Author: Wansteadium

From this week’s Time Out.

Nice work @samanthabaines

The sight of thousands of pounds being invested in Wanstead High Street as its new butcher and greengrocer simultaneously take shape. And for the other traders on the High Street their arrival won’t come a moment too soon – the closure of AG Dennis and Harvey’s has apparently taken its toll on the number of shoppers on the street (as opposed to driving to Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco or Asda).

Drinkers in the George are curious as to what has become of a portrait of Winston Churchill which has been hanging in the pub for the past few years.

The picture is about 10 feet square, and is a montage of photographs of the faces of Wanstead residents, formed into the face of the former Wanstead MP.

But it’s now been removed, and rumours are circulating that Wetherspoons has decided to take it down. One customer told Wansteadium: “Everyone is extremely upset that it has been removed. The portrait was donated to the pub by the artist and Churchill’s face was made up of local residents, some of whom are sadly no longer alive.”

Another wrote to say: “It was just as you walked in – you could not miss it (we do now).”

Wansteadium has contacted Wetherspoons for a comment.

Wansteadium reader Pete Daly writes:

For several years I have suffered from small yellow spots on the paintwork of my car and everywhere else for that matter. Washing, window ledges and garden furniture. This year it seems to have got worse. I washed my car yesterday and there must be more than a hundred spots on it now. I have Googled the problem and can’t find anything from the UK. People in the US have suggested bird or bee droppings but given the number of spots I would think that one could “spot” the culprits flying over the area and I have seen nothing. The spots are about 1/8th of an inch in diameter and are wet when they first land. They dry very quickly and are hard to remove. They are a kind of dull mustard colour (French of course) I have a theory that they may be sulphurous deposits from passing aircraft exhausts. The fact that they have got worse recently may be due to the recent redirection of flights from City Airport. They are a real nuisance and could possibly be a health hazard. I may try to get samples analysed if nobody knows what they are. Hopefully the denizens of Wansteadium will be able to throw some light on the problem. Keep up the good work this is a great website
Regards
Pete

The squatters who were in the former Barclays bank have now gone, leaving some debris and clothes, which is being cleaned away, and the building is now freshly secured. The residents upstairs are hoping this is now the end of this particular story.

But just for the record, and without going over the rights and wrongs of the issue, let’s mark the time when there was a poet selling his poems at £1 each on Wanstead High Street.

Don’t panic, but… reliable source Marcus writes from Wellington Road:

I just spotted a False Widow Spider in the garden. Was half an inch from touching the critter. Sadly had no camera on me to record the encounter. I was putting my washing out in the garden and stopped to check to see how my newly planted sunflowers were doing as I hadn’t watered them with all the rain. The soil looked a little dry so reached for the watering can… there on the underside of the handle was the spider. Very small. Something in me triggered a caution, don’t know why, so I took note of its distinctive skull-like markings and went straight back inside and googled it. 100% certain. Been back out several times with camera to no avail. Left note warning my neighbours. So easy to get bitten if they are under dustbin lid handles etc.

Want to know more about false widow spiders? Read here at Wikipedia. Want to know less? Better go here.