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Winter 1993

Vpl.1 No. 5

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50 YEARS AGOThe East End - Christmas 1943

The war weary East End staggeredtowards the fifth Christmas of the war.Many of the houses were bomb blastedand boarded up. Victoria Park was only ashadow of its former glory, with most ofits acreage occupied by AA guns, barrageballoons, bomb shelters and allotments(the Di g for Victory cam paign was in fullswing). There were AA gun placementson Hackney Marshes and Mud ChuteMil!wall as well.

Shops made a brave effort for the festiveseason; J Roberts Departmen t. Store atStratford Broadway had dress materialsat 2/- per yard (10p) plus two clothingcoupons. Black-out materials sold for2s.5d per yard. Matches were in shortsupply and disappeared 'under thecounter' for regular customers only.

T: ie. Mihistry of : :ood resi.A.Lt,d allChristmas puddings to not mora than twopounds in weight and the ingredientsmust not cost more than 3s. 5d (35p).

Out of this gloom tiere shone a brightspot, and that was the local cinema.There were so many of them, with somany different films showing, a personcould go to the 'pictures' many times ina week. They were not as many peopletoday think of them 'flea-pits', but good,cheap entertainment, which transportedLnP East Enders away from WC U!'.111101

streets for at least a few hours. TheTroxy Cinema at Stepney was showingAlexander's Ragtime Band, plus aChristmas stage show, the Odeon, MileEnd had The Road to Morcc:o with BingCrosby and Bob Hope, the East HamOdeon had Bachelor Mother with GingerRogers. Al Philips, the Aldgate boxerknocked out George Pook of Torquay inthe fourth round at the Albert Hall.

In High Street North, East Ham, a five-roomed house with scullery plus

Anderson shelter in the back garden hada sale price of £575.

In Chrisp Street, Poplar, an epidemic ofbag-snatching broke out, people lost notonly money, but items much moreImportant in those days, ration books,clothing coupons and identity cards.

St Andrews Hospital received a largenumber of toys from the American Redrrnes rhilr♦ ron at Pnpler Hospital vvereentertained at a party given by Canadiansoldiers, and the Fern Street Settlementreceived a number of gifts from QueenMary.

'Xt 0.05 am on the 20th December,durihg an air raid a plane caught in asemi- light dropped one of its bombs. Itlender I it the LNER goods yard at Warley

.)et; Creen ;c1 ,..ra cl toGardens). Four people were injured,houses nearby damaged, a chimney stackat Quinns Buildings, Russia Lane, wasblown down.

There were no air raids on the UK overthe Christmas period. January 29/30th1944 saw a much _larger air raid onI en -1(n. 1 arge fires were started in Poplarand Rotherhithe; Leytonstone RailwayStation was destroyed with eleven killedand forty injured, also badly hit wasWalthamstow and Southend.

John Harris

a

[Letters from our Members

Stan Newens, MEP, London 'NH, writes:

As I was born at 31 Quilter Street - not more thanthree minutes walk from Baxendale Street, whereGeorge Renshaw was born, eight years before me - Ihave read his articles with enormous interest. Myfamily also shopped at Curtis' sweet shop, on thecorner of Elwin Street and Quilter Street, at Jack Lee'soil shop in Barnet Grove, and at Maudie Gillett's cats'meat shop on the corner of Wimbolt Street. Like him,attended Columbia Road School - though not Danie!Street.

On this basis, I can confirm much of what he recalls.His reminiscences are fascinating and he is to becongratulated on setting pen to paper.

Both my parents' families were well established in thelocality. One of my great grandfathers, James Sheen(1843-1936) had an upholstery business in Brick Laneand, at one time, seven of his children and theiroffspring lived in Quilter Street or the immediateneighbourhood. My paternal grandfather, ThomasNewens, was a police constable attached toWhiteck-Tel Division from 1888 !c 1 913, -ud, -roughhis family up in Gascoigne Place.

After difficulties over unsatisfactory employment,following demobilisation in 1919, my father andmother established a haulage business, which theyoperated from our home. Mazy of the smallbusinessmen - particularly in the furniture trade - hiredmy father's vans. My parents also undertook removals.

George Renshaw says he neve:- saw any blackshirts onthe day of the Gardener's Corner confrontation in1936. I wonder if he remembers them, as I do,marching along Barnet Grove on a.-Sunday.-Althouahfrom a non-Jewish family, I was even then aware ofanti-semitism and remember children making remark.:at school. The Jewish barber, Mr Shine, who cut ourhair in a sill.) in Rethirl amen Rnarl near RnMetGrove, told my father about the suffering of Jews inGermany while he had him in the chair.

The blackshirts once approached my father to use hisvans, but he refused. However, anti-Jewish feeling wasregretfully common in the gentile population. I mustsay that my sympathies are very much with those who

marched against fascism and I hope the lesson will notbe lost on us today.

I hope one day to get my father's autobiography,which he wrote in retirement, published. The area inwhich we lived is as fascinating as any part of the EastEnd, and George Renshaw's efforts to shed light on itare most welcome.

Ed: The final part of George Renshaw's reminiscencesappear is th is issue The Fret two parts created

considerable interest and we've received several lettersfrom our members, whose memories have been stirredZay George's story.

Mr A L Hellicar, Benfleet, Essex writes:

Elsie Sanders, writing in the Autumn Newsletter,refers to her school as Limehouse Central. Was notthis school known as Thomas Street Central? That ishow it was referred to when two cousins of mineattended it. •

I do not remember ever seeing George Green's scholarswearing a mortar board. Surely this headgear wouldonly have been seen on teaching staff. Perhaps Elsie isconfisif -z the grammar ':chew 1 with Howril , HouseConvent of the Faithful Companions which stood alittle away to the wPst The bu ild ing was at

one time the residence of Duncan Dunbar, shipbuilderand owner of Dunbar Wharf, Millwall. My eldestsister went there and I remember her wearing a mortarboard.

