Wansteadium

The local scout group are at pains to explain that the building taking shape on the corner of the High Street and Hollybush Hill is not another pile of luxury apartments, but rather the rebuilding of their headquarters.

This sequence of pictures shows the old hall, now demolished, the cleared site as at 9 May, the structure taking shape, and an architects’ drawing of the finished building. The Scouts are still raising money to pay for the construction – a number of bricks have already been ‘sold’ to supporters.

With little fanfare and no apparent protest, the ticket office at Snaresbrook station closed at the weekend. It’s the latest office to close – the office at Wanstead station closed a few weeks ago. Staff are being redeployed to platforms and the ticket hall. Nevertheless, the moment should not pass unnoticed.

…unless you’re a Central Line driver.

This video is a thing of beauty, and just gets better as it goes on.

Anyone fancy a spot of Betjeman?

It seems, just like Star Wars, the Wanstead Parking Saga has yet another sequel. A mostly under-the-radar consultation document has been distributed to houses on Wanstead Place with a view to introducing pay and display on the gravel area outside the church.

The proposal is that there would be a maximum stay of two hours, with 30 minutes free, but pay and display or pay by phone for longer than that.

The consultation follows a large petition which included many patients from the Wanstead Place surgery who find it hard to visit the doctor. But it will prove controversial with people visiting the church, and it has been asked why the restrictions should apply even on Saturday when the surgery is closed.

It’s almost exactly two years since peace broke out in the Wanstead Parking Wars, when the introduction of parking controls through many streets in central Wanstead was restricted to a single hour in the morning. This meant that parking by commuters was impossible, but for people who wanted to pop to the High Street, parking was, again, possible.

Councillors have repeatedly indicated in meetings in the past two years that there was no appetite to re-open the debate, but this proposal does that, even if only for Wanstead Place.

Thanks to @PinkPrincessSu and @ShopEatWanstead

  

Pictures of dogs are one thing, and Wansteadium was grateful for those. But one can’t help but feel that the hitherto faithful readers of this website have FAILED in their duty by not reporting “the full-on porn movie” which the Wanstead Guardian is reporting took place on George Green on Tuesday.

In breathless prose, the paper reports that the incident took place about 7.30pm when a couple in their 20s “were said to have been seen by hundreds of people” in flagrante delicto.

Police officers twice asked the couple to move on, but apparently instead of moving on, they carried on once the officers left. A witness told the paper that a jogger “almost collided with a lamppost” when he ran past. She said: “I have seen a lot in my time but I am genuinely shocked…. It was a full-on porn movie in Wanstead… They must have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs but even so it was just unbelievable to see, with all the sound effects to go with it.”

Even Councillor Colin Cronin witnessed it. He was shocked too. “It wasn’t just a bit of petting, he was on top of her going at it full pelt while the shop keepers whistled and cheered them on. When the police walked over, the lady had to stand up to put her jeans back on.”

Well if you have appetite for more, the full story is here at the Wanstead Guardian. But as for no one reporting it with evidence to Wansteadium, it’s a sorry day.

A balmy walk home, the smell of fresh cut grass in the air, the trees, spring flowers, gratuitous sex show http://t.co/NM3m0BNcgB #wanstead

— Victoria Richards (@nakedvix) May 13, 2015