Features

A series of talks will take place at St Mary’s Church this month exploring the building’s history. Canon Professor Mark Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology at Oxford University, is one of the speakers. In the middle of the 19th century church architecture was big business – there was a wholesale rebuilding of medieval buildings and many celebrity architects. Only about a hundred churches were left untouched by the Victorians. Our ideas of what a church should look like come from their rather vivid re-imagination of the Middle Ages. When the Victorians built or ‘restored’ church buildings they had a particular set of ideas they wanted to put into practice: almost always they used Gothic forms, which they felt were properly ‘Christian’ (rather than pagan) and they tended to emphasise ritual, symbolism and colour. This was quite different from earlier church layouts in the Church of England, which emphasised preaching and offered few distractions to the eye. Victorian architecture is just one aspect of a bold and confident social vision, a way of trying to rejuvenate a past with the church at the centre. Nearly all the architects of the Victorian period were deeply conservative and feared the...

In the first of a series of articles looking at Age UK RBH’s Allan Burgess Wanstead Activity Centre, manager Jackie Balman outlines a week of workouts and classes and invites anyone over 55 to pop in. Hello, my name is Jackie Balman and I manage the Allan Burgess Activity Centre in Wanstead for Age UK Redbridge, Barking and Havering (RBH). The centre is located on the corner of Grove Park and Wanstead High Street. We are open from 9.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday and from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturdays for coffee. In this article, I would like to give you some idea of what we offer here at the centre. For Redbridge residents over 55, this place is an absolute must! The activities we offer for a small charge will help to keep you active both physically and mentally. Mondays are all about exercise: there are two Zumba classes and a chair-based yoga class. Tuesdays offer a wide variety of classes: craft group, hourly computer classes, an art class, bridge club, card and board games and clay modelling as well as more chair yoga and Zumba. Wednesdays are a little quieter with our knitting club, book club (monthly)...

Ahead of a series of wool art workshops for children at Wanstead Library, Guli Hamra explains how growing up in Kyrgyzstan provided her with an intrinsic connection to wool and how her creativity unravelled. My name is Guli and I have been living in England for 17 years. I am originally from Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia. People in my country have traditionally been nomads and they have always used wool in their life. I grew up where people make carpets from wool, as well as yurts, clothes and many different things which we still use in modern life. In my childhood, I used to help my mum, our neighbours and relatives to make carpets. So, I know how to work with wool! I used to have lots of craft hobbies until I saw a picture made out of wool on the internet. I couldn’t believe it because it was just like a photograph. My first attempt at wool art was made from my scarf. I laugh at that now, but at that time, I was so proud of myself. And a big thank you to all my family who believed in me and gave me lots of support in my...

James Knight has been experimenting with colour and abstract paintings since his childhood, experiments which have helped prepare him to take part in the 10th Art Trail Wanstead this September. My early years were spent in Shoreditch, and I always had an interest in drawing, painting and colour. My family were printers and worked with colour and form. I remember helping my mother spread ink onto a letterpress printing plate during my childhood. The form of the spread ink was one of my earlier experiments with colour. When I entered secondary school, my two main influences were art teachers Mr Wesley and Mr Swindon. Mr Swindon was a great portrait and caricature artist, whilst Mr Wesley was wonderful with colour and pattern. Both encouraged me to feel free artistically and to experiment. Upon leaving school, I worked for Panoramic Pictures taking photos of entire schools. Anybody who has had their school photograph taken will know the school is formed into a half-circle, with a camera in the middle on a swivel tripod. The great sport was for boys to have their photo taken at one end and then run round the back of the half circle and have their photograph taken...

Despite missing out on the league title, Snaresbrook FC are still a squad of winners, says Millicent Brown, and they count Frank Lampard Snr among their supporters. It’s been another fantastic year for the historic local Wanstead football team Snaresbrook FC, which has been playing on the Nutter Field for decades. Originally named RAFARNO – short for Royal Air Force Army Royal Navy Officers – the club was set up at the end of World War One to provide sporting activities for the local community. Even these days, a fenced-off section with a fir tree remains at the top end of the ground, marking the area where horses and carriages used to drop off passengers. This season, the team has been competing in one of the top divisions of Essex’s highest-flying leagues – the Essex Olympian Football League – and for a long time looked as though they would end up champions. Sponsored by local businessman and renowned soccer legend Frank Lampard Snr of the nearby Nightingale on the Green pub, they had a great start early in the season, and even up until mid-season were the top club with games in hand. Sadly, in the end, Snaresbrook lost the Division...

