A - Z Challenge 2024 - Q is for Quirky queueing

This year I'm blogging about my local area.  

My area?  Highams Park which is in the borough of Waltham Forest in North East London, (UK) a little known place that nestles between Chingford and Woodford that most people only come to if they have a specific reason to - if not we usually get bypassed.  Suits us.

Having lived in Forest Gate in East London for 36 years (and for my husband 65 years!) moving was a big deal for us.  But we've been in Highams Park since September 2020 so I feel I know enough about it now to fill out 26 posts! 

We've only moved just over 5 miles but we didn't know this area at all before moving here.  Although of course we did have a good look around when looking for a house and there were a number of things we wanted on our check list.

One of the quirky things in our area is that we have a level crossing in the centre of town.  Trains run from Chingford (just to the north of us) to Liverpool Street in Central London.  Trains run every 15 minutes in both directions so the crossing closes at least 8 times an hour.  The warning sound goes, the lights flash and then the barriers come down.  And then we wait!

Not the best picture of the crossing and of course there's no queue as it's open.  However when it's down people and cars queue either side of the crossing.

It's not usually down for too long and actually pedestrians don't need to wait as there is an underpass that goes under the tracks.  Of course if the barriers malfunction you can be there for a while.  Sometimes if the trains are a little out of kilter the barriers can seem to be down for ages but in situations like that a few minutes can feel much longer.

It's been a bit chaotic down there this week because of this:

Photo from Facebook

Photo from Facebook

This is the other side of the crossing.  A circular hole approx. 2 foot wide opened up earlier this week and quickly became a major problem.  Apparently it's due to a burst water main.  Traffic is only being allowed across the level crossing in one direction and bus routes are on diversion.

It has been very chaotic and a major talking point on social media.  

The latest news is that the leak has been identified and fixed but they now have to fill in the huge hole.  Hopefully that won't take too long as we're currently experiencing a lot of extra traffic on our road plus 2 extra bus routes using it.

Still it could be worse - at least the hole was caused by a burst pipe and not a bomb.  

A - Z Challenge 2024 - P is for Park

This year I'm blogging about my local area.  

My area?  Highams Park which is in the borough of Waltham Forest in North East London, (UK) a little known place that nestles between Chingford and Woodford that most people only come to if they have a specific reason to - if not we usually get bypassed.  Suits us.

Having lived in Forest Gate in East London for 36 years (and for my husband 65 years!) moving was a big deal for us.  But we've been in Highams Park since September 2020 so I feel I know enough about it now to fill out 26 posts! 

We've only moved just over 5 miles but we didn't know this area at all before moving here.  Although of course we did have a good look around when looking for a house and there were a number of things we wanted on our check list.

Open space was a must for us as we had so much of it right outside our front door in Forest Gate but Highams Park has a large park area that meets our needs within easy walking distance.

There is a lot of open space for games, picnics etc and there is a small playground for the younger kids

There is also a café (Humphry's) with toilets.

The renovation of an unused building from disrepair into a popular, successful café was initiated by the Highams Park Planning Group.  More details about this can be found here.

Several large events are held in the park during the year, including a Spring Festival which will be taking place next month.

The other good thing about the park is that it borders the lake area.

I love walking around the lake and the surrounding forest area, even when it's iced over in the winter.

It has a resident pair of swans who are very territorial - every year since we've been here they've had 5 or more cygnets which they protect fiercely until they are grown and then they chase them off the lake - or in many cases the cygnets have had to be rescued and relocated elsewhere.  Mr Highams Park particularly is not to be messed with!

For anyone wanting more historical information about how Highams Park came to be click here and for more information on the lake and some lovely photos click here.

A - Z Challenge 2024 - O is for Optician

This year I'm blogging about my local area.  

My area?  Highams Park which is in the borough of Waltham Forest in North East London, (UK) a little known place that nestles between Chingford and Woodford that most people only come to if they have a specific reason to - if not we usually get bypassed.  Suits us.

Having lived in Forest Gate in East London for 36 years (and for my husband 65 years!) moving was a big deal for us.  But we've been in Highams Park since September 2020 so I feel I know enough about it now to fill out 26 posts! 

We've only moved just over 5 miles but we didn't know this area at all before moving here.  Although of course we did have a good look around when looking for a house and there were a number of things we wanted on our check list.

Phew I'm flying by the seat of my pants now as I'm preparing this post the day before it will be published and I don't have any other posts ready yet either.

But aptly today I had an appointment with the optician.

The optician is on the parade of shops opposite the station so just a 10 minute walk away.  I hadn't been since late 2021 so I was a bit overdue for my check up.  Fortunately it all went well.  In fact I'm less short sighted now than before which is good but of course meant new glasses.  I could have opted just to change the lenses in my current pair - I thought that would mean being without them for days but apparently they can fit new lenses on site and it only takes about an hour, maybe two.  But, as I have to wear them all the time, I felt justified in getting new frames.  That means I will still have the old pair for emergencies.

It was a very thorough check - as well as ensuring they prescribe the right lenses they also do an electronic scan, do a pressure test and an electronic test of peripheral vision.  

I'm thankful that everything seemed fine and hopefully my new glasses will be ready in about 10 days time.

Hubby has also been to this optician and they picked up a slight problem with his eyes and were able to refer him to Moorfields - a London Eye hospital that again is within fairly easy reach of us.  So far it is just a case of monitoring him but at least now if things change he will get the treatment he needs.

A good local optician was on our checklist when we moved here and thankfully we have one.

A - Z Challenge 2024 - N is for Neighbours

This year I'm blogging about my local area.  

My area?  Highams Park which is in the borough of Waltham Forest in North East London, (UK) a little known place that nestles between Chingford and Woodford that most people only come to if they have a specific reason to - if not we usually get bypassed.  Suits us.

Having lived in Forest Gate in East London for 36 years (and for my husband 65 years!) moving was a big deal for us.  But we've been in Highams Park since September 2020 so I feel I know enough about it now to fill out 26 posts! 

We've only moved just over 5 miles but we didn't know this area at all before moving here.  Although of course we did have a good look around when looking for a house and there were a number of things we wanted on our check list.

Of course everyone wants good neighbours and we've been lucky on that front.

Due to the layout of our plot we only usually see the neighbours to our left at the front of our house.

We found it quite amusing that Jeff was cleaning his car on his front the afternoon we moved in.  Jeff likes to know what's going on and talks to everyone passing by that he knows.  No doubt he wanted to check us out lol.  Actually he's a lovely guy and we've been more than happy to leave a set of keys with him.  Sadly his wife Anne, died this New Year's Day.  She had respiratory problems for many years and gradually deteriorated.  We didn't get to know Anne that well because of that.

Sue and Stuart are the neighbours to our right.  We chat over the fence sometimes and she's been good at giving us surplus veg and fruit from their garden which is so much better than ours - and probably bigger.  It's laid out beautifully.  

Across the road we're now on first name terms with 4 households.  We all tend to keep an eye out for things like lights left on in the car or parcels being delivered when someone's out or putting dustbins back into the front garden after they've been emptied.  Just little things like that.

We might not be in and out of each other's houses but I'm sure we'd be there for each other in an emergency and I'm happy with that.