On a grey autumn afternoon in November, residents around the Chisenhale area gathered to recreate two photos from the past. These images show Chisenhale Road c1950, and today. The earlier photo was taken by Nigel Henderson of the local window cleaner’s funeral. Our photo shows a similar picture of the community coming together in a happier scene.
The day was part of the Geezers’ project to explore the history of where we live, and the threads which connect the past with the present. We’ve been gathering stories and photos from local people, running workshops, exploring all sorts of sources of information.
What will future generations notice in our photo? The 1950s photo reveals fashions at the time, the timber sheds in Old Ford Road, the Ellesmere as a pub, and the prefabricated homes at the top of the road. They will feature, with lots more, in the exhibition part of our Old Ford Festival next year – details below. We would like to hear from you if you lived in a local prefab. You may also enjoy the wonderful Prefab Museum website: https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/
You can see more of Nigel Henderson’s Tower Hamlets photos on Tate Britain’s website. The catalogue has over three thousand images, although not all local scenes. We suggest you follow the link below to start: https://www.tate.org.uk/search?aid=1268&type=archive&page=19 .
Please contact us if you can spot a location, or a person or have a story to tell. We have enjoyed looking at other old photographs, identifying locations, and sometimes who the people featured are. With support from Clarion Futures, and the skills of Pierre Bureau of Mindful Photography Lab, we have also been taking photographs of Roman Road Faces in 2024, using the same locations as photos from a hundred, seventy-five and fifty years ago. The Geezers’ project is made possible thanks to National Lottery players.
You can contact us on this email: oldfordneighbourhood@gmail.com
HOLD THE DATE
OLD FORD FESTIVAL
celebrating Bow as we knew and know
Sunday April 27th 2025 1-5pm
Ecology Pavilion, Mile End Park,
corner of The Roman and Grove Roads
As well as the Old Ford history exhibition, there will be lots to see and do for all ages.
The full programme will be on this website in the new year.
