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Redbridge in Bloom – the borough’s annual amateur gardening competition – returns this year with a rainbow theme.

“Whatever your level of gardening expertise, help us spread a message of love in support of the NHS by creating your very own rainbow garden. Fill your front gardens with flowers bursting with all the colours of the rainbow,” said a spokesperson for Vision RCL, which organises the competition. The closing date for entries is 5 July, with judging to take place between 12 and 16 July.

Visit swvg.co.uk/bloom21

Teresa Farnham is a local area organiser for the National Garden Scheme, which encourages people to open their gardens to the public for charity. Here’s a taster of the nearby gardens you can view this summer

It’s that time of year when gardens start to open to support the National Garden Scheme (NGS). Due to Covid restrictions in 2020, only a handful of gardens could open. However, London gardeners still managed to raise nearly £28,000, providing critical support to the nursing and health charities the NGS supports.

Many people have visited local NGS gardens in the past. This year please, please, please continue to do so! The garden owners work extremely hard to open their spaces for viewing, some with plants for sale and most with tea and cakes available. All money collected goes directly to the NGS. The gardens are generally open without booking, but for some, pre-booking is essential via the NGS website (it’s best to check online for confirmation that gardens are open as well).

Many London gardens are small, and garden owners have to work hard for interest that the larger country gardens can provide with less effort. My own garden at 17 Greenstone Mews in Wanstead (open on 11 July from 12.30pm to 4pm) is a good example, measuring just 20 feet by 17 feet. It features a mature strawberry tree and a buried bath used as a fishpond, surrounded by climbers clothing fences underplanted with herbs, vegetables, shrubs and perennials grown from cuttings.

A new garden opening this year is at 110 Perth Road, Ilford (open on 31 July from 1pm to 5pm). This is a long, thin garden that combines plants from the tropics, the Mediterranean and Japan, as well as the UK. Another larger new garden is at 26 College Gardens, Chingford (open on 6 June from 2pm to 5pm). It is approximately two-thirds of an acre with a sun terrace leading to established borders and a plethora of climbing roses.

There will also be four different gardens situated on the Aldersbrook Estate (1 Clavering Road, 21 Park Road, 4 Empress Avenue and 47 St Margaret’s Road, all open on 4 July from 12 noon to 5pm). Planting includes a colour-themed garden, a garden designed in circles and curves, a kitchen garden and chicken coop (there may be fresh eggs for sale), and a large garden with a medley of planting and different areas.

In South Woodford, you will find a pretty Victorian terraced house with a dog-friendly, Italian patio-style garden at 25 Mulberry Way (open on 27 June from 1pm to 5pm), and a delightful wildlife-friendly garden on two levels at the rear of 83 Cowslip Road (open on 11 July from 2pm to 5pm).

A huge thank you to all the incredible garden owners and their helpers who welcome you, the garden visitors, to raise such fantastic funds for charity. If you would like to open your own garden in 2022, do get in touch.

For a full list of gardens, entry costs and opening times, visit ngs.org.uk

For more information on taking part in 2022, email teresa.farnham@yahoo.co.uk

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

We receive far fewer letters in the post these days, don’t we? But we all had a letter from Professor Sir Ian Diamond. You may not have got as far as his signature before rushing to your computer, or panicking if you don’t have one, given that “you must complete the census by law or you could be fined up to £1,000.” The professor’s name comes further down, along with the slightly grudging fact that “you can request a paper version”. The census form is a very 21st-century document: you have quite a choice of boxes to tick when recording your gender. I suppose I’m a bit of a stick in the mud really, as I still “identify myself with what’s on my birth certificate.” No, I’m not mocking; I find the scientific progress on our understanding of gender intriguing. But while I confidently ticked my female box, I was recalling my grandson’s response to the subject when he was about 10 years old: “I know all about the gender spectrum, Grandma, and I’m absolutely sure I’m right at the male end of it.”

