Wanstead House was one of the grandest houses in England in the eighteenth century, a Palladian palace set in vast formal gardens, and it was demolished in 1825 to pay its owner's debts. Its grounds survive as Wanstead Park, with ornamental lakes, a grotto and a small classical temple, and the village beside it still has a High Street with a green, an old pub and two fine churches. Minibus hire Wanstead customers book is mostly weddings and family celebrations, school trips and park outings, and runs to Stansted.
Wanstead sits in the south-west of Redbridge, between Leytonstone, Woodford, Snaresbrook and Forest Gate, with Wanstead Flats to the south and the A12 running underneath. From our base in SE1, it's about forty to fifty minutes outside the rush hour, through the Blackwall Tunnel and along the A12.
Minibus hire Wanstead for church weddings
St Mary's, a Georgian church in the old park with box pews and a churchyard full of fine eighteenth-century tombs, and Christ Church, the tall Victorian church by the green with a spire visible across the area, both host weddings. Receptions take place at golf clubs, country hotels and barn venues in Essex, at restaurants on the High Street and at halls across east London.
Guests are collected from homes and hotels, taken to the church, on to the reception and home at the end of the evening. St Mary's sits on Overton Drive, a quiet road inside the old estate, and parking is limited, so we'll agree the drop-off and waiting point in advance. Minibus hire Wanstead couples book often includes photographs by the lakes in Wanstead Park on the way to the reception.
Wanstead Park and the Temple
Wanstead Park's lakes, the Heronry, the Ornamental Water and Perch Pond, are surrounded by woodland and grassland, and the Temple, a garden building from the old estate, has a small exhibition on the park's history and opens at weekends. The park is managed by the City of London as part of Epping Forest, and its lakes attract herons, kingfishers and great crested grebes. In spring, the bluebells in Chalet Wood draw crowds.
Schools, walking groups and history societies book us for visits, and the Friends of Wanstead Parklands run guided walks on set days that suit a group. The driver drops at the car park nearest the Temple and returns at the agreed time.
School trips and Wanstead Flats
Wanstead has several primary schools and secondary schools nearby, and they book us for museum visits, swimming, sports fixtures and residential trips. Wanstead Flats, to the south, has dozens of football pitches and open grassland for cross-country running, and the Olympic Park is about fifteen minutes away. Wanstead High School and the primary schools nearby use the Flats for sports days and cross-country.
For a school trip, send us the class sizes, the staff numbers and the destination, and the details come back in writing. The Eagle Pond near Snaresbrook station, on the edge of Epping Forest, suits a nature walk for younger pupils and a feed for the ducks.
The High Street and family occasions
Wanstead High Street has independent restaurants, cafés, wine bars, pubs and the George, a big old coaching inn, and it's a popular spot for a birthday lunch or a family celebration. The green beside it hosts summer fairs and Christmas events, and the Wanstead Fringe each September brings music, talks and walks to the High Street and the parks. Snaresbrook Crown Court, in a Gothic former orphanage by the Eagle Pond, is one of the largest crown courts in the country, and legal teams occasionally book us for runs there.
For family events and celebrations, the driver collects from homes across Wanstead, Aldersbrook and Snaresbrook and brings everyone back at the end.
Stansted from Charlie Brown's
Stansted is about thirty to forty minutes from Wanstead outside the rush hour, via the A12 and the M11 from Charlie Brown's roundabout. London City is about twenty minutes, Southend about fifty and Heathrow about an hour or more. For families flying out with luggage, a minibus from the door beats the Central line and a change at Stratford. For a London City flight, the run takes about twenty minutes before the morning rush.
The tunnels and the High Street
The A12 runs through Wanstead in a cut-and-cover tunnel, and its junctions at the Green Man in Leytonstone and Redbridge roundabout are slow at peak times. Wanstead High Street is narrow and busy at weekends, with limited stopping. The roads inside the old park estate are quiet but narrow. Aldersbrook, the Edwardian estate between the Flats and the park, has wide roads that make pickups easy. Pickups happen on side roads, and for weddings at St Mary's we'll plan the approach in advance.
For minibus hire in Wanstead, call 020 7183 0567.