Slider

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

In this article, I’m revisiting the stately Wanstead House, once part of what is now Wanstead Park and whose wealthy owner I wrote about some months ago. This time, I’m skipping forward in time to the Regency era of the early 1800s to look at the story of one of its later owners, Catherine Tylney-Long.

Catherine was born in 1789 in Draycot, Wiltshire, where she spent her early life. She was a descendant of Sir Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney, who had rebuilt Wanstead House 100 years earlier. In 1805, she inherited the estate as part of the Tylney-Long fortune, amounting to over £200,000 (around £20m today). She became the wealthiest heiress in the country.

Catherine’s new status attracted many eligible suitors, including the Duke of Clarence, who later became King William IV. In the end, she fell for William Wellesley Pole, a nephew of the Duke of Wellington. He was handsome, fashionable and well connected. Catherine adored William, although it was clear to others he was trouble. Although William was charming and of noble birth, he had a reputation as a rake, addicted to gambling and womanising. But despite warnings about his improper behaviour, Catherine was in love. She learned who he really was through his many scandals but remained smitten. The two exchanged love letters, many of which are now in the collections at Redbridge Museum and Heritage Centre, like the Valentine’s card from William pictured here. 

The marriage in 1812 ultimately led to Catherine’s downfall and the end of Wanstead House. In their pre-nuptial agreement, William had gained control of over half of Catherine’s inheritance, including her properties, and was legally entitled to her earnings. 

Stories about William and Catherine’s lavish wedding and extravagant lifestyle appeared in gossip columns, a sign of success for the celebrity couple. William’s career also flourished when he became an MP. Yet he was still partying and gambling, squandering away Catherine’s fortune. The family travelled across Europe where William could avoid his creditors, and it was from Naples in 1823 that he sold Wanstead House for demolition for only £10,000 to ease his debts. He eventually abandoned a humiliated Catherine and their children in pursuit of a married woman. 

Catherine separated from William and returned to Draycot without him in 1824, resolving to “assert [her] rights” when he threatened to remove the children from her. Burdened by stress, her health deteriorated until she died in 1825, aged 35. 

Personal stories like Catherine’s – about the people behind the borough’s houses, shops and institutions – will be explored in the new Redbridge Museum, re-opening later this year.

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

Tim Harris from the Wren Wildlife Group describes some of our most fascinating insects: dragonflies and damselflies, which thrive in Wanstead Park, like this four-spotted chaser photographed at Perch Pond

Take a stroll along one of the lakes in Wanstead Park on any warm, sunny day from May to October and you have a very good chance of seeing one of our many local dragonflies or damselflies – perched on a lily pad, grasping an iris blade, sunning itself on a path, or whizzing past in pursuit of prey. 

Collectively known as the Odonata, according to fossil records, these flying insects have been around for some 350 million years. There are 46 species in the UK, and 21 have reliably been seen in Wanstead.

Unless we take up pond dipping, we only see the last and shortest stage of their fascinating life cycle. Dragonflies and damselflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis with three life stages, rather than butterflies’ four: egg, larva, and adult. Fertilised females inject many tiny eggs into aquatic vegetation near the water surface, or – depending on the species – deposit them loosely in water. Within a few weeks, the eggs hatch into larvae. This is the longest stage of a dragonfly’s life. Over the course of one, two, or even five years in the case of the golden-ringed dragonfly, they are active underwater predators in freshwater lakes and rivers. As they grow, the larvae are able to eat ever-larger prey, including other insects, snails, leeches, tadpoles and even small fish. 

When they are ready, the larvae climb out of the water and up the stalk of an aquatic plant and squeeze themselves out of their larval ‘skin’. Sometimes, these discarded exuviae can be found still attached to vegetation. The newly emerged adult dries its wings and legs in the sun and, when strong enough, takes its first tentative flight.

The first species to emerge locally is the large red damselfly, which can sometimes be seen by tiny garden ponds in late April, while common and ruddy darters can even be seen on warm days in October. Adults typically live no more than a fortnight, though some may fly for eight weeks before they perish. If they successfully mate during this time, they will have kick-started another generation. 