Mrs C Abbott, Chelmsford, Essex, has sent in hermemories of the same school:

I went to Thomas Street Central School, off Burdettroad, we were called the Bug Squashers for somereason. I was there from 193-2 - 1936 while living inIda Street, Poplar, not far from Aberfeldy Street.Maybe that is the Central School that Mrs Sandersrefers t.".

The Hall was very large and had a glass roof, whichwhen raining one had to be careful to dodge the dripsduring assembly. The classrooms were around thehall. At the age of 13 years you had to choose betweengoing on to Commercial Studies or Technical work. Ichose commercial and was taught typing, book-keeping etc.

My Form Teacher was Miss S izer, who also taughtEnglish, and the French Mistress was Miss French, thetwo teachers also lived together in a house on the edgeof Epping Forest, and every year would invite us totea, after a walk through the forest, having to take offour shoes before entering the house. The trips werealways enjoyed by the girls who went.

Another occasion, we went to the Old Vic, where wesaw 'St Joan' by Bernard Shaw, this was very excitingand gave me an interest in the theatre which I havenever lost.

One year I went to the Isle of Wight, a school journeyas it was referred to. We had to pay weekly during theyear, and those unfortunate it not paying the fullamount were still allowed to go providing they had theschool uniform, which was a navy tunic, with whiteblouse in the summer, or with a red blouse or redjumper, in the winter. This was worn with blackstockings and shoes, with a dutch school cap or beret.In the summer during the last years of my schooling,we were able to purchase for 6 1/4 old pence a yard ofmaterial, blue and white checks with a fine red stripegoing through, we were allowed to wear white sockswith our black shoes and if possible, a panama hat.The whole school was divided into Houses, Yellow,Red. Blue and Green which made things mere•nteresting,- and the el, sses into A, B aad i► was avery good school, but you never realise That until youget older.

Mary Ellen Edwards (nee Smith) has her ownmemories of Poplar from 914-1933:

After the death of my mother in 1914, I moved fromMargate to Tetley Street, Poplar, to live with my greataunt and uncle. My father, Charlie Smith, who was aPunch and Judy man, stayed in Margate, as for manyyears he and his father performed on Margate beach.During the winter he would come back to his motherin Tetley Street, next door to where I lived and doshows in some of the large departmental stores, andalso on the streets of London. I had two sisters andfour brothers but I didn't know where they went tolive. My brother, Charlie, stayed with my father tohelp with the Punch and Judy Show and took overfrom Charlie Smith senior on Margate Reach when hedied in 1940. I had very little to do with my father ormy brothers and sisters, as I was not allowed to mix

with them. My great aunt and uncle regarded myfather and other show people as not the type of peopleone should associate with - it was not a highly thoughtof means of earning money.

One memory I have is having to go across the road tothe Public House to buy half a pint of old ale whichthey put into the jug which I took with me. My greataunt would have put a poker in the fire while I wasgone so that when I returned with the jug, she wouldput the red hot poker into the jug to warm up the beer.It was an errand I absolutely hated as I didn't likegoing into the pub, nor did I enjoy the smell of the beerwhen it was heated.

I used to be given a halfpenny every day by my greataunt and would go and buy some scrubbed carrots toeat on the way to school, Thomas Street Central. I alsoused to buy Tiger nuts and'Locust bars from thecorner shop on Tetley Street.

During the summer the Star of the East Public Housein Tetley Street used to arrange charabanc outings toSouthend and as they set off, the people used to throwout their odd coppers and all the children wouldscramble for the coins. I was never allowed to join inas I was not allowed to play in the street. My life was

helping my aunt clean the house and w•iten thehearthstone it Ind the doorstop. When 1 got older I

. "et of 'e':-. Ire tine at 3.Fride • vide's Church Convent.

I have the idea that when my mother married myfather, my mother's family were disgusted at thethought of her marrying a Punch and Judy man andtherefore had nothing more to do with her, alithough Ido think that my mother's sister was still friendly withher. I understand that she wanted to adopt me oncondition that I had more to do with my family, butmy father wouldn't hear of it. My mother's name wasEdith Emma Watts and her father's name was JamesWatts, a lighterman, and her mother was SusannahRachel Watts. I believe that her sister's name wasElizabeth Watts arid she ran a dairy in Ilford.

Editor's Note:I had been unled'cb ,,c bathbout the references Limehouse Central School, and Thomas Street, (nowThomas Road), and I must thank two dear ladies, DaisyJarrett and Glaci5rs Mani..-,ter Viliiffen's daughter)who also attended Thomas Street Central School, forsetting me right.

'Up the Roman'

As a child in the early 1930's I lived in Tredegar Road,Bow and everything in that area centred aroundRoman Road, known to all as 'Up the Roman'. I wellrecall Saturday nights, the lit shops, the shoutingvendors at their stalls accompanied by the cry of thenewsboys shouting "Dog Winner". Not forgetting, ofcourse, the relative smells, vegetables mingled with thesmell of the fish shop and the aroma of the parrafin

.L_.lamps L1141 Ill LUG wAlia.

