It was my playground growing up in Manor Park in the 80's, I knew every corner, every bump in the path. All the trails from The Green to the lake (including the hill in the woods), the beach, the grotto, the strip along the golf course. When the ponds froze over we went onto the islands and claimed them as our camps. The rope swings over the river, seeing my first snake (grass snake by the Roding), catching sticklebacks, riding our bikes around the twisting pathways by the lakes getting mean looks off the anglers. It was great fun.
I ran around parts of Wanstead Park on cross country runs. I lived in Woodlands Avenue and sometimes walked through the park to school, Wanstead High in Redbridge Lane West. Skimmed stones across the frozen lake too! Thanks for reviving memories.
I have played cricket at Wanstead cc quite a few times since I played for Ilford cc, I remember seeing a golf course to oneside but I have never known about this park being so beautiful, especially with the grotto and Wanstead Palace of which I did not know existed. I have lived in East Ham but never knew about such treasure.
Oh John how lovely this was. I had a schoolfriend living in Lansdowne road and in the 1940s and 50s we spent many happy hours there. Then I moved to Acacia road, Wanstead park was where my husband took me when I had the baby blues. Thankyou for today. get well soon. Molly
Everything from my childhood...Im in Morden,Surrey now. I lived near the thatched house as a kid and me and me mates would either walk or cycle over the flats and the park. Sometimes if we were lucky enough, friends who owned Arthur's florist on the high street, would let me have a bit've polystyrene 5'x2'. Great laugh getting it over there, even better fun once we were there. We'd be hours on the waters. Back in December 18 I visited the family grave in the city of London cemetery with my two youngest daughters (11 and 15) before trekking them round the park for a few hours, ending at...the ornamentals and the grotto. This beautiful place will always be close to my heart. Nice one john.
Wonderful memories. I lived on the Aldersbrook estate with my grandparents for a while and spent many an hour either fishing the perch pond and ornamental waters or on my bike. My grandfather had played for West Ham pre war and started on Wanstead Flats where he was discovered. My uncle was scouted for a Canadian team, the Vancouver White Caps I thinks, again from the Sunday League on the flats. Also used to watch the model boats on the flats over the far side.
Thank you for your video. I have been reading The Angel and The Cad… by Geraldine Roberts. Such an amazing book which really brings Wanstead House and the family who owned and sadly lost this beautiful house to life. And yes, skimming stones and indeed other bits of ice across large sheets of ice is magical.
Wonderful video John thanks for the upload. Thats where I grew up, living in Northumberland Avenue. When the Heronry pond used to dry up every summer the local lads used to use the flat lake bed as a drag strip to try out our motorbikes LOLOL
An amazing place , I've spent many a times here riding through all the beautiful places, the blue bells are a sight of utter beauty in this part of Wanstead Park , I've been to the museum at the temple and wore Roman helmets, I could almost picture the royals coming to visit it on elegant horse carriages . I wish we could go on boat rides in the near by lakes, marvelous views. Thanks for the Tour
Thank you for the memories yet again John, spent many happy hours fishing the Ornamental with my old Dad and Grandad from about 1960, the grotto i was always told was the boating lodge for the big house, my great Grandmother was Bertha Childs and my Great grandad was Maximilian Childs Pautard i was always told that he had to take Grandmas name when they got married because Grandma was a very important lady, i was told every year on her birthday a four horse carriage used to collect her and she would disappear for the day and come back with lots of new clothes, i wonder if she had a connection to the big house? i've always had a strange affinity with the park even now at 65 years old when i go over there it seems like i've come home
Thank you for making this beautiful video. So peaceful after watching it. And I love the background strings. Thank you so much. I am so grateful “walking” along with you.
Back in the 70`s I lived by Valentines Park Ilford,& it was so nice to wander round Wanstead Park before the Barking Relief Rd sliced through it,but you can`t stop progress.Drop someone by the Green Man Roundabout & the would not know where they were.Same goes for the Crooked Billet & Walthamstow Stadium.
