Author: Wansteadium

Pick your favourite – these memorable Wanstead shopfronts are among those featured in an acclaimed artwork currently on show at the V&A.

Artist Barnaby Barford cycled all round London, photographing interesting shopfronts. He then tranformed the photographs into more than 3,000 ceramic models, each a few centimetres high. They have been assembled into a tower of different kinds and styles of shops, reflecting the different cultures and neighbourhoods across London. The artwork is called Tower of Babel – and online you can navigate around the entire collection.

Part of the appeal which has won Barford coverage by the BBC and others is that the models are all for sale, though anyone wanting one of the dozen or so Wanstead shops is out of luck. They are already all sold out.

But never mind… where the V&A goes in 2015, Wansteadium already went in 2011. Postcards bearing the image below were distributed by us then, to widespread acclaim indifference.

Barnaby Barford explains more about his Tower of Babel here.

Barnaby Barford: The Tower of Babel from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

@Wansteadium @openhouselondon great morning at St Marys Wanstead plus tour of the rarely opened catacombs. pic.twitter.com/NeFDtElJsn

— Slamin140 (@skyellis666) September 19, 2015

Geoff Wilkinson writes on Wanstead Daily Photo: “I came across this scene as I made my way to the open air Kinema during the Wanstead Fringe, it was very surreal. It was dark and I was alone when I came across this very bright light shining through the trees and casting these long shadows, it was all very ‘close encounters’. However I wasn’t abducted by aliens and I ended up with this picture which I really like…”

Guerrilla gardener and horticultural heroine Marian Temple writes: “This idea has been suggested to me by several people over the years and I think maybe this is the year it should happen. Nightingale Green is the little green down the end of Nightingale Lane (off Grosvenor Road ) next to the Nightingale pub. No spring bulbs there. It would do people’s hearts good to see ‘em. I’m suggesting one Sunday towards the end of September or early October. That’s the earliest I can do. Could be a great community event with local families or local anyone involved and of course the pub would be part of it.

What I need is a couple of other people who could help me get this mini project off the ground (as well as the bulbs in the ground). Primarily publicity with flyers delivered to locals and put on trees. Plants also need to be dug up from my garden or the Corner House Garden for over planting our bulb patches. Stuff like that. All good fun. Please get in touch with me via the Wansteadium if you can help organise this.”

You can contact Marian via marian@wansteadium.com

 Quick, regulars of the laundrette on Wanstead High Street: get your washing done before the weekend. This note has been put in the window of the shop – an irony really since the DIY shop nextdoor is just about to open. (Sad to see, though, that the name The Painted House, which we thought would make a fine name for a DIY shop, has itself been painted.)

As we mark the laundrette’s passing, let’s remember the turbulent times it’s had in the past few months… from its moment of glory earlier this year in this TV advert (pictured)…

…to the matter of its proposed conversion to a fast food shop… to the fire which brought some drama to Wanstead High Street but thankfully didn’t leave too much damage (with picture by quick-off-the-mark-photographer Marcus Tylor)

Those who will mourn its passing are invited to pay tributes below.