Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2019
Contents 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 24 26 28
Introduction and History Walthamstow Village in Bloom Gardening Club Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Displays Wild About Ponds Bulb Planting Henry Maynard School Village Veg, Our Community Allotment & Food Growing Projects Front Garden & Beautiful Premises Competitions BEE17 Conservation & Wildlife Our Green Spaces Annual Spring Clean and Big Clean Up Plant, Seed and Produce Swaps - Spring and Autumn Vestry House Community Garden Crime Prevention & Civic Pride Our Calendar of Events Achievements and Recognition Fundraising, Gifts-in-Kind & Awareness Main Sponsors & Credits
Introduction and History Walthamstow Village is an ancient nucleus of present day Walthamstow, located in north east London. The Domesday Book records that Walthamstow, at the time of the Norman Conquest, comprised four separate village settlements. The parish at the time was called Wilcumestou, probably Old English for the welcome place.
At the Village’s centre are St Mary’s Church, consecrated 900 years ago, and a 15th century timber-framed hall house known as The Ancient House. From the 18th century the church common was built upon with the erection of the workhouse (now Vestry House Museum), the Squires’ Almhouses and the National School and other notable buildings, many of which will be seen in our tour of Walthamstow Village in Bloom. William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834. The family lived in the now renowned William Morris Gallery and attended St Mary’s Church until 1856. The coming of the railway in 1869 generated a rapid population increase. With the houses came the shops and by 1877 Orford and Beulah Roads were the shopping centre of Walthamstow. The relocation of the town hall from Vestry House to Orford Road in 1876 confirmed its status until the opening of the station at the Central and the relocation of the town hall to Forest Road drew away commercial development leaving the Village intact. The Village was designated a conservation area by Waltham Forest Council in 1967 and the adjoining Orford Road area designated such in June 1990. In 2003 the WVRA successfully campaigned for Retail Parade Status to be re-granted to Orford Road. In 2015 it became pedestrianised as part of the Mini-Holland scheme and is thriving with independent shops, galleries, restaurants and a Saturday artisan market at the Community Hub.
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Walthamstow Village in Bloom In 2003 Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association (WVRA) formed an Environment Committee in response to concerns raised by residents about litter, fly-tipping, graffiti and anti-social behaviour. The Village was in a terrible state, so we organised the first of our annual spring cleans and started a monthly gardening club and have, over the years, adopted most public spaces. We first entered London in Bloom in 2008/09 and since have won many Gold awards, both nationally in the Urban Community category, and as a London Village. We enjoy the structure, support and inspiration that the Bloom initiative provides and the benefits of community gardening to the area are innumerable. We raise our own funds and secure grants, beg sponsorship from local businesses, take advantage of freebies and propagate plants from division and seed. Being 100% volunteer-led, it’s the peoplepower that’s vital to us.
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Again, this year we have been invaluably assisted and supported by Waltham Forest council, especially officers Paul Tickner and Justin Sander and their colleagues and contractors. We continue to inspire, visit and help start new and established groups across the borough, encouraging them to enter as IYNs. There are now so many that we have joined up and formed The Waltham Forest Community Gardeners group to share ideas and support each other. Walthamstow Village in Bloom includes the Walthamstow Village and the Orford Road Conservation Areas and surrounding streets. It encompasses areas of the Hoe Street and Wood Street wards of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Thanks to the Bloom Effect, our Village thrives, with people clamouring to live here, properties being renovated and shops opening. New visitors are always delighted to discover our “gem of a Village” and that we have such tremendous community spirit.
Gardening Club The Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association’s Gardening Club started in August 2004 to tend the beds on the Village Square. We now maintain all the planters, flowerbeds, tree pits and any public spaces that require attention. We have a core group of stalwarts who turn up every month, come rain or shine. Before each gardening day a reminder email is sent and posted on Facebook. Some volunteers come regularly, others when they are available or want to participate in a certain project. Others go out independently to do a spot of weeding or planting. Those who join in include families with children and people of all ages, abilities and from a wide variety of backgrounds – we believe in inclusion and intergenerational activities. We meet on the first Saturday of every month until June when we add weekly Saturdays and Wednesday evenings when the bells of St Mary’s ring out to serenade us. We have a year-round list of activities that includes weeding, planting and pruning, litter-picking, re-painting street furniture, clearing and cutting back vegetation from footpaths and tending the Community Meadow. Some volunteers bring their own tools and gloves and others use those that we have amassed and purchased. Once a year we ask residents for unwanted tools and John Chambers repairs and sharpens them. We hand out laminated Village weed recognition sheets to aid volunteers. We are supplied with green-waste bags by Waltham Forest that we can leave by any street bin for collection. We have been joined this year by Ralph Ballard aged 14 who is working towards a Duke of Edinburgh award. It’s a great way to meet neighbours who become great friends, we have lots of laughs and the satisfaction of a good job well done.
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Adoption of Planters, Flowerbeds and Floral Displays Year by year, since 2007, we have adopted around 30 planters and flowerbeds and 45 tree-pits, the Village Square, Village Veg Plots, the meadow, Chalmers House & Grove Road orchards and work on many more. They have inspired residents in surrounding and nearby areas to do the same and Gardening Groups are springing up around us creating a green corridor through the borough. They are funded by the WVRA, Hoe Street Community Ward Fund, Fullers Builders, BEE17, NISA, Estates 17 and other sponsors with maintenance carried out by the Gardening Club. Five residents, who are unable to attend Gardening Club Saturdays, have very kindly “adopted” planters that they maintain, as and when they can. Walthamstow is the birthplace of William Morris and, with his work in mind, we design the planting of our many brick-built planters, tree-pits and beds. The planters have been transformed from eyesores, with damaged brickwork, overgrown shrubs blocking sightlines which attracted litter, and provided cover for anti-social activity, to displays that act as gateways to the Village, giving year-round interest in texture, movement and colour and attract beneficial insects including forage for our BEE17 bees. The perennial plants are hardy and drought-tolerant and we collect seeds, divide the plants and take cuttings so that we can sustain and maintain them. They’re all underplanted with spring bulbs and we add seeds, home-grown annuals and biennials to enhance the displays.
