177 records found in Writing
A local woman shares her happy memories of Canning Town Old Library via an email correspondence with community researcher Lynda Dowling.
A Newham Heritage report by Sean Alayo, looking at regeneration in Canning Town and Rathbone Market.
In summer 2025, I answered a call from Newham Heritage to join a team of community researchers on an oral history project focused on the Old Library at 103 Barking...
In 1989, the Canning Town Public Hall was ruled structurally unsafe and for the first time in over a century as a community hub, the building lay disused and empty....
Who were the communities of Community Links? In the life of the Canning Town Public Hall, times have changed, and the world has changed with it. This development is reflected...
Sharon Fell is a former Newham Primary School Teacher, passionate library advocate, local amateur historian and proud Newham resident. Born in Forest Gate Hospital in 1960, East London, Sharon’s family...
Julien Ipanga is a young sculptor and artist, brought up in Canning Town and whose career began in Newham. Born in France in 1997, Julien’s family moved to Canning Town...
Father (Fr) John Armitage is the current parish priest at St Margaret’s Church in Canning Town. Born and bred in Canning Town, his family have lived here since the 1920s....
Meet local musical legends Bill Farrow and Richie Milton also known as Bill ‘N’ Ricky Cockney Duo. Bill was born in the 1940s in Canning Town and Richie Milton in...
Four oral history recordings by community researcher Natasha Cox.
In the 1800s, Canning Town bore little resemblance to the place we know today. East London—especially the dockland districts—was rapidly expanding into an industrial powerhouse. Shipbuilding, metalworking, sugar refining, and...
On Thursday 23rd October, The Crafted Corner, in collaboration with Newham Heritage, delivered a commissioned lino-printing workshop for former visitors of the old Canning Town Library. The free workshop ran...
Community Researcher Nancy Nhat Vu reflects on the process of researching Newham’s heritage.
Reflections from Aimee Pickering on the experience of being a Community Researcher in Newham.
What words come to mind when you think of the archives? This was the question put to our group of community researchers when we had our introduction to the Newham...
An oral history interview with Josephine Phillips.
I joined the Newham Heritage Month Community Research project because I wanted to explore something I have always quietly observed and experienced growing up here: the way people make a...
An oral history interview with Kathleen Holding.
An oral history interview with Deborah Peck.
An interview over Zoom with William Elsom.
In this multimedia record, Newham’s Community Researcher Sean Alayo reflects on the experience of participating in our local history project.
This image relates to the Mayflower Centre, a Christian organisation in Canning Town, which with the inspiration of David Webster and the Reverend Roger Sainsbury under the 1975 government Job...
Newham City Farm was formally opened on 19th July 1977 by HRH Princess Anne. The event was reported in national and local newspapers. The occasion was attended by local Council...
Local people recount how significant first hand experiences with animals and the outdoors at Newham City Farm were for education, training, building social and life skills and well-being on many...
From 1965 to 2002, there was a small bird and animal enclosure known as “Plashet Zoo” within Plashet Park in Manor Park, Newham, near to the Passmore Edwards Building. The...
The Friends of Newham City Farm evolved from the Friends of Plashet Zoo upon the closure of the Zoo. The group comprised a few members but significantly included the Patron,...
Newham City Farm relied on a variety of volunteers as explained in the exhibition panel here. For many though, particularly the regular junior, youth, adult and SEND volunteers, there was...
For many families, visiting Newham City Farm was not just an enjoyable day out but a necessity, a place to relax, destress, regulate emotionally and physically as well as for...
Most visitors, volunteers and employees had their favourite animal. Many describe different personalities and amusing anecdotes about the animals’ antics!
Many visitors, volunteers and employees have recounted that the farm was a place where they felt safe and at peace.
Michael Salmon was a farm employee for 35 years from the early 1980s soon after LB Newham took the farm over from the Mayflower Centre. He was already there when...
When local people heard rumours in July 2021 that the farm was destined to be closed, local residents, many of whom were previously unknown to each other, rallied together to...
Revolution Farm, based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, is a site-specific play written by James Kenworth for performance at Newham City Farm in 2014.
