Author: Wansteadium

1.36 earthquake occured near Wanstead, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand at 15:05 UTC! #earthquake #Wanstead http://t.co/6e4fAC6hTU

— My Earthquake Alerts (@myearthquakeapp) May 5, 2015

 

It’s that time of year when the bluebells in Wanstead Park prove irresistible to all but the most parsimonious photographers. Instagram, Twitter, Flickr – all become a temporary home for some beautiful (but, let’s face it, pretty similar) photographs. Still, let’s indulge each other. Here are some of this weekend’s crop, and you can send links for any of yours, or email us directly at wansteadium@gmail.com, before the bluebells disappear.

Bank holiday bluebells #wanstead #london #bankholiday

A photo posted by @taloolie on May 4, 2015 at 11:43am PDT

#Bluebells in #wanstead park

A photo posted by suzi (@susannahedavies) on May 4, 2015 at 9:15am PDT

Lovely bluebell walk in Wanstead Park today. Thanks for the recommendation @CoLEppingForest pic.twitter.com/tsTimEI3lT

— Phil (@Philternz) May 4, 2015

Last bluebell walk of 2015. Delighted to discover that Wanstead Park is just 5 tube stops from home. pic.twitter.com/N9guyrGNiQ

— Piali Das Gupta (@PialiDG) May 4, 2015

Bluebells in Wanstead Park

A photo posted by @seanedmund on May 4, 2015 at 8:52am PDT

Plus some variations on a theme:

@BBCSpringwatch @CoLEppingForest some more Hawthorn Blossom Wanstead pic.twitter.com/OrgvxYW8ur

— Janet Hopper (@MustBeTheJanay) May 4, 2015

Spring in Wanstead.

A photo posted by Amy Burke (@amyinlondontown) on May 4, 2015 at 5:29am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

George Green, as seen by Geoff Wilkinson on a bank holiday weekend, on Wanstead Daily Photo.

Peaceful  negotiations between Labour and Conservatives on Wanstead High Street.

 

A new hobby is stalking the internet – finding out the three-word code for different slots of the earth’s surface.
A company called What3Words.com has devised the scheme which allocates a string of random words for each 3m x 3m square. It’s primarily been designed for places in the world where normal addresses don’t work, but the sport of finding apt or amusing strings is very diverting.

For example, various spots on Wanstead High Street are the weird “trap.artist.overnight” outside Judith’s, and include these weird collections:

lately.small.onion 

elder.shack.looked

learns.funny.wooden

ducks.shows.ducks

pretty.bake.buddy

hips.choice.faded

after.judges.allow

jazz.filled.game

also.vague.blitz

latest.forum.normal

eagles.salad.lots

The entrance to Wanstead Tube is scare.churn.stop

The Duke caters for all tastes, with chair.stud.whips, luxury.quiz.oils, and frock.large.award.

A modest prize for the most apt three-word address will be forthcoming.

Guerrilla gardener Marian Temple writes: 

It’s our Anniversary! I can’t believe that it’s only a year ago that a group of people met at Wanstead station after a piece appeared in Wansteadium asking for volunteers.  The idea was to make the area around the station just more pleasant especially for commuters.  Among the bushes were 10 empty spaces where shrubs had died. These had become weed filled with the usual detritus bottles, cans, dog ends, chewing gum and general mank. 10 nice little patches, waiting for something to happen. I’d arranged with the council that this area could be taken over by the community just hoping some community would turn up on the day. They did.

Our first job was to get rid of the mank.  After that… planting.  Stuff from our own gardens, hardy, needing little care. Each patch was adopted by a family or individual and began to develop its own character. Many thanks to flower shop Daisy who donated their “past sell by date” plants.  All went into our patches and are delighting us with colour now. The station staff were in on the act, filling our watering cans and overwintering our geraniums on their window ledge. They are delighted at the transformation. Something worth looking at. 

The little hand painted slate signs with “Wanstead Community Gardeners” on, were the inspiration of one of our more artistic volunteers. They just finish off our patches and much to my amazement, they have stayed there.  This isn’t just about plants.  It’s about community, people coming together to make something rather lovely out of nothing much.  We’re taking ownership and that means a lot more people keeping the patches litter free. 

Well, this is all worth celebrating so a couple of Sundays ago we met at the Victorian water trough/ drinking fountain opposite the station  to set up the last empty flower bed. This has stayed empty for seed sowing. We, weeded, raked, dug in some good stuff and seeded. WATCH THIS SPACE.  With a specially made cake and fruit juice, we toasted ourselves to another successful year. 

Anyone wanting to join in the fun, contact me via marian@wansteadium.com and I’ll put your name on the email network for future work parties. No experience needed.