Year: 2012

This is a big day for Wansteadium, and we hope one that Wanstead will welcome. Today we’re launching a new site called Wanstead Talk – it’s an open forum for all Wanstead residents to talk about issues which affect us.

Anyone can take part in the discussions, or even start a new one. You will have to register to take part, and the intention is that Wanstead Talk should be a bit like Wanstead itself – civilised, friendly and nice to be a part of.

Among the subjects under way are the patchy availability of fibre broadband, property questions for our resident expert, and a question about who it is that supposedly lives above Wanstead Tube Station. There’s also a place to record sightings of (whisper it) rats around Evergreen Field.

Once you’re registered though you can start whatever topic you like, and see if it chimes with other Wansteadium readers.

Wanstead Talk can always be found through Wansteadium – or you can go there directly by going to WansteadTalk.com.  PS. If you have any problems registering just drop us a line at wansteadium@gmail.com and we’ll give you individual treatment.

 

Welcome. This is how the club works:

We share old magazines with other Wanstead folk who might be interested in them. We currently leave them either at Wanstead Library or in the Larder. It’s guerrilla recycling – our only goal is to make Wanstead an even nicer place.

Anyone is free to take home and keep the magazines, whether or not they are members.

 

You don’t have to join to take part, but if you do, we can send you updates on the club. Just send us an e-mail at magazines@wansteadium.com.

 

Places to leave magazines are currently beneath the revolving newspaper stand at Wanstead Library or in the Wanstead Magazine Club stand in the Larder. (Nominations for extra sites are welcome.)

 

If you leave a magazine, let us know! Tweet a message to @wansteadium with the hashtag #wansteadmagazineclub, e-mail us or leave a message on our Facebook page.

 

 Reading The Lady is optional.

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Ace photographer and all-round nice guy Geoff Wilkinson, who runs the eightyfour gallery on Nightingale Green, has started a new blog, Wanstead Daily Photo. He intends to keep this up for a year; each weekend Wansteadium will be featuring one of Geoff’s photos from the preceeding week. Which is great news all round.

© Geoff Wilkinson
Geoff writes: “This is our lovely Wanstead Village Police Station that is under threat of closure. Opened in September 1886 it is the only police station in London that still retains a traditional blue lamp. To the people of Wanstead it still signifies safety. Please may it continue.”
See the whole week at Wanstead Daily Photo

Now this is really weird. Either it’s an unfortunate mistake or it’s unbelievably frank.

The Wanstead Guardian is reporting that the new owner of the hallowed Evergreen Field on Wanstead High Street is hoping to get the longstanding bar on development on the spot withdrawn. Dalbir Singh Sanger, director of Dalco Developments Ltd, is wanting to build seven houses, two flats and two shops on the ground, the paper says.

Redbridge Council has long held that the land is open space and cannot be used for housing. It was a battle to prevent development on the area 15 years ago which led to the founding of the Wanstead Society.

So what is Mr Sanger’s next move? He apparently told the paper:

“The field is fenced off and isn’t benefiting anyone and hasn’t done for 15 years. It is a waste of land and we are trying to bring it back to the community. What we are saying is lets get our head together and work something out. If they don’t want what we propose when we put in our application, we will go to appeal.

“If worse comes to worse we will grow our own vegetables there. There are so many things that we can do there which will be an eyesore to local people. ” [Our italics]

Can Mr Singh really have said this? It seems a remarkable thing to say. Perhaps it was a joke? Or maybe, in the now fashionable phrase, he misspoke.

Some months ago there was mystery over a bid which came from a Wanstead company to bring Formula One to the streets of London, culminating at the Olympic Stadium. For a couple of days there was fascination with the notion, but then F1 bosses appeared to downplay their involvement in the scheme and it seemed to go quiet.

Wansteadium was much interested in who the firm was, since we couldn’t find any mention of a company by that name in the official register of companies, nor could we find any other evidence that they existed. They also didn’t appear to have a website, which we thought odd.

Now at least on that last point there is some movement. We have been directed towards this website which, because of a confidentiality agreement, gives little away but does at least demonstrate that the bid is still alive.

We’re still interested in knowing who exactly are the Wanstead folk behind the bid. (Maybe it’s you and you’re reading this. If you are, this is for you.)

It’s one thing to have a controversial new shopfront just yards from your proud “Conservation Area” notices. But it’s another for people from out of town to start taking the mickey. Enter, fellow hyperlocal blog Love Loughton.

@Wansteadium Loving the new sign on the new takeaway opposite The George guys. Where does the conservation area start again? 🙂

— Love Loughton (@loveloughton) October 16, 2012

Meanwhile Wansteadium reader John posits that perhaps the sign is a tribute to 007? A Skyfall publicity stunt, perhaps?

Fellow reader Clive writes: “Subtlety clearly isn’t the look the owners of the shop are after, but that’s not to say the sign doesn’t have something to say. My initial reaction was that the grey bars looked like a shopfront shutter which had got jammed halfway down. But now it’s obvious that they are actually supposed to be the barbecue itself, with the flaming letters being the meal. I feel a bit embarrassed for not realising this until now. But then it’s perhaps easy to be dazzled.”

Clive raises a good point. Other interpretations which have a deeper appreciation of the semiotics are welcome.