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Redbridge Council is considering the future of Wanstead Youth Centre, which it claims is in need of over £2.4m of refurbishments.

A campaign to save the Elmcroft Avenue site and register it as an asset of community value has been launched.

“This is a vital facility and there is simply nowhere to relocate all the groups that meet there. We reject the council’s claim that the venue is no longer fit for purpose; the flooring and lighting have only recently been improved,” said a campaign spokesperson.

A consultation on the future use of Wanstead Youth Centre runs until 13 March.

Visit wnstd.com/wyc

A new map has been released locating all the Tin in a Bin foodbank collection points.

“We now stretch to Newbury Park in the east, Forest Gate in the south and Woodford in the north. We are always looking for more collectors, so if you live in a road or area not already covered on the map and would like to join our 50-plus network, please let us know,” said James Paterson.

Current foodbank requirements include tinned food, rice, pasta, pasta sauces, jams, peanut butter, cereals and long-life milk.

Visit wnstd.com/tinabsites

Art Group Wanstead member Stella de la Sauce presents her leaf poetry artwork, which makes a statement about human language and existence

The poet RM Rilke said: “If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.“ One could argue Homo sapiens have risen. Humankind’s ingenuity has allowed us to shelter ourselves from the inhospitable sides of nature, but the unkind and destructive way in which we dominate the natural world has come at a cost. We have removed ourselves so far that we have started to regard ourselves as distinct from that of which we are ultimately a part. While we may appear to stand tall, without roots to ground us, will we eventually fall? 

I have always been fascinated by this dichotomy of the human existence and when, after a first career as a dancer, I embarked on a new creative career as a visual artist, it was this fascination that inspired my work. Nature’s resilience, the implications of our lost connection to nature and what it would take to reconnect are reoccurring themes in my art.

We don’t get wet in the rain.
We have umbrellas.
We don’t get mud between our toes.
We have shoes.
We don’t feel the storm.
We have houses.
We don’t smell the grass.
We have a job.
We don’t hug trees.
We have a life.
We have…
Lost, so much.

When I wrote this poem and typed it directly onto leaves, it was to create a symbol of the missing dialogue between us and nature, wondering if the very language that humans tend to regard as the most sophisticated form of communication around, may, in fact, be a barrier when it comes to connecting with the natural world. Since nature doesn’t speak to us on our terms, do we fail to even make an effort to understand?

Having recently joined Art Group Wanstead, tirelessly run by the fabulous Donna Mizzi, I have had the wonderful opportunity to show, amongst other works, the piece Leaf Poetry: Lost at the Wanstead Festival and at The Stow Brothers. I have been able to experience first-hand how supportive Wanstead and the Wanstead Village Directory are of their local arts community. The openness with which locals have engaged with my work has been a huge pleasure. I am looking forward to many more future conversations about art and nature with the lovely people of Wanstead.

To view more of Stella’s work, visit sdls.gallery. For more information on Art Group Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/art

Redbridge Museum will open a new permanent exhibition in spring 2023 exploring 200,000 years of local history. In the 11th of a series of articles, Museum Officer Nishat Alam looks at some of the items on show

Happy New Year from Redbridge Museum! While we remained closed in 2022, it was a very busy year for our team. We spent time meeting with local people and collecting more stories, writing text labels and panels, and working with designers to come up with some brand-new displays telling the story of the people, places and events that make up Redbridge’s history.

Through this column, I’ve explored various themes that will feature in the new museum, from Wanstead’s Roman past and local women’s history to the difficult stories surrounding historic figures and houses in the Woodford area. While it seems as though I may have covered nearly all of Redbridge’s history in the past year, there’s still plenty I haven’t mentioned. Some of the new displays to look forward to are a new and bigger early history section, a Mini Museum for under-5s and a new roomset featuring one of the most unique objects in our collection: a 1970s Keracolor ‘Space Age’ television, pictured here.

The museum redevelopment wasn’t the only thing we were working on in 2022, of course. We opened our Asian Roots in Redbridge exhibition in April, celebrating the history of South Asian life in Redbridge, and Royal Redbridge to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in May. In June, we worked with an app developer to create an exciting augmented reality experience with a Victorian mangle from our collection, combining history and technology for Redbridge Central Library’s Tech Ilford festival.

A personal highlight for me was People Powered, a major project in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. In the summer, we held workshops with local young people and acclaimed photographer Eddie Otchere, exploring photography and the history of Ilford Limited, the world-famous photographic company. The project ended with the Ilford Limited: Analogue Stories exhibition, which opened in December and remains on show until March 2023.

Schools and families can also continue to enjoy Redbridge Museum programmes while we’re closed. Teachers across the borough can still book our popular education sessions for their year groups, taking place online or in the classroom. And anyone with children to entertain can view and download a variety of Museum from Home activities from our website. 

The good news is we don’t have too long left to go! The new Redbridge Museum, complete with old and new stories about the borough’s past, will reopen this spring. We hope that Wanstead and Woodford residents will join us to celebrate this new chapter.

For more information on Redbridge Museum and to complete a survey about the new displays, visit wnstd.com/rm

This time of year, many people set self-improvement goals. But what about your business? Here, Wanstead resident and business coach Rachel Jarvis offers some guidance for New Year business resolutions

The holiday period is the perfect time to step back and plan activities to grow your business. Here are my top reasons why you should set goals to improve your business as well as yourself.

Set direction
Goals are the milestones towards your bigger vision and provide a clear roadmap to your final destination. Setting goals in all areas of your business clarifies what you are aiming for and the time frames. Once you have defined your business goals, the natural next step is to work out how you are going to achieve them. Breaking each goal down into actionable steps, and identifying who will do it and when, forms your business plan.

