Editor

A local theatre group celebrating its 100th year will stage a production of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime – a comedy thriller based on a story by Oscar Wilde – in South Woodford in February.

Formerly known as The Wanstead Players, the company was founded in 1923. In 2020, after 43 years at the Kenneth More Theatre, the group rebranded as WP Drama and relocated to Redbridge Drama Centre on Churchfields.

The show runs from 23 to 25 February (7.30pm; tickets: £15.50), with a Sunday matinée on 26 February (3pm).

Call 020 8708 8803 or visit swvg.co.uk/lordarthur

This month, The East of London Family History Society welcomes Sarah Wise to Wanstead Library, who will be talking about the Victorian workhouses of east London

The workhouse was just about the most feared and hated of all Victorian institutions – every bit as terrifying as prison and the ‘lunatic’ asylum. It wouldn’t be abolished (along with the entire machinery of the Victorian Poor Law) until 1929, but it continued to cast a long shadow across the family memories of many people – my own late mother included.

In the ‘General Mixed Workhouse’ were mingled together the able-bodied, the aged, children, the infirm, the acutely sick and the so-called ‘morally degenerate’. The Poor Law Commission declared in 1909 that this was why it was such a terrible method of dealing with poverty: “The continuous social intercourse between young and old, hardened and innocent, loafer and genuinely out-of-work.” Their report approvingly quoted one chairman of the Board of Guardians of the Poor as saying: “To the reputable clean-minded inmate, this association with the depraved is the bitterest and most humiliating experience.” There were, in 1909, some 24,000 children under the age of 16 in the workhouses of England and Wales, and while the Commission had discovered no large-scale child neglect or cruelty, nevertheless, the effect of workhouse life on a child’s spiritual and intellectual well-being was felt to be immense.

As one example, throughout the 1880s and 1890s, problems continued at the Bethnal Green Workhouse – in particular, their tardiness in adding an infirmary wing, to which the poor of the locality could go when ill or after an accident. Overcrowding was a perennial problem, and cleanliness and lack of good lighting were often cited. Extra premises for an overspill workhouse were leased out of the borough – in Well Street, Hackney – but this was a short-term solution. The Local Government Board (the Whitehall body that oversaw the nation’s workhouses) made a long and unannounced visit to Bethnal Green in 1894 and issued a damning report on the conditions and the corrupt awarding of contracts to supply the workhouse. 

Whether old or new, big or small, rural or urban, the workhouses of the nation were felt to be increasingly out of step with how a modern, technologically advanced country ought to be providing for those who were unable to compete in the workplace. This is why we see, from the early 1880s onwards, a concerted campaign to ‘humanise’ them, with many more creature comforts, better food, entertainments and hobbies.

In my illustrated talk, I’ll be focusing on these changes, with an emphasis on the London experience, and in particular, how the Bethnal Green workhouse was run.

Sarah’s talk will take place at Wanstead Library on 18 January from 7.30pm (visitors: £3). Call 07762 514 238

For more information on Sarah’s research, visit sarahwise.co.uk

Voice-over artist Sally Dunbar gives us the inside story on the Redbridge Talking Newspaper, a weekly publication for those living with blindness or visual impairment. And as a free service, more volunteers are needed

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… From the popularity of yesterday’s radio programmes like Listen with Mother, to the long-running TV show Jackanory, through to today’s boom in audiobooks, being read to is something we all respond to on a very instinctive level: the reassurance of a friendly voice in our ear; the shared experience of the story.

It is these kinds of human interactions that are integral to our existence. Something highlighted so strikingly during the pandemic, which denied us the enjoyment and comfort of social contact with others. For those living with blindness or visual impairment, however, those feelings didn’t necessarily go away when lockdown ended. A talking newspaper can help these people stay in contact with their local community.

As a voice-over artist, I spend much of my time talking to other people through the medium of radio and television; narrating stories, imparting information and being a reassuring voice. It is a job I love and have been doing for over 20 years. But it’s much more than a job. I also spend my free time reading to people and using these same skills in whatever way I can. So, when my friend, Chichi Parish, a volunteer news editor for the Redbridge Talking Newspaper (RTN), told me they were looking for more readers, I jumped at the chance.