An email interview with Robert John Rogers (born 1953), who was raised in Canning Town and is a former London Borough of Newham Principle Electrical Inspector (Housing). As a former...
The humorous story of how the old Canning Town Library building was plagued by leaks in its later years.
Why one woman owes her entire career to the perseverance of Canning Town Library’s head librarian.
How Canning Town Library provided for Newham’s youngest residents from the 1970s to the 2000s.
The Lesbians of Forest Gate is a new play derived from interviews with lesbian, queer, bisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary people living in Forest Gate over the past six decades....
The Lesbians of Forest Gate is a new play derived from interviews with lesbian, queer, bisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary people living in Forest Gate over the past six decades....
The Lesbians of Forest Gate is a new play derived from interviews with lesbian, queer, bisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary people living in Forest Gate over the past six decades....
The Lesbians of Forest Gate is a new play derived from interviews with lesbian, queer, bisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary people living in Forest Gate over the past six decades....
Brampton Skatepark, opened in August 2024, represents a significant development in the recreational landscape of East Ham. Located within a large, enclosed area adjacent to Brampton Primary School, the park...
This past September 2025, Newham came alive with the vibrant sights, sounds, and flavours of a community celebration that honoured local culture, heritage, and a beloved neighbourhood business – Wenty’s...
Reverend Ajennie Subaran has been a local to Forest Gate since 1992, serving at Emmanuel Parish Church on 208 Romford Road – just at the crossing to Upton Lane and...
In the 1990’s, Green Street in the London Borough of Newham was the major destination for Bollywood audio, video cassette and magazine shops.
On 18 September, we invited guests to an evening celebrating the work created by artist-in-residence Sam Ikhuoria, studio holders Frames of Mind, and local residents for our Newham Heritage Month...
At the start of the Blitz schools were being used as rest centres. People were evacuated from their homes if they had been destroyed by bombs or if there was...
Joan Lewis describes her memories of New Years Eve, combining her Scottish and East London traditions.
A small memory of the Smog during the winters and the smell of Knights Soap Factory.
Mixed memories of East London during Covid, enjoying the quiet city parks but reminiscent of the isolation for many older people.
Describes working life at the Docks, and a friend who persevered through discrimination.
Memories of parties and music during New Year’s Eve.
The Collage & Conversation workshop on 30 July 2025 was an exciting highlight of the residency for Sam. The session invited participants to explore the history of the building through...
As part of Newham Heritage Month 2025, Newham-based visual artist Sam Ikhuoria completed a two-week residency at Alice Billing House. His work was developed in response to the theme Inspector...
This record sheds light on the wider legacy of Wenty’s Tropical Foods on Upton Lane and explores how culinary knowledge acts as a living link between generations, carrying family heritage...
Earlier this summer, Rabbits Road Press commissioned four local artists to develop a set of risograph printed cards celebrating any aspect of Newham’s heritage that spoke to them. Supported by...
This July, we were thrilled to host Inspector of Nuisances – a series of workshops led by Bo and Zoe of Frames of Mind UK. The project invited participants to...
Between Two Worlds delves into the personal and collective experiences of Srilankan Tamil migrants, capturing how their memories, identities and cultural heritage continue to shape Newham’s rich tapestry of multicultural...
The Manor Road Quarter housing development in Canning Town incorporated a concrete skate bowl as part of its community-focused design. Officially opened to the public in January 2025, the facility...
In October 2022, City Mill Skate launched a series of purpose-built skateable structures within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, as part of the University College London East (UCLE) development....
To celebrate Newham at 60, we trace the history of Wenty’s Tropical Foods – a grocery shop and Forest Gate institution. This post sheds special light on its founder, Wenworth...
To celebrate Newham at 60, we trace the history of a Forest Gate institution and look at the legacy of its founder. Established in 1986, Wenty’s Tropical Foods on 26...
Inspector of Nuisances is a Newham Heritage Month 2025 project run by Grow Studios, exploring the legacy of Alice Billing, Newham’s first female sanitation inspector. Through genealogical research, artist residencies,...