Prioritise time
I often hear small business owners complain they are ridiculously busy but don’t feel they are achieving anything. Unless you have a clear idea of where your efforts should be focused, it’s easy to waste your time. Having defined goals and a detailed plan focuses you on goal-relevant tasks and helps avoid unnecessary distractions. 

Aid decision-making
Having business goals and a plan also helps you make difficult decisions. Maybe you’re unsure whether to invest more time or money in a particular area of the business, hire a new recruit or develop a new product or service. Identifying your overall business goals for the next year will help in making those decisions. 

Motivate you and your team
Completing every goal, big or small, is a win and that makes achieving goals incredibly motivating for you and your employees. By using goals to shape your business, you allow yourself and your staff to have lots of these victories that keep your business on the right path toward bigger goals.

Create employee engagement
One of the biggest contributors to a lack of engagement is when employees feel like what they’re doing is meaningless. Setting goals improves employee engagement by creating a common purpose and giving employees a sense of ownership over their contributions.

Measure success and track progress
When you have specific key performance indicators, you have a much clearer measure of your success. Having goals in place will enable you to accurately track progress and determine if something needs to change. 

Accountability
Once you set goals, you can break them down to the individual level. This helps maintain accountability, from leadership level all the way down to individual team members. When team members are responsible for their individual goals, it’s easy to gauge how they’re performing and when they need support.

Rachel Jarvis is an ActionCOACH business coach. Visit wnstd.com/actioncoach or call 07711 193 998

Friends of Wanstead Parklands member Richard Arnopp reflects on the avian influenza pandemic and addresses the ongoing debate over the rights and wrongs of feeding our local wild birds at this time. Photo of Eagle Pond by Geoff Wilkinson

Avian influenza (bird flu) has been much in the news in recent months. It belongs to the same family of viruses as human influenza (which also ultimately originated in birds and reached us via domesticated pigs). It can infect human beings but, as it is not an airborne disease, does not spread very readily. 

The roots of the present pandemic go back to 1996, when the highly pathogenic H5N1 variant of the virus was first identified in China. This was the ancestor of the variant which spread west across Eurasia to reach the British Isles in November 2021. While there are many strains that are mild, H5N1 has a high mortality rate in susceptible species. There is no vaccine and no effective treatment.

By June 2022, it was being reported that British seabird colonies had been hit hard, with thousands of birds dying and some important breeding sites being left almost deserted. Locally, bird flu was confirmed in Epping Forest in October, and there have since been dozens of fatalities among geese and swans. Epping Forest, after consultation with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), published advice to the public as soon as bird flu had been confirmed:

• Do not feed wild birds.
• Do not touch dead or sick birds.
• Keep dogs away from wild birds.
• Do not touch wild bird feathers or surfaces contaminated with wild bird droppings.

The request not to feed birds – on the grounds that it encourages flocking – proved controversial, with two local organisations taking opposing positions. The local Swan Rescue group do good work picking up injured swans and geese and arranging for their treatment and rehabilitation. They have been very active during the bird flu outbreak and have encouraged the public to feed birds on the grounds that good nutrition will help them avoid or fend off infection. The Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, on the other hand, with which the Friends of Wanstead Parklands work closely, agree with the official advice not to feed birds at this time.

The Friends take the official position on feeding seriously. The reason we have not hitherto taken a stronger line on social media is twofold. Firstly, at the time of writing, Epping Forest is not actively enforcing its no-feeding advice. So far, the death toll on the Forest’s water bodies has been lower than feared. Until something changes, it has publicised Defra’s advice but is not taking any further steps. Secondly, although the official no-feeding advice makes perfect sense in general terms, we acknowledge the argument that local conditions may justify a different approach. In the more urbanised south of the Forest, birds have come to expect and depend on feeding, and already live in unnatural population densities because of it. This may suggest a pragmatic case for continued feeding in present circumstances. To give a specific example, the many hungry birds on Eagle Pond, off Snaresbrook Road, can only be supported by additional feeding, as natural resources are insufficient. In the short term, there is possible evidence that the extra food supplies are helping some swans to overcome this infection. However, it is too early to claim it as a success as new arrivals attracted by feeding may bring in further infections. 

In principle, the sustained, predictable feeding of wildlife is not a good thing. As well as facilitating the transmission of disease, crowding in response to human intervention has a variety of other undesirable consequences. One is that each breeding pair of swans needs access to a reasonable sized aquatic territory with sufficient natural food to raise a brood successfully. Too small an area may cause territorial battles or prevent some individuals from pairing or successful breeding. Also, swans are large birds which uproot and consume submerged aquatic vegetation. They eat between four and eight pounds of material per day, often uprooting more than they consume. Overpopulation may cause ecological damage and overfeeding may lead to pollution and rat infestations from the dumping of food. 

Of course, the reality is that people like to feed animals and birds, and the wildlife likes to be fed, so trying to stop it is an uphill struggle. In the meantime, the watchword on bird flu is still ‘wait and see’. Ecologists are doing their best to monitor the situation, but data available so far does paint a worrying picture which will only be aggravated by the arrival of more migratory birds from Europe. If Epping Forest concludes that active enforcement of the no-feeding message is required during the bird flu pandemic, we will endorse that, and hope local people will cooperate.

To report dead wild waterfowl to Epping Forest, call 020 8532 1010

For more information on the Friends of Wanstead Park, visit wnstd.com/fwp

Redbridge Council has issued a statement about the delayed construction of Wanstead’s swimming pool:

“It was not possible to progress as planned during the pandemic, something that impacted many other capital projects across London. With the current rising costs of construction nationwide, we’ve had to reprocure to find the most cost-effective way of delivering the new facilities, which we expect to complete in 2024.” The 25m pool will be part of an improved Wanstead Leisure Centre on Redbridge Lane West.

