The E List - March 2016

E list

ISSN 2058-2196

the

Your cultural life in and around Walthamstow No.36 • March 2016

Your FREE Magazin featuring 20e 0 things to do + E17. E11. E10

Fellowship is Life

I

’VE SPENT A LONG TIME THIS MONTH LOOKING INTO WILLIAM MORRIS’S EYES. I’ve been subjecting the poor fellow to something called ‘colorization’ (sic) and to be honest I’m not sure he would approve. The process involves taking a black and white (or in this case a sepia) photograph and gradually adding colour to it in Photoshop with often dramatic results. I am a Photoshop geek and always fancied having a go, and so with our William Morris special cover artist and Local Hero (p.36) no less - here was my chance. I wanted to imagine how William might appear if Paul Tucker, our regular Local Hero photographer had captured him in the garden of the William Morris Gallery last week. I must say the process was very eerie as little by little Morris’s flesh tones begins to colour and warm as the years appeared to slip away. “He’s alive!” I cried, as I threw aside my mouse with an appropriately Gothic flourish. And therein lies the controversy of ‘colorization’. In many instances it crushes the original intentions of the photographer who frames his subject in terms of black and white, but also gives far too much emphasis to the colorizer’s interpretation of the subject; in this case not only hair and skin colour but also what the colours he would choose for his clothes. My vision is of a slightly rakish, hopefully Pre-Raphaelite, Mr Morris so I apologise to his ghost if he was actually just wearing shades of brown that day. Also apologies to the descendants of his good friend Mr Burne- Jones who’s been removed altogether!

I must thank Roger Huddle for channeling Wiliam Morris in this issue, without him they’d have been just lifeless history lessons - if you ever get the chance to spend and hour or so with Roger seize it, he’s a man who really brings William Morris alive! He spent hours, if not days, crafting the Local Hero answers, largely from Morris’s own words, only for me to slash it by half because of space. For his full transcript I urge you to visit Roger’s blog www.rogerhuddle.blogspot.co.uk Paul Lindt, Editor editor@theelist.co.uk

@TheEList_e17

The E List

Barpak and the Get The Books Up The Mountain project Artist and publisher Sean Parfitt brings us William Morris’s Lindenborg Pool The Dam Buster and The Bombshell The delicious Italian Delicatessen of Walthamstow Mark McClure, graphic artist and wood worker The Lost Dominion?

London Life – three poems by Forest Poet Michael Shann Artist Emma Scutt and her portraits Walthamstow Trades Hall has a new club night Vestry House Museum Archives – Pubs of yore Stow Roses in Stitches for Charity House Doctor does the laundry Wilcumstowe Times: MR Lloyd & the vampyre Local Hero - Campaigner and activist William Morris Walthamstow Diary Magpie

13 14 15 18 20 22 22 21 26 28 30 33 35 36 38 39

For the latest listings including a link to download the app, a digital version of the E List and back issues

www.theelist.co.uk The E List is available for FREE at over a 100 venues across E17, E11, E10 and E4.

See www.theelist.co.uk for your nearest venue. As copies disappear quickly venues will be regularly restocked throughout the month so please keep trying.

If you would like your venue to be a distribution point email listings@theelist.co.uk

Cover: Lily and Pomegranate wallpaper design watercolour on paper, William Morris, 1886.

This page: Top: A Dream of John Ball and a King’s Lesson Kelmscott Press edition, 1892. Middle: Morris & Co rush-seated furniture, early twentieth century catalogue.

Bottom: St Cecilia stained glass, designed by Edward Burne Jones and manufactured by Morris & Co, c.1897.

Opposite Snakeshead hand-block printed cotton, designed by William Morris in 1876.

All images © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest.

COVER STAR William Morris Where did your passion for “a life of art’ originate? In the July of my twenty-first year I had gone with my dear friends Edward Burne-Jones and William Fulford on a trip to see the Medieval churches and cathedrals of Northern Europe. At the time we three were part of a group we named ‘The Brotherhood’. We were united by a strong attraction to the idea of the artisan as artist, but also a return to medieval values of chivalry and a precapitalist idea of community. We rejected the Victorian values of the modern society. Consequently these churches and the people and communities who had built them had a profound influence on us. It was at Le Havre on 2 August 1855 that Burne-Jones and I made our decision. While walking on the quay that night we resolved to begin a life of art, and put off our decision no longer - I should be an architect and he a painter.

So you began training as an architect but never finished. What happened? I am afraid to say I quite quickly became bored with it. My friend at the time Dante Gabriel Rossetti persuaded me to try painting. I attempted the PreRaphaelite style, but must declare that in comparison to my contemporaries my work I judge inferior. My renditions of

hands for example were shocking. So ‘a life in art’ still eluded me.

Tell us how you started designing furniture. In 1856 Rossetti suggested that he, Burne-Jones and I get a flat together.

We chose Bloomsbury and No.17 Red Lion Square. The flat was dull, sparse and lifeless so I set myself to fill it. I started to design and commission furniture in a Medieval style, much of which I painted with Arthurian scenes. I am proud to say it was totally unfashionable at the time!

This and your work on the interiors of your next home, the Red House, led to your founding of the decorative arts company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861. What sort of work did the Company produce? We sought to return completely to Medieval Gothic methods of craftmanship and created furniture, architectural carving, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals. Unfortunately with the gothic revival we did become rather fashionable so controlling the production and prices was difficult.

The following year you designed your first wallpaper ‘Trellis’. Yes I had by this time completely abandoned painting and instead focused my energies on designing wallpaper patterns.

Your rendering of nature in your patterns verges on abstraction. Do you think your decoration is ‘modern’? I hope not!

You have also experimented with textiles. Yes I have become increasingly frustrated with the colours from synthetic aniline dyes, so have started to experiment with traditional techniques myself. I believe that there is no point in asking someone else to make something if you can’t make it yourself.

You have also applied this principal to your publishing. I have long had a fascination for medieval calligraphy and illustrated manuscripts. I write, illustrate and have even designed my own font.

Kelmscott Press only publishes books which I believe, are beautifully made. We publish work by Chaucer, Keats, Shelley, Ruskin, and Swinburne and my own poems and stories. I have even had my French edition of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital handbound in a gold-tooled leather binding.

What unites your work do you think?

Everything I do is united by a rejection of industrialisation, which removes all evidence of the hand of the maker. Better an imperfect object made by man, than a perfect object made by machine.

Paul Lindt

1

ART

BOOKS

CRAFTS

This month in town

March

Exhibitions & weekly events Arts & Crafts 1-26 March NEW Matthew Theobald Pictorem Gallery, 383 Hoe Street E17 9AP Interested in the movement and energy of the landscape, encompassing nature, the elements, and the horizon. Inspired by representation, impression, and the abstract, interpreting the subject from direct observation, imagination and memory. Tues-Sun 9am-5.30pm. FREE www.matthewtheobald.co.uk www.pictoremgallery.com.

3-27 March NEW Air Visions The Stone Space, 6 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Newington Green-based artist Judit Prieto explores the ethereal and intangible nature of air. Taking her own perspective on air as an element Judit works with oil painting and linocut creating a colourful, 3-dimensional experience. Thurs-Sun 2-6pm FREE. www.thestonespace.wordpress.com 5-27 March NEW Francesca Bray: Beneath the Surface Walthamstow Village Window Gallery, 47 Orford Road E17 9NJ Besides stitched works on paper Francesca utilises x-ray lightboxes to illuminate her paper cut out pieces investigating natural forms such as microscopic crystal formations, the structure of cancer cells and the shapes of underwater organisms. FREE. Open daylight hours, lit until midnight. gallery@wvwg.co.uk www.wvwg.co.uk Until 15 May Local Life Through a Lens: Victorian & Edwardian Photographs by Alfred Wire Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Wire started taking photographs in the early 1860s, long before it became an accessible hobby. He captured local life in Leytonstone, Wanstead flats, Epping Forest, Southend-on-Sea and much more. Weds-Sun 10am-5pm. FREE. 020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house

Events marked

kid friendly

Until 29 May Frank Brangwyn: Songs of a Wayfarer William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP As a young man, Frank Brangwyn travelled throughout Southern Europe and South Africa, injecting his oil paintings with colour. A small display in the Brangwyn gallery looks at work inspired by these journeys. Weds-Sun 10am-5pm. FREE. 020 8496 4390 wmg.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.wmgallery.org.uk Until 29 May Social Fabric: African Textiles Today William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP Social Fabric explores how the printed and factory-woven textiles of eastern and southern Africa mirror the changing times, fashions and tastes of the region.

Includes work by leading contemporary artists. Weds-Sun 10am-5pm. FREE. 020 8496 4390 wmg.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.wmgallery.org.uk Until 3 March Stories of FGM Survivors: The Exhibition Walthamstow Library, High Street E17 7JN Artist Emma Scutt’s portraits of three survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) tell the powerful, individual stories of these women through images and words. Daily 9am-7pm. FREE Until 2 April STEP UP The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA Five artists took part in the STEP UP project. Working with over 60 local residents to produce a striking array of art work from 3D sculptures to new creative writing. Gloriously creative!

Tues-Thurs 10am-7pm, Fri-Sat 10am6pm, Sun 11am-2pm. FREE. Neesha Badhan 020 8521 3211 www.themill­coppermill.org Thursdays Dare to Design – An Art and Craft Workshop for Parents!

The Paradox Community Centre, 3 Ching Way, Chingford E4 8YD Make friends, and get creative!

All classes are experimental and fun, allowing you to explore your creativity and share your creations and experiences with other parents.

Learn new techniques each week with different materials through painting, recycling, embroidery, decopatch etc.

Kids welcome! 9.30-11.30am. FREE. Elizabeth Salazar Guerra elizasal83@gmail.com

DANCE/FITNESS Saturdays, 12 & 19 March Creative Youth Club Gnome House, 7 Blackhorse Lane E17 6DS A weekly drop in session for 11-14 year olds with music, art, filmmaking, dance, games and more. Hang out with friends and make new ones. Refreshments provided. 11.30am-3.30pm. FREE, just drop-in.

Chantelle info@wfaen.org.uk

Shopping Extended until Sunday 6 March The Designer Studio Pop-up Shop Hoe Street Central, Unit 3 Central Parade, 137 Hoe Street E17 4RT The Designer Studio is back. Our team bring you the best unique pieces from our independent designers and a selection of the best independent local creative businesses too. Perfect gift ideas for that special loved one in your life. Open daily 10am-7pm. FREE. Ning 07961 848906 write2glow@gmail.com facebook.com/thecreativedesignerstudio

Theatre Sundays DRAG Out The Weekend The Northcote, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Varied line-up of the very best and most debauched of London’s drag cabaret artists play this intimate venue on Sunday evenings. 6.30-10pm, bar until midnight. FREE. www.thenorthcotee11.com

Quizzes & Games Sundays General Knowledge Quiz Night The Victoria, 188 Hoe Street E17 4QH Weekly quiz night, general knowledge and specialist rounds including an interval round. Cash Jackpot £50+.

8.30-11pm, £1.50 per person.

Karen at neilsbigquiz@gmail.com Mondays & Thursdays Waltham Forest Bridge Club Quaker Meeting House, 1a Jewel Road E17 4QU Duplicate Bridge for those looking for a club or a social player wanting to try club bridge? Host available on Mondays. 7.30-10pm. £5, members £4 (annual subscription £10) 07919 401409 cathy.macnaughton@yahoo.co.uk www.bridgewebs.com/walthamforest Thursdays Neil’s Music Quiz The Flowerpot, 128 Wood Street E17 3HX Hosted by Neil’s Big Quiz this weekly music quiz includes picture and table rounds. How many bonus points will you get for the Connection? Cash jackpot! 9-11pm. £1 per person.

Karen at neilsbigquiz@gmail.com www.flowerpotlivemusic.com

FAMILY

FILM

Mondays from 14 March NEW Mirth, Marvel & Maud 186 Hoe Street E17 4QH 123 minute creative challenge, general knowledge quiz with film, mystery and bonus drinks rounds. £50 cash prize! £2 per person, max 6 per team. 7.30pm. twitter @mirthmarvele17 Mondays NEW Red Lion Quiz Night The Red Lion, 640 High Road, Leytonstone E11 3AA Creative challenges, general knowledge, mystery and bonus rounds. £50 cash prize and super rolling jackpot! 7.3011.30pm. www.theredlionleytonstone.com Tuesdays Quiz On Your Face The Northcote, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Original, fun and quirky quiz with cash jackpot and free round of shots for the best team name. 8-10.30pm. £1 per person www.thenorthcotee11.com Tuesdays Quiz Night The Village Pub, 31 Orford Road E17 9NL Another of Neil’s Big Quiz nights. Can you beat the cards? Will you be lucky 7 or will you be taking home the spoon?

Cash and wine to be won! 8.30-11pm. £1.50 per person www.village-walthamstow.com Wednesdays Leyton Technical Quiz Night 265B High Road, Leyton E10 5QN Weekly general knowledge pub quiz with music and picture rounds. £50 cash 1st prize, bottle of wine for 2nd and other spot prizes. 8-10.30pm. £2. www.leytontechnical.com

Gardening & Environment 5-13 March NEW Cultivate Waltham Forest 2016 Various venues Leyton and Leytonstone Waltham Forest’s food growing event returns! Starts with the growing season in March through to a series of events in September. Advice, inspiration and showcasing for new and current growers and organisations.

Laura Kerry 020 8521 2155 cultivatewf@to-market.co.uk www.cultivatewf.org 5 & 6 and 12 & 13 March NEW Clean for the Queen Various venues This year Waltham Forest’s boroughwide spring clean is being organised in conjunction with a national campaign

by Keep Britain Tidy called “Clean for the Queen” to celebrate the Queen’s 90th Birthday. If you are interested in joining an event in your area then please email or call. neighbourhoods@walthamforest.gov.uk Waltham Forest Direct 0208 496 3000

2 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

FOOD & DRINK

GARDENING

Wednesdays Priory Court Gardening Club Priory Court Community Centre, 11 Priory Court E17 5NB We have a sustainable food growing garden and want to encourage people of all ages to enjoy the benefits of growing their own food. Get involved and join our volunteers! Beginners welcome. 2.30-4.30pm 020 8531 9990 Mondays NEW Young Person’s Environment & Park Skills Workshops Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 4PP A programme of activities designed for young people aged 18-24 to give them outdoor and environmental experience.

Designed for those with an interest in working in the environment sector.

12-3pm. FREE. Gareth 0208 533 8022 gg-waltham-forest@tcv.org.uk Thursdays Lloyd Park Volunteer Gardening Meet at Forest Road gate, William Morris Garden, Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 4PP Help keep the William Morris Garden looking lovely with Lloyd Park’s Head Gardener. 10am-1pm 020 8496 3000 or email ellie.mortimer@walthamforest.gov.uk Tues, Weds & Thurs Conservation Volunteers: Biodiversity Action Team Meet at 1a Connaught Close, Leyton, E10 7QS (opposite Lee Valley Riding Centre) Help us manage some of East London’s most vibrant sites for nature conservation.

We have projects running weekly all year so plenty of opportunities to join in, meet people, learn skills and discover hidden places. 9am-5pm. FREE. Tom Nandi 07917 267573 t.nandi@tcv.org.uk Weds & Sats Open Garden Church Lane Community Garden, Harold Road, Leytonstone E11 4QX Transition Leytonstone’s award-winning community garden. Organic fruit and veg, plants to buy, tools to borrow, growing tips, workshops. Volunteering opportunities too. Open Weds 11am4pm & Sat 9am-3pm. FREE. Shannon 07450 474538 cg@transitionleytonstone.org.uk www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk Fridays Lloyd Park Green Gym Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 4PP Join in, feel good. The Green Gym enables volunteers to get physically active whilst improving the environment and their local community. 11am-2pm.

FREE. Gareth 020 8533 8022 gg-waltham-forest@tcv.org.uk Events marked

kid friendly

HISTORY

Family Tuesdays & Thursdays Magic Box: Interactive Storytelling Sessions for 2-ish to 5-year olds Mothers’ Hub, 133 Wood Street E17 3LX What’s inside the Magic Box today?

Join a host of different characters, from Dahlia the Dinosaur to Captain Wonkynose, as they lead you on exciting and interactive storytelling adventures! Coffee and cake included.

10-11am. £5 each or £8 for 2 kids. magicboxe17@gmail.com www.magicboxstories.com

MUSIC

SHOPPING

COMEDY/THEATRE

WALTHAMSTOW VILLAGE WINDOW GALLERY

FRANCESCA BRAY Beneath the surface

Paper cut-outs on x-ray lightboxes & stitched works on paper

Thursdays Art Tots Walthamstow Toy Library, 46 Ravenswood Road (behind Comely Bank Surgery) E17 9LY A weekly session for under 5s to explore Art History through messy activities and original games to engage little ones with famous masterpieces! Booking online essential. 3.30-4.30pm. £10 per family, conc available.

Susana 07547 879922 scortes@lemonartlab.com www.lemonartlab.com Thursdays Tiny Tempo The Hornbeam Café, 458 Hoe Street E17 9AH A fun introduction to musical concepts-using singing, instrument playing, listening and dancing! With guitars, ukuleles, and a lot of energy, fun is had by all. 10-11am. £5 for one child, £8 for two children.

Mondays until 18 March Acting Bugs St Johns Church Hall, High Road Leytonstone E11 1HH For 3-4 year olds. Interactive story-based drama sessions for preschool children and their grown ups. 1.50-2.35pm & 2.45-3.30pm. First class FREE then £6.75 each. 25%discount for siblings.

Samantha Seager 07903 459497 info@actingbugs.co.uk www.actingbugs.co.uk Fridays until 11 March Acting Bugs Peterhouse Centre, 122 Forest Rise/Upper Walthamstow Road E17 3PW As above except 9.30-10.15am & 11.15am-12.00pm.

Saturdays (term time only) Dads R Us Walthamstow West Children’s Centre, 215 Queens Road E17 8PJ Give Mum a break and enjoy quality fun time with your child/ren. Choice of structured and unstructured play, indoors and outdoors, including music, arts and crafts, woodwork and more.

