By Professor Eve Gregory

London is the largest city in Europe and its population is expanding rapidly. By 2011, over 300 languages were spoken by 50 non-indigenous communities with over 10,000 members in London. In poorer areas in the east, the disappearance of the White British community who has lived in the area over generations has been remarkable. In 1980, 81% of the population of Newham defined themselves as White British (The Hansard, March, 1981); by 2011 this had decreased to just over 16%. According to the 2011 Census data, there were just 11% White British inhabitants in the East Ham area falling to below 5% in some parts of the Borough. Such movements of people have been unprecedented and have triggered suggestions that in Newham, the White British must now be seen as one minority living amongst many others.

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Where are they all going? All we know is that they are moving away rapidly. Why is this and why should anyone care? Yet the western world cares deeply about preserving small minority groups in other countries, so what about those in our own back yard? What will happen to the memories, ways of speaking, skills and knowledge and values of this small group of Cockneys? Whilst diversity is widely celebrated and has become synonymous for London’s economic success, the skills and knowledge of original Londoners are often overlooked.

Here we redress this by tracing how local folk knowledge, stories, skills and knowledge and values are passed across generations of 4 families whose families have lived in a few adjacent streets in Newham since the nineteenth century. We hear the older generation recounting the closure of the largest Docks in the world with the demise of all the jobs dependent upon them and the resulting feeling of isolation and loss of community in the area; how families remaining either left of their own accord or were pressurised by the Council to move far from their homes; how the houses they vacated were taken by newcomers to the UK; how their pubs consequently became Mosques, Temples or luxury flats and their shops were transformed and were no longer selling goods ‘of their own people’. Their interviews show an acceptance of it all, because they know that any comment on their ‘loss of community’ leaves them open to what they believe are unfair accusations by those who can choose to live elsewhere. We hear how the younger generations still living locally transform these folk memories and stories in different ways, sometimes by romanticising the past, sometimes by completely reinterpreting ‘Englishness’, sometimes more by idealising the faiths, rituals and practices of the newcomers whose lives they see around them but to whom they do not belong. Crucially, all 16 people show a strength and resilience which tends to be ignored or belittled by those who do not feel the loss of their community and who have more alternatives for where they choose to live.

This portrait of a community is revealed through the voices of the participants set within historical and demographic maps, photographs and sketches. Use the ‘Families’ page to locate the generation and family to which each person belongs. Then click on icons throughout to listen to how families and different generations each talk passionately about the area and issues that mean so much to them. Voices are subtly and creatively interwoven with the symbolism of important household artefacts by our artist/website designer, to retain individuals’ anonymity throughout.

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