Somewhere random: the Wanstead Golden Jubilee Walk Every time I visit a random borough, I like to go on a proper walk described on a local website. So, to celebrate the Queen's visit to Wanstead in 2002, I found myself strolling along and around Wanstead High Street. I didn't quite follow the correct route, and I walked a bit further than they intended, but ooh, what a lot there was to see. No really.
• When you reach St Mary's Church enter the grounds by a small gate: A most impressive Georgian pile, the only Grade 1 listed building in Redbridge, and which looks like it'd be more at home just off Regent Street. Look, there's a sentry box in the graveyard once used to guard against body snatchers. • This Green is a lovely reminder of Wanstead's rural past: Indeed it is, but it's all an illusion. The A12 dual carriageway was carved straight through the middle of Wanstead in the late 1990s, like a concrete scar. But for a few hundred metres it's been hidden in a tunnel, directly underneath the village green, and you'd never realise what a complete mess the road made everywhere else. • 'The George' pub:Rather bigger than your average pub, built on the site of an old coaching inn. Most notable is the a stone plaque on the front wall commemorating the theft of a cherry pie by a scaffolder working at the pub in 1752 (and his fine of a shilling and a half). Maybe today's petty criminals should be shamed in the same way, eh, eh? • At the junction with Grove Park is 'The Corner House': Built by a Dr Corner in 1890, and with intricate astronomical etchings in the cement. A plaque by the door commemorates James Bradley, former curate of this parish and later the Astronomer Royal. The whole building is currently sealed off by metal shutters to keep out squatters. • Christ Church, built in 1861: It's a Gilbert Scott, you know. Proper gothic. • On your left is the Wanstead United Reformed Church: You'd never guess, but this church used to be where St Pancras station now stands. And when the Barlow Train Shed took precedence, they rebuilt the entire church here in Wanstead. Near some Art Deco flats. • In Wanstead High Street: What a charmingcivilisedshoppingstreet this is. Heads 'N' Tails Pet and Garden supplies (bedding plants £1.20). AG Dennis Ltd Family Butcher (a proper jolly flesh dealer). Judith of Wanstead (she sells suburban ladies clothes to suburban ladies). And horsfall and wright (my favourite shop, packed with quirky designs, but alas the website's crap). • Snaresbrook Crown Court: This gothic temple to justice (another Gilbert Scott) is no doubt much better viewed from the outside (across the giant duckpond) than from the inside. by tube: Wanstead by bus: 66, 101, 145, 308, W12, W13, W14
• This Green is a lovely reminder of Wanstead's rural past: Indeed it is, but it's all an illusion. The A12 dual carriageway was carved straight through the middle of Wanstead in the late 1990s, like a concrete scar. But for a few hundred metres it's been hidden in a tunnel, directly underneath the village green, and you'd never realise what a complete mess the road made everywhere else.