Another box I lingered over – I’ll explain why in a minute – asked you to describe what you did in your main job. My mother often said that “troubles come in threes”. Sure enough, when I broke the cables on the up-and-over garage door last week, and then, shortly afterwards, failed to start my car, I was obviously on the lookout for the sequel. And looking out was what I was doing, admiring one of those recent breathtakingly beautiful red morning skies, when I noticed that someone had stolen my wheelie bin during the night. Presumably just wheelied it away in the early hours. I had only possessed the bin for two days. Part of the Town Hall’s decision to rationalise borough rubbish collections. I hate wheelie bins. But I had managed to accommodate it as discreetly as possible between my two gates. So it had been sort of invisible. It’s certainly invisible now!

All of this meant my locked-down situation was going to be pleasantly (even if distantly) infiltrated by persons with the relevant key skills to sort me out. I found myself wondering what each of them might write in the “main job” box. Not just the garage door repairer, the AA man and the lady in the Town Hall Bin Department. What about the tree surgeon who was to prune my ornamental malus? Or the telephone engineer I paused to chat with in Chelmsford Road? Or the civic amenities operative down on Chigwell Road?

The garage door problem was urgent. It was hanging at an angle and wide open so that any Tom, Dick or burglar could access the garage. (I had quickly emptied the wine rack, but took a chance on the tool box.) Two companies I tried both said: “You’ll need a new door. We could book you in for June.” Two others were too far away. But how different was Keith at Garage Doors Ltd: “Ah, that‘s an old Henderson model. I think we can repair that.” (I had emailed a photograph.) “I’ll send someone on Monday to secure the door and make you safe and give you a quote.” Two days later, job done. “Doors are what we do. Supply ‘em. Fit ‘em. Maintain ‘em”. (His entry in the job box?)

The AA predicted an hour’s wait, but Jack came in half the time. “This battery is still under guarantee. Best we replace it.” Expertise and friendly chat too: I explained how hard I had found it to register my cry for help. Pressing buttons as instructed but in vain. “Oh, well, you need to install the app. You’ve got a smartphone? Give it here; I’ll show you what to do.” Job title? “My knight in bright yellow armour.”

As for the stolen bin, a mix of disbelief and merriment characterised my conversation with the Town Hall lady. “Steps are being taken, and I’ll make sure the men know they must collect your black sack OK on Tuesday.” They did. “A problem-solver par excellence”. Full marks to her. I await a new bin.

The tree surgeon arrived. Wally by name. Ladder in one hand. Heavy-duty cordless electric pruning saw in the other. Soon, what looked like half the tree was splattered on the lawn. The tree stood naked, stark, but beautifully shaped. “Should he take away all the debris?” No: we decided to save the extra pounds (sterling) and add this task to our exercise regime. Hopefully lose some of the other pounds into the bargain. There was no doubt about Wally’s job box. “I’ve been up trees for the past 50 years.”

The telephone engineer sits alone in front of a sort of large Pandora’s box. There’s one at the bottom of Grove Hill. Sometimes, he is sitting on a small stool, not unlike a milking stool. In fact, as he leans with meticulous care, even a touch of tenderness, up close to the jungle of wires, he could well be sensing the warmth and aroma of a milk-heavy cow, except that he’s not in a sheltered barn. He’s usually on a windy corner. How does he manage to explain his job in just 35 words? “Think installing, repairing, unscrambling, upgrading, maintaining. Think fibre optics, Wi-Fi, broadband, new smart technology. Keeping you in touch with the world.” He manages fine. With only 20!

I visited the dump down on Chigwell Road with four enormous green bags of the tree clippings. I usually take a large smile when I head dumpwards. There’s a big notice: “We are here to help.” And they always do when I ask nicely. One ‘operative’ will step up, all muscles and bright orange suit, and toss the bags effortlessly into the yawning space. Sometimes, the massive dampening system is in use and you relish a baptism of ‘Scotch mist’.

What does he write on his form? That’s a no-brainer: “My life is rubbish.”

Following her successful pop-up cake trail last year, Michelle Vanlint is planning the return of her annual garden party and 16th charity cake sale. With a £25,000 fundraising target, plenty of volunteers are needed

I moved back to the UK in 2002. I wanted to do some voluntary work and decided on Haven House Children’s Hospice after reading about them in a local magazine. Initially, I worked in their office in Chingford, supporting the fundraising team, and then I looked for other ways to support the hospice.

