Editor

A statement from Woodford Pantomime: “It is with heavy hearts that we announce our 60th panto, Aladdin, will be postponed until January 2023. In these uncertain times, we are worried about cancelling shows at short notice and the financial impact that could have on us as an amateur company. We are looking forward to putting the pandemic ‘behind us’ and welcoming you on the magic carpet in 2023. Woodford, we will be back! Oh yes we will!” The group have performed at Sir James Hawkey Hall since 1962.

Local artist James Valentine has produced a series of linocut Christmas cards which reflect the bright colours associated with the old Norse celebrations of Yule

My working background has always been in education. After moving to London in 1981 I taught art and design in various schools in the East End of London. Since retiring from teaching, I have taught life drawing to adult groups and for four years taught arts and crafts to adults with special needs in Tower Hamlets.

I now enjoy working at home in my studio producing a variety of art pieces. My love of printmaking has led me this year to produce a series of seasonal cards that I have called Yuletide Greetings.

The word ‘Yule’ comes from an old Norse term which referred to a season of hunting after the harvest was done. As it fell in December, it became associated with the Christmas holiday. Bright colours like gold, silver, red, green and white were then adopted into Christian Christmas celebrations.

The technique I have used to produce my artwork is called linoprinting, a type of relief printing using a sharp, V-shaped tool to gouge lines into a piece of lino. An image on paper is achieved when ink is rolled onto the lino block, then burnished onto paper. Durer, Picasso and Warhol are just some of the artists who have used linoprint in their work.

I have exhibited my artwork mainly online and in several establishments on Wanstead High Street and community centres. Returning to education, I have organised murals for school playgrounds and the local library in Forest Gate.

South Woodford has always been a destination place for me to meet friends for coffee and a chat. Indeed, I have been a volunteer at The Childrens’ Society on George Lane for over 12 years. This has been a very rewarding experience in raising awareness and funding for children who require help in many different circumstances. I also hope next year to display my work in the independent coffee shop Tipi, a great place to have a coffee and a cake.

As for the future, I hope to return to an island in the Mediterranean that holds many memories for me. That island is Malta, with its dramatic coastlines ideal for deep-sea diving. I have painted many colourful landscapes there. Being a very Christian island, Malta has many churches, and during the Christmas period, each church celebrates with colourful pageants, processions, fireworks and joyful singing.

James’ Yuletide Greetings cards are available in packs of six for £6, with free local postage. For more information and to order, email jvalentine53@hotmail.co.uk

Local volunteer bakers will be making Christmas cakes this December to raise money for Haven House Children’s Hospice.

It follows the success of last year’s appeal, which saw over 120 cakes baked and sold in exchange for a donation to the Woodford Green charity, raising over £1,000.

A Facebook group has been set up to coordinate volunteers and share recipes.

“Thanks to all the volunteer bakers and those who generously support this great cause by buying cakes,” said organiser Sarah-Jane Mendonça.

To become a volunteer baker or order a Christmas cake, email Sarah-Jane at havenhousechristmascakes@gmail.com or click here to join the Facebook group.

Residents of Crescent Road, South Woodford were shocked to discover a developer has plans to build a block of flats opposite their homes on an area currently covered by trees. The Crescent Road Action Group was subsequently formed. Here, group members explain their objections

Crescent Road is one of South Woodford’s hidden gems. It is a delightful no-through road with Victorian terraces on one side and a row of mature trees and other vegetation on the other. The trees and other vegetation are also home to various animals, including bats and hedgehogs.

We were therefore shocked to receive an invitation through their letterbox to attend, at very short notice, an online meeting with City Plumbing Ltd (a business based in Raven Road on the other side of the green corridor). It was clear that City Plumbing were planning to build a block of flats, with entrances onto Crescent Road.

At a packed meeting on 22 September at Mill Grove, which is in Crescent Road, residents unanimously supported the campaign to oppose this unwarranted planning application.

“It was just unbelievable that such an inappropriate development is being planned. Apart from the destruction of the trees (which, itself, should never be allowed), Crescent Road was designed for housing on one side of the road only and developments on the other side are simply not acceptable to us,” said Margaret Watson.

