Comments on: Gillian Tindall In Stepney, 1963

By: Lindsay Duguid

Lindsay Duguid — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:52:52 +0000

An excellent piece, beautifully written and taking in both gentle nostalgia and a subdued anger. The photographs are moving.

By: Nigel Semmens

Nigel Semmens — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 09:41:28 +0000

What a fascinating account of times gone accompanied by wonderful photographs. As a former resident of York Square in Stepney (built 1823/5) I realise how lucky I was to enjoy its unspoilt architecture for some twenty years. Thank goodness it has survived.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 22:53:39 +0000

The ‘powers that be’ whether political parties or local authorities have a lot to answer for. Nothing much changes then. I presume not many people owned their own homes back then, so residents didn’t seem to have much of a say in the matter as to whether they could stay put, or move to the unknown. Old neighbours of ours in the early 50s went to Dagenham – presumable due to the car industry.

By: Ros

Ros — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 22:53:35 +0000

Such an interesting, thought-provoking account and such evocative, thought-provoking pictures to go with them. I worked in the area in the early seventies and it looked very similar, though already Joni Mitchell on the other side of the Atlantic was singing to a poignant tune

‘Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
till it’s gone
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot.’

I too never realised when I was young how quickly things around me would change. Now I am old I think I’ve gone to the opposite end of the spectrum and don’t believe anything will last.

Thank you Gillian and Richard for this excellent post.

By: Catherine Morris

Catherine Morris — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:31:26 +0000

I remember working with a girl in the early 80s and she used to spend every weekend helping her boyfriend do up a house in Jubilee St. It was a scheme whereby people could buy a terraced house there for £1 and so her partner bought two together. She said that everyone on the street had bought houses and were doing them up and there was quite a community feeling. I often wondered what the houses look like now and how much they are worth. So glad that they saved a street by doing this

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 10:11:48 +0000

The Sixties in colour.
Glorious!

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 09:27:09 +0000

Thank you for this article. If anyone wanted further insight into domestic life during the blitz I’d strongly recommend reading ‘Few Eggs and No Oranges’ by Vere Hodgson. It is still in print from Persephone Books.

By: Joan

Joan — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 08:51:03 +0000

I was born in Stephen House Wapping in July 1963 and we were rehoused to the thirteenth floor of the shiny new tower block that was Latham House, overlooking St Dunstan’s and Bromley Street, in December 1963. My parents are now both dead but they really did appreciate all the creature comforts that came with their 1963 move – the pleasures of underfloor heating in particular! We remained there for 16 years before the council rehoused us to a new lower rise block just over the other side of the Commercial Road. While I am sure that much was lost, and so many improvements could have been made to existing housing stock rather than it being demolished, it is important to recognise that community feeling did remain. My young years were full of neighbours dropping in (especially during power cuts when our gas cooker was very popular), communal area cleanups being done for neighbours’ weddings and funerals, and an environment where you always felt that others were keeping an eye on you (not always a good thing, of course!) I now live in Stratford, in a Victorian terraced street and it is interesting how the WhatsApp group set up by some neighbours in the pandemic has recreated some of that community feeling.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 07:36:39 +0000

The pictures evoke so much and the garrulous old people are just like I am now.. Thank you William Booth statue fon the Mile End road for providing a fairy sanctuary ftom the inmates of the Paddy Wagon who were scouring Jubilee street.

By: Christine Swan

Christine Swan — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 07:34:36 +0000

Thank you Gillian, Richard and the GA for this very engaging post and photographs. My Dad was a turncock with the Metropolitan Water Board in the 1950s and early 60s. He told me lots of stories of needing to gain access to people’s houses to fix leaks. In reality, they were only sent to fix leaks in the road but when he discovered who the residents were, if they were elderly or otherwise struggling, he would fix problems inside the house too. He had the tools and skills so it was only a little extra work to be out of the cold and to get a cup of tea as reward.
On one occasion, an elderly lady invited him in to show a huge flood from a burst pipe. Her late husband’s coffin was in the front room with water flowing under the trestles, which was quite a shock for my Dad. He turned off the water, mended the pipe, turned the water back on and helped her mop up. To do this, they had to move the coffin. So, he and the elderly lady had to struggle to do this between them. Eventually, all was well and her husband was returned to the front room. Dad must have told me this story a hundred times and even though I protested that I’d heard it, he’d tell me again, so I know it well!
The East End was a real community and residents looked out for one another. I’m sure that there are pockets just like that but, as Gillian describes, the policy was to move people out. They tried very hard to move my grandmother but she resisted. Now, the Victorian terraces, a stone’s throw from the City, are desirable residences again, East End descendents are everywhere and I’ve all but lost my accent.