Editor

His iconic designs may be popular around the world, but William Morris grew up in Woodford. With 2024 marking his 190th birthday, Emily Allen reflects on the life of an extraordinary artist

Almost two centuries after William Morris was born, his flora and fauna designs are enjoying a renaissance. Perennially popular in museums, recent interior design trends such as ‘Cluttercore’ have led to a spike in the sales of William Morris homeware in the UK and around the world, yet the inspirations for William’s timeless designs lie right on our doorstep.

William was born in Walthamstow in 1834 to a wealthy middle-class family. When he was six, the Morris family moved to Woodford Hall, an estate surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest. The house, which stood behind the current Woodford Parish Church Memorial Hall, was demolished in 1900 and is commemorated with a plaque at the front of the building. While living there, William attended a local preparatory school, the Misses Arundale’s Academy for Young Gentlemen, which soon moved its premises to George Lane.

William enjoyed rambling around Epping Forest and fishing in the River Roding. On walks with his father, he learned the names of colourful flowers and birds that he would later go on to recreate in his designs and tapestries. William enjoyed visiting the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge in Chingford, and later wrote of the ‘impression of romance’ that the Tudor building, with its tapestries and embroideries, had on him as a child.

William’s father died when he was nine (he is buried in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church), and the family moved back to Walthamstow, living in Water House, which now houses the William Morris Gallery. After finishing his schooling, William entered Oxford University, where he first grew to spurn Victorian industrial capitalism.

He was apprenticed to an architect in 1856, but left to take up painting and poetry. In 1861, William co-founded the decorative arts company that would later become Morris & Co and crafted wall hangings and decorations by hand. The firm became immensely successful and saw William create some of his most famous wallpaper designs, including The Strawberry Thief. Yet, despite the heights of fame William achieved, he never forgot his early years in Woodford and Epping Forest, and in the 1890s, he took part in a campaign to save Epping Forest from being bought by developers, describing the forest as “always interesting and always beautiful.”

William died in 1896, yet his legacy survives all around us, in the fields and forests surrounding Woodford that he fought so hard to preserve. Walking through Epping Forest today, it is easy to see how such a beautiful landscape could have inspired William’s artistic success from a young age. Epping Forest stands as a living tribute to William and his work, and we are lucky to be able to call him one of Woodford’s own.

Emily Allen is a freelance writer. For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/allen

As the holiday season approaches, a group of passionate volunteer bakers led by Paul Canal and Sarah-Jane Hogg are gearing up to make a difference

Each year, a dedicated team of bakers comes together to create delicious, handcrafted Christmas cakes, sold in support of Haven House Children’s Hospice. This initiative raises vital funds to support children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, and the effort embodies the holiday spirit of giving and community.

The charity Christmas cake project has become an annual tradition, bringing together people from all walks of life. Through our combined love of baking and community service, our volunteer bakers produce an array of beautiful cakes that celebrate the season’s flavours. Each cake is sold for a donation, with 100% of proceeds going directly to Haven House Children’s Hospice, an organisation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for children and young people.

Haven House Children’s Hospice provides a compassionate and caring environment for children with complex health needs and life-limiting conditions. The Woodford Green hospice offers an array of services, including respite care, music therapy, hydrotherapy and family support. These services play an essential role in the lives of the children and families they serve, helping to create positive memories and relieve the strain of daily challenges.

For Haven House, community support is crucial. As a charity, the hospice relies heavily on donations and volunteer work to sustain its mission. By purchasing or baking one of these Christmas cakes, you’ll be directly helping to fund these services, making a tangible difference for families facing unimaginable challenges.

This year, we’re calling on community members to get involved. If you have a passion for baking or simply want to contribute to a worthy cause, consider joining our team of volunteer bakers. Whether you’re an experienced baker or a beginner with a love for Christmas treats, your time and effort can have a significant impact. Baking sessions are a wonderful way to meet like-minded people, share recipes and enjoy the holiday spirit, all while helping a remarkable cause.

If baking isn’t your thing, you can still make a difference by purchasing one of these delicious cakes. Each cake is a unique creation, lovingly baked, and they make a wonderful holiday gift or festive addition to your own table. By purchasing a cake, you’re not just bringing joy to your family and friends; you’re also supporting essential care for children in need.