“The proposal hasn’t yet gone to planning and we want it stopped before it ever gets there. City Plumbing should be in no doubt that we will oppose any application every step of the way,” added Alison Hodges.

In addition to the unprecedented destruction of trees and loss of vegetation, the plan will have the following negative impacts on the area:

• Impact on parking in the street as the 18 flats will have insufficient parking space and there will be less parking available for us existing residents.
• Impact on already stretched local schools, nurseries and services in the local and surrounding areas.
• If approved, this is likely to lead to further flats being built on the whole of the commercial area on Raven Road, which will further impact on the trees, parking, local services and transport links.
• Not in character or keeping with the traditional Victorian and Edwardian red and yellow brick houses currently on the road.

Crescent Road should not be the means of access or parking for a property that is being built on the separate Raven Road business park. If flats are to be built, all access and parking should be provided in the Raven Road business park which has enough space and already has existing access and road capacity for the properties. The Crescent Road residential area should not suffer for the business park owners’ gain.

In the meantime, we are planning our opposition to the proposals. “We want a preservation order put on the trees because their loss anywhere along the road would be unacceptable. We also believe there are legal grounds for preventing the destruction of the trees on City Plumbing’s property and other trees do not even belong to them,” said Ged Rumak.

A petition against the proposals has been launched

South Woodford resident Debbie Pearson is a tour guide for the City of London and the City of Westminster. During lockdown, she took the opportunity to learn more about the local area, including former resident Sylvia Pankhurst. Anti–Air War Memorial photo by Geoff Wilkinson

Sylvia Pankhurst was born in Manchester in 1882 but lived in the Woodford area for many years. She was a writer, artist, activist and peace campaigner.

According to the book, Woodford Then and Now by Reginald Fowkes, Sylvia lived in a house called Frithmans on George Lane. The parade of shops including the International Supermarket is near the site.

The Pankhurst family, particularly her mother, Emmeline, and sister, Christabel, are best known for their Votes for Women campaigns. They formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) to campaign for women’s suffrage, earning the nickname Suffragettes. Sylvia supported this cause, but their opinions differed, and she followed her own path.

Sylvia studied at the Royal College of Art in Kensington. She gave up her studies to spend more time campaigning, although she designed logos, leaflets and banners for the WSPU. She was imprisoned several times and went on a hunger strike.

She formed the East London Federation of Suffragettes, originally as part of the WSPU, but later independent. She wanted to support working women, especially those from the East End. In Bow, she set up a nursery, cost-price restaurant and toy factory.

During World War One, Emmeline and Christabel supported the war effort, but Sylvia campaigned for peace and they became estranged. She became more involved in socialism, founding a newspaper, The Women’s Dreadnought, later The Workers’ Dreadnought.

Towards the end of the war, she met Silvio Corio, an Italian exile with similar political views. They were lifelong partners, but she chose not to marry him and take his name. In 1924, they moved to Vine Cottage, Woodford Green, renamed Red Cottage because of their socialist views. Their son, Richard, was born in 1927. In 1933, they moved to 3 Charteris Road in Woodford.

Sylvia wrote many books, including The Suffragette (1911), The Suffragette Movement (1931) and The Life of Emmeline Pankhurst (1935).  These were part history, part autobiography.

In the mid-1930s, Italian fascists invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Sylvia founded a journal to raise awareness and raised funds to build a hospital. She also commissioned the Anti–Air War Memorial (pictured here), which stands near the site of Red Cottage at 581 High Road, Woodford Green. The stone memorial, sculpted by Eric Benfield, is the shape of an upturned bomb on a plinth and was Britain’s first anti-war memorial. In the 1980s, it received a Grade II listing as an important part of the national heritage.

After the death of Silvio, Sylvia and her son, Richard, were invited to Ethiopia by Emperor Haile Selassie. She lived there until 1960. She died in Addis Ababa and was given a state funeral.

In 2012, a memorial bench commemorating Sylvia was installed on the High Road, over the North Circular. And in 2016, following a public vote, one of the meeting rooms in the Woodford Memorial Hall was named after Sylvia Pankhurst.

