Category: Wansteadium

Wanstead news roundup, 24.11.10; After the sauna? Plus more UFO madness, and Christmas


• Wansteadium reader Jana writes:

Has it reopened? The ‘Wanstead Sauna‘ sign has recently been replaced by one that says something like ‘Men’s Grooming Centre’… Now, I might be reading too much into this.. but… hmmmm. Perhaps a male Wansteadium reader can pop along to see what’s on offer and report back!

• Internet apparently consumed by Wanstead UFO madness, which you read about here first (or possibly second).

• Chemical spill was sugar

• Photos from the Take Back Wanstead Flats event held on Sunday are on Flickr here.

• A shrewd move from Wanstead children’s clothes and shoe shop Knock Down Ginger – from the New Year it will be offering children’s haircutting too. Meanwhile, the Robins Pie and Mash shop has reopened after being attacked by arsonists.

• The Wanstead Christmas lights are being switched on this Friday evening at 4.30pm on George Green (outside Wanstead Tube). Children, a tree, the Salvation Army band, and even (according to current forecasts) the possibility of some snow.

Wansteadium Blitz Project, 23 Nov 1940, New Wanstead, High St

In one of the worst nights of bombing Wanstead faced during the Blitz, on this night in 1940, German planes dropped high explosives on

  • Number 73 and 89 New Wanstead, causing fire and the collapse of the side of a house
  • Spratt Hall Road, damaging water and gas mains and causing a fire
  • Wanstead High Street, injuring four people and breaking electric cables, and
  • Fitzgerald Road.

Write your own joke

It’s write-your-own-joke time. Submit them in the usual manner (Twitter, Facebook, or via Comments.)

The raw materials: A pile of white powder is discovered first thing one morning by a forest ranger by the side of a tree on Wanstead Flats. Once alerted, the authorities take it seriously. Three nearby roads are closed. The experts come in. Warnings of a chemical spill spread. Friday morning traffic is badly disrupted. Two hours later, the chemical tests show the substance was sugar.

Choice tweets about Wanstead, XXIV: Toddlers get streetwise

Spotted: sweet-looking little girl exiting Wanstead chippy & turning to crow unexpectedly at the long and winding queue: “So long, suckers!”less than a minute ago via webRyan Gilbey
Ryan_Man2

The UFOs are back in Wanstead

Cue eyeball-rolling: UFO sightings have returned to Wanstead.

On the UK UFO Sightings website, a reported sighting on Thursday evening reads:

I was just looking out of the bedroom window when I saw a very bright white light and a sound that I did not recognise. I kept my eyes fixed on the object and it came closer overhead at great speed, the sound was uniform unlike a plane when flying. It was a disc shape and was huge. I could clearly see two lit windows encompassing most of the top of the object it was a very bright white light. This was most definately NOT a plane or an helicopter. It was moving at great speed -very different to a plane.

A commenters on the site says it’s the second recent sighting “of this object with what appear to be windows on it”.

Eyeballs at ease.

Greengrocer makes name for self

So the greengrocer on Wanstead High Street is called Harveys. Who knew? A new sign has gone up above the shop, proudly pointing out that it was established in 1969 (just like Gap).

It’s simple, and has won the support of the Wanstead-based Smarter High Street campaign, which points out: “Peter Harvey’s been run off his feet since he opened his greengrocery in 1969. So busy that he didn’t get around to putting a sign up.”

Wansteadium is a bit wistful that there are no greengrocer’s apostrophes on the sign, but then one does expect above average of Wanstead.