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Waltham Forest Archives
@lbwfarchives.bsky.social
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Waltham Forest Archives and Local Studies Library, Chingford Assembly Hall, Station Road, London E4 7EN. Collections documenting history of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Research visits by prior appointment. Email wfa.enquiries@walthamforest.gov.uk
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Remembering poet & Chingford resident Gerda Mayer (1927-2021) evacuated from Prague on a Kindertransport flight in 1939. Her father probably died in a Soviet labour camp. Her mother died in Auschwitz. Her poem Make Believe:
‘Say I were not sixty, say you weren’t near a hundred, say you were alive...
Gerda Mayer (née Stein) as a child, with her father Arnold. Source: https://youtu.be/vXezsVs8WZI?si=HjhkxCfRqY6IvF7L
January 27, 2026 at 11:18 AM
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'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977). This biography tells Rosa's remarkable story from birth in Leyton and domestic service at one shilling a week from age 12, to esteemed society cook, then owner of the Cavendish Hotel, London from 1902-1940s. #BookoftheMonth
Cover of 'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977). Mid 19th century view of High Road, Leyton. Illustration in 'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977).
January 25, 2026 at 11:11 AM
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Today is the 90th anniversary of the birth of Beryl Swain in Walthamstow on 22 Jan 1936. A motorcycle road racer, she was the first woman solo rider in the Isle of Man TT in 1962. Her life is celebrated in Kirstin Sibley's The Need For Speed 2019
issuu.com/invisiblenum... We hold related ephemera.
Flyer for 2019 exhibition by Kirstin Sibley and Rachel Gomes: 'Beryl Swain - Need For Speed'.
January 22, 2026 at 1:55 PM
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Mother and Child, Frank Dobson, Kirklees Museums & Galleries. © the artist's estate. Frank Dobson went to Harrow Green School & Leyton Technical School. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange, motherhood for Anna Ancher: Painting Light at Dulwich Picture Gallery. artuk.org/discover/art...
Mother and Child by Frank Dobson, Kirklees Museums and Galleries. © the artist's estate. Image credit: Kirklees Museums and Galleries, via Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mother-and-child-257781/search/actor:dobson-frank-18861963/page/3
January 22, 2026 at 1:31 PM
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Pimp Hall Farm, Chingford, c.1890. This was a working farm until the mid 1930s. The farm house was subsequently demolished and the site became a Council run nursery and allotments. The 17th cent Dovecote survives and is Grade II listed. #ImageoftheMonth
Pimp Hall Farm, Chingford, c.1890. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
January 21, 2026 at 4:26 PM
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Knot, Bernard Cohen,
Ulster Museum. ©the artist/Flowers Gallery. Bernard Cohen grew up in Leytonstone & went to South West Essex Technical College. 🖼️ National Museums NI. artuk.org/discover/art... For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on bold & colourful art for Colour at Tullie Carlisle
Knot, by Bernard Cohen 1962, Ulster Museum. © the artist/Flowers Gallery. Image credit National Museums NI, via Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/knot-121780/search/actor:cohen-bernard-b-1933/page/3
January 15, 2026 at 1:25 PM
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Advertisement for Pure New Milk from J Soper's Low Hall Farm dairy, from Guide to Chingford, 1907. #MilkDay
January 11, 2026 at 6:08 PM
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Jack Cornwell was born at Clyde Place, Leyton #OTD 1900. Awarded the VC posthumously, he stayed at his post on HMS Chester when mortally wounded in Battle of Jutland 1916. 🖼️ John T Cornwell VC by F Lawton, after F W Elwell. Vestry House Museum via @artukdotorg.bsky.social artuk.org/discover/art...
Portrait of John Travers Cornwell VC by F Lawton, after Frederick William Elwell. Depicted in naval uniform, Cornwell stands with crossed arms. Behind him is a wide expanse of cloudy sky, above a calm blue sea. Image credit: Vestry House Museum via Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-travers-cornwell-19001916-vc-135299/search/venue:vestry-house-museum-6486/page/1/view_as/grid
January 8, 2026 at 12:13 PM
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Angels around the Cross,
Norman Adams (1927–2005),
Manchester Art Gallery. © the artist's estate. Norman Adams was born at 74 Shernhall St, Walthamstow. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange: angels & guardians with Liverpool Cathedral. 🖼️ Manchester Art Gallery. artuk.org/discover/art...