A message from Tin in a Bin:

“A massive thank you to everyone who donated gifts to the Wanstead Christmas Gift Appeal. We would like to give a special mention to the young boy who spent all his pocket money on a present to donate. And thanks to local businesses, especially North London Loft Rooms, who have always supported us. In total, your donations provided 600-plus Christmas gifts for many charities, including Young Carers, Hestia, Mill Grove, Magpie and Alternatives Trust. Thank you, Wanstead!”

Art Group Wanstead member and former teacher Claire Cousins tells the story behind her Nutcracker-inspired festive artwork

Swirling snowflakes, giant, jewel-coloured sweets, a beautiful sugar plum fairy and a proud nutcracker soldier… These are the images conjured up for me when I think of The Nutcracker, the wonderful ballet written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892. I have loved it since I was a child, always being fascinated by the spectacular imagery and the stunning music that transports me to this magical land every time I hear it. I have seen it on stage several times and it is truly captivating. There is certainly nothing better than The Nutcracker to induce that warm, Christmassy feeling!

Of course, nutcrackers were around a long time before the ballet was created and, indeed, the ballet was adapted from Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, written in 1816.

Nutcrackers originated in Germany, and started off as just that, a tool to crack nuts! Over time, they became more ornate until, one day, someone carved a soldier, and the nutcracker as we know it was born. 

Nutcrackers subsequently became a symbol of strength and bravery, believed to ward off evil spirits if placed outside the door and bringing good luck to the homeowner in turn. But it wasn’t until Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet and brought the story to life that they became associated with Christmas and began to adorn homes over the festive period.

I have had a passion for art my whole life, and my loving dad, who was a wonderful artist, encouraged my artistic talent from a young age. I always dreamed of pursuing art in one way or another, but I also wanted to be a primary school teacher and was lucky enough to achieve this. Of course, as a teacher, I was able to indulge my creative side and did so at every available opportunity. I not only taught art as much as I could, but also became the art coordinator and ran an after-school art club, which I loved.

With a busy career and then two gorgeous children coming along, I didn’t get a lot of time to pursue my passion: painting. Then, four years ago, I came out of teaching to become a private tutor, and alongside that, took up painting again, and I’m so glad I did!

When it came to Christmastime, I wanted to create some festive pieces, and it didn’t take long to come up with the idea of painting nutcracker soldiers. Here is the result, with my signature additions of glitter and collage elements, making them that little bit different and unique.

Wishing you all a very peaceful, nutcracker-filled Christmas!

For more information and to view more of Claire’s art, visit wnstd.com/cousins

From finding your stopcock to help with walking your dog, Priti Mistry from Age UK Redbridge, Barking and Havering offers advice on how older people can prepare themselves for the winter season

It is that time of the year again. Winter is upon us and it is starting to get cold. In many homes, the heating has been switched on. However, for some older people who are on a low income, they sadly end up leaving their heating off to make ends meet. Therefore, I want to share some tips that will help us all to get through the colder days and months ahead.

Test your heating
You don’t want to find out your heating isn’t working when you need it most, so it’s a good idea to get your heating system serviced every year in the build-up to winter to make sure it’s running safely and efficiently. Make sure gas heating is serviced by a qualified Gas Safe-registered engineer. If you’re a tenant, your landlord should check your heating system and appliances are safe at least once a year. If you own your home and are on means-tested benefits, you may qualify for a free annual safety check from your gas supplier.

Extra food
Keep some extra food in the cupboard or freezer just in case you can’t get out to the shops. Also, if you’d rather stay indoors, you could do your food shopping online and get it delivered to your doorstep. Age UK Redbridge, Barking and Havering also offer a home support service (paid for) where we can go out and do shopping for you.

Water pipes
Water pipes can freeze and burst, so it’s important to know where your main stopcock is and check it’s easy to turn in case you have to turn the water off. 

Slips and falls
To avoid a slip or a fall, keep a mixture of salt and sand handy to put on steps or paths. 

Dog walking
If you’re worried about walking your dog in icy weather, contact The Cinnamon Trust (call 01736 757 900). They may be able to match you with a dog-walking volunteer in your area.

Keep moving
Not only is staying active essential for your general well-being and fitness, it also generates heat and helps to keep you warm. When you’re indoors, try not to sit still for more than an hour. Get up and wander about, maybe spread out chores throughout the day. Even moving your arms and legs and wiggling your toes can help you keep warm and well.

Money concerns
If you are concerned about your finances, our information and advice service provides support with benefits checks and income maximisation, including tips on reducing bills, debt advice and support accessing grants that may be available to you.

For more information on Age UK Redbridge, Barking and Havering, call 020 8220 6000 or visit wnstd.com/ageuk

Residents gathered on George Green earlier this month for the switching on of Wanstead’s Christmas tree lights. Here, local councillors Jo Blackman, Paul Donovan, Daniel Morgan-Thomas, Sheila Bain and Bayo Alaba reflect on the event. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson 

As councillors, one of the highlights of our year is the annual turning on of the Christmas tree lights on George Green. It is a great opportunity for the community to come together. For us, and many others, it has come to mark the official start of the build-up to Christmas.

The ceremony has grown over the years. We are always grateful to be joined by Wanstead Church School’s choir, and more recently also by Steve Hayden, the popular local milkman. We are also often joined by panto stars from Redbridge Drama Centre, and this year, we had even more special guests, with Father Christmas making an appearance alongside DJ Dapper Elf and Christmas Belles on stilts. 

Whilst festive events are a time to celebrate, they are also often a reminder of those who are no longer with us, in particular those we’ve recently lost, including through the pandemic. And, of course, we now really appreciate these opportunities to gather with friends and neighbours in person more than ever after ceremonies like this were put on hold in recent years. 

We know Christmas can bring financial pressures to the fore and that many will be concerned about their finances with rising inflation and economic uncertainty. The council has mobilised a range of support, and we would encourage those facing pressures to look at the council’s special website which brings together the range of support provided.

