Category: Wansteadium

The case against ceasing weekly worship at St Mary’s church in Overton Drive has received influential support, as campaigners attempt to persuade the Bishop of Chelmsford not to agree to the closure plan.

The Wanstead Historical Society, which is not related to the anti-closure campaigners, has written to the bishop, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, setting out the case for the church remaining in frequent use.

In its powerfully argued letter, it warns against the building being left unused for long periods, something which would inevitably happen with the current proposal, which would only see services taking place there a handful of times each year.

The letter states:

We treasure Wanstead’s history which we see as a continuum, including a duty to contribute to a good future by right present actions. The place of this parish church in Wanstead’s story is fundamental. We know that you will be well aware of the building’s history and its place in the community…

The Society is shocked at the prospect of diminution of its role in the life of the parish and wishes to record its objection to the present proposal to restrict services to selected major events in the Church’s calendar.

Firstly, we see the the parish and its officers as stewards of a magnificent heritage. While it is feasible and not damaging to take this heritage to future generations in the best possible way, we believe it right to do so.

We understand that the parish has resources to well afford the church’s maintenance costs and attendance. We further understand that the church’s support is strong, with well over fifty communicants regularly supporting Sunday morning worship. We understand too that worshippers voluntarily maintain access and provide other duties when required. Plainly, the level of its parishioners’ commitment, attendance and support is high.

Thirdly, we believe that the building’s Grade 1 status alone warrants the parish’s strong and predominant support in the circumstances. Any such building in regular and important use, in the charge of people committed to its care who possess the required understanding and resources will naturally prosper: a building of this status must, we assert, be given every opportunity to prosper. Left unused for substantial periods, it will lose its place in our minds and, to some extent, suffer.

Wanstead is one parish with two churches. Both are historic masterpieces of design with prominent designers and significant histories. We understand that their full service to the parish is indeed feasible and we believe that the parish’s fullest support of both warrants this.

Wanstead is one parish with two churches. Both are historic masterpieces of design with prominent designers and significant histories. We understand that their full service to the parish is indeed feasible and we believe that the parish’s fullest support of both warrants this.

We believe that the parish’s current proposal is wrong and we humbly ask that you exercise your powers to see the proposal set aside.

Campaigners are still waiting for the bishop to decide whether the plan to convert St Mary’s into a “festival church” – ie one which is open for festival Sundays – is to be approved.

A mystery painting by artist Elwin Hawthorne, which has remained unidentified for years, has been recognised as being St Mary’s Church on Overton Drive.

The Twitter account @EastLondonGroup, which celebrates a group of 20th Century artists of the same name, has for a while been trying to identify one of Hawthorne’s pictures which was previously known as “untitled”.

Thanks to vigorous tweeting of the @MarysSave group which is trying to save St Mary’s from being closed for regular worship, the church was identified successfully.

Wanstead’s finest posted up by Twitter’s bestest art gallery @EastLondonGroup https://t.co/xbjbNbWHi7

— greg roberts (@D_Profundis) January 18, 2019

Incredibly this view is almost achievable today if you stand from the edge of the now @wansteadgolf and @wansteadcc. Look closely to the right of St Mary’s and you can just see the grand stables of the original #WansteadHouse…now the golf club house.

— Save St Mary’s, Wanstead (@MarysSave) January 19, 2019

The scaffolding which has been up at St Mary’s for several months is now being removed, restoring the views of the magnificent building, as seen in these pictures.

I understand that the top of the scaffolding is being removed today at St Mary’s to reveal the beautiful re-gilded clock and weather vane, see before and after pics @MarysSave #georgiangem #historypreserved #thomashardwick #wanstead @Wansteadium @heritagelottery @chelmsdio pic.twitter.com/PZWZgYeov3

— James Paterson (@JamesPa62272608) January 18, 2019

The Wanstead Tap on Friday evening was hit by a fire leading to everyone being evacuated and the Fire brigade attending. No one was hurt, and owner Dan Clapton says he has not yet been able to go inside to assess damage.

He did say, though, that if the fire had happened when nobody was there, the whole place would have been burnt down. He has not yet confirmed the cause

Customers and locals for the bar, in Winchelsea Road, have been pledging support and help on social media, and Dan says the venue will return.

In its young life the Tap has become a vibrant location for cultural events, winning several awards and a glittering line-up of guests. Though being closer to Forest Gate than Wanstead High St, the Tap does actually fall within the historic boundaries of Wanstead parish, and has its roots in a craft beer stall which Dan started running at the Wanstead farmers’ market.