10.30am-12.30pm. £1 per family. No need to book, just drop in. sabine.elkhoury@sybourncc.org 07794 758864

5-27 March 2016 Open daylight hours, and lit until midnight Preview evening Friday 4 March 7-9pm. All welcome Village Square 47 Orford Road, Walthamstow E17 9NJ www.wvwg.co.uk

Monday-Friday, except Tuesdays (term-time only) Bongalong for under 5s St Gabriel’s Family Centre, Side Hall, Havant Road E17 3JF Fun, creative music, movement and make believe - a lively mix of singing, dancing, let’s pretend and fab percussion instruments. Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays 10am and 11am sessions plus 1.30pm on Mondays and 11am only on Wednesdays. £5.25 booked termly.

07811 460282 fiona.bongalong@gmail.com www.bongalong.co.uk Tuesdays Bongalong for under 5s Greenleaf Road Baptist Church, 4 Greenleaf Road E17 6QQ As above except different venue. 1.30pm.

Mon, Weds & Thurs Bongalong for under 1s St Gabriel’s Family Centre, Side Hall, Havant Road E17 3JF As above. Mondays 2.30pm, Wednesdays 10am and Thursdays 1.30 and 2.30pm.

5-week class until 24 March Kids’ Art Club The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA 5 weekly sessions of themed creative activity for children 3 years and upwards. Must be accompanied. Can be messy! 3.30-5pm. £1 per child, per session Mo Gallaccio 020 8521 3211 info@themill-coppermill.org www.themill-coppermill.org

Social & LGBT Last Friday of the month Walthamstow Gay Meetup Check meet up site for venue Friendly, convivial evening of likeminded people having a great time around a drink or two with good conversations, fun and lots of laughter.

8-10pm. FREE, membership £5 per year.

Jean-Francois at jf@gpn.one meetup.com/Walthamstow-Gay-Meetup

Food Markets Saturdays Walthamstow Village Market Community Hub (former Asian Centre) Orford Road E17 9LN Popular food and produce market selling bread, fish, meat, seasonal vegetables plus tasty hot food traders too. Family and dog friendly.

10.30am-3pm. www.walthamstowvillagemarket.com

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 3

ART

BOOKS

Food Markets (continued) Saturdays OrganicLea Market Stall The Hornbeam Café, 458 Hoe Street E17 9AH Organic and local sustainably grown fruit, vegetables, homemade bread, jams and preserves. Healthy Start vouchers can be used. 10am-3pm. www.organiclea.org.uk/we-sell-food/ our-market-stall Saturdays Community Local Produce Market Stall with OrganicLea & Transition Leytonstone St John’s Church, Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG As above. 10am-3pm.

RoseMary 020 8556 3090 www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk Sundays Farmers’ Market Town Square, Walthamstow E17 4HU Stalls offering a changing, seasonal selection of meat, game and poultry, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, cider, baked goods, honey, plants and herbs, seafood, pies, quiches and cakes. Please note, some stalls may take a week off without notice. 10am-2pm.

Sport & Fitness Saturdays Walthamstow Parkrun Peter May Sports Ground, Wadham Road E17 4HR A free, timed weekly 5km run around the park, for your own enjoyment.

Whatever your pace! Register online for your free race time barcode to print before your first race. 9-10.30am. FREE. Richard Parr 07866 616454 walthamstowoffice@parkrun.com www.parkrun.org.uk/walthamstow

Music & Karaoke Wednesdays until June Fuse It – Beatbox-Fusion Project The Soul Project, 245 Wood Street, Walthamstow E17 3NT #Fuse It – an exciting new youth music project at The Soul Project for 11-18 year olds. Get in touch to find out more!

Opportunities to do an Arts Award, and perform at a high profile venue as part of this Youth Music Funded project!

5-6.30pm. FREE. Vanessa 07958 523431 info@khyalarts.org.uk www.khyalarts.org.uk Sundays Sunday Sessions Karaoke Night Lord Raglan, 199 Shernhall Street E17 9HX Beat the blues and come and have a cheeky Sunday session. Prima Donnas will be laughed at, all talent welcome!

8-11.30pm. FREE. Archie or Maureen 020 8520 2145 www.facebook.com/lordraglane17 Events marked

kid friendly

CRAFTS

Fridays CNN Karaoke The Victoria, 188 Hoe Street E17 4QH Old songs, new songs, rock n’ roll and blues songs. Something for everyone.

Join us, take the mic and become the star. 8.30pm-12. FREE. Karen at cnnkaraoke@gmail.com Tuesdays East Side Jazz Club Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Rd, Leytonstone E11 3DB Weekly modern jazz club featuring the UK’s best jazz musicians in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere with plenty of seating. Check website for latest line-up. The Music Room has its own bar with real ale. First floor venue.

8.30-11pm. £6 on the door only, no membership required. www.eastsidejazzclub.blogspot.co.uk Wednesdays Open Mic Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Talent wanted for Luna Lounge’s weekly open mic night. Take the stage or meet new people with the same love for live music, poetry or storytelling.

8-11.30pm. FREE. www.lunalounge.info Thursdays Acoustic Showcase at The Village The Village Pub, 31 Orford Road E17 9NL Talented London-based musicians play acoustic sets of original music and covers in the warm and friendly atmosphere of the Village Pub. Interested in performing? Please email Gabriel. 8-11pm. FREE. gabriel4music@gmail.com www.village-walthamstow.com Sundays Open Mic Sinbin at The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU Weekly opportunity to perform in front of a friendly audience. Call Ed to book a spot. All welcome. 7-11.30pm. FREE. spoon@soundeventsolutions.co.uk www.ploughe11.co.uk Saturdays CNN Karaoke The Dog and Duck, 222 Chingford Road E17 5AL Throw caution to the wind at the Dog & Duck’s karaoke night. Thousands of songs to choose from, something to suit all voices! 8.30pm-12. FREE. cnnkaraoke@gmail.com

DANCE/FITNESS

Calendar of events Tuesday 1 Real Coffee Morning at The Mill The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA A regular coffee morning on the first Tuesday of every month. Enjoy a freshly brewed coffee and FREE homemade Biscotti biscuit. 10am-12pm. £1.

0208 521 3211 www.themill-coppermill.org Tales from the Marsh: Creative Heritage Workshops for 55+ The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA Share your memories of Walthamstow marshes. Using drama games, storytelling, creative writing and art to explore your oral history stories of the local neighbourhood and create material for a performance and exhibition. Workshops aimed at older adults 55+. 10.30am-1pm.

Siobhan 07989 519522 siobhan.oneill.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk www.themill-coppermill.org Waltham Forest Reiki Project Waltham Forest Community Hub, 18a Orford Road E17 9LN Reiki is a form of healing that works the life force energy that flows through all living things. Come along and see how we can help ‘you’. 7-9pm. Pay by donation. Walk-in spots.

Yoko 07903 243296 walthamforestreikiproject@gmail.com Leyton Tea Dance Leyton Great Hall, Adelaide Road E10 5NN Fancy a cup of tea and a twirl round the dance floor? Social dancing with music from DJ Malcolm ‘Mr Wonderful’ Fernandes. Doors open 1pm, dancing 1.30-4pm. £5 info@mrwonderfuldancing.com 01322 290 751 Preview: Matthew Theobald Pictorem Gallery, 383 Hoe Street E17 9AP Special evening to meet the artist and introduce this exhibition of paintings.

7-9pm. FREE www.matthewtheobald.co.uk www.pictoremgallery.com

Wednesday 2 Under 5s Nature Explorers Meet in Community Room, Aveling Centre, Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 4PP Adventures and activities for the under 5s and their parents/carers. A fun ramble around the park searching for items around our monthly theme. Plus activities and story time until 12pm.

Hot drinks and healthy snacks available.

10am-1pm. FREE but donations welcome.

Rachel 07787 193981 r.hoyes@tcv.org.uk

FAMILY

FILM

Pixie presents Cabaret with Topsie Redfern The William Morris Bar, 807-811 Forest Rd E17 4JD Polly Hardon and Drag sensation Topsie Redfern on stage from 9pm plus DJ until midnight. 7pm-12am. £5.

Pixie 07415 295176 pixiepresents@yahoo.co.uk Morton Valence / Tom Blackwell What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-Servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB Pedal-steel lead urban country noir and acclaimed singer-songwriter. 8.3011pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk

Thursday 3 Celebratory World Book Day Sale of Children’s Books The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA Beautiful, brand new children’s books £1 each. Many languages including German, French, Spanish, Russian, Thai, Japanese, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian and Russian. Plus cake sale! 3.30-6.30pm.

FREE. 020 8521 3211 www.themill-coppermill.org Family Activity: World Book Day Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Celebrate World Book Day with an event inspired by the wonderful stories of Roald Dahl. Enjoy art and craft activities, a family trail and delicious refreshments inspired by Dahl’s books.

Don’t forget to dress up as your favourite character! Suitable for children aged 12 and under. 4-6.30pm. £1.

020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house Plug & Play Live Acoustic Night The Northcote Arms Pub, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Brinks Records presents seven original acts including folk, mod, rock and acoustic sounds. Followed by a friendly and inclusive jam session with pro musicians. Any level welcome to apply to play a short set. 7-11pm. FREE. 020 8518 7516 tuesday.northcotee11@yahoo.com www.thenorthcotee11.com Verbatim Monthly Comedy Club Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Guest comedians and lots of laughs, guaranteed. 7.30-11pm. £5. www.lunalounge.info Crochet Catch-Up Significant Seams, 131 Wood St E17 3LX Monthly social for local crocheters to natter and problem solve any pattern issues with fellow crocheters!

7-8.30pm. £5 Fran Reeves 0208 5214244 outreach@significantseams.org.uk www.significantseams.org.uk

4 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

FOOD & DRINK

GARDENING

HISTORY

M ARSH

MUSIC

SHOPPING

COMEDY/THEATRE

STREET

Mortgage advice that’s right up your street Marsh Street provides comprehensive mortgage advice for everyone. We source from a wide range of lenders and access to the whole of the mortgage market.

We pride ourselves on offering a friendly and high quality bespoke service that ensures that you are treated fairly at all times. We have the experience and ability to see the whole market, to cut through the fine print and explain the pros and cons of each product to make life easier for our customers.

Marsh Street was the original name of Walthamstow High Street where a number of large manor houses were used as weekend or summer retreats. Samuel Pepys’ bosses had houses here, and after visiting one of them Pepys described how they had drunk wine from a local vineyard and “the whole company said they never drank better foreign wine [than this one] in their lives”.

Not only will we help you find the right mortgage, but we will use our knowledge and expertise to ensure your mortgage transaction is completed swiftly and effectively, so you can concentrate on the other parts of buying your dream home.

Traditional values and good advice

M ARSH enquiries@marshstreetmortgages.co.uk 0208 520 9300 40 Orford Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9NJ

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

There will be a fee for the advice given, the exact amount will depend upon your circumstances but we estimate it will be £495 or 1%.

Red Imp presents Sean Hughes Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Perrier Winner, star of Buzzcocks and Sean’s Show comes back to the Stow for an extended 45min set. Support is Nick Revell, and MC is Susan Murray.

Over 18s only. 9-11pm. £13.50. www.wegottickets.com/event/346096 www.redimpcomedy.com

Friday 4 Preview Evening for Francesca Bray’s Beneath the Surface Walthamstow Village Window Gallery, 47 Orford Road E17 9NJ Mingle and enjoy a drink at this opening night for WVWG’s latest exhibition. 7-9pm. www.wvwg.co.uk Spirit Level / Gunner Who / 3 Chords & A Lie / The Robes Sinbin at The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU Our monthly night of alt-rock, punk, post-punk and noisy indie returns. NB this show was originally scheduled for Friday Feb 5 but has been moved. 8pm1am. FREE before 9pm, £3 after. spoon@soundeventsolutions.co.uk www.ploughe11.co.uk Events marked

kid friendly

Krix Panx’ Live Looping Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Krix Panx is a professional musician and visual artist, originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. He combines several music styles with his live looping show. Reggae DJ after 9pm. 8pm-1am. FREE. www.lunalounge.info Film Quiz Waltham Forest Sports & Social Club, just behind the Town Hall, 703 Forest Road E17 4JF Hosted by Jamie. 8-11pm. £1.50 Ray 0208 527 3944 www.wfsocialclub.org.uk

Tin Hain & Jamside Up Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Great mix of blues and reggae, that’s BLEGGAE! 9pm-midnight. FREE www.yeolderoseandcrowntheatre pub.co.uk

Saturday 5 Walthamstow Village Gardening Day Meet on the Village Square in Orford Road E17 Volunteers needed to help garden our public village spaces. We should have our Britain in Bloom Finalist banner too so lots of people needed for publicity photos as well as gardening! 10.30am.

International Women’s Day: Pop-up Portrait Studio Leytonstone Library, 6 Church Lane E11 1HG Photography collective Image17 invites individuals and groups to have portraits taken for FREE and share your images and thoughts via social media using the hashtag #IWD2016. 10am-1pm. FREE. info@image17.co.uk www.image17.co.uk

Blackhorse Market Blackhorse Workshop, 1-2 Sutherland Road Path E17 6BX We’ve opened up our yard to host a monthly street food and makers market. With crafts, coffee and food it promises a good start to any weekend.

11am-4pm. FREE. info@blackhorseworkshop.co.uk www.blackhorseworkshop.co.uk

International Women’s Day: Pop-up Portrait Studio Leyton Library, High Road, Leyton E10 5QH As above, except different venue and time. 2-5pm. FREE

Queen’s Road Stories Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH 200 years of the Queen’s Road area.

Join Clio’s Company for maps, pictures and artefacts, find out who lived in your house, share a story - plus tea and cake.

1.30-5pm. FREE. info@clioscompany.co.uk www.queensroadstories.org

WFWN International Women’s Day 2016 The Great Hall, 1 Adelaide Road, Leyton You will hear from empowering speakers and enjoy stalls displaying talents of women in Waltham Forest.

There will be entertainment, home baked food, jewellery, and photography workshops among others. 12-6pm.

FREE. Nadia 07939244899 info.wfwn@gmail.com www.wfwomen@gmail.com

Stow Kids’ Film Lounge: Song Of The Sea (cert PG) Gnome House, 7 Blackhorse Lane E17 6DS Oscar-nominated animation about Ben and his little sister, a girl who can turn into a seal, who go on an adventure to free the fairies and save the spirit world.

Doors open 4pm, pre-film activity, Film 4.30pm, Close 6.30pm. £5.50 child (inc activity), £4 acc adult, £12 child (party package). Book online or on the door if not sold out. www.stowfilmlounge.com

FREE listings are available for events under £16, visit www.theelist.co.uk and select “List your event”. To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 5

S

ART

BOOKS

Saturday 5 (continued) Stones Throw Market St John’s Church Hall, High Road, Leytonstone E11 1HH Makers & retro market. Local designers, retro homeware, vintage clothes, local honey and plants plus tea and homemade cakes. Great Mothers day gifts!. 2-6pm. FREE Lucy Bull & Gail Lockwood stonesthrowmarket@yahoo.co.uk Stow Film Lounge: Brooklyn (cert 12) Gnome House, 7 Blackhorse Lane E17 6DS BAFTA-winning movie about Eilis, an Irish immigrant who lands in 1950s Brooklyn, and quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within. Starring Saoirse Ronan and Julie Walters. Doors open 7.45pm, film 8.30pm, close 11pm. £8/£6 conc (senior citizens, unwaged, students).

Book online or on the door if not sold out. www.stowfilmlounge.com Waltham Forest Bilingual Group The Limes Community and Children’s Centre, 6 Somers Road E17 6RX A workshop with tips for parents raising their children with more than one language. Share experiences with other parents over coffee while the children have fun using the fantastic facilities of The Limes. 3.30-5.30pm. FREE. Claire Thomas 07770 860038 info@wfbilingual.org.uk www.wfbilingual.org.uk The Black Elephant Band, Grae J Wall & Los Chicos Muertos Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Live music from two talented bands and vinyl DJ Captain Red Beard after 10pm.

Genre pop/indie/rock/soul. 8pm-1am.

FREE. www.lunalounge.info The Hanging Stars / Tomorrow’s Bacon What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB Psych-folk with luscious arrangements and glorious vocal harmonies. 8.3011.30pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk Explosive Nzakomba The Warrant Officer, 318 Higham Hill Road E17 5RG Fronted by Congolese virtuoso guitarist Daniel Isakongo, aka ‘The Fire’, Explosive Nzakomba’s engaging music promotes their passion for soukous.

This is a man on a mission to get you dancing! 9-11pm. FREE with collection. www.the-wo.co.uk

Events marked

kid friendly

CRAFTS

Cross the Tracks The Red Lion, 640 High Road, Leytonstone E11 3AA DJ Andy Smith’s monthly adventure through his vault of 45’s. Funk, soul, hip-hop, reggae, rock & roll and much more. 8pm-12am. FREE. www.theredlionleytonstone.com Mixtape at The Chequers The Chequers, 145 High Street/Storey Road E17 7BX DJs play the soundtrack of the suburbs for John Hughes junkies, riot grrrls, b-boys, grunge kids and metalheads.

Free entry! 8pm-12am. FREE. facebook.com/group/mixtapee17 Closet Vinyl Northcote Arms, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL A wonderful evening of music and dancing to the songs YOU provide.

Record decks and tuition provided by us.

Find. Bring. Play. Dance. 8pm-12. FREE. Danny Magill 07717 851972 closetvinyl@gmail.com www.closetvinyl.com Pixie presents: Trans Ball The Victoria, 188 Hoe Street E17 4QH Transgender club night at the Victoria with a raffle raising money for a LGBT charity. All welcome! 9pm-1am. £3. pixiepresents@yahoo.co.uk

Sunday 6 Mothers’ Day The Sunday Cycle Meet at The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA Meet at 11am, be back by 1pm. FREE. katjarosenberg@hotmail.com BARA Bike Ride Meet outside Carlton House, behind Natwest, Aylmer Road off High Road Leytonstone E11 3AD Meet at 10.30am. FREE. Lea Bridge Conservation Volunteers Meet at 1a Connaught Close, Leyton, E10 7QS (opposite Lee Valley Riding Centre) No experience required. Tools, training, coffee, tea & biscuits provided, home made cakes always welcome. Bring your own lunch. Wear suitable clothing & stout footwear. 9.45am-4.30pm. FREE. www.lbcv.org.uk Mother’s Day Waltham Forest Sports & Social Club, just behind the Town Hall, 703 Forest Road E17 4JF Treat your mother to an afternoon at the social club, entertainment provided.