Silvertown, in a once remote and isolated corner of the borough, was an area of rapidly expanding industry, and exploitation in the 19th Century. The area soon became home to...
Newham Academy of Music was formed in 1965 when East and West Ham merged to become the London Borough of Newham. Founded in 1948 and originally called East Ham Academy...
Earlier this summer, Rabbits Road Press commissioned four local artists to develop a set of risograph printed cards celebrating any aspect of Newham’s heritage that spoke to them. Supported by...
Earlier this summer, Rabbits Road Press commissioned four local artists to develop a set of risograph printed cards celebrating any aspect of Newham’s heritage that spoke to them. Supported by...
Earlier this summer, Rabbits Road Press commissioned four local artists to develop a set of risograph printed cards celebrating any aspect of Newham’s heritage that spoke to them. Supported by...
An oral history and related records from Ryan Davis, former Youth Volunteer and Sessional Worker at Newham City Farm. “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth” is a collection of oral histories,...
Nur Uddin is a Deaf educator currently working at Lister Community School in Newham. Uddin has been working in Deaf education, especially in mainstream schools, for the past two decades....
As part of the Newham Heritage Month, West Ham Park’s Hidden Histories project interviewed locals on their memories about the park which celebrates 150 years this year.
An interactive storytelling performance for families. Created by Discover Children’s Story Centre with residents from across Newham and library staff, past and present.
Newham Heritage Month 2024 saw Creative Engagement Services CIC host a fantastic series of workshops focused on podcasting and filmmaking. These workshops revolved around the legendary Newham radio station, DejaVu...
As part of Newham Heritage month, Act Up! Newham researched how Newham became well known for inclusive education. Here are stories from the people who made it happen. We researched...
Friends of Abbey Gardens asked artists Rebecca Wilson and Virgina O’Dwyer to run an animation workshop with Year 5 pupils at Ranelagh Primary school for Newham Heritage Month.
Act Up! Newham, an inclusive theatre company based in Newham, have spent the last months interviewing a wide range of people to research the history of how Newham became known...
As part of Newham Heritage Month 2024, local residents Danielle Kendry and Shabira Cassidy embarked on a research project to uncover and celebrate the history and stories of Central Park...
Kulwinder Singh Gill, a Punjabi Sikh, immigrated to the UK in 1981 to help his uncle run their family business, Bharat Food Store, located on the corner of Green Street...
Designing a nature reserve centre and new educational building in a space associated with a historic church was a visionary task. Arthur Watson, Project Officer, London Borough of Newham, recalls...
Artist Rhiannon Armstrong has always wondered about the treasure chest of toys and polaroid camera left in the flat when she first moved in 8 years ago. This year they...
The Great Gate project has uncovered photography that shows the recent history of the Abbey Precinct from Channelsea River up to Stratford Fruit and Veg Market and across to the...
Dig into the past of Stratford Langthorne Abbey where monks once worked the land and memories are unearthed. In this project, Friends of Abbey Gardens and Historic England collaborate to...
Act Up! Newham, an inclusive theatre company based in Newham, have spent the last months interviewing a wide range of people to research the history of how Newham became known...
Sarla Meisuria is a Deaf educator, advocate, and mentor living in Newham. She spoke with Priscilla Igwe from The New Black Film Collective about her early education and experiences with...
Footprints of LGBTQIA+ Humans in Stratford is a pilot project created by Cameye Arts for Newham Heritage Month 2024. This project aims to peel back the layers and present the...
Marilyn Fontaine’s project, part of Newham Heritage Month, delves into the impact of Stratford Centre skaters on roller skating worldwide. During the pandemic, roller skating surged in popularity, with the...
As part of an investigation into the history of Katherine Road, we shared that heritage with some of the pupils from Year 4 at Sandringham School, which was itself founded...
The beauty of Katherine Road is that it’s constantly changing and adapting to suit the needs of the people who live and work there. But what’s also exciting is that...
Katherine Road is one of the oldest roads in the area, visible on maps going back to the 1700s. Here, we discover how it transformed from country lane into a...