Folkstone and St Mary Roads have started their own gardening club run by Sophy Bristow and, with help from Community Ward funding, care for a pocket-park, verges and planters on the East and West railway bridges and in front of the mosque on East Avenue.
We have a year-round programme of pruning, deadheading, seed-collecting and weeding and we use no herbicides or pesticides and only organic feed. We divide and take cuttings from established plants. We reuse plastic pots and trays or give them away to other groups.
Grove Road and Pembroke Road residents both have Facebook groups to coordinate watering beds and trees, creating tree-pits and planting bulbs.
We use water wisely and, so far this year, we have not watered them. In times of drought or after new planting, we put out a plea for residents to collect their “grey” water to use on the beds and new trees.
In February all the Village beds are fed and mulched with compost donated by North London Waste Authority.
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The residents of Barclay Road have edged and planted their tree-pits.
Orford Road Tree-Pits, Gateway Boxes and Hanging Baskets The flush tree-pits that act as raingardens, get very hard wear in our main shopping street and the plants suffer especially after gritting in winter. This year, to save water, after the spring bulb displays of 880 spring bulbs matching those in Vestry Road, we are mulching round the trees. The gateway tree boxes are planted with a mix of ivy, spring bulbs and perennials and are cared for by The Village Bakery and The Queen’s Arms.
Vestry Road Tree-Pits Sponsored by the WVRA, Gerry Clegg from Cherry Close built new tree-pit edges in 2018. They are underplanted with spring bulbs.
Chalmers House Orchard Project (CHOP) Jakob instigated and leads the project at the local authority property on Orford Road. In 2016 we planted an orchard of fruit trees and a flowerbed full of pollinator-friendly perennials and 500 bulbs donated by the MPGA. The lawn fronting Orford Road is planted with 10,000 Purple for Polio Crocus tommasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’ corms. The CHOP project is improving community cohesion as we all enjoy gardening together and has made a pleasant garden for the residents who will enjoy fruit in late summer.
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Wild About Ponds In 2019 we’ve gone Wild About Ponds. Walthamstow Village was honoured to be chosen by the RHS and the Wildlife Trust to kick-start their joint #WildAboutPonds campaign and, with their generous help with labour, advice, equipment, materials and plants, plus a donation of pebbles and gravel from Selco Walthamstow and three waterbutts from the WVRA, we have created a network of ponds from Orford Road to St Mary’s: a bog garden and pond in the churchyard, a container pond and meadow in a front garden, a pre-formed pond in the carpark of Hayward House and a pot-pond at Holmcroft House, the sheltered housing site. We’ve been encouraging people to help birds, insects, amphibians and hedgehogs by adding ponds and bog gardens of any size. Residents are given advice, the Ponds for All booklet and can visit the four different ponds we’ve made to see what would suit their space.
Beautiful creation; such a blessing! sharing this with the community. - Averil Pooten Watan, Facebook
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Plants donated by the RHS: 3 x Iris pseudacorus (flag iris) 3 x Eupatorium cannabinum (hemp agrimony) 1 x Lythrum salicaria (loosestrife) 2 x Geum rivale (water avens) 1 x Alisma plantago-aquatica (water plantain) 1 x Nymphaea alba (white waterlily) 4 x Ranunculus flammula (lesser spearwort) 4 x Myosotis scorpoides (2 x alba and 2 x blue forget me not) 8 x Lychnis flos-cuculi (ragged robin) 4 x Butomus umbellatus (flowering rush) In addition, we collected 30 marginal and bog plants left over from Chelsea Flower Show via Wayward from the Barking Riverside Project. Perennials are planted round the ponds for cover and a meadow-mat laid by the container pond site.
We have negotiated with a wholesale aquatic nursery to make bulk orders of plants for residents. We were featured making the ponds in the RHS Grass Roots magazine and filmed with them for an ITV news feature aired during National Gardening Week. After a risk assessment at the churchyard Tim fitted warning signs and a chestnut hurdle fence with money donated by the WVRA. The pond at the church is beautiful thanks to work by our volunteers, especially Jakob, Tim and David. It has become a favourite spot for visiting humans and wildlife including a toad, tadpoles, damsel flies and lots of thirsty BEE17 honeybees. https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2019-04-29/ blossoming-britain-how-gardening-helps-us-togrow/
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Bulb Planting Since 2003 we’ve held a planting event every autumn and over 100,00 bulbs have been planted. The Village looks stunning throughout spring and he pollen provides forage for early pollinators. In autumn 2018 we were again generously awarded bulbs by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in association with Taylors Bulbs, this time for planting in the churchyard’s south border: 25 x Tulipa x ‘Apeldoorn Elite’ 25 x Tulipa x ‘Holland Beauty’ 50 x Tulipa x ‘Red Riding Hood’ 25 x Hyacintha orientalis ‘City of Haarlem’ 25 x Hyacintha orientalis ‘Delft Blue’ 25 x Allium amplectens ‘Graceful Beauty’ 25 x Camassia leichtlinii 25 x Ipheion uniflorum ‘Alberto Castillo’ 25 x Triteleia brodea ‘Aquarius’
Walked past Chalmers House this afternoon. Looking lovely! - Sophy Bristow, Facebook
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On 5 November we held an event to plant another 5,000 Crocus tommasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’ corms on Vestry Green and the grass verges. They were purchased for £95 via the RHS Britain in Bloom and Rotary International initiative #Purple4Polio. The purple crocus represents the purple dye used to mark the fingers of children who have been immunised. The 10,000 planted in 2016 & 2017 were a fantastic sight in the grounds of the Chalmers House Estate, fronting Orford Road! Tulip bulbs were planted outside the Waltham Forest Community Hub by attendees of the Macmillan Coffee Morning in September; each flower was dedicated to a family member or friend who sadly lost their life to cancer. We were lucky recipients of hundreds of daffodil bulbs from WF as part of their Big Bulb Giveaway and 200 mixed hyacinths from Andrew Blount that we planted in the carpark at the CGL project at 1 Beulah Road.