We are lucky to have such an active and supportive community in Wanstead, and encourage residents to check on their neighbours throughout the festive season and support the local Tin in a Bin foodbank initiative, as well as other local community projects.

There are some great opportunities to entertain the family in Redbridge this year. The pantomime at the Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford is Aladdin. After a successful first year, the ice rink and Christmas market are returning to Fairlop Waters. And Valentines Mansion is hosting a Victorian Christmas event on 3 and 4 December with a range of craft and festive activities. Wanstead also has a number of local Christmas events, including school Christmas fayres and events hosted by local churches, as well as the Christmas market on the High Street on 17 December.

We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

For support with the cost of living, visit costofliving.redbridge.gov.uk

For more information on Wanstead Village and Wanstead Park councillors. Visit wnstd.com/councillors

The Wren Wildlife Group’s practical work sessions have resumed in Wanstead Park (first Sunday of the month and most Thursdays, from 10am to 12.30pm).

“At the end of September, we cleared scrub on Ornamental Water’s Lincoln Island to expose the wild daffodils and bluebells for next spring. In October, we cleared the banks by the Grotto. This month, we’ll also be working in Chalet Wood and carrying out various other pieces of work as requested by the City of London,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/wren 

The UK’s oldest competitive music and drama festival will be taking place locally in February 2023. Applications are now open for performers of all ages. Sheena Bronson reports

The Stratford and East London Music Festival (SELMF) offers the opportunity to perform and compete in one of the many instrumental, singing, speech and drama classes. The event was founded in 1882 by John Spencer Curwen, making it the UK’s oldest competitive music and drama festival.

With over 70 singing classes alone, there’s sure to be one that appeals – including classical, musical theatre, jazz, a class to perform a song that you have written yourself, popular music and recitals. There are also more than 50 speech and drama classes to choose from for individuals, duets and groups in classes for poetry, acting, storytelling, news reporting and humorous verse.

There are hundreds of classes to compete in, broken down into nine categories: choral singing, orchestra and bands, concerto, instrumental, piano, recorders, solo and ensemble singing and speech and drama.

On the final night of the festival, we hold the Young Musician of the Year competition, which showcases the best young musicians (pianists, vocalists and instrumentalists) aged 11 to 17 who have performed during the event.

Back in 1882, the entry fee for the first festival was 2s 6d (12p) for solo performers, 5s 0d (25p) for quartets and 10s 0d (50p) for choirs. Originally, it was only open to those who lived in Stratford, Leyton, Wanstead, Walthamstow, Woodford, Plaistow, Forest Gate, Canning Town, Victoria Docks and Leytonstone. Now, musicians and actors come to the festival from the local area and beyond to perform and compete in a friendly and supportive environment. As well as enjoying the excitement of competing at the festival, all entrants receive feedback and tips from professional adjudicators, as well as a certificate. Winning entrants often receive a cup and some a cash prize. The best young pianist can win £500.

SELMF is a charitable organisation and exists because of our brilliant team of dedicated volunteers. We would appreciate any additional help you may be able to offer, either with your time or with donations to help towards our running costs. Becoming a Friend of the Festival for just £10 gives you free entry to all the competitions, plus a free programme. Or if you fancy donating a silver trophy for aspiring performers, we would love to hear from you.

The Stratford and East London Music Festival 2023 will take place during February half-term at St Mary’s Church in South Woodford (choirs, orchestras and bands) and at Redbridge Music Service in Hainault (all other music, speech and drama classes). For more information, visit wnstd.com/selmf

At this month’s meeting of the Wanstead Historical Society, Dr John Fisher will give a presentation about James Bradley (1692–1762), a local unsung hero of science who proved the Earth orbits the sun from observations made in Wanstead

After I married my wife in her home village of Sherborne, in the Windrush Valley in the Cotswolds, I soon learned that James Bradley, the third Astronomer Royal, had been raised there, attending Westwood’s Grammar School in nearby Northleach, as did my wife. After buying our house near Wanstead Flats, we discovered Bradley had also lived in Wanstead for many years after leaving Sherborne, being the nephew of James Pound, the rector of Wanstead. This amazing coincidence led me to seek Bradley’s biography, but since a memoir had been published by Stephen Peter Rigaud in 1832, nothing of real note had been written since.

I decided to write a biography of Bradley myself. However, my only acquaintance with the history of science was as an undergraduate of the Open University, so I wrote to an academic in Cambridge. I was met with kindness and support and was helped by some of the country’s leading historians of science. My years of research at Cambridge University Library and the Bodleian Library in Oxford led to working for a Master’s degree at Imperial College, followed by a doctorate on Bradley’s work.

After many years of work, I realised the remarkable achievements of Bradley at Greenwich, Oxford and initially at Wanstead had never been fully recognised. He is one of the great unsung heroes of science. In his own lifetime, he was recognised as the finest astronomer on Earth. After his death in 1762, the then director of the Paris Observatory asserted that Bradley’s discoveries of the aberration of light and of the nutation of the Earth’s axis were the most important astronomical discoveries of the 18th century.

It is easy to understand why Bradley’s achievements have not been widely acknowledged, for his discoveries demand some understanding of astronomical technicalities, but the consequences of his discoveries made in Wanstead in a modest dwelling on the site of the present Co-op were far-reaching. The first, the aberration of light, made in 1728, was the first universally accepted observational evidence of the motion of the Earth. 

Ask most people with any interest in the subject at all who first proved that the Earth revolved around the sun and the answers usually swing between Copernicus and Galileo. In truth, both men conjectured that the Earth moved, and indeed Galileo was put on trial by the Holy Inquisition for asserting it. By the following century, most astronomers believed the Earth revolved around the sun but no one was able to prove it. It was Bradley, working with his suspended telescope at his aunt’s house in Wanstead, who discovered the phenomenon that established once and for all that the Earth did indeed move.

