Last week on the Substack, I wondered: what should be the area’s biggest new food story in 2025? Personally, I’d like it to be Leyton’s Grade II-listed Cricket Pavilion becoming the Food Hub that has been mooted for nearly a decade.
For the uninitiated – or newer arrivals to the neighbourhood – it’s a lengthy and slightly involved tale which I’ll speed through as succinctly as possible.
The stunning building itself, pictured above, dates back to 1886, when it was constructed for the Essex County Cricket Club. But now let’s jump to 2018, when Leytonstoner excitedly reported that, with “a hoped-for £1.5 million cash injection from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Leyton Cricket Pavilion is to be transformed into a rather ace-sounding foodie hub comprising a restaurant, café, training kitchen and market – all with an emphasis on healthy eating.”
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Waltham Forest said back then that “a project manager has been appointed, with a conservation architect and a community engagement officer to be added to the team soon, after which a consultation period will begin.”
They also promised that the future of the site was “going to be led by the community in the area with an extended engagement and consultation programme to help define and refine those uses. Cricket is an important part of the heritage of the site, so will be delivered in one way or another.”
Fast forward three years and the venue was due to open in August 2021 until Waltham Forest issued a statement early that year: “Unfortunately the Heritage Lottery Fun application was not successful and so the food hub will not now happen. Alternative funding is now being explored to allow the necessary renovation work on the Pavilion to be completed.”
Nearly four years on, and so far there were “urgent repairs” during 2021 and a first stage of public engagement in summer 2023. When I spoke to the Council PR person just before Christmas about an update they pointed me towards a freshly updated page on their website. It says that “Waltham Forest Council is working on proposals for refurbishing the Grade II-Listed Cricket Pavilion and the Tin Hut building at Leyton Sports Ground, alongside potential improvements to the public space around these buildings.”
So far, so good. They’re “exploring ways to bring the buildings back into active use and opportunities to fund the Pavilion’s restoration by securing a long-term occupier that will complement the wider recreational use of the Sports Ground.”
Following 2023’s public engagement, which revealed “the importance of further involving young people and exploring an offer for teenagers as well as younger children,” the objectives for the Cricket Pavilion and Tin Hut buildings have, however, now changed.
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So what is the focus in 2025? The main points are to “create a community focal point at the heart of the Leyton community…a destination space complementing and contributing to the Sports Ground’s year-round programme of recreation, sport, wellbeing, food and culture…and provide a space for independent business, supporting local skills, training and jobs.”
Yes, they are saying the right things to some extent. But while food is still part of the “year-round” programme, surely, if there is enough local support, it could still play a more central role in the refurbished historic Pavilion? The pivot reflects the needs of young people – a key issue, naturally – and yet the Food Hub’s educational side and training kitchens would undoubtedly provide that. And the wider community would benefit, too.
But they underline too that the “funding application made to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2019 to help pay for the cost of work to the Grade II Listed Building was not successful. Previous proposals for the Real Food Hub will not happen.” Instead, ongoing negotiations are with an unnamed “preferred operator – a creative management, production and technology company focused on youth and family audiences.”
Yet, is an adapted version of the Food Hub idea in some form really still not viable? As many of us know, there’s definitely the demand here, with the area increasingly known for high quality streetfood, pop-ups, taprooms, bars, independent grocery stores, bakeries and wine merchants.
Surely, a reworked take on the original idea – “a combination of restaurant, café, training kitchen and market all with an emphasis on healthy eating” – would be an asset for Leyton, Leytonstone and Waltham Forest at every level. Is it really too late to make this happen in 2025?
And, after last week’s poll, it would seem the majority of readers agree – with a whopping 81% voting in favour. Watch this space.
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