M11 Link Road

Art, Monday 03 Oct, 2011

The M11 Link Road
Words by Karina Joseph

For a short period of time whilst at primary school on Cambridge Park in Wanstead, I remember chaos occurring on the street outside, the deafening sound of whistles, shouting and drum beats as people marched past. After school at my bus stop, I watched with intrigue as protesters took hold of the Chestnut tree on George Green, and then recall sadness at the sight of wood strewn everywhere after it was eventually chopped down. These events were in fact part of one of Britain’s largest and most significant anti-road building campaigns that took place in East London during the early 1990s.

The protest concerned the building of a motorway that linked the M11 to London’s road network with its primary aim to reduce traffic, and affected the areas of Leyton, Leytonstone and Wanstead. Around 400 Victorian terraced houses were to be demolished between Hackney Marshes and the Redbridge Roundabout, and acres of ancient woodland cleared. The first anti M11 Link Road action group was set up in 1976, and local residents fought the governments’ plans with a solution to build a tunnel that would leave houses untouched. However, the peaceful direct action ‘No M11 Link Campaign’ began when construction of the road started on 13 September 1993, and streets became a daily battle between the bailiffs and the residents. Most UK newspapers and TV programmes regularly covered the events with focal points on the protection of the Chestnut tree, the so called sovereign states of ‘Wanstonia’ and ‘Leytonstonia’, and final evictions on Claremont Road…….

Full feature in Issue 24 Autumn 2011 click here

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Above Images www.alexmacnaughton.com