For more information, follow Debbie on Twitter @debbieguide

Woodford Arts Group member Emma Liebeskind introduces her project tracking the changing seasons in Epping Forest, which was born out of the first lockdown and continues to inspire her

Being reunited in the spring with the Woodford Arts Group (WAG) to showcase our work ‘live’ and ‘in person’ after months of art classes and virtual exhibitions on Zoom made me appreciate the connection we have as a group. WAG benefits the Woodford area by showcasing the talent of resident artists, and by creating an independent arts forum out of which an eclectic but cohesive group can reflect a local vision.   

Our shows reflect the inspiration that many Woodford people find living in proximity to Epping Forest. Fittingly, Packfords Hotel in Woodford, not far from The Green, became a unique cultural hub for us. We were fortunate to be able to use Packfords’ beautiful downstairs public rooms as a gallery space on several occasions. Our most recent summer exhibition was held in the conservatory room normally reserved for wedding parties. We were able to offer a very COVID-safe and well-ventilated viewing experience to our visitors as the room opens out into the hotel’s lovely wooded garden.   

Lockdown forced artists to experiment with unfamiliar methods. Last winter, my sketchbooks were full of dreary charcoal images of the hour-long walks I had been taking for exercise. I felt myself becoming quite depressed with my artwork and realised I desperately needed to inject some colour into my work. I mixed things up by experimenting with water-soluble media, rather than oil-based inks and pastels. Etching onto wet plaster using coloured inks and drawing in the rain using water-soluble graphite sticks created unpredictable results, but that was part of the fun.

First-hand experience of walking in Epping Forest and drawing from observation are central to the way I approach composing landscapes. The decision to use water-soluble materials and to play with the random effects of water creates atmospheric effects that are impossible to predict. A friend said it reminded them of looking through trees in dappled light.

I have an affinity with the Forest that reaches back to my childhood in the 1970s. My dad used to lead my brother and I out on woodland walks around Knighton Woods when we were little, and then bike rides to Loughton as we got older. Once we took the bus out as far as Copped Hall and walked across muddy fields to inspect the ruin, before the M25 cut through the surrounding farmland.

My mother, a history teacher, informed us that Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first performed in old Copped Hall in 1594 and that our freedom to roam in the woods began with a campaign led by Thomas Willingale of Loughton to uphold his ancient commoners’ right to lop firewood in the 1860s.

Epping Forest still feels magical to me; it’s full of the ghosts of the people who have gone before. South Woodford is lucky to have an open space like the Forest on our doorstep. I hope my artwork captures a tangible sense of this special place.

To view more of Emma’s work, visit emmaliebeskind.co.uk

For more information on Woodford Arts Group, visit woodfordartsgroup.org

Drivers are reminded that from 25 October, the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanding to cover a larger area out to the North and South Circular (the North and South Circular themselves are not in the zone).

This will cover western areas of Redbridge, including South Woodford, Snaresbrook, Wanstead and Aldersbrook.

The expanded ULEZ will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a £12.50 daily charge for vehicles that do not meet the required emissions standards.

Visit swvg.co.uk/ulez

Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist, commentator and observer of all things local

You get wonderful glimpses into other people’s lives from there. But it doesn’t seem to be intrusive.  Certainly not voyeuristic. I’m talking about the upper deck of a bus. I’ve been making joyous wide-ranging use of my Travelcard recently, when the rules permitted. I rediscovered the Isle of Wight. Such an endearing and unpretentious island: sensibly-sized houses happily tended and enjoyed but not swaggeringly shown off to the passing world with pillared porches and chandeliers and high, burglar-proof electric gates “which can cause serious injury or even death”. Old-fashioned in the very nicest sense. Your friendly appreciation is accepted. Almost invited. Perhaps the residents are thinking: “You’re just visiting. We’re lucky. We live here. We’ll have it all to ourselves again once the season is over and you get back on the ferry.”

I always looked up to my parents and to my grandparents. But following these months of lockdown, I find I am now, quite suddenly, looking up to my grandson! Or perhaps I’m shrinking. At least on the upper deck of a bus I can feel I’m really on top of things. There’s  someone pegging out the washing; someone doing a spot of weeding; tying back some wayward foxgloves; fast asleep in a deck chair in the shade, open book in hand looking likely to slip off onto the lawn. Little gasps can be heard when the bus enters one of those many wooded areas on the island with trees arching low over the road. Their branches batter against the windows, excitingly close to the passengers. The view down into Ventnor is precipitous as the bus begins its careful zigzag descent into the town. You almost feel you have to hang on tight. As you leave Shanklin and Sandown, you have unimpeded views across the wide sweep of the bay: games of beach cricket in progress. If you’re lucky, you witness a challenging catch and the embarrassed smile of the victorious young fielder. Swimmers and paddle boarders. Mum handing around the sandwiches and trying to avoid getting sand mixed in with the coronation chicken.