In Wanstead Park, the margins of Shoulder of Mutton, Heronry, and Perch ponds are alive with these colourful insects on warm summer days; the bank at the east end of Perch Pond is as good a place as any to watch a variety of behaviours. There, aggressive male dragonflies can be seen chasing off rivals, while females lay their eggs among the waterside plants. And sometimes, dozens of coupled pairs of damselflies can be seen mating on the wing or on mats of weed. 

With global climate change, some continental species are colonising southern England. Others seem to be struggling. In our area, they have both unpolluted water and emergent vegetation, and that’s why they’re thriving. If you see anything interesting, you can report your sighting to the British Dragonfly Society (BDS). Better still, join the BDS and help their efforts to conserve these beautiful creatures.

For more information on the British Dragonfly Society, visit wnstd.com/bds

For more information on the Wren Wildlife Group, visit wnstd.com/wren

Iain Ambler updates on the recently restored Redbridge Lane West allotment pond, which has become a biodiversity hotspot. Photo by Stephen Lines

In the December 2021 edition of the Wanstead Village Directory, I wrote about how a group of 15 plot holders had restored the main pond on our Redbridge Lane West allotment site so it is wet year-round and a great habitat (again) for wildlife. We were sparked into life by the proposal of our neighbour Cadent, the global gas company, to use part of the site as a compound to support their works and to permanently acquire a strip of allotment land along the current boundary.

Having a year-round wet environment is critical for native amphibia (frogs, toads, newts) and insects. There was already a very overgrown and dried-out pond on the site. So, in 2021, we cleared the pond surrounds (including felling two large willow trees that were overgrown), relandscaped the pond and relined it with a butyl liner. Then, we added pond plants so they could establish.

Over the winter, the pond lay dormant, save for the odd visit by passing waterfowl. But then, when spring arrived, slowly wildlife returned to the pond and it’s now a real biodiversity hotspot.

It was not long before we spotted many baby newts, now at an age where they will shortly leave the pond as ‘efts’ to seek out other damp areas in the allotment (several plot holders installed mini ponds on their plots during 2021 which we hope they will find).

Frogspawn and then baby frogs also appeared and some large dragonflies – male and female broad-bodied chasers with stunning, bright blue and yellow abdomens – have become regular visitors, as are common blue, large red and emerald damselflies. Bees of various kinds and hoverflies are regularly seen drinking at the water’s edge, and water boatmen row over the surface.

We also found evidence that larger mammals, possibly foxes, are using the pond as a water source, and Nathusius pipistrelle, a nationally scarce bat species often found near water, has been recently surveyed overflying the site.

The plants we added have all survived and blossomed, including yellow flag irises, water lilies, marsh marigold and purple loosestrife (common yellow loosestrife has also magically reappeared, a result of the scrub clearance by the side of the pond), and these are all attracting pollinators.

What’s next?
New ponds need maintenance to ensure they stay free from blanket weed – this has meant regular weeding by our volunteer group. Eventually, we hope that a combination of oxygenators and shade from plants and trees will self-regulate.

The pond surrounds will continue to require some work – this includes strimming and the clearing of brambles around the pond to ensure they don’t grow back.

We have also created two mini-wild flower meadows alongside the pond, with plants grown from seed over the winter (to varying degrees of success), and plug plants funded by Vision RCL, and we will continue to add to and maintain these. 

We are considering what we might do in partnership with Vision and Cadent to further enhance the site for wildlife, as Cadent will be required to demonstrate a biodiversity net gain from their works. 

For me personally, I’ve enjoyed seeing how such a small area – the size of a small back garden – can do so much for wildlife, even when only metres from the busy A12. It has also been great to see the interest in and enjoyment of wildlife from many plot holders.

We have continued to receive expert advice and support from Vision’s allotments officer Simon Litt and his team, as well as from Tim Harris of the Wren Group, to whom we are very grateful.

For more information on allotments in Redbridge, visit wnstd.com/allotments

From small spotty-eyed drone flies to a rare jumping spider and pink moth, chair of the Wren Wildlife Group James Heal reports on some of the highlights of the recent bioblitz in Wanstead

The Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group is 50 years old this year. Fifty years of helping to promote and protect the wildlife of the Wanstead area and its surrounds, and helping to bring the people of east London closer to the wildlife that can be found on their doorstep.

One of the most popular activities of the Wren Group in recent years has been an almost annual ‘bioblitz’, a range of family-friendly wildlife surveys and walks to get a snapshot of what flora and fauna can be found here.