Probate disputes are on the rise, says Devorah Ormonde of local solicitors Wiseman Lee, who explains why making a will needs professional assistance to discourage claims against your estate after your death. Recent research has found almost half of UK adults have no form of will at all, with 25% of people having no intention to make a will. Of those who do have a will, many are being prepared without professional assistance, as DIY wills can be purchased online quite cheaply. However, the increase in the number of probate disputes being heard at the High Court – which in 2018 totalled 368 cases, up from 282 in 2017 and 227 in 2016 – may be linked to a rise in the number of DIY wills being made in the UK. The Law Society is blaming the rise in probate disputes on people making DIY wills. Creating a will may be a complicated legal process. As a result, when wills are made without professional assistance, they may be unclear, omit key information or fail to comply with the legal requirements a will must adhere to. This can lead to applications needing to be made to the court to interpret the...

Author Joanne Vigor-Mungovin, who is related to the showman who exhibited Joseph Merrick as the Elephant Man in the 1880s, recently discovered the location of Joseph’s final resting place… in Aldersbrook

Following the recent death of Wanstead resident and jazz drummer Clive Fenner – who founded the East Side Jazz Club – Robert Maitland explains how he and fellow musicians will keep his legacy alive Clive Fenner was a popular, respected and well-liked figure on the Wanstead scene and many local people, as well as those from far-off places, have remarked on the sad news of his passing away on 28 April following a two-year battle with cancer. We have lost a warm personality in our neighbourhood and beyond. Clive was born in Writtle, Essex in 1949. He went to teacher training college in Walsall and later went on to complete a Masters in Philosophy. Clive moved to Wanstead after marrying and taught Philosophy of Education at Havering College for 15 years. Clive worked hard at being a jazz drummer, educator and promoter. He founded the East Side Jazz Club in Leytonstone with Martin Hathaway in 1994, featuring the cream of British jazz musicians. To name but a few that have passed through the club’s doors: Kenny Wheeler, Peter King, John Etheridge, Ian Carr, Michael Garrick, Alan Barnes, Jason Yarde, Zoe Rahman and the John Altman Big Band. The club has been...

As part of Local History Month, Lynn Haseldine Jones will be leading a walk around Snaresbrook to discover the history of this commuter suburb, starting with the Georgian period and then looking at later developments in Victorian and Edwardian times. Here, the local historian describes some of the sites that will be visited. Photo of Snaresbrook Crown Court by Geoff Wilkinson We begin at Snaresbrook Station, where the railway first came in 1856. Changing the nature of the village from a predominantly Georgian settlement to a bustling Victorian suburb, there is still evidence of the Great Eastern Railway, hardly noticed by passengers on the busy Central Line. Along Hollybush Hill are a few Victorian houses. Mornington Lodge has changed its name to Kingsley Grange, but Staffa and Iona are still there, though no longer Barnardo’s homes. The great feature of the Hill, though, is Snaresbrook Crown Court. This fine building began as the Royal Infant Orphan Asylum, the foundation stone of which was laid by Prince Albert on 24 June 1841. The official opening was by the king of the Belgians on 27 June 1843. The building later became the Royal Wanstead School until 1971, before becoming the court building it is today in...

Following East London Wine School’s recent launch at Wanstead Golf Club, school director and wine expert Sam Alder explains why a trip to the Aosta Valley left a pleasant aftertaste that lingers to this day So, how did I end up working in the wine industry and owning a wine school? Not a traditional career choice and certainly not an option on the career day at school! My first job was in banking. I loved it and suspect it was there I discovered wine. We ‘drank’ wine, a lot of wine, but only after work, of course! My passion for ‘tasting’ was thanks to some bad weather and a great sommelier. Halfway through our annual Italian ski trip there was an avalanche; the ski slopes were closed. We were stuck in the town, we couldn’t go up the mountain, couldn’t go down, so what to do? Obviously, a wine tasting in the local wine bar. Why not? The sommelier opened six different bottles from the local wine region, the Aosta Valley. We tasted them all with glee and listened intently to his presentation of each wine. There was one in particular that helped me understand how and why tasting wine...

