admin

An annual cake sale in aid of Haven House Children’s Hospice raised £21,695 in June, enough to pay for more than two days of care at the Woodford Green charity.

“I am totally amazed and overwhelmed how a little idea only a few weeks ago became such a fantastic event supported by the whole community. I thought I was going to have to cancel the 15th annual cake sale – which is usually held in our house and garden – until I thought about the idea of a virtual cake sale with the possibility of a stall outside so we could confirm to social distancing rules. Almost as soon as I put the idea out on our local neighbourhood group, I was inundated with offers of help. So, very quickly it evolved into a cake trail across Wanstead, Woodford, Walthamstow, Buckhurst Hill and even Australia and the USA! It was an incredible team effort,” said Michelle Vanlint.

The Woodford and District branch of the National Trust has announced its new programme of talks, which are set to resume in October.

“We have to look to the future and very much want our centre to flourish again with varied talks and activities,” said a group spokesperson. On 13 October, Greville Weltch will give a talk about Waltham Abbey Church (10.30am at the Memorial Hall in South Woodford). Future events are titled ‘East Anglian families of influence’ and ‘The history of Ongar High Street’.

Call 07774 164 407

Wanstead travel agent Darrell James Travel will relaunch this month as a chocolate and gift shop, in addition to travel planning services.

“After seven years occupying the old Truffles shop, and with residents saying how much they miss it, we are now bringing truffles back to the High Street,” said owner Darrell Toakley, whose new offerings will include handcrafted items from around the world alongside those of local makers.

Located at 46 High Street, Darrell James Truffles, Travel and Trinkets will open on 5 July (government advice pending).

A network of foodbank collection points at 34 homes across Aldersbrook, Wanstead and South Woodford have collectively received over 10 tonnes of donations since the initiative was launched at the end of April.

“Redbridge Foodbank is getting four times more referrals every week than before the pandemic and is totally reliant on donations. The Tin in the Bin Network has made a huge difference, and we are one of their major suppliers!” said James Paterson, who established the network with Julie Harvey.

Visit wnstd.com/food

A member of the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society is taking part in the nationwide Portraits of Togetherness initiative to offer free photo shoots for NHS staff, key workers or local heroes.

“I will be choosing five or more nominations at the end of the month for their shoot as a thank you for being amazing heroes during the pandemic,” said Anila Hussain.

Those selected will take part in a one-hour outdoor portrait session for up to six people, receiving five edited digital images to download.

Visit wnstd.com/nhsportrait

A brood of up to six cygnets hatched on the Shoulder of Mutton Pond in Wanstead Park have all died.

“It is not unusual for swans to lose many of their newborn – they are vulnerable to foxes, gulls, terrapins and even snakes. But more worrying this year is the increased human footprint in the park because of lockdown. We discovered a path we believe was human-made leading directly to the nest. This may have been innocently done, but it created a direct line for foxes to the cygnets,” said Tracey Adebowale-Jones.

In the second of two articles, Dr Colin Runeckles continues the discussion of his findings following research into a Wanstead and Woodford Borough Council building survey carried out in 1949

Understandably, much post-war building activity was focused on rebuilding and making good housing that had been damaged by enemy action, but there was some new construction going on too. Of the eight houses that were destroyed in Blake Hall Crescent, the surveyor noted that workmen were “clearing the site in readiness for rebuilding”.

House building in Deynecourt Gardens had begun in 1939 and more than 50 new houses were built to complete the road. A few new houses were built around Broadwalk and Hermitage Walk, but the majority of new units of accommodation were provided by council building. Seven buildings named Oakhall Court, comprising 42 flats, were built on vacant land along the Eastern Avenue. The large house known as The Hermitage on Snaresbrook Road was severely damaged by a bomb in October 1940. The survey records that 78 two-room, 192 three-room and 70 four-room flats had been built in 1949 on what it called the Hermitage Estate. Proper road names had presumably not yet been decided.

Wanstead Station was built in 1946, replacing the temporary structure that can be seen on pre-war maps, and ready for opening the following year. The two Plessey’s canteens were converted into government offices as Ministry of Labour and National Service recruiting centres, although the building in The George car park had been extended.

The British Restaurant in the High Street was now a Ministry of National Insurance, and 38 Cambridge Park (opposite Highstone Avenue) had been taken over as an Area Office for the National Assistance Board. The survey also reveals several shops in the High Street had been bricked up because they were vacant. Built around 1938–1939 in front of the old Stone Hall and Mall houses, they were the last of the single-storey shops to be built in that section of the High Street between the wars. Had they been vacant since they were built? Possibly – they are not listed in the 1939 Kelly’s Directory.

Another mystery building shown on the post-war OS maps to the east of Clavering Road, near Wanstead Park, was a mortuary built in 1944 after the Isolation Hospital in that area was bombed. On a lighter note, the survey lists 2 Seagry Road as having a stable at the rear, and notes that it is “in use (1 horse)”! The survey also records the name and type of business for commercial buildings. Although some familiar names remain from the pre-war period, new businesses are also apparent.

