London | Yet another blogging mummy!!!

I have received a free e-copy of the book Little London Adventures & Cockney Curiosities by Clare Newton. To find out more about the author you may visit her website.

Little London Adventures & Cockney Curiosities by Clare Newton

Here is the book blurb.

Artist and photographer Clare Newton rediscovers and records the faint remnants of old London, only made visible when lit by a fleeting low winter’s sun. These images are the conduits through time, analysing the sometimes uncomfortable balance between a struggling heritage to exist and the insatiable appetite of modern regeneration. But deep inside East London also lies a Victorian era. The mother of inventions, which not only stimulated change across the world then but even now their lingering artefacts and sayings effect us even in today’s hi-tech social world.

Strange but true stories that explain how and where artefacts have come from. Including the roots of ‘Sarcasm’ or the colour purple, both invented in the east end. Or how Shoreditch got its name.

This book arose after many previous years exploration for a large exhibition displayed before the Olympics in London, called Riches Uncovered. The facts of which will be made into a series of photographic studies for all to enjoy and smile over.

I was intrigued what I would find in this book, as I have ancestry from East London. My great grandmother was from Bromley by Bow. Her father was a potter who I believe may have worked at Bow Pottery on Three Mills Lane. From maps, I am aware that the street they lived on, no longer exists, the houses having been demolished to make way for the Blackwall Tunnel.

Clare Newton has followed exactly the same premise, by photographing the area before it again changed forever with all the new build for the 2012 London Olympics. And she shares with us the origins of a Cockney and coster-mongers, along with some Cockney slang. I now know that Alfred Hitchcock was a Cockney and I’ve been introduced to Duckett’s Canal and Merry Jane of Shoreditch along with lots more.

The photography is excellent and the topics are all well researched. And I’m glad to say the Blackwall Tunnel gets a mention too.

Little London Adventures & Cockney Curiosities is available on Amazon, currently priced at £20 in hardback. The photographs and stories have been woven together brilliantly. A highly recommended book.

About the author

In 2001 Clare Newton was awarded the British Female Inventor of the Year, and she has received 5 international awards for innovation.

Born in London, her creative talents were expressed at a young age, first painting her bedroom to building wooden aeroplanes. But when she was given her first camera, a little Minolta, at the age of 14, it inspired her to build a dark room in the roof of her parents’ house, where she taught herself how to shoot and develop photographs, with neighbours encouraging her with small commissions. She took a degree in art and design in East London and worked as a Graphic & Interior Designer for many years. Photography really took off for her when the Olympics came to London. She made her first large photographic installation in 2009, ‘Riches Uncovered’, a collection of photographic montages to explain and document East London’s disappearing heritage. After this first project she went on to produce numerous extraordinary community art projects, involving hundreds of children and adults. The resulting photographic montages were displayed outdoors in unexpected public places, encouraging all to take part, share and learn about local heritage. Clare believes that it is through the passion of creating participatory public projects, that art can positively affect people in different and personal ways, even drawing communities together.

Clare’s next endeavour was to create Jump4London – the World’s Longest Photograph, with 5,000 people taking part, who appeared to jump simultaneously. Two meters high and one kilometre in length, it was printed on 2.5 tons of specialist photographic material, and documented an important piece of London’s history as people celebrated the 2012 Olympic Games. It made a Double Guinness World Record as part of the Cultural Olympiad’s World Record London.

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Disclosure. This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free. All opinions are my own.

My eldest son has been learning about The Plague and The Great Fire of London at school, and keeps repeatedly telling me all the details, including snippets such as Samuel Pepys burying his wine and cheese, before leaving the city. See I’m learning too now.

Museum of London

He is really keen on history, so we decided to have a trip to the Museum of London. A cold day but a real success – the boys loved it. We also walked to Monument and Pudding Lane, at my son’s request. Bless him – he was surprised that there was no bakery on Pudding Lane now. And although I knew of Monument tube station, I didn’t know of the Monument or that it commemorated the Great Fire.

We also visited St Paul’s cathedral, which of course he knew had been rebuilt after the Great Fire. There was a fantastic model of the cathedral constructed from Fairtrade boxes. The boys liked this, but son1’s comment was “Where is the model of the first St Paul’s cathedral?”.