Wanstead Christmas lights 2013

The start of Wanstead Christmas events takes place on Friday with the traditional turning on of the lights at the tree on George Green. People are invited to start turning up at 4.15 on Friday.

A digest of the weekend’s Christmas events will follow on this website on Friday.

PS. Wansteadium reader Tomskerous gives a sneak preview here:

And if you weren’t there, here’s the atmosphere boiled down into just five seconds.

Chez Churchill – sounds promising


An application to put a restaurant into the former Allied Irish Bank (and former Tory HQ of Winston Churchill) was approved on Monday night by Redbridge councillors.

The bank, properly known as the Manor House, has been vacant for more than a year, and there was a widespread belief that pizza chain Prezzo might open a branch there. This turned out not to be true.

However, Councillor Paul Canal tweeted on Monday night that plans had been approved. He wrote:

He added that the application was not from Prezzo, but was rather from a “Wanstead one-off”. And then, intriguingly, he described the plan as: “English/European Gastro style mid/up market cafe and eatery, hopefully some decent wines too!”

So potentially good news for a sign-writer too. More information as we get it. In the meantime, it might be diverting to wonder what Churchill-related name an English/European gastro style mid/up market cafe and eatery might choose. The V Sign. The Ugly Madam. (contd below…)

>Update: Paul Canal has added: “We need to avoid cheap chicken take aways,and work hard to preserve a good balance of retail. This project should stop some people being seduced by the bright lights of Westfield, create local jobs and bring more choice to Wanstead residents.”

The man behind the plan is Mark Foster, who lives in Wanstead. The plan is for a venue over two floors, opening at 8am.

Chilly times for Wanstead Co-op

Probably not wishing to add to the Co-op’s woes, Wanstead journalist Sean Farrell, who works for the Guardian, has nevertheless felt compelled to tackle the Wanstead Co-op’s broken fridge doors. He now appears to have had some success.

That didn’t work, so he copied in the bank’s chief executive Euan Sutherland.

Hey presto.

The Duke lives

The Duke of Edinburgh pub on Nightingale Lane, subject of much speculation since it suddenly closed a few weeks ago, has been quietly reborn. An opening night on Thursday saw it become The Duke, serving trendy beers, hosting junk shop chic, and suddenly becoming one of the most Instagrammable venues in Wanstead.

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It also tweets.

GOOD NEWS! Wanstead to have its own swimming pool!

BAD NEWS! It’s only going to be 12-metres long.

GOOD NEWS! Never mind, there are loads of people in Wanstead on a waiting list to learn to swim.

BAD NEWS! The pool is temporary – 12 weeks only.

GOOD NEWS! The council is hoping it can wangle it for longer.

BAD NEWS! It’s still going to cost council tax payers £30k, even though it’s being subsidised by the GLA.

This development does seem somewhat unusual, to say the least. In addition to the Wanstead Pool, there will be another pool – 25m-long plus library and gym – built in the south of the borough (Ilford?).

The leader of Redbridge Council, Keith Prince, said: ““This is fantastic news for the Borough… We have over 1000 people on our lists waiting to learn to swim and this pool in Wanstead is a facility that will help those residents learn an essential life skill. We are negotiating with the provider of the 12-metre pool to try and extend the time it will be in the Borough so that more people can benefit.”