Angels around the Cross, Norman Adams (1927–2005), Manchester Art Gallery. © the artist's estate. Image credit Manchester Art Gallery via Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/angels-around-the-cross-204342/search/actor:adams-norman-19272005/page/3
January 8, 2026 at 10:09 AM
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Clement Attlee speaking at the Town Hall opening ceremony of Walthamstow's celebrations for the Festival of Britain, May 1951. Prime minister from 1945-51 & Labour Party leader from 1935-1955, Attlee was MP for Limehouse 1922-50 and Walthamstow West 1950-55. He was born in Putney #OTD 3 Jan 1883.
Clement Attlee speaking at the Town Hall opening ceremony of Walthamstow's celebrations for the Festival of Britain, May 1951. He stands at a microphone, on a dais set up at the Town Hall entrance. The mayor and mayoress, with other civic dignitaries are seated behind him. At the front are two Life Guards in uniform. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
January 3, 2026 at 11:07 AM
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The 1952 excavation at the site of Salisbury Hall, Walthamstow revealed its medieval foundations. Rebuilt in late 16th century, it was the manor house of Salisbury Hall, held by Roger Ascham from 1564-68. Author of The Scolemaster, and tutor to Princess Elizabeth, Roger Ascham died #OTD 30 Dec 1568.
Black and white photo of foundations at the site of Salisbury Hall manor house, Walthamstow during archaeological excavations in 1952. From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom. Print depicting Roger Ascham on the left in profile, reading from a document held in his right hand. He wears a loose sleeveless gown over long puffed sleeves, with a ruff at the neck. On the right is Princess Elizabeth, facing forward as she listens to her tutor. She wears a fitted bodice with elbow length sleeves, a long full skirt with decorative edging, an overskirt draped back at the hips and a tall ruff framing her face. Illustration from 'The Manors of Low Hall and Salisbury Hall, Walthamstow' by George F Bosworth, Walthamstow Monograph no 7 (1920).
December 30, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Waltham Forest Archives
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A small collection of her papers can be found at Wellcome: wellcomecollection.org/works/fsxz7fak
Aldrich-Blake, Louisa Brandreth (1865-1925)
One notebook on practical chemical analysis while at St Hilda’s School Cheltenham, notebooks of lectures and courses while a student at London School of Medicine for Women, notes of cases seen while m...
wellcomecollection.org
December 28, 2025 at 1:53 PM
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Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake died in London 100 years ago #OTD 28 Dec 1925. Born at Chingford Rectory in 1865, she was the first British woman to qualify as Master of Surgery. She was lead surgeon at Royal Free Hospital & a pioneer of surgery for cervical cancer. Her statue is in Tavistock Square WC1.
OS map section showing Chingford Rectory, c.1870. Photo of memorial to Louisa Aldrich-Blake by Arthur George Walker, in Tavistock Square, London, designed by Edwin Lutyens. Photo by Stu's Images, 2010. Source Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louisa_Brandreth_Aldrich-Blake,_Tavistock_Square,_London.JPG
December 28, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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Walthamstow Palace programme cover 1913. A popular music hall venue in its early days, the Palace Theatre operated in Walthamstow High Street from 1903 to 1954. It was demolished in 1960. #EYASparkle #ExploreYourArchive @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social
Walthamstow Palace programme cover 1913. The art work depicts a woman in a red costume, scattering glitter from a red sack on her left. She sits above a circular panel inscribed with The Walthamstow Palace against a decorative background.
December 27, 2025 at 12:22 PM
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Birt Acres died in Whitechapel #OTD 27 Dec 1918. A prolific film maker in late 19th-early 20th cent, he gave the first public film screenings in England in 1896 & patented cinematograph system 1898. He is buried at Queen's Road Cemetery, Walthamstow. The Derby filmed in 1895 youtu.be/WbHxO6RJnxg?...