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Henry Maynard Primary School Recommissioning the Community Garden In November, Nicola Wilson, head of the infants’ school, approached us after a discussion at a PTA meeting about recommissioning their unused community garden at the adjoining junior school site. The Community Garden built in 2008, had not been used for four years as, after a reorganisation of the school and staff, it had become overgrown and fallen into dangerous disrepair. We did a couple of site visits and made plans, and on 23 March we held a massive clean-up along with the school community and volunteers from Timberland head office. The shed was cleared out and the old gardening tools and equipment sorted, cleaned and repaired.
The pupils made a wish-list of pollinator-friendly plants that the WVRA agreed to fund, but after posting pictures on Facebook, Neil Collins of Estates 17 generously offered to sponsor everything. We have a trade account with Rochfords Nurseries and bought the plants and compost for £330: 3 x Achillea fil. ‘Coronation Gold’ 6 x Alchemilla mollis 1 x Malus dom. ‘Spartan’ 4 x Buddleia dav. x 4: ‘Lochinch’, ‘Pink Delight’, ‘Black Knight’ and ‘White Profusion’ 1 x Hebe ‘Sapphire’ 12 x Lavandula angustifolia ‘Munstead’ 4 x Rosa: ‘Ballerina’, ‘Cardinal de Richelieu’, ‘Jacqueline du Pre’ and ‘Reine des Violettes’ 3 x Rosmarinus ‘Miss Jessop’s Upright’ 3 x Salvia off. ‘Purpurascens’ 9 x Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’ 1 x Solidago rug. ‘Fireworks’ 12 x Thymus – mixed 12 x Verbena bonariensis 1 x Vitis vinifera ‘Lakemont’ In mid-May we held another big volunteer Saturday and planted the garden and prepared the raised beds for the vegetables that the pupils had sown from seed, along with hundreds of sunflowers for the beds.
It’s a great gift to our children and we will cherish it. - Bairbre Kelly, Facebook
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The pupils now use the garden for reading and relaxation, gardening and after-school clubs, science and nature lessons, and they water and care for the plants. The PTA has arranged access and a rota to care for the garden during school holidays.
Village Veg, Our Community Allotment & Food Growing Projects Our Village Veg plot project outside One Beulah Road, kindly sponsored by Fullers Builders, demonstrates how to grow veg, fruit and herbs and to look good in the street-scene. The project, started in 2015, aims to give people confidence to grow-their-own and, as a result, many have gone on to get their own allotments. In 2019 the project is being led by Caroline Barton and Sam Hilsdon. The team creates planting plans and rotate the crops each year. They organise volunteer preparation, maintenance and planting days. Youngsters enjoy getting involved with the planting, labelling, learning where their food comes from and about healthy eating. The beds are limed, fed with blood, fish and bone and home-made compost. Plants are labelled and flagged when ready to harvest so everyone can help themselves.
Other Foody Projects We join in with the Apple Day held at Vestry House and the Family Bike Club runs scrumping sessions, harvesting street and “orphan” trees. Many residents grow Prima Donna hops for the Walthamstow Beer project that are annually harvested and made into beer by a local microbrewery. Henry Maynard School has a vegetable garden and raised beds in the playground that the children tend during lunch and after-school clubs. Our two mini-orchards at Chalmers House and Grove Road provide fruit for residents. Urban by Nature is a project started by local gin distiller Becky Wynn-Griffiths of Mother’s Ruin, creating a gin from botanicals foraged from local planters resulting in a true local provenance.
A rota of seven Weekly Waterers have committed to tending and watering with the hose hidden in Colin Stinton’s courtyard opposite. We thank CGL (Change, Grow, Live), WF’s integrated drug and alcohol service, for letting us use their two raised beds and allowing us to install an outside tap. Their service-users can help themselves to the produce when they attend sessions and often help with the maintenance. At the end of the season, we harvest the green tomatoes, beans etc and make chutney to give away as thank you gifts to the volunteers.
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Front Garden & Beautiful Premises Competitions In April we launched our local competition, this year led by Teresa Deacon and announced in the Village Magazine, social media and a leaflet drop within the Bloom boundary. There are categories for front gardens, balconies, window boxes and containers. This year we have added a new category: Mini Ponds to complement the environmental initiative by the RHS & Wildlife Trusts; the best pond will receive £50 in vouchers for local garden centre, Lancasters. People can enter their own premises or nominate a favourite by Friday 28 June.
