Tea for Wanstead

Wanstead’s much loved coffee shops are getting some competition, it seems. From a tea shop.

Time For Tea is currently being fitted out in a shop nextdoor to the Tiffin Tin, opposite Snaresbrook Station. It’s clearly in its early stages, as the photo demonstrates, but the shop’s Twitter account describes the venture as “[t]raditional English Tea Room coming soon to Snaresbrook London E11. Homemade cakes fresh from the oven and proper tea in a teapot!”

The mere fact that the shop has a Twitter account will make some wonder just how traditional a tea room will it be? Are we talking a tea room where Miss Marple would feel at home, one where White Van Man is going to get his cuppa and buttie on the way to work, or something arty and cool?


Still time to get baking and making

There are just 11 days left to prepare for the inaugural Wanstead Village Show. Like something from Ambridge which has been going on for generations, it will pit runner bean against runner bean, jam against jam and cupcake against cupcake. Competition is expected to be tough, especially in the baking categories.Horticultural activities have been somewhat impaired by the weather, of course.

Many will hope this village show, dreamt up by 13-year-old Felicity Hepworth, marks the start of a new tradition within Wanstead.   Sadly, Wansteadium’s suggestion that bakers should compete in a cherry pie category were too late to be included, though if the event is a success, next year is a possibility.

(Our reasoning was simple – the 1752 “Cherry Pie Stone” on the side of the George pub, which celebrates a particularly memorable pie. Though the story behind the stone is not known for sure – some such as historian Winifred Philips think it the result of an unrepetant bit of thieving. Others think it merely celebrated a good feast. But  the inscription – “That day we had good cheer/I hope to do so maney a year”- is tantamount to an exhortation to future generations to respect the tradition. We undertake to play our part – any good tips on cherry pie-making, please do share them for the greater good.)

The show is to be held at Christ Church on 22 September. Full details and competition rules are available from wansteadvillageshow@hotmail.com, or can be picked up from Petty Son & Prestwich, Christ Church or St Mary’s Church, or can be downloaded here. Categories include tomatoes, runner beans, potatoes, corn on the cob, mixed fruits, unusual shaped fruit or vegetable, pot plant in bloom, dahlias, chrysanthemums, flower arrangements, fruit cakes, jam, Victoria sponge, chocolate cake, cup cakes, chutney, photographs of Wanstead, creative writing about Wanstead, drawing of Wanstead and Lego model.  Some of the proceeds will go to the Gulu Blind School in Uganda with the Reverend John Ochola, who is visiting Wanstead this month.

• Entrants in the photography category will be invited by the organisers to have their entry published here at Wansteadium. And if we’re lucky, so will the owners of the unusually shaped vegetables.

Au revoir, Camp Wanstead


Farewell to Wanstead’s tented community. Despite dire warnings, the stream of happy campers – many in pink and puce – up and down Eastern Avenue has been the biggest impact of our own London 2012 campsite.

 
 


https://twitter.com/markb999/status/244514157532172288

Wanstead honey in seven easy steps

Wanstead has long been a hive of urban wildlife, and its own apiary – situated near Warren Road – has been buzzing with activity this summer. Wansteadium reader @MissisBeekeeper freely admits that it’s usually MrBeekeeper who is closest to the bees, but here she willingly shares the different stages she and her family have gone through in the past week as they harvest their bees’ honey.

To the beekeepers of Wanstead, and on behalf of all the people of Wanstead (especially Ron and his fellow gardeners) we salute you and your bees.

@MissisBeekeeper writes: “Hive and beekeeper, which currently lives in the Epping Forest beekeepers’ Wanstead apiary, owned by Mark Stephens.”

“The first step in obtaining Wanstead honey is uncapping the little sealed cells where the honey is.”

“This is what the frame looks like after uncapping – you can see the honey now.”

“The frame is put inside the extractor – which works by spinning it round very fast.”

“The frame is now empty of honey.”

“This is the honey dripping into the settling tank, where it rests prior to being put into jars.”

“And the honey going into the jar. We would ideally like to have a hive at our home near the Nightingale but will wait until next spring for that. Now the greatest challenge will be to print labels from our new printer!”