There are very few parking places in Eastbourne. If you’ve procured one, you leave the car there all week for the amazingly modest fee reserved for hotel visitors. It’s so much more fun on the buses. Views across the green expanse of the South Downs as you head towards Brighton. “We used to have a dip there when we were kids. Beyond those trees, there’s a nice sheltered inlet!” It was a nostalgic voice from a few rows back. Roedean School certainly lives up to its ‘inspirational location’, sprawling confidently across the cliffs above the coast road, with its warm stone buildings and jolly red roofs. No doubt plenty of jolly hockey sticks as well, but not visible from our Number 12 bus. “Look, Miriam. I boarded in that wing over to the far right. I was brilliant at cricket!” Another nostalgic commentator enlivening our tour. Soon, the Brighton Marina came into sight below us. I suppose I anticipated something more romantic as the setting for the host of colourful yachts of all sizes; they were crammed together in what looked like a huge hangar of ugly iron scaffolding. If we had been nearer, we could have heard that magical sound of the breeze in all the rigging to soften our impression. The architect had included no echo of the curves of the hulls or even of the rolling waves outside. Truthfully (admittedly in my ignorance), it looked like a structure marked down for early demolition.   

Next day, we were off via Pevensey Bay and Bexhill: clusters of fishermen, some angling from a favourite  breakwater, others further out in little boats. Fishing seems to be a silent, even contemplative sport. Companionable, but rarely a time for swapping jokes. We were moving into more sophisticated territory: close-up glimpses into the first-floor rooms of the wonderfully preserved, high, elegant Victorian terraces along the promenade at Hastings. A thoughtful child on a balcony, sitting with his legs dangling through the wrought-iron railings. He didn’t see me watching, but I saw him thinking. Perhaps contrasting this rather exotic summer holiday-let Mum and Dad had found on booking.com, with their modest semi-detached habitat in London, E18.

It’s some time since I boarded a bus near here, single or double-decker. Could anything local be as engaging as the drop down into Ventnor or the grandeur of the South Downs? Shortly before lockdown, I was on a 179 to Ilford. At Beehive Lane, I observed a small girl, about five, waiting to board with an elderly lady. Moments later, young footsteps climbing the stairs. She emerged, stood stock still at the front and made a beaming announcement: “I’m going shopping with Grandma. We’re going to buy a present for Mummy. It’s her birthday tomorrow.” Then she took her seat. I wondered if the astonished passengers would applaud. They certainly smiled. Children don’t just get on a bus. They set out on an adventure.

More recently, I was returning from Loughton on a 20. Had I chosen the wrong time to travel? Soon, the top deck was swarming with schoolkids. Talking at the tops of their voices. Exchanging news, I think. But I’m not sure: they were using a sort of teenage dialect. Lots of “likes”, of course, but also a sort of grammar-free, fast and furious rollicking torrent of words. Mind-blowing but delicious really, even for me with my BA Honours English. Then suddenly, a space beside me. One of the older boys sat down; settled his books on his lap. “A good day at school?” I asked. Politely-like. He turned and smiled and started to speak. I understood every word. This was the language he would be using for college interviews. He was bilingual! He poured out how sad he was: his grandmother had just died. He had loved her very much. We talked all the way to the Waterworks Corner.

Students from Woodbridge High School have been contributing ideas to the South Woodford Society’s Neighbourhood Plan, and are keen to emphasise sustainability. Sheila Qazi and Kate Sheehan report

At Woodbridge, we are very lucky to have students who are extremely passionate about living in a community that is sustainable. Their appetite is largely fuelled by their involvement in our amazing Climate Crisis Committee.

So, when the opportunity arose for our students to have their voices heard on issues affecting South Woodford and what we as a community could do to improve the area, we had every confidence they would rise to the challenge… and they did.