Front Garden & Beautiful Premises Challenge 2018 Winners: We held our Walthamstow Village in Bloom awards ceremony at the WVRA AGM on 30 September where Helen and Teresa presented Certificates of Participation and London in Bloom Certificates of Excellence to challenge entrants present. Challenge Winners: Best Community Garden (residential) – Gerard Clegg and the Cherry Close residents Best Community Garden (business) –Vestry House Museum Gardeners Best Front Garden – Bairbre Kelly & Nick Mavron, Grove Road Best Containers – Waheed Khan, Cromwell Road Best Hanging Baskets (residential) - Benjamin Hills, Beulah Road Best Hanging Baskets (business) – The Village Public House Best Balcony – Jacqueline Goddard, Cherry Close Most Improved Front Garden was deservedly won by the residents of 47 Wingfield Road Certificates and jars of chutney, made from produce from the plots, were presented as tokens of thanks to each Weekly Waterer and the organisers who care for the Village Veg Plots in Beulah Road: Caroline Barton, Darren Abelscroft, Sam Hilsdon, Nicola Hughes, Sally Weston & Mark Tempest with Ralph and Ruby Wager, Jeffa Thomlinson, Caroline Lennon, and Colin Stinton. Burials in Bloom Challenge winners: Tim Hewitt started this great initiative in spring 2018, inviting residents to adopt a grave at St Mary’s. Tim has been very impressed by the standard of the work done and that many had researched the history of the person buried. Tim presented the prizes for the inaugural competition: First Prize: Caroline Barton for work on the William Douglas grave. Joint Second Prize: Claire Bendall for work on the Larner grave and Teresa Deacon for work on the Hodson grave.
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BEE17 BEE17 is a community beekeeping project set up by Richard Smith and Helen Lerner in 2013 to support bees and plants and provide an insight into the lives of honey-bees and the role that beekeepers play. In 2017, BEE17 received London in Bloom’s Special Conservation Award. With the experience gained over the past six years, Richard has expanded BEE17 to five apiary sites including three hives in St Mary’s churchyard and ten in Beulah Road and he is now breeding his own queens.
BEE17 honey is sold in the Walthamstow Wetlands, William Morris Gallery, local shops and delivered with the milk by Parker’s Dairy. The two original BEE17 hives, situated in the woodland at the back of Helen’s garden, remain not-for-profit. In 2018/19 we’ve raised over £1,000 and counting, from honey and handmade honey and wax products at pop-up shops and stalls. Residents come on open days to visit the hives and watch inspections. Again, we hosted the Walthamstow Wassailers who sang to and blessed the hives on 6 January. We plan planting to ensure that there are nectar and pollen-rich plants or trees in flower throughout the year; the Village is now an ideal place for bees with its many green spaces, the meadow, street trees, planters and gardens. In The Village magazine, our BEE17 website and Facebook page we ask that everyone buys bulbs, seeds and plants with all pollinating insects in mind and we direct people to the RHS Perfect for Pollinators plant lists.
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Conservation and Wildlife Biodiversity is at the top of our agenda and all planting is pollinator and/or wildlife friendly. We plan to have something in flower or fruit throughout the year to provide forage and yearround colour and interest.
Encouraging & Conserving Wildlife and Habitats We encourage and advise on planting gardens for wildlife with climbers, hedges, adding water, bird feeders, insect houses and woodpiles, and to make gaps in fences and walls for our resident hedgehogs. Nearly all front gardens are being cared for in some way, encouraged somewhat by our annual competitions. Conservation Area rules do not permit front gardens or forecourts to be changed to be used for parking. Residents must seek planning consent for any boundary changes such as removal of hedges or trees. We meet and liaise with residents, building companies and architects to encourage the inclusion of planting, cycle-storage, porous surfacing, green roofs and nesting bricks, etc.
Using Water Wisely Residents are encouraged by social media, emails and in the Village Magazine to use water wisely and to install water-butts. In times of drought we ask people to use “grey water” on their nearest streettree or planter. To feed the new ponds, we have installed a water butt at Haywood House and two in the churchyard, but we also direct the moveable guttering to run straight into the new church pond when required. This year, we are watering only new planting and the Village Veg plots. Our planting schemes are designed to be drought tolerant – fingers crossed!
The pump house tower at Walthamstow Wetlands incorporates 54 swift nest boxes. We are part of the 1000 Swifts over Walthamstow project that highlights the plight of the urban swift. We have five nesting sites in the Village. In January we promoted the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. We have many colonies of house sparrows. Again, conservation area rules help to preserve traditional nesting sites. We have installed bird and bat boxes in streettrees and encourage residents to do the same. Helen is getting a bat detector for her birthday to identify the species we have. We give advice regarding hedge planting and hedge cutting at the right times and promote the RHS’s Perfect for Pollinators scheme. We shall be joining and promoting the Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, 19 July to 11 August. We usually join the Friends of the Earth Great British Bee Count, but it’s not running this year.
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Our Urban Meadows and Wildlife Areas Our first meadow was sown in 2012 and was so beautiful and popular that we grow one each year. This spring as an experiment, we divided the area into four plots leaving wide mown paths so people can get in amongst the meadow without it being damaged. On 6 April, residents each sowed a metre-square with a mixture of April Awned Wheat, Jet Barley, Donegal Oats and wildflower seeds, heavy on field poppies. On 7 September, as part of Forest Flora (our LB of Culture initiative to promote horti-culture) we are holding an event to hand-cut it, shake out the flower seeds and gather the grasses for Rowey Perret’s workshop making bird-feeder corn-dollies to hang in the trees. We have wildflower beds at the Grove Road orchard, Berryfield Close and verges around St Mary Road. Lavender Corner, planted by us in 2013, on Vestry Road is alive with pollinators in summer.