Some great shots! I bought and read This Other London last year. I really enjoyed it and got very excited by one of the maps that showed the hospital - Thorpe Coombe - where I was born. For quite a few years I presumed that's where God lived.
Nice walk John and thanks for taking us as well. Its been many years since I visited the park but I do remember walks in what must be the late 60's or early 70's from Manor Park to the Wanstead Park. There was a path that ran along a stream that ran parallel to the Roding and from memory this was known locally as "the backs". One side was this stickleback filled stream and the other the City of London cemetery. Don't know if you can still walk it but it might make an interesting trip sometime.
I think I know where you mean Richard - that's maybe the Alders Brook? I've been round there a few times, take a look at a video on here titled something like 'Along the Roding from Wanstead to Barking' there's some of it on there
I recently took friends who live very near me by charlie browns to wanstead park they were amazed they thought wanstead park was the park/green by wanstead station and the little park by the bus stand !!!
Welcome back John, glad you’re feeling better. Thanks for another great walk. Too bad for the last owners of Wanstead House, but I think their loss is our gain. Loved hearing about the herons. Concluding the line about the Catholic dissenter’s execution with “the herons remain in good health,” sounds like something Terry Pratchett would say.
Thank you for the wonderful walk John, it was really lovely, enjoyed it! ❤ Loved the music! Hope you are feeling better. Take really good care of yourself!
love your vids john you should defo make a full video with the history of wansted flats / wanstead park as its fascinating and not really known to most people , always enjoy ya vids keep up the good work.
I have been into lepidoptera my whole life you mentioning looking for caterpillars with your son Walthamstow marshes has saturnia pavonia our only species of saturnidae silk moths look up pics one of our most beautiful Great to see something with great knowledge and love for the country and its nature keep up the good work john
This walk in Wanstead house area is one of my favourites of living n Leytonstone. It used to be one place my dog loved to be walked in as he headed straight for the water. I assume the sign for no bathing in the leg of Mutton pond has gone. It used to be used by young people to bathe in the pond. naked i believe in the old days The heronry was straddled by bombs in the 2nd WW and as result, the puddled lake bottom was disturbed and the water drained away. A few years ago someone re-fixed the bottom of the Heron pond and it seems to be holding up well. The building you see holds a selection of objects found in the park and the rest is storage areas. Originally it was the riding stables. Don't forget the Rhododendron in the woods if they are still there, wonderful in the spring> Sorry if you know all this but I'm reminiscing lol.
I love your videos. I walk my dog in these grounds every day. I keep changing my mind as to where, exactly, the grand palace stood. I suspect it’s where the golf club house is?
360p at moment, I'll wait until it clears up. Thanks for doing this one John, remember you promising to come back. Roding valley, home of my fishing youth. Hope you feel better :-)
thanks Mouxbar - that must be the downside of uploading 4K I guess, takes longer to process. I love it round those parts - still need to get to the source of the Roding
It was Capability Brown (amongst other landscapers) that contributed to the design of the park. This is on my door step , where I walk my dog. I’m waiting for more info about the Roman Villa that is supposed to be hidden in these grounds. A mosaic was found a decades ago.
@@JohnRogersWalks Funny old world. Like you, born in the Chilterns - Holmer Green. Then we were sort of contemporaries in London. I lived on the Hillview Estate from 1979, and signed on at Barnsbury Rd. until 1995, until I decided not to be a dole queue martyr anymore. I left London in 2005, as I may have said before. Happy days. No walkies here just now. Rain and very strong winds. Thanks again for the armchair walk, and the reminder that there is an outdoors.
What a lovely place. I want to go there! I learned that a direct ancestor of mine who was a ropemaker of Northampton had two cousins,brothers of the surname Payne. One was the Governor of the East India Company,the other the Governor of the Bank of England. So much for the constant mantra of my childhood,we were poor, we'd always been poor,we always would be poor.... Aspirational,NOT!