If you walked from Lefevre Road going towards StStephen's Road, you would come to Parnell Road, or,.the corner of which was the Hand and Flower PublicHouse. On the other corner was Abbotts thepawnbrokers and a few doors along Dr Lightstonessurgery. Next was Usher Road, which had The Roseand Denmark PH on the corner. On the followingcorner was Dean's the chemist, and on the corner ofArmagh Road was Toddy Holes fish stall. He wasoutside of Cohen's Ctnreq , whn I believe were theforerunners of Tesco's. Further along was the HMVradio shop and next door to them was Caters andApplegates, the butchers. On the corner of CardiganRoad was Andersons the Bakers, on the other side wasWoolworths and next door to them Beards, men'soutfitter:. T'llre was old c Rid- I :E.1'.15'PH and then Foxes the chemist on the corner ofVernon Road. On the next corner was Bow Libraryand then Ramsbottoms the leather shop, then Berry'sthe Corn Chandler. further up on the corner of StStephen's Road was Kings the butchers.

Coming back on the other side you had the RiflemanPH and Roman Road School, next door to that TheNeedle Gun PH. Then ynn name. to Pririalix thechicken and egg shop. Dr Hersmans surgery and theswimming baths. There was the Maypole and theHome and Colonial and after Libra Road, Wiggins thetoy shop and Waltons menswear. On the corner ofArmagh Road, the Ranlagh PH and the Stanleys thebutchers. After Usher Road was the Cooked MeatShop where one could buy a penn'orth of cracklingand crossing Parnell Road you had the barbers shopsand Earls the oil shop. There were many more which Ihave forgotten, but I am sure this will stir up many ;Limemories.

Billy Scotchmer

Notes from Doreen's Diary:

My obsession with Victoria Park and its history .rewarded with the discovery of a page in a new bookon 'Bridge House' formerly the 'Out and Out Mission'Bow 1893-1993. Dealing with the lectures they heldon the demonstration ground by the DrinkingFountain, taking their banners and portableharmonium to attract large crowds on a Sundayafternoon. The book, 100 Not Out by Jean HewittA4, 40 pins Price £4.75 + P&P is available from theauthor at Bridge House, Bow E3.

The Making of Modern London, the life of JamesPennethorne, Price P4 s, has a whole chapter an hiswork designing Victoria Park.

A visit to Buckingham Palace when opened to thepublic in August, and in the official brochure, JamesPennethome is noted as having erected a ballroom 123ft long and 60 ft wide with a throne dais, an organ andmusicians gallery for Queen Victoria in 1854. Belowhe placed spacious kitchens and a Marble Hall. Whata shame this beautiful ballroom is not open to thepublic. "Packed high with chairs,"'a guide said. Stillyou do get to walk through the Marble Hall on your.vay out.

Interesting letter and then a visit to Mrs Helen Wilson,re her Fre:11•h Huguenot wP-aver grandfather WalterRolfe who lived in Type Street, Old Ford Road E2 andmade Queen Mary's wedding dress with silver threadrunning through it. His brother Thomas made the silkfor Princess Marina's gown. The looms were in the loftworked by his daughters and reached by a big ladderin the passage. Walter Rolfe had a goatee beard andmoved to Braintree, Essex where family consistedof four boys and three girls. His Wife Jane died aged40 by falling down the stairs. He ;hen marriedAdelaide, and had seven more children. When growingup Mrs Wilson's favourite food vas a thick slice ofbread and dripping with salt. Wit .: her 1/2 pennypocket money spent on sherbet ar d 2 bottles of fizzydrink.

Looking for the perfect gift for that special person,here are a few recent publications on local history.Most of them are available dire giro": mepublisher or author, but should you prefer tobrowse, the newly refurbished Eastside Bookshophas a good selection of local history publications.

5

DJourney Through a Small Planet by EmmanuelLitvinoff, £5.95. A series of autobiographicalsketches, in which Litvinoff recalls what it was likegrowing up in Whitechapel in the 1920's and 30's.

q Three beautiful coloured pictorial maps of theEast End have been produced by Geonex Ltd 92-94Church Street Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD.Published Sept 1993. Available in .wo formatsposter or folded:

1. London Street Life 1850 - price £4.992. Jack's London - Price £2.99 (No prizes for

guessing who 'Jack' is!)3. London Street Life (No price available)

Din Letters of Gold, the Story of Sylvia Pankhurstand the PastLondon Federation of the Suffragettesprice £4.95 inc. packing and postage, fromRosemary Taylor, 5 Pusey House, Saracen Street,Poplar, London E14 6HG.

qDThe History of Sutton House by Anne Blackburnand Mike Gray -f3.00 +p&p from Sutton House, 2-4 Homerton High Street, Hackney E9

q CIacton-on-Sea, A 79ctorial History by 'Iorman‘.acoos, iiiustrp.ted, £,1.95 from Phillimore,Shopwyke Manor Barn, Chichester P020 6BG

DThe Queen Victoria Seamen's Rest -150thAnniversary Brochure, £10.00 , enquiries QVSR,1 71 Fact India neck Road , ondon P14 611F.

HOUSE

A three-storey house made of concrete in GroveRoad is the latest sculpture that helped RachaelWhiteread win a top national prize, the TunerPrize. A row of typical Edwardian East endhouses along Grove Road were bulldozed tomake way for Mile End Park extension, leavingbehind No. 193 which was granted a temporarystay of execution for three months, so thatRachael could make a huge white concrete cast ofthe house and make it a memorial to a home, at acost of 150,000. The house was reinforted withsteel rods before being filled with concrete, afterwhich the outer walls were chipped away to

reveal an 'inside out' house. Thousands of artconnoisseurs and the plain curious have flockedto see this gigantic sculpture, and it has receivedwide coverage in the national and internationalpress. The sculpture is not permanent - it will berazed to the ground very shortly. Understandably,local people have (very) mixed reactions to it.Doreen Kendall

Gladstone on the Move?

Bow Neighbourhood has given notice that it isnrnnneinct to move the etati 1P of William Pwart

Gladstone, which has graced the site in front ofBow Churchyard since 1882, to the moresalubrious surroundings of the traffic roundaboutat the junction of Old Ford Road and GroveRoad, which no doubt is deemed a fitting resting-place for the illustrious Victorian.