On the last weekend of June, we spent a day each on Wanstead Flats and Wanstead Park. Saturday 25 June started very early, with an ‘almost dawn chorus walk’. Several people set their alarms to walk into Bush Wood to listen to the birdsong at 5.30am. Chiffchaff, blackcap, song thrush and blackbird serenaded us as we walked, but a highlight was a singing reed warbler, not in a reed bed where they are more usually found, but in a rose bush.

A few hours later, a larger group joined us for a walk on Wanstead Flats. Amongst other things, we found green-eyed flower bees (Anthophora bimaculata), small spotty-eyed drone flies (Eristalinus sepulchralis; pictured here) and yellow 22-spot ladybirds (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata – try saying that after a few sherries!).

Later in the day, we were joined by spider expert David Carr. The conditions weren’t great for spiders as, despite the warmth, it was windy and the branches we were checking were clear. However, David’s eagle eye spotted the tiny, nationally scarce jumping spider Salticus zebraneus on a tree in one of the Flats’ plantations. This is a stripy, zebra spider and is closely related to its more common and similar but larger cousin Salticus scenicus, which you may well find in your homes and gardens (one to look out for). 

Later that day, we put out two moth traps near the Temple in Wanstead Park. The next morning was another very early start to check the traps. The highlight was a beautiful salmon pink and black moth called a rosy footman (Miltochrista miniata) – the first time it has been found locally. Later in Wanstead Park, we watched the macabre sight of beewolf wasps (Philanthus triangulum) carrying paralysed honey bees down to their nest holes in the ground to feed their larvae.

We were also joined by local school children to do some pond dipping, where the kids marvelled at being able to hold a young newt in their hands. The day ended watching and listening (using electric sonic detector technology) to bats near Perch Pond.

If this brief snapshot whets your appetite, do join the Wren Group to find out about more wildlife activities coming soon.

For more information on the Wren Wildlife Group, visit wnstd.com/wren

With the dry, cracked bed of the Ornamental Water once again on show, Benjamin Murphy, chair of the Epping Forest & Commons Committee, explains the inherent difficulties in managing the water levels of Wanstead Park’s lake system. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

The water bodies in Wanstead Park were created in the 18th century, originally as a cascade of nine lakes. They were filled by a diversion from the River Roding,
which has long since been lost.

Today, five lakes remain. They run in a semi-circle in an anticlockwise direction. First is The Basin, which is the head of the cascade in the ownership of Wanstead Golf Club. The next four lakes running down the cascade are Shoulder of Mutton Pond, Heronry Pond, Perch Pond and the Ornamental Water, all under City of London Corporation ownership.

The catchment area for surface water naturally draining into the ponds has vastly diminished in size since their creation due to housing and roads that have since been built. Essentially, we are now dealing with a series of artificial water bodies that, for over a century, have not had a sustainable water source. 

For many years, the City of London Corporation’s Epping Forest charity has helped to alleviate the water shortage by pumping directly from the underground water aquifer. However, there are legal limits on how much water can be pumped and this is subject to licensing from the Environment Agency. 

We have now had over six months of notably low levels of rainfall. The River Roding is at 39% of its normal level. Ponds throughout the Forest, which rely on rainfall and sit on clay soil, are at notably low levels or have completely dried up. 

In Wanstead Park, the borehole from the aquifer tops up water levels to the Heronry Pond. A second pump takes water from the Heronry to Perch Pond. When the Perch Pond is full it overtops and spills into the Ornamental Water. 

The pump used to extract water has a limit on the capacity of water it can pump. Therefore, it can be alternated to fill either Heronry Pond or Perch Pond. The pump has been working on Perch since June. It normally takes around four days to fill Perch enough to flow into Ornamental, but the heat and dryness of the earth means that even when the small amounts of water do flow into The Dell and on to Ornamental Water, this is rapidly absorbed or evaporates. Simply put, there is neither enough rainfall nor surface water naturally, nor enough water being pumped artificially from the aquifer, to resolve the problem. 

Even if we could pump directly into the Ornamental Water, the dryness of the lake would absorb most of the water into the ground without the help of additional rainfall. 

