Wandering Through Wanstead High street

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I am not normally a man who goes back to the past, but sometimes circumstances offer it to you and, well you can;t resist.

I spent about two decades of my life living near Wanstead in Essex. I say Essex but in truth if you ignore actual boundaries then it's the place where East London and Essex coexist....and Essex starts to win. It's not as if I've not been in the intervening years. Driven past it and a couple of years back went to a wedding reception there. But for reasons I won't bore you with I had the chance to walk along Wanstead High Street on a grey Monday lunchtime and I took it.

Firstly perhaps I should show the statue where the town remembers it's war dead.

Quietly Impressive

It did occur to me as I was wandering has changed more than any other place I remember in my childhood. I might be wrong. Memories play tricks but here's an example.

Just A Pub? Well perhaps...

There was a pub. In this spot I think that was mocked up to look like a cricket pavilion. That's gone now anyway.

Some changes were even more dramatic. Here's a pharmacy.

But not just a pharmacy

For it was in fact a main post office and, though the picture doesn't make it clear it's actually a pharmacy come Post Office now.

This however was the biggest shock.

Not the statue of Churchill But The Building behind him

That building and it's a big building, used to be the local Conservative club. Now it's a pub/restaurant. Those of you who believe in symbolism should rejoice.

There used to be a bookshop. Now it's just part of a chain of Belgian restaurants.

Belgian restaurant chain:What the world has been crying out for

Some things though remain the same. This, even for a non-drinker like me, is a true pub.

The George

And what did I feel at the end of this short nostalgic Wanstead wander? Very old.

Until the next time.