Society

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.

Suffragette Rosaline McCheyne sitting on the ground

Suffragette Rosaline McCheyne (2nd from left) with family members . © Anne Padfield desc. of Rosaline McCheyne.

Rosaline McCheyne: the unforgettable, forgotten East End Suffragette

November 24, 2020November 24, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 237 Views 0 Comments Features 4 min read

Her activism did not stop there. McCheyne was responsible for the admin work of the ELFS. She would organise pitches for the selling and distributing of the Woman’s Dreadnought (the ELFS’s newspaper) in the hopes of drawing in supporters and members. And this was not as “simple as it might sound” she said in an account of a day in her life. And yet, she could sell “more newspapers than any of the other districts”, from around twenty-eight a week to around a thousand in time.

Arts & artists Local Society

Harry and the Chicks’ new single ‘Bow Church’ captures the beauty of Bow

November 21, 2020November 23, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 746 Views 0 Comments News 2 min read

‘I come from a typically working-class, East End family,’ she says. So when I was young, I remember going with my mum to the market on a Saturday. And I distinctly remember what a social atmosphere it was here. How people on the streets would talk to each other.’

Poet Iftikhar Latif outside Hiland Cafe where he holds his poetry slam nights

Arts & artists Local Society

Iftikhar Latif on swapping his Oxford law degree for East End poetry slams

November 16, 2020November 19, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 719 Views 0 Comments Features 7 min read

‘When I first started I was mainly writing about how sad I was. Now I’m also thinking there are also these other things going on, like how I’m British Bangladeshi and how I come from East London but went to a really posh university.’

Dizzee Rascal's new album cover. E3 AF on yellow background.

Arts & artists Bow Grime music Local Society

Album Review: E3 AF by Dizzee Rascal

November 13, 2020November 13, 2020 Citizen Journalist 1174 Views 0 Comments News 2 min read

Dizzee Rascal’s E3 AF (homage to his roots) is the follow up to Raskit, the hard hitting, banger filled album where Dizzee shows those who thought otherwise that he can still bar with the elite.

Young linda in the back garden of 40 libra road

Cultural heritage East End & Cockney Local

This is Home: from Libra Road to Brodick House

November 7, 2020November 9, 2020 Grace Boyle 1480 Views 0 Comments Features 5 min read

From the outdoor toilets and fireside tin baths of Libra Road, to the brand new high rise flats of Brodick

Taking calls, Phil Price from Ace Cars on Roman Road

Cultural heritage Local Society

Pre-fabs and pub life: the story of Ace Cars’ Phil Price

November 1, 2020November 5, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 2248 Views 0 Comments Features 7 min read

From the vibrant days of the exploding local pub culture to driving around the who’s-who of East End celebrities (‘Barbara was very nice and chatty, but she was very drunk,’ he says), it becomes clear that the story of Phil Price is the story of the East End itself.

Charles Robert Ashby, arts and crafts pioneer in Mile End

Cultural heritage East End & Cockney Local Society

Charles R. Ashbee: the man who brought arts and crafts to the East End

October 30, 2020October 30, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 1520 Views 0 Comments Features 4 min read

In a survey of the church in 1900, he commends the ‘good people of Bow’, for not listening to outside experts to modernise the church, as he believed its 14th century medieval architecture should be maintained as is.

Vintage photo of hair by Rosemary and neighbouring shops

Arts & artists Local Society

New photo exhibition encourages people to discover their high street

October 25, 2020November 3, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 1862 Views 0 Comments News 2 min read

‘There has been, rightfully, a lot of focus on supporting local businesses during the pandemic. And I realised that more people were discovering what’s in their local area over lockdown as well as they were exploring their neighbourhoods more now.’

Man launching steam boat in Victoria Park lake

Cultural heritage Local Society

This is Home: photographs of the Victoria Park Model Steam Boat Club

October 24, 2020October 28, 2020 Grace Boyle 1858 Views 0 Comments 6 min read

When we stumbled across these beautiful black and white photos of the Victoria Park Model Steam Boat Club from 1949,

Piers Gough on Roman Road

Arts & artists Local Society

Piers Gough CBE: the Bow architect who designed Mile End’s Green Bridge

October 21, 2020October 22, 2020 Francesca Lister-Fell 2016 Views 1 Comment Features 6 min read

‘Even though you’re only about seven metres from the ground, you feel like you’re on top of the world. You can see Canary Wharf, you can see the park – there’s a great feeling of ownership of the East End. You think this is where I belong, this is my place’.

Arts & artists Local Society

New mural of Clara Grant pays tribute to Bow’s history of social pioneers

October 19, 2020November 4, 2020 Siva Thangarajah 1986 Views 0 Comments News 3 min read

‘I picked the inside of the Mary le Bow church because the Bow Bells are the iconic association with this area. And when I started researching historical people that we could include, I wanted to find someone who helped alleviate poverty because that’s what so much of the local history of this area is about.’

Mayor of Poplar inspecting Blitz damage, with St Barnabus Church in the background, 1942

Believed to be Grove Road near the Roman Road junction

Cultural heritage East End & Cockney Local Society

Piecing together the lives lost in our area during The Blitz

October 18, 2020October 20, 2020 Citizen Journalist 1988 Views 0 Comments Features 6 min read

Later that night, Mr Levene of 82 Lyal Road died of a heart attack at home during the raid. If the heart attack was brought on by the bombardment, he was likely the first person to die as a result of the bombing of Bethnal Green in the Second World War.

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