Welcome to Leytonstone London E11

November 2013:
This site is no longer being regularly updated as I have moved from Leytonstone. I hope you have enjoyed using this site. A lot of text and pictures will still be relevant for a long time to come but please check other information in case it is out of date.

Please do NOT contact me to do errands for you.

Leytonstone doesn’t have an official website, but I created this website to act as a link to all the other main official and unofficial community and resident association websites in the area.In Free time you can find out about the increasingly lively arts and music scene in Leytonstone, our own local Woodhouse Players and the Pop-up Cinema, sports facilities and where to eat out. Take a look at the Calendar for key dates of major events in Leytonstone and the borough.There’s practical information on doctors and dentists under Health, on schools and colleges under Education, and who your councillors and MPs/MEPs are under Democracy.There are profiles of the different areas and links to residents’ associations under Areas and a page for local Charities.

At the bottom and side of each page you’ll find useful links and/or live feeds to Transport for London, The Highways Agency, the Waltham Forest Guardian, Evening Standard and the local weather forecast.

If you live in Leytonstone, bookmark this site, I hope it will be the best one-stop-shop for everything that’s happening in the area.

If you’re new to Leytonstone I hope it will give you the best introduction to the area and prove that, whatever people may think about the rest of London, in the East End we’re friendly and welcoming.

The site aims to be accurate and informative, unbiased and to give a balanced view. It aims to work with, and support the local community, not compete with any other resources. It’s not an official site by any means, and nobody has paid anything towards it, so it is entirely free of influence!

I hope you enjoy the site and find it useful. The site is constantly being updated, so keep coming back: and pass on the link to anyone you know who will find it relevant. If you have suggestions for new content, or spot anything that’s no longer correct, please do let me know using the Contact Form.

Best wishes

Leigh Horton

Leytonstone tube attack 5 December 2015

#Leytonstone is one of the most tolerant multicultural parts of London. Tonight’s attack is not about Syria or Islam, it’s just senseless evil.

Speculating on the motives of the attacker is not helpful — that’s a job for the police.

The reports are that the police have tasered the suspect and taken him into custody alive. Hopefully that will allow them to try and understand how anyone thinks they can justify an attack on innocent people.

My thoughts go out to the people who have suffered terrible injuries tonight and to their families and friends and I wish them a full and speedy recovery.

The Metropolitan Police are asking for anyone who saw anything suspicious to call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321 and to contact them if you captured video or photo footage of the incident.

You can also follow the Metropolitan Police on Twitter
@metpoliceuk for the latest updates.

Time Out article on Leytonstone and its best bits

“Leytonstone’s been tipped as a hot spot for a while now, but thankfully it’s escaped the Shoreditch-style makeover that most up-and-coming areas succumb to”

Read the full and very positive article on Timeout published on 15 August 2015.

BBC One Show looking urgently for a Leytonstone family

The BBC TV show ‘The One Show’ are looking for an outgoing family from Leytonstone to take part in their live one hour programme on Wednesday 27th May — all from the comfort of their sofa in their very own home!

Anyone who is interested in getting involved will need to allow filming to take place in their house that afternoon and evening.

If this sounds like you, then all you need to do is email the team at: theoneshow@bbc.co.uk – with your contact details, and if possible a photo of your family — and don’t forget to put the words ‘Family of the Week’ in the subject header.

Ashley Jenkin
Researcher

This is a direct message from the BBC, please do not contact http://www.leytonstonetoday.net asking for more information, or with your details, as we know nothing more than what is in this message and your emails will not be forwarded!

Damon Albarn gives impromptu gig at the Red Lion

Former Blur frontman Damon Albarn surprised Leytonstone residents last week when he gave an impromptu performance of the Blur classic ‘Parklife’ in the Red Lion pub on Leytonstone High Road.

Damon Albarn was visiting Leytonstone, where he grew up as a child, a week before he releases his first solo Album Everyday Robots on 28 April 2014.

Everyday Robots includes songs based on memories of his childhood at 21 Fillebrook Rd, just a few steps from Leytonstone tube station.

Tracks on Everyday Robots include ‘Hollow Ponds‘ and ‘Mr Tembo’, a track which features the choir from the Pentecostal City Mission Church on the corner of Kingswood Road and Colworth Road.

Follow Damon Albarn’s tour round Leytonstone

Damon Albarn’s first solo album, Everyday Robots, which will be released soon includes songs based on memories of his childhood in Leytonstone (21 Fillebrook Rd) including ‘Hollow Ponds‘ and ‘Mr Tembo’, a track which features the choir from the Pentecostal City Mission Church on the corner of Kingswood Road and Colworth Road.

In the programme Damon Albarn talks of the positive influence that his childhood in Leytonstone had on his music.

Happy New Year

Locksmith sticker debate rages on

Beware burglars posing as locksmiths

The story I reported about locksmiths stickers being used by potential burglars has taken some twists and turns in the last few days.

The story was originally reported on the BBC website about a burglary in Wandsworth, but doubt has now been cast on whether this is just some form of advertising as the practice is clearly more widespread, including in Waltham Forest.

Beat the fake locksmith burglars

Beware burglars posing as locksmiths

Beware ‘locksmiths’ stickers placed on your front door, they may be a sign that burglars are targeting your address.

The BBC is reporting that burglars are targeting homes with fake locksmith’s stickers placed on front doors.

The report states that this is happening in Wandsworth but I had one on my front door a few months ago. Please read and share this BBC report — and beware!

Hollow Pond fire pictures

Fire damage near Snaresbrook Court and the small pond

Undeterred by yesterday’s fire, the boats were back on Hollow Pond today and people were out enjoying themselves in the albeit cloudier weather, but the scenes of devastation made it clear that this was by far the worst fire to have hit this part of the forest for very many years.

Fire damage was not confined to one area but affected parts of the forest near Snaresbrook Road and the former lido, and a much larger area from the main pond past the small pond and down towards Snaresbrook Court (some media reports yesterday described this incorrectly as Wanstead Flats — slightly confusingly this part of the forest is formerly known as Leyton Flats due to it being historically part of the old Borough of Leyton and Leytonstone).

Hollow Ponds evacuated as fire breaks out

The Hollow Ponds area was evacuated by police this afternoon as fires broke out and smoke engulfed the pond and surrounding forest. Rowing boats were called in and people were asked to leave as fire engines moved in to tackle the fire towards the north end of the main and small ponds.

Fire engines had already attended a fire earlier in the day by Snaresbrook Road causing the road to be shut off to traffic and further traffic disruption was caused along Whipps Cross Road and surrounding roads as a result of the later fire.