Google’s Street View which adds street-level 360 degree imaging to Google Maps has gone live in the UK, including full (well, almost) coverage of greater London. E11 is included, so you can now stroll virtually down our local streets.
Here are a few examples…
The Woolworths in Wanstead has been taken over by Tesco – they’re currently fitting it out as a “Tesco Metro”. Bad news for existing local shops as they’re sure to feel the squeeze once the new store opens. One of the best aspects of Wanstead is its almost village-like charm, partly due to the wide range of local shops and cafes and the relative absence (bar Somerfield) of the big supermarkets. Hopefully this isn’t the start of the slippery slope towards a high road like Leytonstone’s.
Speaking of Leytonstone, the Conservative Party have been sending flyers out regarding the Woollies shop there, concerned what the council are planning to do with it. One of their suggestions, a book shop selling coffee was already attempted on Church Lane a couple of years back – Prospero I think it was called. Nice enough place, but didn’t last very long. Their other suggestion, a shopping arcade, sounds more promising to me – maybe something along the lines of the arcade near Liverpool St. Station, sympathetically built in an art deco style to match Leytonstone Library. Well we can dream can’t we … I’m betting it ends up as a cheap supermarket like Aldi or another 99p store 
UPDATE – At the January Leytonstone Community Council meeting, Cllr Jenny Gray “assured residents that the site, which was owned by the Council, would be turned into good use. She added that the Council was in contact with a number of companies (including Peacocks, Argos and Sainsbury) and Woolworth’s administrators in order to ensure that quality shops would come into the area.”
Currently, despite being the birthplace of one of the greatest film directors of all time, Alfred Hitchcock, E11 can’t boast a single cinema, not one. However, things were not always that way. In fact Leytonstone once boasted four large cinemas, how times have changed…
Originally opened in October 1909 as a roller skating rink located next to St. John’s Church, Leytonstone. The owner, Mr. James White enlisted architect P. Cornish to convert the building into a cinema and ”The Rink Picture Palace” opened on 15th June, 1911.
Seating capacity, after some modification to the interior in 1913, was 1000 all on a single floor. The main entrance was next to Bearman’s department store on Leytonstone High Road and was reached via a long arcade.
In 1926 the cinema was purchased by Bernstein Theatres, a successful chain headed by Sidney Bernstein who, in 1921, had inherited control from his father, Alexander. The Cecil Masey and Theodore Komisarjevsky re-designed “Rialto” opened on 6th January, 1927.
Capacity had been increased to 1760, still all on one floor. Stage facilities and a cinema orchestra, including a Compton theatre organ, allowed for variety shows as well as films. The Compton from the Rialto is still in existence today – see www.wizardcompton.org.uk for further details.
We went to St. Andrew’s Church for the Christmas Day service this year – normally we go to midnight mass, but with a couple of youngsters in tow that’s a bit impractical at the moment. Now, we’re not exactly regular churchgoers by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, to be honest, outside of weddings, christenings and funerals, a couple of times a year is about as much as we manage (at best). We do try to make an effort at Christmas time though as, at the end of the day, that’s what its really about (isn’t it?). Anyway, the point is, we were quite shocked to see the lack of numbers in the congregation there – I counted about 35 people which, for the big day itself, seems like a pretty poor showing. The service itself was great, the church looked fabulous inside (St. Andrew’s has some very nice stained glass windows), everyone was in good voice for the carols, all in all a thoroughly enjoyable part of our Christmas Day experience.
St. Andrew’s has played a major part in the history of Upper Leytonstone, its development as a community, and is also an important (grade 2 listed) building in its own right. At the risk of sounding “preachy” (and possibly somewhat hypocritical to boot), if you think that’s worth preserving, then consider supporting it!
For more information on St. Andrew’s, their website can be found at www.standrewsleytonstone.org.
“Stratford City”, the lesser-known twin of the London 2012 Olympic development will completely change the face of East London. In the hands of Westfield (they’ve just opened another huge shopping centre in West London), Stratford will be transformed, providing major retail outlets including John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, hotels, restaurants, as well as a huge new shopping mall. Now, while this is all good news as far as I’m concerned, I am wondering what the impact is likely to be on Leytonstone.
