Wantz Branch
Branch History
Wantz branch was founded in
The branch was founded on 11 November 1974 at the Cauliflower, Rainham, Essex.
It was given the provisional name of Rainham Branch but adopted its
present title soon after. Wantz is reckoned to be an Anglo-Saxon name for that
part of south west Essex, although there seems to be some doubt about this
(see The Name below).
In 1978 the branch relocated to Romford, the HQ mostly being the
now-demolished Royal Oak. After a brief return to Rainham (the Phoenix and the
Bell) the branch moved to its present meeting place in Barking in 1989.
Steve Wicks was the first Chairman, replaced after a year by Alan Martin, who
held the post for nearly 20 years before deciding to spend more time with his
family. Roger Jacobson has been in control ever since.
Early events included charity pub walks and campaigning to restore draught
beer to local pubs, both successful. There have been numerous visits to
breweries, pub crawls, days and weekends away and, in 2004 we had our first
overseas trip, a weekend in Brussels.
Members of Wantz at the Dagenham Town Show
1988
For many years the branch ran a stand at the Dagenham Town Show. This gave us
a chance to recruit members, sell
SPBW products and drink loads of beer which had been kindly donated by
friendly brewers (Ind Coope, McMullen, Firkin and Youngs were our main
beneficiaries). We weren't allowed to sell the ale to the public; instead we
had to offer samples in exchange for a suitable financial donation.
The Name
Why Wantz? What is Wantz, or where for that matter? Certainly the
name has
links with the area currently covered by the branch. Linda Rhodes, the
Librarian at the Local Studies Centre of Valence House Museum in Dagenham was
able to give the following information
It seems that "Wantz" (sometimes spelt Wants or Wonts on old maps and
documents) signified "ways" in the sense of roads meeting at a junction. For
example, in Dagenham the "Four Wants" was the junction of Rainham Road and
Oxlow Lane, ie. the place where the four roads met that led to Barking,
Romford, Dagenham Village and Ilford. A little way along to the west was the
"Three Wantz" , ie. the T-junction where Frizlands Lane meets Oxlow Lane.
Also in the Dagenham area I have found a reference to the Wantz Stream:-
"a small waterway that runs near Dagenham East Railway Station and flows
into the Beam River South of the old village just North of the A13 trunk
road. It has had, in the course of
centuries, many names. The longest-lived was Wisdom Water or River, a
corruption of the medieval name of 'Wythenbroke' "
Not too far away there is a Four Wantz roundabout just north
of the old Ongar station where the London Underground Central Line used to
end.
© Bill Stansfield 2005