This is not the first time Gladstone's likeness hasbeen under threat of eviction from his hallowedperch on the Kings Highway, the Bow Liberalsmade an earlier attempt to transport him o ier tothe ,w, ty-na ed Gladstone Place in RomanRoad, only have their plan scotched by thePowers That R'e. Let's hope reason and a sense ofhistory prevail and, the memorial erected tohonour PM Gladstone during his own lifetime (arare honour) by the proprietor of the Bryan andMays Match Factory, Theodore Bryant, who likehis hero was a firm believer in Victorian Values,the work ethic and other social mores allreinthrring the role of women as the underclass,is allowed to maintain its vigil in the proximity ofthe Match Factory undisturbed.

The proposed site overlooking Victoria Park willmake the memorial to Gladstone meaningless.The only time the great Liberal came to the EastEnd was on a visit to T imehouse Town H- 1 1. Heaiaau

had no connection with Victoria Park, whichwitnessed many a demonstration by workingwomen, including the matql girls ariC. thesuffragettes, and woman trade unionists, all

• fighting for their rights as workers and as citizens,rights the great man did no subscribe to.Pncem ar.1 Taylor

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SAVE CANAL WORKS

Occupied by Evans of London, furnituremanufacturers since 1955, this factory at 225Old Ford Road is now the last workingVictorian factory on the six miles of canals inTower Hamlets. Evans were established inShoreditch in 1868 and now employ abouttwelve craftsmen. They have just madelinenfold panel screens for the House ofCommons. Their factory is threatened withdemolition.

The building started in 1860 as Wimshurst'sPatent Foil and Sheet Metal Works. From1871 to 1901 it was Smiths' ImperialChemical Colour Works. From 1902 to 1906,it was the Cocoa Butter ManufacturingCompany. From 1908 to 1955 it was one ofWaterlow's printing works, making andprinting railway tickets for many differentcountries.

It is a small factory with a square chimneyrising from a steam-engine and boiler house,a large cast iron water tank„ ..wo r•rth 1 ghtsand two lantern skylights. On the car al wharfare the remains of the fixings for a hydrauliccrane and some old tramlines running into thefactory.

The two long buildings :vith the 1--itemskylights and the chimney in between werespecially built without windows to house theprocess for making lead and tin foil: patentedby Henry William Wimshurst in 1858, whenhe was living in Dalston. He had been born inPoplar in 1829, the first son of Henry andRebecca Wimshurst. Henry was a joiner,probably at the Blackwall Shipyard. He wenton to build the world's first two-screwpropelled ships in 1838 and 1840, at his yardin Coldharbour, Blackman on the Isle ofDogs.

The Archimedes was launched in 1838 witha screw propeller based on Francis PettitSmith's patent screw propeller. This had beenfirst tried out on the Paddington branch of theGrand Junction Canal. Archimedes was seenby Brunel and, as a result, he built his GreatBritain with a screw propeller in 1843 and

his Great Eastern with paddle-wheels andscrew propulsion, which was eventuallylaunched at Millwall in 1858.

Henry Wimshurst's Novelty, launched in1840, carried cargo to Constantinople and hadHenry's own patented screw propeller whichcould be removed when the ship was undersail. Novelty was the first screw cargo vesselin the world. In 1873, Henry Wimshurstpresented stem models of A :chimed — andNovelty to the Science Museum, where theyare still on display.

Henry and Rebecca'!. second son, James, wasborn in Poplar in 18:32. He achieved fame asthe inventor of the Wimshurst Machines forgenerating static electricity. The Wimshurstsmoved to Limehouse and their fourth son,Everden, was born there in 1838. EverdenWimshurst became a marine engineer andtook out several patents. In 1881, he wasliving with his wife and their six children at21 Camr. bell Road Bow.

At the time of the 1841 Census, all theWimshurst family were living in CommercialRoad, between St Anne's Church and theLimehouse Cut, where Henry was in business--a boat and barge builder and mast and

block maker. It was about this time that hemoved his shipyard from Coldharbour toMillwall. Henry and this three sons werevariously involved in the family shipyard atRatcliff Dry Dock from about 1849 untilabout 1865 and later, in the firm ofWimshurst, Hollick & Co, mechanical andelectrical engineers at their Regent's CanalDock Works from 1868 to 1899. By 1884, thefour men had taken out at least twenty-fourpatents.

Mid-victorian factories, complete with steam-engine house, boiler and chimney are nowvery rare in London. Built especially for apatent process and linked with a highlyinventive East End family - involved in amajor development in the history of ship-building - and now the only mid-Victoriancanal factory in Tower Hamlets still being

used for manufacturing makes this a uniquesurvival. It is also the last furniture factory onthe canals, which once moved all the timberfor the sawmills and veneer factoriessupplying the renowned furniture trades inShoreditch and Bethnal Green.

Canal Works is in the recently extendedVictoria Park Conservation Area. But, like thenearby barge builder's building at Twig FollyWharf on the Re gent's Canal in Globe TownNeighbourhood, v it is not listed as ofarchitectural or historical importance.

Canal Works is in a proposed residential zoneand Twig Folly Wharf is zoned for residentialdevelopment in the Tower Hamlets UrbanDevelopment Plan, which has policies to keepold canal buildings and other watersidefeatures - but there are very few left. Inaddition to the pubs and the three old lockkeepers cottages and about half a dozen late19th/early 20th century factories, there areonly eight major mid-Victorian industrialbuildings left of the six miles of waterway inTower Hamlets. They are: Hydraulic PumpHouse, Limehouse Basin, the oldest survivingin the world; Ragged School Museum,Copperfield Road, canalside warehouses; BowOutdoor Pursuits Centre, Cordova Road,paraffin warehouse; Barge Builder's Building,Twig Folly Wharf, Roman Road; Park Wharf,Wennington Road, disused factory; CanalWorks , Old Ford R glad , working factory;

Small Arms Factory Gatehouse, Gunmaker'sLane, disused; Limehouse Court, Dod Street,includes former cabinet works.