Environment Green Walls We researched green wall systems but concluded that they contain too much plastic and need much water. Therefore, we have planted climbers directly into the ground. Nick Springett has been propagating Boston ivy and Virginia creeper that we plant by suitable walls – this also prevents graffiti. We use no herbicides or pesticides on any beds. All compost used is peat-free. We re-use or swap plastic flowerpots and raise seedlings in paper cups. We keep plastic to a minimum at our events using fully compostable tableware and corn-starch cutlery that is put straight into the brown bins with any food waste. We are benefitting from the borough’s £30m MiniHolland scheme designed to encourage cycling and walking that has provided new planting opportunities and more street trees, quietways and cycle lanes, pedestrianised areas, cycle hangars and racks and a 20-mph speed limit throughout the borough.
We planted the car park beds in Berryfield Close with a “berry field” of 105 trees and shrubs from the Woodland Trust. The beds are full of self-seeded wildflowers. Wildlife Ponds – see also pages 6-7 We have been promoting the RHS and Wildlife Trusts Wild About Ponds campaign. Residents are encouraged to install a pond of any size. Henry Maynard Primary are continuing work on their wildlife pond. They have a Green Team of pupils from KS2 who learn about and then promote recycling and the environment. They have cleared out the pond and redeveloped the area for wildlife. The pond is used during science lessons to study the life cycle of the creatures that live in water and around the area. Fresh Air Gardens Committee member and garden designer Clive Meredeen has adopted the brick-built planter on a boundary of our Bloom area where Maynard Road meets busy Shernhall Street. This Fresh Air garden incorporates plants that help absorb pollutants and mitigate poor air quality. Signs and plans with plant names encourage passers-by to follow suit in their gardens.
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Our Green Spaces Being a London Village, every green space is important. Aside from the railway embankments, the largest is the four-acre St Mary’s Churchyard. Over 26,000 burials are recorded of which 16,000+ are from the mid-17th century. There are over 1,300 monuments (the oldest is 1710); some are Grade II listed. Our fantastic rector, Rev’d Vanessa Conant and her husband Cameron are totally community-and environmentally minded and join in with and support our work. The area by the Monoux Almshouses is cared for by their residents and the remainder by volunteers led by Tim Hewitt. Along with John Fairlamb, Tim is employed for only 2.5 hours a week but puts in many, many more as a volunteer. His vision, hard work and can-do attitude are transforming the churchyard into a haven for wildlife and a welcoming space for everyone to enjoy. In early spring, thanks to the RHS and Wildlife Trusts joint initiative Wild About Ponds, we created a pond and bog garden to increase biodiversity (see pages 6-7). Last mid-summer, volunteer Wendy Bolt organised a wildlife survey and another will be carried out at mid-summer this year; this is something we will build upon.
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Last year Tim started Burials in Bloom. Around 30 residents continue to adopt untended graves, tidying and planting a manageable space when they have time; many also research the history of those buried. Small prizes are presented at the WVRA AGM. Tim has cleared the overgrown area along the south side of the church and created a border with plants donated by residents and the Essex Hardy Plant Society, bulbs from the MPGA (see pages 8-9). Tim propagates seed and cuttings in cold frames he’s built. In May, Tomasz Fiszer donated a Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’ to remember his mentor in Poland who died. Tomasz waters the tree that Tim planted near the church’s south door that’s used after weddings, for photos. In October, Tim ran a meadow-sowing event where residents of all ages prepared and sowed a wildflower seed mixture, heavy in yellow-rattle.
Tim has created a composting area and is improving the varied soil quality with home-made compost and leaf mould. In 2018, the church completed a programme of tree maintenance and, funded by the WVRA, the Community Payback Team repainted the churchyard railings. In the north churchyard there is a long-grass policy to encourage wildlife, with some areas left uncultivated. There are wood piles, a leaf-mould site and bird and bat boxes in the many trees. BEE17 has two hives and will install three more in 2020. A local Good Gym group helps monthly with ground clearance and long grass maintenance. Many parties keep Vinegar Alley clean, tidy and graffiti-free and we leave the native plants and wildflowers to encourage wildlife and to give the shady path a woodland feel. We have sown thousands of seeds and planted snowdrops, daffodils, English bluebells and primroses; it’s a picture in spring.
St Mary’s is A Creative Church for a Creative Community and has a fully inclusive programme of art, music, tours of the tower, church and churchyard and has won £1.67m Heritage Lottery Funding (HLF) for renovations, development of the church for events and to build a café and gallery in the carpark. The bells and bell tower were restored in 2017/18. The church has put in their final HLF bid that includes a full-time community gardener to run environmentally-friendly, educational gardening projects to connect residents and visitors with the heritage of the building and churchyard, to visit and enjoy art events and to make a welcoming greenspace for people from all backgrounds to relax in and enjoy.
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Annual Spring Clean & Big Clean Up We launched Walthamstow Village in Bloom 2019 on a blustery 16 March with our 17th annual clean attended by 45 residents of all ages, abilities and from a wide variety of backgrounds.