I wonder where the stucco peak peak of the main entrance ended up. All hand carved stone of some Grecian scene. I wonder.. every day. I wonder too, that had the house survived, would the surrounding suburban estates like St Mary’s, Warren, Draycot and Seagry Roads exist? If it had survived, what would it be? A Governmental Office? School maybe? Wow. I feel sad and in awe at the same time.
I found this recently, I had no idea that Wanstead Park's grotto had been in a movie. ua-cam.com/video/p7hZ506myvQ/v-deo.html I found this out after doing some reading on the Roding Valley Way, a (rather overgrown at the southern end) path that runs from Becton to Roding Valley station (although I did follow the river further up).
@@JohnRogersWalks it's a pretty good movie too, I had never seen it. Worth watching if only for this and the other scene that would be a spoiler also in the park.
Good article on Wanstead Park and its water features here John if you haven't seen it: www.wansteadwildlife.org.uk/index.php/en/wanstead-park68 As for the Grand Palace, which was an attempt to upstage the Churchills great house at Blenheim Palace, the original manor house over which it was constructed appears to have had Saxon origins. In 1086 it belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey but had previously been the property of the Canons of St. Pauls. A detailed history of the manors of Wanstead can be found here: www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp322-327 The history of the manor in Elizabethan times is particularly interesting and well worth a read.
Thanks Rupert - yes the Wanstead Wildlife site is a real treasure. I've also got a wonderful reproduction booklet on the history of Wanstead House and Park, although can't remember where it came from.
@@JohnRogersWalks I think the stuff about the Manor in Elizabethan times is particularly interesting. Has any of the material you have uncovered so far got an actual layout plan of the original Manor House before the later Palace was built?
Sometimes, feeling sluggish, not quite right, etc, is down to what we eat. If we want to feel really good in nature, then something can be learned from the creatures that dwell there. Those brave enough to give the raw vegan diet a chance, may just feel even better than ever...as they wander through the realms.
It was my playground growing up in Manor Park in the 80's, I knew every corner, every bump in the path. All the trails from The Green to the lake (including the hill in the woods), the beach, the grotto, the strip along the golf course. When the ponds froze over we went onto the islands and claimed them as our camps. The rope swings over the river, seeing my first snake (grass snake by the Roding), catching sticklebacks, riding our bikes around the twisting pathways by the lakes getting mean looks off the anglers. It was great fun.
Ahh it’s still the same haha
I have to say John that every walk with you is like a stroll out with a good friend. Really enjoy your videos, thank you for sharing. Take care.
I ran around parts of Wanstead Park on cross country runs. I lived in Woodlands Avenue and sometimes walked through the park to school, Wanstead High in Redbridge Lane West. Skimmed stones across the frozen lake too! Thanks for reviving memories.
the body of all of these walks have had quite a profound effect on me
what a gift you have given to us all John
The dusty pink and gray clouds reflected in the water is so lovely... Thanks John!
Thanks Carole - it’s a really magical spot
I have played cricket at Wanstead cc quite a few times since I played for Ilford cc, I remember seeing a golf course to oneside but I have never known about this park being so beautiful, especially with the grotto and Wanstead Palace of which I did not know existed. I have lived in East Ham but never knew about such treasure.
Late afternoon and early evenings walks have an atmosphere all of their own. You've evoked it perfectly here, John.
Oh John how lovely this was. I had a schoolfriend living in Lansdowne road and in the 1940s and 50s we spent many happy hours there. Then I moved to Acacia road, Wanstead park was where my husband took me when I had the baby blues. Thankyou for today. get well soon. Molly
Thanks so much for sharing those memories Charkes. I love it over there, to the whole family for a stroll that way yesterday
Thank you for taking us with you when you.
thanks for coming along brY an
It's like my local park.. absolutely love going for walks there.. have introduced many friends to the woods.. :)
These shows are true treasures John😌
Thank you so much 😎
Nice music and amazing park. Got myself a cheeky ice cream 🍦
Everything from my childhood...Im in Morden,Surrey now. I lived near the thatched house as a kid and me and me mates would either walk or cycle over the flats and the park. Sometimes if we were lucky enough, friends who owned Arthur's florist on the high street, would let me have a bit've polystyrene 5'x2'. Great laugh getting it over there, even better fun once we were there. We'd be hours on the waters. Back in December 18 I visited the family grave in the city of London cemetery with my two youngest daughters (11 and 15) before trekking them round the park for a few hours, ending at...the ornamentals and the grotto. This beautiful place will always be close to my heart. Nice one john.
