The new 4,200-square-metre building will span three blocks, housing a 25-metre swimming pool, dance studios, a commercial kitchen and new classrooms for Wanstead High School. “We recognise that delays during complex construction projects can be frustrating,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.
Building work on the £20m project began in 2022.
The London University as it looked in 1829
Source: Charles Walter Radclyffe, London University College, UCL Art MuseumBy the 1820s, London had become the largest city in the world with over a million inhabitants. Unlike most other European capital cities, however, it had no university.
Access to England’s two universities, Oxford and Cambridge, was restricted to members of the Church of England, and the high cost of study meant they were accessible only by the very wealthy. Anyone of any other faith – at the time, England’s main religious minorities included Jews, Roman Catholics and Non-Conformists such as Quakers, Baptists and Methodists – was barred from higher education. The foundation of London’s first university in Bloomsbury in February 1826 is therefore an important moment for the capital. However, most general histories of London tend to neglect education, and research has overlooked the distinctive culture forged by a new type of higher education student. This new book tells the story of students in the capital over 200 years.
The self-styled London University offered non-residential, affordable education to the sons of middle-class professionals. There were no religious tests and the curriculum was much broader than at the ancient universities, including medicine, science, modern foreign languages and humanities. This was a radical step in the 1820s and the institution faced backlash from the establishment and a hostile press. The Tory newspaper John Bull repeatedly mocked what it called the “Cockney college”. At first denied a royal charter, the university could not offer degrees until 1836, when the government created the University of London as an examining body and the original institution changed its name to University College London.
What did the arrival of the London University mean for Wanstead and Woodford? For students from non-Anglican homes, particularly the area’s significant Quaker community, it certainly offered new opportunities. The modest fees and the flexibility of the curriculum meant boys and men (and they were only men until experiments with admitting women in the late 1860s) who were already working in a profession were able to study part-time. Around half of the first students came from homes in London or surrounding counties, including Essex, though Wanstead and Woodford were too far for daily commuting at this date. Walking was still the main mode of transport for most students when the university opened, so those living further afield took lodgings in Bloomsbury.
London’s public transport system developed rapidly during the mid-19th century, with horse-drawn omnibus routes and the Eastern Counties Railway improving connections to the east of the capital. By the 1880s, landladies in Wanstead were advertising convenient lodgings for students at the university.
Although facilities at the London University were basic in the early years, students took advantage of the capital’s museums and exhibitions. There were relatively few theatres and no music halls of the sort that were to flourish later, though taverns provided musical entertainment, and students living in lodgings enjoyed hosting their friends to simple meals. Boating on the river, cricket, the racquet sport of ‘fives’, ice skating and bathing were all popular among students. From the first session, students formed a range of debating and discussion societies, allowing them to engage in the reformist politics of the 1830s and 1840s. Yet London life could be lonely and overwhelming, as is clear from student recollections across two centuries, and for many from semi-rural homes, the bricks and mortar of Bloomsbury proved a shock.
Although it took decades to become fully established, the London University was to flourish. Students were unconstrained by religious tests and under only limited supervision, with unparalleled opportunities to invent their own traditions. Writing of the 1840s, one author suggested London was “at that time a much more awakening place of education for young men than almost any Oxford college.”
Student London: A New History of Higher Education in the Capital by Georgina Brewis and Sam Blaxland is published with open access by UCL Press. For more information, visit wnstd.com/student
Homes on Dover Road are among those that could be reclassified. ©2025 Google“I’m happy to support constituents where an administrative issue is creating confusion or practical problems… I’ve agreed to engage with Royal Mail to explore whether the concerns raised about address locality can be resolved,” said the Leyton and Wanstead MP.
Royal Mail has confirmed the proposals – subject to a formal consultation – will affect 1,281 addresses in Aldersbrook that have an E12 postcode.
Several years ago, I found myself looking for an outlet for my creativity. I came across an advert for a watercolour class in Wanstead, run by Brenda. I decided to find out more and it proved to be a great decision. Brenda is a fabulous artist and teacher with a warm and enthusiastic personality. The classes were not only fulfilling artistically but also socially. I met more aspiring artists, many of whom I am still in contact with, both locally and online.
