Author: Wansteadium

In October Wansteadium had 20,024 visits from readers who spent on average 1 minute 41 seconds on the site.

How many people does that mean? This figure is always a bit hard to calculate, but Google Analytics – which has provided these figures – breaks it down as follows:

We don’t actually believe the number of new readers is right – that’s probably an anomaly relating to cookies. But an interesting geographical spread. Overwhelmingly readers are from the UK. Probably from Wanstead or nearby. But the figure does include the following: 65 visits from Australia, 56 from Spain and 52 from Germany. So to those readers who are offsite, we salute you with a gday, a hola and a guten tag. And to all 8,182, thank you for reading.

Congratulations to The Larder, Provender and The Orange Tree which have been announced as winners in Time Out’s Love London awards in the Leytonstone and Wanstead category. Bravo. More details here

Harry Roberts, the Wanstead-born man who killed three policemen in 1966 and served 45 years in prison, has been released from prison. Now 78, he is according to the BBC, expected to be given a new identity having served one of the longest sentences.

Roberts’ birth certificate shows born he was born on 21 July 1936 at Maycroft Nursing Home which was at 53 Woodford Road. His parents ran the George Hotel – one source says the family lived on Halstead Road – but aged five he was he was evacuated to Monmouthshire. During the war his father served in the forces but did not return to his mother, and when the boy Harry returned from Wales his mother sent him to a boarding school in South London.

He was convicted of receiving stolen goods aged 15, and then of assault at 18, after which he went to borstal. He joined the army and served in the jungles of Malaya where he learned some of the skills which he used later when on the run to hide from police for three months in Epping Forest.

Any other links or information about his links with Wanstead are welcome.

 

 

Resurfacing work going on in Wellington Road on Monday, before similar work is due to begin on Wanstead High Street. At least one longtime resident of Wellington Road insists the last time it was resurfaced was in the early 1980s – can this be true??

It will, in any case be welcome for residents, especially since it is due to be accompanied by the installation of speed humps. Eight humps are to be put on Nelson Road from its junction with Hermon Hill, and on Wellington Road itself. It follows a long campaign by people living on the road against motorists using it as a way of avoiding the traffic lights at the bottom of Hermon Hill.

Wansteadium clearly hasn’t been concentrating enough, though. The last it knew about the subject was during an Area One committee in November 2012 when residents were told that Wellington Road had been judged 112th in Redbridge’s prioritised list of traffic problems, and that there was only enough money in the budget to fund eight to 10 schemes per year.

(Photo: Marcus Tyl0r)

 

 

 

#Wanstead did themselves proud today, beautiful service #WeWillRememberThem pic.twitter.com/aB0xXAITAO

— Lorna (@Lornamedia) November 9, 2014

Crowds gathered at the Wanstead war memorial on Sunday to take part in Remembrance Day commemorations.

Meanwhile cubs and scouts on church parade heard about the life of a Wanstead man who was killed in 1916. Arthur Blogg, who lived in Wellesley Road, was 25 when he died while fighting at the Somme. He is buried in France.

With his family he had attended Wanstead Congregational Church – now the United Reformed Church – members of which still attend the church. His is one of the names recorded on a war memorial in the church. A wreath was laid in front of it by Ron Forster, one of those family members.

A fascinating project at the church has built up the stories of the 15 members of the church who were killed in action in WW1. An exhibition of the life stories will be held at the church this month – details to follow here later this week.

Geoff Wilkinson writes on Wanstead Daily Photo: “I took these photographs of the sandbag wall which rests in the front garden of Mike Edwards and Kathy Taylors house in Redbridge Lane West. The OTT installation was originally built as part of the Wanstead Art Trail where it was a great hit. Both Mike and Kathy’s granddads served in the First World War and so they decided it would remain until Armistice day, Wanstead folk are welcome to leave a poppy in this WW1 installation.”