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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 James Hilton House. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

On Woodford Road, opposite The Drive, stands an impressive three-storey brick building with two fine entrance porches. This Grade II listed structure is called James Hilton House and is named after a famous local author and screenwriter. His most well-known works are Goodbye Mr Chips, the story of a schoolmaster, and Lost Horizon, which is set in a mysterious Himalayan location called Shangri-la.

James Hilton was born in Lancashire in 1900 and educated in Walthamstow and Cambridge. From an early age, he would write stories and poems, and he edited his school magazine. His family moved to Woodford Green in 1920. James wrote his first novel, Catherine Herself, while he was still at university. For 10 years or so, he worked as a journalist and reviewer and wrote a number of novels.

Lost Horizon, published in 1933, coined the term ‘Shangri-la’ for a utopian paradise and won a literary prize. In the USA, it was published as Pocket Book Number 1, the first mass market paperback book. It sold several million copies and was one of the most popular novels of the 20th century.

The next year, his most famous work appeared. He had written Goodbye Mr Chips in just four days, and this novel made his reputation. The lead character is an elderly schoolmaster, and the fact that his own father was employed in this role is perhaps no coincidence. This book was so popular that James became a best-selling author.

James and his first wife, Alice, moved to the USA, where he acquired a New York literary agent and a job in Hollywood. He would eventually become a vice-president of the Screenwriters Guild and one of Hollywood’s highest-paid screenwriters.

Lost Horizon was made into a film in 1937, directed by Frank Capra. There was also a musical version produced in 1973, a TV film, a stage play, a radio play and a Broadway musical.

The first film of Goodbye Mr Chips appeared in 1939, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson.  Robert Donat won an Oscar for his portrayal of Mr Chips. In 1973, Peter O’Toole was also nominated for an Oscar, although that year the award went to John Wayne.

James Hilton himself also won an Academy Award, as a screenwriter, for the 1942 film Mrs Miniver. This sentimental film, set in World War Two, was very successful as propaganda.  He shared the Oscar with his three fellow screenwriters.

James Hilton made his fame and fortune in Hollywood, but his two most famous books were written in the local area. Both Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr Chips were written when he lived at 42 Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green. There is an English Heritage blue plaque on the house where he lived.

For more information, follow Debbie on Twitter @debbieguide

A group of volunteers from St Mary’s in South Woodford, Christ Church in Wanstead and St Gabriel’s in Aldersbrook will be resuming in-person bereavement cafés this July, following a period of virtual events.

The first session will take place at Christ Church on 20 July from 10.30am to 11.30am, and will continue on the third Tuesday of each month.

In South Woodford, sessions will take place on the first Tuesday of each month at St Mary’s from 2pm to 3pm, starting from 3 August.

Call 020 8505 3000 

Students from Woodbridge High School’s Climate Crisis Committee have been helping to improve the local environment.

“The group worked hard in June to plant some wild flower seeds into tree pits which have been adopted from the council on St Barnabas Road. The committee also did one of their regular litter picks of the school and local area. Students from Years 7 to 10 worked to ensure there will be some beautiful blooms come late summer, which we’re sure the local community will also appreciate,” said a school spokesperson.

A local football team will be raising money for Haven House this summer by hosting a match against Chigwell Football Club on Ashton Playing Fields.

“Woodford Old Boys is a club aimed at the over-35s. Apart from playing football, our aim is to actively engage with the community. This year will be our inaugural season, and our plan is to raise money for the children’s hospice via ticket sales for our first home game against Chigwell on 22 August (kick-off: 2pm; tickets: £5),” said club founder Antaeus Schulz.

Visit swvg.co.uk/oldboys

Redbridge Council will formally launch its Climate Change Action Plan this July. It’s all part of the effort to tackle the climate emergency, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride

With the UK hosting a key global climate summit later this year and the recent G7 meeting in Cornwall, there is renewed attention on what we can do to tackle the climate emergency. Much of the responsibility falls on fossil fuel companies and governments who have failed to act, but we should all be doing our bit, and that includes Redbridge Council.

In June, Redbridge Council’s cabinet adopted a three-year action plan, setting out more than 100 actions the council will undertake towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and zero carbon by 2050. Emissions directly associated with the council only account for 2.4% of borough-wide emissions, so it is crucial to work with communities, businesses and residents to help reduce all of our emissions. We need everyone in the community to help tackle climate change – it must be a collective shared responsibility.

We are planning regular sessions with environmental groups to explore how we can work together on each of the priorities identified in the three-year action plan. The analysis showed that buildings account for the biggest share of emissions generated by the council, followed by transport, then waste. So, what are we doing at Redbridge?

