Sometimes it can be possible to forget just what a treasure trove of history exists around the Wanstead area.

Wanstead Park, which forms the grounds of what was the old Wanstead House, the Georgian Church of St Marys (used recently for the Vanity Fair dramatisation) and Wanstead Flats to name but a few.

It was Wanstead Flats that formed the focus of a fascinating Wren Group walk conducted by Peter Williams, Mark Norman and James Heal.

The walk went across the area that was ploughed up as a result of the fire in July on the Flats.

At the behest of the fire service, the City of London Corporation brought in a deep harrowing machine, which has dug up part of the flats behind the petrol station on the Aldersbrook side.

The digging was undertaken to stop the fire spreading and bring it under control more quickly. However, the harrow has brought a whole load of Second World War artefacts to the surface.

On the walk, we found old bits of shrapnel that came from the anti-aircraft guns and batteries located on the Flats during the war. There are lumps of concrete which made up the central base on the flats where the guns were placed. Also, some German bullet cases have been found.

Walking along behind the petrol station, the bases of the huts that supported the guns remain.

There is a bomb creator on the corner where Aldersbrook meets Centre Road.

On the other side of Centre Road, Peter and Mark showed some base remnants of a prisoner of war camp for hard core German prisoners placed there in 1944. There was also the story of the V2 rocket that hit the Lake House estate to cheers from the Nazis in the camp opposite.

Further up the road toward Cann Hall, there was a POW camp for Italian prisoners from 1943.

Looking further back Mark and Peter told how the lower area adjacent to Aldersbrook Road, where there are now football pitches, was once a brick manufacturing area.

A builder from Bethnal Green had the licence to make bricks on the site from 1865 to 1881.

At that time, there were dwellings on the Flats where the workers who made the bricks lived. Back in those days the bricks were made close to where they were to be used – building the East End.

James told of the migrant birds that often stop en route on the Flats. There has been much damage done to habitats as a result of the fire but the likes of wheatears have been attracted to the area.

So whilst the fire has caused much damage, it has also uncovered some fascinating history from the relatively recent past.

The Wren walk was a reminder of just what a precious historical and ecological legacy exists around this area. One that we are all called upon to safeguard in the interests of present and future generations.

See:www.wrengroup.org.uk