Together, we can bake a difference for Haven House Children’s Hospice. Your support will bring hope and joy to children and families this holiday season, a true reflection of what this time of year is all about.

Let’s make this year’s Wanstead and Woodford Christmas Bakers Appeal our best yet!

To become a volunteer baker or to purchase a cake, text 07769 159433, email havenhousebakers@gmail.com or visit swvg.co.uk/bakers

Tin in a Bin will host a drag queen bingo night on 23 November to raise funds for Redbridge Foodbank’s warehouse renovation project. James Nunn reports on the charity’s recent work 

Redbridge Foodbank’s warehouse renovation project has progressed at pace over the last few months. Our dedicated team have battled the summer heat and overcome challenges with material delivery, water ingression and timelines – they have our everlasting gratitude, as do the community members who enable the project itself by donating and supporting it. Everything Redbridge Foodbank is able to do for local people in need is facilitated by its generous donors.

Over the past four months, renovations have been completed on the flooring and installation of the volunteer bathrooms and kitchen has begun. As I write, we are awaiting delivery of a new ventilation unit.

Once completed, the warehouse space will enable the streamlining of the current operational model, cut running costs, increase storage capacity, provide a safe working environment for volunteers and allow for the reintroduction of the Redbridge Foodbank Cafe, where clients can enjoy a cup of tea while they speak with our trained volunteers, who can signpost them to expert local organisations that can address the underlying issue leading to them needing our services.

This renovation project has been funded through a mixture of grants, local appeal funding and unrestricted funds. With phase two coming to a close, we are currently fundraising for our final phase, which will operationalise the space to realise the objectives of Redbridge Foodbank: “To relieve hunger and poverty in our local community by feeding people in crisis, promote social inclusion, advance education, training and retraining among unemployed people and develop the capacity and skills of members of the community so they are equipped to identify and meet their own needs.”

Redbridge Foodbank has a proven track record of delivering for our shared local community. A total of 16,771 food parcels were distributed to clients in the last financial year. This breaks down to 10,138 adults and 6,633 children (including repeat visits). And our successful programme with Citizens Advice Redbridge (which began two years ago) has facilitated 1,137 consultations with clients. As a result of these consultations and follow up work, 716 clients have been empowered to support themselves without needing the food bank to survive.

If you would like to help Redbridge Foodbank, whether by volunteering, donating food and hygiene products or donating financially, your gifts will be gratefully received.

A drag queen bingo night organised by Tin in a Bin will take place at Christ Church hall, Wanstead on 23 November from 7pm (tickets: £15). Visit swvg.co.uk/bingo

To donate to Redbridge Foodbank, visit redbridgefoodbank.org.uk

Nightingale Primary School is looking for a new governor.

“This is a great opportunity for someone who would like to get more involved in supporting their local community by contributing to our vibrant primary school. Governors are asked to commit to attending six meetings annually (five of which are in the evening) and make some additional visits to the school. This vacancy is not open to parents with children at the school,” said a school spokesperson.

Email admin@nightingale.redbridge.sch.uk

Staff from Woodbridge High School took part in the 55-mile London to Brighton Cycle Ride in September.

“We’re raising funds for Great Western Air Ambulance in memory of our colleague, Moyra Whelan, who lost her life in a road traffic collision in the Cotswolds in 2022. We are incredibly grateful for all donations. We’ve raised over £9,400 so far, enough to fund four airlifts,” said a spokesperson. All air ambulance services are charity-funded and receive no money from the government or the NHS.

Visit swvg.co.uk/whscycle

Three Remembrance services will take place across Wanstead and South Woodford this November.

The first will take place at the Woodford War Memorial, outside St Mary’s Church in South Woodford on 9 November (arrive by 8.40am). This will be followed by a gathering at the Wanstead War Memorial on the High Street on 10 November (arrive by 12.15pm). A final service will take place on Armistice Day at the Snaresbrook Garden of Remembrance, off Snaresbrook Road, opposite Eagle Pond (arrive by 10.45am).

Local student Henry Hobbs became the fastest 17-year-old cyclist in the world at the 2024 Junior Track World Championships, which took place in China over the summer.