Photographic portrait of Birt Acres c.1900. Source Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birt_Acres.jpg Birt Acres filming the Derby at Epsom in 1895. Source Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acres_1895_Derby.jpg OS map section showing Walthamstow Cemetery, 1939.
December 27, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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Sarah Razafy born in Madagascar, died in Walthamstow 185 years ago #OTD 26 Dec 1840. With fellow Malagasy Christian refugees, she lived with members of Marsh Street Congregational Church from 1839. She was buried at the Marsh Street burial ground & later reinterred at Chingford Mount Cemetery c1980.
Section from facsimile portrait of the Malagasy Christian refugees who lived in Walthamstow 1839-1841. Sarah Razafy (d.1840) is in a blue cloak, second from left. Photo of part of the Marsh Street burial ground in Walthamstow, prior to redevelopment in 1970s. From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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Snow at the Ancient House, Walthamstow in early 20th cent. Then used partly as a bookshop, this is a former 15th cent hall house and the earliest surviving domestic building in Waltham Forest. Internal conversion now gives several dwellings #ArchiveAdventCalendar
#MerryChristmas @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of the Ancient House, Walthamstow in the snow, early 20th century. The central sign reads 'The Ancient House Bookshop'. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 25, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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Father Christmas with penguins, on his journey to Bearmans Toy Fair in Leytonstone, c.late 1950s. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #Santa @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of Father Christmas on a decorative float, en route to Bearmans Toy Fair in Leytonstone, c.late 1950s. Father Christmas waves as he sits at right end of the float, which is decorated to resemble a large sleigh. He is accompanied by people dressed as teddy bears in the middle and penguins on the left. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 24, 2025 at 8:37 AM
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Highams Park in the snow, 1924. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #WinterWonderland @arascot.bsky.social
A photo of Highams Park in winter, 1924. There is a stream in the foreground. Deep snow covers the ground. Winter trees lean towards each other in the middle distance, with more trees faintly visible as the landscape recedes. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 23, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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Snow fight mischief! Boys at Maynard Road School, Walthamstow, 1958. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #NaughtyOrNice @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of boys throwing snowballs in the playground at Maynard Road School, Walthamstow, 1958. Snow covers the ground and the rooves of the line of houses in the background. From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 22, 2025 at 10:32 AM
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Christmas candles for nursery tea on Christmas Day 1865. Image from facsimile of Ellen Buxton's sketchbook, recording family life in Leytonstone in 1864-66. Ellen (1848-1919) was a granddaughter of abolitionist Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #FestiveTraditions @arascot.bsky.social
Facsimile of Ellen Buxton's sketch of Christmas candles at nursery tea on Christmas Day 1865. Five children sit on high chairs around the tea table. One adult (possibly their governess) sits with them. The Buxton family lived in Leytonstone.
December 21, 2025 at 10:48 AM
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Fireplace at Water House, Walthamstow (now William Morris Gallery), c.1930s, awaiting a warm fire on this cold morning! #ArchiveAdventCalendar #WarmFire @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of fireplace at Water House, Walthamstow, c.1930s. Image from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 20, 2025 at 10:26 AM
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Alderman and Mrs Rayner, mayor and mayoress of Leyton, at a Christmas party for local children whose fathers were prisoners of war, 1944. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #ChristmasParty @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of a Christmas party for local children whose fathers were prisoners of war, 1944. Children are gathered around Alderman and Mrs Rayner, the mayor and mayoress of Leyton, seated in the centre. Father Christmas stands by the Christmas tree on the right, carrying a sack of presents on his shoulder. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 19, 2025 at 9:05 AM
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Red holly berries brighten this seasonal notice from the Leyton and Leytonstone Chamber of Commerce, from their publication 'Action' in Dec 1934. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #ChristmasColours @arascot.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 10:55 AM
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The church bells of Walthamstow, St Mary's await rehanging, following restoration work in 1896. #ArchiveAdventCalendar #Bells @arascot.bsky.social
Photo of the church bells of Walthamstow, St Mary's lined up on the ground prior to rehanging, following restoration work in 1896. On the left in middle distance are several schoolboys with a man, possibly a teacher. On the right two men stand between winter trees. Gravestones in the churchyard are seen in front of the houses at the rear. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.
December 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM