Editor

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

Councillor Rosa Gomez (Churchfields, Labour) is organising an event in South Woodford for young people to say what they really want. Among the speakers will be inspirational Redbridge hero Isaac Harvey

I’m convinced that young people are getting a raw deal at the moment. Covid meant friends couldn’t meet up for weeks and months on end. Education moved from the classroom to Zoom, presenting all kinds of new challenges. Competition to get the best grades has never been fiercer, yet now that students’ good GCSE and A level results have been announced, they face criticism that standards have fallen. And even with the best results and a degree, they face the prospect of sky-high rents and insecure jobs.

We need to listen more to the hopes, aspirations and fears of our young people. I get the impression they are worried about climate change and the environment, knife crime and gangs, the lack of things to do outside school, and their prospects for meaningful employment in the future. But I would like to get a better idea. I would like to hear it from their own mouths. That’s why I’ve organised an event in September aimed at young people in our local area aged between 13 and 18. Their input will give me a better idea of what to campaign for as a local councillor.

The event will aim to showcase what services are on offer to young people locally and what advice they can access to help them along life’s road. There will be entertainment, stalls and speakers, and I’m really excited that inspirational Redbridge community hero Isaac Harvey will join us.

In April, Isaac was awarded honorary freedom of the borough. He is an award-winning vlogger, producer, poet and supporter of Avril Mills’ Dream Factory charity. Born with a form of limb hypoplasia syndrome, Isaac is president of Wheels and Wheelchairs, a group of London-based skaters, rollerbladers and wheelchair users. He says of the event: “In my short talk, I will touch on topics such as overcoming obstacles and having a good mindset to want to achieve – and know that anything is possible if you put these practices into play. I will also be showing a short video showcasing some of my achievements.”

Singer and guitarist Tom Greenwood will provide musical entertainment, and there will be food and refreshments. Rebecca, Uzma and Angelo from Vocal Communities, a Waltham Forest group that helps provide young people with a voice, will be available to offer advice and provide inspiration. Other speakers include Rayla, a young local lawyer, who will talk about what inspired her to study law, and Stanford Quarrie, a self-defence instructor, who will speak about the value of this skill. It promises to be a great event and I hope to come away from it both inspired and with a clearer idea of the priorities our community needs to strive for to help young people.

The free event will take place at Woodford Memorial Hall, 209 High Road, South Woodford on 18 September, 11am to 3pm. Email rosa.gomez@redbridge.gov.uk

Louise Burgess thanks local – and world-class – opera singer Lucy Crowe for her alfresco performances during lockdown, which kept many in the community entertained

During the recent lockdown, many people found themselves out of work, including those working in theatres or music venues. One such musician, opera singer Lucy Crowe, along with her husband, multi-talented instrumentalist Joe Walters, decided that to continue to perform, they would need to do it locally and in the open air.

Lucy and Joe have been entertaining the locals ever since from outside their home in Wanstead, outside Derby Road and the corner of Primrose Road and Violet Road in South Woodford, and have also been busking outside Whipps Cross Hospital. They even came out in December, with Joe appearing in a Santa Claus suit! One of the residents of Primrose Road who heard Lucy’s performance said: “It was gorgeous. I had goosebumps a few times!”

From an early age, Lucy would sing along to her mum’s recordings of ABBA, Blood Brothers, Handel’s Messiah and Maria Callas’s greatest hits. Now, with a repertoire ranging from Purcell, Handel and Mozart to Donizetti’s Adina and Verdi’s Gilda, Lucy has sung with opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. But while Lucy is a fully-trained classical singer, she also sings more modern songs, such as those by The Beatles and soul classics by Aretha Franklin.

Lucy is originally from Staffordshire but has been a resident in Wanstead for nearly 10 years. She is a world-class soprano, and was recently appointed the Royal Academy of Music’s first Giulia Grisi Professor of Performance Mentoring. “I can’t wait to work closely with the students, focusing on character development, communication, emotional content and personal attainment amongst so much else, and give back what I am constantly learning, especially in these fast-developing and unprecedented times,” said Lucy.

If you want to hear Lucy perform, there are a number of ways you can do so. She appeared at the Proms in August (which can be streamed on the BBC Sounds app) singing concert aria Ah! perfido. She will also be singing at the Barbican on 12 September with the London Symphony Orchestra, and next year will appear in La bohème at the Royal Opera House. Lucy also released her debut CD in August, called Longing.

And if that whets your appetite to hear her live, and you know a local care home, hospice or hospital that would like Lucy and Joe to perform for them, please reach out. They may even be persuaded to play at your next big birthday party!

Good luck to Lucy and Joe, and thanks for entertaining and cheering us up during the recent lockdowns.

