, you may be able to use harassment laws to protect yourself. Harassment can give rise to civil claims, and if it is of a serious nature, can also amount to a criminal offence.

Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at 149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For more information, call 020 8514 9000 or visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk

In the seventh of a series of articles featuring images by Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society members, Anuraj Theivendram looks at David Tyrrell’s award-winning work

Within the vibrant community of the Woodford & Wanstead Photographic Society (WWPS), few photographers embody quiet excellence quite like David Tyrrell. Long admired for his thoughtful compositions and calm, observant style, David has recently enjoyed a remarkable run of success, winning the club’s 2026 landscape and wildlife competitions. These achievements highlight not only his technical skill but also his instinct for capturing moments that feel both intimate and expansive.

David’s landscapes are shaped by atmosphere and emotion. Whether it’s mist drifting across rolling hills or the rhythmic symmetry of a lavender field at sunset, his images invite viewers into scenes that feel contemplative and immersive. His winning landscape entry exemplified this sensitivity, balancing light, structure and serenity with effortless clarity. His wildlife work carries the same quiet attentiveness. The award‑winning image of two monkeys poised together on a tree trunk, their expressions alert yet unguarded, reveals David’s ability to wait for the moment where behaviour and environment harmonise. Even in close‑up studies, such as his beautifully lit oyster mushrooms, he finds sculptural elegance in the natural world, elevating small details into striking visual stories.

Last year also saw David expand into astrophotography with a breathtaking Milky Way composition. Set above a ridge of silhouetted observatory domes, the night sky arcs across the frame in a luminous sweep of stars and cosmic dust. It’s an image that blends scientific curiosity with artistic vision, demonstrating David’s willingness to explore new techniques and push his creative boundaries.

As a long‑standing member of WWPS, David is deeply woven into the society’s culture of learning and shared growth. He values the constructive critique of competition nights and the camaraderie of club outings, where ideas, techniques and inspiration flow freely. His generosity to newer members reflects his belief that photography thrives when knowledge is shared.

Through his work and his presence within the society, David Tyrrell exemplifies the spirit of WWPS: a community where passion meets perspective, and where photography produces not just an image, but an invitation to feel.

For more information on the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, visit wnstd.com/wwps

Figures from the 2021 Census provide a snapshot of the community served by the Wanstead Village Directory.

The statistics reveal a vibrant, well-connected neighbourhood with a strong mix of families, professionals and long-term residents. The data highlights everything from household sizes and employment levels to education, health and travel habits, offering an insightful picture of the people and lifestyles that shape the local area.

For more information on the Lake House Jumble Trail 2026, click here.

For more information on the Aldersbrook Jumble Trail 2026, click here.

One writer, one Interrail pass and a wildly over-ambitious, 37-stop journey to test railway accessibility in Europe. Wanstead-based travel writer Carole Edrich presents the fourth instalment of her Big Rail Story

Lille Europe Station makes me think of Blade Runner with its awe-inspiring architecture. At first glance, it seems pared-down and simple. In reality, it’s not. Koolhaas (the area’s master planner) created Euralille with an inside-out, everything-on-view complexity he called Piranesian (think stark imaginary jails with high and low angle views of entangled planes). It is corporate ethos as spectacle. Accessibility dwarfed by unflinching utilitarianism. Built with the objective of demonstrating power. The only station that does it better is Westminster. I’m not sure what that says about us.

Approaching Lille Europe, the Chief Steward reminds Disneyland-goers they need to change, just in case they’ve missed the fact that Brexit stopped direct trips from London. He doesn’t mention it’s for another station, although the fact is not a biggie. Rather than the stressful dash across a major European city you’d get in Paris, it’s a seven-minute straight line. A properly signposted walk that is only challenging for people with children, luggage, wheelchairs or who struggle to walk. But hey, who’s counting? (Me!)