All welcome. 12-5pm. FREE. www.wfsocialclub.org.uk Walthamstow Folk: Pete Coe and Alice Jones Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Pete and Alice perform ballads, broadsides and dance tunes from Leeds folk song collector Frank Kidson 18551926. 7.30-10.30pm. £10, £8 conc www.walthamstowfolk.co.uk

DANCE/FITNESS

Monday 7 Mindfulness Meditation Leyton Yoga, First Floor (above USSR), 691 High Road, Leyton E10 6RA Everyone’s welcome to explore this simple yet transformative practice in friendly and casual monthly guided meditation sessions. 5-6.30pm. £15. leytonyoga@gmail.com www.leytonyoga.com Stormy Monday Blues Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Evening of live blues hosted by the Battered Saucepan Blues Band. 8.4511pm. FREE. Alan Cohen 07762 083384 adcohen50@yahoo.com

Tuesday 8 International Women’s Day: Pop-up Portrait Studio North Chingford Library , The Green, Station Road E4 7EN As Sat 5, except different venue and time. 10am-1pm. FREE International Women’s Day: Pop-up Portrait Studio Walthamstow Library, High Street E17 7JN As Sat 5, except different venue and time. 2-5pm. FREE Red Imp Comedy Club proudly presents an IWD Benefit Gig Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Stunning all-women bill headed by Kerry Godliman plus Mary Bourke, Grainne Maguire, Susan Murray, Wendy Wason and more in this anti FGM benefit gig. 9-11pm. £10. www.28toomany.org Susan Murray 0208 509 3880 redimpcomedy@gmail.com www.redimpcomedy.com

Wednesday 9 Leyton & Leytonstone Home Brew The Northcote Arms Pub, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL A monthly excuse for local homebrewers to discuss beer and brewing and exchange home grown samples.

Or just come to chat about beer and brewing! 6.30-9.30pm. FREE. www.thenorthcotee11.com African Textiles Today: Curator’s Talk William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP Join the British Museum’s curator of African collections, Chris Spring, for a unique insight into history, trade and ongoing significance of textile traditions in eastern and southern Africa. 7-9pm.

FREE but booking essential.

020 8496 4390 wmg.bookings@walthamforest.gov.uk www.wmgallery.org.uk

FAMILY

FILM

Home & Away Real Ale Festival Waltham Forest Sports & Social Club, just behind the Town Hall, 703 Forest Road E17 4JF Beers from the travels of Leyton Orient FC. 12 noon-11pm. FREE. www.wfsocialclub.org.uk James & The Ultrasounds What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB From Memphis USA, brash yet thoughtful, sweet guitars and pummelling danceable Memphisstyle rhythm. 8.30-11pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk

Thursday 10 Creative Kids: African Kanga William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP Together, we will create a kanga to signify the Creative Kids family. A kanga is a colourful textile popular in Africa and displayed in the Gallery’s exhibition Social Fabric. For children under 5. Two sessions: 10-11.30am & 1-2.30pm.

FREE but booking essential.

020 8496 4390 wmg.bookings@walthamforest.gov.uk www.wmgallery.org.uk Home & Away Real Ale Festival As Weds 9 Music in the Village: Trevor Pinnock St Mary’s Church, Church End E17 9RJ World famous harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock plays music by Handel, Louis Couperin, Froberger, Bach and Rameau.

No booking required, tickets on the door. 7.30-9.30pm. £13, £6.50 conc.

020 8223 0772 VillageMusic@WalthamSoft.com What Are You Thinking? The Hornbeam Cafe, 458 Hoe Street E17 9AH Are you constantly being hassled by your inner dialogue and in need of a moment’s peace? Natalie will guide you in a meditation focussing on a specific theme each month. 10.1511.15am. £11.50.

Natalie 07585 309109 info@natalie-france.com www.natalie-france.com/events This Changes Everything Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA From best-selling author Naomi Klein this documentary presents powerful portraits of communities on the front lines of fossil fuel extraction and climate crisis. Brought to you by Divest Waltham Forest. 8-10pm. FREE. Swing Time Serenaders Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Swinging jazz standards from the 1920s-40s. 9-11pm. FREE. www.swingtimers.co.uk

6 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

FOOD & DRINK

GARDENING

Friday 11 Home & Away Real Ale Festival As Weds 9, except Bikini Beach Band will play in the evening. FREE except after 7pm, £3 to non-club or CAMRA members Book Launch & Exhibition William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP Artist Sean Parfitt launches a visual interpretation of Morris’ Lindenborg Pool. Alongside exhibiting a selection of prints he launches a new of a new publishing house Be a St Press.

7-8.30pm. FREE. seanparfitt@hotmail.com www.beastpress.co.uk Big Chief Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Heady instrumental and vocal mix of jazz, blues and ska. 9-11pm. FREE. www.bigchief.org.uk Brian Ernst Live Looping / The Storm Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Brian Ernst is a full time touring artist from USA. He has 10 instruments and a looping pedal on stage, creating an original sound best described as acoustic soul, roots. The Storm play classic 60s/70s folk/rock songs. 8pmmidnight. FREE. www.lunalounge.info Eastern Front Soundsystem The Chequers, 145 High Street/Storey Road E17 7BX Eclectic, leftfield and balearic disco vibes all night long from the Eastern Front DJs and friends. 8pm-midnight.

FREE. twitter.com/easternfrontdjs Only Anarchists Are Pretty Sinbin at The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU An evening of irreverent performance celebrating subversion, satire, experimentalism, absurdism and 100 years of Dada! 8pm-12.30am. £5. spoon@soundeventsolutions.co.uk

Saturday 12 NCT Nearly New Sale Walthamstow School for Girls, Church Hill E17 9RZ Get your hands on some great quality baby and children’s clothes, toys and equipment. All proceeds go to Waltham Forest NCT. Early entry for NCT Members at 10.15am. 10.30am12pm. £1.50, members with card £1. www.nct.org.uk Pamdemonium The Northcote, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Five hand-picked pro stand-up comedians for your laughing pleasure.

With the fabulous Pam Ford as your host. Cocktail happy hour. 7.309.30pm, bar until 1am. FREE. www.thenorthcotee11.com Events marked

kid friendly

HISTORY

MUSIC

SHOPPING

COMEDY/THEATRE

Craft Fair with E17 Designers Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Travel back to the 1940s with handmade goods from E17 Designers, craft activities from Stow Roses, tea shop with cakes from Crumbs and music from Auntie Maureen all against the backdrop of the Museum’s atmospheric displays. 11am-4pm. £1 donation on door supporting Vestry House Museum.

020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house Vintage/Retro Event Lister Hall, Leytonstone Methodist Church, High Road/Lister Road, Leytonstone E11 3DA Fab stalls loaded with cool vintage, retro, kitsch goods, clothes, household items, jewellery, music, collectibles, brica-brac, music plus homemade food, face painting and a temporary tattoo artist. 11am-4pm. £1, children free with an adult. Wheelchair access on request, and pet friendly event.

07956 221710 sandrahome@ntlworld.com Spring Herb Walk on Walthamstow Marshes Meet at The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA The first of the season’s medicinal plant-finding rambles on the marshes with local community herbalist Rasheeqa Ahmad (Hedge Herbs).

Come freshen your senses and find out about the springtime green tonics.

Book in advance. 12-2pm, meet at 11.45am. £5.

Rasheeqa Ahmad 07784 506494 rasheeqa@hedgeherbs.org.uk www.hedgeherbs.org.uk Jazz Blues Duo / Acid drops Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Finola Glacken and Alexander Smith jazz duo’s smooth jazz to bawdy swing tunes with a few crowd-pleasing pop classics thrown in for good measure. Acid drops give it a new spin!

7-11.45pm. FREE. www.lunalounge.info Rock on! Fundraiser Waltham Forest Sports & Social Club, Just behind the Town Hall, 703 Forest Road E17 4JF An evening of live music from RDB and Furze playing in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer 7.30pm12.30am. £10 online or on the door.

020 8527 3944 wfsandsc@gmail.com www.justgiving.com/Rob-Fisher5 Mysterious Wheels Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Led by singer/songwriter and Pogues’ drummer Andrew Ranken the Wheels play blues, r’n’b and country songs.

9-11pm. FREE. www.mysteriouswheels.com

Sunday 13 Cultivate Gardeners Q&A and Preparing the Ground Tips and Advice Leytonstone Library, 6 Church Lane, London E11 1HG For novice and experience growers.

Information session with tips about getting your growing spaces ready for planting summer crops AND a question and answer session with a panel of experienced fruit and vegetable local growers. Ever wanted to know how to see off slugs? Why runner beans aren’t running? 2-5.30pm. FREE. Laura Kerry 020 8521 2155 cultivatewf@to-market.co.uk www.cultivatewf.org Leyton & Stone Designers Craft Market The Northcote, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Complementing the Northcote Krufts fun dog show today, this lively Sunday market boasts local designer/makers selling home decorations, yummy handmade chocolates, clothing for adults and kids, scarves, jewellery and accessories for people and pets! Child and dog friendly venue. 12-5pm. FREE admin@leytonandstonedesigners.co.uk www.leytonandstonedesigners.co.uk

Walthamstow Family Bike Club Meet outside Ancient House, Orford Road/Church Lane junction, Walthamstow E17 A relaxed and sociable ride around open spaces and cafes in and around Waltham Forest. 1-5pm. FREE. 0208 520 0648 paul.gasson@gmail.com Northcote Krufts 2016 The Northcote, 110 Grove Green Road E11 4EL Come watch 10 dogs compete for the Northcote Krufts trophy. Categories for best trick, best personality as well as an obstacle course. There’ll be a fantastic doggy market too. Contestants can pre apply. 1.30-3.30pm. FREE. 0208 518 7516 tuesday.northcotee11@yahoo.com www.thenorthcotee11.com Family Activity: Family Photo Shoot Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Inspired by the current photographic exhibition, come and pose your family in our traditional Victorian Photo Studio. Get a sepia print for your family album. Free, drop in event. 1.30-4pm.

FREE, drop in any time 020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 7

ART

BOOKS

CRAFTS

DANCE/FITNESS Stowtellers: The Walthamstow Storytelling Club Welcome Centre, St Mary’s Church, 8 Church End, Walthamstow Village E17 9RJ Alia Alzougbi “Far from the 24 hour rolling news there is a culture of wit and wiles. An evening of stories from Syria”.

7.30-9.30pm. £5, £4 conc. stowtellers@yahoo.co.uk

Tuesday 15 Make E11 Workshops All You Read is Love, 877 High Road, Leytonstone E11 1HR A social evening of arts and crafts.

Over 18s only, and booking required for some workshops. Contact Siobhan or see Facebook page for more information. 7-9.30pm. £15 siobhan@sodabyte.co.uk www.facebook.com/makeE11 Leytonstone Green Drinks The Walnut Tree, 857-861 High Road Leytonstone E11 1HH A monthly friendly get-together for the green and eco-minded on 15th of each month. Newcomers always welcome.

8-11pm. FREE. www.transitionleytonstone.org.uk Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA As Mon 14

Sunday 13 (continued) Get the books up the mountain Mirth, Marvel and Maud, 186 Hoe Street, E17 4QH A night of Nepalese food, drink and dance to raise funds for transporting much needed books to the children of Barpak, Nepal, struck by a devastating earthquake last year. 6-9pm. £20.

Booking essential as places limited Kate Lord at kate@qklltd.co.uk Walthamstow Folk: Winter Wilson, London Album Launch Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Since joining forces in 1995, Lincolnshire-based Dave Wilson and Kip Winter have built a reputation across the UK and beyond for superb songs, sublime harmonies and a style that’s very much their own. 7.30-10.30pm. £7, £5 conc. www.walthamstowfolk.co.uk

Brian Ernst Live Looping / The Storm Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Brian Ernst is a full time touring artist from USA. He has 10 instruments and a looping pedal on stage, creating an original sound best described as acoustic soul, roots. The Storm play classic 60s/70s folk/rock songs. 8pmmidnight. FREE. www.lunalounge.info

Monday 14 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA As seen by 5 million people on Channel 4, critically acclaimed, multi-award nominated Whiskey Tango Foxtrot embarks on a UK tour. Based on the true story of Crookshank’s time in the RAF, it’s a deeply moving, hilarious and heart-warming adventure.

Warning: contains strong language and penguins. 7.30-10pm. £10, £8 conc.

020 8509 3880 yeolderoseandcrowntheatrepub@ inbox.com www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/114673

Chicks vs Bunnies Sinbin at The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU Another uncaged night of comedy and burlesque. 8pm-midnight. £10.

Wednesday 16 Hypnobirthing Taster Session Health Works, 111a Hoe Street (entrance on Cairo Road) E17 4RX Free taster with Walthamstow’s fairy godmother of Hypnobirthing! Learn how to relax and have a calm, gentle birth. Get rid of your fears so you can enjoy your pregnancy and meet other local couples. 5.30-7pm. FREE. Jo 07587 638154 joredmonde17@gmail.com www.hypnobirthingwithjo.com Life and Death in Essex Workhouses Hale End Library, Castle Avenue, Highams Park E4 9QD Following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, workhouses increasingly became refuges for the elderly infirm, and many later became hospitals. Join Mark Carroll as he discusses the history of workhouses in the Essex area.

7-8.30pm. FREE but please book by searching Eventbrite for tickets. www.wffhs.org.uk www.eventbrite.co.uk Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA As Mon 14

Events marked

FAMILY

FILM

Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre Chingford Assembly Hall, Station Road E4 7EN Competitive festival of one-act plays showcasing the work of local drama groups. Part of the All-England Theatre Festival with adjudicator Jill Colby. See website for full programme. 7.3010pm. £8, and tickets on the door.

07860 716295 elaine17elliott@aol.com www.wffot.co.uk General Echo The Victoria, 188 Hoe Street E17 4QH Monthly reggae DJ night. Dub, dancehall, roots, rockers and other bass transmissions played on 2 turntables and a space echo. 8pm-12. FREE. www.generalechoes.tumblr.com Hope In High Water What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB Duo whose distinctly British take on acoustic Americana is inspired by the dark modal sounds of traditional American music. 8.30-11pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk

Thursday 17 Pixie presents Cabaret at Madame La Zonga’s The Nag’s Head, 9 Orford Road E17 9LP Cabaret upstairs at the Nag’s. On stage from 8.30pm. 7pm-10.30pm. £5.

Pixie 07415 295176 pixiepresents@yahoo.co.uk Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre Chingford Assembly Hall, Station Road E4 7EN See Weds 16 Glen Matlock [Sex Pistols] Live Wild Card Brewery, Unit 7, Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall Street E17 9HQ Punk legend and co-author of Anarchy in the UK, Pretty Vacant and more.

Iggy Pop, Primal Scream and Faces collaborator Glen Matlock performs live. Support from Tommy Hare. 7.3010pm. £12 in advance, more on the door. www.byrdout.com/eventstickets Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA As Mon 14 The BlueTone Groovers Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Quality musicianship, punchy and downright kicking music, reviving the blues and soulful, original r’n’b. St Patrick’s Special. 8pm-midnight. FREE.

kid friendly

8 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

FOOD & DRINK

GARDENING

The History of the Foundling Hospital St Gabriel’s Family Centre, Large Hall, Havant Road E17 3JF Jane King, a Trustee of the Foundling Hospital Museum, will tell us about the history of this wonderfully philanthropic institution whose work continues today as the Coram Foundation. 7.45-9pm, tea and coffee from 7.15pm. £1.50, FREE for members of Walthamstow Historical Society.

07792 750017 walthamstowwalks@mz48.myzen.co.uk www.walthamstowhistoricalsociety.org.uk Los Otros The Victoria, 188 Hoe Street E17 4QH Enjoy quiet conversation and the mellow sounds of jazz standards or get up and dance with Los Otros and their continually changing line-up of guests.

9-11pm. FREE. www.losotros.co.uk

Friday 18 E17 Baby Social The Trades Hall, 17 Hoe Street (entrance in Tower Hamlets Road) E17 4SB Grown up music, grown up chat. A monthly social for Walthamstow parents/carers of babies/toddlers.

2-4pm. £3. e17babysocial@gmail.com Blackhorse Night Market Blackhorse Workshop, 1-2 Sutherland Road Path E17 6BX This is our last market until summer so we are making it bigger and better.

Expect live music, stuff for the kids, a bar and of course our usual variety of maker and streetfood stalls. 6-11pm.

FREE. www.blackhorseworkshop.co.uk VHM Late: Love the Lea Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH An evening of entertainment and activities to celebrate our local rivers; live music, talks, poetry, bar and river themed fun for all ages! 6.30-10pm.

FREE. 020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.thames21.org.uk/lovethelea Girl Power Friday Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG The Haywood Sisters at 7pm, a retro girl group inspired by The Andrews Sisters plus Chiqas Ensemble at 9pm, an all-female ensemble with strings, a drummer and vocalist playing jazz, pop, funk. 7pm-12.30am. FREE. Dial M for Music Alfred Hitchcock Hotel, 147 Whipps Cross Road E11 1NP A brand new club night hosted by local band The Persecuted, featuring quality musical talent, vintage items, music books and vinyl for sale. 7-11.30pm.

FREE, but collection for the band.

07946 591224 www.thepersecuted.wix.com Events marked

HISTORY

MUSIC

SHOPPING

Gingo! Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace, Unit 18 Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall Street E17 9HQ The madness continues, Original Army’s Gingo! returns to the Palace.