Shame to see that Long Chang, the Chinese supermarket on Leytonstone High Road appears to have closed down – it only opened earlier this year. Not sure why – probably (as with many local shops that have fallen by the wayside) lack of support and/or the impact of the nearby Tesco.
There is to be a by-election in the Forest Ward of Waltham Forest on Thursday 12th June, 2008. The seat being contested was formerly held by the Lib Dem candidate, Imran Abrahim. More info here.
The Leytonstone Festival is rapidly approaching once again. This year the fun and games will run from Saturday 5th July 2008 to Sunday 13th July 2008. Once the schedule is firmed up, we’ll add it to the london-e11 calendar. For more information and the very latest news, you might want to pay a vist to the festival website (www.leytonstonefestival.org.uk).
As part of this years festival, the Ferndale Area Residents Association (FARA) are organising a photo competition. The theme is “My Leytonstone – things I like/dislike”. The competition is open to any Leytonstone resident, adults and juniors (age 12 and under).
When I first moved to Leytonstone some 10 years ago, many property guides still described the area as ”potentially another Islington”. Now what they were referring to was the “gentrification” of Islington which started in the 1960′s and has seen the area become one of the most sought after places to live in London.
Gentrification refers to the phenonemon where once well-off inner city areas which have since become run down are re-discovered, seeing a surge in the value of property, rapid urban regeneration and a demographic change towards young people with large disposable incomes or well-off older residents.
Having worked in Islington for over a year, I’ve often been struck by certain similarities with Leytonstone. Bearing that and other factors in mind, I can certainly see why some pundits thought it could become a boom area…
Why hasn’t it happened then? Well, there’s probably no simple answer to that. Gentrification is a complex and unpredictable process – there isn’t a single explanation for what triggers it. There has to be a catalyst – often cheaper areas populated by people with more artistic leanings become seen as “hip”, attracting people mainly because of the “buzz” – Greenwich Village in New York is a prime example of this. In other areas, investment by developers (re-furbishing older houses to a high standard or building new, quality apartments) can kick things off.
Unfortunately in Leytonstone, particularly near the High Road, many houses are still run-down, and while we do have an artistic community (local bands, music venues, an ameteur dramatics group and a yearly festival), maybe they aren’t supported or encouraged enough either by the council or by us residents.
Whether Leytonstone wants gentrification is another matter, it is often blamed for displacing less affluent members of communities as new, wealthier people start to move in. This is possibly misleading though – there’s also evidence to suggest that people will generally be happy to pay more to live in a nicer area. Of course property owners stand to benefit hugely, but may also stay on if local infrastructure (shops, restaurants, entertainment) increases in quality as well.
Waltham Forest Council has declared war on “the blight of the Chicken Shops” within the borough. Prompted into action by the results of recent consultations with residents, the council is formulating a strategy to address some of the problems blamed on the proliferation of these and other fast food outlets – excessive litter, provision of unhealthy, poor quality food, and negative impact on the high street due to poorly kept shop frontages.
From the March 2008 Leytonstone Residents’ Report…
Anti Junk Food Strategy
Over the next month the Council, will be pulling together an aggressive
strategy to deal with the proliferation of chicken shops and other fast
food outlets. The strategy will strengthen the Council’s position to
say ‘no’ and reject planning applications; review existing opening
hours and conditions; involves greater trading standards and
environmental health enforcement and involvement; looks at working with
parents and schools to reduce the number of children leaving schools at
lunchtimes; and looks at using the powers the Council has under the
Local Government Act 2000 for example the ‘Powers of Well Being’
Legislation and the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005.
The Council is doing this now because of the extra capacity and
resources, which are going into the Councils planning and enforcement
functions, as part of this years Budget. Along with a desire to test out
various previously untested powers to see if they have the strength and
desired affect, to enable local council’s to fight these shops, their
proliferation and their impact.
Building on our experiences in Leytonstone, no more clearly
demonstrated than in this months Planning Update, we fully support the
Council’s approach, which was unveiled by Clyde. We know these chicken
shops have no part to play in our plans to revitalise and regenerate our
town centres. We know that they provide unhealthy, poor quality food;
their shop fronts are often dirty and unkempt, they are a breeding
ground for late night anti social behaviour and most importantly, our
residents are sick of walking down streets littered with chicken boxes
and half chewed food; it’s disgusting.
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