Wanstead’s blue period

Wanstead Park’s bluebells are on the brink of their magnificence. The warnings to visitors of the damage that can be done by stepping off the path have been reinforced – though are still not clear enough for some.

Each year some of the bluebells are damaged by people treading on them, or other bulbs beneath the surface which are not visible, usually for reasons of Instagram. New signs put up by the Epping Forest managers explain the damage but are still not quite explicit enough for some park lovers who have added their own messages.

Meanwhile the Wanstead Art Group is starting a weeklong show and series of bluebell related events at nearby St Gabriel’s church. Details below.

Tube drama outside Snaresbrook

TfL staff and passengers watching as police search the line

Police officers rode in the driver’s cab of a Snaresbrook-bound train on Monday afternoon to see if they could spot a suspect who they thought was hiding by the side of the track.

The suspect had been chased by officers on to the platform at Leytonstone, where he jumped on to the track in front of the train which was waiting in the platform.

While other officers hunted in the area around the Leytonstone station, two officers got into the driver’s cab as the train was then inched along the line so they could see if he was hiding in the undergrowth by the side of the track. Passengers were kept in touch with events by the driver’s announcements.

Steep barbed-wire fences line the edge of the overground track so it was not clear where the suspect could have escaped to. Despite the search he was not immediately found, and the train then went on to Snaresbrook as planned where the officers got out to return to Leytonstone.