A botanical spectacle in an Aldersbrook front garden has been the cause of much excitement, says Alice Batsford, proud owner of the Aldersbrook Agave My husband, son and I (and now joined by our newborn daughter) moved to Aldersbrook just over a year ago, and the garden was one of the first things that caught our attention. The people who lived here before us were very green-fingered, especially when it came to growing more unusual, tropical plants.  The Agave in the front garden was impressive back then, but over the last few months has become a real spectacle in the area. Over the course of a week, it suddenly sprouted a spear and since then has grown progressively taller, now standing almost as high as the house with some large yellow flower heads.  Agaves are usually found in North and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Given the...

A charity that protects London’s countryside is asking local residents to help identify new woodland planting sites across Redbridge

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to pay for HACAN East’s legal costs as it prepares to fight London City Airport’s expansion plans

Wanstead High School PTA has launched a campaign to raise £500,000 in order to improve the school

Liz Martins from the Save Our Wanstead Youth Centre campaign group welcomes the council’s new plans for the venue’s future, but explains why their work is far from over

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Jas Athwal, explains the decision to convert Wanstead Youth Centre into an education and youth hub, and why it must temporarily close in order to do so  

Woodford Green dental practice Improve Your Smile will be hosting a launch event of Rejuveo Aesthetics on 30 September

Redbridge Council has issued a statement following activity by workmen at Royston Gardens

Chainsaw artist Marshall Lambert has created three new wood carvings for the play area in Wanstead Park, a place he used to visit as a child. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson I was born in the East End some 60-odd years ago, and as an urban kid, I found the parks and green spaces I fell in love with offered an entirely different playground to my usual surroundings. Many years later, just as the new millennium dawned, I found myself mooching around Hainault Forest and happened across a guy carving the woodhenge that was to be placed around the forest for people to find as they explored the woods. He had started the project carving the life cycle of a frog, and although it was rough cut and nowhere near finished, I was very impressed with his work. In conversation with the artist, he suggested I could...

Madeline Wong is an artist from Hong Kong now living in Wanstead and applying her passion for painting old buildings to the landmarks she is discovering here

Derek Inkpin from local solicitors Axiom DWFM takes the law seriously, but even he knows sometimes the law can be an ass… especially if you get a bit tipsy in a pub

Wren Wildlife Group member Nick Croft shares his experience of breathing life back into Cat and Dog Pond on Wanstead Flats. Additional words by Tony Morrison. Photo by Mary Holden