Wanstead news roundup, 5.9.11; Art, hope, murder and mystery in Wanstead

• It’s festival week in Wanstead, with the annual party on Christchurch Green taking place next Sunday, 11 September. That is also launch day for the Wanstead Art Trail, an ever-more ambitious showcase of art in shops and other buildings across Wanstead. A fantastically produced brochure is widely available, and is also online here.

• The proposals to introduce pay and display parking restrictions to central Wanstead have, in case you haven’t heard, been dropped. It follows a campaign and mass petition, organised by Michael and Valerie Powis of Grosvenor Road.

• The former Russell’s cafe bar, currently undergoing renovation, is reportedly becoming a Turkish restaurant.

• Could this be another sign of a green shoot in the Wanstead micro-economy? Cafe Voyage at Snaresbrook station has extended its opening hours: now 6am-5pm on weekdays and 8am-2pm on Saturdays.

• Hedgehogs, a cause close to Wansteadium’s heart, are still being spotted. Alasdair Bain sent this photo, reporting: “Saw this little guy trying to hide behind the bamboo in my garden.” Coming soon in Wansteadium, what you can do in your garden as autumn approaches, to make it a hedgehog friendly zone.

• Meanwhile mink are still being spotted in Wanstead Park. Last week one was seen dragging a coot to an untimely death while perplexed parents and toddlers were feeding the ducks. Other coots watched on.

• An item of interest in Wanstead Oxfam: a double vinyl EP of Magical Mystery Tour in near mint condition, with the original booklet and artwork – a snip at £100. Contact the shop directly if you are interested. 020 8530 3413 or oxfamshopf8092@oxfam.org.uk

• And items recently added to Wansteadium Classifieds include a piano, an iPhone 3GS and a tumble drier. Details here, at wansteadium.com/classifieds, where you can also sell your unwanted goods to other Wanstead residents, for free.

Wanstead news roundup, 24,08.10; Artists, white lines, and TV

• The full list of artists participating in the Wanstead Art Trail – a fantastically enlightened bid to give Wanstead artistic buzz (rather like the regeneration-inducing Folkestone Triennial) – has been published by the Wanstead Society. It shows 63 venues in Wanstead which will be showing works by more than 130 artists, both professional and amateur. It will take place between 19 and 26 September and more details, including the full map, can be found at the Wanstead Society website.

• Rumours that the Metropolitan Police had started marking out the part of Wanstead Flats where they want to site their Olympic operational headquarters were scotched when it turned out the lines had been painted by the Showman’s Guild for the Wanstead Flats Fair. Opposition to the Met’s proposal is increasing in volume; the force is making its case online.

• Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the decision will be made about the Arcelor Orbit sculpture, which, in June, Wansteadium revealed risks interfering with the Freeview TV signals of people living in Snaresbrook.Details here. It now appears that if there did turn out to be a significant effect, the Olympic Delivery Authority would be required to pay for corrective measures, though it’s not clear what this could be.