Each one of the above: is a unique survivingfragment of our East End industrial heritage.Most of them are already being well used ormay be converted to new uses which onlyleaves the pump house, barge builder's CanalWorks and the Gatehouse with an uncertainfuture. So, there is a major UDP policy whichreally only applies to about four bui.dings andthey are all at risk. All four buildings are verymuch part of the Borough's industrialarchaeological heritage which is UDP policyto protect and preserve. The UDP is nowbeing finalised at a public enquiry and,somehow the Borough and theNeighbourhoods must be persuaded to comply

with the UDP policies DEV41 & 45. TheRagged School Museum Trust has made alate objection, in an attempt to ensure thatthese policies are capable of being put intoeffect.

We need to have a .few , reminders of what thecanals were for, especially as we have thebest canal and river network in London.These few old buildings add variety andinterest to the canals, which are being used bymore and more people for recreation andcould even be used for a safe alternativepublic transport system in Tower Hamlets andthe neighbouring Boroughs. The canals andtheir few surviving buildings are alsoimportant for teaching our children about theirlocal history - which is something the schoolshave to do as part of the national curriculum.

Canal Works is owned by British Waterwaysand, because they have outline planningpermission for residential use of the site, theygave notice to Evans of London to be out bythe end of September. BW has now verygenerously given them until the end of theyear to allow time for a full historical surveyand ,..-r:oesiderf tion of the factory's fil:.-ure.

It is hoped that BW 'will withdraw their noticeto Evans of London and allow them tocontinue making high class furniture at CanalWorks. With a few alterations and repairs,Canal Works could be made an attractive, aswell as useful and appropriate part of theHertford Union Canal.

A full report on CANAL WORKS by TimSmith of the Greater London IndustrialArchaeology Society and Tom Ridge of theRagged School Museum Trust is in,:eparation.

8

GEORGE RENSHAW REFLECTSON BETHNAL GREEN IN THE1920'S

PART 3 - FUN AND GAMES

Children living in our area had to beenterprising otherwise there was nothing, wewere very lucky in as much that the peopl,around us were good, everybody lookingafter everyone else. People were concernelfor one another, there was no television and.in many cases no wireless either. This meal.Athere was a greater social life with peopleknowing one another better.

There was little traffic in the streets in the20's so cor-Nuentiv the chil dren spent mostof their play time in the streets. There wouldbe girls with their long skipping ropesstretched right across the road taking it inturns to skip on it to the chanting of verseslike: One, two three alairy etc. There werethe whipping tops and peg tops made of boxwood and the Diaboloes which consisted ofa tapered wooden spindle with round sidesand a narrow middle which was ireca iouslybalanced ot, a piece of cord tied to twosticks. Moving the sticks up and downstarted the top spinning and when it reacheda certain speed it would be tossed again andagain in the air and recaught on the cord.

Many children would make Grottoes usingsea shells from shell fish. They would belaid out in a pattern on the pavement,chalked around with coloured chalk andafter other stones and trinket had been addedwould look a work of art. A tin can wouldbe held out and a: people passed by theywould be asked to remember the Grotto.Although this may seem like begging, hot.. 'sof work would go into the Grotto'sconstruction, making those few pennksjustified.

In Teesdale Street there was a supposedlyhaunted house and for a number of days thestreet was crammed with women andchildren. The ghost was supposed to havemoved furniture and thrown things about.Now and again someone would shout, 'Look'

and a roar would go up from the crowd. Thekids loved it, in fact we all played on it,pretending to see something. Sometimesimagination is a wonderful thing. In the enda clergyman was brought in as a sort ofexorcist, but I think this was only to dispersethe crowd. Someone said as he came out ofthe house that the ghost had been laid, whichfinished the affair.

ine first I remember of the- Cinema was theBelmont in Seebright Street off HackneyRoad. This was the time of the silent filmswhere there were captions which showed thewords that were being spoken by the actors.A Mr Eagle who lived in Baxendale Streetplayed the cinema piano and it was his jobto alter the tempo of the music to suit whatwas taking place. If there was a chase thenhe would play fast, and with a love scenesomething slow and sentimental. The PictureHouse, — it was called, had no single seat.,everyone sat on a bench which curved to theshape of the building. Upstairs, (the gods)there was a front railing where the childrensat on the floor and dangled their legsthrough. The entrance fee for the cinemawas a penny which you put in a bowler hatas you went in. There was always a cheerfor the good guys and a boo for the badones, but much was left to the imagination.

As the technology of film making progressedmore cinemas opened. There was TheCentral in Hackney Road where onSaturday you were given a bag of sweets, anapple and an orange. The entrance fee herewas twopence. There was also TheStandard in Goldsmiths Row where theyshowed serials on a Saturday morning andyou would have to return the following weekto find out the outcome. Serials like TheLost Squadron, about an Air force basehidden in the side of a hill. There was PearlWhite, Harold Lloyd and The ClutchingHand. We would all come out spellbound.At Smarts Cinema in Bethnal Green Roadyou could bunk in the back door. We wouldgo in ofe: at a time, but should you becaught you were chucked out with a clipround the ear. It was always better to bunkin on the first night of a new showing as the

9

ushers had not seen the film and were lessalert.