I decided to organise a cake sale at my home – who doesn’t love cake and a cup of tea? It was a very simple idea and easy to get people to engage with – getting something nice for your money is better than a straightforward donation!

The first event was held in 2006. We raised around £200 and probably 30 to 40 people popped in. I baked all the cakes myself. It lasted just a few hours and the set-up was minimal, so my mum and I could manage on our own in my kitchen. Over the years, the event has snowballed, initially as a result of word of mouth, then social media helped with promotion, boosted by everybody’s positive endorsement of what a lovely day it is. It is now a regular date in many people’s summer calendars, and they make an afternoon of it and meet up with friends. It is a marvellous sight to see the garden full of people eating cake and drinking tea and coffee, while raising money for an amazing cause.

The event has increased in all dimensions, including the number and variety of cakes, number of bakers, length of the event itself and facilities to accommodate greater numbers of people. This requires preparation and a masterplan. We open the doors around 11am and serve tea, coffee and cake all day, and in the afternoon, ‘Pimm’s o’Clock’ has been added to the agenda. We finish with a BBQ in the evening. I also have several stalls in the garden with vendors selling handbags, homemade chutneys, jams, jewellery and Forever Living products. Each seller donates part of their proceeds to the cause. The planning starts months before and the set-up starts several days before.

I now need a rota for the army of helpers who take on tasks such as collecting garden furniture from neighbours and setting up all the tables and chairs, washing up as I bake, chopping Pimm’s fruit, serving tea and coffee, serving cakes (usually four of us are serving at any one time), washing up cake stands as we continually restock, washing up all the cups and plates as guests come and go, moving furniture in my house to prepare and then moving it back afterwards, washing up hundreds of plastic Roses and Quality Street tubs for the cakes we sell for people to take home, selling raffle tickets, wrapping raffle prizes and generally doing whatever needs to be done.

An incredible number of people bake too – without them, the event would not be possible. I usually bake around 30 cakes in the days leading up to the event and then I think at least another 80 to 100 cakes are delivered, which always sell out.

Last year, COVID-19 forced us to rethink the event completely, and I only decided on a new approach two weeks before, when the restrictions were made clear. I decided to do a pop-up cake trail, where you could bake and sell to your neighbours. I put some messages out on social media and was overwhelmed with support and offers of help. Before I knew it, the event had progressed to an international pop-up trail, with people having stalls outside their house locally and in Australia and the USA. It was a completely manic two weeks. My son had to manage all the messages and questions while I baked, as I could not keep on top of it all.

Miraculously, we got everybody organised and updated the trail posters several times (people kept asking to be added). I had a stall outside my house, and the following day, another stall outside The Cuckfield in Wanstead. After a very hectic three days, we sold out of cake and smashed our target of £1,000. I had no idea how people would feel about coming out and eating cake mid-pandemic, but I was blown away by the response and support.

During my 14th garden-based event in 2019, we had raised nearly £10,000, but in 2020, with the cake trail in COVID lockdown, we raised over £24,000! This year, COVID restrictions pending, we are hoping to do a combination of pop-up stalls around the area, as well as the return of my garden party.

If anybody reading this is interested in helping this year – in any way – please get in touch. And if any local businesses would like to donate a raffle prize, that would be greatly appreciated. I cannot put the event on without the support of the local community.

Michelle’s 16th annual cake sale in aid of Haven House will take place on 25 June in her garden at 12 Derby Road, South Woodford, E18 2PU (COVID restrictions pending). A pop-up cake trail will also take place locally on 26 and 27 June.

For more information and to donate, email msvanlint@yahoo.co.uk or visit swvg.co.uk/16cake

As the South Woodford Society plan for the return of community litter picks this May, Louise Burgess praises the efforts of a group of local teenagers who have been keeping South Woodford tidy

With the easing of lockdown, and with people starting to be more positive about their health and the future, perhaps now is a good time to look back and see how our behaviours should change going forward.

One issue that has been exacerbated by the lockdowns, due to the greater use of our outside spaces, is littering, and in particular fly-tipping, which increased by nearly 80% during the first lockdown. Demand for refuse disposal has gone up, and Redbridge Council has now installed a CCTV camera providing a live stream of the entrance to Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre, so the public can check the queues in advance.