The committee met with three members of the South Woodford Society and discussed a number of important topics. Students spoke openly regarding what they felt was lacking in the area and their opinions were listened to. After a lengthy exchange, a plan was formulated of the next steps, and these will be reviewed at our next meeting in October.

A student representative said: “I attended a workshop in school to be part of a youth panel. The workshop involved us working with members of the South Woodford Society sustainability committee. The aim of the workshop was to allow young people the opportunity to express their views on the services provided in South Woodford and how sustainable South Woodford is. We worked together to generate ideas of what could be improved in the area, what services are lacking and what strategies could be put in place to help improve sustainability in the local area. I really enjoyed the workshop as it allowed us to express our views and have our voices heard. I also learnt a lot of information about what is currently taking place to make South Woodford more sustainable. Another meeting has been scheduled for October and I am very much looking forward to attending this with my friends.”

South Woodford Society member Rena Pathak added: “The South Woodford Society is a community-led organisation dedicated to building a stronger community, supporting local businesses and making South Woodford an even better place to live, work and visit.  The Society is writing a Neighbourhood Plan for South Woodford so we can all have a say about services, facilities and houses we have in the area. An important part of writing the plan is gaining the ideas of young people, as they will be the future of our community. We had a student engagement session where students were asked what they wanted to see or improve in the area on various topics, including the environment, arts and culture, sports and leisure, economic issues, crime, transport and housing. Their thoughts and aspirations will be used to feed into the plan so we can incorporate their voice in all future development in the area.”

For more information on the South Woodford Society, visit swvg.co.uk/sws

For more information on Woodbridge High School, visit swvg.co.uk/whs

Following the recent flooding across Redbridge, Bernice Butcher is keen to promote sensible use of our front gardens to reduce the flood risk, citing this good example on Derby Road, South Woodford. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

Song lyrics have a habit of popping into my head, changing to fit my current preoccupations. So, ‘where have all the flowers gone?’ becomes ‘where have all the front gardens gone? Gone to driveways, every one’. Well, not quite true, but our front gardens are disappearing at an alarming rate. Oh, when will they ever learn?

The local deluge on 25 July, together with the recent announcement that the UK has the least biodiversity of any rich country, should be our wake-up call to stop concreting over surfaces.

Parking is at a premium these days and it must be very frustrating for residents when they can’t find a place to park near to their home. But do we really want to turn our leafy neighbourhood into a soulless concrete jungle, depriving birds, insects and other wildlife of their habitat and food source? And depriving ourselves of the well-being that we gain from nature? What’s the point of putting in planters and ‘parklets’ if we don’t retain the greenery we already have?

Because of the problem of flooding, you now need planning permission to build an impermeable hardstanding driveway over five square metres. This regulation seems weak, as it could enable driveways with minimal porosity and little or no greenery to go ahead unchecked. Extending the planning permission requirement to include all new driveways could help to encourage best practice.

As each front garden bites the dust (another song here), an on-street parking place also disappears with the dropped kerb. So, if you must have a new driveway, consider a creative compromise. The Environment Agency document Guidance on the Permeable Surfacing of Front Gardens illustrates a number of options, ranging from simple measures, such as having rain run off onto a border or lawn, to the use of porous asphalt and concrete, soakaways and permeable sub-bases. The same document also highlights the fact that drains in most urban areas were built many years ago and were not designed to cope with increased rainfall, even when unblocked! Paving front gardens adds to the problem. As the document explains, paving over one or two gardens may not seem to make a difference, but the combined effect of lots of people in a street doing this can increase the risk of flooding.

The photo here shows a front garden with a driveway in Derby Road. It’s a great example of what can be achieved. Rainwater from the drive runs into a soakaway, but crucially, the owners have made a conscious decision not to cover the whole garden. Instead, they have planted additional greenery; driveway and front garden in green harmony.

Let’s keep the floods at bay, preserving the character of our neighbourhood, keeping the birds and bees happy – maybe even re-wilding part of our existing drives. Let’s keep it green.

I’d rather be humming Sade’s Your Love is King than changing it to The Car is King!

To download the Environment Agency’s Guidance on the Permeable Surfacing of Front Gardens, visit swvg.co.uk/front