The Epping Forest trustees are committed to finding a strategic solution to identify alternative water sources and to improve water retention. Actions taken include: 

• A series of expert engineering surveys have been commissioned to consider options available. 
• Created plans to replace the pumping infrastructure at the River Roding to reinstate water pumping during the wetter winter months.
• Designs to install more land drainage to take rainwater into the Ornamental Water.
• A successful grant award from the Mayor of London for a study into a Sustainable Urban Drainage Scheme (SuDs) as part of developing wetland habitats.
• Contingency plans have been put in place to protect animal welfare.

For more information on Wanstead Park’s lakes, visit wnstd.com/parkwater

The Wanstead Park Liaison Group has identified three ways to improve protection for the park’s iconic bluebells, which have drawn increasing visitor numbers in recent years. Richard Arnopp reports

Last month, I wrote about Wanstead’s bluebell season, which is a major attraction for visitors to Wanstead Park. As I explained, bluebell management is discussed every year by the Wanstead Park Liaison Group, which consists of Epping Forest management and other stakeholders. In recent years, they have taken measures to protect the bluebells from trampling, notably by demarcating paths through Chalet Wood with logs.

Bluebells are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), and are easily damaged by trampling, taking several years to recover and flower again. It is therefore important park visitors are encouraged to respect these iconic wild flowers.

This year, the perception of increased visitor pressure raised anxiety among local people, several hundred of whom signed up to a letter of concern on Facebook, asking Epping Forest to look at ways to protect the delicate flowers better. Links to the Facebook discussions were circulated to members of the Liaison Group, and bluebells were on the agenda of the meeting on 25 May. A number of new initiatives were agreed.

Firstly, there is an area within Chalet Wood that has long been used for den-building by children, using fallen branches from trees. Nobody wishes to stop children from playing and, in fact, the lack of play facilities locally has led to plans for a new play area in Wanstead Park. However, in this instance, the location was felt to be inappropriate. Accordingly, the den-making material will shortly be moved elsewhere and the existing location, which has been badly trampled, will be fenced off. A soil regeneration project is being discussed.

Secondly, the current arrangement of paths delineated by logs has been generally successful, but more and heavier logs will be brought in for future years.

Thirdly, it was agreed that signage in Chalet Wood needed to be reconsidered. At the moment, it is present for two months of the year. However, it was felt that permanent signs may be a better option, rather like those used on Wanstead Flats in relation to the skylark area. Design options will be worked up. Also, small temporary signs may be appropriate to warn the public off little meandering paths and bare patches created by people in the past. It was often not understood that walking on those areas prevented the plants from recolonising them.

The Liaison Group continues to feel a balance has to be struck between protecting the bluebells and preserving the natural feel of Chalet Wood. They hope the changes they propose will get this balance right for 2023 and future years.

For more information on Wanstead Park, visit wnstd.com/park

Handwriting is not an art of the past, says Maura Wilson, and this year’s Wanstead Fringe is giving Wanstead’s primary school children the chance to prove it with a handwriting competition

Like me, most readers of the Wanstead Village Directory can probably remember sitting in a classroom as the teacher stood writing beautifully shaped letters on the blackboard. As pupils, we followed suit, repeating the same letter formations time and time again.

By right, everyone’s handwriting should be identical. And yet, even though the days of elegant copperplate script are long gone, we all have our own styles, each of which says something about us. I don’t buy the notion that your handwriting reveals deep secrets about your personality, but you can’t deny that you reach certain conclusions about someone when you see their writing.

Even though we prod our phones all day long, and rarely, if ever, write even so much as a cheque, our handwriting still matters. It still says something, whether that’s a message that you’re carefree, confident or fastidious. It still shows how much attention you are paying to the way you’re presenting yourself on paper. And it’s still a joy to see someone’s beautiful handwriting, even if nowadays they only really get to exercise their talents when writing postcards from a sunlounger or Christmas cards to Aunt Jane.

Which is why, as part of this year’s Wanstead Fringe, we’re inviting the primary school children of Wanstead to pick up their best pens and start writing, and really show the rest of us what they can do. They stand the chance to be named as Wanstead’s best handwriters and to win prizes for their school, courtesy of our sponsors Petty Son & Prestwich.

