Some stuff to read. And – guess what? – it’s about Wanstead

Some unconnected things about Wanstead. You could almost call it a new strand. And if you send things to unconnected@wansteadium.com, it might even become a regular thing.

• Correct us if we’re wrong, but as far as we know, there is only one *proper* restaurant critic living in Wanstead. And that’s Grace Dent of ES Magazine. She likes Provender.


Her friend Florence Vincent tweeted in response that when she booked there once and “told him my name he went full French on the pronunciation. I was very pleased with that.”

• It’s clearly a bit of a secret, but the Odeon in South Woodford is showing some live opera and ballet in the next few weeks, from the Met in New York, the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and the Royal Ballet. Details for the first event, Rigoletto from the Met, are here. Unimpressed regular reader Gabrielle Collard says: “They’re not publicising this very well… they may as well be saying ‘meh’ into a paper bag. That’s how not bothered they are.”

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• The Oxfam bookshop (@Wanstead_Oxfam) has this beauty for sale, for any revolutionary communists out there: a first edition of Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book. (Rare unsigned copy.)

• A head of steam appears to be gathering around readers of this blog setting up a speakeasy/winebar. It’s like a Siren calling you to the rocks, isn’t it?

• And finally, Roger Godbold, who last week wrote to us saying “Shame on you, Wansteadium” (we had failed to include parts of E12 in our defintion of Wanstead) now writes to say: “WOW! I hadn’t realised that so many people would take my comments so seriously although I admit that they don’t read as light-hearted as they were intended to be.” In response to a plea for stories about Aldersbrook, he tantalisingly dangles these in front of us: “How about tea with Lonnie Donegan at his house in St. Margaret’s Road, my Dad being unable to get out of the house to go to work because of the b….. great cow blocking our front path, cycle speedway on Wanstead Flats where the gun emplacements had been ruined, etc., etc.” All sounds sufficiently unconnected to guarantee a regular spot. Roger, you’re signed.

‘My new 12-point plan for Wanstead’

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Wansteadium’s property blogger George C Parker writes:

 Friends, Wansteadians, Countrymen, welcome to 2013!

I can now exclusively reveal that yesterday, in a shady corner of an unnamed Wanstead car-park, a time capsule was breathlessly excavated by yours truly.

Grasping it eagerly from the new-turned sod, my eager fingers scrabbled to open the container. O revelation! Inside lay the January article that I had placed there for safe keeping. Behold this Richard III of a document:

Those of you who were here this time last year might remember I had some noble resolutions. Though some of them remain in draft status (others forgotten, stalled or frankly abandoned), it would be un-Churchillian of me not to carve another batch on the edifice of Time. So we didn’t get our outdoor cinema (yet), neither did I open that vintage toy shop nor throw open the doors to Parker’s Speakeasy and Wine Bar. But that’s not to say those things shouldn’t happen this year. I’m just recognising the fact that some people are better at making resolutions, and others are good at keeping them. So this time around:

 This weekend:  I’m taking the Parker velocipede into Bike Trax for a thorough spring clean. Parking restrictions etc be damned.

February: I’m going to help the Friends of Wanstead Park on one of their splendid community clean up jaunts.

March: I’m joining the golf club, their groundsman will be relieved not having to clear so much of the ‘rough’.

April: I’m storming the offices of Redbridge council in a bloodless coup. Before ceding power I will have allocated funding for complete renewal of Christchurch Green play park and commissioned a new one just by the Aldersbrook allotments.

May: I’m founding a grocery box scheme using local suppliers and old-school grocer’s pushbikes.Perhaps we’ll see something like @HubbubTweets locally soon.

June: Twinning with St Barths.

July: I’m taking up equestrianism at Aldersbrook Riding School. Depending on progress possibly founding a Polo club after that.

August: I’m having a garden party in honour of the Law if they decide not to quit leafy Wanstead Police Station.

September: I’m scooping the Wansteadium Cherry Pey trophy for Best Tart at the Festival.

October: I’m founding an urban fox refuge, 600 miles off Britain somewhere in the Atlantic.

November: I’m opening a Grand Emporium of fixtures and fittings, bits and pieces for wonderful Edwardian and Victorian houses. Lights, glassware, brassware, levers, knobs, accoutrements, and all the polishes, brushes, daubs and embrocations one should even need, all under one roof.