Nestled in bustling Newham, West Ham Park boasts 77 acres of greenery, managed by the City of London Corporation for public use since 1874, that’s 150 years this year. We...
To many passers-by and newer residents of Forest Gate, the Trebor Works building is simply a unique set of apartments on Katherine Road. However, at one point, this unassuming structure...
For the last 4 years I have been involved with Newham Heritage Month, photographing and documenting the events that take place around the borough. My days would be spent cycling...
By the time the sewers have made their way across London to Abbey Mills they are 40 feet below ground. The system uses gravity to move the waste water down...
When you find yourself walking or cycling on the Greenway, you are in fact making a journey along a giant sewer. This record looks at the history of the Northern...
Find out more about the Greenway Pollinator Trail, featuring over 6km of wildflower verges designed to improve the natural environment and biodiversity along the Greenway and beyond. The Greenway is...
Find out more about the Greenway Orchard, a project led and run by a small team of dedicated volunteers. Established in 2016 they are based on the Greenway by Newham...
Fight for Peace is a youth organisation based in North Woolwich, Newham. The charity provides free boxing and martial arts as well as a range of other services (including mentoring...
For the month of June during NHM:2024 Place and Spaces and the London Festival of Architecture the residents of Newham’s historic Boys’ Club, a Grade-II listed building and former University...
A collection of photos, quotes, and interview clips from visits to Newham Libraries in February and April 2024 — capturing what the spaces mean to both library users and staff.
Before 1850, there were roughly 30 public libraries in England. In Newham and beyond, a series of new laws and two significant benefactors led to the birth of the library...
Workshops with families in Plaistow, East Ham, Forest Gate and Custom House — using Discover’s interactive Story Building methodology to build and collect memories and feelings around libraries.
![[CROPPED]Stratford Library, West Ham library staff, c1900 — Chief Librarian Alfred Cotgreave in centre front. Via Newham Photos](https://www.newhamheritagemonth.org/wp-content/uploads/CROPPED-NewhamPhotos-_-StratfordLibrary-WestHamLibraryStaff-c1900-560x280.jpg)
Alfred Cotgreave (1846-1911) was Newham’s first Chief Librarian, and an inventor of an early library cataloguing system among other fittings and devices.
Project producer Sasha Bonner joined Applecart’s Artistic director for a day’s research in Newham’s archives.
Through intimate, insightful and poignant interviews with six Newham residents, Pearly Queens to Grime MCs is a unique exploration of the changing language, music and heritage of Newham across the...
A look into the history of the Albert Cinema in Silvertown (1912-1938) The Albert Cinema was a picture house which once stood on Albert Road, Silvertown. Originally opened in 1912...
An account of the meeting of Charlie Chaplin and Mahatma Gandhi in Canning Town in 1931 and its influence on the making of the film Modern Times
Hartley’s year 4 pupils have used online search engines to find a range of artists that were born or are based in Newham. They have been amazed at the rich...
Twelve pupils from Ranelagh Primary School, most of them born in 2012, became archive investigators for six months in 2022 to uncover the secrets from their local community of what...
This project explores what is was like to take part in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies via a series of interviews with individuals who danced, drummed, operated chimneys,...
Early Bow porcelain – a multi-disciplinary investigation into the creation of porcelain close to what is now the Olympic Park in Newham.
Newham Archive holds collections on people, places and events that are important to Newham’s heritage. We have collections on local schools, churches and societies, urban regeneration and public transport, sport...
This interview shares the personal experience of Carpenters Road Estate resident Dolores John-Phillip, who was negatively impacted by the 2012 Olympic Games. Dolores along with fellow neighbours campaigned and fought...
For Newham Heritage Month 2021, Newham Music is creating a Songbook! Participating schools took part in Heritage Inspiration Days led by community experts, enriched with information gathered by a local...
The British Aluminium Company Ltd was created in May 1894 in Silvertown and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium plc (1982-1996). Happy times of working at a Silvertown factory have...
Colin Grainger, former editor of the Newham Recorder and resident of Silvertown has had a long association with Tate & Lyle through family working there. Here he reflects on the...