As more and more of us visited our local open spaces in lockdown, including Epping Forest, the local councils have struggled to keep up with the clearing of litter and emptying of bins. Leaving rubbish around an already full bin is littering. Another bin should be found or the litter taken home and disposed of with your household recycling or waste. Many people feel the council should be doing more to solve this problem, but with all the additional expenditure during lockdown, councils are struggling with the amount of money they have available to them. We can all help by not littering and wherever possible, prevent the litter in the first place by using reusable coffee cups (Little Woodford Café and Tipi Coffee Co are among those now accepting your own cups) and water bottles.

One enterprising group of boys from Year 9 at Woodbridge High School decided that as part of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award they would carry out weekly litter picking sessions. So far, they have picked around George Lane, the Station Estate car park and the slip roads up from the A406. The public have taken to various social media platforms to thank the boys and to congratulate them on their efforts. The South Woodford Society has supported them with the loan of litter pickers, hoops and bags. If you are inspired by them and would like to help as well, you can join us on Sunday 30 May for our first litter pick since 2019, as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

Finally, there are various schemes currently looking at how we can improve our record of littering – often cited as being one of the worst in Europe – including deposit return systems and greater public awareness, especially when it can be so harmful to wildlife and the environment. So, along with reducing the amount of litter and single-use plastic in the first place, please let’s all use the litter bins or take our litter home!

To view a live stream of the entrance to Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre, visit swvg.co.uk/tipcam

A community litter pick will take place on 30 May from 10am (meet at the junction of Primrose Road and Mulberry Way). For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/sws

Diana Varakina, Co-op Member Pioneer for Wanstead and South Woodford, reports on the supermarket’s latest Local Community Fund awards and encourages applications for the new round

Back on a very sunny Saturday afternoon on 27 February, for the first time in my life, I took part in planting cherry and apple trees with the South Woodford Society and The Orchard Project. We planted a gorgeous cherry tree at the entrance to the site, on the corner of Primrose Road and Mulberry Way, and are looking forward to planting herbs and soft fruit bushes soon!

The South Woodford Society is one of the beneficiaries of the Round 6 Co-op Local Community Fund, along with Snaresbrook Primary School. The first payout was at the beginning of April, and Snaresbrook Primary School was awarded £1,298 and South Woodford Society £1,345.

This funding will help South Woodford Society with the regreening along the A406 and a bench and signage for the community orchard and forest garden. It is the second year of funding for the Snaresbrook Primary School PTA, and the money will be used to improve the fitness and well-being of children by laying protective surfaces on their new multi-use games area as well as buying new equipment for nursery and reception classes.

Projects across the UK that Co-op members are passionate about are supported by the Co-op Local Community Fund. Every time a member buys selected Co-op branded products and services, two pence of every pound spent is returned as cashback, and we give the same to support community organisations and local causes. You do need to be a Co-op member to support your preferred cause. If you have a blue Co-op card, you should already be a member, but will need to register to be able to select your local cause.

Applications for the new Round 7 funding opens on 4 May. To be accepted, you must have a project in mind that will benefit your local community. Many applications are from charities or local community groups, but as long as your organisation isn’t run for private profit, you can apply. Your project should fit one of the following categories:

• Fairer access to food.
• Fairer access to mental well-being services.
• Fairer access to education and employment for young people.

Once accepted, you will need to encourage Co-op members to select your cause by promoting your project on social media and in your community.

Shortlisting usually happens in September or October, and the first payout will be in April 2022, so any project should be able to support itself until then. Good luck, everyone!

For more information on the Co-op Local Community Fund, visit swvg.co.uk/coop or email diana.varakina@coop.co.uk

A South Woodford child psychotherapist will be offering her top five self-care tips for parents in a post-pandemic world during a free virtual event on 10 May from 12 noon.

“I will explain why self-care is not self-indulgence, and you will walk away with lots of strategies and a free template to create your own self-care plan,” said Usha Chudasama. The presentation is part of the locally organised Wellness Festival 2021, which features a range of events to ‘help residents through the final straight of lockdown’.