The aberration of light is difficult to explain without using technicalities. Over the years, I have used the expedient of an umbrella to show people how aberration works. Imagine rain falling vertically on a windless day. You hold your umbrella directly over your head. However, if you walk, you will have to tilt your umbrella forward. The faster you move, the greater the tilt. As the Earth moves around the sun, light from the stars is likewise ‘slanted’, just in the same way as rainfall appears to be slanted as you walk into the rain. What Bradley discovered is that every object in the sky is shifted in the direction the Earth moves as it travels around the sun.

Bradley’s discovery of the nutation of the Earth’s axis was even more remarkable. As the moon revolves around the Earth, the plane of its orbit is tilted five degrees from the plane of the Earth’s equator. The Earth is slightly oblate, wider at the equator than across the poles. The moon tugs at the Earth’s equator causing the Earth to wobble. The technical term to describe this wobble is nutation. It is a tiny movement, yet remarkably, Bradley observed it for 20 years before publishing his discovery paper in 1748. It established the accuracy of Newton’s universal law of gravitation with a degree of precision previously undreamed of.

I intend that my talk for the Wanstead Historical Society won’t blind people with science. I will attempt to tell the story of how the third son of an obscure steward on a Cotswold estate (now owned by the National Trust) became the most celebrated astronomer in Europe. Wanstead should be mightily proud of its connections with this man.

Dr John Fisher’s presentation for the Wanstead Historical Society will take place at Wanstead Library on 7 November from 8pm (visitors: £3). Call 07949 026 212

Redbridge Council is making progress towards its carbon zero target, but there is more to do, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride 

The impact of climate change is impossible to ignore. As well as the temperature rising, we have seen locally the impact of more extreme weather conditions, with flash floods last summer and record-breaking heatwaves. 

At Redbridge Council, we declared a climate emergency in 2019, which led to the development of our Climate Change Action Plan, adopted last year. This is a three-year plan with 114 actions to help the council reduce its emissions and make progress towards being carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050. 

The plan is driving departments across the council to consider more carefully their impact on emissions. The report on the first year of progress under the action plan showed a reduction in emissions by 16.2%, thanks mainly to a switch to renewable energy sources across the council estate as well as energy efficiency measures for hundreds of low-income households delivered through the Go Green grant administered by the council. We have also reduced the pension fund’s overall carbon footprint by 31%.

Transport was identified as the second-largest source of emissions after buildings, so we need to do all we can to promote active travel and reduce emissions from vehicles. New, segregated bike lanes in the west of the borough, as well as new cycle parking (20 hangars and 100 bike racks) across the borough are helping people switch from cars to bikes. We’ve just introduced four new School Streets schemes, bringing our total to 11, with more planned for consultation.

Where people have to drive, we are supporting the transition from diesel and petrol to electric vehicles by increasing the number of electric vehicle charging points ten-fold – to 600 in 2023. 

Thanks to the introduction of wheelie bins and the expanded range of materials that can be recycled (with the addition of plastic pots, tubs, trays and foil last year), our recycling rate has increased by nearly 10%. Reducing the amount we consume and increasing the amount we reuse is even better than recycling. And that’s why repair cafes have been held across the borough to encourage people to get broken items fixed. Composting can also help reduce waste and we have a new community compost bin on Wanstead Place. 

Action to reduce emissions can also deliver multiple benefits, like improving air quality, making roads safer, improving health and reducing obesity through active travel. And faced with a cost of living crisis and escalating energy costs, improving energy efficiency is a vital cost saving measure, too. 

We have lots more to do to become carbon zero, but we’re making progress.

To view the Redbridge Climate Change Action Plan, visit wnstd.com/ccap

Trees along Wanstead High Street will be pruned before the end of the year, with two dead trees to be felled and replaced in January.

“Highway trees in Wanstead Village were inspected earlier this year, and pruning work was recommended. This will mainly be to remove low branches and cut them back from street lights and buildings, but some trees will require more work and so will lose height or be pollarded,” said Councillor Jo Blackman.

Council-maintained street trees are inspected annually for safety.

Wanstead-based knitting group Social Knitworks has launched a new range of poppies.

“Our 2022 red poppies will raise money for the Royal British Legion. Poppies cost £4 each and are available to buy directly from us. Alternatively, if you are a local business and would like some poppies to sell on our behalf, please do get in touch,” said Liz Hickson.

The group has been knitting and crocheting to raise money for a variety of charities and projects since 2019.

Email lizzieofizzie@gmail.com

Local photographer Geoff Wilkinson will be holding a new exhibition of images documenting the East End of London next month, with the display also featuring Wanstead scenes.

“The East End continues apace with change, which is why I still feel compelled to capture the traditional mood and atmosphere before it disappears,” said Geoff, who will be opening his gallery at 84 Nightingale Lane on 19 November from 6pm to 9pm for the show.

“In the time since my last exhibition in 2019, change seems to be happening at an even faster pace. These latest images, therefore, are even more significant. With these pictures, I have expanded the area I capture to include Wanstead and South Woodford. When I look at changing inner east London, it’s easy to forget the streets and buildings closer to home, which are also changing.”

Call 020 8530 1244

Three venues across Wanstead will be displaying work by Art Group Wanstead’s emerging artists this month. Donna Mizzi reports 

Be sure not to miss the art being displayed by local artists at the Wanstead Festival, moved to Sunday 2 October. In addition to showing a fabulous range of work, Art Group Wanstead members will be running a rescheduled ‘Hands On’ workshop. The free, multi-media workshop will be open to children and adults.

Once that has whet your appetite, there will be more opportunities to enjoy a wide range of visual art from Art Group Wanstead members in the coming weeks and months.