• We will be launching our Climate Change Action Plan on 14 July.
• We are working to switch to green sources of energy across the council estate, as well as supporting landlords to improve energy efficiency with the Redbridge Go Green grants scheme.
• We are supporting the transition away from diesel and petrol cars with the installation of 18 new electric vehicle charging points across Wanstead and South Woodford.
• We are supporting a School Streets programme in five localities (which has been supported by parents and teachers) to encourage active travel at drop-off and pick-up times.
• We are providing additional cycle storage and electric charging points at our mobility hubs on Wanstead High Street and George Lane, South Woodford, as well as four new bike hangars across Wanstead and South Woodford.
• We are negotiating with the waste authority to expand the range of recyclables we can accept to include plastic pots and trays.

We are making progress but need to go further. For this, we need help from the government to set the right legal framework and provide resources. We’ll be watching how they commit to the climate emergency when discussed at the global summit in November.

A virtual launch of the Redbridge Climate Change Action Plan will take place on 14 July from 6pm. Visit swvg.co.uk/ccplan

The new South Woodford community orchard is going to be one of the best Grow Zones in Redbridge, says Louise Burgess of the South Woodford Society. From apples to goji berries, and angelica to viper’s-bugloss, it’s a place to enjoy nature… and pick a few redcurrants . Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

Redbridge Council will be formally launching its Climate Change Action Plan this July, showing how they will reduce their carbon footprint by tackling emissions from council buildings and vehicles, as well as steps being taken to support communities across the borough tackle climate change. There have also been studies over lockdown which have found that getting out and seeing greenery is really helpful to your mental health, so we want to show you how this can be done in South Woodford. 

As part of this initiative, a number of Grow Zones have been adopted by community groups. One of these is an orchard, which has been created by the South Woodford Society on the piece of land at the junction of Primrose Road and Mulberry Way, with funding from Redbridge Council and planting and guidance from the Orchard Project.

Within the space of a few short months, this area has been transformed into an urban orchard. We are growing jostaberries, angelica and goji berries, as well as gooseberries, apples and cherries. While the trees will not bear fruit for a few years, the Jerusalem artichokes, redcurrants and other berries can be harvested this summer.

We also have many wild flowers and plants, such as cardoons – and even a grapevine! Wild flowers have been sown throughout the meadow and include cornflowers, poppies and viper’s-bugloss, which should be flowering soon, adding to the other blossom and flowers that the bees have been feeding on – hopefully, to make some local honey.

The wet April, combined with the warm start to June, has meant the grasses and wild flowers are growing at an unprecedented rate, but a path has recently been mown through the grass, and anyone can come and use the area for a place to enjoy nature. We are hoping for benches to be purchased and installed soon, so there will be somewhere to sit too!

We have created some habitats for insects from piles of wood and hope that these can be further developed into bug hotels for various invertebrates, who will use the wood for food and later to hibernate in for the winter. Look out for some news soon, as we hope to have an open day where you can learn more about the wildlife that may be visiting and how we can help and protect them.

We desperately need some ideas for local tools storage – have you any suggestions? We’d also love to have a ‘green roof’ established somewhere in the orchard, to show residents how it can be done and how wonderful they look. So, if you have any experience of this, or ideas for storage, please let us know.

Of course, anyone is welcome to visit the orchard, and even if you don’t have any gardening experience, please do get in touch and we can have a chat about how you can get involved.

For more information on the community orchard and the South Woodford Society, email e18society@gmail.com or visit swvg.co.uk/sws

A host of celebrities were scheduled to attend a summer party in South Woodford this July to raise awareness of eating disorder charities BEAT and SEED.

The event has since been postponed following the delay in lifting government restrictions, and residents are now invited to join the party on 15 September.

Big Brother’s Simon Gross will be hosting the night at The Gallery, alongside Paul Danan and Charlie Doherty. James Argent, S Club 7 and The Cheeky Girls are among others taking part (tickets: £25). Visit swvg.co.uk/beat

A petition has been launched calling for speeding controls and safer pavements on Hermon Hill.

“Hermon Hill is an accident waiting to happen. The situation is dangerous, creates a lot of anxiety, and is environmentally damaging,” said Lloyd Sampson.

In response, Councillor Jo Blackman said: “Hermon Hill is quite high on the list for safety improvements, but the council has a large number of roads requiring attention and limited resources. I will continue to make the case for this to be prioritised.”

Visit swvg.co.uk/hermonhill

Woodford Green Library is due to reopen this summer having undergone refurbishment, including the installation of a new gym.

“The project started with a clear out of the library and initial surveys being undertaken, but unfortunately, work was delayed due to COVID restrictions and contractor availability. The refurbished library will include a quiet study area, meeting space for group activities, new books and PCs and a children’s library. There will also be a new gym on the site,” said a library spokesperson.