Wonderful memories. I lived on the Aldersbrook estate with my grandparents for a while and spent many an hour either fishing the perch pond and ornamental waters or on my bike. My grandfather had played for West Ham pre war and started on Wanstead Flats where he was discovered. My uncle was scouted for a Canadian team, the Vancouver White Caps I thinks, again from the Sunday League on the flats. Also used to watch the model boats on the flats over the far side.
Thank you for your video.
I have been reading The Angel and The Cad… by Geraldine Roberts. Such an amazing book which really brings Wanstead House and the family who owned and sadly lost this beautiful house to life.
And yes, skimming stones and indeed other bits of ice across large sheets of ice is magical.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
my pleasure Jean
I do hope that you feel better now. Thank you for sharing your walk, it was lovely.
My daughter and her dog met you today walking in Wanstead Park. I came here to see where they were walking.
that's wonderful - really lovely to meet your daughter Susan
Wonderful video John thanks for the upload. Thats where I grew up, living in Northumberland Avenue. When the Heronry pond used to dry up every summer the local lads used to use the flat lake bed as a drag strip to try out our motorbikes LOLOL
Excellent video, John. Tragedy that a lot of the Tudor palaces were destroyed they would have been excellent tourist destinations.
An amazing place , I've spent many a times here riding through all the beautiful places, the blue bells are a sight of utter beauty in this part of Wanstead Park , I've been to the museum at the temple and wore Roman helmets, I could almost picture the royals coming to visit it on elegant horse carriages . I wish we could go on boat rides in the near by lakes, marvelous views. Thanks for the Tour
Another great video John. U was iver Wanstead Park and flats today. Truly amazing place to be and just let nature take hold of you.
Thank you for the memories yet again John, spent many happy hours fishing the Ornamental with my old Dad and Grandad from about 1960, the grotto i was always told was the boating lodge for the big house, my great Grandmother was Bertha Childs and my Great grandad was Maximilian Childs Pautard i was always told that he had to take Grandmas name when they got married because Grandma was a very important lady, i was told every year on her birthday a four horse carriage used to collect her and she would disappear for the day and come back with lots of new clothes, i wonder if she had a connection to the big house? i've always had a strange affinity with the park even now at 65 years old when i go over there it seems like i've come home
Yet another stunning walk punctuated with maps, images and great views 😊
thanks Kat - I remembered your comment about the maps so made sure to get a few in
@@JohnRogersWalks Wow thank you. It was much appreciated 😊
Really nice to hear some history of Wanstead (the place I grew up in) The park is fab and thanks for the lovely walk through. x ...Emma x
My pleasure Emma
Another wonderful walk. Thanks.
Thank you for making this beautiful video. So peaceful after watching it. And I love the background strings. Thank you so much. I am so grateful “walking” along with you.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting Woody
Lovely - just what the Dr ordered. Thank you for taking us with you.
Thanks for watching Roxy
Just bought This Other London so you will be busy reading it to me tonight😉 Great video's, thanks.
Brilliant thanks Tomas
Back in the 70`s I lived by Valentines Park Ilford,& it was so nice to wander round Wanstead Park before the Barking Relief Rd sliced through it,but you can`t stop progress.Drop someone by the Green Man Roundabout & the would not know where they were.Same goes for the Crooked Billet & Walthamstow Stadium.
Some great shots! I bought and read This Other London last year. I really enjoyed it and got very excited by one of the maps that showed the hospital - Thorpe Coombe - where I was born. For quite a few years I presumed that's where God lived.
Thanks for sharing your stroll John!
