@monkchips Wanstead tube station had a great secondhand record shop inside up to the mid 80s. It’s where all my pocketmoney went!
Richard Huppert
noxiousgumbo
Designer shop One Deko has at last reached the end stages of its withdrawal from Wanstead High Street. Nearly all the stock has been removed from the premises and though there has not yet been a formal closure, it’s clearly not many days away.
The firm is, though, still trading at Spitalfields and is actually about to move into larger premises there in the heart of the market.
Though hardly an unexpected move – the shop lease has been advertised for many months – the reasons for the closure are the same as for Horsfall and Wright last year; simply not enough passing trade.
Many will say, however, that the shop was just not pitched right for its location, being more of a speciality designer boutique than the sort of shop you might just pop into to buy a present for someone.
There was at least one cross tweet about the Wanstead Guardian billboard (pictured) last week, and no doubt some degree of eyeball rolling by Wanstead loyalists.
There are probably relatively few people who feel that Wanstead is the worst place in London for burglaries. The new police crime maps do indicate, however, that in January Wanstead ward was one of a number contributing to a high burglary rate in Redbridge – marked in red on the map below. Snaresbrook did not, however, and it’s worth noting that while any burglary is a pain in the neck, the actual numbers are as follows: 28 burglaries in Wanstead ward in January 2011, compared to 20 in December. Snaresbrook had 7 and 11.
It’s always good too to keep an eye on the bigger picture, not just on burglary. Snaresbrook has the lowest overall crime rate of any ward in Redbridge (4.24); Wanstead is higher (8.69) but by no means the worst in Redbridge – there are seven worse. And in the context of neighbouring boroughs, thing become even clearer.
[table id=15 /]
It’s sad, but the hunt for a pterodactyl in Wanstead looks like it has run into the ground. Blogger Mark Samuels told, earlier this week, of the loss of the prehistoric winged lizard, named Terrence, in the hope that someone would declare their find. He wrote:
There are, or were, five members in my family: me, my wife, our two daughters and a soft toy pterodatyl called Terrence. Sadly, Terrence is missing, presumed lost in action on Wanstead High Street. For the last year-or-so, Terrence has been everywhere with the Samuels family. He’s been on holiday, to school, to London, to bed and on film (many, many times). Virtually every picture of my eldest during that period includes her holding tightly to Terrence
Mark now tweets that he’s been taking part in a “delicate operation that has seen Terry, err, replaced”. But there’s still hope. To see what Terry looks like, and to contact Mark, see his blog here.