Call 020 8708 9055

Judy Noble provides an update on the work of the South Woodford Community Gardeners and their ongoing efforts to keep the planters and flower beds watered and insect-friendly

We, your community gardeners, would love you to tip the water bottles you carefully filled from your tap in the morning over the lovely boxes of plants on the platform at South Woodford Station on your way home in the evening. It’s amazing how often we’ve still got water left in the evening. The plants get very thirsty and would thrive on what you would pour away.

For most of us, these planters, already full of plants, just appeared, but they are in fact a story of real initiative. One of the gardeners, Attiya, while on holiday in Canada, spotted an offer online from an organisation called Energy Gardens to provide these boxes on any station if a local person asked. Nothing ventured, nothing won; she went ahead and was back home in time for delivery, ready to plant them up with help from her family.

The hotter summers are bringing longer dry periods, which can lead to fiercer storms and high winds. The plants and insects have to deal with this as well as us. So, we’re planting more Mediterranean plants and grasses, as well as herbs that thrive in the dry heat and attract insects, such as rosemary and thyme. Of course, we have many other plants which attract the bees and butterflies, such as foxgloves, lavender, borage, buddleia, forget-me-nots and corncockle.

Many of our traditional cottage garden plants, once their root systems are established, also do well in this weather, and insects love them. You will see the orange marigolds and geraniums just coming out. Soon, the hollyhocks will shoot their long-stemmed flowers upwards and open their buds, pair by pair, to attract and feed all manner of insects until autumn.

As you know, we’ve done a lot of work on the Regency beds (in front of Regency Court on the High Road). There you will also see many meadow plants, such as ragwort, nipplewort, goat’s beard and viper’s grass – like its name, with long pointy leaves. Wonderful country names, and wonderful for the insects, too.

Insects’ natural habitats are under threat, and of course, we, and all farmers, especially fruit farmers, need them for pollination purposes. The fruit trees recently planted on a little corner of open land at the corner of Primrose Road and Mulberry Way will also contribute to the insect life. If you walk over the viaduct and look over the balustrade opposite the station, you can spot this pretty little development. All gardens help to keep the space open for the whole community, to keep the air cleaner, and help us all breathe a little deeper. 

For more information on the South Woodford Community Gardeners, email southwoodfordgardeners@gmail.com

Rev Abi Todd of Holy Trinity Church, South Woodford, encourages the community to ‘go gently’ as we continue with COVID-19 restrictions, and urges us to be mindful of those responding differently to the delay

Our “route out of lockdown” has had twists and turns once again, as now we hope to be released from restrictions on 19 July. I have to confess to feeling deflated once again, not about the restrictions per se, but more about the rollercoaster we have been on.

I wonder how you are feeling about the next phase for our nation? Perhaps you are hoping to see family abroad, go on holiday, or welcome friends from afar again. Perhaps you have secretly enjoyed lockdown – the quietness for you has brought with it a peace and a recalibration of a hectic life. Perhaps you have become more anxious in the past months. Perhaps you cannot wait to embrace all that a British summer has to offer – garden parties, Essex beaches, and being stuck on the Central Line at 6pm.

I want to encourage you to go gently with those who are responding differently to you about the changes that are coming. As an illustration, there is a period in biblical history (in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the Old Testament) where the people of Israel are returning to their land after a 70-year exile. The culmination of their return was the reinstatement of their worship. At this event, there was cheering and shouting for joy that could be heard for miles around. At the same time, many people were weeping and wailing aloud, remembering the pain of all that had been lost in exile. It is said in the Bible that “no one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping.” This great cacophony was an authentic reaction to the emotional complexity of the return.

As we embrace the summer, here are four things to hold in mind to remind you to go gently with others, and with yourself.

• Joy and pain are both legitimate reactions to the lifting of restrictions. It is not strange to feel fearful of things opening up again, and nor is it strange to feel relief.
• Joy and pain can exist in the same person at the same time, with no contradiction.
• There will always be ‘someone worse off’, but that doesn’t mean your pain is insignificant. We need to mourn our losses and be real about what we have faced.
• We have the chance to create a ‘new normal’ in South Woodford. I am so encouraged as I walk local streets and see shops open again and people meeting to chat. We have the chance to focus on our local community in this next season, loving where we live and creating a ‘new normal’ in which everyone is respected and accepted, and where we see our streets bursting with life again.

My prayer for you is that you go gently with yourself in this season, giving yourself time for joy and lightness and time to reflect and lament for all that has been lost.

To contact Reverend Abi Todd, email abi.todd@htsw.org.uk