Bin collectors strike

Bin collections in Redbridge are being hit by a one-week strike starting today (Monday). The council is however asking people to put out their black bins in the hope they can collected at some point in the week. But recycling, bulky waste, and green garden waste collections are suspended until next week.

The strike has been called by Unite the Union for workers at Redbridge Civic Services, the council-owned waste collection company. The dispute is about working conditions and pay.

Unless a resolution is reached there is the possibility of waste going uncollected by polling day, which will remind some of 1979 when a wave of strikes and scenes of piled-up rubbish was the background to that year’s general election.

So long to the Larder

A generation of Wanstead children brought up on Pom-Bears and Squishy Yoghurt pouches while their parents sipped lattes and flat whites will be shocked to hear about the closure of the Larder after nearly 20 years.

Along with the Olive Branch – now Joice cafe – the Larder was at the forefront of the wave of coffee shops which has changed the face of Wanstead. In 2018 it expanded into the former Judith of Wanstead premises, as we reported here. The site is now changing hands and will, it is understood, be redecorated and refurbished and will remain a cafe.

Staff at the much-loved shop have been given presents and commiserations by members of the community who remember catching up over cappuccinos with friends and fellow parents. In the meantime at least one about-to-be former member of staff is understood to be performing at Glastonbury, continuing her passion and talent as a semi-professional backing singer.

But for all the staff who have served at the Larder over the years, thank you for your service.

It’s a long way from the Bungalow café

A story which began on Spratt Hall Road has reached something of a conclusion with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange being freed from Belmarsh prison.

It was in the Bungalow Café that Assange had breakfast with Wanstead’s celebrated media lawyer Mark Stephens in 2010, shortly before Assange’s arranged arrest. As Wansteadium reported at the time, Stephens told reporters that he suspected his Wanstead house was under surveillance so advised Assange to go to the cafe for their meeting.

Assange has reportedly reached a deal with US prosecutors which will see him admit guilt but avoid further prison time – he is expected to return to his native Australia.

Stephens, still active on Twitter, had a simple response: