please empty your brain below

Well, hello, nice to see you; the easiest way to get to the park is from Manor Park station, walking past my front door. The Angel and the Cad by Geraldine Roberts is a well researched (possibly less well narrated, but hey) tome that puts a lot of meat around the story of Catherine and debunks a lot of the myths that have grown up around it, including (unfortunately) the one about Wanstead House being sold off by creditors, apparently it was the Cad who sold it off. To appreciate the full grandeur, next time you visit Chatsworth, look around at the classical statues in the garden (there are a lot) - they came from Wanstead House.
The 'cad' was known to throw about his largesse very liberally to the locals...I expect the locals were very pleased to part him from his ill-gotten wealth too. So now they have a rotten playground to play in. Wooo hooo.
I've lived in E4 my whole life and never knew the origins of nearby Wanstead Park, thank you for the very well written guide!
Another great read and a welcome review of one of east London's 'lungs'. It was my dad's play area when he was a child, through WW1, and later his running club area (Forest Gate Harriers' I think). Thank you so much.
when I lived in Leytonstone I used to walk my neighbour's dog in Wanstead Park regularly. The usual walk round the lakes took about an hour, and had to end with the dog swimming in the last lake to remove most of the mud she'd rolled in. Other wildlife, as well as muddy dogs, included herons as the name of one of the lakes suggests, squirrels, and once, when I wasn't accompnied by the dog, a kingfisher.
I lived in Seven Kings/Goodmayes for the first 5 years of my married life, commuting daily to Central London work in advertising, via o/head electric to Stratford, then Central Line to Holborn Kingsway. Don't know what the route would be now. ("Redbridge?" what's that and where is it?
I had two children who used to be taken for walks in prams, pushchairs, then sccoters, then bikes in Ilford Park. Never knew about Wanstead (!!) and now want to visit. But too far away I'm afraid. Thanks for this piece - terrific photos too.










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