Archive

All Posts

Every post, newest first.

Oct 29, 20264 min read
Most driving tests at Wanstead end in a fail
Wanstead's driving test centre passed 44.4% of candidates in 2025-26, against 50.0% across Great Britain. Official DVSA figures on first attempts, automatics, men and women, neighbouring centres and waiting times.
Oct 29, 20263 min read
Wanstead Hospital began as an orphanage and ended up as flats
Wanstead Hospital closed in 1986, but the clock tower on Hermon Hill is still there. It began as a Victorian orphanage for the children of merchant seamen, passed through a convent and the NHS, and is now flats and a synagogue.
Oct 29, 20263 min read
Wanstead Park station is in Forest Gate, and not near the park
Wanstead Park station sits in Forest Gate, not Wanstead, and nearer Wanstead Flats than the park it is named after. Trains, buses, access, history and how to reach Wanstead from it.
Oct 29, 20262 min read
Wanstead Beer Festival pulls its biggest crowd yet, more than 1,300
More than 1,300 people came to the fourth Wanstead Beer Festival at Christchurch on 10 October, a record, and drank most of the 50-plus beers and ciders. The proceeds go to the River Roding Trust, Growing Hope and the war memorial restoration.
Oct 29, 20262 min read
A snail the size of a pinhead has turned up in Wanstead Park
Citizen Zoo says volunteers, ReNature and the Conchological Society recorded Paralaoma servilis, a microscopic snail it calls "a rarity for the area", during a mollusc survey in Wanstead Park. We could not find an independent record yet.
Oct 29, 20262 min read
Iain Sinclair is coming to Wanstead Library to talk lost rivers
Writer and film-maker John Rogers will discuss his new book, Confessions of a London River Hunter, with Iain Sinclair at Wanstead Library on Thursday 3 December, 7pm to 9pm. Tickets are £6 through Newham Bookshop's Fienta page.
Oct 29, 20264 min read
Much of Wanstead will miss out on the £100 energy payment
The Budget's £100 Household Energy Payment goes to homes in council tax bands A to D from January 2027. Official Valuation Office Agency figures show only about a third of homes in the area labelled Wanstead are in those bands, against 71% across Redbridge.
Oct 29, 20263 min read
Towering skeletons are marching on Wanstead Library
Festival of the Dead runs at Wanstead Library from noon to 6pm on Thursday 29 October, with a lantern parade at about 5pm. Most of it is free, but the lantern workshop is paid and needs booking.
Oct 28, 20263 min read
Wanstead's Christmas lights are moving to Christchurch Green
Wanstead's Christmas lights switch-on is at Christchurch Green on Friday 20 November, with an extra tree lit earlier at George Green. Vision RCL, which runs the event for Redbridge Council, says the move follows a review of event arrangements and health and safety.
Oct 28, 20265 min read
Wanstead Flats' skylarks had a dismal summer
Only around two young skylarks appear to have fledged on Wanstead Flats this year, the Wren Wildlife Group says, after the hottest and driest summer on record. The numbers, what the drought did to the Flats, and a rare beetle on dead broom.
Oct 28, 20263 min read
Yellow boxes are heading back to Wanstead
Redbridge Council has proposed new yellow boxes at 14 junctions across the borough, two of them in Wanstead, after traffic surveys found them regularly blocked. The consultation has closed and no decision is published. It follows the 2024-25 row over two High Street boxes that fined drivers, then vanished after a safety audit.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Shoplifting is now a High Street police priority
Shoplifting was the most commonly recorded offence in Wanstead Village ward in August: 26 of 87 crimes. The local police team has made it a formal High Street priority. We went through the police.uk data for both Wanstead wards and the Met's published priorities.
Oct 28, 20266 min read
Wanstead Park has a lake problem
The Ornamental Water, centrepiece of Wanstead Park's historic lakes, has "completely dried up", says the City of London Corporation. The refill plan hangs on an Environment Agency decision that hasn't arrived. Meanwhile the Grotto has a steel frame, but its future is still open.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Wanstead High School finally has a builder again
A new contractor took possession of the unfinished Wanstead High School site on 21 October, eight months after the original builder collapsed. How it got here, what's been set aside, and what Redbridge hasn't published about the pool.
Oct 28, 20265 min read
Councillors back plan to demolish Woodbine Place shops
Redbridge councillors have reportedly approved plans to demolish the single-storey shops on Woodbine Place and build a three-storey block of shops and offices, despite 83 objections and an objection from the council's own heritage officer. What the officer report says, and what changes in planning from Saturday.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Wanstead Library, a prize-winning 1969 building with a hall for hire
Wanstead Library, on Spratt Hall Road, is open six days a week, has a hall for hire and an award-winning 1969 building. Here are the hours, how to join and what you will find inside.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Wanstead Leisure Centre has a gym, classes and no pool
Wanstead Leisure Centre has a 45-station gym and classes, but no pool. The promised replacement, with a 25m swimming pool, has been delayed for years. Here is where things stand.
Oct 28, 20266 min read
Redbridge bins, garden waste and the Chigwell Road tip, sorted
Redbridge Council is rolling out food waste collections this winter, free garden waste returns in spring, and the Chigwell Road tip has strict rules on vans, DIY waste and proof of address. Here is what you need to know.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Snaresbrook, home of a Crown Court that began life as an orphanage
Snaresbrook is known for its Crown Court, its Central line station and a large pond on the edge of Epping Forest. The court's story goes back to a Victorian orphanage. The full guide.
Oct 28, 20264 min read
Wanstead tube station, a Central line stop with a secret past
Wanstead station opened in 1947 after sitting unfinished through the war. It's a Central line, Zone 4 station with escalators but no lifts. How to use it, and the story behind it.