Snapped St Mary’s Ave chestnut tree ‘diseased’

One of the landmark horse chestnuts on St Mary’s Avenue which was blown down in the recent strong winds looks as if it was diseased, according to Wanstead weatherman and tree expert Scott Whitehead.

Scott tweeted:

 

In 2011, 11 chestnuts on the road were cut down after disease was found in them. Replacement saplings were later planted. Horse chestnuts, which are treasured by many locals, are suffering from a variety of diseases across the country.

Christmas tree amnesty

Bravo to Redbridge which has reinstated the kerbside Christmas tree collection as part of its U-turn on garden waste.

Householders should leave their trees at the edge of their boundary from Monday 8 January, and trees will be collected at some point by Friday next week.

The council says it has also requested trees which are left “in a visible spot” outside flats should also be collected but says it cannot guarantee this. Anyone who can take their tree to the recycling centre is requested to do so.

Congratulations to Eddie

Bravo to Wanstead’s Eddie Nestor, host of the BBC Radio London drivetime show, who was made an MBE in the New Year’s honours for services to radio and charity. As well as broadcasting, he is a prolific fundraiser, having raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity, particularly after he was diagnosed with cancer.

He told the Ilford Recorder that he wasn’t sure what an MBE would allow him to do, adding: “Is it like being a doctor at a restaurant and getting a table?”