The young men and women of Silvertown and North Woolwich knew how to enjoy themselves back in the day, and the Tate Institute was one of the venues that kept them...
Queen’s and Stratford Markets are one of the most vibrant and diverse places in Newham in terms of history and stories; both have witnessed the rapid development of the areas....
The SS Persia, one of P&O’s most luxurious passenger liners of the time left Tilbury docks and steamed down the Thames en route to India on 18 December 1915. She...
Sheriff Jammeh, or ‘Big C’, is a Gambian business owner and Co-Founder of Interface Gambia & Youth Club in Newham. His business ‘Interface Gambia and Youth Club’ works with young...
Jack Leslie, a footballer was born in Canning Town to a Jamaican father and English mother. He played for Barking Town and later joined for Plymouth Argyle.
The Lascars were seafarers from the Subcontinent of India and were employed on British ships to replace British sailors who abandoned their posts because of the appalling work conditions.
As part of Drawing Woodgrange Road, Past and Present, students looked into the history of the shops on Woodgrange high street. This is some information uncovered during the online art...
Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers tells the life stories of Sylhetti settlers outlining the seafaring tradition from which they came. It seems likely that many of the Bengali speaking...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
A memorial at Tower Hill, London, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, commemorates the men and women of the merchant ships, including the crew of Persia, who died in both World...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
The ‘Knowing Newham Hero Hunt’ is a theatre show for children and their families about some of Newham’s hidden heroes. Created especially for Newham Heritage Month 2021 the show features...
According to P&O records Asian sailors made up almost three quarters of the crew on the SS Persia, 81 European and 236 Asian crew members are listed. They would have...
Discover more about the women who worked in Silvertown factories including experiences of the Silvertown Explosion in 1917, what Paddington Bear has to do with Silvertown, and how the Marx...
Before 1918, women did not have the right to vote. Despite women being important workers in the shops, docks and factories of Newham, they also had few rights at work....
The teenagers and women who worked at the Tate & Lyle factory were nicknamed the ‘Sugar Girls’ – they still are today! These women are known for being hardworking with...
Born in Newham, Jehu-cal Emmanuel Enemokwu is a young business owner who started and runs a successful luxury fashion and design brand, based in the borough. He was interviewed by...
Darning Newham were given the opportunity by Newham Archive and Local Studies to view clothing from Newham’s factories worn by female workers in the early 20th century. Newham Collections Service...
Darning Newham, a project created by local textile artists Katie May Anderson and Memunatu Barrie, explores and celebrates how women have contributed to Newham. In alignment with the overarching theme...
Today, Newham is full of independent shops – just like 100 years ago when 20% of Newham businesses were owned or run by women, despite not having the right to...
Darning Newham collaborated with NewVIc art and design students to create a textile print for Newham Heritage Month 2021. Students were asked to research, collage and finalise a textile design...
P&P News is a family run corner shop situated next to a bus stop on the busy thoroughfare of Forest Lane E15. The owners Prem & Pinky from The Punjab...
Welcome to Frame of Mind’s new film making and participation project “Counter Culture” featuring the stories from three corner shops in Newham. Corner shops are ubiquitous, everyone living in an...
Owned by Mike De Underground, his brother Cool Hand Flex, Uncle 22 and DJ Randall, it was an independent business which was pivotal in the development of the UK hardcore,...
On 12 April, the weekend before all shops were able to open with the easing of lockdown, the Volunteer Community Photographers took portraits of local businesses and spoke to the...
Parrabbola Theatre Company explore the history of J.D McDougall’s: World renowned producers of stage fabrics, and Newham’s Best Kept Secret, who celebrate their centenary this year.
Anab Hoffmann quit the corporate world to start Healtogether CIC in Newham, a community-based organisation aimed at addressing the mental health needs of the Somali community in the UK ....
Hafza Yusuf is a British Somali textile designer and the Founder/CEO of Hafza Studio. Based in Bow Arts’ R.A.W Studio in Newham, her design studio also hosts community arts workshops. She was...
