Heritage week in Newham – our history in focus

Museum for Newham group can now reveal details of Newham’s Heritage week from October 24.  Details of any other events will be added as we have them.

The week is being jointly staged with Newham Council and Museum for Newham spokesman Kevin Jenkins said: “It will hopefully be one more step towards our ultimate goal of a new full-time, sustainable, hands-on interactive People’s Museum for Newham.

The week will hopefully provide a platform to raise awareness of protecting our heritage and how everyone can play a part in helping to achieve that and reach out to communities to celebrate our heritage.

Most events are free, some bear a small cost. Some have to be pre-booked. Here are the details:

Monday 24th October to Saturday 29th October. 9.30am to 8pm Amrar Zaga (Our Place) – Art Exhibition. Art Exhibition by local artisit and curator Saif Osmani and the Bengali East End Heritage Society. The art exhibition looks at contested boundaries, community tension and spaces deemed under threat due to an ever increasing amount of building and development in East London. Stratford Library, 3 The Grove, Stratford, E15 1EL.

Monday 24th October to Friday 28th October. 10am to 1pm Tuesday and Thursday Evenings 6pm to 8pm. River Christian Centre.

Chance to see Grade II Listed Chapel with stained glass windows and architectural features. Exhibitions on Canning Town from the 1st World War to the 1980s.

River Christian Centre, Vincent Street, Canning Town, E16 1LZ. Doreen Macintosh: doreen@river-church.org.uk. Free.

Monday 24th October 11am to 1pm.

Museum on Wheels. Celebrate and enjoy Newham’s heritage through Eastside Heritage’s unique museum on wheels. Little Ilford Learning Zone. Free Entry.

Monday 24th October to Friday 28th October 2pm to 4pm. House Mill. Daily guided tour of two floors of the Grade I Listed House Mill. Tours at 2pm and 3pm. Lasting approx 30 mins. House Mill, Three Mill Island, Bromley by Bow, London, E3 3DU. Please bring proof of LBN residency to enjoy free of charge. The cafe in the Miller’s House will be open, serving tea and cake.

 

Monday 24th October 3.15pm to 5.15pm.

The ASTA trail, Silvertown: trains, planes and graffiti walls.

An audio trail of Silvertown, created by young people at the ASTA Centre and composer Jo Thomas featuring original music and interviews with local residents – a unique insight in to the history of Silvertown. Meet: DLR ticket offce/machines London City Airport DLR station.

Email Dr Toby Butler t.butler@uel.ac.uk Limited Places – Booking Essential.

Led by Dr Toby Butler and students of UEL. Audio equipment provided. Distance of 3.5km. Guided by Dr Toby Butler and students of UEL.

 

Tuesday 25th October 11am and Friday 28th October at 11am. Heritage Walking Tour: Olympic Park. A 1.5 hour (approx) walk using oral histories. Meet at Mocha East Vue Tube. To book email Eastside Heritage: office@ech.org.uk. Free but pre-booking essential.

 

Tuesday 25th October at 2pm. London Personally Heritage Walks – How E15 became E20.

No part of London has gone through more changes than Stratford the shopping and transport hub of Newham.

On the ancient road from London to Colchester the area takes its’ name from the ancient abbey on the River Lea. With the coming of the railways in the 1840’s industry grew up around the old town and by the end of the 19th century Stratford had become an important trading shopping and political centre with some of Newham’s best Victorian and Edwardian buildings.  Its history and struggles and the effect of bringing the Olympics to the area with stunning new architecture and the Queen Elizabeth Park will all be taken in on this walk. MEETING POINT: Outside Stratford Station by the Robert Engine. FINISH POINT: Pudding Lane DLR Station. Stan Harris – info@londonpersonally.co.uk. £10 per head. To book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-e15-became-e20-tickets-28141163979.

 

Tuesday 25th October 4pm to 5pm. House Mill: ‘From Gin and Vice to Tea and Temperance’. A talk by Eleanore Bloom, a senior volunteer at House Mill, a registered City Guide and member of London Historians. Eleanor will talk and present the story of this important episode in London’s social history, during which we will be pleased to offer tea and biscuits; but not gin and vice! House Mill, Three Mill Island, Bromley by Bow, London, E3 3DU.