Wansteadium reader Betty writes:

Can you give the reasoning behind the Christmas Quiz please because I’m too thick to work it out. Thanks

Betty’s right – we omitted to publish a solution, though reader David did supply the correct final number in the sequence. The answer is that it’s the street numbers of places in Wanstead where one might have a pub crawl – ie Cuckfield (31 High Street), Nightingale on the Green (51 Nightingale Lane), Duke (79 Nightingale Lane), Manor House (129 High Street) and the George (159 High Street). The wobble on each number increases as the pub crawl goes on.

Now it’s of course dry January and such information seems like something from yesteryear.

As the crunch vote in the House of Commons approaches on Tuesday, in the interests of public information, here is an excerpt of an email John Cryer MP sent at the end of last year to Wanstead and Leyton constituents who had written to him (“sometimes dozens a day,” he says) setting out his position.

It makes clear he will not be voting in favour of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, but that he also does not support a people’s vote. He voted leave in the first referendum, and his view does not seem to have changed. He wrote:

I am very much opposed to the prime minister’s deal. Britain has never signed up to a treaty from which it is unable to extricate itself unilaterally (including the Treaty of Rome and every other EU country) and I doubt any other country would put itself in such an invidious position.
 
I am an internationalist and always have been. That means working openly with countries with whom we have a great deal in common. We cannot turn inward and ignore the rest of the world and I don’t think we will.
 
East London has always welcomed migrants and hopefully always will. That’s what makes Leyton and Wanstead such an interesting place. Leaving the EU must not change that and there is no reason why it should.
 
I have never been shy on my views on the European Union. As I have previously said I took no part in any campaign during the referendum not had any connection to any such campaign. I exercised my right to vote as any other individual did. I did not vote Leave because I am a nationalist or a bigot as some people have suggested when contacting myself or my office. People voted Leave for a huge variety of reasons; in my case due to the EU’s lack of democracy, accountability and transparency. I have always supported the right of EU nationals to remain in Britain and I have supported two campaigns to that effect. 
 
I recognise that 59.1% of voters in Waltham Forest and 54% of voters in Redbridge supported remaining in the EU, but this was a national referendum. Many people who voted to remain acknowledge that their view did not prevail in the referendum, and now want the process to be fulfilled as effectively as possible. Many of my colleagues across the House of Commons voted Remain (some actively campaigning) but the areas they represent frequently voted to Leave.
 
Many have raised with me the desirability of a second referendum. While I can see why this is being put forward I cannot agree. I believe that the continual raising of this prospect has done no good in persuading the EU negotiators to offer us a good deal as they want see the UK reject the opportunity to leave. It would also be a catastrophic blow to the confidence that millions of people have in our democracy if having made a decision they were told to try again until they gave the “correct” answer. There is little evidence thus far that substantial numbers of Leave voters have changed their minds, the polling I have seen shows such small samples of voters per constituency and it is impossible to extrapolate a reasonable conclusion from it. MPs now have an obligation to implement this national decision. I do not see a second referendum as some sort of magic bullet that will get us out of an extremely difficult situation – simple solutions to complicated situations are often anything but. My fear is that another plebiscite would divide the country even more deeply and bitterly than the situation we have now. I am always prepared to listen to arguments, unlike, I might add, some people on both sides who are just not listening. However, the above is a very real fear, certainly without any really profound evidence that Brexit areas have seen a shift in opinion.
 
I want to see a future that addresses the inequalities in our society. These should range from new trade deals with the parts of the world that will form the majority of growth in the global economy this century (as opposed to the EU bloc, which is growing the slowest), to changing our immigration rules so that we no longer discriminate against people from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia as we currently do. Other opportunities will exist for us to implement better agricultural, fishing, and animal welfare standards, as well as giving us the freedom to support industry and renationalise public services in a way that the EU currently forbids us from doing. None of these benefits are guaranteed of course; they will be dependent on the decisions made by future governments. But they will be our governments, elected by the voters and can be voted out of office by the British people if they disagree with their decisions. The most powerful EU decision-makers – such as the council of ministers and those who run the commission and the ECB – cannot be removed by voters.
 
When the deal is finally put before parliament I would expect the prime minister to lose although an awful lot can change between now and then. However, in the event of a government defeat I would expect the Labour Party to table a no-confidence motion in the government. There is a narrow chance of winning that, which may just be the first step toward seeing a Labour government which can deal with the terrible consequences of eight years of austerity.

John Cryer, letter to constituents, 20 December 2018

The long journey from well-known pub to residential properties at the former British Queen on New Wanstead now seems to be complete. The flats in the former pub building and in the new building next door are now being marketed, after a number of attempts to make the pub successful, including a number of incarnations as restaurants. Happy times to those who will live there.