Just a few examples of their work are shown on these pages. The Stow Brothers estate agent, which has generously supported our local artists year after year, is mounting a special exhibition in its High Street premises. It will run from Friday 14 October to early January. Kenny and Andrew Goad, the founders of The Stow Brothers, are keen to help more artists show their work, and are delighted to be creating an enjoyable browsing space for local residents and visitors to the area.

To introduce the changing exhibition, an opening reception is being held at the venue on Thursday 13 October from 6.30pm, with drinks and nibbles for artists and local people. Drop in if you can, or pop by to see the exhibition during office hours.

To help accommodate the artwork produced by our numerous members, the exhibition space is being extended during the first weekend, with extra art being shown at the Allan Burgess Centre, just a few steps away from The Stow Brothers. This ‘corner house’, used as a weekday activity centre by Age UK, will be open for the art show from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 15 October and from 12 noon to 3pm on Sunday 16 October.

The Stow Brothers is located at 117a High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL.

For more information on Art Group Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/art

The meadow pipit was once a common breeding bird on Wanstead Flats but has since been lost to the area. This is just one of many changes observed by the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, which celebrates it’s 50th anniversary this month. Chairman James Heal reports

Fifty years ago, in 1972, many things were different; miners were striking, Ted Heath was prime minister, Sir John Betjeman was made poet laureate (more on him later), a pint of beer cost 16p, and the tragedy of Bloody Sunday occurred.

1972 was also the year that a small group of young people in east London formed something called the Wren Action Group. They wanted to find ways in which young people could be motivated to take practical action to understand and protect the natural environment around them. Fifty years later, and now called the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, we are still going strong and are celebrating our half-century anniversary.

It is fair to say that the average age of Wren membership is somewhat higher than it was back in 1972, but the driving principles of engaging locally to promote and protect the wildlife on our doorstep – most particularly the southern end of Epping Forest around Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats, but also encompassing Leyton Flats, Hollow Ponds, Gilbert’s Slade and other areas across three London boroughs – are still alive and largely the same.

Some of the challenges facing the Wren Group are different. In the mid-1970s, Wren committee members went to visit fellow young members who had been locked up in remand homes. But some of the challenges remain the same. In the 1970s, Wren was concerned about falling bird numbers just as we are today.

Back then, members were noticing falling numbers of willow and even marsh tits; sadly, those birds have long since gone from our local area. Buzzards were rare birds back then and red kite sightings unthinkable, whereas today, both are commonly reported. And we have recently, sadly, lost meadow pipit as breeding birds on Wanstead Flats, which would have been common back then.

In the 1970s, the group wrote to Sir John Betjeman to ask him to be our patron. He responded earnestly but said he would agree to be “a patron, but not the patron” and so we reached out to another public figure who agreed to join Sir John. The Wren Group is hugely proud that Sir David Attenborough has also been a patron for over 45 years. Sir John passed away long ago, but we have just agreed a new partnership. We are thrilled that renowned international but locally-based artist Dr Gayle Chong-Kwan will join Sir David as a new patron. Gayle will address the membership on 8 October at our anniversary celebrations and will, no doubt, touch on the major piece of art she did recently inspired by Epping Forest.

Since Wren was founded, we have a huge amount to be proud of. We were instrumental in getting an ancient east London churchyard recognised as a nature reserve, we have organised hundreds of bioblitz events, walks and talks, we have worked with local children and youth groups, we have lobbied to protect local wildlife (such as successfully getting temporary fencing around the skylark breeding grounds on Wanstead Flats), and we have done thousands of hours of practical work helping to protect and enhance local habitats.

Like all dynamic organisations, we have tried to adapt to the times. We know our virtual meetings during lockdown were welcomed by those who may not have felt safe to go outside. We also, increasingly, engage through social media with our members and followers as well as through our digital newsletter and I hope we will continue to adapt and grow, to help embrace new local and wider challenges (doing our bit to fight the climate crisis, stop biodiversity loss and encourage greater diversity in local engagement with wildlife). If we do that, we might even be around in another 50 years. I hope so.

For more information and to join the Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, visit wnstd.com/wren

In the 27th of a series of articles, David Bird discusses the work of Redbridge Music Society and introduces the brass ensemble Bella Tromba, who will be performing in Wanstead this month

A main aim of Redbridge Music Society is to encourage local community appreciation of the musical arts by bringing a diverse range of high-standard, live musical events to the borough at affordable prices. This month, at Wanstead Library, we are putting on a special concert of royal-related music entitled Monarchs, Music and National Unity, dedicating it to the life and work of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

The concert will be performed by the brass ensemble Bella Tromba: Jo Harris, Rebecca Toal, Katie Lodge and Emily Ashby. The evening will explore how music and monarchy have impacted on each over the centuries and how both have the power to unite people in times of national crisis and celebration. Music to be played will include works by Handel (Royal Fireworks Music), King Henry VIII, (Greensleeves), John Bull (The King’s Hunt), Elgar (Pomp and Circumstance March No.1), Parry (Jerusalem), Jack Pettis (Bugle Call Rag), Telemann, Arne, Holst and others.

Bella Tromba, founded in 2004 by four students at the Royal Academy of Music, is an all-female brass quartet whose current members regularly perform with the London Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, the Britten Sinfonia and at leading West End shows and Championship Section Brass Bands. The group perform using a variety of trumpets, including B-flat trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and piccolo trumpets. They have created an outstanding brass repertoire of works by leading composers and arrangers and have been key to the success of the trumpet quartet. 

The group’s dynamic and engaging recitals have reached audiences nationally and internationally and they have broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Their commitment to inspire young players has led to educational collaborations with a number of UK music academies and to international performances at brass industry conferences in Canada, Germany and Poland.

Bella Tromba has been awarded Selected Artist status by Making Music and is a recipient of the Dorothy Parkinson Memorial Prize and the Dartington International Summer School Scholarship. Support from the Park Lane Group, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and the Britten-Pears Foundation has ensured a wealth of commissions by many contemporary composers. 