Visit swvg.co.uk/well21

Woodford Town FC has launched a membership scheme for the new season.

Priced at £50, benefits include entry to every home game and a photo with one of the players. “We want our club to have a community feel, and membership will help with that. We wanted it to be affordable, and it works out to just over £2 a game. Uptake has been good; we now have members from Woodford Wells, Woodford Green, Woodford Bridge and South Woodford,” said club chairman Tony Scott.

Visit swvg.co.uk/wtfc50

Historian and author Dr Hannah Armstrong talks about her earliest memories of Wanstead Park and her personal journey to writing Wanstead House: East London’s Lost Palace

My mum tells me that she took me to Wanstead Park just days after I was born. We lived in Langley Drive, just a stone’s throw away; in fact, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t going to the park as a child! I have a very vivid memory of looking up at the Grotto and my mum telling me about a house. I remember thinking the Grotto was the house and then later feeling surprised at how large it actually was. My dad’s job took us overseas and I left Wanstead at eight years old, so it was not until about 15 years later that I was reunited with this interest.

I have always loved art and design, so it seemed only natural to me to apply to art school. I studied at Camberwell, specialising in textile design, specifically embroidery and screen printing. In my second year, I wrote a dissertation about William Morris and his ideology of art for all. That really set something alight for me. From that point, it became clear I wanted to turn my attention to the history of design and so applied for the MLitt in Decorative Arts and Design History at Glasgow University. That year changed everything for me.

During my Masters, I developed an interest in 18th-century interiors and domesticity, specifically, how they were represented in conversation pieces (informal group portraits). I would occasionally come across references to Wanstead, and I was amazed and excited to learn that such a significant house once stood in the park I used to visit as a child. Realising it was relatively understudied in academia, I applied for funding and was delighted to be accepted to study for my PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London. I was incredibly fortunate to be supervised by Kate Retford, a wonderful historian who has written much on Georgian conversation pieces and the country house.

The part of my PhD I most enjoyed were my archive days at the Essex Record Office and the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Centre. It is an incredible experience to hold a letter in your hands written by someone you have spent so much time thinking and writing about. I find those moments very moving, as if we are connected in time through one artefact. Other highlights included having access to visit a house in Hills Road, Cambridge where I could finally encounter real fragments of building fabric from Wanstead House.

If I could go back in time, I would love to meet Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney, and watch Wanstead House being constructed and see its interior flourish. I would be really interested to see the Elizabethan manor that stood on the site prior to the building of Colen Campbell’s classical mansion. And I wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall when Richard and Campbell met!

I have really enjoyed writing about the furnishing of Wanstead House, transporting myself into Wanstead House and imagining how it must have felt to experience the house. It was great fun piecing together its interior through reading visitor accounts, studying floor plans and analysing famous portraits by Hogarth and Nollekens.

My plans for the future include giving some talks later in the year at St Mary’s Church, Wanstead, the Copped Hall Trust and at Wanstead Fringe. I am also excited about the new developments at Wanstead Park, in particular, the restoration of the Grotto boathouse structure. I hope my book will help to generate interest and support for the park’s long-term preservation.

This article was based on an interview with Nigel Franceschi of the Friends of Wanstead Parklands, which commissioned the book.

Wanstead House: East London’s Lost Palace will be published in March 2022. Pre-orders receive 40% off the £45 retail price. For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/palace

Organisers of the South Woodford Business Forum are reaching out to local business owners to offer support as the roadmap out of lockdown continues.

“Welcome back to all those businesses that reopened in April! But we know there are still more businesses having to wait for ‘Step 3’, so please let us know if we can be of any help in the meantime,” said Elaine Atkins and Rena Pathak.

The group’s next virtual meeting will be held on 13 May from 6pm.

Email southwoodfordbusinessforum@gmail.com

Abbotts Stationery at 135 George Lane – thought to be the longest trading shop in South Woodford, having first opened in 1930 – has closed down.

“We were the only dedicated stationers in South Woodford, and I am very grateful for the support shown by our loyal customers over the years. It’s the end of an era, but trade has been challenging for some time, even before the pandemic,” said the last owner, who took over the long-running business in 2008.

The shop is expected to be acquired by a new business in early May.