Culture — Roman Road LDN

People taking shelter in the underground air shelter during World War Two, 1941.

Courtesy of National Archives, under a CC Licence.

Author Kate Thompson’s new podcast celebrates buried wartime history

3 October 20236 October 2023 Imogen Garfinkel

Author Kate Thompson’s new podcast, From the Library With Love, offers listeners a weekly insight into the forgotten stories of

Acme co-founder Johnathan Harvey sitting at his desk at the Acme Gallery, 1977.

Jonathan Harvey at his desk at The Acme Gallery, 1977. © Acme Archive.

Culture Life and living Local

Acme co-founder Jonathan Harvey OBE obituary

29 September 202329 September 2023 Polly Nash

Acme co-founder and former chief executive who opened up affordable studio spaces and paved the way for East London’s influential

Anika Jagot, employee at Sinclair's community pharmacy, on Roman Road, in Bow, East London.

Photo by Ellie MacInnes © Social Streets CIC

Culture Life and living Local

Why community pharmacies like Sinclairs are the key to the NHS’s endurance

28 September 202329 September 2023 Polly Nash

Anika Jagot from Roman Road’s Sinclairs on the rise of community pharmacies and the need for preventative care amid a

Filmaker Islah Abdur-Rahman in Limehouse where his film If Only was set.

Islah Abdur-Rahman pictured on the balcony of a tower block in Limehouse, where 'If Only' was shot. Photo by Joss Matthews © Social Streets C.I.C.

Culture Life and living Local

‘If Only’: A new short film about gang life in Tower Hamlets by The Corner Shop Show creator

20 September 202326 September 2023 Polly Nash

British-Bangladeshi director Islah Abdur-Rahman on grooming, drug abuse and gang violence: ‘It’s a very heavy project, but it’s also very

Photograph of the cast members of Top Boy's fifth season, walking in Bow, Tower Hamlets

Still from the trailer to Season Five of Top Gun, featuring cast walking in Bow. Image provided by Netflix

Bow Grime music Culture Local

East London-based drama Top Boy returns to Netflix for Season Five

7 September 20238 September 2023 Imogen Garfinkel

Critically-acclaimed Top Boy, the East London-based drama about gang culture, returns for a fifth and final season on Netflix, triggering

A Quick Ting On: Grime, by Franklyn Addo book cover.

Image courtesy of Jacaranda Books.

Bow Grime music Culture Local

Book review: A Quick Ting On: Grime by Franklyn Addo

21 August 202330 August 2023 Polly Nash

From anti-social pastime to widely-respected creative art form, Addo’s debut book traces the nationwide reverberations of a music genre born

Two black Friesian horses in a horse-drawn funeral procession in the East End.

Culture Life and living Local

Black carriage funeral horses: A proper East End send-off

19 August 20234 September 2023 Polly Nash

The history of horse-drawn funerals and why an increasingly diverse East End is the key to their endurance. Every so

Culture History & nostalgia Local

Bromley-by-Bow: the tube station at the heart of the East End

17 August 202322 August 2023 Srinidhi Balakrishnan

From the Victorians to EastEnders, Bromley-by-Bow tube station opened up the East End not only to London but the coast

East London's bustling Roman Road Market in 1968

Back slang was common in East End markets in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Culture East End Cockney Local Out & About Roman Road Market

The hidden history of Cabbage: the obscure fashion industry practice that helped shape Roman Road Market

15 August 202316 August 2023 Marina Rabin

Cabbage – the clothing, not the vegetable – at one time drew crowds to Roman Road Market, making it a

Cover of Cack-Handed by East London comedian Gina Yashere

Courtesy of HarperCollins UK

Culture Life and living Local

Book review: ‘Cack-Handed’ by Gina Yashere

6 August 20236 August 2023 Srinidhi Balakrishnan

Funny and poignant, comedian Gina Yashere’s memoir Cack-Handed chronicles her journey from a council estate in Bethnal Green to the

Women of the Wick editor Sara Karpanen speaking about the mental health of freelancers.

Photo by Ioana Marinca for Social Streets CIC

Culture Life and living Local

‘More than just a hashtag’: Sara Kärpänen on the mental health crisis for East London’s freelancers

3 August 202311 September 2023 Polly Nash

Amid unprecedented financial pressure and media industry layoffs, Hackney Wick’s Sara Kärpänen is using her own experiences to help freelancers

Looking out over new houses being built in Poplar in 1951: Images of Housing, Homelessness and Resistance in London's East End, from the Conditions of Living exhibition at Four Corners.

Art and artists Culture Local

Homes and Homelessness: Photographs capture 100 years of living conditions in Tower Hamlets

1 August 20236 August 2023 Srinidhi Balakrishnan

Four Corners’ latest exhibition documents housing in East London from the Victorian era to the present day, encouraging viewers to