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WALTHAM FOREST - ONE COMMUNITY This Blog provides information about our Community in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Please send your contributions to wfoc10@gmail.com
Friday, 15 September 2017
May Morris
Lloyd Park activities
Hello everyone,
We’ve still got plenty on at Lloyd Park, even though the weather’s turned cooler.
Gardening Workshops
Improve your gardening skills for your own pleasure, or to help further your career.
- Low Cost Gardening: Making and Using Compost, Sunday 17 September, 1-4pm, course code: LYG9063-7U1
- Low Cost Gardening: Dividing Herbaceous Perennials, Sunday 24 September, 1-4pm, course code: LYG9064-7U1
- Wildlife Friendly Design for Small Urban Gardens, Saturday 14 October 1-4pm, course code: LYG9065-6U1
Standard fee per workshop £15.00, discounted fee per workshop £8.00. To book a place on any of these courses:
- Enrol online via the Course Finder database www.lbwfadultlearning
.co.uk - Call one of the borough's adult learning centres on 020 8496 2974, 020 8496 1061 or 020 8496 1131 and quote the relevant course code.
For further information: Email Cathy McLoughlin at gardeninginthepark@gmail.com
Silver Sunday at Lloyd Park, Sunday 01 October
A day of activities for older people; find out what Lloyd Park can offer.
· Try out Bowling 10.00-11.00, Synthetic Bowling Green. Free tuition with Walthamstow Borough Bowls Club and a cup of tea!
· Volunteer Gardening 11.00-12.30, William Morris Garden (behind the Gallery). Feel good, help look after your park and learn about gardening.
· Fun Walk 12.30-14.00, Outdoor Gym Aveling Fields. Meet other people and enjoy a walk round the beautiful surroundings of Lloyd Park. Plus other fun activities to help improve your fitness.
· History Walk 13.30-14.30, Forest Road Gate. Find out about the fascinating history of Lloyd Park with our local expert.
· Senior Tai Chi Corner 14.00-15.00, Outdoor Gym Aveling Fields (or Aveling Centre Community Room if it's raining). Gentle movements, to improve your health and calm your mind. Develops your balance and reduces your risk of falling.
· Walk for Women 15.00-16.00, Café next to the playground. A friendly and welcoming walk for women only. Improve your health and enjoy chatting with like-minded people.
Please contact me if you’d like further information. https://silversunday.org.uk/
Family activities
The new school term has only just started, but here’s some half term dates for your diary.
Tuesday 24 October 10am-1pm African Dance To celebrate Black History Month; African dance and live African drumming.Sessions at 10am and 11am, Aveling Centre Community Room.
Thursday 26 October 10am-1pm Hallowe’en Pumpkin Carving Plus get tips on what to do with all your pumpkin leftovers! 10am-1pm, drop in, Aveling Centre Community Room.
Plus all our regular activities continue throughout autumn and winter: www.walthamforest.gov.uk/lloyd
Lloyd Park 2020 Survey
Finally, would you like to have your say on how the council manages Lloyd Park from 2020 onwards? Complete the Lloyd Park survey, available at www.walthamforest.gov.uk/lloyd
Kind regards,
Ellie Mortimer
Parks and Open Space Co-ordinator
Parks Development Team
Tel: 0208 496 2822
Mob: 07890 553 909
Webpage: www.walthamforest.gov.uk/lloyd
Low Hall Depot
Argall Avenue
Leyton
London E10 7AS
Barking Gospel Oak Closures
Barking Gospel Oak Line Closure Details
The Barking-Gospel Oak Overground rail line will close completely once again from Sunday 17 September until Sunday 22 October for the continuation of electrification works. Special rail replacement buses will run between Walthamstow Central and Barking (calling at all intermediate stations plus East Ham), and between Seven Sisters and Gospel Oak. Passengers are directed to use the Victoria Line or other bus services between Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters.
Regular users of the line who use Oyster or Pay As You Go cards are entitled to refunds if they incur additional costs by travelling via Zone 1. Full details of this and other aspects of the closure can be found on the TfL website and on the Barking-Gospel Oak Rail User Group's website. If you have difficulties obtaining your refund, contact TfL on 0343 222 1234. The Rail User Group would also like to know about any such cases please email the rail line.
Friday, 8 September 2017
Mini Holland 8-9-17
MINI HOLLAND
Poor Designed Alleyway
Poor Designed Alleyway
Waltham Forest compared to Amsterdam
What has Waltham Forest’s Mini Holland got to do with
Holland – very little!
Having visited Amsterdam it seems to me Waltham Forest (WF) and
TFL are following a totally inappropriate model which is resulting in the waste
of £30m of public money. Amsterdam has a population of 1.1 m and WF’s
population is a quarter of that and our roads are half the width.
Pedestrians – In
this category I include those pushing prams and wheel chairs. In Amsterdam
being a pedestrian is a nightmare. The pavements are not particularly good
(same as WF) but you have to negotiate cycle lanes and road traffic to get to
the trams which are the main form of public transport and consequently very
busy. Trams stop in the middle of roads as they are not as flexible as buses.
Our cycle lane policy of having cycle lanes cutting through bus stops is
creating similar dangers as boarding a tram in Amsterdam. Gaps in the tram
lines create real hazards for pedestrians – worse than our uneven paving.
Cycling – By
definition a cycle lane makes it easier to cycle but in Amsterdam motor bikes
share the cycle lanes with cyclists, they can go faster creating potential
hazards. The cycle lanes cross pavements creating dangerous contact points with
pedestrians so if you are with a 4yr old toddler, as we were, you need to keep
your wits about you!
Amsterdam is flat so cycling is easy – in WF there are many
hills so cycling is not so attractive.
Amsterdam’s cycle lanes are extremely busy and the very
experienced cyclists speed along oblivious to others. It is not uncommon to see
them using their phones with no hands on the bike. We do not want this in WF as
it benefits no one.
Bicycles which have a range of carriers for goods and kids
take up a lot of space – typically 2 bikes for the space of a car so their
benefits are limited despite what the campaigners say in London.
Unbelievably very few cyclists or motor cyclists wear
helmets, but they use old fashioned “sit up and beg” type bikes. In WF most do use
helmets so we have a safer cycling mentality and a greater range of bikes.
Age – Cyclists
have to be fit so are usually teenagers to mid-40s which works in Amsterdam as
it has a young population, but there is no place for those disabled in any way.
WF has a much wider age spectrum so cycle lanes are only for the minority and
our disabled access is far superior to Amsterdam.
Clutter – It is
said that in Amsterdam there are as many bikes as people. Just walking along
any street you find huge numbers of bikes locked to railings taking away space
for pedestrians in addition to parked cars – even electric ones with trailing
cables. The architecture of the city is very pleasing being no more than 6
storeys high with streets beside canals, but are spoilt by the clutter of
bikes. WF just does not have the space on our streets for this sort of clutter
so we need to ensure we do not copy Amsterdam and let bike ownership get out of
control.
By trying to copy the Dutch we have wasted the majority of
the £30m on unnecessary road works – Copenhagen crossings, and trees in boxes
etc. The junction with Wood Street and Lea Bridge Road is taking months and a
massive amount of money to achieve very little and work still has not started
on the Whipps Cross Roundabout! Although our streets are half the width of the
Amsterdam streets we have tried unsuccessfully to create dedicated cycle routes
on our busiest roads e.g. Lea Bridge Road to the detriment of other road users
– the pavement in Markhouse Road has narrowed in places which does not help
pedestrians. There are numerous other examples. I just hope at the next election
we will be able to overturn this hopeless policy.
2015
2016
2017
Wood Street Junction - taken months and still not completed.
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