There wnq nice the Hnekney Vmpire arylThe London in Shoreditch. We would lineup with our parents for admission to thegods, high up in the balcony, about an hourbefore the show. Buskers would entertainyou until opening time. On the stage insidethere were acts such Max Miller, ErnieLotinga, Elsie and Doris Waters, FlorenceDesmond, Stainless Stephen, Harry Lauder,George Robey, Joe Loss and his Orchestraand Carol Levis. Believe me the kids todayain't seen nothing!

During an ordinary day we went to school,did a job when we came home and stillfo-nd time to play with our frien r6 , a nd ,allof us were friends. We had so little but weacquired a wealth of things through ourinitiative, that money cannot buy. We wouldmake our box carts from old prams that costus nothing other than a few nails and know-how. We would make a scooter from twolengths of board, a block of wood, twoscrew eyes and a bolt and a couple of ballbearing wheels from Wilkinson.s on tiecorner of Gossett Street. This would beconstructed in less than an hour, and what ascooter!

In Wellington Row there was a square ofa sphalt al ytrinh ran tr. rrisIrnk;•1 Uraaalanal tl-A.

1,1111..... ......rauaaavact NAJC.44 17.1n4 1.11No

top of Quilter Street. This was our skatingrink, we called it the 'Ashey' and as I saidthere was so little traffic about which meantthat after school was finished we could skatewith very little risk of being hit by a vehicle.A pair of skates cost around two and six andmost children had them. You would have akey which operated a claw on the front ofthe skates, which clipped to the welt of yourshoe. It often happened that the sole wouldpull away and you would be barred fromusing them by your parents until youobtained a strap which would take the strainoff the claw.

We were always smiling and laughing andthe competition around us gave us a sense ofwell being. Doors were never locked and we

would be in and out of one another's housesbecause we all trusted one another and evenwhen our parents fell out it never affectedthe friendship of the nbildren.

The old Columbia Market was a largegothic building with spires which has longsince gone, it should have been preserved. itwas built to be a vegetable market but therailway was too far away. One part of themarket was sloped and it rose upward toabout ten feet. It was known as 'TheDroppings.' We would get over the railingsand drop on to the cobbled road, much to theconsternation of the local residents. Theyoung children found this very high andwould sometimes hurt themselves.

Certa in things svere eearnnal There wouldbe Marble (glamies) time, Top time, Conkertime, Cigarette card time, Roller Skate time,Catapult time, Scooter time and Pea shootertime. Yo-u could purchase a peashooter inthe top shop for a penny. It was a ten inchpiece of tubing with a raised flange at oneend which you put to your mouth and blew apea through it like a blow pipe. Accuracycaw with practice. You could buy the peasfrom Eslenko's Or Gums or any CornChandlers shop. Billy Houghton, myself andfriends were in' the pub toilet which hadround holes in the door when this little oldman came along. I took a shot at himthrough the holes and "night h i m on thecheek. He chased us out of the toilet anddown the road at a fair lick, but although hecame pretty close he never caught me. Whenmy Dad heard about it the • peashooter wasconfiscated. They were dangerous things. Aboy at school was blinded in one eye withone.

We all looked forward to the school summerholidays when we would go down to thecanal towpath and drag for fish with the rimof a bike wheel covered in sacking andsecured in four places by strong cord. Onthis a ten foot rope was tied and in the centrenf the earl-ITT n weight wne planed to held itdown under water. We then pulled it alongthe canal occasionally lifting it out andremoving what fish we had caught. Tiddlers

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were thrown back in. The fish were then putin a jam jar and were purchased off us byMr Lamey who had a pond in his garden.

When we were older we would swim in thecanal, but this was a dangerous practice andforbidden by rmr parents I remember going

with a boy from 'Wimbolt Street, BertieAsavado, down to the canal and playing ora moored barge. I looked round for Bertieand he was gone. I looked over the other sideof the barge and he was struggling in thewater. I shouted for help and a young fellov,standing on the bank dived in and pulledBertie out. He could easily have drowned,but was lucky enough to suffer nothing morethan shock and cold. A friend of mymother's, Mrs Richardson lived in nearbyCambridge Road. I took him there and shedried him off and dressed him up in someclothes belonging to one of her daughters,she had no son s . Bertie and I concocted

story that he had fallen in a pond in LondonFields, which we told his mum when we got.home.

The next day at school Bertie was abscnt soI told the tedeile. euitwe.e4 y u iu „

pond. Unfortunately, he had since told hismother what really happened. She in turnhad told the teacher and called in the doctor.The teacher asked me to repeat my storywhich I did, and of course, was caught outin the lie. I received four handers 'with thecane for lying.

Sunday morning always rrint a walk downthe Row, or the lane. There was Club Row,Slater Street and Brick Lane, through toWentworth Street and Petticoat Lane. Birdsin cages sang every-where. Dogs could bepurchased from a shilling upwards, also nEtsand monkeys. You could buy almostanything dorm the Row, and although w ;had no money to spend, we got one hell of akick from window shopping.

0.i one stall would be a tray of secondhandspectacles. If you found a pair that suited,they would cost you sixpence. Further alongwould be a stall that had a green beige coveron which they sold secondhand false teeth.,

There was a bowl of disinfectant on the stallso that after dipping in a set you could see ifthey were suitable, and once again buy forabout sixpence. We would stand roundfascinated as people tried the teeth and whensomeone got the teeth stuck in their mouthwe would roar with laughter. My dad toldme that all these teeth were obtained fromundertakers, who took them out from thedead bodies. From Virginia Road to BethnalGreen were the st3cond -lt •nd Clothesstalls, where for a lbw shillings you couldpurchase a suit or dress. When there werecrowds of people in Brick Lane we wouldhelp ourselves to an old top hat or bowler,which we would take turns to wear, and itwould eventually end up on a window ledge,left for other kids to play with. You dare nottell your parents you pinched anything, asyou would be confined to the house for aperiod as punishment.

