The Hackney and Newham History Social Club

Sue is in Newham’s Maryland to meet Victoria’s nephew. Photographer Raju Vaidyanathan finds a box under the stairs. And there’s a girl growing up in Accra and a boy growing up in Dominica: Steve meets Angela. What happens next? See Raju’s work here: https://beyondbanglatown.org.uk/exhibition/ See Tracer’s work @tracerital on Instagram - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Victoria’s plan is going well. Raju finds that developing photographs is not cheap. And we’re back with Charmaine who remembers early days with Wenty Newland in Whitechapel, Hackney and beyond. Bianca is on hand with more information on Hessel Street and the family business, Wentys Tropical Foods. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SE 3 | Same Streets Different Liv...

Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi’s first ever exhibition opens. Raju Vaidyanathan is there to see it. Raju was born and bred on Brick Lane. He got his first camera in 1983. As we go back to the 1950s, Sixties, ‘70s and ‘80s, love and hate bring communities together. This is the best and worst of us. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SE 3 | Same Streets Different Lives His...

“East London photos from an East Londoner” notes Raju, as Victoria continues to make plans. Raju sees faces he recognises in Tex’s photographs. We meet Phyllis and Charmaine Tomlinson remembering days in Mount Terrace, E1. A tea factory, branch of Woolworths and dance parties were part of life before Phyllis moved to Hackney and Charmaine made it to Newham. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

As family clear Tex’s flat, Victoria and husband Connor go looking for his life’s work. And a way to save Tex’s photographs. Gilbert moves to a hill outside Romford in Essex, after a brush with a member of the Communist Party. Tex’s work at Autograph https://autograph.org.uk/online-galleries/bandele-tex-ajetunmobi - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SE 3 | Same Stre...

Victoria remembers life with Tex, her photographer uncle who gave time to his nieces and nephews. Meanwhile, a teenage Gilbert Clarke comes to England from Jamaica with the RAF, in time for D-Day. In post-war London he meets Phyllis on the dance floor of The Paramount dancehall. Gilbert is a Plaistow resident. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SE 3 | Same Streets...

When Newham school teacher Victoria Loughran came across some old film negatives, she knew she had to save them. They belonged to her late Uncle Tex, Bandele Ajetunmobi. History Social Club traces Tex’s life through the pictures he took. In the spiritual home of the East End walking tour:  Old Stepney and Whitechapel. Tex’s portraits and street photography show working class people looking like gl...

Same Streets Different Lives... Out now! Meet Victoria, Connor, Tray, Raju, Gilbert, Phyllis, Charmaine, Bianca and Steve

Taking Care of Business, Episode 08: Judy and Carina search for Martha Eckstein’s grave at the cemetery and discover more about her final resting place.  Sue returns to Londis N16 for lunch with the Patels, happy to find her place in the family of things. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Enterprise. Family. Attitude. Sue Elliott-Nicholls takes us from N16 to E6 w...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 07:  It’s all change at Londis N16 and Judy finally makes it to East Ham Cemetery. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Enterprise. Family. Attitude. Sue Elliott-Nicholls takes us from N16 to E6 with people who’ve made our boroughs what they are today. We celebrate a shop, a common, a cemetery and an approach to life, to find a place...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 06: Sue discovers the secrets behind Anju’s food business and meets daughter-in-law Neelam who does their shop’s next-generation puds. COVID comes to East London and Priyesh has a decision to make. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Enterprise. Family. Attitude. Sue Elliott-Nicholls takes us from N16 to E6 with people who’ve made ou...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 05: As Priyesh prepares to leave the shop for something different, George recalls ‘beef’ he had decades earlier with a resident on Sandringham Road. Judy is sorting papers and photographs from her mother’s suitcase. And we meet Kooi Chock as she starts married life in Stratford. But there’s a problem. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 04: Meet George who left advertising in the Seventies to sell fraco at the market and run parties in Hackney. Elsewhere, another entrepreneur was also in business, before opening a Forest Gate institution in Newham. Sue is reminded of the people and places that mark everyday moments in her home city. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Taking Care of Business, EP 03 Anju at Londis N16 remembers meeting husband Mayank for the first time. Judy’s mum Eva came to England on the brink of war and struggles to recall the events that led to her leaving home. With an exception. A song and a dance that put a spring in her step. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Enterprise. Family. Attitude. Sue Elliott-Ni...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 02: If you’d come by this corner in the 1970s, the shop signs were different.  Sue, who grew up in the suburbs, follows the ins and outs of a small shop in Upper Clapton, run by The Patel family. Judy adjusts to ‘cockney’ life at a newspaper depot in Homerton. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Enterprise. Family. Attitude. Sue Elli...