The rules for the competition are simple. Any pupil up to Year Six can take part, as part of their class or individually. All they have to do is write out the Lewis Carroll poem The Crocodile, as reproduced below. All submissions must be made by the end of the summer term and will be judged over the holidays. The winners will be announced during Wanstead Fringe fortnight, which this year is running from 10 to 25 September.

Full rules and entry forms are available on the Wanstead Fringe website. You’ll also be able to sign up for the Fringe newsletter and be among the first to hear about all the cultural activities being planned for this year. Though I tried my best, I’m afraid the newsletter will be sent by email and will not, unfortunately, be handwritten!

The Crocodile by Lewis Carroll
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

For more information and an entry form, visit wnstd.com/handwriting

From oxeye daisy to yellow rattle, Richard Strange explains how he has been increasing floral diversity on Christ Church Green as part of Wanstead’s Grow Zones initiative. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

I spend a lot of time in Wanstead and have taken an interest in the Grow Zones within Christ Church Green, which I regularly check up on during dog-walking duties. These zones are areas where the grass is not mown, so a variety of wild flowers and grasses can establish undisturbed. They could be described as mini-meadows.

Grow Zones were created as part of a project by Wild Wanstead, Redbridge Council and Vision RCL, and form a network across the borough. From time to time, volunteers add plants to the areas to further improve their diversity. It’s a great initiative, and part of the project is to encourage residents with gardens to take a similar approach. Through intensive maintenance of our open spaces and gardens, we have allowed the variety and quantity of wildlife to rapidly diminish. This is a way to help reverse that trend.

In 2020, after getting permission from the Grow Zone team, I started helping enhance some of the zones, as I love all things related to meadows and the resulting wildlife they attract, especially the butterflies.

There is an unseen and unnoticed chain of life that, given time, slowly develops in meadows, as each species of wild flower supports a wide range of insects, forming part of their life cycle. These insects are, in turn, food for birds and bats. Long grass also creates cover for small mammals, thus providing foraging habitat for owls.

The process I use to enhance the areas is to remove small sections of turf, picking areas where there is just grass growing currently. I then seed the bare soil with wild flower seed to introduce more diversity, interest and flowers. In the first summer, a few new plants established and flowered, but this year, there are many more. The plants so far established include ragged robin, lesser knapweed, wild carrot, oxeye daisy, musk mallow and yellow rattle.

Yellow rattle is one of the species especially treasured by those wishing to develop meadows. Its name comes from its yellow flowers and the rattling sound made when the seed pods dry out. This plant is unassuming but plays an important role and is known as the ‘meadow maker’ because of its parasitic properties, especially to grass. This means the plant causes the grass to weaken, allowing other plants to establish, thus improving the meadow. I have managed to establish yellow rattle in a few of the Grow Zones on Christ Church Green.

Working by hand is a very slow process, so the areas will slowly improve over the years, but I take great pleasure in watching how they develop. Once species are established, they will also hopefully spread without my involvement.

I encourage everyone to follow the Grow Zone principles and allow part of their lawn to grow long and see what comes up.

For more information on Grow Zones in Wanstead, visit wildwanstead.org

Swan Sanctuary volunteer Louisa Green reports on a busy few weeks of swan rescues in Snaresbrook and Wanstead, and welcomes any donations to the swan ambulance fuel fund. Photo of Eagle Pond by Geoff Wilkinson

It’s been an eventful few weeks for local waterfowl, and as Swan Sanctuary volunteers, that means it’s been a busy time for us. We are on call 365 days a year to keep our swans and water birds safe.

Over on Eagle Pond, off Snaresbrook Road, a new dynamic is in place this year; a flock has taken over one half of the pond, with the long-term resident family retaining control of the island. This unusual set-up hasn’t been without drama.

Cygnets of the resident pair made their arrival on 16 May, and on 17 May the new parents took their babies to the water for the first time. The presence of the flock didn’t make this an easy task, and in the panic, the parents struggled to guide their new brood back onto the island later in the day, with one cygnet sadly succumbing to exhaustion. Fellow swan rescuers Gill and Ulf managed to quickly assemble a small ramp and install it on the island. The little ones soon got the hang of it, and were very grateful for the chance to dry off after a full day of swimming! The remaining five cygnets are all thriving.