It was here Laura and I crossed paths for the first time as watercolour newbies, and she has become a great friend over the years. We still attend Brenda’s workshops together, but we also travel far and wide. You can often find us on Chingford Plain, at Connaught Waters or in Epping Forest with our sketchbooks and paints. We also spend many hours in Wanstead Park sketching and painting the sky, the forest, the Temple and, of course, the bluebells of Chalet Wood when they are in bloom. Our flats are full of watercolour, acrylic, ink and crayon images. We always contribute to the art exhibition at the Wanstead Festival with Art Group Wanstead and take part in many of the pop-up exhibitions they organise.
Brenda, Laura and I now want to start our own community event. Once every three months, we would like to encourage local artists to come together and stage an exhibition of original artwork. This will not be a sales exhibition but an opportunity for the community to meet the artists over a coffee or tea and connect over a mutual enjoyment of the arts. With The George and Dragon kindly offering us a space to meet, and The Stow Brothers generously offering to help with the advertising, we hope this can become a regular event. There are so many creative people in Wanstead – painters, potters, mosaicists and sculptors – and we want to celebrate them and their work with you all.
The first Cup of Art exhibition will take place in The George and Dragon on 4 February from 12 noon to 4pm. For more information, email mbbcraft@gmail.com
The site hoardings have been subject to graffiti since installation last spring“The hoardings could offer a canvas to reflect Wanstead’s character, creativity and community spirit throughout the construction period,” said local resident Bronagh Byrne, who is coordinating the initiative. “I contacted Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association [the developers] last November and they have been supportive and open to working with the community on this idea. The project is still at an early, exploratory stage and I’d love to hear from local residents, groups and organisations who might be interested in getting involved.”
A four-storey development, including a children’s nursery and 24 flats, is being built on the site. The work is expected to be completed by late 2027.
Call 07906 541 789 or email brobyrne@hotmail.com
As publicity officer of the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, I’ve felt privileged to share stories in this series about how photography connects us with our community. In earlier articles, I explored how images can celebrate local heritage and inspire creativity within our club. In this article, I highlight a passion that has personally brought me both joy and purpose: volunteering my photography skills at two remarkable dog shelters, Love Underdogs and All Dogs Matter.
Love Underdogs began after witnessing the harsh conditions faced by dogs in Romania, inspiring a mission of compassion and change. With the support of UK volunteers and Romanian partners, they’ve given countless dogs a second chance, turning despair into hope. Their team provides veterinary care, behavioural support and lifelong rescue backup, ensuring every dog has the best chance of finding a loving home.
All Dogs Matter is a dog rescue and rehoming charity working across London to transform the lives of unwanted and abandoned dogs. Guided by care, commitment, collaboration and determination, their team and volunteers ensure every dog, regardless of age or breed, has the chance of a safe and happy forever home.
At its heart, photography is more than documentation; it is an art form that reveals emotion, character and story. Through light, composition and patience, my objective is to capture portraits that show each dog not simply as an animal in need, but as an individual with personality, resilience and charm. Volunteering in this way has been deeply rewarding. It’s a privilege to use my photography skills to help these underdogs shine, and to support shelters that believe, as I do, that all dogs matter.
If this series has inspired you with the power of photography, why not join the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society? Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned photographer, we offer a welcoming space to learn, share and make a difference through images.
For more information on the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, visit wnstd.com/wwps
Once upon a time, some 30-plus years ago, there was a philosophy lecturer who decided he wanted to learn to play drums. He started playing in the 70/80s blues/rock genre, but always wanted to play jazz, so he signed up for lessons. After a lot of hard work, he had the confidence to play in public.
The next move was to find a way of playing club dates, but he had trouble getting gigs with existing bands. He took a crazy leap of faith and organised a ‘club’ of his own; a room at the Heathcote Pub in Leytonstone to play with friends and colleagues, with a hope that people might want to come and listen.
That was Wanstead resident Clive Fenner, who for many years lived in a flat above the ladies dress shop on the High Street. He started his club on a very low budget with his own drums and a piano with a German-sounding name that was actually made in China, but the musicians he brought built that gig in the Heathcote into a popular local event. Until, so the story goes, the pub decided his patrons were too interested in the music and not spending enough money at the bar! So, he moved to a larger room at The Lord Rookwood pub by Wanstead Flats, and East Side Jazz Club became a regular Tuesday night gig there for over 10 years. Many Wanstead residents, fans from the Essex fringes and beyond came to see great musicians play to a live audience.
Clive was a hustler and persuaded some of the best musicians in the field to play with him, as long as he could always be on drums. Most famously that included local superstar Kenny Wheeler, a world-class flugelhorn player.