RTN is run by a dedicated team of volunteers, headed up by Paul Campbell, whose enthusiasm and energy is inspiring. He dedicates much of his time to organising and running the team of around 50 volunteers, who put the talking newspaper together every week. Each edition runs for about 90 minutes and includes local headlines, news stories, a magazine feature, some music and a quiz. It is a free service and the programmes are copied onto memory sticks and posted out to about 50 listeners each week, with many more listening online.

“I’ve been listening to RTN for 20 years and particularly value the local news as it’s difficult for me to get this anywhere else, but the recordings really have something for everyone and are a wonderful achievement. I really appreciate so many people giving up time to produce them,” said listener Clare Gailans.

It’s marvellous to know that the RTN started life in 1976 and is still going strong today. Even during lockdown, production didn’t stop. We changed to monthly editions and all recorded from home. Thankfully, we’re now back in our Ilford studio, recording weekly again. We’re always looking for volunteer readers, news editors, engineers and more. If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, why not have a listen to our latest edition? And, as all stories must come to an end… I’d like to wish you a happy ever after.

For more information on the Redbridge Talking Newspaper and to listen to the latest issue, visit swvg.co.uk/rtn

Local swan rescue volunteers are collecting unwanted blankets to aid the transport of injured birds.

“Avian influenza means nothing used for one bird can be used for another, and we have rigorous cleaning routines in place. We use bedding in the ambulance travel pods and also when a rescued bird doesn’t need admission but is held locally for observation,” said Swan Sanctuary volunteer Gill Walker.

Bed linen, sheets and blankets will be collected at an event at Eagle Pond on 14 January from 11am to 12 noon.

Visit swvg.co.uk/swanrescue

The presenter of East London Radio’s Talking Stories – a programme dedicated to the spoken word – is seeking local storytellers, poets and authors to take part in future shows.

“Talking Stories is the first and only UK radio show dedicated to the art of storytelling. Our audience is growing – we have 43,000 listeners across the globe – and we would like to feature your stories and promote your talents, of which there are plenty in Wanstead and Woodford!” said presenter Tony Cranston.

Email totocranston@hotmail.com

Local councillors have questioned Barclays’ decision to close their South Woodford branch on 23 February.

“Obviously we are disappointed, especially as this was announced so soon after the Post Office had just returned to George Lane. They are talking about a replacement ‘deposit service’ offered by Link as opposed to a banking hub, which we have argued for as an alternative. We have made contact with Barclays and asked them to reconsider their decision, but I fear it is a fait accompli,” said Councillor Joe Hehir.

Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist, commentator and observer of all things local. Illustrated by Evelyn Rowland

I’m writing about bereavement this month. “You can’t write about that!” some have said. Others have said: “Go for it.” Perhaps the sense of national shared grief following the death of the Queen brought the subject into the headlines. I was unashamedly amongst those who did indeed find it strange and sad that she was ‘no longer around’. The majority of the population had never known another person on the throne. Or on the stamps. As for me, I could remember the life of her father George VI ‘drawing peacefully to a close’ and feeling a 12-year-old’s sympathy for the princesses losing their dad well before his time.

Years later, I vividly recall driving with my sister and brothers behind our father’s hearse and being moved and somehow comforted by the sight of two workmen putting down their pneumatic drills, removing their caps and bowing their heads as we passed. I was thinking: “He will never put his arms around me again and give my back a good rub.” Our mother slipped away early in the morning of her 98th birthday; my sister and my son and I were nearest to the hospital and arrived a few hours later. My sister held her and whispered in her ear: “Don’t worry, Mum, we’ll always be your kids!” Small incidents in themselves but all contributing to the inevitable, painful, yet somehow celebratory and thankful journey we had begun as ‘orphans’. 

But there’s got to be a time when it’s absolutely OK to weep; to sob; to howl. I’ve been looking at some of the consoling letters that flooded in when my husband died, and some of my replies. To one I wrote: “The sense of loss is frankly terrible, though I know, somehow, I will be able to get through, not around it, in time. I came upon a letter in his familiar handwriting this morning. I allowed myself a few moments of wailing and then got down to the nearest job available, emptied the dishwasher and stacked things away.” 

People are all different, unique, with their own life experiences and relationships. Not surprisingly, their route through bereavement will also be different and unique. As usual, when preparing this diary, I have relied on the help of people I meet ‘down the lane’. So many are happy to talk; so varied their insights: “I lost my partner five years ago. I live in a cul-de-sac. If I didn’t go out, I would see no one all day. I know I must make the effort. Make a habit of getting out. Be in the world like Fred always was.”