The presence of such a large flock on Eagle Pond is a significant hazard, given its proximity to a busy main road, and on Sunday 5 June, a low-flying swan was hit by a W12 bus. The driver failed to stop and the incident has been reported to TfL. The swan was taken to The Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton, where she made a full recovery and has since been returned home. Many locals are now calling for the installation of signs and speed bumps along Snaresbrook Road to slow down the traffic.

In Wanstead Park, there have been a series of highs and lows in equal measure. May saw the arrival of five cygnets on the Ornamental Water, making it a significantly more successful brood for the pair than last year. Four cygnets remain and are doing well. Soon afterwards, five cygnets hatched on the Shoulder of Mutton Pond, although one was badly attacked by a swooping gull very early on and sadly died. Four cygnets remain and all is well.

The long-standing Perch Pond pair have had a very difficult few weeks. At the start of the season, two new pairs arrived in the park, which have taken up residence at the Grotto end of Perch Pond and Heronry Pond, leaving the original Perch pair sandwiched in the middle. This pair have sadly had a failed nest; none of their eggs have hatched this year. Furthermore, during the week of 6 June, both Mr and Mrs Perch were badly beaten by Mr Heronry and Mr New Perch, respectively, and so were rescued by Gill and Ulf and are now recovering in The Swan Sanctuary.

Lastly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to mother-daughter-duo Helen and Katie O’Rourke of Wanstead, who ran the London Vitality 10k in May, raising nearly £2,300 for the swan ambulance fuel fund. Being volunteers, and with the cost of diesel rising almost daily, this sum was very gratefully received. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.

To donate to the swan ambulance fuel fund, visit wnstd.com/swanambulance

To report an injured swan to The Swan Sanctuary, call 01932 240 790

In the 12th of a series of articles by plot holders at Redbridge Lane West allotments – which are under threat from the adjacent gas works – Stephen Lines talks about negotiating with nature

Our current allotment plot is the fourth my partner and I have had, the second on Redbridge Lane West. On first viewing, it was clear the plot offered a daunting challenge. The site was characterised by anthills and craters from previously removed fruit trees. Half of the plot was covered in briars and overgrown with sedges and grasses. Carpets laid down to suppress weeds had a thick covering of soil, and white, waxy roots had established themselves among the weave.

However, it is a sheltered plot, bordered on two sides by a hedgerow of hawthorn, spruce, rowan, a young oak and a willow. To the rear of the allotment, a designated wild area is populated by crab apple, rose trees and blackberries. In spring, the blossoms fill the air with a heady fragrance. In autumn, amber leaves and ruby-coloured berries add a hint of warmth on cold, darkening, misty days.

I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work on this small plot of land, not just for the chance to grow fruit and vegetables, but also to do what I can to maintain the natural environment on and around the plot with as little human interference as possible. Allotmenteering is essentially negotiating with nature. There is no real choice in this as nature will always have the upper hand!

You can plan to manage the predictable, but you can only adapt to the unpredictability of nature’s whims. Last year provided opportunities to adapt. Late frosts damaged the bean crop. An unusual abundance of ants successfully harvested blackfly, which dined frequently and well on tender green shoots, drastically reducing some crops. A couple of hours of torrential rain last summer all but destroyed the potato and tomato crop. The usual suspects arrived punctually; slugs, snails and birds enjoying tasty green leaves and juicy soft fruits just hours before the perfect picking time.

Adapting to the unpredictable is something all of us plot holders on Redbridge Lane West have needed to do over the past months. Cadent, whose property adjoins the allotments, is seeking to reduce the number of plots to enable them to undertake necessary improvements to their gas works.

It has taken some time and effort, but my partner and I have now created a plot that we can work on and enjoy. Using physical activity to achieve something creative and to be able to take pleasure in what you have grown and what you have left to nature are among the main motivations for having an allotment plot.

It is for these reasons, along with the other benefits of being on a community allotment, that negotiations continue with Cadent, aiming to minimise the loss and disruption to plot holders on Redbridge Lane West.

To view the petition to save the Redbridge Lane West allotments, visit wnstd.com/sta

In the fourth of a series of articles, Thames21 Catchment Partnership Development Officer Will Oliver explains why he is in search of brown trout in the River Roding

The brown trout is a species of fish native to UK rivers. Unlike some other native fish species which have wider tolerance levels, brown trout are ‘picky’ when it comes to exactly where they call home.