Wanstead resident Charlotte Monro explains her involvement in the campaign to ensure the community has a strong voice in Whipps Cross Hospital's redevelopment plans. A new hospital is being proposed for Whipps Cross with a health ‘campus’ on the site. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We want a hospital designed to the best of standards, and which will meet our health needs of the future. But with the resource-starved NHS of today this won’t happen unless we all fight for it. I have worked in the local health service as an occupational therapist since moving to Wanstead in the mid-1980s with my husband Stuart and our young daughter. For much of that time, I have also been a union rep and campaigned to protect services. Just 13 years ago Whipps Cross Hospital was fighting for its existence. Staff and the local community came together in the Save Whipps Cross campaign, gaining huge support. We succeeded. Then, again in 2013, the future of the hospital felt uncertain when, following the merger into Barts Health, we were sinking under devastating staff cuts accompanied by a climate of fear. I found myself sacked after speaking out over cuts in our stroke unit and...

Happiness is a choice based on our internal representations, says psychotherapist Usha Chudasama, who is hosting two workshops at Wanstead Library this month as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Internal representations are the pictures, sounds, feelings, tastes, smells and self-talk that our brain sifts through when information comes via our five senses. Our brain is bombarded with so much information that it will delete, distort and generalise all that input and form an idea of what it all means – this also creates our belief systems and plays a large part in our perception, self-talk and level of happiness. Positive self-talk is essential for success and happiness. We judge other people and ourselves by the messages we receive and the perspectives we take on as ours. She’s so "tall/short/fat/skinny" or I’m so "stupid/kind/fat/amazing" etc. These are all labels that become our inner voice – our inner self-talk. What labels do you use for yourself or others? Have you ever stopped to hear the thoughts in your head? Have you stopped to see the images your mind creates? Most people I work with are either not aware of their pictures or thoughts or they can’t stop that constant chatter in...

In the first of two articles outlining the speeches given at the Friends of Wanstead Parklands' AGM last month, Richard Arnopp recounts the words of the City of London’s Director of Open Spaces Colin Buttery Colin Buttery explained how his department’s remit involved managing the protection and conservation of the City of London Corporation’s green spaces in London and South East England. Among many others, these include Hampstead Heath and the ancient woodland of Epping Forest. Mr Buttery said that the City of London had acquired several large open spaces by Acts of Parliament during the 1870s and 1880s. These had been vested in the City’s care on account of its long-standing record as a focus of charitable activities. Epping Forest had been acquired in 1878 and, in common with the other open spaces, had since been funded by the City using the interest from assets invested in the 19th century. In recent years, the budgets of charities supported by the City of London have been under financial pressure, with a need to deliver efficiencies. Funding granted by the City has reduced by about 25% in the last six years, but self-generated income has increased to help maintain the Forest. Mr...

To mark Women’s History Month, an Eastside Community Heritage exhibition at Wanstead Library will uncover the stories of local women inventors this March. Judith Garfield reports The world of invention and enterprise has been male-dominated throughout history and the lives and creations of female inventors have frequently been overlooked, glossed over and ignored. Women have consistently had their contributions swept under the rug and hidden in the background while their male counterparts have stood in the foreground as standalone pioneers. Women from east London who were behind four revolutionary innovations – which changed the way we eat, dress, love and find our way home – have now had their stories discovered in our new exhibition. One such story was that of Phyllis Pearsall, who invented the A-Z street map in 1936. The creation and publication of the A-Z was revolutionary in a time before GPS and satellite navigation. In the same year, Phyllis received her first large order for The A-Z Street Guide from WHSmith for over a thousand copies, but she had some difficulties along the way. With little support, she had to buy a wheelbarrow to take them to WHSmith herself and distribute them. Many times, you find...

Join historian Nick Dobson on a trip back to 1950s London at Wanstead Library this month and discover a decade during which wartime austerity gave way to growing optimism It is tempting to look at the 1950s as the dull decade bracketed by the battlefield of the forties and carnival of the sixties. If the London of the 1960s is in glorious psychedelic colour, then surely the fifties remain in drab black and white? However, the decade which started in austerity ended with Harold Macmillan telling us we had never had it so good! It was a decade of steady progress towards new confidence and prosperity; a march towards modern Britain, seen with greatest clarity in London. At the start of the fifties, the average weekly wage for a man was £9-5s-11d, but meat cost an average of 2/- per pound, butter 4/- per pound and tea 2/6d a pound. All of these items were still rationed in those days. Food rationing ended in Britain by 4 July 1954. A packet of cigarettes cost 3/6d and around 80% of adults in London were smokers. There were some landmark events that took place in London in the 1950s. The South Bank...