Woodford Town FC finally returned to the borough in August for their inaugural match at the refurbished Ashton Playing Fields after years of ground-sharing in Harlow. John Dillon reports

Woodford Town FC – one of London’s iconic non-league football clubs – made an emotional return to their ancestral home on 13 August after 28 years in the wilderness.

It follows a four-year campaign to bring the club home to Redbridge after it was forced to quit its original home at nearby Snakes Lane East nearly three decades ago. (The entrance to the former ground can still be seen – along with rusting turnstile – because a covenant on the land means it has never been built upon.)

The club, founded in 1937, folded in 2003. After it fully reformed in 2017, the side was forced to play first in Broxbourne, and then Harlow, until Redbridge Council got behind chairman Tony Scott’s dream of restoring the club to the heart of its original community. A £1.6m refurbishment of Ashton Playing Fields in Woodford Green followed, making it a sporting hub and grade-A athletics facility. A homecoming match in August last year was scrapped. Then, a planned opening home fixture this season on 3 August was postponed after visiting opponents Hoddesdown Town were hit by a virus outbreak.

“It was a proud evening for the club as a bumper crowd of 822 packed the Ashton Playing Fields arena for our inaugural game at the new stadium. Not even a narrow 2–1 defeat to high-flying Stansted could dampen the carnival atmosphere… We were very encouraged by the show of support from locals and ‘ground-hopping’ enthusiasts, and delighted a further 348 spectators turned up for the next game against West Essex only four days later,” said club spokesman Neil Day.

Jimmy Greaves – iconic England, Chelsea, AC Milan, Spurs and West Ham striker – turned out for Woodford in 1979–80 during a spell playing for several non-league clubs at the end of his career. His former Spurs teammate and Republic of Ireland international Joe Kinnear was in the side at the same time. Meanwhile, passing maestro Johnny Haynes – famously the first £100-a-week footballer during his much-revered career with Fulham and England – appeared for Woodford as a teenager in the early 1950s.

Woodford notably reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1986–87, when they met neighbours Orient (before they became Leyton Orient).

The return to Woodford is significant after decades of shutdowns and mergers in non-league football in east London, with the Essex Senior League at level nine of the football pyramid. Under coach Dee Safer, the team lost its opening Essex Senior League fixture 6–1 away against Cockfosters. They were also beaten 3–2 at Witham Town in the FA Cup First Preliminary Round. But, clearly, they have already scored their biggest victory of the season by coming home.

For more information on the club and their future matches, visit swvg.co.uk/wtfc

Snaresbrook Primary School pupil Ellis Gentles has set a new athletic record for the under-9s 75m sprint.

Competing at the Manchester Regional Arena in July, Ellis’ time of 11.27 seconds shaved 0.13 seconds off the previous record, which has stood since 2010.

“I was nervous at the start because this was the first time I was competing where a lot of famous athletes have raced before… I felt so happy about breaking a record set 11 years ago,” said eight-year-old Ellis, who trains with British 100m champion Dwain Chambers.

Redbridge Council has launched a consultation on proposals to reduce through traffic and create ‘safer, quieter, and more attractive streets’ in the Oakdale area of South Woodford.

The plans include additional one-way streets, such as on George Lane, heading west from Chigwell Road. Bus routes on George Lane, Cowslip Road and Victoria Road will be revised to align with the proposals. If progressed, the scheme will also restrict vehicle access to Cowslip Road and relocate the bus stop to The Viaduct. “This will prevent through traffic movements between Victoria Road and George Lane, giving space back to pedestrians and providing an area to relax and play,” said a council spokesperson.

Other proposals include a possible extension of the Oakdale School Streets scheme to neighbouring roads.

The consultation closes on 17 September.

A public meeting will take place on 6 September from 7pm at the Woodford Baptist Church on George Lane, and a pop-up stall with more information will be on Woodville Road outside Oakdale School on 9 September from 5pm to 6pm.

Visit swvg.co.uk/oakdale

Healthwatch Redbridge is running a survey to collate people’s experiences of local dental services since practices reopened on 8 June 2020, following the first lockdown.

“Since April 2021, 25% of Healthwatch calls have been to raise concerns about access to dental practices… The aim of the survey is to draw upon responses to improve services locally, but it will also help to build a national picture of dental care,” said a spokesperson

Responses are invited until the end of September.

Visit swvg.co.uk/dentist

A statement from Woodford Arts Group:

“We were very sad to receive the news that Packfords Hotel ceased trading in August. The business was a unique feature in our area – and a great venue for our exhibitions – and will be much missed. But, as one door closes, another has opened. We are excited to announce that The Stow Brothers have invited us to help them celebrate their arrival in South Woodford. A range of our members’ work will feature on the hoarding whilst the office at 136 George Lane is refurbished.”