After several years of successful gigs, The Lord Rookwood closed down in dubious circumstances; padlocked, with the piano inside, requiring a cleverly mounted expedition to rescue it. Clive eventually settled on a new venue, the Ex-Servicemen’s Club (now The Social) on Harvey Road, Leytonstone, and it has since grown to be a well-respected venue on the London jazz scene.
When Clive sadly died some four years ago from prostate cancer, a group of his friends decided the club couldn’t die with him, and East Side Jazz is now more active than ever. It will be part of the London Jazz Festival this year, booking top UK and European players, plus young musicians starting their careers, every Tuesday night. That old Chinese piano has been replaced by a beautiful Yamaha that sounds great every time it is rolled out. In 2026, the club will be hosting musicians at the top of the UK jazz list, including Tony Kofi, Zoe Rahman, John Etheridge and many others.
Getting to the club from Wanstead is very straightforward, just a single stop away on the Central Line or 100 yards from the W13 bus stop on Harvey Road.
For more information on East Side Jazz Club events, visit wnstd.com/jazz
The London Borough of Redbridge is proud to be recognised as part of the Tree Cities of the World for the fifth consecutive year, with over 40,000 council-maintained trees and 128 hectares of woodland forming a vital part of our green urban landscape.
On 19 January, join Wanstead Climate Action at Wanstead House to hear from Redbridge Council’s arboricultural team for an important presentation and discussion on how we care for these trees and explore the feasibility of a pesticide-free future.
Redbridge’s arboricultural team inspects council trees on a three-year cycle to ensure their safety and health and to consider pruning works. This includes pollarding, a traditional pruning method that helps maintain large species within urban spaces and is carried out on a two- to six-year rotation.
However, some trees die due to disease, structural weakness or environmental stress. As part of our discussion at Wanstead Climate Action, we’ll be talking about tree survival, reasons for losses, tree planting and how local people can also help to improve outcomes.
The arboricultural team also manages weed maintenance. Currently, highway weeds are managed through four annual herbicide treatments. Although effective, chemical weed spraying has raised environmental concerns, prompting a 50% reduction in herbicide use in Redbridge in the last 15 years. Innovative schemes such as Pollinator Pathways have also helped further reduce herbicide use. Under the scheme, neighbours can join together to adopt tree pits on their street, eliminating the need for chemical weed spraying on their street entirely. This is just one example of how residents can play a vital role in tree care. Our newly planted street trees also carry blue labels inviting neighbours to water them. These simple actions help young trees thrive and help boost biodiversity in our borough.
Redbridge has planted over 50,000 new trees in the past six years, with a further 6,000 planned this winter. These trees are critical for climate resilience and biodiversity. They absorb carbon, reduce urban heat, improve air quality and create habitats for pollinators and wildlife, helping us meet canopy cover and sustainability goals.
The borough is also home to remarkable heritage trees, including the veteran Sweet Chestnuts on George Green as shown here, a living link to Wanstead’s history and a symbol of resilience. Preserving such trees is as important as planting new ones, so join me at Wanstead Climate Action’s January meeting to find out more about the importance of our trees and what we can do together to help protect them.
Peter’s presentation will take place on 19 January from 7.30pm at Wanstead House, 21 The Green, E11 2NT. For more information, visit wnstd.com/climate
For more information on council trees, adopting a tree pit and Pollinator Pathways, visit wnstd.com/trees
Strong resident engagement and minimal service issues have marked a promising start for the first phase of the food waste collection service, which includes a number of roads in Wanstead.
I’m grateful to residents, as well as the various council teams involved, including RCS who collect the waste, the customer contact centre, business support team, IT and digital and communications. The results have been encouraging. In the first week alone, nine tonnes of food waste were collected, increasing to 10.5 tonnes in the second week, exceeding initial predictions and demonstrating positive uptake across the borough in phase one roads. Around two thirds of households in the phase one area have been presenting their containers for collection. The council received a low level of enquiries and any issues raised have been addressed quickly, ensuring residents feel supported.
The food waste is taken to the ReFood site in Dagenham, one of the UK’s most advanced recycling facilities. Here, the waste undergoes anaerobic digestion, a process that converts it into renewable energy and nutrient-rich biofertiliser. The biogas produced is injected directly into the National Grid, generating enough energy to power thousands of homes, while the biofertiliser is used to improve soil health and support food production.
