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Janet Wright disagreed when council leader Clyde Loakes said Walthamstow needed "a kick up the backside". The kicks came thick and fast as the council slashed gallery and museum opening hours, closed a library, threw out qualified staff, sent books to the incinerator, condemned the one remaining theatre -- and threatened to stud the town with tower blocks. Janet Wright is a local author who wants Waltham Forest council to stop kicking Walthamstow. More to the point, Walthamstow is a wonderful town with an enviable character and community life, well worth defending, and is the star of this blog.
Posted at 5:05pm Tuesday 2nd December 2008
Trouble on your doorstep
There's a new doorstep-collection scam operating, and it's a bit smarter than the usual ones. I've just had a leaflet through my door requesting bags of clothes and bedding for the "Children's Welfare Foundation". This organization claims to “provide help and support for terminally ill babies and their families”. Brings tears to your eyes, doesn’t it? I would love to bring tears to their eyes, as this is a cynical con-trick.
Posted at 10:11am Friday 31st October 2008
Picture this
Walthamstow’s photographic society, founded in 1894, isn’t just one of the oldest in the country, it’s also one of the most successful. Its free annual exhibition is on this week at St Mary's Welcome Centre in Walthamstow village: weekday evenings and all day Saturday 1 November.
Posted at 4:12pm Friday 12th September 2008
Pulped Fiction on the E17 Art Trail
Why was I up at midnight last week, cutting out fake book covers into shapes that would never fit a book? I was working on “Pulped Fiction”, my contribution to the State of the Borough exhibition, on the E17 Art Trail.
Posted at 11:27am Thursday 28th August 2008
Listed building left to rot? Don't worry, it's the council's.
A beautiful listed building has been damaged and is being left to decay, putting the safety of its users at risk. Don’t worry, you may say, the council can order the owners to maintain it. Tough luck, it’s Waltham Forest Council’s own flagship library in Walthamstow town square.
Posted at 9:18am Tuesday 19th August 2008
Save our iconic landmark
Walthamstow dog track looked like a symbol of the whole town, the day it closed.
Posted at 2:50pm Friday 11th July 2008
Waltham Forest council is a washout again
Is there anything this council won’t do to avoid consulting the public?
Posted at 12:56pm Friday 4th July 2008
Fire and rain in our action-packed libraries
St James Street open-air library could be the most popular spot in Walthamstow for readers this Saturday. The nearest official library, at Walthamstow Central, has been closed since a fire last week. And if you’re going to say that saves the council taking books to the incinerator again -- don’t be so cynical!
Posted at 12:40pm Friday 27th June 2008
Tempest hits open-air theatre
Staging open-air shows in England is, as some joker said about second marriages, a triumph of hope over experience.
Posted at 11:50am Thursday 19th June 2008
Welcoming our new theatre pub
Would you believe a bunch of actors and music-lovers strolling down Hoe Street one day noticed a pub to let and said, “Hey, let’s do the show right here”? In the finest tradition of stage musicals, that’s pretty much what happened at the Rose & Crown.
Posted at 11:57am Monday 16th June 2008
Music in the Village (and many other places)
What have churches, pubs and cafes got in common with grass verges and the pavement outside closed public buildings? Answer: they’re just some of the spots Walthamstow’s resourceful musicians have found to play in, as venues are closed down or priced out of reach.
Posted at 10:57am Thursday 12th June 2008
Walthamstow Resistance
The weather may be up and down, but it looks like being a long hot summer for Waltham Forest council. Local people have already held two demonstrations against its anti-Walthamstow policies in the past two weeks. And there are likely to be more ahead.
Posted at 3:40pm Tuesday 20th May 2008
The Wonders of Walthamstow
I love Walthamstow. I love the old Warner terraces and the new houses built on Second World War rubble, the marshes and the forest, the William Morris Gallery and the noisy old market.
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