In 2003 the Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association’s (WVRA) newly formed Environment Committee ran the first spring clean after many complaints from residents concerning litter, graffiti and fly-tipping. In the fortnight before the clean we compile a list of jobs for teams to tackle. We joined Waltham Forest council’s ninth boroughwide Spring Clean which was started as a response to our success in the Village. We formed teams to clear grot-spots and fly-tips, clean up the churchyards, tidy the tops of the railway embankments; younger children litter-picked the playgrounds. Unfortunately, it was too windy to paint street furniture. John Chambers and his team removed dumped items from front gardens and alleys, and the bagged-up waste collected by the teams. This was unloaded by the garages in Maynard Road where it was collected at the end of the day by council contractors Urbaser. We laid on a free picnic lunch on Vestry Green for all volunteers. The Spring Clean is a very satisfying and enjoyable event and has helped instil pride in the area; it gives everyone a chance to work together, meet their neighbours and further improve the Village. At the end of June we’ll hold a Big Clean Up to spruce up the area before judging.
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Plant, Seed & Produce Swaps - Spring and Autumn We held our first Plant and Seed Swap in 2009 to encourage residents to improve their front gardens, window boxes and planters, to grow fruit and vegetables and to raise the profile of our Bloom campaign. Packets of collected seeds, and those awarded by GrowWild are given out and people bring their surplus seeds, plants, pots, produce and gardening equipment to swap. We give out information sheets including the RHS Perfect for Pollinators booklet and advice on increasing biodiversity, planting to mitigate climate change, making the most of front gardens etc.
We answer gardeners’ queries and identify plants. Any plants left find homes in the Village beds. At each swap we run themed children’s gardening workshops that have included meadow planting, making a giant bug hotel, making insect houses, making window boxes from reclaimed wood, growing vegetables, planting sunflowers or hollyhocks. Other stalls at the Plant and Seed swaps include BEE17 honey, WF Friends of the Earth, the William Morris Gallery stall with their range of Morris gardening accessories and plant stalls run by THUSO, Hornbeam and Museum volunteer gardeners. Our next swap is on Saturday 7 September.
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Vestry House Community Garden The garden at Vestry House Museum was created with investment from the Millennium Heritage Lottery Fund. This project transformed a bare space into a community garden which takes its inspiration from the fact that the Museum was originally built as a workhouse in the 18th century. The aim is to complement the heritage of Vestry House and to create a space for relaxation, enjoyment and learning for visitors and the local community. The garden is maintained by entirely by volunteers. The box hedging that surrounded each bed was grubbed up last year after attack by the box hedge caterpillar and we’ve decided not to replant any sort of hedging as we like the more open look and it cuts down on maintenance. Garden Layout and Horticulture: Using inspiration by the history of the workhouse garden, our emphasis is on useful plants including fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs and dye plants. There is a woodland bed, wild meadow area, a bed planted to attract insects, and a white bed designed to complement the many weddings that take place at the museum.
The Volunteer Team: Our garden flourishes thanks to our fantastic team of around 10 garden volunteers. In addition to monthly meetings the team meets fortnightly with experienced members coaching and mentoring new recruits. Thursdays are also a regular drop-in day. We recruit new members and welcome volunteers with all ranges of ability. Sustainability: We are committed to ensuring best practice in environmental sustainability by: • Using organic methods and avoiding the use of chemicals. • Leaving areas untouched to encourage biodiversity. • Planting to attract wildlife. • Using produce from our garden, including vegetables and herbs. • We have an irrigation system that is used only in times of drought. Community Use: Last year we attracted around 22,000 visitors, a significant proportion of whom used the garden. The garden is a major factor for people choosing to use the Community Room for events including parties, functions and weddings. Events: We host several events in the garden each year, for example, Apple Day, a highly popular celebration of everything and anything connected to apples. Launched during the 2019 Art Trail, from 14 June till 26 January we are hosting Swarm, a series of artist-run free events responding to the pollinator crisis. The many workshops include BeeWild: How to support pollinators in your garden, Pollinators: the wonder and the science, a beekeeping workshop, and Art Adventures: Living winter gardens for pollinators.
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Crime Prevention & Civic Pride Walthamstow Village is a quaint area that has many paths and alleys and a large churchyard. On the advice of the Metropolitan Police, we work hand-in hand with the council to carry out work to “eliminate recesses, blind corners and hiding places” and remove graffiti. Most roads in the Village have Facebook and WhatsApp groups to share information, worries about crime, anti-social behaviour, lost pets, etc. and to plan events such as street parties and Play Streets. This year’s work includes: • working with the council to encourage more residents to start groups and volunteer via poster, social media and news campaigns •
liaising with Change, Grow, Live, WF’s integrated drug and alcohol service in Beulah Road. Daily, 50 high-dependency service users visit CGL and problems sometimes occur, especially begging
• working to clean, improve and plant along the verges of Vinegar Alley, Beulah, Barclay and Maynard paths • painting and cleaning signs and street furniture • reporting, and encouraging residents to report, any fly-tipping, lighting defects and street problems to Waltham Forest Direct • reporting fly-tipping and graffiti on the railway embankments to Network Rail • running anti-dog fouling and anti-rubbish campaigns; having “hot spot” signs stencilled on footpaths • liaising with property companies to ensure removal of signs within two weeks of let/sale • attending Ward Forum meetings to raise issues and ensure residents’ voices are heard
• working with the Orford Road Traders’ Association
• consulting with WF and attending meetings regarding planning, transport, environment, rubbish collection, cleansing etc.
• supporting the Youth Club at WF Community Hub
• holding open meetings and an AGM for residents to voice concerns to relevant parties
• supporting homeless people congregating and sleeping in the churchyard • publishing articles on crime prevention in our quarterly magazine The Village •
sitting on the Public Spaces WVRA sub- committee, to liaise with residents, architects and traffic planners regarding new building work, environmental issues and traffic-calming in the conservation areas
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walking around the area monthly with WF Officers to point out and solve problems reporting unsuitable additions in the conservation areas to WF Conservation Officers
• advising other groups and giving small grants Our Hoe Street Safer Neighbourhood Team, led by PS Paul Branney, keep us updated at Ward Forums and hold crime prevention workshops and monthly Cuppa with a Copper events.
