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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