Your guide to the people, passions, culture and heritage that have formed Roman Road’s identity. Discover the communities and cultures of our neighbourhood, its creative industries, social history and personal stories; the heritage that has created our identity, including Bow grime music, the East London Suffragettes, East End and Cockney, and British Bangladeshi; and what we are passionate about, from philanthropic initiatives to campaigns to save our heritage and the environment.
The Stepney Doorstep Society, written by journalist, ghost-writer, and novelist Kate Thompson, is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the East End, and particularly its women. The book is clear about its intentions: ‘Teaming up with the newly … Continued
Take a walk down Bow Road and you will meet a man with red hands. Draped in a dusty Victorian frock coat, right arm outstretched, the statue of William Gladstone has stood before Bow Church for over 150 years. His … Continued
Frank Wang is making a stand. A coffee stand. On the home straight of a comeback nine months in the making, Wang and his supporters are raising money so he can set up shop outside Bethnal Green station once again. … Continued
Modest Living, Memoirs of a Cockney Sikh looks back on the life of a Sikh family which lived in a house on Princelet Street in Spitalfields for over 70 years. The autobiography is told through stories about Suresh Singh’s friends … Continued
Since former mayor Boris Johnson boosted the biking boom back in the early 2010s, London’s status as a cycling city is catching up with its European neighbours. But still too few women and people from ethnic minority groups cycle in … Continued
Norah Lyle Smyth was a British suffragette, novelist, photographer and a socialist activist who worked alongside Sylvia Pankhurst on the suffrage movement in Bow, the heartland of the East London Federation of Suffragettes. Smyth is well known for her close … Continued
The Isle of Dogs, Before the Big Money is a collection of stunning black and white photographs of London Docklands as it was before Canary Wharf was built, when it was still London’s major shipping destination. To most of us … Continued
If you are not already swooping down on end-of-day foodie bargains from our favourite local eateries, then you might be interested in downloading the Too Good To Go app. Many of our favourite Roman Road businesses are signed up already, … Continued
The Double R Club was a notorious night-club on Bow Road named after and owned by the former gangsters, the twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray, now an Enterprise car hire venue. Popular both with local people as well as … Continued
The Mayfield Hall Group has launched a fundraising project to transform a decaying former social hall in Bethnal Green into a community-based cultural space in the heart of the civic quarter. The campaign is asking for £36.128 to kick off … Continued