The London Daily Newsletter Friday 9 December

On 9 December 1990, Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity trade union, won a landslide election victory, becoming the first directly elected Polish leader. Walesa, born in 1943, was an electrician at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk when he was fired for union agitation in 1976. When protests broke out in the Gdansk shipyard over an increase in food prices in August 1980, Walesa climbed the shipyard fence and joined the thousands of workers inside. He was elected leader of the strike committee, and three days later the strikers’ demands were met. Walesa then helped coordinate other strikes in Gdansk and demanded that the Polish government allow the free formation of trade unions and the right to strike. On August 30, the government conceded to the strikers’ demands, legalizing trade unionism and granting greater freedom of religious and political expression. Millions of Polish workers and farmers came together to form unions, and Solidarity was formed as a national federation of unions, with Walesa as its chairman. Under Walesa’s charismatic leadership, the organisation grew in size and political influence, soon becoming a major threat to the authority of the Polish government. On 13 December 1981, martial law was declared in Poland, Solidarity was outlawed, and Walesa and other labor leaders were arrested. In November 1982, overwhelming public outcry forced Walesa’s release, but Solidarity remained illegal. In 1983, Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Fearing involuntary exile, he declined to travel to Norway to accept the award. Walesa continued as leader of the now-underground Solidarity movement, and he was subjected to continual monitoring and harassment by the Communist authorities. In 1988, deteriorating economic conditions led to a new wave of labour strikes across Poland, and the government was forced to negotiate with Walesa. In April 1989, Solidarity was again legalized, and its members were allowed to enter a limited number of candidates in upcoming elections. By September, a Solidarity-led government coalition was in place, with Walesa’s colleague Tadeusz Mazowiecki as premier. In 1990, Poland’s first direct presidential election was held, and Walesa won by a landslide.

Highams Park
Highams Park is situated between Walthamstow and Chingford.

The Highams Park area was previously known as ‘The Sale’ – this name appeared on maps from 1641. Another local name was Hale End, site of the later Halex factory. The whole area lay within the manor of Hecham – meaning high home – existing already in 1066. In 1768 Anthony Bacon built Higham House (also known as Highams) to William Newton’s design. It was altered again in the 1780s. In the 1790s, the grounds, including a summer house built with stones from old London Bridge, were redesigned to include a lake fed by the River Ching. The summer house was demolished in 1831. In 1849, Highams became the property of Edward Warner. Parcels of the estate started to be sold for development but the real spur to housing was the arrival in 1873 of Highams Park railway station. This was opened to the west of the Highams estate. Immediately around the station, the land was developed. A few years later, in 1891, Edward Warner’s son, Courtenay Warner, formed Warner Estate Ltd to manage the manor house. In a piece of ‘mission creep’, the Warner Company sprung from this in 1897 with a plan to build high-quality terraces of good workmanship. The Warner Company was jointly owned by Warner Estate Ltd. and Law Land Ltd. In 1898, Law Land’s building department undertook the building development. Once built, this new area gained the name Highams Park. Within a few years, the Corporation of London had bought land around Highams to retain as public land and open space. In 1891, they acquired a further thirty acres from the estate, including the lake – purchased for £6000. This was added to Epping Forest. The Warner Company began to develop the grounds of Highams in 1897 – 24 houses were built in Montalt Road, and more in the “Warner style” were built in Chingford Lane, using the same architectural designs as Walthamstow’s Warner Estate. The Halex factory was built on Larkshall Road – a major local employer from 1897 onwards (until 1971). It produced a variety of plastic goods and the company had a virtual monopoly manufacturing table tennis balls. The factory was knocked down in the early 1970s with its site replaced by new smaller industrial buildings. A blue plaque from the ’Plastics Historical Society’ can be seen on Jubilee Avenue marking the spot of Kalex. There was a second phase of Warner development. More new roads were constructed in the early 1930s. Houses on the estate were comparatively expensive for the early 1930s – the cheapest home was £1000. Subsequently there was a lack of demand and cheaper houses were then developed in the northwest corner of the estate – this phase was known as the Montalt Estate. The curious name of The Charter Road came about because of an exchange of land between Essex County Council and Warner. Because the council refused to contribute to the road’s cost, a strip of land was retained by the Warner Company. In 1934, Sir Edward Warner sold the remaining undeveloped parts of the estate (between Montalt Road and Henry’s Avenue) to Walthamstow, with the intention to keep it as open space.

Video: You Can’t Always Get What You Wanstead
Jago Hazzard went to the far reaches of the Central Line

TUM Dine With Me: The Flora
The Flora is situated on Harrow Road, W10.

The Flora was built in the 19th century from polychrome brick, and Pevsner notes its “angular window heads”. The building is also notable for the contrasting brickwork above the windows and the floral motifs incorporated into the design. The pub was known as The Flora Arms from 1881. In the nineteenth century, as The Flora Hotel, the building was the location for a number of inquests into deaths in the Queen’s Park area. Thomas Robinson Dipple was the publican for many years, from at least 1904 to 1921. Sometimes described as an “Irish” pub due to the large Irish community in the area, in the twentieth century the pub has been a favourite watering hole for supporters of the local football team Queen’s Park Rangers. In April 1893, after QPR had beaten Fulham at at Kensal Rise in the final of the West London Observer Cup, the trophy was put on show in the pub. The pub backs onto the Grand Union Canal.