What’s going on with the old antiques shop?

A sudden burst of work has been taking place at the old Cottage Antiques shop on Wanstead High Street, the building which is tucked away, almost out of sight, and which seems somehow to have been overlooked from a previous era.

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On Monday trees were cleared from the front, and on Tuesday, hoardings went up, causing alarm in some parts.

The building has not been used as an antiques shop for some years, and was sold recently. The new owner has applied to Redbridge Council for permission to demolish the single storey buildings at the front, side and rear of the cottage. In their place he wants to build a new two-storey extension at the side and convert it into two new homes. As part of the work, he plans internal and external repairs, including replacement of windows with timber sash frames.cottageplanning

Planning permission has not, at the time of writing, been granted (or at least Redbridge’s online records do not state that it has). [See update below] Though clearly old, it is not one of Redbridge’s “locally listed” buildings.

The application can be viewed at the Redbridge website under reference number  0420/15/01

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The site as featured by Google Streetview in July 2014

UPDATE: Thanks to Robespierre who has found the links to the original planning permission which was approved in April this year, and which imposed certain conditions on the scheme, including that the materials used for the external surfaces of the extension should match the existing building, and that trees on the site should be protected.

Inside Wanstead’s new DIY shop – a.k.a ‘The Toolbox’

Some great Wanstead shopfronts in the V&A

IMG_6702Pick your favourite – these memorable Wanstead shopfronts are among those featured in an acclaimed artwork currently on show at the V&A.

Artist Barnaby Barford cycled all round London, photographing interesting shopfronts. He then tranformed the photographs into more than 3,000 ceramic models, each a few centimetres high. They have been assembled into a tower of different kinds and styles of shops, reflecting the different cultures and neighbourhoods across London. The artwork is called Tower of Babel – and online you can navigate around the entire collection.

Part of the appeal which has won Barford coverage by the BBC and others is that the models are all for sale, though anyone wanting one of the dozen or so Wanstead shops is out of luck. They are already all sold out.

But never mind… where the V&A goes in 2015, Wansteadium already went in 2011. Postcards bearing the image below were distributed by us then, to widespread acclaim indifference.

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Barnaby Barford explains more about his Tower of Babel here.

Barnaby Barford: The Tower of Babel from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.