My pleasure Michael
Loved it, great walk for me Thanks for sharing SMILES
Nice walk John and thanks for taking us as well. Its been many years since I visited the park but I do remember walks in what must be the late 60's or early 70's from Manor Park to the Wanstead Park. There was a path that ran along a stream that ran parallel to the Roding and from memory this was known locally as "the backs". One side was this stickleback filled stream and the other the City of London cemetery. Don't know if you can still walk it but it might make an interesting trip sometime.
I think I know where you mean Richard - that's maybe the Alders Brook? I've been round there a few times, take a look at a video on here titled something like 'Along the Roding from Wanstead to Barking' there's some of it on there
I recently took friends who live very near me by charlie browns to wanstead park they were amazed they thought wanstead park was the park/green by wanstead station and the little park by the bus stand !!!
Welcome back John, glad you’re feeling better. Thanks for another great walk. Too bad for the last owners of Wanstead House, but I think their loss is our gain. Loved hearing about the herons. Concluding the line about the Catholic dissenter’s execution with “the herons remain in good health,” sounds like something Terry Pratchett would say.
Thanks Ross, if anything the Herons have prospered
I recently bought your book, John.. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank You John, nice short walks are ok especially if the weather isn't ideal this time of year. Feel better soon.☺
Thank you John for another wonderful video. I hope you are feeling better now. I wish you well
thanks Humble - think I'm on the mend
Wonderful reflections - literally and figuratively. Thank you for taking us along, John, and hoping you are feeling much better now!
thanks Mariana - was actually back over there yesterday with the whole family
What a nice wee walk thanks John
Thank you for the wonderful walk John, it was really lovely, enjoyed it! ❤ Loved the music! Hope you are feeling better. Take really good care of yourself!
A stunning walk, so beautiful, thank you John, always informative and fascinating.....
thanks so much Leslie
Good walk always improves how you feel! And so does watching your walks!
Great walk John, hope you are feeling better now.
Thanks. I really enjoyed that. I live locally and was only there earlier. It has helped clear up a few confusions I had about where the house was.
love your vids john you should defo make a full video with the history of wansted flats / wanstead park as its fascinating and not really known to most people , always enjoy ya vids keep up the good work.
I have been into lepidoptera my whole life you mentioning looking for caterpillars with your son
Walthamstow marshes has saturnia pavonia our only species of saturnidae silk moths look up pics one of our most beautiful
Great to see something with great knowledge and love for the country and its nature keep up the good work john
Thanks for the vid, hope you are feeling better.
thanks Richard - yes I'm nearly back to 100%
I shall definitely buy your book John , from the Boleyn book shop once this madness ends. I have lived in Newham all my life... born Forest Gate.
This walk in Wanstead house area is one of my favourites of living n Leytonstone. It used to be one place my dog loved to be walked in as he headed straight for the water.
I assume the sign for no bathing in the leg of Mutton pond has gone. It used to be used by young people to bathe in the pond. naked i believe in the old days The heronry was straddled by bombs in the 2nd WW and as result, the puddled lake bottom was disturbed and the water drained away. A few years ago someone re-fixed the bottom of the Heron pond and it seems to be holding up well.
The building you see holds a selection of objects found in the park and the rest is storage areas. Originally it was the riding stables.
Don't forget the Rhododendron in the woods if they are still there, wonderful in the spring>
Sorry if you know all this but I'm reminiscing lol.
Great video John, really interesting stuff 👍🙂
My family always went to Wanstead Park during the summer months, but always via Wanstead tube station. At times there could be up to 20 of us.
I love your videos. I walk my dog in these grounds every day. I keep changing my mind as to where, exactly, the grand palace stood. I suspect it’s where the golf club house is?
the original gate posts to the house is at the start of overton drive if you didn't know have a look a hidden gem in plane sight
Thanks Andy, frequently walk past them - gave those gate posts a nod just yesterday
Great, quite inspiring.
360p at moment, I'll wait until it clears up. Thanks for doing this one John, remember you promising to come back. Roding valley, home of my fishing youth. Hope you feel better :-)
thanks Mouxbar - that must be the downside of uploading 4K I guess, takes longer to process. I love it round those parts - still need to get to the source of the Roding
Time and distance become adjectives around Wanstead Flats. Cheers John : D
It was Capability Brown (amongst other landscapers) that contributed to the design of the park.