The Woodbridge High School sixth-former – who started cycling at the age of seven – won gold in the Junior Men’s Individual Pursuit, beating world record holder William Holmes from Australia.

Henry’s success continued at the event, taking silver in the Time Trial as well as bronze as part of the Men’s Team Pursuit squad.

The history of the Monkhams Estate will be explored at the Woodford Historical Society’s meeting on 14 November.

“I was interested to come across an article in the Woodford Times of 17 June 1904 about the future of Monkhams. This announced it was to be developed as a high-class building estate and that work on making the roads and laying the sewers had started,” said Georgina Green, whose presentation will take place at All Saints Church from 2.30pm (visitors: £5).

Visit woodfordhistoricalsociety.org

A new defibrillator has been installed outside Ocean Pharmacy in South Woodford.

“This unit at 30 High Road is accessible 24 hours a day. Defibrillators at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s are only available during opening hours, so this is a real benefit to us all. Thanks to Adrienne Lister, our local councillors and council officers, who helped make this happen,” said a South Woodford Society spokesperson.

If a defibrillator is used within the first five minutes of cardiac arrest, the chances of survival increase from 6% to over 70%.

TfL has created a bus fiasco in Wanstead and South Woodford with its incompetent changes to the W12, W13 and W14 routes, say Save Our Local Bus Services campaigners. Member Donna Mizzi explains

Many elderly and disabled people are put at great risk when they cannot access public transport from near their home. That’s one major reason the Save Our Local Bus Services campaign is demanding urgent and major improvements – before winter hits.

TfL keeps repeating that it will keep services “under review” over the next year. However, since bus changes were imposed in early September, many residents have trouble reaching the local hospital, GPs, supermarkets and stations. Others find themselves stranded while trying to travel back home. Children are having trouble getting to school and commuters are reluctantly having to rely more on their cars again. Distraught and perplexed bus users have become an increasingly common sight.

In some areas, including the huge Nightingale Estate stretching from Wanstead to South Woodford, the hail-and-ride bus was reduced from half-hourly to hourly…without any timetable. Common traffic hold-ups on this route stop it being reliable, while Neighbourhood Watch members are concerned about people of all ages walking down the estate’s long streets in the dark.

The ultra-confusing changes to the W12, W13, W14 and 549 routes have severely hit those with mobility and health issues. The ‘lifeline’ W14 now terminates a quarter of a mile short of Whipps Cross Hospital. Incredibly, the W14 has also been designed to miss the most popular stops, including those near step-free Wanstead Tube station, Wanstead and South Woodford amenities, and Walthamstow.

Even, TfL’s own customer service advisers haven’t been able to understand the muddled bus routes – a number of residents reported after they sought travel advice. TfL kept trying to blame the lack of timetables and mix-ups on the recent cyber attack. But a customer services adviser admitted he couldn’t see the imminent changes on the TfL system, a day before the attack. (Campaigners have a copy of his email.) Meanwhile, buses variously don’t arrive, fail to stop or have wrong destinations on the front.

Local residents are entitled to be angry; their travel needs have been ignored. Last year’s so-called consultation was a farce, accompanied by misleading statements and impossible-to-follow maps. Finally, in October, following growing complaints, Wanstead councillors hastily organised a small public meeting. TfL provided two officers who were not “decision-makers” and lacked sufficient local area knowledge. One W12 user reported that his regular journeys from Wanstead to Whipps Cross were taking about 40 minutes longer because they had been re-routed through highly congested Leytonstone. TfL also ignored warnings to avoid that problem.

The Save Our Local Buses Campaign invites residents to submit their local bus experiences. Visit swvg.co.uk/mybus, where you can also access the petition. 

A new community orchard has been established in Woodford.

The corner patch of grass opposite Ray Lodge Primary School on Snakes Lane East was transformed by more than 40 residents at a planting day in October.

“This site has been an eyesore for years, often used by cars for illegal parking, tearing up the grass. We have now planted apple and pear trees, spring bulbs and wildflowers, making it a beautiful green space where biodiversity can thrive,” said Lydia Fraser-Ward of the Woodford Greeners.

Visit swvg.co.uk/wg