We leave Lille and the mandatory slew of inner-city graffiti. Through the window are small copses, fields and the occasional road. The train hums as it reaches its Euro-optimum speed, a calming sound destroyed only by the regular rattle of the closest sliding door. I know we’re in Belgium when I see the wind turbines of Hainaut turning lazily in lovely bright sun. Hainaut is most likely derived from the Germanic for ‘river-land’, and yes, kinda, our own Hainault was respelled for a fictitious association with Philippa of Hainaut. My ADHD brain on ‘active’ goes from borders to phone notifications, and I wonder why I didn’t get a Vodafone welcome message in France.

If you’re not in zoo class, your Eurostar ticket entitles you to free tea or coffee from the bar. If you don’t like carrying hot drinks on a rocking train, wait until the train’s judder-judder-wobble sound turns into a hum. My unfailing sense of direction sends me the wrong way, which I only realise after reaching the penultimate carriage. I turn round, remember to follow the signage, and eventually pick up my tea. Thirty minutes later, Vodafone welcomes me to Belgium.

At Brussels Midi Station, I spend 10 minutes in confusion. Panicking because I can’t find Ghent, I suddenly realise I should be looking for Gand-Saint-Pierre (French) or Gent-Sint-Pieters (Dutch) and laugh at myself while rushing to the platform. I flop onto a seat and pretend not to watch the ticket controller eject a party of Australians loudly claiming they didn’t know it was first class (‘1st’ is on every window and door). I just manage to change my Interrail ticket booking before he comes for me.

For relevant links to the places, to read more of Carole’s work or to listen to her podcast, visit wnstd.com/edrich

Wanstead Park ward is now represented by councillors from two political parties following last week’s local elections.

Emma Sheppard-Mallinson was re-elected for Labour, winning 1,183 votes. She is joined by Milli Richards Clack from the Green Party, who received 1,156 votes.

Wanstead Park ward recorded the highest voter turnout in the borough, with 53% of the electorate taking part. Wanstead Village ward had the third highest turnout at 51%. The average turnout across the borough was 42%.

Visit wnstd.com/vote26

Wanstead Village ward is now represented by councillors from two political parties following last week’s local elections.

Jo Blackman and Daniel Morgan-Thomas were each re-lected as Labour councillors, receiving 1,715 and 1,415 votes respectively. They are joined by Sue Whitehead from the Green Party, who won 1,478 votes.

Overall, Labour held control of Redbridge Council, winning 43 seats out of 63. The Conservatives and Greens both won five seats, independents won nine seats, and Reform UK won one seat.

Gardens in Wanstead will open to the public this spring, inviting visitors to explore hidden plots, wildlife havens and tiny terraces while raising funds for charity. Volunteer organiser Teresa Farnham reports

As I write this, the rain seems to have thankfully stopped, for a while at least. Hopefully, visitors can look forward to visiting the local gardens open under the National Garden Scheme (NGS) in sunny and warm weather this spring and summer.

Last year, Wanstead gardens raised the magnificent sum of £1,000 in just four hours to add to the record sum of £10,000 raised from 12 NGS garden openings in our area. So, thank you to all who came to peek into our gardens, drink tea and eat delicious cakes.

The London gardens taking part in this year’s open gardens range in size from my own tiny 15-foot square to College Gardens’ wonderful two-thirds of an acre spectacle. Content ranges from a haven for wildlife and residents (the Forest Gate Community Garden) to the Latimer Road plant collectors’ garden.

Wanstead gardens will be open on 31 May, including the area behind the GP surgery on Wanstead Place. One of the Wanstead Community Gardeners has dedicated her time (and back!) to lift over 50 paving slabs to provide a garden sanctuary for the doctors and their patients. Other gardens taking part include 17 Greenstone Mews, which is planted with evergreen-clothed fences with a raised bed and border of perennials, vegetables and fruit, and 32 Voluntary Place, a newly designed, one-year-old garden, already showcasing exuberantly planted, low-maintenance flower beds alongside a generous entertaining space.

NGS gardens are all different, and in nearly 30 years of volunteering for the NGS, I have never seen two alike! Most openings provide tea, delicious cakes and plants for sale. The result of a visit is to see how people interpret what they want from a garden: useful to glean new ideas, whether you have a new or established garden. I am always happy to look at new gardens, and garden owners are always happy to talk to potential openers.