This is on my door step , where I walk my dog.
I’m waiting for more info about the Roman Villa that is supposed to be hidden in these grounds. A mosaic was found a decades ago.
thanks john excellent
Cheers Steven - I went down to Cody Dock today, hopefully have the video up next Sunday
brilliant can not wait for that one @@JohnRogersWalks
another great vidio
thanks Lee
Lovely short walk.
Where did you live near King's Cross / The Angel ?
And how long ago ?
Thanks Rob. I lived on Barnsbury Estate, near the Angel and Caledonian Road until 2006 - loved it round there
@@JohnRogersWalks Funny old world. Like you, born in the Chilterns - Holmer Green. Then we were sort of contemporaries in London. I lived on the Hillview Estate from 1979, and signed on at Barnsbury Rd. until 1995, until I decided not to be a dole queue martyr anymore. I left London in 2005, as I may have said before.
Happy days. No walkies here just now. Rain and very strong winds.
Thanks again for the armchair walk, and the reminder that there is an outdoors.
excellent - thks so much
thanks Mark
What about the lost Roman Villa in Wanstead Park? (just 50 metres north of Perch Pond).
good point, I always overlook that for some reason. Looks like I'll have to make a special trip to check it out
What a lovely place. I want to go there! I learned that a direct ancestor of mine who was a ropemaker of Northampton had two cousins,brothers of the surname Payne. One was the Governor of the East India Company,the other the Governor of the Bank of England. So much for the constant mantra of my childhood,we were poor, we'd always been poor,we always would be poor.... Aspirational,NOT!
I used to play over by the palace for years, i always wanted to see the legendary ghost
I wonder where the stucco peak peak of the main entrance ended up. All hand carved stone of some Grecian scene. I wonder.. every day.
I wonder too, that had the house survived, would the surrounding suburban estates like St Mary’s, Warren, Draycot and Seagry Roads exist?
If it had survived, what would it be? A Governmental Office? School maybe?
Wow. I feel sad and in awe at the same time.
I found this recently, I had no idea that Wanstead Park's grotto had been in a movie. ua-cam.com/video/p7hZ506myvQ/v-deo.html
I found this out after doing some reading on the Roding Valley Way, a (rather overgrown at the southern end) path that runs from Becton to Roding Valley station (although I did follow the river further up).
thanks for that link Green, I had no idea, what a brilliant connection. I love walking the Roding Valley Way in both directions
@@JohnRogersWalks it's a pretty good movie too, I had never seen it. Worth watching if only for this and the other scene that would be a spoiler also in the park.
Good article on Wanstead Park and its water features here John if you haven't seen it:
www.wansteadwildlife.org.uk/index.php/en/wanstead-park68
As for the Grand Palace, which was an attempt to upstage the Churchills great house at Blenheim Palace, the original manor house over which it was constructed appears to have had Saxon origins. In 1086 it belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey but had previously been the property of the Canons of St. Pauls. A detailed history of the manors of Wanstead can be found here:
www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp322-327
The history of the manor in Elizabethan times is particularly interesting and well worth a read.
Thanks Rupert - yes the Wanstead Wildlife site is a real treasure. I've also got a wonderful reproduction booklet on the history of Wanstead House and Park, although can't remember where it came from.
@@JohnRogersWalks I think the stuff about the Manor in Elizabethan times is particularly interesting. Has any of the material you have uncovered so far got an actual layout plan of the original Manor House before the later Palace was built?
Sometimes, feeling sluggish, not quite right, etc, is down to what we eat.
If we want to feel really good in nature, then something can be learned from the creatures that dwell there.
Those brave enough to give the raw vegan diet a chance, may just feel even better than ever...as they wander through the realms.
What better way to perk yourself up
1st woohoo !
Iain Sinclair unmentioned.
Must be a bug going around
there's been something nasty being passed around I think