Newham Heritage Month 2024 Projects Announced
7th March 2024 - Newham Heritage Month team
From medieval abbeys to internationally influential Stratford skate spots, via super-sewers, storied parks and sweet factories, sixteen projects will explore some fascinating places and spaces that helped build Newham’s heritage. Discover what you can look forward to in Newham Heritage Month this summer, in this preview of the exciting Community Grant-funded projects.
The funded projects celebrating the theme ‘Places & Spaces’ are:
Act Up! Newham – Built for Inclusion: The creation of Cleves school and how Newham became famous for inclusive education
‘Built for Inclusion’ will collect oral histories revealing how the policy of inclusion developed in Newham, how and why the pioneering Cleves School was created, and how that impacted disabled children in the borough. The project will culminate in a performance that includes audio, film and photos from Act Up! Newham’s research and scenes devised by the actors responding to the research. There will be a question and answer session with the disabled actors and an opportunity for audience discussion after each show.
Applecart Arts – Ladders of Learning from Cradle to Grave
‘Ladders of Learning from Cradle to Grave’ will chart the intriguing history of Applecart’s current home in Plashet Park. Originally the Passmore Edwards Library, opened in 1899, the building later became Newham’s registry office, fell into disrepair, was taken over by squatters, and eventually became the community centre it is today. This project will create an exhibition and documentary, an oral history archive and run a workshop in the park.
Cameye Arts CIC – Footprints of LGBTQI+ Humans in Stratford
Focussing on the places and spaces in Stratford that hold significance for the LGBTQI+ community, ‘Footprints of LGBTQI+ Humans in Stratford’ will create a “living archive” of 10 short documentaries, oral histories, photographs and other ephemera. The project will culminate in a guided tour of Stratford, taking in the various places and spaces researched throughout the project.
Discover Children’s Story Centre – The Magic Library
For ‘The Magic Library’, Discover Children’s Story Centre will work with Newham Library Service to research the history of libraries in Newham, focusing particularly on Plaistow, Custom House, East Ham, and Forest Gate. They aim to “uncover the stories of how these extraordinary places came to be, their changing histories and what they mean to people”. This research will be used to create interactive storytelling performances for each library, sharing the history of each place and enabling participants to make their own picture/story/response to their library space for a collaged exhibition piece, which will be exhibited in each library across the summer.
Fairbairn Hall RTM Limited Company – Fairbairn Hall Stories: 1887 – 2024
Detailing the history of Fairbairn Hall – a grade II listed building originally built as a boys’ club as part of the Mansfield House Settlement set up by University of Oxford students in the late 19th century – ‘Fairbairn Hall Stories: 1887 – 2024’ will share the building’s rich history through exhibitions and guided tours created by artists, historians, architects, musicians, and current residents of the building.
Fight For Peace – The Blue Box in Newham: Home of Champions
Fight For Peace have had a base in North Woolwich for the last 16 years providing development opportunities for local young people. Originating in the favelas of Brazil, the charity will explore its own history in Newham through a documentary film produced by its Young Creatives team for ‘The Blue Box in Newham’.
Friends of Abbey Gardens – The Great Gate
Located on the site of the former Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Friends of Abbey Gardens will delve through over 800 years of history in ‘The Great Gate’. While a small gravel pit is all that remains of the original abbey, this project will take visitors back into medieval times by running workshops inspired by producing, growing, and making that took place at what was once thought to be the largest abbey in Europe.
Keith Martin – The Greenway: From Super-Sewer to Wildflower Walk
Running seven kilometres through the heart of the borough, the Greenway is the embankment which covers Joseph Bazalgette’s famous Northern Outfall Sewer. Built as a response to cholera outbreaks and pollution in Victorian times, the sewer today runs underneath a footpath and cycle way flanked by nature. ‘The Greenway: From Super-Sewer to Wildflower Walk’ will explore the space’s history through a series of guided photo tours.
Marilyn Fontaine – It’s A London Ting: How Stratford Centre influenced the international skate community
Get ready to roll through the inspiring history of the Stratford Centre as a hub for the skating and roller skating community from the 1980s until the late 2000s! Filled with shoppers during the day, by evening a safe space for young people who wanted to practice their craft emerged. Styles of skating originating here would go on to influence skaters worldwide. ‘It’s A London Ting’ will explore this history through workshops, an exhibition and a documentary film.
Maryam Huq – Minted: A Short History of the Trebor Works
While their mints may be an extremely recognisable product, not all Newham residents may know that Trebor had its main factory right here in Forest Gate for several decades. The beautiful Art Deco building is still in use today as a residential space. ‘Minted’ will uncover the story of the Trebor Works through oral history interviews, create an illustrated zine and host a craft workshop.
Matt Ponting – East Ham Nature Reserve – A celebration of over 40 years
Situated in the grounds of the medieval St Mary Magdalene’s church, East Ham Nature Reserve has seen visitor numbers drop in recent years. ‘East Ham Nature Reserve – A celebration of over 40 years’ will document this beautiful green space, which holds treasured memories for Newham residents past and present, and help to put it back on the map through an exhibition and celebration event.
Park In June – Park Lives: West Ham Park gets personal
Newham has many green spaces, with perhaps none quite as significant as West Ham Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2024. While previously the site of a botanical garden, FA Cup football matches and home to the likes of Samuel Gurney and Elizabeth Fry, since becoming public, the park has touched many lives. ‘Park Lives’ will create an art trail in the park to celebrate its history, as well as a radio programme sharing stories collected during the project.
Rhiannon Armstrong – A Flat Through Time: legacies of former McGrath Road residents told by those who live there now
‘A Flat Through Time’ will focus on the life of one block of flats on McGrath Road, E15, to paint a picture of the people who live there. Collecting interviews from long-term residents to recent arrivals, council tenants to leaseholders, it aims to “celebrate and value all the memories and traces of people who have lived here no matter who they were and how long they were here for”. An audio-led film will be created to tell this story.
Ruth Bell – The History of Katherine Road, From Red Post Lane To Today
Running from Romford Road to Barking Road, Katherine Road is a busy connecting road running through Newham’s heart, featuring homes, businesses, and schools. Once a country lane, the buildings that line the road have gone through many changes over the years. Join us this June to see an exhibition created by Ruth Bell in collaboration with a local Newham school, documenting the road’s evolving history.
The New Black Film Collective – Newham School for the Deaf
Discover the rich history of Newham School for the Deaf, which was founded in 1893 as one of the first of its kind in the country. With a particular focus on the historic school, ‘Newham School for the Deaf’ will explore the various historic spaces for deaf education in Newham, teaching local deaf children about this heritage.
Thomas & William McLucas – Post-post-industrial: an archival installation of development around the Beckton Gasworks
Once dominating the area, there is now hardly a trace of the famous former gasworks as new urban developments loom. This summer, explore an archive created through digital scanning, site casting, found objects and film, designed to help preserve and better understand the complex history of the site and its place within contributions to climate change.
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