We do hope you can join us for this very special evening of commemorative music-making.

Bella Tromba will perform at Wanstead Library on 25 October from 8pm (tickets on the door; visitors: £12: members: £8). Call 07380 606 767. Redbridge Music Society is supported by Vision RCL and affiliated to Making Music.

Following last month’s article about the immediate past and possible future of Wanstead’s Evergreen Field, Dr Colin Runeckles digs into the archives to find out more about the history of the houses which once stood there. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

The tithe apportionment of 1841 for Wanstead shows there to be a house on this site owned and occupied by Joseph Knight. At the time, this was known as Wanstead Cottage with nearly two acres of land, which stretched up to what is now Wanstead Place, where Knight also owned two properties. Knight died in September of the same year and the house was sold at auction in April 1842, where it was said to have “good out-buildings, stabling, coach-house, productive garden, pleasure ground, and two paddocks, bounded by a new brick wall and natural fences.”

George Duley is listed in the 1851 Post Office Directory but it is not until his death in 1855 that it is said he was of Evergreen Lodge. It is not clear whether the house was simply renamed or rebuilt to turn Wanstead Cottage into Evergreen Lodge. Mr JT Winney took over the house for a time but the house came up for sale again in 1870, and then again in 1873. It is maybe here that its most significant owner, John Cockett, enters the picture. The earliest reference I can find for him living at the Lodge is having been named as an executor in an article from June 1876. About this time, the Cocketts were joined in the house by their nephew, William Patrick Tulloch Forbes. Forbes would later marry and live in Sylvan Road where he and his wife Edith had their only child, Douglas Tulloch Forbes, later to serve as a lieutenant during World War One when he was fatally wounded in early 1916.

John Cockett’s name was to come up in Ilford circles when, at the sale of the Clements Estate in August 1879, the following week’s Chelmsford Chronicle noted that a Mr JE Cockett, Wanstead, bought three lots, numbered 13–15, totalling just under three acres. It would appear the land was not to remain in Cockett’s possession for very long since a Rate Book of 1882 listed houses in Queen’s Road, laid out on lots 13–15, were owned by Ilford builder George Barnes.

In 1882, Cockett applied to the Local Board to build four houses at the north end of the estate. These were known as St Augustin, Tryfan, Overton House and Dowlais House, and later 16–22 High Street. The Cocketts were to reside at Evergreen Lodge until the opening years of the 20th century. John Cockett was to die in October 1902 and the notice in St James’s Gazette said he was very well known in the railway world, having been manager of the railway advertising department for WH Smith & Sons. His widow, Sarah, moved to Pinner shortly afterwards and the house went to the Warren family, firstly to Joseph who died shortly afterwards in June 1904, then to his widow, and then to his son, Frederick. However, one act of John Cockett’s executors is relevant to our understanding of how the Evergreen Field came to be as it is today. The Redbridge Heritage Centre holds a plan for the building of two houses just south of the four built in 1882. These were known as Royston and Summerfield, later 24–26 High Street. 

The house came up for auction again in June 1921 at Harrod’s in Brompton Road, and for this, the Essex Record Office holds the auction catalogue, which contains a full description of the house. It was three-storeyed with a basement, had a large porch, three good-sized rooms and a billiard room (installed in 1903) on the ground floor as well as kitchen, scullery and store cupboards. On the first floor, there were six bedrooms and a bathroom, and on the upper storey, there was a large servants’ bedroom, store room, three box rooms and a photographic darkroom. In size, it would appear to be similar to the Manor House across the road.

Now, you might have noticed in the previous article there was mention of two houses, whereas I have only so far written about one. Two years after the sale in 1921, the old stable was converted into a house. In the 1924 Kelly’s Directory, it was shown as Hailey’s Cottage, but by 1927 it had been numbered as 28, Evergreen Lodge itself as number 30.

By 1933, the Lodge was occupied by a physician and surgeon, Eric Long, who had previously carried out his practice in a large house across the road. As the previous article says, the two houses were bombed, but the 1949 building survey carried out by Wanstead and Woodford Council states they both had “substantial war damage repairs” and were now occupied again. The 1952 and 1955 Kelly’s Directories show both houses occupied, number 30 by another physician and surgeon, Arthur Boney.

The last reference I could find to the house was in a February 1967 edition of the Torbay Express and South Devon Echo, which reported that Ann McGeever of Evergreen Lodge, E11, had been left £100 under the terms of a will. If the Lodge and the converted stable were demolished in 1967, we’re left wondering what circumstances led to that action.

To view the Evergreen Field development proposals, visit wnstd.com/field

In the 11th of a series of articles looking at the redevelopment of Whipps Cross Hospital, Charlotte Monro asks readers to share their healthcare experiences, which could influence bed numbers in the new hospital

Funding has been approved for the next phase of work preparing the ground at Whipps for building a new hospital; £28m for a 500-space, multi-storey car park and access roads was announced in August. This is being hailed as a breakthrough after a rather long government silence. But there is still no announcement on what funding will be given to build the new Whipps, nor final confirmation that it can go ahead.

Whipps is part of the national New Hospitals Programme, announced in 2019, with £2.7bn of government funding. Whipps is one of eight ’pathfinder’ hospitals in this scheme and £350m is likely less than half the real cost, hence the pressure to build our new hospital too small and sell off too much of the land. A warning: as the new Royal Liverpool Hospital is finally opening – with fewer beds – the larger hospital it replaces was declared at full capacity under extreme pressure.

Whipps, like most of the NHS, is operating under pressure now. Barts Health Trust hospitals have had the highest volume of A&E attendances in England. Pressure needs to be designed out of the system, not into it. Under pressure, mistakes happen and safety can be compromised. A three-year-old child died when he was sent home from Whipps A&E on a night when the department was under such pressure on a shift described as ‘extremely challenging’ by the medical director.

