Wansteadium was over-eager in expecting the new Queen’s British Steak House and Grill on New Wanstead to open last week – but it WAS due to welcome its first customers on Thursday night. As previously reported, it’s a venture which comes with some high expectations. Wansteadium reader Pete Smith said: “Very much looking forward to it. Wanstead already has some fine restaurants so a quality steak house will fit right in.”
So any first hand experiences (menus, pricing, service, atmosphere) welcome.
Shock! Wanstead’s iconic ‘tree with a postcode’ removed
The remains of a chestnut tree on Wanstead Green – celebrated as a ‘tree with a postcode’ when it was the centre of the protest against the building of the M11 link road in the early 1990s – has been removed, Wansteadium can report.
The 300-year-old tree was pulled down during the building work, and the fallen trunk has been lying on Wanstead Green since 1993, gradually rotting. Conservationists warned in early 2009 that the trunk would be lost unless someone took over caring for it.
The tree became a symbol of the protest against the road, and even became the subject of legal argument over whether it constituted a dwelling, since it had protesters living in it who received letters there. Despite its nickname it is not thought that it ever did actually have its own postcode.
It is not known what has happened to the trunk. Wansteadium reader Caroline Barkus said: “It was there on Sunday. I want to know what has happened to this historic tree trunk.”
More history on the tree here.
UPDATE 1200 BST: The Wanstead Guardian has now followed up on this story.
UPDATE 1730 BST: Wanstead Guardian now reporting that the City of London Corporation has taken the stump into protective custody ‘care’. A spokesman told the paper:
“This much loved tree has been deteriorating rapidly so we took it into protective care on Monday. I’m sorry we did not tell more people but the tree is safely in store with us while we preserve the wood. We’ll definitely let local residents know through the press once we have found a solution and can bring it back, after treatment.”
Earlier, Wanstead Society stalwart Jack Figg had raised the prospect that someone might have taken the wood to use it. Legally minded Wansteadium readers are invited to discuss what legal recourse there might have been against anyone who had taken it, bearing in mind it was a rotting tree trunk, seemingly abandoned, with no indication that it was there as an unofficial monument.
Rosita
Two fortunes to be found in Wanstead
An amazing photo of Wanstead from Adam Lewis (see more of his pictures here on Flickr), spotted after heavy rain earlier this month. A moment to treasure, but, as Adam points out, probably not as much as this fella, whose reaction is a bit more California than E11.
Scenes from the Wanstead Festival
Send your photos to add here – by e-mail to wansteadium[at]gmail.com or tag them “wansteadium” on Flickr.
Reviews of Wanstead’s new steakhouse welcome
Queen’s British Steakhouse and Grill, in the former British Queen pub on New Wanstead, was due to open on Saturday. Expectations are high – so as is our tradition at Wansteadium, reviews are welcome. Please add comments below or e-mail at wansteadium[at]gmail.com.
PS. It looks like the first tenant is about to move in to the renovated Cuckfield Garage – a thoroughly smartened piece of Wanstead which has preserved some of the feeling of the original. But there will be disappointment for those hoping for an increase the diversity of Wanstead shops – first in will be a beautician.