For a night of filth, gin and bingo look no further. Entry is first come first served so come early as spaces are limited. 7.30pm-12.30am. FREE. 07905 484711 beckywynngriffiths@yahoo.co.uk

Open day Wed 23 March 9.30am-6.30pm

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA As Mon 14

or by appointment “visit our fabulous school and nursery, where children enjoy the challenges of their early and influential years in education”

Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre Chingford Assembly Hall, Station Road E4 7EN See Weds 16 Elasticated Waste Band Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA A raggle-taggle, travelling minstrel ensemble of banjo pickers, Howlin’ Slim harmonica lickers, ukelele flickers, fiddle diddlers, crooners and swooners: a veritable freaky, Louisianna style ragtime punk band. 9-11pm. FREE. www.elasticatedwasteband.com

Saturday 19 Friends of Holy Family Spring Table Top Sale Holy Family Catholic School (Walthamstow House Site) 1 Shernhall Street, next to Thorpe Coombe Hospital E17 3EA Clear that clutter or grab a bargain!

Enjoy our delicious refreshments and take away a home-made cake for later.

Tables available £15 or £10 booked in advance. 10am-1pm. 50p adults, children FREE. 0208 520 0482 t.friends@holyfamily.waltham.sch.uk Sound & Vision: A Tribute to David Bowie Mirth, Marvel & Maud, 186 Hoe Street E17 4QH This tribute to the Thin White Duke is bursting with DJ sets and live bands covering Bowie classics in their own unique styles. Not to mention a fancy dress competition. 6pm-2am. FREE entry, but welcome a £5 donation to Shine Cancer Support. www.mirthmarvelandmaud.com One Night Only Harmony Hall, 10 Truro Road E17 7BY An evening of 60s and 70s music by Starlighters. 7.30-10.30pm. £8, £5 conc.

Kath 020 8923 5416 starlighters12@gmail.com Suburbaret Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA A cabaret show in celebration of all things suburban! “muddy and vulgar, intelligent and bonkers and sexy” Erotic Review. 7.30-11pm. £14. www.billetto.co.uk/en/events/ suburbaret-world-tour-of-zone-3walthamstow

COMEDY/THEATRE

Primary School Academy

Church Road, Leyton E10 7BH 020 8539 1428 willowbrookprimary.org.uk

King Salami & The Cumberland Three What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB The King howls like Screaming Jay Hawkins with Bo Diddley chasing his coat-tail! 8.30-11.30pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk J.C. Quartet Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG High energy funk-soul-jazz-blues instrumental combo featuring some of the funkiest musicians ever. 8.30pmmidnight. FREE. www.lunalounge.info Bob Collum & The Welfare Mothers The Warrant Officer, 318 Higham Hill Road E17 5RG Kinda alt-country, rock & roll and a smidgen of folk with a potent dose of guilt, a dollop of sin and a drop of salvation. 9-11pm. FREE with collection. www.bobcollum.com Waltham Forest Festival of Theatre Chingford Assembly Hall, Station Road E4 7EN See Weds 16

Sunday 20 Stow Kids’ Film Lounge: Back To The Future (1985, cert PG) Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH A young man is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-travelling car and must make sure his highschool-age parents unite in order to save his own existence. 11am-1.30pm. £5.50 child (inc activity), £4 acc adult. Book online or in person at the museum. www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house www.stowfilmlounge.com Sunday Screen: The Philadelphia Story (1940, cert PG) Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Classic romantic comedy about Tracy Lord, a rich socialite, and her ex-husband. When a reporter turns up just before Tracy’s planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself, as well as which of three men she truly loves. Starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart.

2-4.15pm. £5.50, £4.50 conc. Book online or in person at the museum.

020 8496 4391 www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house www.stowfilmlounge.com

kid friendly

FREE listings are available for events under £16, visit www.theelist.co.uk and select “List your event”. To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 9

ART

BOOKS

CRAFTS

Sunday 20 (continued)

Saturday 26

Walthamstow Folk: Saul Rose & James Delarre Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA James (Mawkin, Topette!!) and Saul (Faustus, Eliza Carthy) join forces to mix their sweet combination of fiddle and melodeon. Lovely muscular playing and loads of fun from two great pals of the club. 7.30-10.30pm. £7, £5 conc. www.walthamstowfolk.co.uk

Easter Egg Trail Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH Pick up the popular Easter trail around the Vestry House Museum and collect a free chocolate egg as your reward!

Available throughout the Easter weekend. 10am-5pm. FREE, drop in event for families of all ages.

020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house

Wednesday 23 Serious Sam Barrett / Luke Whittemore What’s Cookin’, Leytonstone Ex-servicemens Club, 2 Harvey Road, Leytonstone E11 3DB Songs that rattle with the ghosts of Appalachian folk and southern blues yet sound emphatically English. 8.3011pm. FREE with collection. www.whatscookin.co.uk

Thursday 24 Residence NonAme Luna Lounge, 7 Church Lane, Leytonstone E11 1HG Catch young German brothers Leon and Felix Binder at this, the only London date on their European tour, with their new album. Rock/blues, to some it’s German britpop! 8.30pm-midnight. FREE. www.lunalounge.info www.residencenoname.com/band

Friday 25 Good Friday Sham’s Kitchen Pops Up at the Palace Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace, Unit 18 Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall St E17 9HQ The divine and delicious Sham’s Kitchen is back at the Gin Palace, dishing up their truly scrumptious Pakistani street food. Takeaway also available, while stocks last! 6.30-10pm.

Becky 07905 484711 beckywynngriffiths@yahoo.co.uk www.mothersruin.net You Should Be Dancing!

Walthamstow Trades Hall, 61-63 Tower Hamlets Road E17 4RQ Dolores Rocket presents a new club night for people who cut their dancing teeth in the 70s & 80s. Younger friends welcome! Expect soul, reggae, ska, pop and disco from the era. There’s bingo too! 8pm-12am. £5 adv, £7 on the door. www.facebook.com/events/ 1683808601833068 Catherine Lima Jazz Band Sinbin at The Plough & Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU London-based jazz singer & trio. 8pmmidnight. FREE..

Events marked

Guided Walk of Walthamstow Village Meet in the courtyard, Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH A walk around historic Walthamstow Village, looking at St Mary’s Church, the almshouses, the Ancient House and Vestry House Museum. 11am-12pm.

FREE, but donations welcome.

020 8496 4391 vhm.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.walthamforest.gov.uk/vestry-house Spring Easter Egg Hunt Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 4PP Celebrate all things Spring by following clues around Lloyd Park and winning chocolate treats. 11am-2pm. FREE, but donations welcome.

Vicky 07870 678571 v.peet@tcv.org.uk Family Day: Art Alive William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17 4PP Plants and animals burst into life at the beginning of Spring. Celebrate the new season with an explosion of crafts inspired by nature. 1-4pm. FREE dropin event for all families with children of all ages.

020 8496 4390 wmg.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk www.wmgallery.org.uk Oh So Funny! Comedy Club O’Neills, 762 High Road, Leytonstone E11 3AW Monthly comedy club featuring awardwinning talent. Check the website for up-to-date line up. 8-11pm. £12.50 on the door, advance booking discounts.

07961 294 504 info@ohsofunny.co.uk www.ohsofunny.co.uk John Ongom Big Band Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street E17 4SA Leytonstone’s big band make swinging big band sounds with Latin numbers, Aretha covers and more. FREE. www.facebook.com/JohnOngomBigBand

Easter Sunday 27 Easter Sunrise Service on the Town Square Town Square E17 4HU Join us at dawn to celebrate Easter with a simple communion service, followed by hot drinks and bacon sarnies. All very welcome! 6.45-7.30am. FREE. Revd. Frances Shoesmith 07518 467954 e17stluke@gmail.com www.walthamstowchurch.org.uk

DANCE/FITNESS Easter Egg Trail Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road E17 9NH As Sat 26 Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign Monthly Ride Meet at Walthamstow Library, High Street E17 7JN Distance and destination decided by riders on the day, but usually maximum of 30 miles. Will include a snack stop.

10am-3pm. FREE. robert@wfcycling.org.uk RE:HAB Presents: Open Mic Wild Card Brewery, Unit 7, Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall Street E17 9HQ London’s premier open mic night. Free entry and free drink per performer. For more info find us on Twitter @rehabpresents or Facebook: RE:HAB. 5.30-9.30pm. FREE. rehabpresents@gmail.com BeBop Baby: Reggae, Ska & Rocksteady Walthamstow Trades Hall, 61-63 Tower Hamlets Road E17 4RQ A funk and soul-fuelled family social.

A friendly, welcoming atmosphere, live music, DJs, buggy parking, baby changing, face painting and an allimportant bar! Come dance and have fun with family and friends. 1-4pm. £4, £3 booked in advance online.

07813 156140 bebopbabydance@gmail.com www.bebop-baby.co.uk Cool Sunday Afternoon Jazz The William Morris Bar, 807-811 Forest Rd E17 4JD Cool Blue Note era jazz from the Paul Kaufman quartet + guests. Enjoy great food, wines, ales and company while chilling out in this fabulous warm and stylish bar. 1.30-4.30pm. FREE. E17 Gin Academy Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace, Unit 18 Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall St E17 9HQ The Gin Palace hosts an informal and enthusiastic talk on the history of gin, with samples and tasters available. This month “When Juniper meets Spirit” 7-8pm. FREE. Becky 07905 484711 beckywynngriffiths@yahoo.co.uk www.mothersruin.net

Easter Monday 28 Walthamstow Gay Meetup The Castle Pub, 15 Grosvenor Rise East E17 9LB Monthly, friendly, convivial evening of like-minded people having a great time around a drink or two with good conversations, fun and lots of laughter.

A no attitude, friendly meeting please bring your good humour, smile and laugh. 8-10pm. FREE but membership £5 per year.

Jean-Francois at jf@gpn.one meetup.com/Walthamstow-Gay-Meetup

FAMILY

FILM

Tuesday 29 Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association Adults with Dyslexia Meet-up The Quaker House, 1a Jewel Road E17 4QU Monthly meet-up for those with dyslexia or interested to find out more about it. Come along to our friendly meetings. 6.30-8.30pm. FREE. www.wfda.org.uk Michael De Souza Quintet at E17 Jazz Gnome House, 7 Blackhorse Lane E17 6DS Original jazz composed by Michael specifically for the band, infusing jazz harmonies, rock riffs, Brazilian grooves and free improv chaos! All played with a natural conviction, sheer joy and collective commitment to the moment through the improvised nature of the music. 8.30-10.30pm. £8, £5 conc, under 15s FREE. www.e17jazz.com/whatson www.wegottickets.com/event/345024

Wednesday 30 Evening Relaxation Guided Meditation The Mill, 7-11 Coppermill Lane E17 7HA Join Natalie France on the last Wednesday of the month for this non-religious meditation session which focuses on breathing, calming the mind and releasing any stress and tension from the body. 7-8pm. £11.50, online booking available 07585 309 109 info@natalie-france.com www.natalie-france.com/events Joe Gideon & Jim Sclavunos Wild Card Brewery, Unit 7, Ravenswood Industrial Estate, Shernhall Street E17 9HQ Joe (of Joe Gideon & The Shark) and Jim (of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Sonic Youth / The Cramps / Grinderman) play live at the Wild Card!

8pm. £8-£10. www.byrdout.com E17 Cook Book Club The Bell, 617 Forest Road/Chingford Road E17 4NE A foodie social evening, everyone brings a dish to share and their cook book inspiration. Theme this month: ‘Middle Eastern’. All welcome. Please join the the Facebook group E17 Cook Book Club for the latest information.

8.30-10.30pm. www.walthamstowfoodies.com

kid friendly

10 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

DICK SMITH 5-STRING BANJO n soo rts a t s ss cla s r e inn beg w Ne

07745 052 525 www.banjosmith.co.uk info.banjosmith@gmail.com

Classes/Courses Arts & Crafts Alternate Sundays, 6 & 20 March Life Drawing Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe Street E17 9AH Create original art in front of a life model. All materials provided. Advance booking essential. 3-5pm. jonathan.ellis@mac.com or text 07980 713819 Mondays Life Drawing Plough and Harrow, 419 High Road, Leytonstone E11 4JU Untutored, drop-in session, art materials provided, fun and sociable..

7.30-9.30pm. £7.

J_wolfmail@yahoo.com www.meet-up/life-drawing-in-leytonstone Wednesdays Mending Club Significant Seams, 131 Wood St E17 3LX Need help with mending your socks, a seam or hem that’s come undone or a pair of jeans that need shortening?

Fancy some company while you stitch or just fancy an excuse to socialise?

Drop-ins welcome. 1-3pm. £3 suggested donation outreach@significantseams.org.uk www.significantseams.org.uk Events marked

HISTORY

Classes for adults in E17

GARDENING

UKULELE

FOOD & DRINK

s

Cla

ll l

ls eve

on

M

s on

ats

&S

Type to enter text

www.banjosmith.co.uk

Dick Smith: 07745 052 525 info.banjosmith@gmail.com

Thursdays Neighbourly Stitch & Knit Significant Seams (as above) A befriending group like a book club, for people who make, want to make, or want to learn to make in the most informal of environments. Partner organisations refer people struggling with anxiety or depression and survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence but people’s backgrounds and personal challenges are their own business, for sharing only if they choose. Dropins welcome. 1-3pm. £3 suggested donation.

Family

SHOPPING

Music & Singing

ra

fo ses

MUSIC

Mondays & Saturdays NEW (term-time only) On-going Ukulele Classes for Adults Quaker Meeting House, 1a Jewel Road E17 4QU Fancy learning a new instrument? Try the ukulele at these on-going classes with an experienced professional musician in a fun and relaxed environment. Instruments not provided.

Mondays: Improvers/Intermediates 8.30-9.30pm; Saturdays: Improvers/ Intermediates 11am-12pm; Intermediates/Advanced 12-1pm and Early Stages 1-2pm. £10.

Dick Smith 07745 052525 info.banjosmith@gmail.com www.banjosmith.co.uk Mondays & Wednesdays NEW (term-time only) On-going 5-String Banjo Classes for Adults Quaker Meeting House, 1a Jewel Road E17 4QU Fancy learning a new instrument?

Professional musician, Dick Smith, teaches five-string banjo classes in three finger bluegrass style picking.

Start from scratch or develop your banjo skills in a relaxed and fun environment. Instruments not provided. Mondays: Absolute beginners 6.30-7.30pm, Improving Beginners 7.30-8.30pm; Wednesdays: Intermediates/Advanced 6.30-7.30pm and Intermediates 7.30-8.30pm. £12.

Dick Smith 07745 052525 info.banjosmith@gmail.com www.banjosmith.co.uk Mondays Waltham Forest Community Choir St Mary’s Church, 8 Church End/ Church Hill E17 9RJ Open to all living or working in Waltham Forest. A friendly choir with a wideranging repertoire from Faure to Folk via Gospel, African and Pop Classics.

New members welcome anytime - no audition required. Actively recruiting tenors and basses. 7.30-9.30pm. £5 and termly subscription.

07954 740745 www.singwithus.net members@singwithus.net Thursdays The Singing Room Choir E17 Side Hall, St Gabriel’s Family Centre, Havant Road E17 3JF A community choir with no audition, everyone welcome. Singing four-part a capella including folk, world, pop, gospel and more. We perform locally and beyond supporting local charities and Water Aid. 7.30-9.15pm. £7, paid for in blocks of 10.

Anna Williams 07931 372996 annamusicmakers@gmail.com

COMEDY/THEATRE

Thursdays Daytime Choir for Parents & Childminders St Michael & All Angels Church Hall, Northcote Road E17 6PQ A great way to start the day, come and sing with this friendly group, and bring your little ones, we have toys to entertain them! All abilities welcome.

10-11am. £5. east17singers@gmail.com Saturdays E17 Adult Guitar Club Hornbeam Cafe 458 Hoe Street E17 9AH This is a class for all levels of experience, and we play a variety of styles of music.

It is a friendly environment and we work on improving technique as we go along but the emphasis is on making music.

12-12.40pm. £10 drop in or £53 for half term. chris@e17guitar.com 07958 471083 www.e17Guitar.com Mondays Warrant Officer Community Choir The Warrant Officer, 318 Higham Hill Road E17 5RG Join our community choir. Raise your voice and lift your spirits as part of an adult choir where you call the tunes.

Absolutely no auditions, all abilities welcome. 7.30-9pm. £7, £6 in advance and taster session FREE. Laura 07813 686980 singattheWO@gmail.com

Fitness, Dance & Yoga Mondays Baby Yoga & Mummy Core Restore The Toy Library, Comely Bank Community Clinic, 46 Ravenswood Road E17 9LY Combining traditional Hatha yoga techniques with movements, singing, sensory activities, calm breathing, relaxation and interactive fun for parent and child perfect for developing your baby, whilst strengthening mum’s core. 1-2pm. £10.

07793 394531 melissagaul.walker@gmail.com www.melissagaulwalker.wix.com Mondays Yogi J Yoga St Michael and All Angels Church Hall, Northcote Road E17 6PQ An open level class offering options for beginners and those with a developed practice. Focus is on body, breath and relaxation. James is an experienced Yoga Alliance qualified teacher and welcomes everyone. Bring a mat or buy one (please email). 7-8pm. £9 or block of 6 for £45. jjcassidy123@aol.com www.theyogij.com

kid friendly 11

ART

BOOKS

CRAFTS

DANCE/FITNESS

FAMILY

FILM

GARDENING

HISTORY

MUSIC

FOOD

SHOPPING

COMEDY/THEATRE

Tuesdays BollyFusion Dance Workout St Mary’s Church, Church End E17 9RJ Is your usual workout a little mundane?

Try this enlivening class that leaves you feeling energized! Combining colourful Bollywood with dynamic streetdance, breathing life into your fitness routine, in a fun, friendly environment.

Beginners welcome! Wear comfortable clothing and bring a bottle of water.

7.45-8.30pm. £9.