Rising at Molehill Green in Essex, the River Roding passes through the Wanstead and Woodford area en route to the Thames, bringing with it a very real flood risk to local homes. In the first of a series of articles charting the ideas and hopes of the River Roding Project – which aims to reduce that risk – Laura Hepworth from the Environment Agency is keen to seek community support for the project. Photography by Geoff Wilkinson The River Roding has a long history of flooding. Flood events have been recorded since 1926, occurring in 1939, 1947, 1974, 1988, 1993, 2000 and 2007. In 2000, over 400 properties flooded in Woodford. Charlie Brown’s Roundabout was shut for over a week, impacting access to schools and supermarkets. Broadmead Baptist Church on Chigwell Road was out of use for 18 months. Do you remember the floods? We would like to hear from residents who have been impacted. There are currently over 1,500 properties with a ‘high’ chance of flooding within the River Roding catchment between Stansted and the River Thames. In the next few editions of the Wanstead Village Directory, we will be telling you different ways you can prepare for flooding. First up,...

With a new shop to open in Wanstead this month, Saint Francis Hospice will raise its profile in the area. But the service provided by the Havering-based charity has always been here for us, says Amanda Green. This time two years ago Saint Francis Hospice entered my life as my mum entered Saint Francis Hospice. It was life-changing on many levels. Mostly, of course, because my beloved mum was dying and went into Saint Francis to receive end-of-life care. But it was also life-changing because once I and my family experienced what a hospice does, and in particular the care which Mum received, there was no way we couldn't feel anything but compelled to support the charity by raising funds and awareness. For me, this awareness takes on two forms. General awareness about the differences between a hospital and a hospice as well as awareness that Saint Francis Hospice in Havering-atte-Bower serves the whole of the borough of Redbridge as well as other areas. It has an 18-bed, in-patient unit as well as Hospice at Home, which provides palliative care to Redbridge residents. Saint Francis serves to maintain life for those with life-limiting illnesses and give the most comfortable and...

Before the internet, boredom was something to be feared. Today, experts are wondering whether it is good for us. Wanstead resident Steve Wilks examines why this may be the case. Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard thought it was the root of all evil. Writer Mary Renault considered it intellectual defeat. French sociologist Jean Baudrillard declared it the world's second-worst crime. But where boredom might once have been something to fear, today we are never truly bored. In our era of non-stop notifications, how can we be? According to a survey, the average Brit checks their smartphone 28 times a day – at least once per hour. That's more that 10,000 times a year. "Those little spaces of 'no work', like walking through a park, are disappearing," says Tom Hodgkinson, founder of cult journal The Idler, which advocates a slower-paced approach to life. "You can now work while walking to work. By contrast, you have to make a special effort to create situations for idleness." Psychology writer Oliver Burkeman states: "The reason patience and stillness are so important right now is that the whole direction of culture is the opposite. You'd think we should be able to relax – we've got technology...

Independent local travel advisor Jack Leaf offers an overview of his recent luxury cruise around Cuba, which allowed him to tick off a music-related travel ambition. Whilst cruising between the Spanish colonial cities of Trinidad in Cuba and Cartagena in Columbia, it struck me that I should be writing about MV Silver Cloud and the Silversea expedition cruise I am currently enjoying. I have long wanted to visit Cuba but the rumours of food scarcity and poor quality deterred me, until I heard about this cruise itinerary. Silversea is one of the finest international cruise lines, so one is assured of a high standard of accommodation and cuisine on relatively small ships (300 to 400 passengers) and their expedition cruises include a full itinerary of shore excursions, interspersed with on-board lectures and an absence of on-board formal entertainment. The cruise was scheduled to depart from Nassau in the Bahamas, but I flew first to Miami to adjust, following the transatlantic flight with three nights in one of my favourite cities. A one-hour flight from there to Nassau and a 30-minute onward journey by road to the seaport enabled an unexpected and rapid highlights tour of Downtown Nassau. After a day...

Wanstead resident Peter Luscombe and other members of the Essex Art Club will be exhibiting their work at the Barbican Library this month. Here, Peter explains how his training as an architect led to a lifelong hobby

Gemma and Sandy Sanderson have created their own self-sustainable oasis at the Redbridge Lane West allotments. Paul Donovan, a member of the Wanstead Transition Initiative, meets them