It was great being part of the Stoke Newington Literary Festival again and talking to a packed Gallery Hall on Edward’s Lane about Alexander Guttridge’s fascinating photos of Stoke Newington in the 1930s. Looking forward to the festival next year!
65 people braved the snow on a freezing night to attend the 6th Stoke Newington History Talks event, which was held in the beautiful former New River filtration plant, now West Reservoir Centre, on the bank of the West Reservoir in Green Lanes. The event also doubled as a mini local history market with stalls representative from the Clissold Park User Group, Abney Park Trust, Hackney Society and Hackney Archives selling merchandise.
I had a great time presenting my research into the evolution of Stoke Newington Church Street (1847-2017) at a Nerd Nite London event in January in front of 200 people. My talk was followed by two brilliant talks about 3D printing and quantum physics! It’s a terrific event which takes place once a month. Highly recommended.
The 5th Stoke Newington History Talks event was held at St Matthias Hall to accommodate the growing popularity since I organised the first event on the 28th of November 2016. The hall was packed and it was fascinating hearing about the history of the New River from Nick Higham and the story of the campaign to save the New River Reservoirs from Monica Blake.
It was a pleasure talking about the history of some of Stoke Newington’s churches during a local history event, which organised by the Green Lanes Traders & Residents Association.
Alexandar Guttridges’ photos from the 1930s by Amir Dotan
Alexandar Guttridge, a local resident whose family ran two shops on Church Street took photos of the street and surrounding area during the 1930s. His 18 photos provide a unique and fascinating view of the area in the 1930s as old small houses were being replaced with new modern blocks of flats. Stoke Newington history enthusiast (StokeNewingtonHistory.com) and organiser of the Stoke Newington History Talks events, Amir will present this special collection of photos, providing context and supporting material to bring them to life.
60 people turned up for the first ever Stoke Newington history pub quiz, which was organised by the Green Lanes N16 Traders & Residents Association (GLTRA) . Quiz Master Joey Bartram did a great job delivering the questions I had written. Hopefully we can do it again this time next year!