December:  I’m leaving clear for now, in case any of the above overruns  …

* Back in the real world, during the recent cold snap I took refuge in the Larder, where I met a charming couple with their young son. On that draughty Saturday in question, it transpired that my newfound friends were steering clear of their Gordon Road property allowing estate agents to conduct viewings that day – a mere 26 of them all told.  By lunchtime they had received a couple of offers, which gave them great optimism regarding their plans to move into a larger Nightingale estate property. I wish them well in their new home.

* According to recent results published on Wansteadium, Aldersbrook Primary School has begun to pull up its socks. Though Wanstead schools have traditionally done well in the primary tables, parents will be delighted to note Aldersbrook as the biggest climber by far among its peers. A good Ofsted report next time around should cement the revival. Good luck to the school.

* A note of caution. Many at this time of year are considering improvements or extensions to their properties, and enterprising local construction firms are copiously leafleting the area. Poor Mrs Parker did a double-take at wording on a flyer asking if we had considered a “Chigwell Porch” – she’d assumed it was something to do with cosmetic surgery.

* Finally, how gratifying it is to see the tally of e-mail subscribers rise, day by day, towards the glorious cinqucento, the demi-mille, the monkey. You can help our humble enterprise, dear one, by signing up yourself, or if already upsigned, by onpassing said e-mail to others less fortunate. Let’s crack that bally Fünf Hundert by the end of the week. Sign up here.

* You can always drop me a line  at georgecparker@wansteadium.com. All that remains for me to say is “Floreat Wansteadium!”

Wanstead news roundup, 28.1.13; Parking, pizza, pedal power

photo (40)• Wanstead should brace itself for another season of parking grief. Firstly there is likely to be a wave of protests over a proposal to restrict the area outside Christ Church on Wanstead Place (right)  to “residents only”, even though there are no houses at that point. The church halls are used by community groups, such as babies and toddlers’ activities, several times a day. In addition to this, it is just a matter of weeks until the 12 month review of the parking restrictions on Spratt Hall Road, Dangan Road, and Addison Road will take place. At last week’s Area One committee it was reported that the absence of parked cars on either side of Spratt Hall Road (praised last year by one resident as being “lovely… so empty, it’s like the aftermath of a nuclear war!”) now means cars can speed down it from Cambridge Park to New Wanstead unhindered. This story will run and run. We have started a new “parking” forum on Wanstead Talk for people to discuss this issue.

• Michael Crombie, former music teacher at Wanstead High School and prolific sex offender, was jailed for a further three years at the Old Bailey last week after more complainants came forward to report being abused by him. The Daily Mail reported that “the latest case emerged after one former pupil, whom Crombie abused whilst teaching her in sixth form, was outraged by his request for a character reference during his last trial in 2010 and stepped forward”.

The former Cinnamon, right on this row• One of the best spots for a restaurant in Wanstead High Street, the former Cinnamon Indian restaurant, could become a Domino’s Pizza Delivery base. The chain has applied for permission to change its use. The Wanstead Guardian says the shop plans to open the takeaway until 1am on Saturday nights and midnight the rest of the week. Details of the application are here on the Redbridge site.

• One more traffic update: Wanstead is to get a green cycle lane along Cambridge Park Road towards the junction at the George.

Letter to Wansteadium: Shame on you, Wansteadium

From reader Roger Godbold

Shame on you!

The very first line of About Wansteadium reads “Wansteadium is a blog about all sorts of things going on in Wanstead E11”. That’s why I say “shame on you” – for ignoring that part of Wanstead that has the E12 postcode. There are some people here in Aldersbrook who jokingly mention “Independence for Aldersbrook” but I don’t expect someone writing articles about Wanstead to, apparently, encourage this independence.

I’ll put it down to ignorance or a straight-forward mistake but I really don’t expect a simple fact of this type to appear incorrectly in your blog. I first lived in Herongate Road Aldersbrook as a very small child way back in 1940 and I grew up there as a Wanstead resident. For the past 42 years I have lived in Dover Road – the next road to the one I grew up in – so I think my remarks must count for something

Disappointedly,

Roger Godbold

Response from Wansteadium: Thank you Roger for your letter. We apologise for the error – for error it was, rather than bigotry – and as a gesture of our thanks we are happy to offer you a refund on your subscription.