We could not afford holidays but would betreated to a trip to Southend on Sea. Weeksbefore, we would save our coppers to spendon the carousel, and enjoy rides on thevarious contrivances that were there. Mumaid Dail would have Let,. in one of alemany pubs along the front and we wouldpaddle in the sea. Then we would eat oursandwiches that Mum had brought with her.We would also have a penny plate ofcockles or whelks with lots of vinegar andpepper. What a relish!

Much water has now passed under thebridge and ac I meditate in my twilight yearsI thank my lucky stars my childhood andyouth were spent in what I think was thebest time for anybody to have lived.

Editor's Note:

We would love to hear your story - do putpen to paper, and send us yourreminiscences. We've had tales of BethnalGreen, Poplar and Bow. What about lifebetween the wars in East Ham, CanningTown or Stratford?

1 I

Out and About with the Society

Sunday 5th September - Our Society's winterprogramme started with a stall at Island GardensFete. What a fantastic venue, with the frontage ofGreenwich as our backdrop, country and westernmusic, children dancing, clowns and Danny La Rue- and in between we managed to sell the Record,Rosemary's book and publicise our lectures andwalks for the winter. We also met up with oldfriends, renewed acquaintances, and exchangedviews with other societies.

15th September saw the Society visiting theHumanities Education Centre where our newsletteris photocopied. Margaret, the librarian, showed usmany of the old books on local history that hadcome to the Centre when schools had beenn ni n Ignmatm. Also the huge lending library wherebooks can be taken out on loan for a whole term.Everyone wished the books and visual aids hadbeen around in our young days. Education seems tobe far more fun these days.

Our first lecture on 23rd September on GeorgeLansbury by Prof. John Shepherd, who travelledwith his wife from Cambridge to talk to us, wasoutstanding. The talk was based on ProfShepherd's research for his forthcoming book onGeorge Lansbury, and although he said that he waspreaching to the converted., we found the lecturefascinating, especially the details of the votingsystem in 1912, and the fact that a woman, UnityT1 w1,;ngs of Campbell Road, Pow, actually voted(Conservative) in the by-election, because hername was on the register!

Nobody told the weatherman it was the Society'scoach outing, and the visit to the Weald andDownland Open Air Museum, so eagerly lookedforward to by so many of us, had to be called off.However, thanks to Ann Sarisom's forwardthinking, the coach-load of hopeful excursionistsarrived at Petworth House for an unexpected, butdelightful visit.

Sunday 3rd October saw the opening of theexhibition on East End Suffragettes at the RaggedSchool Museum ; thanks to the efforts of MaggieHewitt of Oxford House, and Sophie Perkins at theMuseum. The exhibition will be open until the firstweek of January 1994, and has attracted a great

deal of interest already. The programme began witha walk down the Bow Road for members of theNational Trust, who thoroughly enjoyed theirexcursion into East. I fnviran, ag they trustinglyfollowed Rosemary and Doreen down the canaltowpath to the Ragged School Museum. The walkhad been arranged by Mary Cable and wasfollowed by a talk on Barnard° given by 'funRidge. The opening day attracted a large number ofvisitors and Doreen and Rosemary were on hand toguide visitors around the exhibition, while Tomobligingly repeated his lecture, much to the delightof a group of children who were given animpromptu lesson in the Victorian classroom.

For our lecture on the 19th October, we met up atthe Queen Victoria Seamen's Rest, where TerrySimco, the General Manager gave us a talk on thehistory of the Mission , which is celebrating its

150th anniversary this year, followed by a guidedtour around the premises at 121 East India DockRoad. Terry had many touching stories of elderlyseamen of all nationalities who, through the yearshad boarded at the Mission between ships, and onretirement came to the 'Vic' as they affectionatelycall their home, to end their days, having lost touchwith family and friends because of their years atsea. Their stores, along with the story of thecreation of the'Mission is told in an anniversarybrochure, A4, 36 pages, price £10 plus postage,from T J Simco, QVSR, 121 East India DockRoad, London El4 6DF. Profits go to the supportof the Mission.

27th October was a great day for St Matthias'Church, as it celebrated its restoration throughfunds made available from the LDDC and EnglishHeritage to repair and restore the fabric. HeritageLondon Trust helped towards repair to the tombs,replacement and repair to the stained glass, and theclock. Local members of our Society over the yearshave written endless letters to the LDDC and localpapers urging that action be taken to save this rareexample of a mid 17th century church.

Rosemary and Doreen were invited to the GasMuseum Bromley by Bow, as guests of WappingHistory Society. We had a long walk from thestation which was well worth the effort because wewent over a private bridge across the River Lea,where it meets the Limehouse Cut, not far fromThree Mills. The Museum is a must for those

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interested in the detailed history of the productionof gas and the gasworks of East London. The site atBeckton of 640 acres built in 1868/70 was thelargest gasworks in the world, with 52 locomotivesworking, its own railway station and trams that ran1 1/2 miles into Beckton Works. 4,000 workerswere employed at the site, which included twochurches and a clock tower In the period kitchenswe saw some of the old gas appliances in useduring this century, some of which would look quiteAnt (If plane- in Ain. mAdPrn Iritnhens FlApefiilly wewill be able to plan a visit for our own members inthe near future.

/ Ul Was Ulc 11151 JLU1Uay 01 Ulc II1U11U1,

and another Suffragette walk down the Bow Road.Despite our misgivings, we had twenty wellwrapped up walkers, and a photographer from TheTimes, and the cheerful group obligingly waitedwhilst Rosemary was photographed on the steps ofthe Bromley Town Hall (see page 18 of the Times,8th November). We had a lively walk all the way tothe Ragged School Museurr, where welcome cupsof tea awaited us.

