Author: Wansteadium

Wanstead Community Gardeners write:

“Many of you have admired the two old metal water tanks filled with flowers which are currently brightening up the corner of Mansfield Road. Wanstead Community Gardeners are planing a similar project outside Wanstead Underground Station and have been donated a water tank which is ready for planting. We need at least one more tank to place beside it and would love to hear from you if you have an old metal water tank to donate to this project. For which you will, of course, deserve our undying tanks. You can contact us on wanstead.community.gardeners@gmail.com.”

Santander has written to its Wanstead customers to tell them that their branch is to close in November. It’s just the latest bank to pull out of Wanstead High Street and leaves only the Nationwide and NatWest standing. Santander staff, the letter says, will be redeployed to other branches (Leytonstone).

 

Gail’s bakery, due to open next month on Wanstead High Street, is inviting volunteers to take part in distribution of unsold bread each day to charities and people in need.

A spokesman for the bakery said: “Gail’s will be putting their surplus bakes, which are freshly made on site, to good use, partnering with local charities to feed hungry families and neighbours. With the aim of having surplus food donated to local charities every day, Gail’s hopes that friends of the bakery will get involved by volunteering to deliver leftover goodies to those in need.”

Large windows are currently being fitted to the former Barclays bank – but instead of being a modernisation to the building, it appears it’s at least in part a restoration of original features.

The company’s planning application states:

Racist obscene graffiti was scrawled in chalk on a path in Christchurch Green yesterday, in a style which attempts to appear childish. We’ve pixellated the words out, but anyone who knows who was responsible is invited to give information in confidence to Crimestoppers, online here.

Not sure the logic of directing passengers with accessibility needs to Snaresbrook while the Wanstead station escalator is being repaired really stands up to much scrutiny. There is no shortage of stairs to climb at Snaresbrook, unless you’re going eastbound.

It’s only going to work if passengers:
*want to go eastbound to stations from South Woodford to Epping, (in which case they shouldn’t have been at Wanstead anyway)  or
*are prepared to go to Woodford to change on to a central London via Hainault train, which would be an extremely long way round, or
*can cope with the stairs, in which case they might as well stick with those at Wanstead.

There’s no doubt now that trendy baby shop JoJo Maman Bebe is opening on Wanstead High Street, with signs and adverts now visible. Breton-styled babies are now expected to become a familiar sight. The shop is taking the former (lamented) Londis site, which means the rumours that Superdrug was to take over the former HSBC and knock through are not right.

Incidentally there hasn’t been much noise lately about the Superdrug plan, but it appears to be on course – a job advert for a manager’s position is still on the firm’s site.