Congratulations to the new owner of Wanstead’s newest home, the former coal merchants’ office on Sylvan Road. And since the asking price for the one-bedroom bungalow was £300k, congratulations to the vendor and agent too! No word yet though on Wansteadium’s idle thought on how nice a donation to Wanstead’s guerrilla gardener Marion Temple would be. One report received on Wednesday suggested Marion was spotted tending the plot even now.
Very sad to note the closure of Wanstead Toy Box, a noble little venture which many in Wanstead were delighted to see and support. Whatever the reasons for the closure it certainly doesn’t help cure the impression that trading at the Snaresbrook end of the high street is very tough.
Meanwhile, another beautician is set to open in the spot vacated by Angels Hair and Nails when it moved up next door to Judith’s (and close to the Wanstead Beauty Clinic). It raises the question of how many beauticians can one high street support? Whatever the answer, it’s clear that, ladies of Wanstead, your nails are looking lovely and it’s great you support the local traders.
You may well have noticed that the high stone – the diddy obelisk on the point of Hollybush Hill where it meets New Wanstead – has now been unveiled after some months of refurbishment work.
At night the new setting and lighting makes the stone a vivid sight, and a new plaque which has been erected explains some of the history of the stone. Interesting, for example, to note the highway robbery link so close to the spot where the robbery of Tamara Ecclestone’s boyfriend took place.
The renovations were funded by English Heritage and from the pot of discretionary funding held by the Area 1 committee of Redbridge Council.
Geoff Wilkinson writes on Wanstead Daily Photo: “Photographed this lovely rainbow yesterday from the door of the Gallery in Nightingale Lane, shame they never seem to last for long. Still with the sunshine in the morning and this rainbow in the afternoon it wasn’t a bad day for photography. Still no sign of the pot of gold though.” Elsewhere this week Geoff was opining about the introduction of machines instead of counters into Wanstead’s Barclays. More on that here.
The Evening Standard’s much anticipated Homes and Property supplement about Wanstead is published today. Wansteadium gets a mention which is nice, although it is referred to as a “bulletin board” which is odd.
Anyway, pick up a copy if you can, and we’ll deconstruct it throughout the evening. Tweet @wansteadium or add comments below.
Here goes:
Any photos of The Shrubbery in there? Coolest place to live in the best neighbourhood in London @davidgwynne @Wansteadium
— We Love Wanstead (@WeLoveWanstead) January 29, 2014
Er… no.
@Wansteadium Top fact: "Sir Tony Robinson, who played Baldrick in Blackadder, was a pupil at Wanstead High School."
— Rob Fearn (@Rfearn) January 29, 2014
May be for sale, but has been for a while… How many million pound houses back directly onto the Central Line?
Nutter Lane, Nutter Field, Nutter Bench. Now Nutter House.
Wansteadium reader Dee comments: “All the history Wanstead has and the opening paragraphs discuss Snaresbrook Crown Court. Very bizarre.”
This is nice, kind of.
And good to see @Wansteadium and @MissisBeekeeper mentioned
— Jane Clapton (@janeclapton) January 29, 2014
There’s much interest in the former coal merchants/builders’ office which last week Wansteadium pointed out had been turned into a one-bedroom bungalow which is now on sale for £300,000.
Along the side of the property, behind the building, the land tapers to a longish, thin strip. Since it’s directly on to the High Street pavement and at eye level, it is pretty visible. In this plot, unpromising though it might seem – especially so since the office was empty for so long – there is a little bit of garden which in summer is quite attractive.
How so, one might ask. The answer is Wanstead’s own guerrilla gardener, Marian Temple, one of whose passions is tending unlikely bits of Wanstead in the interests of making them beautiful slices of greenery. Her own garden is the subject of much admiration, as is the well-known garden at the Corner House which she looks after with other volunteers. But less well-known is her freelance creativity.
Who knows, if the vendor of the property should be lucky enough to obtain their asking price, they might just decide they could afford to make a donation to Marian to help buy some bulbs for her next green slice of Wanstead, wherever that may be.