Vanessa 07958 523431 info@khyalarts.org.uk www.khyalarts.org.uk Wednesdays Low Cost Dynamic Yoga Leyton Yoga, First Floor (above USSR), 691 High Road, Leyton E10 6RA A slow-flowing yoga class which links movement to breath to strengthen and stretch the body leading to deep relaxation. Open to all levels. Just drop in, no need to book. 11am-12pm. £6. leytonyoga@gmail.com www.leytonyoga.com Wednesdays Tai Chi and Qi Gong The Welcome Centre, St Mary’s Church, 8 Church End E17 9RJ Tai Chi and Qi Gong beginners classes, suitable for all students, in a relaxed and friendly environment. Courses start throughout the year, check website for start dates. 7-8.45pm. £9.

07909 856490 emiel@meiquan.co.uk www.taichinews.com Thursdays Gentle Yoga Health Works, 111a Hoe Street (entrance on Cairo Road) E17 4RX A gentle yoga class suitable for elders or people with arthritis or other chronic complaints. Only 4 people per class so you get lots of individual attention.

2.45-3.45pm. £12, or £11 in advance.

0208 503 7794 healthworks@clara.co.uk www.thehealthworks.co.uk Thursdays General Level Pilates Leyton Parish Church Hall, Lindley Road E10 5PY Improve strength, flexibility, balance, posture and relax in a class suitable for beginners to more advanced participants. Mats provided. Not for complete beginners. 7-8pm. £10.

07976 404783 www.abpilates.co.uk alison_bray@yaho.co.uk

Sundays Easy Like Sunday Morning…

Yoga Me Happy Aveling Park Bowls Club, Lloyd Park, Forest Road E17 5EH Hatha yoga for all abilities. Wake up and stretch Hatha-style, with a morning yoga session to re-energise your body and mind ready for the week ahead.

I have mats, so no need to bring anything with you. Booking essential.

9.45-10.45am. £8.

Eliza Moore 07710 621268 www.yogamehappy.co.uk Sundays Rocket Yoga East of Eden, Studio 1, 14 Hatherley Mews E17 4QP A strong yoga practice, this vinyasa based class has its roots in Ashtanga yoga and fuses sequences from the Primary and Intermediate Series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with a few more complex postures. All mats and equipment provided. 12.45-2pm. £13. info@edeneast.co.uk www.edeneast.co.uk Mondays Monday Night Feel Good Yoga Class The Lloyd Park Centre, Winns Avenue Entrance, Lloyd Park E17 5JW Friendly all-levels Yoga with Ros. Newcomers welcome. Interesting, varied class every week. DROP IN. Ros is highly qualified and experienced, so you can practice safely. 8-9.30pm. £7.

Ros Griffiths yogaros@hotmail.com www.yogaros.co.uk Sundays Circular Flow Yoga Leyton Jubilee Park, Seymour Road/Marsh Lane, Leyton E10 7BL The practice links asana/postures together through breath and movement, finding strength and flexibility not to mention stillness in the mind. 10-11am. FREE but please book online. sherene@circularflowyoga.co.uk www.ourparks.org.uk

Mobile Personal Training and Nutrition Coaching in Walthamstow Sustainable Weight Loss Coaching • Pre and Post Natal Training • Kettlebell and Functional Training • Movement and Posture Specialist

Sam is a level 4 Personal Trainer, Precision Nutrition Coach and Crossfit Level 1 Coach who specialises in weight loss and functional training

sam@samgeorgefitness.com

www.samgeorgefitness.com THURSDAY EVENING PILATES MAT CLASSES in Leyton 7pm - 8pm General level – all welcome Absolute beginners, contact me for further info

Authentic Pilates taught by a highly qualified tutor with 14 years’ experience £10 drop-in. Limited spaces Leyton Parish Church Hall (St Mary’s) Lindley Road E10 5PY alison.bray@gmail.com abpilateslondon

www.abpilates.co.uk ABPilatesleyton

Tuesdays ???? starts in MAY? WalthamFitness Walthamstow School for Girls, Church Hill E17 9RZ Combining bodyweight exercises, plyometrics, HITT, circuits and core stability training to aid weight loss, muscle tone and flexibility; in a fun and friendly atmosphere. 8.15-9.15pm. £6, advance booking discounts.

Chloe 07903 629636 www.dancechloe.com

For lots more dance and fitness classes please visit www.theelist.co.uk

12 The E List makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. Please confirm with the venue before setting out.

Great Expectations Help rebuild a school community in Nepal after last year’s earthquake, and open the eyes of local young people in the process, with the Get The Books Up The Mountain project. Words Farah Ishaq.

A local charity are taking 1,000 donated books to the children of Barpak, a large village perched atop a hill on a precipice 11,000ft up the Nepalese mountains - a six day trek from Kathmandu - and they need a boost to funds to help them on the journey to deliver.

The village of 10,000 people was caught slap bang in the epicentre of last year’s earthquake and the school, central to village life, was rased to the ground. Education being so important, it was one of the first places to be re-erected, albeit in tin and plastic sheeting, after the disaster. English is the main language of aspiration and education there - thanks to their intrinsic ties with the British Army and being the recruiting ground for the Gurkhas for several generations.

UK teacher and expedition leader Mickey Gordon runs regular trips to Barpak, an incredible 30 visits in 37 years - trekking young people, nominated through the Essex Boys and Girls Clubs and guiding them on the physically and emotionally demanding journey to the heights of the village. The groups are always helped by a trusty team of Sherpas and guides, many are old friends of Mickey’s - since he made a Channel 4 film as a young man kayaking on the highest river that runs from Mount Everest.

“I’ve always thought the village was fascinating - and fell in love with the place a long, long time ago. I thought it would be interesting to trial instinctive, experiential teaching, taking disengaged 15 and 16 years olds out to meet similar aged children who have the opposite outlook on life, who love education. For them to experience a different way of life, but also to find out about themselves on the way.”

Mickey only takes out what is useful to the remote village. As he explains, “In the past we’ve taken books, pens, clothing, laptops.

The village has always been instrumental in saying what they need. We built a library in 1992 because then, they desired academic textbooks, something they had never had before. Now the library and all of the books are gone (in the earthquake) some of the former students of the school explained that what they could really do with are English reading books. So that’s what I am aiming for.”

Students at Walthamstow School for Girls have managed to secure an amazing book donation from Waterstones and now Mickey and his team need to raise around £4,000 to make the trip work, with their flagship charity event taking place at Mirth, Marvel and Maud, the glorious building which used to house the EMD cinema this month, on Sunday the 13th.

The fundraiser will be a fun evening of hearty Nepalese cuisine catered by the local ex-pat community and cultural entertainment by way of traditional Nepalese dance. There will also be a talk and a film screening by Mickey - showcasing Barpak and the young people from London and Essex who volunteered and helped the villagers on the last trip. He hopes to project the message of the need and benefits for projects like this - raising expectations for young people who find themselves falling outside of the education system here whilst helping a community on the other side of the world.

Get the books up the mountain A night of Nepalese food, drink and dance Mirth, Marvel and Maud (the former EMD cinema), 186 Hoe Street, E17.

Sunday 13th March, 6-9pm. £20 Booking essential as places limited – contact Kate Lord at kate@qklltd.co.uk To ‘Sponsor a book for £10’ www.ukvirginmoneygiving.com/KATELORD or simply sign up on the night - your donation will give you a book plate with your personal message inside one of the donated texts.

13

Artworks by Sean Parfitt from the Lindenborg Pool

21st Century Mr. Morris Lindenborg Pool by William Morris featuring new artworks by Sean Parfitt marks the launch of new publisher Be a St Press this month at an evening at the William Morris Gallery.

We talk to Sean Parfitt about the ideas behind his new publishing project ‘Be a St Press’ which launches on Friday 11 March.

The focus of the press is to re-publish public domain short stories alongside artists’ responses to the text. The first short story is Lindenborg Pool by William Morris with 45 new prints by Parfitt. In addition to the publication there is an audio book version read by actor Charlotte Purton with music created by Parfitt. Also on display from Wednesday 9 – Sunday 13 March will be a collection of original prints featured in Lindenborg Pool.

Parfitt says: “ The publication is the result of two years research and development.

It’s not an academic study, it’s pretty ambiguous in parts and at times actively confusing, but I hope engaging. The images are not intended to illustrate the story, rather they take key themes within it and expand upon them. Many of them have been key themes within my own art practice for years, such as reinterpretation, re-enactment, fabrication, duality, iconoclasm, contradiction, nostalgia, 14

disruption and wilful destruction.”

In Lindenborg Pool, William Morris tells his version of Danish legend ‘The Sunken Mansion’. It’s very unusual in structure, the narrator imagines himself transformed into a thirteenth century priest summoned to a mansion to give the last rites to its master. Throughout the tale the narrator is conscious that he belongs to the 19th century, simultaneously referring to himself as ‘I the priest’ and ‘I the author’.

So why choose William Morris as the inaugural author for ‘Be a St Press’?

“I’d like to say it’s because of a lifelong obsession with the man, but that’s not the truth. I’m attracted to Morris because I find him a rather unwieldy, often contradictory character. I wanted to develop a project that was neither a homage, there’s plenty of those, nor critique. I think it’s OK to say that I’m uncomfortable with some of his output, I find his Medievalism and rejection of a burgeoning Modernism challenging. But he is endlessly fascinating and his Kelmscott Press is inspirational in

its uncompromising pursuit of beauty and determination to re-examine important pieces of European literature. I also live and work in Walthamstow, just a stones throw from the William Morris Gallery.”

Sean has exhibited extensively throughout the UK and abroad with highlights including Tate Britain, The Hayward gallery, V&A museum and the ICA London, Chapter arts Cardiff and PS1 (MoMA) New York. He’s a creative partner in the Walthamstow business ‘Mothers’ Hub’ on Wood Street and their house brand ‘Punk Rock Penguin’.

For more information, including a list stockists of Lindenborg Pool visit www.beastpress.co.uk

Launch event Friday 11 March 7-8.30pm William Morris Gallery Forest Road, Walthamstow E17 4PP Free event. no booking required.

Squadron 617 – The Dam Busters. Douglas Webb is front row, second from the right.

The Dam Buster and The Bombshell

by Yahya El-Droubie

During the late 1950s and early 60s, few men in the western world would have been unaware of Pamela Green. Every barrack room, mess deck and workshop – and a multitude of offices, clubs and men’s rest rooms – would at one time or another, pinned her photo to the wall. For the postwar generation in Great Britain she was the fourth-form primer to nakedness.

These days she is best known for her cameo appearance in Peeping Tom, Michael Powell’s classic 1959 film. What people may not realise, though, was that her long-time partner, Douglas Webb (who was from Leytonstone) was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his part in one of the most daring missions of World War II – Operation Chastise, more commonly known as the Dam Buster’s raid.

The son of a shipping clerk, Douglas Webb was born on 12 September 1922 at what is now 3 Jersey Road, Leytonstone. After leaving school, he worked briefly for Ilford,

the photographic firm, and then for the London News Agency in Fleet Street, as a photographic printer. Experiencing the full effect of the Blitz in Leyton stirred him to join the RAF on his 18th birthday (at the time he was living at 158 Richmond Road).

Needing to take a pilot’s induction exam, Webb deliberately “made a nonsense of it”, as he wanted to be a gunner. If he was going to war, he wanted a go at shooting the Boche. He was eventually posted to 49 Squadron, where he became one of Bill Townsend’s core crew, along with Dennis Powell, Lance Howard and fellow gunner Ray Wilkinson. After finishing their tour of 25 operations the crew volunteered (minus the wireless operator, who declined) for a secret mission. They joined what was to become Squadron 617.

The men went to RAF Scampton to take part in ten weeks of intensive training, which involved lots of cross-country, low-level

Portrait of Pamela Green by the notorious George Harrison Marks.

flying. They were first asked to fly at 150 ft, then 100 ft and finally 60 ft. Webb knew the undeclared mission was going to be dangerous. For one thing, the altimeter did

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 15

Left: Douglas Webb with his mother, Daisy, in their back garden in Leytonstone.

Right: Douglas Webb outside Buckingham Palace with his fiancé Anne Jones (aka Bebe) and his parents on the day he received his Distinguished Flying Medal for taking part in the Dam Busters raid, officially known as Operation Chastise.

not work that low. When Wing Commander Guy Gibson finally gave the pre-operational briefing the crews all saw where the red ribbons ended on the map: the most heavily defended area of Germany, mockingly nicked-named the Happy Valley. Webb was convinced he was not coming back. After watching the first two waves take off, he returned to his quarters to take a bath – he wanted to die clean.

Taking off just after midnight, Flight Sgt. Townsend flew their plane, AJ-Orange, towards the heart of Germany. The flak was extremely heavy, as the enemy had been alerted by the first two waves of attack. From his seat in the front turret, Webb was able to see how dangerous the German defences were. Thankful for the airmanship of his skipper, Bill Townsend, he saw the shooting down of the plane AJ-Sugar in “a bloody great ball of fire”.

Webb hosed enemy positions with his machine guns, and as he pumped away at their searchlights he was glad for the extra rounds he had “borrowed”.

Lancaster AJ-Orange’s target was the Ennepe Dam, near Dortmund. With a thick mist rising from a wooded valley, they had difficulty in locating the target. Three times 16

they overshot the dam. On the fourth run, at 3.37am, the bouncing bomb was released at less than 100 ft. above the water As the plane circled, the lake discharged a huge spout of water into the air, followed by vast ripples spreading towards the dam.

It had fallen short, but the crew were pretty confident that the shock waves would do some damage. As they turned for home the fast-approaching dawn made the return trip extremely dangerous. They could clearly see the breached Möhne dam and the Germans could clearly see them. Flying dangerously low, hugging the contours of the landscape and avoiding unexpected landmarks and pylons, they flew through a barrage of distinctly unfriendly anti-aircraft fire.

When they got to the Dutch coast the Germans turned the large coastal guns onto them. The plane was badly damaged and one of its engines was knocked out, but taking evasive action, they made it out to the safety of the North Sea. They arrived back to base at 6.15am. Flying downwind and into the sun they had a rather bumpy landing as the last plane back. The casualties were shockingly high: eight of the original 19 Lancaster bombers were

damaged or shot down, and of the 133 aircrew, 53 were killed and three captured.

Douglas Webb was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his role in the raid. As King George VI was in Africa it was the Queen Mother, then Queen Elizabeth who presented the squadron with their medals at Buckingham Palace on June 22, 1943.

During this last phase of the war, Barnes Wallis’s “Tallboy” bomb came into production, but to carry this 12,000 lb. monstrosity, the Lancasters had to be modified. The mid-upper gunner was often left behind, so Webb’s opportunities to fly were reduced. Later, when the 22,000lb.

“Grand Slam” became available, the wireless operator was also dropped. There is some evidence that at this time some aircrew carried on flying, even though they were not required, so it is possible that Webb was actually present on 617 Squadron’s last wartime operation, an attack on Hitler’s mountain lair.

Back on civvy street in 1946, Webb re-joined the London News Agency as a staff photographer. He stayed there until he was offered a contract with the Rank Organisation at Denham Studios, after

Top left: Left to right: Ray Wilkinson, DFM; Rear Gunner, Douglas Webb, DFM; Front Gunner, Charles Franklin, Bar DFM; Bomb Aimer, Bill Townsend, CGM, DFM; Pilot, Jack Grain, DFM; Wireless Operator, Lance Howard, DFC (Australian); Navigator Top right: American movie poster for the film As Nature Intended. Directed by George Harrison Marks, starring Pamela Green, with stills photography by Douglas Webb.

Bottom right: An Avro Lancaster in flight, taken by Douglas Webb.

which he transferred to Gainsborough Pictures at Islington Studios. The first film he worked on was Miranda (1948), based on the play of the same name about a mermaid.

As the British film industry contracted, Webb opened a photography studio in Greek Street, in the heart of London’s Soho, where he specialized in theatrical and film portraits as well as glamour photography.

He first met Pamela Green in 1948, while she was at St Martins School of Art. “I posed for a local amateur photographer who suggested that I could make a guinea an hour if I did the same for professionals,” Pamela recalled. “Being in the position of having to fund my own education I took his advice. I walked into a professional photographers’ studio on Greek Street and asked if he did nudes. He said yes, and that was how I met Douglas Webb.

Back then he had an enormous Air Force moustache. Only when I was putting on my school scarf after my first session, did he realise I was underage. Thankfully, my father agreed to sign the necessary model release form. I could not have known at the time, what a great impact on my life that meeting with Douglas Webb was to have.”

As Webb’s studio expanded, he moved to larger premises in Albany Street, near Regents Park. As a freelancer, he worked on numerous British TV shows, doing the front and back projections. His television work includes the title sequences for the popular shows Special Branch (1969–1974) and The Sweeney (1975–1978) for Thames Television. For all you trivia buffs, the fingerprints used on the title sequence for The Sweeney were none other than Pamela Green’s.

Webb was also responsible for the special photographic backing in The Killing of Sister George (1968) and the colour transparency shot in Italy for the film Krull (1983). This was projected at 28 x 64 ft. in Pinewood Studios.

Harrison Marks, that they officially became an item. They moved to the Isle of Wight in 1986. Doug passed away in 1996 and Pamela died on 7th May 2010.

To find out more about Pamela Green and Douglas Webb, visit Pamela’s official website at www.pamela-green.com (warning – contains some nudity). If you have any tales to tell about Douglas Webb, Pamela Green or George Harrison Marks, feel free to get in touch.

Yahya El-Droubie Yahya runs the publishing company Korero Press. www.koreropress.com

Pamela Green and Douglas Webb remained friends, but it wasn’t till the mid 1960s, after Pamela’s tumultuous relationship with the notorious glamour photographer George To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 17

Mangia! Mangia!

“Eat! Eat!” is the mealtime exhortation on the lips of every Italian matriarch and, like a scene from Alice in Wonderland, the delicious products at the Italian Delicatessen of Walthamstow – the latest addition to E17’s foodie scene - seem to be commanding me to do the same. Trust me; I don’t need to be told twice! Words Silvana Gambini. Photographs by Stuart Moore.

