Wanstead High School and Woodbridge High School were among those who contributed.

This can be any distance at any time on 15 May.

Temporary fencing has been assembled around play areas in Wanstead and South Woodford’s parks.

With kerbside recycling collections suspended, Redbridge Council is keen to assure residents that recyclable materials are not going to landfill.

Mermaid lovers and members of the UK mer-community will gather at Sylvestrian Leisure Centre in Snaresbrook on 18 April for Merfolk UK’s fourth annual convention (11am to 5pm; tickets: from £20). “The event is the only one of its kind in the UK and was created to allow the growing community of mermaids and mermen from all over the country to get together,” said organiser Jessica Pennington. Attendees will be able to browse stalls of mer-related memorabilia before attaching a tail and taking to the pool, with swimming sessions for adults and children aged 10 and over. “This is an amazing opportunity to swim in a pool with mer-friends! Don’t worry if you don’t have your own mermaid tail, tail hire will be available… We...

In the fourth of a series of articles by members of the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, Anila Hussain tells the story behind this image of the Reichstag staircase Architecture was one of the first things I photographed. It opened another door called perspectives. Every angle, every viewpoint; the structure looked so different to me. I challenge myself to see how I can photograph one building but use every angle possible, giving it a completely different view. Great light also plays havoc with the shadows. I find it exciting. I never look at anything head-on. I still photograph everything, but for some unknown reason, architecture pulls me in more and more. In any city I visit, I will always look for architecture and perspectives. Apart...

Like so many other businesses that are impacted by the increasing restrictions designed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, we must also make changes to how we operate. For the first time since February 1992 – when the first issue of the South Woodford Village Gazette was published – our magazine will cease to be delivered door to door until further notice. We will be distributing them via our display stands instead. The reasons for doing this are twofold. Most importantly, we all have a responsibility to adhere to social distancing guidelines, so I believe it would be wrong to ask my delivery team to walk the streets of South Woodford and risk interacting with others. In addition to this, a recent study by...

Robert Putt, who attended Woodbridge High School 80 years ago, is collaborating with the school’s History Department to document his memories of the area. In the second of a series of articles, Robert talks to Headteacher Steven Hogan about World War Two The History Department at Woodbridge High was delighted and extremely honoured to host an audience with Mr Putt for our Year 9 students on Armistice Day last year. As an alumnus of the school, Mr Putt not only captured his young audience with tales of bombed-out homes, heartbreaking evacuation and chocolate gifts from none other than Clementine Churchill herself, but was able to bridge the gap between past and present students, showing them that as the years go by, and as important and life-changing...

The history of local war memorials will be the subject of a presentation for the Woodford and District branch of the National Trust on 15 April. “My interest in war memorials focuses on two points… Firstly, this country is most certainly a better place than it might have been had we lost the major conflicts in the 20th century. Thus we do, in my view, owe a debt to those commemorated on the memorials… Secondly, I believe war memorials are very much part of our social and cultural heritage,” said Richard Speller, whose talk will take place at All Saints’ Church hall in Woodford Green from 2.30pm (visitors: £3). “Having been born in Wanstead and attending Forest School, I recollect local Remembrance Day services, at...

John Meehan, chairman of the Friends of Wanstead Parklands, reveals some of Wanstead Park’s secrets and the surviving features of its long history. Photo of the Repton Oak by Richard Arnopp Wanstead Park has had a variety of uses, styles and functions over hundreds of years. It has been a royal retreat, a deer park, a landscaped garden and, since 1882, a public open space managed as part of Epping Forest. Many surviving features of its long history are still there if you know where to find them! If you enter Wanstead Park from its western end, through the Blake Hall entrance, you enter an area known as Reservoir Wood. Walk for perhaps 150 yards and you will come upon a magnificent oak to the right, with...

Colin Spence runs dog training classes in Snaresbrook and has been working with man’s best friend – and their owners – for 23 years. Here, he explains how much exercise a puppy needs This is a much-talked-about topic and a conversation I have with new puppy owners on a daily basis, as many are not sure how much exercise their very young puppy should get. Well, let’s take a look at this and what we trainers and behaviour practitioners believe in how much is too much and how much is just right and why. Once we get our eight-week-old puppy home, for the first few hours or first few days, they will be getting used to their new environment, moving around the home, investigating everything....

Woodford Arts Group member Ged Rumak explains his love of life drawing and why he thinks a good portrait is more than just a representation of the subject The BBC is wrong to think it is bringing life drawing to the masses in Life Drawing Live! Life drawing is inherent in art education for the simple reason that working from a live model is a unique, complex experience. A life study is a record of the relationship that exists between the artist and the sitter. To put out a programme of life drawing, even with expert tuition in the studio, ignores this relationship, looking at the image of the model on a flat screen as if it were a photograph. In drawing, the aim is to have...