In general, they will only be found in rivers that have clean, unpolluted water with a range of high-quality habitats. The riverbed must also have areas of loose gravels free from fine sediment for the trout to spawn in. Some brown trout, for reasons still not fully understood, migrate out of rivers and into the sea to feed, before returning to rivers to spawn later in their lives (in a life cycle similar to that of a salmon). Known as sea trout, these fish require a river channel to be free of barriers, such as weirs and dams, to complete their migration. For these reasons, brown trout require the entire river system to be healthy and functioning as close to its natural state as possible.

On the face of it, it may therefore seem misjudged to mention the River Roding in the same sentence as brown trout. The Roding has suffered degradation throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries and has been affected by sediment pollution from the intensively-farmed upper catchment, as well as pollution from road run-off, wastewater and combined sewer overflows in the more urban stretches. Sections of the river have also been dredged through history, removing the gravels that brown trout depend on for spawning.

However, it’s highly likely the Roding would have once held good numbers of brown trout and there are still some areas in the upper Roding where the habitat and water quality remains good enough to potentially support some small, relic populations of the species. Additionally, compared with many of the other major tributaries of the Thames, the Roding has the fewest barriers to fish migration.

It therefore seems possible that trout could still exist in isolated populations within the Roding. If this is true, then work to improve the habitats and water quality of the Roding could encourage these populations to expand. If this is not the case, and pressures on the Roding have caused trout populations to undergo localised extinctions, then it is possible that by improving spawning habitats and making barriers to migration passable, sea trout – which are known to be present in the Thames Estuary – could be encouraged to return to the river to spawn. Generally improving the water quality and health of our rivers will, in turn, attract a greater variety of wildlife and plants.

If you have seen or caught brown trout in the Roding or any of its tributaries, then we would love to hear from you.

For more information on the Thames21 project and to get in touch, email will.oliver@thames21.org.uk

Marian Temple of the Wanstead Community Gardeners leads the farewell tributes to Maz Beg, who is retiring after 24 years behind the counter of Heads ‘N Tails, the High Street shop that sells ‘everything’

In 1998, Maz Beg arrived in Wanstead to open the ‘everything’ shop, Heads ‘N Tails. It sold pets, pet food, pet paraphernalia and just about everything else. How pleased we were to have an ‘everything’ shop. Wanstead had been sadly lacking in such a thing, especially after Brian Jobber of the much-loved Andrews hardware and everything else shop had retired. An ‘everything’ shop is what every high street needs and many are sadly devoid of such a thing.

The first thing Maz did when the shop opened was to invite customers to list what they would like him to stock. He has continued in that vein ever since. Maz will get anything for you. If it’s not at the wholesalers, he’ll order it on Amazon. Either way, it will arrive at the shop or at your door if bulky. At some time, the ‘everything’ expanded to include plants, seeds and associated garden stock, wool and haberdashery.

The Wanstead Community Gardeners have greatly appreciated Maz’s unfailing generosity over the years. Any spring bulbs not sold came to us. Thus, the daffodils along the fence by the wide grass verge in Wanstead Place are all from Maz, and more get planted every year.

In the Gravel Garden over the far side of George Green, the first spring flowers that appear are the hyacinths, all from Maz.

We have never paid full price for anything bought for the community gardens, whether plants, hose connections, water butt taps or whatever. Joy of joy, he was always happy to lend us his battery drill. So useful when a trailing cable would create all sorts of problems. Maz’s generosity to our group has been a generosity to Wanstead.

Now, after years of working long hours, it’s time for Maz to retire. How lucky we were to have him for the past 24 years! The new owners have a similar shop in Queen’s Road, Buckhurst Hill and hopefully will continue with the same stock, but without the wools and maybe the plants. That would be a pity! Perhaps we can persuade them to continue with the plants. So many people buy them from Heads ‘N Tails and the display makes a welcome splash of colour in the High Street.

Well, Maz Beg will be a hard act to follow. A person who has gone so many extra miles for his customers that he must have worn a groove somewhere.

We will miss him, but he goes with our very best wishes and appreciation of the difference his presence has made to our community. Well done, Maz. Enjoy your retirement, whatever you do.

Heads ‘N Tails is located at 21 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2AA. For more information, call 020 8989 6945