The four-hour maximum wait in A&E before admission target is never met these days, and that is largely because beds are full. Systems are now in place for early discharge to free up beds. This can only work safely if community services and health and social care have the capacity to provide sufficient support. The reality is they often do not. ‘Elsie’, who was getting out and about before a fall and hospital admission, was discharged unable to get up to her bed; no rails installed. Awaiting a home assessment, she fell again and fractured her hip, and is now too frail to live at home. Adding indignity, she was told she should wee in her pads (she was not incontinent). This indignity, I fear, is being built into the system.

The Action 4 Whipps campaign has been informed by Barts Health of transformation programmes for health and care services within the Whipps catchment area, led by North East London Integrated Care System. They want to measure the impact on hospital admissions, length of stay and health, influencing the number of beds in the new hospital. From the off, we have been urging decisions on bed numbers to be grounded in the reality of what is happening in the community. Which is where readers can help. Please get in touch if you have experience of hospital discharges or community care we can feed back. And, of course, do get in touch if you want to be involved in our campaign to ensure the new hospital truly meets the needs of the future.

To join the campaign or share views, email whipps.cross.campaign@gmail.com

Local resident Lorna Paterson first began helping others to learn sign language during lockdown. This month, she launches a monthly group at Wanstead Library to help more people communicate

I bumped into a neighbour at the supermarket during the first lockdown in March 2020. Unable to communicate, we gazed helplessly into each other’s eyes. The neighbour, who has impaired hearing, was unable to read my lips because we were both wearing masks. 

I’m a hearing person with British Sign Language (BSL) Level Two. My neighbour suffered hearing loss in later life and has had no opportunity to learn how to sign. Sadly, I was unable to use BSL to chat with her. That was when I decided to seek ways to share my skills with other Wanstead residents.

In a post on the Wanstead Community Hub Facebook group, and via an article in this magazine, I asked if anyone was interested in learning some common BSL signs. More than 30 people responded. 

While the pandemic ran its course, it proved to be difficult to arrange for small groups to meet in person to share and practise basic BSL. However, several people met with me on Zoom once a week to learn finger-spelling and share conversational signs: weather, family information, numbers and time. Over Christmas 2020, I took part in a signing choir at the Romford Festival and shared the carols we signed with the Zoom group.

The deaf community is proud and independent, but for many people, the experience of hearing loss is isolating. Children born with hearing impairments benefit from the amazing ‘deaf tech’ now available, but they also need community support. Loss of hearing is especially troublesome if it happens in later life, when it takes longer to learn new ways to communicate.

I have lived in Wanstead for 40 years. Until I chose to retire early, I was head of English in a high school in Waltham Forest. Now I’m employed by a Department for Education approved tuition agency as an academic support tutor for university students with disabilities. As a qualified teacher, in theory, I’m qualified to teach BSL Level One, but I don’t intend to run formal lessons. I am equally as keen to keep my own signing skills up to date as I am to help others to acquire them. BSL Wanstead is all about sharing. 

Wanstead Library has kindly agreed to reserve a space for BSL Wanstead to meet from early October onwards. Initially, these meetings will take place once a month on a weekday afternoon, but I hope as the project develops, there will be opportunities to meet in the evening as well. All BSL Wanstead activities are completely free.

The BSL Wanstead project welcomes anyone interested in learning, sharing and practising conversational BSL. If you would like to take part, please do get in touch.

For more information and to contact Lorna, visit patersonloarn.co.uk

Redbridge Museum will open a new permanent exhibition later this year exploring 200,000 years of local history. In the eighth of a series of articles, Museum Officer Nishat Alam looks at some of the items on show

The Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum opened in Snaresbrook in 1843. The building is now known as Snaresbrook Crown Court, but for over a century it was a boarding school. In this article, I look at the history of the asylum, later called the Royal Wanstead School, which will be explored in a new display about the borough’s historic institutions when Redbridge Museum re-opens in the next few months. 

We usually understand ‘orphan’ as someone who has lost both their parents, but the pupils of the Infant Orphan Asylum were children whose fathers had died and whose mothers could not afford to take care of them. The asylum only took in children from respectable, middle-class families, who could often buy the vote of the private donors who funded the asylum, ensuring their child’s admittance.

In this way, the asylum was not a traditional orphanage. The building itself is not the kind of place we tend to picture when we think of homes of its kind. Now Grade II listed, it was designed by two prominent architects and its foundation stone laid by Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who was the institution’s first royal patron. But despite its status amongst royals, the Infant Orphan Asylum was, after all, a boarding school where children were sent away from their families, often as infants. Pupils had a strict, disciplined schooling by the teachers and nurses who took care of them and, as with many in similar schools at the time, may have been quite miserable.

Donald Grist, who was there from 1903 to 1919, wrote in his memoir, A Victorian Charity: “Meals were simple and sparse: mince or stew with one vegetable… Drinks were cocoa, water and watered milk.” Meals were served on plates like the one pictured above, which will feature in the new museum display among other material, having been donated to us by a local resident who, in 1990, recovered various pieces of crockery used by the asylum from the shores of Eagle Pond. They paint a picture of a rather grim experience hidden behind a grand façade.

The asylum’s slightly ominous Victorian name was abandoned for the more inviting Royal Wanstead School in 1938. At this point, it began to operate as a school rather than an orphanage as social attitudes on education and care changed. Pupils attending at this time probably looked back at their time more fondly than their Victorian counterparts. 

As welfare provision improved in the 1950s, more children began to attend local schools and the Royal Wanstead School saw a decline in income and attendance until it could no longer afford to stay open. It finally closed in 1971. The building opened as a Crown Court on 26 November 1974.

Redbridge Museum is located on Clements Road, Ilford. Visit wnstd.com/rm
To complete a survey on what else should go on display, visit wnstd.com/rms