Escaping along Wood Street, Walthamstow from the Tumble in the Jungle softplay I again noticed the curious old stones that litter the grass area abutting Whipps Cross Roundabout. The ones in the picture look as though they are ‘unworked’, natural rocks, possibly like those desposited by glacial flows (there was one such stone next to the bus stop at Wooburn Green). Nearby are others that are smooth and seem to have been worked by a mason and are slightly blackened. Before I get too carried away speculating about mark stones and lost neolithic monuments of Epping Forest I’d suggest that they are the remains of an old derelict building, most likely a church. Checking a local history pamphlet sheds no light – no mention of old stone buildings. So maybe…

As a snippet of dereliction fetish how about this spiral staircase running up the side of a boarded up office block, again on Wood Street – deserves the building to be restored just to keep it company.