Patrick Ideh has been running the highly successful African meat retail and distribution business Bantuway, for over twenty years. He was interviewed, along with his wife Stella, by Louise Meiklejohn,...
To give context to East End Women’s Museum’s talk with activist Gulshun Rehman, Gulshun has selected this film to give a sense of Newham in the 1980s and our rich...
Neelam Modi was one of the first people to establish a hair and beauty salon on Green street. Her successful salon, Neelams Hair and Beauty has been in Green street...
‘The Bend in the River is my Home‘ is a series of creative events and workshops, bringing Surge Cooperatives unique vision to others, combining the artistic and the environmental worlds with...
Eastside Community Heritage presents one of their early projects from 1999. Green Street Lives aimed to record, preserve and document voices of people who had come to Newham and made...
One of Eastside Community Heritage first projects was a collection of oral histories and a publication about St Mary Magdalene, East Ham The publication, with a collection of stories from...
You can hear four dramatised stories from key locations and moments in Newham’s recent history; The Seaman’s Mission in Custom House, Bruner Works, Silvertown and The Old Spotted Dog all...
The merging of two philanthropic organisations with a shared vision for east London communities. The Carpenters and Docklands Centre developed from Carpenters Institute, which was originally established in the 1920’s...
Writing and archive photography relating to the history of Carpenters Estate.
We came up with ‘Carpenters Call Out’ as a progression of work we were already doing on Carpenters Estate when Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in March 2020. This project is...
Peter Wan came to the UK in 1959 and worked in several Chinese restaurants, including the Chan’s Restaurant in Manor Park. In 1970 he took over the Chan’s Restaurant from...
Mr Yau speaks about moving to the UK from Hong Kong and the problems he faced and about starting a family and setting up a takeaway business. He later speaks...
Newham Rights Centre was set up in the early 1970s set up on the Romford Road part of a national movement to set up law centres to provide accessible legal...
Bushra Nasir became one of the UK’s first female Muslim Headteachers of a state secondary school in 1993 when she became head of Plashet School for Girls in Newham. Bushra...
Alex Oma-Pius tells us about IROKO Theatre Company which he set up in 1996 and how he found a home in Newham in 1997. Alex speaks about the talking drum...
Written by Harry Cumberbatch. Newham Black Performing and Visual Arts Workshop was set up in 1980 by Tony Cheeseman (1944-2009) and others to support the education, development and promotion of...
Eric Samuel MBE talks to us about Community Food Enterprise (CFE), a social enterprise food business which established in 2002 to alleviate food poverty. By 2008, CFE had developed a network of...
We talk to Comfort Okolo who worked at The Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Centre in Newham from when it was first formed in 1987. Comfort worked at the centre supporting...
Newham Heritage Month volunteer Peter Williams, gives a personal account of his interest in the history of “prefabs” (pre-fabricated, temporary housing) in Newham. Peter previously worked as a housing officer...
A series of three short films will take you to hidden parts of the House Mill, a Grade I-listed, eighteenth-century mill and the largest surviving tidal mill in the world....
Mark Gorman, local historian and volunteer, gives some background and context to Newham Heritage Month’s online festival.
Shpresa supports and advocates for the large Albanian community in Newham. For Newham Heritage Month, Shpresa explores the heritage items many Albanians bought with them to the UK to both...
A selection of photos and two more recipes of traditional Albanian dishes.
A detailed history of how the Shpresa Programme came to exist, and help make a home for the Albanian speaking community in Newham.
An exploration of the Albanian language, amongst one of the oldest in Europe, which is cherished amongst the Albanian community in Newham.
Here’s the surprising story from 79 years ago straight from the marvellous memory of one of the area’s oldest inhabitants, 94 year-old Joan Plant. This story, gathered by journalist Colin...
A VE Day memory that revealed so much about life in a few sentences came in a letter sent to the Newham Recorder 50 years ago in May 1970. The...
One of the most amazing local stories from VE Day in 1945 was revealed 50 years ago in a letter from an ex serviceman. Colin Johnson lived in Winsor Terrace,...
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