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Our Calendar of Events In 2019 Waltham Forest celebrates being the Mayor of London’s first Borough of Culture and we are all enjoying the many and varied events. We are ensuring that Horti-Culture is well represented. Walthamstow Village in Bloom is part of Forest Flora, a group of local people involved in gardening, floristry and garden design, arranging events across the borough. The first Saturday of every month, come rain or shine, is Gardening Day. Throughout June this increases to every Saturday and Wednesday evening. The Village Veg Plot is cared for every day by one of the team of weekly waterers and the planters and tree-pits by their adopters. In January, on a Sunday near Twelfth Night, it’s the Walthamstow Wassail and bonfire at BEE17. In March and June, we run Spring Clean and Big Clean Up events. In April we organise our annual community meadow sowing. In April and September, we run Plant & Seed Swaps with BEE17 and WVRA membership stalls. On 6 April, our annual Curry Supper Quiz raised £1,600. 125 residents enjoyed a quiz a Villagethemed picture round compiled by Teresa Deacon, a curry supper made by Shameem Mir and WVRA volunteers, and a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses. In May, we hold our main allotment planting event at the Village Veg Plot. On 25 May, organised by a sister group, we again entered Chelsea Fringe as the with two different, two-hour Walthamstow Street Gardeners walks encompassing local streets and community gardening groups. Both walks ended in the churchyard for tower and graveyard tours and we had stalls selling lunches and refreshments, plants and BEE17 honey.
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From 1-16 June, it’s the E17 Art Trail and on 22 June it’s Art Night with venues across the Village hosting events and gardens open as part of Forest Flora. On 6 July the Walthamstow Village Festival organised by WF Community Hub with WVRA and business support will attract thousands of people. On 13-14 July, it’s the Walthamstow Garden Party. Participants in Clive Meredeen and Tim Hewitt’s Forest Flora project Ready, Steady, Grow! that has put seeds donated by Suttons, Chilterns and Sarah Raven, growing kits and instructions into the hands of 400 residents, will gather with their plants at the Sunken Garden on Attlee Terrace. On 1 September we will hold our fourth Village Jumble Trail championed by committee member Molly Moloney. Last year over 100 households held yard sales that attracted hundreds of buyers and raised funds for local charities. On 7 September as a Forest Flora event, we will cut the meadow and Rowey Perret will run a workshop making bird-feeder corn-dollies to hang from the Village trees. On 12 October the annual Apple Day, will be held in the Vestry House gardens with the WVRA providing lunches and refreshments; last year it attracted over 1,500 people. On 29 October we hold our AGM and local Bloom awards ceremony with cheese and wine. On 2 November it’s the Big Village Bulb Plant. In December our annual carol concert on the Village Square around the Christmas tree attracts hundreds of people who enjoy free mulled wine and mince pies. Singing is led by Phillip Creasy accompanied by East London Brass band. We were awarded £450 Community Ward Funding in 2018. The event was filmed for Lucy Worsley’s documentary about Christmas carols that will be aired in December. In December, we sponsor and volunteer at the older people’s Christmas dinner at the WF Hub. There’s so much going on that there’s now no need to leave the Village!
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Achievements and Recognition
You guys do such beautiful work. We are blessed to have you in the borough! - Kathy Gale, Facebook
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Walthamstow Village! An oasis in East London. - John Hayward, Twitter
• 2016, Britain in Bloom – Silver-Gilt • 2017, London in Bloom’s Best London Small Village – Gold • 2017, London in Bloom’s Special Conservation Award - BEE17 project • 2017, London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award - Mr & Mrs Martin – 9 Church Lane
• 2009, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – silver-gilt
• 2017, London in Bloom’s Community Champion – Gerard Clegg • 2017, Britain in Bloom – Gold
• 2010, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – silver-gilt
• 2017, Britain in Bloom – Growing Communities Award
• 2010, London in Bloom’s Commendation Award - Helen Lerner
• 2017, Britain in Bloom’s Community Champion – Helen Lerner
• 2010, Britain in Bloom – Silver-Gilt • 2011, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Gold • 2011, Britain in Bloom – Silver • 2012, London in Bloom’s Best Urban Community – Gold • 2012, London in Bloom’s Floral Display Award
• 2018, WF Community Hub – Pride of the Village Award • 2018, London in Bloom’s Best London Village – Gold • 2018, London in Bloom’s Greener Streets Award • 2018, London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award - Mr & Mrs Martin – 9 Church Lane
• 2012, London in Bloom’s Christmas Lights Award • 2012, London in Bloom’s Front Garden Award - Mr & Mrs Martin – 9 Church Lane • 2012, British Empire Medal for Services to Walthamstow – Helen Lerner • 2014, London in Bloom’s Best London Village – Gold • 2015, London in Bloom’s Best London Village – Gold • 2015, London in Bloom’s Greener Streets Award • 2016, London in Bloom – Gold
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Fundraising, Gifts-in-Kind & Awareness Our main sponsors are Estates 17, Fullers Builders, Village Spar, NISA and BEE17. In 2018/19, the Folkestone Road group, via the WVRA, received Hoe Street Ward Forum funding of £2,200 to plant West and East Avenues bridge beds, install post and rail fencing round the meadow verges and a raised planter in the St Mary pocket park. Membership of the WVRA costs £12 per year, per household. Caroline Barton designed a Walthamstow Village in Bloom calendar and sets of Christmas cards and notelets that raised £343.50 £70 was raised by selling Village lavender bags that we make from gathered flowerheads. The Curry Supper Quiz raised £1208.39. The WF Community Hub lends its hall free of charge for Open Meetings and the AGM and we support their work with older people’s outings and lunches, and gardening with the youth club. Council contractor Urbaser, Petals in Bloom florist, local garden centres and residents donate surplus plants and we take advantage of national offers of free seeds, bulbs and plants. Local businesses and residents kindly donate money, goods or vouchers for raffles and events. North London Waste Authority provides us with compost that WF delivers to central points for collection by groups. WF Council generously provides our lamppost baskets, including the new double baskets down Orford Road, with summer displays and the watering and feeding of all. WF provides a Christmas tree and lights, and lights around all the lampposts in Orford Road.