Once the entries for Woodford have been entered, the completed database will become a welcome addition to the Heritage Centre’s resources for those researching the history of their house or of the local area.

Robert Putt, who attended Woodbridge High School 80 years ago, is collaborating with the school’s History Department to document his memories of the area. In the third of a series of articles, Robert talks about his memories of rationing

My parents and grandparents  both lost their homes in Poplar to bombs and were rehoused in South Woodford. By September 1940, my sister Grace and I had been evacuated from London on two occasions. We now found ourselves living in our fifth house and attending our fifth school in just over a year.

During the war, two hours were added to the day in the spring and removed at the end of October. This was intended to help the farming community, who were under severe pressure to produce more, due to the U-boat blockade the German navy had immediately set up around Britain’s coasts at the outbreak of war.

People were encouraged by the government to dig up lawns and other unused areas of their gardens, and leaflets were sent to every household with instructions on vegetable planting and growth.

Men who had retired from active employment were asked to return to their profession. The school’s teaching staff had been decimated by the demands of war, similar to NHS staff now being called out of retirement. Young men were needed in the armed forces and the Royal Army Educational Corps were the foundation of the country’s intelligence units.

We could handle the war; we had been living with it for almost as long as we could remember. We played in bomb craters that were studded all over the forest, from the Waterworks in the south to the Connaught Water in the north.

In spite of the war, we were safe; bombs were the only danger, and while we boys were oblivious to the reasons for this, the help given to farmers and the self-management of back gardens made the difference between hunger and satisfaction. This national effort continued throughout the war and for some time afterwards, until the generations that survived the conflict had passed on.

Due to the wartime rationing system, nobody went without because everything, from food  to furniture, was purchased from coupons taken from our ration books. Rich or poor, it didn’t matter; we were all entitled to the same. By 1945, there were very few overweight people and most of the population were vibrantly healthy.

The coronavirus outbreak may cause some changes in the way we over-shop, treat waste and cause damage to the environment. In 1940, people had access to all our rivers and fields, places to enjoy and exercise in. Most of these areas are now used to over-feed us and pollute the atmosphere.

In 1952, when rationing ended, my grandfather said: “Mark my words, we will be rationed by price now.” Absolutely true, and in less than a year, all the social divides that had existed before the war came back. A lesson for today, perhaps.

Children (and parents) have been getting to grips with home schooling and online learning. Here, 10-year-old Viva Sastry – a South Woodford Young Writers Club member – recounts an imaginary day from her lockdown diary

6am. Wake Up. Snoring coming from the next room. Parents asleep – check. Activate plan breakfast. It’s Saturday. Day 40 of COVID-19 lockdown (I think).

6.15am. Breakfast eaten. Time to activate pla… Oh no! Today’s the day my new tutor is coming. I just remembered! I am not looking forward to meeting him on Zoom. Better hide.

7am. Tucked behind the sofa. I’ll be safe for the rest of the day at least.

9am. Discovered by two very angry specimens of Homo sapiens sapiens (aka parents) and dragged to the laptop.

9.30am. The tutor is here. Funnily enough, he’s wearing robes and is carrying a wand. This might not be so horrible after all. Maybe my parents have decided to teach me magic. He’s called Mr Periwinkle.

9.45am. Apparently another tutor – my real tutor – has turned up. My parents have no idea about Mr Periwinkle.

10am. This is terrible. I have two tutors apparently on the same Zoom call. One is trying to teach me how to charm spaghetti, and the other is telling me what 12 cubed is. It’s chaos!

10.30am. Mr Periwinkle has told me to get some pasta from the kitchen to practice spaghetti charming. Mr Real Tutor told me to sit quietly and stop “looking like someone slapped you around the face with spaghetti”.

10.35am. I have two angry tutors on my hands. One is telling me to stop looking so nervous, and the other is asking me why I am not going to get the spaghetti.

11am. Things are getting out of hand. Thankfully, Mr Periwinkle says goodbye and goes off to eat lunch (I think he’s in a different time zone). This means my other tutor can finally get me to recite all the cubed numbers up to 13 cubed. Then, Mr Periwinkle is back, and the normal one leaves, and I can finally practice my spaghetti spell.

12.30pm. Lunchtime. Cheese sandwiches with a bag of crisps, chocolate and two oranges. I helped myself to some dates in the kitchen.

1pm. Meditation with Mr Periwinkle and PE with the tutor. Next, we have magical animals with Mr Periwinkle and zoology with the normal tutor. This turned out okayish, except for the time when the normal tutor asked me what animal was believed to have healing properties. I answered “unicorn” and the tutor blew up. Apparently the answer was armadillo. Oh dear, this day is too hectic for my liking!