It’s this passion for Italian food which the business partners behind this new venture want to bring to E17. Milan born and bred, Elisabetta Iudica, popular local ‘foodie’ and blogger (www.lamiakitchenette.co.uk), met Olly Price, ex Arts Marketing Manager and local AirBnB owner, and Tom McVeigh, opera singer and singing teacher, via the Waltham Forest Food and Drink Society Facebook Group which she set up back in April 2014. The trio shared a dream of owning an Italian food business and the search for premises began…

Located at the increasingly ‘trendy’ Forest Road end of Hoe Street, the shop is beautiful. Best described as ‘stylishly rustic’, it has many reclaimed materials coming into play; marble countertops, apple boxes for shelving, and an old joinery bench forming the backdrop for the front window display. But the real stars of the show are the food and drink on offer - as the Deli’s 18

Harrods and Fortnum and Masons. In addition, the shop holds exclusive rights in the area to sell Monmouth’s espresso coffee, both beans and ground – quite a coup!

Olly Price, Tom McVeigh and Elisabetta Iudica

strapline goes “Italian cooking... it’s all about the ingredients!”

Carefully sourcing high quality, authentic products, which aren’t the common brands already found in supermarkets, was paramount. Suppliers have been suggested

by Elisabetta’s friends and local E17 residents celebrity chef Gennaro Contaldo and his wife Liz, with many of the grocery items coming from Seggiano, who supply

The Deli specialises in a wide range of regional cured meats and cheeses that people may not already know (the gutsy Ragusano Sicilian cheese is a revelation!) and they can put together the contents for an antipasto platter for dinner parties or celebrations based on your preferences and budget. Italian breads are delivered daily by the Flour Station, including focaccia, both plain and with tasty toppings, and you can buy filled panini or come ‘Italian style’ with your own bread to be filled – in summer, I’ll be collecting my picnic supplies on my way to nearby Lloyd Park! They also plan to stock seasonal items - truffles, porcini, artisan gelato, puntarelle – with juicy Sicilian oranges and lemons in stock now. Wines, prosecco, liqueurs and spirits (even an Italian

“Italian cooking... it’s all about the ingredients!”

gin!) are all specially selected via regular tastings by Olly and Tom (It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!).

Manager Elisabetta and her friendly, knowledgeable assistants Stefy, Luca and Nicola, provide an old fashioned, personal service to customers, advising on products and how to prepare and cook them - you really feel as if you’re shopping in a local bottega in an Italian market town. Fictional detective, Inspector Montalbano, would be proud of the way that Elisabetta tracks down customers’ requests – eg a sweet fig ‘salame’, Marsala all’uovo (egg Marsala) – with the hunt still on for Italian baby rusks!

The Deli is also fast becoming a community hub with their end-of-week ‘Aperitivo Evenings’; featured red and white wines and Aperol Spritz are available at £6 a glass to enjoy alongside a myriad of mouth-watering complimentary nibbles.

It’s a great way to kick off an evening with friends or take the edge off a hard day at work while also picking up that night’s dinner or weekend provisions. The shop is also the drop-off point for food donations for the Refugee Kitchen in Calais.

I’ve waited 20 years for a shop like this to open in the Stow, saving me the schlep into Soho to do my Italian food shopping, so I’m delighted that this great resource is finally right on our doorsteps!

The Italian Delicatessen of Walthamstow 38 Hoe Street, E17 4PH Opening Times: Tues – Sat 11am8pm, Sun 11am-5pm Aperitivo Evenings: Thurs, Fri & Sat 5pm-8pm Facebook: The Italian Delicatessen of Walthamstow Twitter: @ItalianDeliE17

www.theitaliandelicatessen.co.uk

Jackson, a Parson Russell terrier - the deli mascot

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 19

When the piece fits…

Mark McClure, Walthamstow’s very own multi-disciplinary graphic artist and wood worker talks to Matilda Battersby about his ambitions for creating environments not sculptures.

One of Walthamstow’s most interesting artists lives practically in the shadow cast by the William Morris Gallery and is a modern proponent of that great man’s interest in making objects of everyday use beautiful as well as functional.

Mark McClure, 41, hails from a small village in the Midlands but moved to London around the time of the dot.com bubble to work as a graphic designer on interactive digital projects. But having always painted and made collages on the side he soon found himself using the large Dalston studio he’d acquired to expand his graphics business as a way of developing his art and now works 50:50 splitting his time between freelance design and art commissions.

You might have seen a 25ft example of his work on St Mary Road just behind the Strettons on Hoe Street. The huge, multicoloured design is made from wood of various colours fitted together like a jigsaw. It appeared just in time for last year’s Art Trail, but is by no means Mark’s biggest work.

20

He did a 200m long piece decorating a sizeable chunk of the hoarding which stretched around the perimeter of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford as it was being redeveloped following the 2012 Games.

“I always made graphic artwork but then I started using bits of wood in collage and from that I took the leap to making artworks just out of wood. And that snowballed really and became a thing.”

McClure has exhibited a lot in galleries and art fairs such as Moniker Art Fair which tends to feature street artists and although he is planning on doing more work outdoors and is a keen advocate of E17’s very own Wood Street Walls project, he’s far from your usual spray can wielding urban artist.

So, what kind of artist is he? “I don’t know I’m quite vague on that. Perhaps as a multi-disciplinary or graphic artist?”

His work is on a large scale thanks to that large studio in Dalston but it is also heavily rooted in the painting and collage that was its predecessor. He works almost exclusively using wood, layering and cutting out shapes.

“I was always doing collages and paintings, fairly graphic pop art inspired because I always loved that crossover between design and art in that respect,” he says.

As well as being a hybrid graphic designer and artist McClure is interested in developing his aesthetic into something practical. Last year he teamed up with an ex-colleague to make a series of limited edition tables and he’d be keen to take that idea further and get into commissions for large interiors or other furniture.

“I did quite a lot of stuff last year that was branching into more applied artwork. Floor work, walls. I like that added functionality,” Mark doesn’t totally agree when I suggest there’s something ‘retro’ about the colours (lots of mustards, creams and browns) and the geometric shapes that crop up in his work, but he’s a big fan of the mid-century modern furniture that is so in vogue at the moment so he admits it is probably something he’s picked up unconsciously.

“It’s not intentional [the retro thing]. I think more the colours than the shapes.

Someone once said 1950s Chrysler to me a few years ago. I can’t quite work out where that comes from,” he says.

Mark likes the balance between having a more conventional graphic design job and being an artist. “One feeds the other, really, as there’s only so long I can sit at a desk before having to get up and make something,” he says.

Running his own design business also means he might look at being an artist as a businessman also. This year he is looking to find ways he can develop his work for commercial use.

He’s also exhibited at less art-focused environments such as Tent and the London Design Festival which he says

attracts a totally different kind of person from your average art collector.

“I’ve got lots of ideas about where I’m going next. I’d like to apply it in a more interior setting. Make it more permanent and talk with interior developers and designers over the coming weeks and try and build some new partnerships there.”

He is also planning a big change away from static wooden artworks. “I’m looking to introduce some electronic elements into my work,” he says. “With an interactive design background I’m quite intrigued by that sort of thing. I’d like to get some kinetic movement and lights into some of the sculptures.”

Mark might have a 200m public artwork to his name but he’s not shy about his ambitions to go bigger. “I’m interested in creating environments rather than sculptures - expanding into interiors and architecture. Added to that the idea of introducing data from the web. It’s quite a big leap but it could be great,” he admits.

Next stop for Mark is finding more outside walls in Walthamstow to produce work on – he has also started teaching himself how to work with metal — and if he can find the right spot, he’s looking to relocate his studio to E17 at some point in the near future.

“There’s a big call for demystifying art stuff and making it more playful and accessible.

There’s a huge crossover between all the art forms so if you can break down the snobbery and make things a lot more playful then that can only be a good thing.”

Mark is all for using public art to revive struggling areas or make beauty out of a building site like he did for the Olympic park. But he’s wary of gentrification and given Walthamstow’s recent focus – he’s keen to see the inevitable transitions done well in his local neighborhood.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to rant about gentrification this year. It’s a natural cycle, of course, I saw it in Shoreditch 15 years ago and more recently Dalston. It’s futile to resist it. But there’s huge importance in involving the community in change getting people involved in the use of land before it gets developed.”

www.markmcclurestudio.com @markmcclureart

Facing page. Top: Sections and a detail from hoardings designed for use during the redevelopment of the Olympic Stadium. Bottom: Table design.

This page. Top left, Implosions; Top left, kitchen splash back; Bottom right, mural for Wood Street Walls on St Mary Road, Walthamstow.

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 21

The Lost Dominion?

London Life

Between High Street and Mission Grove, Buxton Road once contained a thriving cinema. Now the building’s chequered history is under threat, explains Jamie Condliffe.

three poems by Forest Poet Michael Shann

London Beards No way! There’s WG Grace watching the Ashes on a big screen at Euston.

A stumble from the Cock Tavern is a sorry-looking Art Deco building, its stained facade boarded since 1996. Decades ago it was better acquainted with clapperboards than the ply surrounding the entrance: This was once the Dominion cinema.

And look! There’s Darwin queuing patiently outside the Natural History Museum.

That could be Dickens crossing Southwark Bridge on one of his midnight meanders, and here’s DH Lawrence in the Vale of Health, shades and shorts, looking like he’s still the man.

It wasn’t the first to stand there. The current facade before it was boarded up.

The Prince’s Pavilion was built in 1909, its entrance found down a passageway off High Street alongside a woodyard. The Dominion took its place. An Art Deco building designed by Frank Ernest Bromige – who created 10 cinemas across the South East – it seated 1,685. On 22nd December 1930 it opened, playing comedy The Little Accident and wintry adventure The Storm. Judging by the exterior it was successful: You can still see circular indentations in the wall of the old building. “That was where the customers formed queues and spent the time drilling into the soft brick with coins,” explains Gary Heales from Vestry House Museum.

Commuter Dance, Lombard Street We’re dashing towards each other, strangers in suits. We’re going to collide.

So I shimmy to my left, trying to avoid him, but he shimmies the same way.

So I go the other way and he does too.

We repeat this manoeuvre several times

But it wasn’t alone. “It was built during a gold rush of cinemas,” explains Richard Ashman, local amateur cinema historian. There were at least five in Walthamstow by the 50s – not least Hoe Street’s Granada, currently being redeveloped by Antic London.

As television prospered, cinemas declined and by 1958 the Dominion struggled. On March 15 it closed, serving instead as a wrestling venue. It briefly reopened as a cinema but its run was short: On March 4 1961, crime thriller The Breaking Point and mystery The Full Treatment screened. They were its last.

and could carry on, it seems, till lunchtime, drawing a small crowd, jigging for our lives.

Drinking with Dylan Thomas in The French House

The building was converted into a bingo hall but closed for good in 1996. Plans for redevelopment have swirled, but currently there’s a planning application with Waltham Forest Council proposing the “demolition of existing cinema and bingo hall and construction of a five storey building to provide 48 residential units.” Walthamstow needs housing, preferably the affordable kind – but local residents and the Twentieth Century Society have lobbied the council to retain the Art Deco facade of the building.

Do you remember the old cinema? If so, get in touch with Jamie to recall your stories: jamie.condliffe@gmail.com 22

Two lemonades. Ice. I push one along the bar. He turns, laughs, tells me where to go.

I think you’ve had enough, I say. Enough? he says. Who are you to say what’s enough?

An air of ale and smoke, the stale silence of Soho afternoons. I’m just, I say, thinking, of the years you lost, of all your blank pages. He tells me where to go.

Photos © dusashenka

The original facade with the extra storey.

I’m inclined to agree: This proposal seeks demolition of a building with Technicolor history to allow construction of one that’s comparatively black-and-white.

Dedicated to the memory of Norman Andrews, a longstanding member of Forest Poets.

Michael Shann’s collection of poems about Walthamstow was published in 2015. A follow-up collection about other areas of London will be available later in 2016. www.michaelshann.com Find Forest Poets on Facebook and Twitter @ForestPoets

When Emma moved to Walthamstow in 2007, she knew nothing about the area, only that it was on the end of the Victoria Line.

“In 2009 a friend and I visited the then much smaller E17 Art Trail and I decided I wanted to take part.”

One of the venues looking for artists was St. Barnabas Church, so she met vicar Steven Saxby. “He was lovely and showed me the Twelve Stations of the Cross, suggesting a good idea would be to do 12 paintings, so I decided to paint portraits of Walthamstow people.” Emma says.

Her exhibition included Brian Harvey from band East17, Grayson Perry as he had his workshop in the area, Steven Saxby, MP Stella Creasy and of course William Morris.

“I also selected people I’d chatted to on twitter and some people who just caught my eye when I was out and about.” Emma says. “Because of that exhibition, I met so many wonderful people, artists, writers and a whole community opened up to me, I’d been having a hard time so it was so good to find somewhere I could call home with so much on my doorstep.”

The Art of Storytelling “I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.” William Morris.

Artist, Emma Scutt is a fan of William Morris and she clearly shares more than just his old hometown with him. Emma’s art entertains, enables and, it would be fair to say, she is an active champion of people, causes, community and freedom.

Emma was destined to be an artist; her earliest memory is of holding crayons and colouring in. “I remember looking at ladybird books with illustrations on one side and text on the other, the pictures told the stories, so I knew what was going on in the books before I could read.” Storytelling is as important to Emma as art and the two combined is how she defines illustration.

Luckily, Emma received encouragement from her family and teachers.

“The reality wasn’t so easy though” Emma recalls. Graduating from art school in 1992, she spent a year trawling publishers with her portfolio before, for financial reasons, she had to get an office job. “I never stopped drawing and painting in my spare time, it’s a muscle that needs exercising. I made cards for birthdays and Christmas.”

The church also influenced Emma’s work, “I had always loved religious iconography, I’m not religious myself but my Grandmother was Greek Orthodox and she had lots of icons.

The gold icons at the altar of St. Barnabas inspired me, so I started incorporating gold paint into my work, using it as a background to the Walthamstow portraits. When the sun hits them, it’s just beautiful.”

She has exhibited at every E17 Art Trail since.

In 2012, the theme was ‘Bestow’ and Emma realized that, in her 40s and unlikely to have children she had no-one to bestow any treasured belongings to, and so her ‘No-one to Bestow’ exhibition was created, at it’s centre was a beautiful doll’s house made by her Grandfather. …continues page 24.

Then in 2005, with some savings under her belt, Emma gave up her day job and launched the Little Angels Mural Company “I don’t really see a difference between illustration and mural painting, apart from the scale and the angle you paint at,” she smiles.

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 23

Previous page. Top: Emma’s portrait of William Morris. Bottom: Photograph of Emma and her doll’s house by Fabien Ho. This page. Below: A cameo appearance

by William Morris on one of Emma’s commissions for the Little Libraries project; Right: self portrait by Emma from her show No-one to Bestow; Far right: Portrait of Hibo Wardere from Emma’s FGM Portraits.

This was her first foray into ‘sharing-as-art’.

“I’d never done anything interactive like this, inviting others to take part, to share their stories.” Emma began by painting a self-portrait and writing her own story, then repeated this with some local women. She hung some gold thread joining the portraits together and visitor’s stories were clipped to the thread. She created a ticking clock to illustrate that time was running out for some women to conceive. “I was so surprised by the reaction, there were around 100 people who wrote their stories, and it really got people talking to each other.” Emma took ‘No-one to Bestow’ to Tokarska gallery in February 2013. This gained her more recognition and some commissions.

Fair, to feel I was giving something back to the community, so I produced the calendar donating a percentage to the food bank.” If you look carefully you will find William Morris popping up in her work. “He is standing in the doorway of the William Morris Gallery in one of the calendars and sitting reading on one of my libraries.”

Emma has painted four of the local ‘Little Free Libraries’ you may have seen dotted around Walthamstow and has been producing a Walthamstow Calendar of wellknown landmarks since 2014. “I wanted to do something at the Eat or Heat Christmas

As soon as Emma heard that the 2015 E17 Art Trail theme was ‘Storytelling’ she knew it was Hibo’s story she wanted to tell through portraiture “I approached her and she was really happy to be involved.”

Steven Saxby was also immediately behind

the idea, so again St. Barnabas Church was her venue. Hibo introduced Emma to FGM survivors Leyla Hussein and Alimatu Dimonekene who agreed to sit for portraits and share their stories. “FGM does not define who these women are at all, they are strong individuals, positive, active members of society, they are not victims, they are campaigners, survivors.” And this is how Emma portrays them in her paintings.

In 2014 Emma was asked to produce an illustration for an event about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), her illustration was used on the literature and she was invited to attend. “I was so moved and impressed by FGM survivor and campaigner, Hibo Wardere. I met her and she said she loved my illustration, I really wanted to do something to help but I didn’t really know how.”

finding it

The FGM exhibition, is currently touring the borough and can be seen at Walthamstow Library (free entry) until Thursday March 3 when there is a talk by the three women.

The event is free but you will need to register for a ticket here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ stories-of-fgm-survivors-talk-and-exhibitiontickets-19992999600 For further information on the FGM portraits talk, how to buy tickets and to see more of Emma’s work: www.littleangelsmurals.co.uk.

Kirsty McNeil-O’Connor

?

UNIQUE GIFTS & FURNITURE, HOMEWARES, JEWELLERY, CARDS & PRINTS

hard to cope

Psychotherapy can help you overcome difficult situations and improve the quality of your life.

70 Hoe Street E17 4PG Wed-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm

Valeria Bonfiglio Psychologist MBPsS

Tel 07912 887588 www.valeriabonfiglio.co.uk Offering a sliding scale of fees English and Spanish

24

Closed Mon & Tues

Mo 07905 164663 Sarah 07528 229030

No70HoeSt

@No70HoeSt

RESTAURANT & BAR

WALTHAMSTOW

28-30 ORFORD ROAD WALTHAMSTOW LONDON E17 9NJ teLephoNe 020 8521 5279 e17reservations@eat17.co.uk eat17.co.uk

Live Jazz sunday nights!