The AGM An November Ilth was well attendedand all the committee members stood for re-

and horleHl y we qi1,0 1, j-iper" - .77new helpers on the committee. Any morevolunteers? We do need help. The meeting wasfollowed by a lecture on the excavations at SuttonHouse, given by Christopher Philpotts. This, theoldest house in London to survive, was built in1535 by Ralph Sadler and was known as the BrykPlace/Milford/Ivy/Picton House at different times.It was renamed Sutton House after Thomas Suttonwho founded Charterhouse in 1611 and wasbelieved to have lived there. However, it has beenestablished that he lived next door, in Tan House.Slides took us through the house and step by stepthrough the process of excavations of various partsof the building, including their most exciting find,covered well in the rear garden. Christopher saidthat, contrary to popular local belief, they hadfound no evidence of a tunnel into Hackneymarshes. The National Trust have produced aHistory of Sutton House by Anne Blackburn andMike Gra,,, Price £3 + p&p from the house.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery has a new Field StudyCentre for natural history, which was opened onNovember 8th by the renowned Naturalist David

Bellamy, who organised a nature walk around thecemetery for children. The Society hopes to assistthe Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery with walksand lectures on the famous and infamous who lieburied there.

Doreen Kendall

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1994PROGRAMME

!Li 1885 Lord Rothschild was the leader in ther_____E_n__11./WIU111B 01 Luc row rci HIULIbL1141 1JWC111118b

Campany Ltd, established to provide poor Jewswith decent and cheap housing. The first modeldwellings erected were the Rothschild Buildings inFlower and Dean Street, Spitalfields. Thosebuildings have since been demolished, but underanother name the company continues as a housingassociation to provide housing in the East End forJews and non-Jews. On Thursday 20th January,at 7.30 pm Clifford Lawton will discuss LordRothschild's motives in the founding of thecompany - were they 'benevolent dictatorship' or'despotic philanthropy'?

On Thursday 17th February at 7.30 pm DrDaphne Glick will speak on 'Cephas Street SchoolEvacuated'. She will be drawing on a series ofletters written by the late Alderman Kershaw andwill talk about the evacuation of the school fromthe point of view of the Headmaster. In particular,she will describe the practical problems, thepleasures and the emotions, from the day theydeparted until the day war was declared over.Alderman A Kershaw JP was her father. He was afounder member and Secretary of the Mile EndLabour Party and ser ,!...c1 on the Council from about199n-1Q47.

The Latimer Church provides welcomingaccommodation for the Society in its modernbuilding. rean Olwen kviaynard has written itshistory, tracing it bac to the church's origins in thelate 17th century. On hursday 17th March at7.30 pm her talk entit ed 'Not by Law Established'will describe the volu tary church life at LatimerChapel and that of th neighbouring RomanCatholic Parish of Gu dian Angels.

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Readers of the East London Advertiser will alreadyhave learnt of the knowledge of railway historyacquired by Bob Dunn, a member of our Society.On Thursday 14th April at 7.30 pm he will bespeaking to us on the Coming of the Railways toEast London.

Caroline Beim is the latest biographer of Keir

Hardie. On Thursday 28th April at 7.30 pm shewill talk on how relevant Keir H'rdie's causes areto politics in East London today.

Finally, on Thursday 19th May at 7.30 pm, bringalong your memories, mementos and photographsfor a sociable Members' Evening on East LondonPubs.

David Behr

Time to Take a Bow

Hem is a tiny note to my how much Ienjoyed coming along to the meeting in ErnestStreet.It was very satisfying to be able to put faces to then-mes of r'ominittee members :eho I horsonly through the Newsletter, and I became highly

rPn'- efrcr: '7;Rosemary, Philip, John, Doreen and others on ourbehalf.

I doubt whether adequate appreciation of yourcommunal endeavours was voiced at the meetingbut I am sure I am not alone in expressing mygratitude to you and your colleagues.

Stephen W Denny

Thank you very much indeed for your kind words.We hope to keep up our efforts, and continue to bedeserving of such high proise.

The illm.st London History Newsletter is published by theEast London History Society and distributed free to allmembers.Contributions are welcome from anyone with an interestin East London history. Letters end articles may to sentto Doreen Kendall, Secretary (address below)The newsletter is edited, typeset and printed byRosemary Taylor, Chair, ELHS on DTP. Editorial team:Doreen Kendall, Philip Mernick, John Harris, AnnSansom and Rosemary Taylor.

EAST LONDON HISTORY SOCIETYPROGRAMME 1994

All lectures begin at 7.30 pm and are held in the Latimercongregational Church Hall, Ernest St, Stepney El -nearest undergrounds, Stepney Green & Mile End.

Thursday 20 JanuaryLord Rothschild and the 4% Industrial

Dwellings CoClifford Lawton

Thursday 17 FebruaryCephas Street School Evacuated

The experiences of Alderman A Kershaw JPDaphne Glick

Thursday 17 MarchChurch Life in Mile End

T comer church and the Roman catholic Parishof Guardian Angels

Jean Olwen Maynard

Thursday 14 AprilThe Coming of the Railways to London

Bob Dunn

Thursday 2.1 April/ '' r zrd.ie's 1c'olifics

How relevant ar! they to the East Ead today?aralinP Rawl

Saturday 7 MayCoach Outing to Ipswich - see leaflet

Thursday 19 MayEast London Pubs

Reminiscenc e.: EveningMembers share their memories and research

For further details please contactDoreen Kendall,

20 Puteaux House, London E2 ORF

Enquirils:Rosemary Taylor Te,: 071 515 2960

Our Programme Secretary David Behr welcomesany ideas you may have for future talks and visitsand will be happy to meet you to discus.; these at anyof our lecture evenings.

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