Major work going on at the Cuckfield to renovate the building, including a new straight bar, heated private booths outside, and new awnings and signage among other things. The pub is reopening on 4 Feb, and is keeping its regulars updated with progress via Twitter at @CuckfieldE11.
A last farewell to the old #bar from Jacob & Monique – void of booze & ready for demolition! #thecuckfield #wanstead pic.twitter.com/PLqg28xHO3
— The Cuckfield (@CuckfieldE11) January 11, 2016
This week’s Wanstead Weekly Photo comes from Jenny Baptist and was taken at dawn on Saturday.
Thanks to those of you who have sent in photos this week. And here’s a reminder that Wanstead Weekly Photo is now open to all comers – everyone is welcome to submit photos by sending them to info@wansteadium.com.
![By Sunil060902 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://wansteadium.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Wanstead_station_westbound_look_east.jpg)
The noise could be heard for three seconds every three minutes in houses in Reydon Avenue, one of those roads which is pretty close to the Central Line as it goes from Wanstead to Redbridge station.
While some residents, including @janeclapton, took to social media, one went to ask London Undergound what was causing the noises which was making people think their boilers were about to pack up. They were told that rails on that stretch of the line had been replaced early on Wednesday morning and that they could take some time to bed in.
Various areas around the UK have been identifying their own unexplained noises this week following reports of complaints of a hum being heard in Bristol.
People are pretty cross that Wanstead’s HSBC is closing on 15 April, as we revealed yesterday. Letters arrived with customers around Wanstead on Wednesday. The bank confirmed the closure in a series of tweets to Wansteadium.
@Wansteadium The Wanstead branch will be closing on the 15 April. We never take the decision to close a branch lightly and we 1/4 ^LB
— HSBC UK Help (@HSBC_UK_Help) January 20, 2016
@Wansteadium understand that it's unsettling for the local community. Unfortunately, with an increase in the use of online and 2/2 ^LB
— HSBC UK Help (@HSBC_UK_Help) January 20, 2016
@Wansteadium telephone banking in recent years we have seen the use of the Wanstead branch fall significantly. 3/4 ^LB
— HSBC UK Help (@HSBC_UK_Help) January 20, 2016
@Wansteadium Customers can use local post offices for their day to day banking and there are also free ATM’s in the area. 4/4 ^LB
— HSBC UK Help (@HSBC_UK_Help) January 20, 2016
Reader Steve Hunt disputed the bank’s claim of reduced customer numbers though. “It is not as if the branch is quiet. It is permanently busy. Utter madness,” he wrote on our Facebook page.
Dede Sposti wrote: “Bad news! 🙁 I now have no branch nearby work or home… and I am a business owner often working with cash..I will have to change bank.”
Saqib Khan said: “I had my business account with HSBC and the branch was of very little use. Counter service is no more than the post office option. We lost HSBC in 2014. That’s Woolwich, Barclays and HSBC gone since 2001. Next up will be either NatWest or Santander given they share back office processing where some NatWest customers are serviced by the Santander branch on the corner of the High St.
“The smart thing for personal customers would be to open a Nationwide account. For Business customers like me, take a pick from the other two, I chose Santander a few months back and it’s OK so far, better than HSBC anyway.”
As for what will take the bank’s place, there was consensus. A nailbar, coffee shop or estate agent.
HSBC customers in Wanstead have been told the branch is to shut its doors permanently in April. The fifteenth, at 2.30pm to be precise.
The closure follows Barclays shutting in 2014 and leaves just the NatWest, Nationwide and Santander with a presence in Wanstead.
The HSBC branch was downgraded to “counter service only” in 2014, with full facilities being provided at the branch in George Lane.
This newly-released video is a beauty, and it comes very happily just as we are celebrating things which make Wanstead.
The little garage at the top of Grosvenor Road which has all those cool cars outside is featured in the video which will give passers-by the glimpse of what’s going on inside that they have long wanted to see.
The garage is Figaro Cars. The cars are Nissan Figaros (as driven by Andrew Marr, Sarah-Jane Smith and Vanessa Feltz). The video is made by Moritz Schmittat. Enjoy.
(iPhone users might need to click here to see the video. Apparently there is a problem with YouTube videos.)