Prix Fixe menu

New kitcheN opeNiNg hours

2 courses for £15

MoNday-Friday 12-3pM 6-10pM

now available Monday - Friday

saturday 10aM-3pM 5-10pM suNday 10aM-3.30pM 5.30-9pM

ARONA StJAMES SOLICITORS

Your local solicitors with international experience LGBT • Divorce & Family Law • Employment Law • Commercial Drafting Wills & Probate • Business Law • Litigation • Immigration & Nationality Law

Spring into a New Job Career Coaching

CV Writing

Interview Training

We are a boutique law firm with over 45 years worth of experience.

Come to our new free drop in advice sessions for immigration & family law.

Meet an experienced member of staff over a cup of tea to discuss either a personal/business immigration or family issue.

Every 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month 11.00 to 13.00. info@AronaStJames.co.uk T: 020 3757 8670 www.AronaStJames.co.uk 63 St James St, London E17 7PJ Defending Human Rights We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority number 619031

Walthamstow & East London

www.ayamacoaching.co.uk 020 8257 8475 To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 25

Brenda Shearing and dolores rocket

Friday Night Fever A serendipitous meeting between two women has led to the opening of a new club night You Should Be Dancing! at Walthamstow Trades Hall. Carole Davies met up with them to find out more.

Portrait by Simon Goodwin. Club pictures by Julia Spicer.

When local DJ dolores rocket was employed to spin the discs at a 50th birthday party last December she got talking to Brenda Shearing, a Walthamstow Trades Hall committee member. She had been looking for a venue for a long-dreamed-of new ‘club’ night and Brenda was interested in encouraging more people to use this overlooked and fully accessible local venue, so almost immediately the two women clicked!

Talking to Brenda, I discover there’s been a Working Men’s Club on the present site in Walthamstow since 1920, providing music, dancing and members’ outings for local workers. Committee minutes, preserved in thick hardback ledgers, record an era when only men (who referred to each other as ‘Brother’) were allowed to be full club members and serve on committees.

Brenda herself has been a member of the Trades Hall since 1983, the year her mother died and Brenda ‘inherited’ her membership.

It may be hard to believe now, in the era of increasing numbers of 26

pub closures and waning membership of Working Men’s Clubs, but in its heyday, the Trades Hall had a long waiting list to join, and at weekends punters queued up the hill before the doors opened at 7pm to be sure of a seat.

For as long as Brenda can remember there has been music or entertainment three nights a week at the Hall, including such stalwarts of the Working Men’s club circuit as ventriloquist Roger de Courcey and Nookie Bear, Renato of 70s ‘one hit wonder’ duo Renée and Renato and Mike Reid, more famous recently as Walford resident Frank Butcher. These and other characters, like the singer who crooned 1940s standards with a huge flower in her hair ‘like Miss Jones from Rising Damp’ while holding a large G&T in a brandy glass, are remembered with affection. There is still the popular annual trip to a Southend Club for a day of karaoke and other activities - and a reciprocal visit by the Southend members to Walthamstow, when the club is packed like its former glory days.

With the advent of equality legislation, women like Brenda were finally able to become full club members and take an active role on club committees. Other legislation however, has had a more detrimental affect on a traditional working class membership, particularly the ban on smoking which drove many members away.

Brenda is chatty and gregarious and clearly loves the club that she has attended every Friday and Saturday night for the past 20 years and knows that in order to sustain it, they need the lifeblood of a newer and younger membership.

Like Brenda, dolores rocket remembers the time when women were sidelined and DJing was almost exclusively a male preserve.

So, after around 6 years behind the decks in the 70s and 80s, first at college then at a club in Farringdon, she hung up her headphones. However, with her record collection carefully preserved and judiciously expanded, she never lost her love of music, and she has recently started to entertain pub and party goers once again with her (as described by one venue) ‘eclectic, electric, eccentric’ sounds. She has been supported in her endeavours by other local women in the field; firstly Auntie Maureen with whom dolores rocket played as ‘Jam Tarts’ for a Words Over Waltham Forest event in 2013, and more recently Kat Richmond of Electronic 17 who has been generous with advice about new technology and has invited dolores rocket to join the line-up for an upcoming Bowie tribute night.

“dolores rocket is infectiously enthusiastic about the gloriously retro surroundings of the Trades Hall…”

dolores rocket is infectiously enthusiastic about the gloriously retro surroundings of the Trades Hall and believes it’s the perfect backdrop for her new club You Should Be Dancing! (YSBD!) will be a relaxed and friendly night, where clubbers who cut their dancing teeth in the 70s and 80s can feel comfortable having some fun attitude-free, dancing to the brilliant soul, disco, reggae and ska soundtrack of that era, on a sprung dance floor, under a mirror ball - and still be tucked up in bed at a reasonable hour!

Younger friends are equally welcome and everyone can briefly rest their feet while enjoying the guilty pleasure of a traditional bingo interlude, which is a regular staple of Friday nights at the Trades.

In four years time, the Trades Hall will be marking its centenary, and Brenda is hoping that more local people will become members to help to celebrate the event, and to bring new life and ideas to this relatively unknown local treasure. So come along to one of dolores rocket’s YSBD! nights – enjoy the music and the ambience; dolores rocket and Brenda will be waiting to welcome you!

dolores rocket presents

YOU SHOULD BE DANCING! A new club night for people who cut their dancing teeth in the 70s and 80s

FRIDAY MARCH 25TH 8-12 Walthamstow Trades Hall, 61/63 Tower Hamlets Rd, E17 4RQ Tkts £5* in advance £7 on the door *50p booking fee YOU SHOULD BE DANCING! E17

@YSBD!

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 27

The Green Man Inn, High Road, Leytonstone at 6:30am on 17th August 1889. This is the late 19th century incarnation of a pub dating back to the mid17th century; the location of a robbery by Dick Turpin.

The pub was rebuilt again in the early 20th century and was renamed O’Neills in 1995 and still thrives today.

Another pub still going strong, is The Red Lion, High Road, Leytonstone. A 17th century pub called the Robin Hood stood on this site before being replaced by the building shown here in the 18th century. Today’s building dates from the 1890s..

Pubs of yore These photos are from the collection of Vestry House Museum. Browse more photographs from the Museum’s archive and order prints online: http://boroughphotos.org/walthamforest/.

28

Photos © Vestry House Museum, London Borough of Waltham Forest

To the right of the Chestnut Coffee & Dining Rooms (now the Uffizzi Italian restaurant) stands the Chestnut Tree Inn in this photo of Chestnut Walk, Lea Bridge Road, Walthamstow, February 1904. Originally built in 1846 and called the Little Wonder. It was demolished and replaced by the building you see here in 1854 before being renamed as The Chestnut Tree Inn. It had another name change in 2005 when it became the Waltham Oak. The pub closed for good a few years ago and is now a mosque.

The Crooked Billet Pub on the corner of Billet and Chingford Roads, Walthamstow c1910. This building was replaced in the early 1930s with a much less picturesque one, which was subsequently demolished to make way for the underpass on the North Circular.

Halfway House, 341 High Road (opposite Ranelagh Road), Leytonstone, c1895. It was renamed the Croppy Acre in 1994 before closing in 2005. You can still see the gables with their decorative ‘rakes’ above the shops that now occupy the site.

The Plough Inn on Wood Street, Walthamstow, c1900. This building opened in 1876 and replaced an earlier 18th century pub first called The Harrow, later The Plough and Harrow which had been demolished to make way for Wood Street Station. The pub closed in 2010 and is now a supermarket with flats above.

A special thanks to Ian Pubby Hunter, Kevan Wilding (@deadpubs) and Stephen Harris of www.pubshistory.com for their invaluable resource.

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 29

Left: The Stow Roses and their banner in 2013.

Right: The Stow Roses sewing group and the quilt that will be raffled in April.

Stow Roses in Stitches for Charity A group of local like-minded women prove that teamwork and handiwork can be rewarding in so many ways.

Walthamstow Women’s Institute AKA the Stow Roses started a sewing group and designed and made a banner for their new branch in 2013. The banner has been used at Community events including a Remembrance Parade, International Women’s day and WI meetings.

Following on from this the sewing group continued, and last year turned to a new fund raising project. This was to design and make a beautiful quilt, drawing on traditional quilting methods. Members brought a mix of sewing, craft skills and experience and set to making the quilt. They met up regularly throughout the year, with equipment, fabric etc. in members’ homes in Walthamstow to work on the project. Finally completed in January of this year, the finished quilt was revealed at the Stow Roses monthly meeting in February 2016.

The quilt itself is both a labour of love and craft in aid of a great cause. It will be the grand prize in a raffle to raise money for Whipps Cross Hospital’s Neonatal Unit.

Tickets are available from local members and local events between now and the grand 30

draw evening on April 6 2016 or direct from Stow Roses, stowroseswi@yahoo.com.

Come and see the quilt and meet members of the group when we’ll be at Whipps Cross Hospital on February 25, at the International Womens Day event on March 5 at the Great Hall Leyton, and also at E17 Designers at the Vestry House on March12 and buy some tickets in person. More tour dates are planned.

All tickets are £1 each or in books of 5.

The grand raffle draw will take place on the evening of April 6, at Gnome House following a talk by the Internationally renowned quilt maker and speaker Jennie Rayment.

Established in Walthamstow in October 2013, the Stow Roses Women’s Institute is one of the biggest WIs in London. From its inception, it’s been popular with women from across the borough, spanning the generations with women in their 20s through to those in their 80s.

Stow Roses is a welcoming a-political and secular voluntary organization that is run by our members for our members.

With a full programme of events and groups that range from crafts and beekeeping to women’s issues and initiatives aimed at supporting and enriching our local community, the Stow Roses WI encourages inclusion, community and a positive presence in the Walthamstow area.

Membership of the Stow Roses opens each year in February and people interested in joining should email stowroseswi@yahoo.com with the subject line ‘Membership’. Our Membership Secretary aims to contact people within 2-5 working days, and bear in mind that there is a small waiting list for new members!

To buy raffle tickets for this amazing quilt www.stowroseswi.org.uk Facebook: Stow Roses WI Twitter: @stowroseswi Or contact stowroseswi@yahoo.com for further details.

A SPOTTER’s Guide to LOCAL streetLIFE 7 of 12 seasonal recipes

for Waltham Forest’s people watchers.

kang mussaman SERVES 2

lamb curry with peanut sauce March is the first month in which to enjoy the first seasons spring lamb, so we thought what better recipe for this issue than our lamb mussaman curry. This is our award winning signature dish which was featured on Gordon Ramsey’s F-Word. You can use boned cubed leg but we prefer to use mixed cuts for extra flavour. The marrow in the bone adds extra depth and silkiness as it cooks into the sauce. This recipe needs to be cooked with a fresh mussaman paste, don’t go for a paste out of a jar - it really wont taste the same. Our fresh Mussaman paste recipe can be found on our Facebook page. Traditional mussaman uses peanuts but cashews can be used if preferred.

• • • • • • • •

2 star anise, broken up 2 pieces of cassia bark or Cinnamon stick, about 10g broken up 2 litres of water 400g lamb 1 heaped tablespoon mussaman curry paste 1 heaped tablespoon roasted peanuts or cashews finely crushed 1 tablespoon fish or soy sauce 1 teaspoon salt

• • • • •

25g palm sugar 2 teaspoons tamarind paste 1 medium size potato quartered 150g pumpkin, cut into bite size chunks Tablespoon corn or vegetable oil

GARNISH • 4 slices red pepper • 4 slices green pepper • handful roasted cashew nuts • 2 cherry tomatoes • 2 whole dried red chillies

1. In a large pan or stockpot bring the water to a rolling boil with the star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon.

From a series by Walthamstow resident, illustrator Tom Gaul. instagram account tomgaul_doodles

2 Add the lamb and turmeric. Cook just above simmering for 15 minutes, then drain discarding cooking liquid.

www.tomgaul.com

4. Heat the wok and add the oil, then the mussaman paste, peanut butter and half the coconut milk.

5. Simmer stirring continuously for a couple of minutes, then add the lamb and stock or water followed by the soy sauce, salt, palm sugar and tamarind paste 6. Stir again, bring up to the boil then leave to simmer very gently for 45 minutes.

Relaxed &Fun Learn with

7 Add the potato and pumpkin. Simmer for a further 15 minutes.

8. Use a fork to check that lamb, potato and pumpkin are all tender, then add the remaining coconut milk and garnish ingredients.

9. Simmer for 5 minutes more and then serve.

PREPARE THIS RECIPE, TAKE A PIC AND POST IT ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE - SEND US THE LINK & WIN A MEAL FOR 2 AT YUM YUMS E17! Check T&C’s on our FB page

yumyume17

202 Hoe Street • Walthamstow • E17 4BS • Tel: 0203 3279 790

Swedish

www.e17swedish.com

9

E17

Individual & group tuition

Guitar Individual & group lessons All styles All ages

07958 471 083 chris@e17swedish.com @E17Swedish To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 31

Rimi Renovations

an eye for detail A local well established company specialising in loft conversions and extensions with an eye for detail and finish Call 0754 592 8228 to discuss your project

32

• • • • •

Loft Conversions Extensions Kitchen Refurbishments Bathroom Refurbishments Building Services

Rimi Renovations Building Services Ltd 2 Sinnott Road Walthamstow E17 5QB rimirenovations@hotmail.com

custom security installations

07950 317142 0203 669 0826

security designed around you sam@custom-security.co.uk www.custom-security.co.uk

House Doctor

In a new series Penny Fielding offers creative solutions to everyday niggles you may have with your home.

Do you get the laundry blues? Here are some tips to cheer you up.

Most of us have the washing machine in the kitchen because this is where the sink is and the proximity of the garden for drying was how it worked back in the day. We all know it’s good to be near a water supply, but with kitchen space at a premium why not think about relocating the laundry to another area of the house?

If you have a big enough landing, build a cupboard for the washer-dryer stack here and get the water supply from the bathroom. Most laundry is generated from the bedrooms: clothes, towels, bed linen etc, and the endless carrying up and down the stairs is extra work for you! Have the ironing board in the same cupboard, hung on its own brackets, with the iron in its own iron-holder. Ironing itself is OK it’s wrestling the ironing board out of the under stairs cupboard that’s annoying, and which puts us off getting the job done.

Another possible location is in the bathroom. Many terraced houses have bathrooms that were once bedrooms so if you’re clever you can find a space. A constructed stud wall box, with the electrics separated from the damp environment of the bathroom, will house the washer/dryer and perhaps the laundry basket too.

LHSPLUMBING SERVICES

HEATING AND BOILER ENGINEERS

020 8111 1230 07939 814 559 info@lhsplumbing.co.uk www.lhsplumbing.co.uk

A third option is to utilise a little of your outside space. Build a laundry room, shed or covered area on the terrace. If you haven’t done a rear extension and you still have one, the old outside loo makes a great little laundry room.

Drying is the cause of the worst laundry blues. Watch this space for next month’s column where I will give you more tips on managing this tricky problem.

Do you have a particular niggle about your home? If so email editor@theelist with the problem and it may be answered in a future issue.

To enquire about a personal session with the House Doctor please email penfielding@gmail.com To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 33

Precision Carpenters / Joinery & Specialist Builders YBS London Limited have an exciting addition to our services. We now offer our clients a range of high quality traditional and contempary designed German Kitchens With a complete design and installation service, our range of YBS German kitchens will compliment your build project.

We are a family-run company enhancing London and Essex properties for over 30 years.

Our objective is to provide a high quality end product, coupled with project efficiency and the best in complete project management.

T: 0208 555-4854 | W: www.ybslondon.com | E: info@ybslondon.com

If you think it’s expensive to“My hirepartner a professional to do of having our celebrity showcase & I have dreamt kitchen, and now we have one. We can now entertain until your job, wait until you hire an amateur Precision Carpenters / Joinery & Specialist Builders

we drop!” Orlando Murrin (Shoreditch), BBC Good Food Guide YBS London Limited is now one of London & Essex’s leading building companies specialising in bespoke building projects, property refurbishment, extensions, loft conversions, joinery manufacture/installation and basement conversions.

We are a family-run company enhancing London and Essex properties for over 30 years. Our objective is to provide a high quality end product, coupled with project efficiency and the best in complete project management.

T: 0208 555-4854 | W: www.ybslondon.com | E: info@ybslondon.com

34

YBS London Limited is now one of London & Essex’s leading Building Companies in Bespoke building projects, Property refurbishment, Extensions, Loft Conversions & Joinery Manufacture / Installation, Basement conversions. A British, family-run company enhancing London and Essex properties for over 30 years. Our objective is to provide high quality end product & customer service, coupled with project efficiency & complete project management.

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk “ Synonymous with Quality, taking care of our every need in producing two fantastic homes.” M & M Kirchhoff (Fulham)

Architectural historian, Karen Averby uncovers curiosities and stories from Walthamstow’s rich and varied past

MR LLOyd & The VAMPYRE The most famous resident of the house which is now the William Morris Gallery on Forest Road is arguably William Morris.

However, another former resident gave his name to the house’s former grounds, namely publisher and pioneer of the cheap press, Edward Lloyd, who lived at the then-named Water House from 1856.

youngest died in infancy. An affair with a Mary Harvey resulted in a son born in 1845.

He and Isabella separated by 1851, and Lloyd set up home with a much younger woman, Maria Martins, with whom he had fifteen children between 1853 and 1872.

They eventually married in 1867, just weeks after Isabella died.

Following Lloyd’s death in 1890 his son Frank announced that none of the family would inherit the Walthamstow estate, and in 1898 the house and grounds were donated to the public. Although William Morris Park was suggested as a name for the public park, public opinion demanded that it be named after Lloyd.

From Varney the Vampyre

Edward, Maria and family at the Water House.

Born in 1815 in Thornton Heath, Edward was one of three sons of Thomas and Ann Lloyd.

Thomas was a bankrupt which may have inspired Edward on his trajectory towards being a self-made man. By the time he was 16 he had opened a small ‘shop for the sale of publications’ and distributed several serials, mostly fiction. Between 1839 and 1856 he published over 200 stories, mostly sensationalist penny publications, some plagiarising Dickens’ novels, with titles such as Oliver Twiss selling up to 50,000 copies a week. Many publications were ‘romances’ featuring highwaymen, pirates and vampires, (later termed ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ or ‘Penny Bloods’) including Varney the Vampyre and String of Pearls which first introduced the character of Sweeney Todd.

