In the first of a series of articles looking at historic photos of the local area found in a 100-year-old family album, historian Richard Arnopp  presents a selection of images of Wanstead Park Since 2007, I’ve been involved in the campaign to raise public awareness of Wanstead Park, an important and historic open space. I’ve also been an active researcher into various aspects of the park’s history, to inform the development of plans for the future by shedding light on its past. One of my projects has been to build up a collection of historic images of Wanstead Park, Bush Wood and Wanstead Flats. In 2017, I acquired an album of photographs taken by members of the Hobbs family, some of whom lived locally. The album is dated 1896–1907 on the cover. There are just over 100 photos, of which at least seven are of...

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 seventh of a series of articles, Nina Garner from the Environment Agency reports on the River Roding Project, which aims to reduce that risk. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson On Saturday 21 December 2019, the Environment Agency issued flood alerts and warnings along the River Roding due to heavy rainfall. These informed local residents of a risk of flooding and covered areas including Woodford, Ilford, Barking, Loughton and East Ham. Although no properties were flooded in 2019, the river peaked at 7am on 21 December, reaching 1.83m. This river level reached was the highest on record since the 2000 floods. The 2000 floods caused widespread disruption to major roads across Redbridge and approximately...

Parents with too many children’s clothes and toys will have the chance to sell them to other local parents at NCT Redbridge’s nearly new sale at Christ Church hall on 25 April. Stallholders keep 70% of their sale prices, with the rest supporting the charity’s work. Seller registration opens to the general public on 9 March (cost: £5). “Keep an eye on our Facebook page so you don’t miss out when it goes live as seller spaces sold out within 24 hours for our November sale,” said a spokesperson. Visit wnstd.com/nct25april...

Members of the Wanstead, Woodford and Barkingside Marie Curie Fundraising Group have reached their £100,000 target. Jill Playford thanks local supporters and explains how the money will be used A celebration was held in February to thank all supporters and collectors who helped us to raise the fantastic amount of £100,000 over the last few years, paying for 5,000 Marie Curie nursing hours. We get wonderful support from our local communities with local businesses donating raffle prizes, Wanstead High School donating the proceeds from their annual charity cross country run, Wanstead House holding cake and coffee mornings to raise money and students from Forest School helping out at our Great Daffodil Appeal collections. The group was formed in June 2013 with four members who had all been local supporters of the Marie Curie charity. The initial aim of the group was to raise awareness of the...

Before being diagnosed with cancer in 2016, Wanstead Business Network member Lucy Howe ran a wellness clinic in South Woodford. Now in remission, she is keen to help others again Being told you have cancer is one of the scariest things you can ever hear. I know, because I’ve heard the words: “You have cancer.” That was the day the world fell out of my bottom! Being diagnosed with cancer four years ago shocked me to the core, but made me realise the environment of my body was out of balance and I was being warned something needed to be done. What can cause cancer? Is it the toxicity around us or is it stress-related from a busy lifestyle? Who knows? Making choices to reduce the toxicity in your life, starting with the food you eat, targeted organic supplements and only using good quality organic skincare...

Leytonstone and Wanstead Synagogue invite those interested in Jewish culture to celebrate Purim on 9 March. “Purim is a festival marking the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from extermination 2,500 years ago… People eat triangular-shaped cakes filled with poppy seeds (Hamantashen), give each other small gifts of fruit and sweets and donate to charity. It is a really happy day!” said Martin Gaba. Celebrations will take place at 2 Fillebrook Road, Leytonstone from 6.30pm, followed by a party with live music. Call 07434 631 948...

Historian and author Diane Atkinson – whose latest book has become the definitive history of the suffragettes – will be discussing some ‘remarkable lives’ at Wanstead Library this March I’m really looking forward to coming to Wanstead Library to talk about my latest book, Rise Up Women! The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes. It is a collective biography of 200 women – there were thousands more – who worked so hard and sacrificed so much for women’s suffrage. Women from all social class backgrounds, all ages, all parts of the United Kingdom and all life experiences ‘came out’ as suffragettes, many of them leaving their previous lives behind forever. For many years, the suffragettes were written out of the story of women getting the vote, or dismissed as self-interested, middle-class hobbyists, but nothing could be further from the truth. In 1907, a woollen weaver from...

In the 22nd of a series of articles, David Bird discusses the work of Redbridge Music Society and introduces violinist Henry Chandler and pianist John Paul Ekins, who will perform in Wanstead this month edbridge Music Society continues its current programme of bringing high quality musical events to the borough with a recital given by prizewinning young musicians Henry Chandler and John Paul Ekins, who will perform music by Beethoven, Schubert and César Franck. Although still in his twenties, Henry Chandler has already performed under famous conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Leif Segerstam and Sir Roger Norrington and has played with prestigious orchestras, including the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, English National Opera, Oxford Philomusica and European Union Chamber orchestras. He has also appeared in a masterclass with world-renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov. Before going to university, Henry studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM) Junior Department, where he...

Colin Spence runs dog training classes in Snaresbrook and has been working with man’s best friend – and their owners – for 23 years. Here, he explains how much exercise a puppy needs This is a much-talked-about topic and a conversation I have with new puppy owners on a daily basis, as many are not sure how much physical exercise their very young puppy should get. Well, let’s take a look at this and what we trainers and behaviour practitioners believe in how much is too much and how much is just right and why. Once we get our eight-week-old puppy home, for the first few hours or first few days, they will be getting used to their new environment, moving around the home, investigating everything. As the hours and days go by, puppies get more energetic, and roughly around the 16-week mark, will have...

In the first of a series of articles by Refugee Welcome Wanstead – a community group planning to welcome a Syrian refugee family to Wanstead – Eleanor Taylor explains how local residents can help I’m sure you will recall the dreadful scenes in the news in recent years of buildings flattened, people killed or injured and families torn apart as a result of the war in Syria. For eight years, the war has raged, creating the world’s largest refugee crisis, and forcing people into camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Life in these refugee camps is precarious, and most families dream of being able to settle down somewhere to start afresh and rebuild their lives. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed when we see these stories, to feel there’s nothing we can do to help. The events are happening so far away, and we don’t make the...

Marian Temple of the Wanstead Community Gardeners tells the stories behind two blooming stars of Wanstead and how these horticultural happenings came to be Garrya elliptica: now in catkin flower around Wanstead Station. A few years ago, someone said to me: “It’s a pity about the Garrya elliptica at the station. We never see the catkins.” My ears pricked up. I had only just found out about Garrya elliptica a few weeks previously when I’d seen them at Anglesey Abbey’s winter garden and been transfixed by the curtains of hanging catkins. Did we really have such things skulking around Wanstead Station and not performing? Yes, we did! Lots of them but the contractors pruned them every autumn, cutting off the developing catkins. Of course, we never saw them. We contacted the Redbridge Council department to get the time of pruning changed with mixed results, sometimes a show...

The City of London Corporation is considering new proposals to host large-scale events at Wanstead Flats, Warlies Park and Chingford Plain. A similar plan was ditched last year following a community campaign and fears over the Flats’ fragile habitat, which is home to ground-nesting skylarks. “These proposals will be discussed by members at the Epping Forest and Commons Committee in March and a decision made in due course,” said a spokesperson. Income from any events would be used to help maintain Epping Forest....