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John Chambers Building & Plumbing covers travel and tickets for attending seminars and awards and his skilled labour and van throughout the year. The WVRA produces a quarterly magazine edited by Daniel Barry and designed by Molly Moloney that is delivered to 2000 properties. It is generously sponsored by Estates 17. Our Bloom events are published in the boroughwide monthly E-List magazine, also sponsored by Estates 17. WVRA has the details of just over 600 residents and community groups who are sent details of what’s on. MP Stella Creasy advertises events in her weekly e-newsletter. We have a 15-minute film made by Sarah Vincent and the Waltham Forest Video Workshop showcasing our work for anyone wanting to improve their area. https://tinyurl.com/walthamstowvideo We were filmed and featured in the London Village episode of Ben Robinson’s BBC4 documentary, Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village. Our notice board on the Village Square is kept up to date with posters and information. We have a Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association website and Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for Walthamstow Village in Bloom, Village Veg and Walthamstow Village. We have close links with WF Friends of the Earth, WF Civic Society, Walthamstow Historical Society, Organiclea, the Hornbeam Centre, The Wetlands, E17 Art Trail and Friends of Wingfield Park. Our busy committee members are also volunteers running cycling clubs, working with St Mary’s Church and Orford Road Social Club and Bowling Teams, with older people, local schools, the WF Community Hub’s Youth Group, the Toy Library, the Saturday Market and many other local projects and charities.
So inspiring. Can’t wait to start work on our project! -Jan Blythe, Chelsea Fringe
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Main Sponsors & Credits Our grateful thanks are extended to: •
The Vestry House Museum staff and all the volunteer gardeners for their hard work and for the use of their wonderful premises for hosting judging day
• Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association Committee – funding projects and support • Estates 17 – sponsors of quarterly Village Magazine and Henry Maynard School planting • Fullers Builders – sponsors of the Village Veg project and the planter in Beulah Road • BEE17 – sponsorship, plants and bulbs • The RHS and the Wildlife Trust – ponds and bog garden, advice, photos and publicity • Selco Walthamstow – gravel, rocks and pebbles for pond project • Village Spar – sponsorship • Village NISA - sponsorship
• The Community Payback team • Hoe Street Ward Cllrs Saima Mahmud, Tom Connor, Ahsan Khan and MP Stella Creasy - support and promotion of events Walthamstow Village in Bloom Committee Helen Lerner, Caroline Barton, Jakob Hartmann, Nick Springett, Clive Meredeen, Darryl Abelscroft, John Chambers, Teresa Deacon, David Christmas and Tim Hewitt. Village Veg Committee & Weekly Waterers Darryl Abelscroft, Caroline Barton, Caroline Lennon, Jeffa Thomlinson, Emma Hall, Nicola Hughes, Sam Hilsdon, youngsters Ralph and Ruby with Sally Weston and Mark Tempest. Reserve waterer: Colin Stinton. Gardening Club Stalwarts Helen Lerner, Teresa Deacon, John Chambers, Caroline Barton, Jakob Hartmann, Colin Stinton, Megan Whitear, Maggie Jules, Jill Truman, Vanessa Darnborough, Cathy Macnaughton, Carole Sturdy, Nick Springett, Steve Lowe, Diana Marshall, Andrew Blount, David Christmas. Alison Muldoon with Lucia and Sylvia. Duke of Edinburgh participant: Ralph Ballard.
Walthamstow Village Residents’ Association Megan Whitear (Chair), Helen Lerner, John Larking, • The staff and committee of the WF Community Shameem Mir, Sue Carter, Daniel Barry (Village Hub Magazine), Paul Gasson (Treasurer), David Baker (Secretary), Tomasz Fiszer (Membership) Joga • John Chambers Plumbing & Building Services Kabra, Molly Moloney (Comms), Rob Atkin-House - sponsorship, labour, van, tools (Planning). • East London Sausage Company - sponsorship
• Joshua Lerner– portfolio design •
Photos: David Foster, Richard Smith, Daniel Barry, Jakob Hartmann, David Christmas, Caroline Barton, Paul Gasson, Andrew Blount, Bairbre Kelly, Helen Lerner & The RHS. Films: Lauren Garbutt & ITV News
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London Borough of Waltham Forest, Cllr Clyde Loakes, contractors Urbaser and WF Officers Paul Tickner, Justin Sander and Ben Frearson – equipment, rubbish disposal and green waste collection, floral lamppost baskets, extra cleaning, etc.
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Sincere thanks to all the lovely people of Walthamstow Village who have volunteered and donated items and who aren’t mentioned above.
@E17inBloom @VillageVegE17 @E17inBloom @VillageVegE17
walthamstowvillage.net