The council will continue monitoring participation and collection tonnage. In January, a survey will be sent to all phase one households to gather feedback. The insights collected will help shape the full roll-out of the service, ensuring it meets the needs of the community and builds on the early success.
Around half of the waste generated by households in Redbridge is food waste. It is hoped that the separate collection will help reduce our waste volumes and increase recycling rates (as the food waste processing is classed as recycling). Experience elsewhere also shows that people reduce their food waste when they separate it out. This should be beneficial for household bills as well as the environment by reducing the impact of both the production of excess food and its processing.
Home-composting is still a great option to turn raw vegetables and fruit into garden compost, and the council continues to encourage residents to do this through reduced priced compost bins. Recognising this can be a challenge for properties without gardens, the council has supported a number of community groups to start communal composting in public spaces and parks, including a site on Wanstead Place next to Christ Church Green.
Our food waste collection service shows a promising start as we plan the further roll-out across the rest of Wanstead and wider borough. This should help us reduce our waste and increase recycling, helping build a more sustainable borough and reduce emissions.
Jo Blackman is Redbridge Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment as well as a councillor for Wanstead Village.
For more information on food waste recycling and collections in Redbridge, visit wnstd.com/foodwaste
Homes on Dover Road are among those that could be reclassified. ©2025 Google“Over the past 18 months, I’ve been working to correct the locality shown for addresses in Aldersbrook that appear as part of Manor Park in Royal Mail’s system. The error has caused real problems, from banks pulling incorrect address data to inconsistencies in identity checks,” said the campaigner, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Boundary evidence has been submitted to Royal Mail using mapping data from Redbridge Council, the Office for National Statistics and Ordnance Survey.
“Royal Mail has accepted the proposal in principle. I now need to secure letters of support from the council, the local chamber of commerce and our MP before they begin a formal consultation.”
If approved, the changes are expected to affect over 2,000 homes across Aldersbrook that have an E12 postcode.
“We’re developing a new Borough Vision, which is a shared direction for how we want our borough to look and feel in the future. This vision will guide every major decision, investment and service improvement, acting as a ‘golden thread’ that connects long-term aspirations with everyday operations of the council. Please complete our survey and help create a thriving borough,” said a spokesperson.V
isit wnstd.com/bvision
Do you have any family Christmas traditions? Lots of families do, of course. Often, these things are a kind of unwritten expectation of family life; they get passed down generations and they make each family just that little bit unique.
My grandmother would always make and ice a Christmas cake, replete with marzipan, of course. It would then be decorated with a little lake of silver foil, besides which would be placed the same decorations, amassed over the last 70 years or so: a plastic fir tree, a little church scene and an oversized, slightly menacing-looking robin, which always seemed poised to devour a rather smaller-scale Father Christmas along with his sleigh and reindeer. All of this would be fenced in with delicately piped blobs of lurid green icing, finished with those edible silver baubles that sit unloved for most of the year, next to the vanilla essence and bicarbonate of soda in the ‘miscellaneous’ drawer in the kitchen, awaiting their time to shine come December. In more recent years, my uncle has taken over the tradition and, of course, this cake would not be the same were it not for the decorations that everyone in our family remarks upon every year.
Perhaps we’re quite a boring family to delight in such a mundane tradition, but I doubt we’re alone. These apparently little things keep us grounded with what has gone before. They provide a link to those whom we love and no longer see and give a strangely dual sense of timelessness and seasonal rhythm we humans seem to like. ‘Tradition’ gets knocked about and dismissed in the name of progress quite a bit in our world, but you know, there’s something to be said for it. There can be a real emptiness when we lose it, because to lose it is to lose a sense of the love of someone else.
Of course, not everyone is blessed with happy memories of family time at Christmas. It can often be a time of arguments and sadly, reports of domestic violence tend to peak at the end of December, too. For some, it is an intensely lonely time. Those are traditions we could all do without perpetuating, and if you think you will be on your own on Christmas Day, please do sign up for our free Christmas lunch in the parish halls instead.
Yet, for all of us, this time of year can be a good excuse to carry on the good traditions of the past – to give not just gifts of ever-more ‘stuff’, but to help spread the joy of the season to new generations. Those of us who enjoyed the traditions of Christmas past must now be the tradition-makers for those younger than us.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the Christ child at Christmas. Jesus is the one part of Christmas that we Christians believe to be more than just a tradition, but instead, the living source of hope, love and redemption. Whatever your beliefs or traditions, I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
To contact Reverend James Gilder, email office@parishofwanstead.org