When Lloyd turned his hand to newspaper publishing in 1842 he established a rival publication to the Illustrated London News entitled Lloyd’s Weekly London Newspaper, aimed at the common man. Several incarnations later, overwhelming demand led Lloyd to utilise innovative printing techniques and machines; it was he who introduced

Hoe’s Rotary Presses into the country. In the 1860s Lloyd’s News was selling an impressive 600,000 copies weekly, costing just one penny.

Lloyd’s initative also revolutionised the paper trade by using esparto grass grown on land he owned in Algeria. He established papermills at Bow and Sittingbourne, which produced over 200 tons per week, supplying paper to clients both home and abroad.

His personal life was no less intriguing. He married young, in 1834, to the older Isabella McArthur with whom he had three sons between 1834 and 1842, although the Lloyd and his Sittingbourne Paper Mill.

A supporter of the Liberal movement ‘for the good of the people and the advancement of the country,’ Edward Lloyd received the support of the working classes who bought his Edward LLoyd publications in their droves, as the only reading material they could afford.

Today, Lloyd’s local legacy is Lloyd Park, which is open to all. www.archangelheritage.co.uk

House Histories Have you ever wondered who used to live in your house, or how it has changed over time?

Packages telling the story of your house available to suit all budgets.

For a FREE consultation email Karen Averby info@archangelheritage.co.uk www.archangelheritage.co.uk/house-histories

10%

discount for EList readers (Quote REFELIST)

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 35

LOCAL HERO

William Morris Are you local? Yes, I was born on the 24th of March 1834 at Elm Tree House off Clay Street (now Forest Road).

I know you have moved many times since then, but what are your recollections of this part of Essex? I spent my first seven years at Elm Tree House. My father who was a city businessman made his fortune from copper and we moved to a larger house in Woodford. When he died in 1847 the family moved to the Water House in Walthamstow (now the William Morris Gallery). All three houses had access to the ancient woodland of Epping Forest. I spent many wonderful hours there. Around the Water House and in the Forest I would ride my pony, wooden and then real, dressed as a knight. By the time I was a young man I knew almost the whole forest yard by yard. In those days it had no worse foes than the gravel stealer and the rolling fence maker and was always interesting and often beautiful.

Tell us about your schooling and meeting your friend and collaborator Edward Burne-Jones. My parents shook off the responsibility of my education as soon as they could; handing me over first to nurses, then to grooms and gardeners, and then to a school – a boy farm, I should say. My father had died a few months before I was sent to Marlborough, where I learnt next to nothing, for next to nothing is what they taught. But they had a fine library and the surrounding countryside was very beautiful.

I left early and returned to private tuition.

I went up to Oxford in 1853 intending to enter the clergy. I disliked my studies; but fell into history, and especially medieval history, my religious inclinations were corrected by reading John Ruskin, a revelation to me. I almost immediately became friends with Edward Burne-Jones.

We shared rooms and read history and poetry together, and had long discussions about art. Edward, myself, and a few others resolved to mount ‘a crusade and holy warfare against this age’. We remained the closest of friends all our lives.

36

Together you discovered the Medievalist Movement and this had a significant impact on how you saw the modern world.

In July 1855 Burne-Jones and myself set off with a friend to tour the northern Cathedral cities of France. At that time England was at its most expansionist. The world, its Empire, was being flooded with factory made goods that were lacking both in design and function. Human lives were being wasted in their factories and mines, the air polluted by smoke and grime. Cheap useless goods were replacing objects made by craftsmen, and apart from the desire to produce beautiful things; the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.

A Gothic Cathedral takes a long time to complete and involves many skilled workers.

For me architecture was the highest form of art because it contained all that was human including the human beings themselves.

Was it sights like these that lead you to declare that Art is Dead? The realisation was a gradual one. My first understanding was that during the medieval period objects were handmade, and were superior to those made by modern commerce. The ties between the object, the producer and their wider society were organic. The word ‘art’ did not mean the same as today. The idea of the artist was very much a creation of the Renaissance. If you look at the work we created at Morris & Co., you will see a simple style, and the desire to create beauty. Art production was linked to the hand of the maker. This link is broken by modern civilisation. The worker became an appendage of the machine and the division of labour invented by commerce. The more I realised that only myself and a few others were producing objects in this way, that only the ‘swinish’ rich could buy them, then the process would die with us. The more that the worker was separated from all processes of production, including ownership, this would signal the ‘death of art.’

Your subsequent journeys to Iceland in 1871 and 1873 also had a enormous

impact on you. Why? Commerce was almost nowhere to be found in Iceland. The people did battle with nature on a scale unimagined by myself. The struggle to survive was dominated by poverty, harsh land and almost constant cold. And yet it was a society that governed itself. Apart from my pleasure in seeing that romantic desert, I learned one lesson, that the most grinding poverty is a trifling evil compared with the inequality of classes. This could also be the moment I began to understand that history is a process of change in such a way that if commerce could come from feudal society, then a different society was possible from commerce.

What I became certain of later in my life is that while the vast majority of people are involved daily in what I would call useless toil; there was always the possibility of useful work. Once I understood this, I felt that it was possible to go forward.

Tell us about the Paris Commune and your growing awareness of socialism at this time The Paris Commune began just before my 37th birthday in 1871, it ended with a massacre of the Communards just over one month later. Many Communards who had escaped came to London, alongside many defence groups.

Speaking at the 1888 annual celebration of the Commune, I said ‘that the Commune was a historically opportune fight for principles and that the action of the men of the Commune had made progress since 1871 possible’. It was difficult having the meetings, finding landlords who would hire us their meeting rooms, and avoiding the police spies.

The Commune was when the workers took control of Paris to stop the Prussian Army ransacking the city after the Government and army had fled during the Franco-Prussian war. The city in siege was run by the people through an assembly, elected on universal suffrage. Representatives could be recalled at any time if they acted against the people’s interest. It was the most democratic form of government seen up to that point. We had much to learn from the fighting spirit and

Photo © Paul Lindt. www.paullindt.co.uk Based on an original 1874 photograph of Morris and Burne-Jones by Frederick Hollyer. Courtesy of William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest.

In the 20th century this month’s local hero became principally known for Morris & Co’s wallpaper and textile designs. Many argue that this was allowed to somewhat overshadow the fact that he largely dedicated the last twenty years of his life to working to move from a profoundly unjust society to one based on fairness, true art and community. Here Paul Lindt talks to William Morris, with thanks to Roger Huddle. Please note that Morris uses the term ‘commerce’ to refer to what we today call ‘capitalism’.

legislation that came into being and the way the government destroyed it all when they returned. I drew great inspiration by being actively involved with two Communards, Victor Dave and Louise Michels.

After the 1880 election you became disillusioned with parliamentary democracy. Why did you leave the Liberal party? I had finally decided to enter into the world of political activity in 1875. War with Russia threatened, with Britain aligning with the Ottoman Empire. There was a huge groundswell of opposition to this imperial adventure. I wrote my first political tract. I was opposed to the war. Believing that Gladstone was in agreement I joined the Liberal Party who was in opposition. After the election Gladstone continued to support the previous government’s Britain Imperial interests in the Middle East but also brought in draconian measures to control the people of Ireland and to block home rule. My disillusionment was complete. By 1883 I had ‘crossed the river of fire’ to become a practical socialist.

You have become friends with people like Eleanor Marx. Describe your circle Marx died of pleurisy in March 1883. I never met him personally, I worked alongside his daughter Eleanor in the Socialist League and on the Commonweal. She translated the first socialist history of the Commune. Engels worked with the League, but I suspect he never quite liked me because he characterised me as a sentimental artist. Through the Socialist movement I came into contact with many strong working class activists including Ambrose Barker, who went to live in Walthamstow, and Jack Williams, who is buried in Walthamstow.

Many readers will know you as an artist and designer, but for the last two decades of your life you have dedicated yourself to speaking tours and writing about your socialism. I was committed to social change for a third of my time on earth. I think my socialism was a logical progression from my ideas about society and. I began to lecture publicly on art and then art, labour and socialism from around 1878, literally against my character. I am a bag of nerves before speaking, I wish I was elsewhere. However, it was necessary. I have spoken to crowds in their thousands: mine workers, striking steel workers and many others in mechanic institutes, students of arts and crafts. During the height of our agitation I spoke at 1,800 meetings over seven years. I do think that some of my finest design work was produced during this time and it never stopped being the centre of my life.

I know you are very concerned by the continuing imbalances in our current society, between rich and poor. But I also know that you disagree with some of your fellow socialists about how change can be achieved I along with many others were pioneers of the British socialist movement.

Our group the Socialist League was the first openly revolutionary party in England. At the beginning we were isolated from the workers.

All of us had had similar experience with Gladstone and the Liberal Party. I saw the only way to create change was to make socialists, through propaganda and education.

‘Agitate, Educate, Organise’. After 1886 and the Match Women’s strike at Bryant & Mays alongside the Dockers strike there was enormous growth in trade unions. We were uncertain how to relate to this change. I was determined to continue as before. Many wanted to contest elections independently of the Liberals in a Labour party. My experience with the Liberals stopped me agreeing. I became intransigent and so those looking to political change through Parliament left the League, this included some of the best.

I still held the belief that the world must be ruled in common. I was a communist. Those left in the Socialist League became involved in what I saw as an individual approach to

change. They were very much under the ideas of anarchism. Things became very bitter.

Consequently, I retreated to Hammersmith to carry on the campaign for socialism there.

We were a principled and loyal group but with little influence we dwindled.

Finally what sort of future would you like to see for working and creative communities such as Walthamstow? A hundred years from now I would like to see socialism triumphant. If this is not the case then the schism between the majority of working people’s lives and the art producers will be much wider, and in that respect art will still be dead. Art will become abstracted to a commodity status. The need to unite the hand and brain will be as urgent as ever, socialism will be as urgent. However, and this is important I feel, there will be those crafts workers who maintain design in the ‘lesser’ arts, as human beings will inevitably create. I cannot imagine what range of processes and disciplines will be available in a hundred years, but as long as commerce does not destroy the world through greed and war then the struggle for art will go alongside the struggle for change.

To advertise your business contact ads@theelist.co.uk 37

Walthamstow Diary Between forest and marsh lies the glorious Stow.

These are the tales and meanderings of a proud resident of E17 If you have been up to the big Sainsburys by the Crooked Billet roundabout, you’ve probably noticed the stadium neon is back. It was taken away to be refurbished months ago, and has now returned to flood Chingford Road with colour once again.

The neon hasn’t returned to the same home it left though, because the stadium is no longer a stadium. It is simply a façade, a relic of its former self, a very large gate post for the very large new development that sits on the old dog track.

There are so many developments springing up in and around E17. Most of them, like the stadium development and the proposal for the Hurricane Rooms on Bell corner, seem like monolithic identikit builds. Structures that seem to pay little or no respect to their surroundings. I will freely admit that I’m not a fan of many of the new builds in Walthamstow, but I understand that we are in desperate need of more homes. Like it or not, they need to be built somewhere, and they can’t be built as Victorian terraces.

Could these towering monoliths simply be the next phase in our architectural history? Will people in 100 years’ time look down on them, from their even taller sky scraper homes, and fight to preserve them in the way we fight to save those buildings built by our predecessors? Let’s not forget that Walthamstow has been through a building revolution before. When the railway came landowners like the Warner family took advantage of this new transport link. Row after row of carbon copy Warner flats sprung up all over E17, changing it forever. If that happened today we would call the Warner family money hungry developers, but as it stands, we look on their estate with affection.

The real challenge, the one that gets hidden behind all the marketing bumph and noise that surrounds any new development, is not the size or place of the build, but affordability. How is something made truly affordable? Solve that, and I may come to love new builds a little more. www.walthamstowdiary.com

38

Cosy cottage, in the attractive coastal town of Southwold, Suffolk available for mini-breaks.

Sleeps 4. In easy reach of E17 (2 hrs by car, 2½ hrs by train).

07768 381 807 jenniebean114@gmail.com

The highest standards in painting and decorating

MICHAEL RAK

The East London

Sausage Co.

PROFESSIONAL PAINTER AND DECORATOR

Interior & exterior painting, wallpapers and decorative finishes - residential & commercial

Call 07971

862443

Sensational

Sausages

57 Orford Rd E17 9NJ Tue-Fri: 08.30-19.00

Sat: 08.30-17.30 Sun: 10.00-14.00

Locally based, honest, unbiased independent financial advice › Wealth Management › Retirement Planning › Estate Planning › Protection › Finance › Employee Benefits Contact Antony Smith for a no obligation consultation today!

Call 0333 456 0468 or email hello@providusfinancial.co.uk Providus Financial Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

T.J.Ball & Co.

All your conveyancing needs under one roof

Buying a property is one of the biggest transactions of your life. It is essential to feel confident that you are making the right decisions as a result of the advice you receive.

Established in 1987, T.J. Ball & Co believe that when selling or buying your home you should receive quality independent advice from a qualified and experienced licensed conveyancer.

matt@tjball.co.uk 0208 5031100 www.tjball.co.uk 49 Leytonstone Road, Stratford E15 1JA

The Magpie’s beady eyes are back on the look-out for the shiniest, funniest remarks, witty retorts and bizarre sightings to steal from the borough’s social media channels.

Thanks this month to Twitter, Greater Leyton Tourism Board, Walthamstow Life and Leytonstone Life Facebook groups

Are you affected by the noise from the new flight path? We want to hear from you. We are also accepting requests for help from people who have trouble with a pea under their mattress.

Greater Leyton Tourism Board The bar for things dumped on Walthamstow streets has been raised.

These are glorious @StowDiary

@emmylouscutt My mum has asked if @GnomeHouseCIC is an actual house for gnomes. I told her yes it is.

Have you got any images of the area you’d like to share? Please send us your instagram shots of beautiful Leyton and Leytonstone.

Always remember, if the area looks shit, you can just add another filter!

Greater Leyton Tourism Board

Photos courtesy of Tim Cowlishaw, Bill Foster, Lucy Harrison and Patrick Gamble

Proud to become an official Walthamstow resident after dumping my first mattress today :) AA: You can’t leave it hidden behind your own hedge! Do it properly or don’t do it at all...

GM: That’s not his house!

LC: You’ve failed, it’s meant to be on the street!

ZF: You followed the council’s advice closely and left it in your front garden. Good citizen.

Not very Che Guevara is it?

MC: More Louis Futon than Lay Guevara MT: Some sort of badge is in order, surely?

JW: You obviously have no children yet, there’s not a stain on it :) MG: Let’s play guess the road. Who really knows their Warners?

Walthamstow Life

Dear Evening Standard, Leyton and Leytonstone are two separate places. Yes, I know they sound the same but there you go. Also not to be confused: Austria and Australia.

HW: ... or Bexhill and Bexley...

TN: Woodford Green and Wood Green, I know London’s a big place but come on it’s not that hard is it?

BM: Forest Gate and The Black Forest. Really annoying...

Leyton or Leytonstone Life, whatever @WOMBe17 Is Walthamstow still up & coming? Or have we upped and come?

Tonight’s Great Interior Design Challenge was at Warner flats in Walthamstow!

SM: Does it involve a design where you don’t hear a peep out of your Goddam neighbours?

NH: those kitchens are going to look tatty in two months time. My husband’s a carpenter and tutted all the way through!

GW: I hope that was a downstairs floor they put laminate on. Maybe that’s why she lost.

SJ: If he calls them half houses once more i will scream. They’re not!

GW: I think they also said ‘half houses in North London’ sigh.

LH: in the 1890s some were called Half Houses (see pic) SJ: Well i eat my words Walthamstow Life

@PatrickJ Gamble #walthamstow has gone crazy. I don’t even know what this is trying to achieve. God bless our British dog turds? @MikkiFL This morning on Beulah Road I saw a dog poo with a teeny Union Flag stuck in it. Makes your heart swell with patriotic pride #walthamstow @mazzoom zoom All down my road there are mini flags in dog poo. There’s like 20 pieces of poo btw We would like to publish the tourism statistics for 2015: Split of Tourism visits: Leyton 52%, Leytonstone 47%, lost on Wanstead flats: 1%.

Top nationalities who visited: 23,422 British, 13,290 relatives of residents, 1 Texan who stopped over between Industry jobs in Lithuania and Glasgow New restaurants: 17 Perfect Fried Chicken Shops.

Closed restaurants: 17 Fried Perfect Chicken Shops.

Greater Leyton Tourism Board 39

Malta Road E10

Offers in Excess of ÂŁ575,000 A Stunning Victorian Home Behind the calm exterior of this Victorian property lies a jaw dropping interior that will enthral you as you explore each room.

A wonderful example of what a creative mind and a passion for interior design can achieve. Situated in a popular area of Leyton with plentiful local parks, great community and transport links.

On the ground floor the dazzling yet cozy lounge is filled with light from the bay window and is a perfect space to relax in the evenings. The adjacent dining room is a good size, overlooks the garden and provides access through to the well appointed contemporary kitchen with doors that open on to the charming private garden. The spectacular interior continues on the first floor where there are three double bedrooms and the family bathroom. An extraordinary property that will continue to inspire, delight and enchant its next owners.

5

5. East Avenue E17 4 bed semi-detached housen for sale Offers in excess of £925,000

7

6. Clarence Road E17 3 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £575,000 7. Eden Road E17 2 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £600,000 8. Grove Road E17 4 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £875,000

8

6

March’s gallery

3

3. Camden Road E17 4 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £700,000 4. Acacia Road E17 2 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £495,000

1 4 1. Gloucester Road E17 3 bed terraced house for sale Offers in excess of £600,000 2. Wingfield Road E17 3 bed terraced house for sale Asking price £795,000

Walthamstow’s Estate Agent

2

020 8520 9300 estates17.co.uk 40 Orford Road E17

“it’s a

Walthamstow thing”...

0208 520 9300 • www.estates17.co.uk • 40 Orford Road E17 9NJ

sales • Lettings • mortgages