Wansteadium

Coveting is not good for your soul. But Juan Stead, a regular commenter on Wansteadium posts, wrote on Monday wrote that for local treasures, people could venture from Wanstead into Leytonstone, where they will find shops which are “huge assets” which “suit the different vibe on the other side of the Green Man”. Juan doubted if they would fit into Wanstead’s more conventional High Street, but taking a look at these might make some Wanstead loyalists yearn a bit.

So here is the rundown from Juan’s list…

1. Bookshop/cafe All You Read is Love

2. Arty printers Hooksmith

A photo posted by Hooksmith (@hooksmith) on Nov 13, 2015 at 8:06am PST

3. The Wild Goose Bakery

4. Panda

Very tasty dim sum at Panda #Leytonstone on Sat pic.twitter.com/OoUSuipEAn

— FORA (@fora_e11) January 18, 2016

5. Marmelo

Feeling the love at Marmelo today! #MarmeloKitchen pic.twitter.com/QQbF95DaDO

— Natalie Stopford (@Marmelo_Kitchen) February 14, 2016

Wansteadium reader Andrew Shields writes:

Hurrah, great post. It was actually my list, on one of the Ginger Pig threads, which Juan Stead supported. But I’m not looking for credit 😉

The Wild Goose I believe now closes on Tuesdays since it started opening on Sundays.

Writing as someone who has lived in the Bushwood area of Leytonstone for 25 years but who uses Wanstead as much as Leytonstone socially and for shopping, I’m pleased at any effort to see W and L united by a postcode rather than divided by the Green Man roundabout.

There’s a lot happening in L, not least the change in demographic which is seeing far more young couples/families staying rather than seeing L as merely a stop on the way to somewhere else. The hipster phenomenon may be derided in some parts of London, but seeing the Red Lion full of beards with a bit of disposable income is far preferable to the clientele this spectacular pub attracted in its previous incarnations. Indeed, Antic’s investment in the Red Lion can be seen as one of the key triggers for the ‘new L’.

Yes, there are still some less salubrious parts of L, but even further down the High Road towards Stratford you’ll find independents trying to find a niche and talking up the area as ready for more investment.

So do venture across the roundabout and have an explore: the 5 places I mentioned are great, but there are plenty of others too!

 

 

This is just what Wanstead needs. A hotel for dogs.

Jane and Mike Walton are launching a venture which will offer holidaying dog-owners an alternative to kennels. Basically the pooches can come and stay with them in their home.

They are telling potential customers:

Our inspiration for starting our dog hotel is the fact that over the years we’ve never found anywhere we’d happily leave our much-doted-on dogs, and so have only holidayed where they could come too – which sadly does cut out quite a lot of sunbathing. We’re offering  the opportunity for you to leave your dog/s with us while you enjoy a holiday on an “our house, your rules” basis. If your pets are used to being snuggled up on the sofa at home, then they will be allowed the same here. Are your dogs allowed upstairs to sleep in your room in their own beds? Then that too is fine with us! We only accept up to two dogs at any time, and they live with us as part of our family. The dogs get the love and attention they deserve, whilst you relax knowing they are well cared for

Owners will supply the dog’s regular food, and bring its toys, lead, bed etc for the stay. For the truly obsessive owner, Jane and Mike will also send picture message updates on how things are going.

Anyone interested can contact them via jane@style.demon.co.uk.

So while unusual towing-based car crime HAS gone on in Wanstead (yesterday’s revelation that a Suzuki Jeep was stolen by being towed away), general level of car crime is down in both Wanstead and Snaresbrook wards.

This might have had some bearing on Zipcar’s decision to base two car-hire spots in Wanstead. The deal is that you book a car online, and if it’s available you go to the parking space, unlock it with your phone, start it with a smart card, and return it when you’ve finished.

This will be a useful service for some readers. And if the parking spaces marked “Car Club Only” are actually being used, it will also be a good thing. As very longtime readers of this blog might remember, in 2011 Streetcar (a predecessor of Zipcar’s) decided to withdraw its cars from Wanstead and Snaresbrook, saying:

Unfortunately we have had to withdraw the vehicles from Snaresbrook and Wanstead areas due to a very high volume of attempted break-ins and vandalism with the vehicles. We needed to withdraw these as we could not ensure their safety going forward.

It’s another way in which life in Wanstead is getting better every day. And it’s always a good thing for cars to have safety going forward, though backwards is important too.

Thieves have stolen a Suzuki Jeep from Wanstead by simply towing it away. Police admit the style of theft is unusual but are nevertheless warning residents to take note of the registration number of vehicles which are being towed, especially at night.

The incident took place in the Wanstead ward earlier this month.

Generally Wanstead and Snaresbrook wards are ranked average for thefts of motor vehicles, and as the diagrams from the Met’s Crime Maps site below indicate, the trend of the past three years is of falling incidents.

CAR CRIME	WANSTEAD ward	SNARESBROOK ward	REDBRIDGE whole
NOV 2015	6	2	78
DEC 2015	4	1	51

This week’s picture comes from reader Jenny Schenck, who took this picture of the sun rising over Wanstead on Wednesday. “It’s finally getting light when I walk to work in the morning :)”

I think someone is hedging their bets here…. #Easter #Xmas #crossover #Wanstead #globalfoodandwine

A photo posted by Thomas (@thingsthatididsee) on Feb 17, 2016 at 1:34pm PST