Good looking

There is lots of anti-social graffiti around, but this example on one of the supports for the M11 in the Roding Valley Park is in a different class altogether. Views?

Bruce the swan – the painting

Wanstead artist David Kavanagh has captured Bruce the black swan, which has been visiting Eagle Pond recently, but only in a good way.

David writes: “I’m an artist based in Wanstead, currently working on a number of paintings of local scenes. I’ve just finished the latest of these, which is of Snaresbrook Crown Court, viewed across Eagle Pond. Hopefully you will spot that I’ve included the recent guest that has appeared on the pond – the beautiful black swan. The original painting will be available for sale shortly, but in the meantime I have produced a small number of prints, which I thought might be of interest.”

The prints are available through his Etsy page, which is here, and to see more of David’s work you can follow him on Instagram.

Short and sweet

The snow was short-lived – and our plans for our occasional Snow Pic-off will have to be put on ice until we are blessed with more picturesque scenes. But for the meantime our thanks to longtime Wansteadium reader Phil Carnelly for this picture.

Timber!

The scene outside Nightingale Primary School, in today’s strong winds.

Fringe roundup (and release of more tickets)

A wonderful photo of the astronomy night at Wanstead Cricket Club on Sunday night, and you can hear more about what was seen there by listening to the second episode of the Wanstead Fringe podcast, which is here.

On Monday evening it was Bake Off time as the La Bakerie team show some of the secrets of breadmaking (and Geoff Wilkinson shows his skills too). It was a full house – and there’s a second chance to learn some of the tricks of the trade later in the week. See below.

At the other end of the High Street, radio and podcast star Annabel Port attracted an audience from miles away as well as close to home. Her book, Annabel versus the Internet, was written partly in the Larder, and much of it set in and around Wanstead and Snaresbrook.

Housekeeping notes

Tuesday’s events are:

The Library Death Cafe, an open and honest opportunity to talk about end of life issues (please see here for more details)
A discussion about rock and pop on British TV with author Jeff Evans. Details and tickets available here.

ADDITIONAL TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

There are now a further five tickets available for the Hands On Cakemaking at La Bakerie on Wednesday night. Get them here.
And there are a further 50 tickets available now for the children’s comedy on Saturday afternoon starring Britain’s Got Talent star Johnny Awsum. They are expected to go quickly. You can get them here.