3pm. Thank goodness this is over. Wait, what’s that? Oh, it’s both of the tutors saying goodbye… What?! “See you tomorrow!?” Oh no… And today was only Monday!

What will Wanstead and Woodford look like in a post-COVID world? In the first of a series of articles, Chair of Wanstead Society Scott Wilding, who is exploring these issues as part of his job, offers his thoughts

The past few months have been difficult and challenging for everyone. Our normal way of life has completely changed, and we have an enhanced appreciation for frontline workers, not just the NHS, but our refuse collectors, HGV drivers, shelf stackers, transport workers and many, many more.

But as we begin to emerge from lockdown, what will our lives look like? We all want to return to how it was, but maybe now it’s time to consider what we want to rush back to, and what we don’t. And although this disease is a tragedy that has affected everyone, some positives have come from the bad.

Traffic and travel
When the lockdown came into force, we turned off the white noise of the A12, the flights from City Airport and others. We started to hear the birds again. We began to breathe cleaner air. It’s going to be much harder to return to pre-COVID levels of noise and pollution – and we might not have to. TfL estimates traffic fell by almost 50% during the peak of lockdown, with London’s worst pollutants (NO₂ emissions) down by 27% and, in some spots, pollution fell by almost 50%.

Do we really want to return to a world where that goes back up again? With many office workers now at home for the foreseeable future, the opportunity can be measured in time. Time to walk or cycle the kids to school, if you can. Time to walk and cycle to the High Street to shop rather than drive to the big supermarkets. Time to take socially distanced exercise rather than drive to a gym. It’s also worth taking the time to consider how we support essential traffic like deliveries, vans and HGVs, and how we can encourage more sustainable travel.

Now may also be the time for airports to consider whether they need to expand. Do we need another runway now business travellers have got used to video conferencing? It’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Air travel will, for the next 12 months, be at historic lows. And the UK holiday industry could reap huge benefits.

Society
It’s been tough. We have all been at home. But from road-based WhatsApp groups to shopping for vulnerable people and Zoom quizzes with mates, my guess is more of us know more of our neighbours than we did before – and that can only be a good thing. Humans are sociable animals, and from adversity has sprung hope. Hope that we will continue new-found friendships to form a more cohesive and positive place to live.

The ‘new normal’ is going to be different, but it’s not going to be all bad. We just have to choose which bits of the old life we want back and which bits we’d rather leave in the past.

Lockdown may have prevented South Woodford resident and Samaritans volunteer Barbara Collins from meeting people face to face, but volunteers are still answering the phone … and listening

When the lockdown began, I wondered how I could continue my volunteering work with Samaritans. I joined Redbridge Samaritans about five years ago after I retired. I really appreciated the chance to meet new people and felt I was contributing something useful to the community.

Since then, I have spent about three hours a week at our Ilford centre, taking phone calls, answering emails and seeing personal callers. I have enjoyed being a leader for other volunteers and leading our recruitment team. Both the update training and the ongoing support from other volunteers have been great.

As many readers will know, Samaritans has, for many years, provided a confidential listening service for people in emotional distress. People of all backgrounds contact us about all kinds of problems. These could be depression, loneliness, stressful situations at home or work, debt or abuse. We listen, give them a chance to get it out, and talk things through. Only about one in five calls or messages are from people feeling suicidal, and the vast majority of these aren’t actively planning to end their lives. Our branch has about 70 volunteers and answers 10,000 calls a year.

During lockdown we have had to make a few adjustments. For example, we are unable to meet callers face to face. Also, some of our volunteers are self-isolating. Across the country, about 30% of Samaritans volunteers have needed to self-isolate. Arrangements have been made to allow some of us to answer Samaritans emails from home, through a secure connection. Most Samaritans have continued to go into their branches to take calls. They have been designated as essential workers, allowing them to travel. In April, Samaritans worked with other organisations to set up a confidential telephone helpline dedicated to support NHS workers.

During this time, we have appreciated the many offers from people who want to volunteer. Due to Covid-19, we had to stop our face-to-face training, but please continue to register your interest online. We will get in touch as soon as we can start training volunteers again, either in person or online.

Fundraising for branches and for Samaritans nationally is a problem as many of our usual activities are not happening: no quiz evenings or other events involving gatherings. If you would like to donate to Samaritans nationally or locally, please do so online.

And most importantly, if you need our help, don’t forget we’re here to listen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We listen. We won’t judge or tell you what to do.

A London tour guide is offering virtual tours of Wanstead to help raise funds for the Tin in the Bin Network.

“During lockdown, I have spent some time learning about my home for 20-plus years, Wanstead. I never really fully appreciated the incredible history that is alive here, so I began putting together a local walk for when this madness ends. Then, after watching a few online lectures, I thought I would try and present my walk as a virtual tour,” explained Chris O’Donnell.

The next tour takes place on 9 June from 8pm (£5).

Email cod@hipstours.com