Some gardens are available by arrangement because of access. The garden at 28A Worcester Road, Walthamstow is worth a visit with friends if you book an appointment. The owner has transformed a typical London terraced back garden into a lush tropical oasis.

The NGS London booklet is available from local libraries, Daisy Florist on the High Street and local garden centres. Garden descriptions, addresses and directions are also available online. Please support the NGS this year, as your garden visits change lives, providing critical support to nursing and health charities such as MacMillan Cancer Support, Parkinson’s UK and Hospice UK. Nationally, £3,875,596 was raised in 2025.

Wanstead gardens will be open on 31 May from 2pm to 5pm (tickets: £5). For more information, visit wnstd.com/ngs26

To contact Teresa for more information, email teresa.farnham@yahoo.co.uk

Wanstead should be proud of its connection with former Astronomer Royal James Bradley (1692–1762), says Dr John Fisher in the third of a series of articles celebrating a man of intellectual persistence

The period from the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1689 until about 1730 witnessed fundamental reforms of English society. It saw the rise of what were then referred to as ‘the middling sort’. New institutions such as the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and limited liability companies accompanied the rise of new groups in society.

Men such as James Bradley, the third son of an insignificant steward, were able to rise to positions of trust and importance. In his case, due to his extraordinary observational and mathematical skills and intellectual persistence. Bradley was able to capitalise on the rise of London as the centre of new scientific and technical skills. Skilled artisans acquired a new status in society. The registration of legally binding patents protected innovations and inventions. George Graham, the inheritor of Thomas Tompion’s business, which made scientific instruments of unprecedented accuracy, supported others such as John Harrison as he worked on his chronometers. Bradley and Graham formed a close friendship, working together for decades as astronomers, sharing their horological interests and both serving on the Council of the Royal Society. Graham constructed the observational instruments commissioned by Bradley leading to his major discoveries, the aberration of starlight and the nutation of the Earth’s axis (observations made in Wanstead).

Even in a more equitable society, patronage was a key factor for success. Bradley benefited from the contacts his uncle, James Pound, made. Pound’s achievements as chaplain and negotiator for the East India Company in China and the Indies, as well as his skills as an astronomer, attracted important patrons. They included Thomas Parker, one-time Regent of Great Britain and future Lord Chancellor of England. The Parker family, as the Earls of Macclesfield, became lifetime patrons and supporters of Bradley, who designed and made use of the 2nd Earl’s famous Shirburn Castle Observatory in Oxfordshire. Bradley moved amongst the highest in the land. He and his wife Susannah were befriended by socialite Lady Catherine Manners, the wife of Sir Henry Pelham, the Prime Minister.

In addition, Bradley was in close contact with eminent scientists such as Newton and Halley, and with leading foreign astronomers such as Lacaille in France, who described Bradley as “the first among us”. Despite criticism in a rather reactionary Oxford at this time, Bradley’s lectures were immensely popular. Interestingly, one course attendee was George Austen, future father of novelist Jane.

In spite of England and France being at war with each other, in 1761, a year before his death, Bradley was given the highest honour possible by the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris. Wanstead has much to be proud of in its connection with James Bradley.

For more information on Dr Fisher’s book, The Life and Work of James Bradley, visit wnstd.com/fisher

Over the past 100 years, Wanstead Central Bowls Club on Nutter Lane has blended tradition with modern spirit, welcoming players of all ages to its renowned green. Colin Foster reflects on the club’s centenary

The club owes its origins to the Nutter family of the early 1900s. Richard Nutter was churchwarden of Christ Church. His family were great benefactors to Wanstead; in 1921, they gave the five-acre field opposite their house to the people of Wanstead for recreation and leisure.

A bowling green first appeared on the site in 1926. Initially, the club was known as Wanstead Churchmen’s reflecting its connection to the church, but later became the more general Wanstead Central. Cine camera footage from the 1930s has survived to this day. The men playing are wearing flat caps, fedoras or boaters, suits, blazers and raincoats. In the second half of the century, the game became increasingly popular. Clothing style was formalised to include the more familiar white trousers or skirt, white shirt and tie and club blazer. Bowls even started to appear on TV.