Taking Care of Business, Episode 01: There’s a jolly little Londis with a green and white striped awning. Sue Elliott-Nicholls has a sweet time with Priyesh, Mayank and Anju at their cornershop on the edge of Stoke Newington Common. While Judy goes to East Ham in search of her grandmother Martha Eckstein. A woman she never met.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - E...

Welcome to Series 2 of the Hackney and Newham History Social Club. This time, we are 'Taking Care of Business'.

Morgan remembers a time in Central London when the lifeguard skills he developed at London Fields Lido, meant more than saving a life. Not for the faint-hearted. This bonus episode is part of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. Presenter, Sue Elliott-Nicholls travels from London Fields in Hackney to Silvertown, Stratford, and Green Street in Newham. We remember a pool, a factory, a house and a mar...

As Victoria nears retirement in Newham, life for Marilyn is bittersweet. Sue is reminded, by Bob, Anne and Bernadette, why the lido is so special.   *This is the fifth episode of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. If you would like to listen to all episodes in one go, jump to the episode 'A Pool, A Factory, A House and a Market'.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Morgan looks back on how being a lifeguard was great for his mates. Marnie regrets nothing. And it looks like Sue’s lido-stalking of the maybe-professional swimmer, is about to pay off.  *This is the fourth episode of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. If you would like to listen to all episodes in one go, jump to the episode 'A Pool, A Factory, A House and a Market'.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

Victoria is rewarded for her hard work. Daughter Marilyn reflects on the influence that Green Street, and Queen’s Market, had on their lives. The lido hits a rough patch but there’s a man, standing in front of a bulldozer, hoping to be saved. *This is the third episode of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. If you would like to listen to all episodes in one go, jump to the episode 'A Pool, A Facto...

Ex-lifeguard Marnie Collins is reminiscing with Morgan about London Fields Lido. While Sue wants to know more about Shane and Bernadette. Further east, Victoria makes the move from a one-room billet to Upton Park. But she’s already planning to get out. *This is the second episode of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. If you would like to listen to all episodes in one go, jump to the episode 'A Po...

Meet Victoria, Marilyn, Marnie, Morgan, Carol and Bernadette (almost). Sue Elliott-Nicholls meets the people who make our boroughs what they are today, as she travels from an outdoor pool on London Fields in Hackney to a sugar factory in Silvertown by Newham’s docklands. Each has a unique past.  *This is the first episode of our first season, 'Fit for Living'. If you would like to listen to all ep...

Sue Elliott-Nicholls introduces us to people who've made our boroughs what they are today, as she travels from London Fields in Hackney to Silvertown, Stratford and Green Street in Newham. We remember a pool, a factory, a house and a market, and work out, what makes life fit for living. Have a story to share? Want to help us make the show? Visit www.immediate-theatre.com/heritage or email: info@im...

Since History Social Club put out Moving East in late 2023, some listeners asked to hear one particular story as its own episode. This is it:  Des Blake goes in search of a time when a six-week summer holiday seemed to last forever. Recorded in September 2023.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have a story to share? Want to help us make the show? Visit www.immedi...