Contact Details Caryle Webb-Ingall
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Introduction to branch
WEA Walthamstow Branch offers two quite different courses; a morning theatre studies class looking at the mid twentieth century plays of the RoyalCourtTheatre and an evening class which will continue the theme of London in the nineteenth century. These topics have been chosen after consultation with learners.
The experienced tutors make the classes enjoyable and fun to learn with lots of participation. The venues are central and close to public transport. As well as classes there are outings and social activities in which all members can participate.
The WEA is committed to promoting equality and diversity. All are Welcome.
Walthamstow is one of the WEA’s youngest branches, formed in 2005 but our roots go back much further. We originated as a WEA ‘affiliated body’ when classes were held at the Walthamstow Adult Education Centre in Greenleaf Road, formerly the Walthamstow Educational Settlement, and our links with the WEA go right back to 1922. WEA courses have been running in Walthamstow for many years.
We have an active committee which meets regularly to review classes, approve finances, organise social and educational events and liaise with Region. We also attend Branch and Regional meetings. Recently we have met with the Local Authority and hope that our programme will be able support the LEA offer and vice versa.
Our course programme is devised annually in consultation with learners, tutors and the committee with relevant advice from Region. It is publicised in the WEA Brochure and also advertised widely in the borough in libraries, community and faith centres, walthamforest matters newspaper, and social groups. We welcome new learners and are happy to give them information about our classes, locations and to make any arrangements we can to make access easy.
We offer two classes; on Tuesday morning there is a class which examines different aspects of Theatre History. Over the last few years, topics have included ‘The Spanish Golden Age’, ‘The Moscow Arts Theatre,’ ‘Brecht and Beckett’ and ‘The Abbey Theatre from Yeats to Friel’. This year’s course focuses on Chekhov and writers influenced by him. The group reads plays and discusses them in the context in which they were written and performed and in today’s context. Thomas Crowe, the tutor, is experienced in theatre studies and welcomes participation from the whole group.
On Tuesday evenings there is a history class with an emphasis on local and London history in the nineteenth century. History topics have ranged from Archaeology to ‘The history of the Lea Valley ’, from ‘History of immigration into London’ to ‘The English Civil War’ and we have even studied ‘Greek and Roman myths’. More recently we have looked at ‘Crime and Disorder in the nineteenth century’ and ‘The Impact of the First and Second World Wars on East London’. This topic especially gave learners a chance to bring in their own souvenirs of this time and share their experiences with our younger members. This year we are exploring the "lungs of London" - the parks and gardens and also looking at some of the public buildings through photos, illustrations and discussion. Our tutor, Patricia Melville is well qualified and enthusiastic and makes sure everyone who wishes to can contribute to the discussions. Sometimes individuals carry out their own pieces of work which they can present to the group.
In the summer we run a number of one-off educational activities which are open to members of both classes. Not surprisingly the Theatre History class makes a theatre visit and the History class often makes a Museum visit. We have visited The Globe Theatre, the British Library and had a tour of the National Theatre. We also held a film show about the Lea River and the Thames.
In addition we hold a couple of well-attended socials where everyone gets a chance to continue the conversations we never finish in our class coffee breaks!
As Waltham Forest is an Olympic borough we are all interested to find out what is going on behind the blue fencing. We therefore were able to make a special visit recently when 30 members and friends were taken on a guided tour. We were able to see the progress made in building the velodrome and aquatics centre as well as the press centre and main stadium. The guide also told us aobut the mammoth undertaking to make the site as environmentally friendly as possible. This has included soil washing of many tonnes of contaminated soil, removal of Japanese knotweed and the planting of several hundred mature trees as well as recycling much of the timber and other materials found in the excavation. We were intrigued to learn about the Victorian cobbled street discovered beneath the present ground level as well as the Roman coins and evidence of Iron Age people. If you get a chance it's well worth taking this trip organised by the council and the Olympic committee.
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Other Information
Towards the end of each course the class discusses and decides which topics they'd like to study in the coming year and there is often a vote to arrive at the most popular.