 

Wednesday  26th October 1pm to 3.30pm. The North Woolwich Trail: Deep Water. An audio trail featuring the sound and voices of the River Thames and Newham Docklands as you follow a route through the three former Royal Docks. Meet: King George V DLR station. Email Dr Toby Butler t.butler@uel.ac.uk Limited Places – Booking Essential

 

Wednesday 26th October 2pm to 4pm. Museum on Wheels. Celebrate and enjoy Newham’s heritage through Eastside Heritage’s unique museum on wheels. Beckton Globe. Free Entry.. Audio equipment provided. Distance of 3.5km. Guided by Dr Toby Butler and students of UEL.

 

Wednesday 26th October 3pm to 4pm. House Mill: ‘Sharing Stories’. House Mill resident storyteller Shamim Azad, a Bangladeshi born British bilingual poet, storyteller and writer will be with us for this unique event. Shamim is part of the East End storytelling group, which invites local residents to join in sharing some the stories brought together by the East End’s rich, diverse history of immigration. We invite Newham’s older residents (50+) to hear Shamim’s stories and to tell your own. House Mill, Three Mill Island, Bromley by Bow, London, E3 3DU.

 

Wednesday 26th October 4pm. West Ham United Football Club Reminiscence Session. Come along and share memories of The Irons. Forest Gate Learning Zone. Free.

 

Wednesday 26th October at 6.45pm. Lecture – Forest Gate: Growth of a Victorian Suburb. Lecture by local historians Peter Williams and Mark Gorman. The Gate, Forest Gate Library, 6-7 Woodgrange Road, E7 0QH. Entry by Free Ticket – only available from The Gate beforehand. Refreshments on sale.

 

Thursday 27th October 11am. Brick Lane Music Hall Open Morning. A chance to see the Brick Lane Music Hall – a Grade II Listed building and learn about the history of music hall in East London from Vincent Hayes MBE the founder and director of Brick Lane. Brick Lane Music Hall, 443 North Woolwich Road, North Woolwich E16 2AA (500m – a third of a mile in old money – from Pontoon Dock DLR station). Booking Essential. Email kjenservices@hotmail.com. Refreshments Provided. Booking Essential.

Thursday 27th October 11am (lasts approx 30 mins + short Q&A).  Talk: A Brief History of Theatre Royal. Built in 1884, renovated by Frank Matcham in 1902, and home to Joan Littlewood’s world-famous Theatre Workshop Company, Theatre Royal has been entertaining audiences for 131 years. Murray Melvin, Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Honorary Archivist and Member of Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop, gives a special talk on the history of this much loved Grade II Listed building in the heart of Stratford. Theatre Royal Stratford East (auditorium stalls), Gerry Raffles Square, London, E15 1BN . Free. Booking advised: Theatre Royal Stratford East box office on 020 8534 0310 (some places available on the day on a first come, first served basis).

Thursday 27th October 1pm – 2pm. Open Archive. A chance to see some of Theatre Royal’s Archive Collection, with Murray Melvin, Theatre Royal Stratford East’s Honorary Archivist and Member of Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop. Theatre Royal Stratford East (Murray Melvin Meeting Room).

openarchive@stratfordeast.com.  Note:. Free. But places limited to 10 on a first come, first served basis. Booking: openarchive@stratfordeast.com or 020 8279 1131.

 

Thursday 27th October at 1.30pm. London Personally Heritage Walks – Monks, Sewage and Iron.

Stan Harris O.B.E. will be leading a series of walks on behalf of London Personally for Newham Heritage Week and this walk broadly along the River Lea and West Ham explores how Newham developed from  rural countryside to East London’s industrial heartland. Next to the gritty industrial history , stories of ancient monasteries and London’s finest example of Victorian engineering you will also be able to enjoy much of the Art Trail on this part of the Lea and have a rest and refreshments at a riverside community café at Cody Dock. START POINT    Bromley-by-Bow Station (District and City and Met line.) FINISHING POINT  Star Lane Station (DLR). Stan Harris – info@londonpersonally.co.uk. £10 per head. To Book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/monks-sewage-and-iron-tickets-28140981433

TOO  FAR/ TOO LONG?  We are within walking distance of public transport throughout.