The 1980s saw an influx of players that spurred the club on to compete on a bigger stage. Wanstead Central began to have success at Essex level. The clubhouse became a second home to many members, who invested their time and money in improving the facilities. Ultimately, the members took over the maintenance of the playing area. Now boasting one of the best grass surfaces in the area, the club is regularly used as a venue for internal and inter-county matches.

When a team of our ladies reached the national finals, it started a tradition the members continue to strive for and achieve to this day. Winning through this far is the pinnacle of a club bowler’s sporting career.

During the 1990s and 2000s, bowling was popular in many Redbridge parks. Wanstead Central became a strong club and was recognised for its success. The 2010s saw a gradual reduction in local clubs. Wanstead Central bucked this trend and became the home to some very successful players, including at least one who has gone on to play at England level.

To appeal to a greater audience, the game has modernised by adopting more appropriate clothing, coloured team strips and coloured bowls. This has helped to reduce the old-fashioned view of the game. Wanstead Central embraced these changes. Amongst my favourite club pictures are the ones of members imitating Usain Bolt’s lightning pose from the 2012 Olympics, showing the great team spirit in the club.

Bowls is an ideal sport for all ages and abilities who need low-impact exercise, fresh air and social activity. Our current players range in age from teens to 90s. We would like to welcome locals to join in and continue the game on the green, green grass of Wanstead Central.

Wanstead Central Bowls Club is located on Nutter Lane, Wanstead, E11 2JA. For more information, visit wnstd.com/wcbc or call 020 8505 7806

Wanstead’s May Music Festival returns to St Mary’s, uniting the community with a vibrant mix of concerts, guest performers and a joyful singalong celebration. Festival director Alison Wells reports

This year’s May Music Festival at St Mary’s is our fourth one. I love the way it brings the community of our parish and of our wider neighbourhood together. It’s so good to see people coming back each year and enjoying the concerts we put on. Thank you for supporting us, and I hope you will be with us again this year.

I’m also very grateful to our sponsors, who have supported us this year too, investing in their local community. And, of course, very grateful to everyone who helps run this festival; it wouldn’t happen without you!

We have an exciting and varied programme this year, with performers coming from near and far (see the poster opposite for a full timetable of events). Saturday will be an informal day with a short piano recital by Forest Gate’s Lewis Kingsley Peart. Lewis will be introducing his recital of romantic piano miniatures by Schubert, Chopin, Sibelius and Grieg. This will be followed by an interval for food and drink, after which Wanstead’s very own Joe Walters, with Josh Warren – a duo called The Ageing Balladeer – will entertain us with their dreamy mix of voice, piano and violin with songs about getting older in a strange old world. The concert will be outside – weather permitting – and the bar will be open throughout.

Sunday is your chance to shine! We will be performing shortened versions of two of Gilbert and Sullivan’s famous and popular operettas: Trial by Jury and HMS Pinafore. We have a fabulous line-up of soloists for the main characters, and smaller parts are filled too. But we need a chorus. Members of the parish choir will form the basis of the chorus, but we’d love you to join in with us! Copies of the music will be provided on the day. If you’d like to sing them, you can come along to the rehearsal at 2pm, or you can just turn up and sing along at the performance, which will start at 6pm. It promises to be a lot of fun. So, all you G&S fans, roll up, dust off your vocal cords and come and join us.

Finally, Monday’s performers are Rune Medieval – an ensemble of young professionals who all specialise in music of the Middle Ages. They will be hotfooting it from Yorkshire, where they have a concert the previous evening. They have an enticing programme of music telling the stories of four saints of the period through music and words. You’ll see lots of instruments that we don’t see in the concert hall today.

Tickets are available for booking now, either for each individual event or as a season ticket, which represents very good value.

See you at the end of May!

The May Music Festival will run from 23 to 25 May. For more information and to book tickets, visit wnstd.com/may26