Shameful abuse of privilege

Wansteadium lost its faithful Fitbit step tracker somewhere on Wanstead High Street on Wednesday evening. Not only does this mean it misses its 10,000 steps for the day (which will be only the fourth day missed since Christmas) but it also just makes Wansteadium sad. Any sightings or leads gratefully received via WAAA-IWANTMYFITBITBACK@wansteadium.com And yes, this plea does constitute the disgraceful abuse of position mentioned in the headline.

The next TV detectives?

alisonThe next detective/private investigator combo to come to television may be a pair who were created in Wanstead. Author (and Wansteadium reader) Anya Lipska, left, who lives here, has had her crime novels “optioned” by the BBC for a possible TV series.

That means the BBC has bought the right to make a series if things work out, though of course it’s not a guarantee.

Happily for fans of the books, the third in the series featuring  Janusz Kiszka, a fixer to the Polish community, and police detective Natalie Kershaw, is being published on Thursday.

lipskaLike its predecessors, A Devil Under the Skin, is set in familiar surroundings – Leytonstone/Walthamstow – though some particularly small-minded readers will not be satisfied unless Wanstead itself gets a namecheck.

Even more happily, Wansteadium is delighted that on Thursday it will be publishing an excerpt from the book.

* A Devil Under the Skin will be available from the Newham Bookshop, Foyles (who have the complete series) and from Amazon too, who will have it as a paperback and as an audiobook.

 

What does £1.2m buy you in Wanstead?

This.  

At least that was the asking price at Dabora Conway, who are now saying the very rundown property on Grosvenor Road is sold subject to contract. And as they pointed out in their details, this was an “extremely rare opportunity to acquire one of the last remaining mid-Victorian character townhouses in Wanstead”.

Showing that estate agent-speak is alive and well, they added that the property “requires an extensive programme of refurbishment”, (bits are liable to fall off),  and said that it retains much of the “delightful character of the period”.

It does have five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a 120-foot garden. Congratulations to its new owners. When your work is done this should be a beauty.

Tube routes

Wansteadium reader Maya asked on Wanstead Talk earlier this week:

I was wondering, as you do, the tube tunnel between Wanstead and Leytonstone, what’s its route? Which bit of Wanstead does it go under? How deep is it? That sort of idle, staring out of the window thoughts one has occasionally. Thought somebody might know.

This is a partial answer, as supplied by ArcGIS.


It does not, however answer Maya’s question about depth. Any further intelligence is welcome.

wansteadparkAnd incidentally, any Tubegeeks who aren’t already aware of a change on the new TfL map might be interested to know that Wanstead Park and Forest Gate will now appear as linked stations. Ubertubegeek Geoff Marshall has more info.

Wanstead walks the walk

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First came the saga of the missing Christmas Tree, so Wanstead folk raised the money. Next came the need for renovations of the playground on Christ Church Green – and, again, the target has been reached. Campaigners are celebrating hitting their crowfunding target of £25k, and are now getting ready for a volunteer clean-up day (see above).

One of the more novel contributions to the fund came from the firm which issues and collects parking tickets on behalf of Redbridge Council. Optimists (such as Wansteadium) will welcome the contribution to the community on behalf of anyone ever caught parking wrongly. Cynics will no doubt claim that a better playground will mean more people wanting to visit and thus park, but that kind of conspiracy thinking REALLY HELPS NO ONE, cynics.

Incidentally, happily the Scout Hut which now has its roof in place has also made it to the final six in the same vote, but in a different category. Potentially both efforts will get a funding injection.

The volunteer day on Wednesday will be organised by Amey, the firm which collects waste for Redbridge, which is sending a team of workers down to help paint fence posts and bins and generally tidy up. More volunteers are welcome too. Refreshments are being donated by the estimable Luppolo.