REFRESHMENT /FACILITIES STOP:  We hope to have a 20 minute stop at the charming Cody Dock cafe on the Lee itself around 3.30pm.

 

Thursday 27th October 2pm to 4pm. The West Silvertown Trail: gun powder, flour and flood. An exciting audio trail includes the beauty of Barrier Park, the horror of the biggest explosion ever to rock London and first hand accounts of working lives in the riverside factories and flour mills.

Meet: Main entrance Excel Centre (Custom House DLR station). Email Dr Toby Butler t.butler@uel.ac.uk Limited Places – Booking Essential. Audio equipment provided. Distance 2km walk guided by Dr Toby Butler and students of UEL.

 

Thursday 27th October 6.30pm to 8pm. House Mill: Guided Tours of House Mill with Gin Tasting. Join us at House Mill to tour this spectacular Grade I Listed building, to learn about its role in the 18thC “Gin Craze” and to sample a range of London Gins. House Mill, Three Mill Island, Bromley by Bow, London, E3 3DU. To reserve a place please email: info@housemill.org.uk. There is a token charge of £5 per person. Owing to space restrictions within the heritage building, this event is

limited.

 

Thursday 27th October  7pm: Screening. Film Screening and Discussion – Foreign Pickers by Kathrin Bohm (My Villages) for Company Drinks, in collaboration with Sue Giovanni. This screening will be accompanied by a talk by Kathrin Bohm and Dr Toby Butler, University of East London, discussing the history and heritage of hop picking and Kathrin’s ongoing project, Company: Movements, Deals and Drinks. Two new Company Drinks beverages which resulted in East London pickers going to Kent in 2016 will be also avaliable: a Thinning Soda and a Gleaned Cider.

University of East London, University Square, 1 Salway Road, Stratford, E15 1NF. Further details: t.butler@uel.ac.uk. Free. No need to book.

 

Thursday 27th October 6pm. Eastside Heritage. Share your memories of Silvertown and North Woolwich. Shipman Youth Centre. Organised by Eastside Heritage: office@ech.org.uk. Free.

 

Thursday 27th October 7pm. Eastside Heritage. Talk by historian Graham Hill on the Silvertown Explosion. Shipman Youth Centre. Organised by Eastside Heritage: office@ech.org.uk. Free.

 

Sunday 30th October 11am to 4pm.  House Mill: Guided Tours. Guided tours of the Grade I Listed House Mill. Visit four of the floors of House Mill with one of our trained volunteer guides. You will learn of House Mill’s history and the Trust’s plans for its future which will restore the heritage machinery to working order, develop hydro-electrcity using the wheels, broaden activities to include a vibrant activity hub for Newham. These plans already include an art gallery, event space, wedding ceremony and reception venue, so come and share them with us! House Mill, Three Mill Island, Bromley by Bow, London, E3 3DU. Please bring proof of LBN residency to enjoy free of charge. The cafe in the Miller’s House will be open throughout, serving a range of fresh foods and drinks.

 

Saturday 29th October Noon to 4pm. Newham Heritage Awareness Day. East Ham Library. Boroughwide Heritage Awareness Day. The day will have something for all ages and interests including information stalls, exhibitions, pop up museum and a chance to give your views in a future Museum for Newham.

Kevin Jenkins: kjenservices@hotmail.com. Free Entry.

Finally details on Heritage Week and the opening to the public of Abbey Mills Pumping station, thanks to Museum for Newham group‘s head Kevin Jenkins.
Abbey Mills Pumping Station – Abbey Lane E15 2RW built between 1865 and 1866, it is often described as the Cathedral of Sewage. A rare opportunity of a guided tour of this magnificent building.
Tours on: Saturday 29th October at 11am, Noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm
Sunday 30th October at 11am, Noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm.
Pre-booking only before 5pm on Monday 24th October.
To book email Kevin at kjenservices@hotmail.com stating preferred date, time and number of spaces required.

 

Pictures : Colin Grainger/ Three Mills/ Abbey umping Station/