Wednesday 15th January 2020
Report written by Ant Withstandley
Before we kick-off tonight's proceedings I want to give a plug for this weekend's Community Mission. Please join us for some volunteering at Walthamstow Parkrun. We are meeting at Greenleaf Road Baptist Church at 8 am, but we won't have access to the facility so please be ready to run. More details and sign-up here.
Tonight GoodGym Waltham Forest kicked off a three-week project to spruce up a community centre attached to St Mary's Church in the heart of Walthamstow village.
After a short, sharp jog up Church Hill, we met our amazing task organiser Tim who had dutifully laid out the dust sheets ready for us to start work. Week one was all about the prep, so it was scraping, sanding, washing, masking and filling. Our DIY specialists wasted no time in getting to work, and before you could say Polyfilla the place was prepped and ready for paint...
And on that tantalising cliffhanger, we will leave the going on at the Welcome Centre until next week, but we are not done with today's action just yet. After our tasking, it was time for a sport of running so after a warm-up jog we hit the drills with some slow, medium and fast reps of the churchyard.
After that, it was back to our lovely warm new base at Greenleaf Road Baptist Church. Next week. We are back at the same place but moving to the painting stage. Sign-up here
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The churchyard contains numerous interesting graves and four listed tombs, and is divided into four railed and enclosed areas with public access to only two; it is bisected by paths which are in frequent public use. There are some 1300 visible monuments in and around the church, and it is thought that over 26,000 burials took place here. The first church of St Mary Walthamstow was founded in the early-12th century on the site of an older church. The current building is largely 16th-century with later alterations. The timber-framed Ancient House near the church probably stands on the site of the original Manor of Walthamstow.
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