“The 10 years of my husband’s deepening dementia were really a slow, prolonged bereavement. He became less and less the person I knew. My chum, my soulmate. When he died, the sense of relief that he was no longer struggling was all mixed in with my sense of absolute desolation. We had been together from schooldays and never apart. It’s as if I’m holding things in balance. On one of those old-fashioned sets of scales. Sometimes the loss weighs more heavily, sometimes the thankfulness that he has finally been released from his cage of confusion.” 

“I still have chats with my dear wife, even after several years. And I am grateful for the friends who understand how much I need to talk about her. They don’t avoid the subject.”

“Never a day goes by when I don’t remember my mother. Especially when I’m ironing shirts.” (Tell me more.) “At school, in Home Economics, we were taught the correct way to iron shirts, so when I got home I told my mother she wasn’t doing it right. She was definitely not well pleased!” (But what a loving smile that recollection produced!)

“Yes, I am in mourning. Other pet owners will understand. My dog would always greet me as if she hadn’t seen me for years. She gave me unconditional love, whatever my mood: sad, happy, anxious, whatever. We knew something was seriously the matter but the diagnosis yesterday took us by surprise. The vets could offer no cure. We had fetched her from Battersea Dogs’ Home when she was 11 months old. She ‘went to sleep’ yesterday evening, 10 years later. I am grieving for my loved companion. It feels very raw. But I’m comforted by knowing we were able to give her a good life.”

“I lost my grandma recently. She was very special. We were very close. I’ll be learning to drive soon. It would have been good to take her out for a ride to celebrate when I pass the test. She used to meet me from primary school sometimes. There was a seat in the park that we called ‘our seat’. We would talk together about the day. Or just sit in silence enjoying each other’s company. I miss her very much. I always will.”

“I have seen neighbours cross the road when they see me coming. Some have told me ‘they don’t know what to say’. But if they just said ‘I don’t know what to say,’ it would be more comfortable. Then we could chat.” 

Well, dear readers, was I right to choose this subject? You be the judge. For me, there were beautiful moments even in the first few days of my bereavement: my Hindu neighbour walked over the road and sat quietly, cross-legged on the sitting-room floor for some hours just to demonstrate, as he said, that ‘he was here for me’. A Jewish work-colleague rang me on a day when I was feeling very low. “I am thinking of you,” she said, “and I wish you long life.” Another neighbour knocked on the door holding quite a large shrub in a pot. I had to peer around it to see who it was. He was near to tears. No prepared speech. “Remembering him. Brought you a plant.”

To contact DD with your thoughts or feedback, email dd@swvg.co.uk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A student from Woodbridge High School has been selected for the GB junior cycling team.

Henry Hobbs, a Year 11 student, started cycling at the age of seven and follows in the footsteps of his older brother, Noah, who also attended Woodbridge and is currently training for the Olympics. Henry trains up to 10 hours a week whilst keeping up with his GCSE studies.

“We are incredibly proud of Henry. He is a brilliant athlete and student, and we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for him,” said a school spokesperson.

An illustrated talk on the history of riots in London will take place at All Saints Church on 11 January.

“We will look at riots going back to the Massacre of the Jews in 1189. We will trace common themes and causes in London’s riots and discover that the riots of the past, such as the Gordon Riots of 1780, have much in common with, say, the Brixton Riots of 1981,” said historian Nick Dobson. Hosted by the National Trust’s Woodford and District Centre, the event will take place in the church hall from 2.30pm (visitors: £3).

Call 07774 164 407

The Haven House Christmas Cake Appeal raised over £1,200 in December.

The annual fundraiser was embraced by nine volunteer bakers, whose festive cakes were delivered across Wanstead and Woodford in exchange for a donation to the Woodford Green hospice.

“I would like to say a big thank you to the bakers for their time and effort, and for paying for the ingredients out of their own pockets, and to the buyers who gave very generously, many of whom support this cause year after year,” said organiser Sarah-Jane Mendonça.

Volunteer litter pickers braved the cold December weather to help keep Wanstead Park tidy.

We have litter-picked in snow, rain and sun, but never before in freezing fog! The seven volunteers at our December event had a good haul, including a lethal carving knife and a frozen cushion. We also sold £40 worth of knitted Santas and angels and several books and cards,” said Gill James of the Friends of Wanstead Parklands.

The group’s first litter pick of 2023 will take place on 8 January from 11am (meet at the Temple).