Close to 100 people attended the 19th Stoke Newington History Talks event in St Matthias Halls to hear about the transformation of the ‘Castle’ Pumping Station into a climbing centre, the lives of three social campaigners who were imprisoned for their actions and are buried in Abney Park Cemetery and finally, to catch a glimpse of a treasure trove of print material from the 1930s-50’s that was salvaged from a former local print shop.

Continue reading “13.07.2023 – Stoke Newington History Talks 19” →

On July 5th 2023, I had the pleasure of meeting Marc Caucutt, who grew up in 33 Cowper Road, to interview him about the demolition of the street in the late 1970s as part of the development of Butterfield Green. Over 100 Victorian houses, that were occupied, were pulled down to make way for a new public park. In the 15min interview, Marc reflects about his childhood in the 60s and 70s and the difficult period as the east side of the street was demolished and his family home was the last one standing in the street in 1982.

Continue reading “The Last House Standing – My interview with Marc Caucutt” →

I had a great time giving a talk at this year’s Stoke Newington Literary Festival in the historic Mildmay Club. 175 people was my biggest audience to date! My talk covered various aspects of Stoke Newington’s rich history using 10 eBay finds. From the story of the Town Hall to a Jewish confectionary works, High St businesses in 1982, the Church St library and much more!

Continue reading “03.06.2023 – Stoke Newington Literary Festival” →

It was great meeting people on May 25th who came to Revere the Residence in Stoke Newington Church Street to get their local history questions answered by Nick Perry, Richard Young, Rachel Tobyn and I. As with the first and second sessions, we were presented with a wide range of interesting questions from the history of St Mary’s Lodge in Lordship Road to whether the Hackney Brook runs under the railway line in Rectory Road!

Continue reading “25.05.2023 – Stoke Newington History Drop-In Session no. 3” →

90 people attended the 18th Stoke Newington History Talks event in St Matthias Halls and it was a great evening with talks about local ghost stories, the area’s pre-historic past and rare archeological finds and my talk about local history items I got on eBay.

Continue reading “20.4.2023 Stoke Newington History Talks no. 18” →

80 people braved the icy pavements and cold evening to gather in St Matthias Halls for the 17th Stoke Newington History Talks event on Dec 12th. It was great to be back hosting an in-person for the first time since the pandemic and seeing many familiar faces. The event sold out in less than 24 hours, which was amazing.

Continue reading “12.12.2022 Stoke Newington History Talks no. 17” →

I was invited to talk to Liam Davis about Stoke Newington’s history on his online radio show on Shoreditch Radio. We touched on a variety of topics during a 30min chat such as municipal boundaries, gentrification and Abney Park. You can listen to it here from 28:34min.

The second Stoke Newington History Pop-Up event was held on November 22nd and it was a pleasure meeting people who came to see Nick Perry, Rachel Tobyn and Richard Young and myself to ask us local history questions. From a couple that moved into the area and wanted to learn about the history of their street to a woman who wanted to know the history of the nursery building where she’s working. It was great fun and hopefully we’ll do it again in a the spring.

Continue reading “22.11.2022 Stoke Newington History Pop-Up #2” →

I helped the director and researcher of BBC’s Antique Roadshow with their research into the history of Clissold Park as part of the filming of three episodes there, which is taking place on July 10th. The first of three episodes filmed in the park was aired on October 9th. The other two episodes will be aired in 2023.

Continue reading “Local History Adviser on BBC’s Antique Roadshow” →