Archive for the 'History' Category

A message from Australia

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Last week we have received a following message from Mr Ted Diggines who used to live near Abbey Gardens during the 2nd World War. We thought this memory of past events in our area is well worth sharing:

My name is Edward James Diggines, Aged 76, and I was born at No 164 Abbey Rd. The house we lived in was named Abbey House.
The house was badly damaged during an air raid in 1940 ,we then moved to a house in Mark St , off West Ham Lane, we had to move again to Torrence Rd ? off Romford Rd, that house was also damaged by bombs, we were evacuated with just the clothes we had on, we were moved to Wisbech in Cambs where we lived & I married in 1953 & then migrated to Australia in 1959 where we now live.
I was Eight when we left Abbey House in 1940, but I still remember that terrible night like it was yesterday, there was a gas main that was attached to the side of the bridge that went over the Railway Yards & a bomb had hit it & it burst into flames that shot into the air what appeared to me at 8yrs old to be 50 ft high, bombs had also fallen onto a tire factory that was also ablaze, the factory was opposite our house, when we came out of the air raid shelter it was what you might have pictured hell to look like, the smoke from the tires & the flames & the gas main bellowing up to the sky, there was also a paint factory, I think, that was also bombed & was on fire, my elder brother, Tom, worked there.
My sister Violet Thornton lived in Abbey Row for a number of years & had her 4 children there, I think.? About the 5th or 6th house on the right
I thought you may be interested in some of the past of Abbey House & Abbey Row

Yours Truly E J Diggines

The shed

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

the shed

I have to be honest in saying that I was a little sceptical about the idea of having the image of the Plaistow landgrabbers blown up and stuck on the shed, however, I have to say that I am a convert. It contrasts brilliantly with the colour of the garden and proved to be a real hit with the visitors to the harvest festival over the weekend. Well done Nina and Karen for coming up with that one ! I am still not so sure about the pink inside though……..

Green light for green space in historic Abbey Gardens

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

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photo:Newham Mag

Abbey Gardens and What Will the Harvest Be made it onto the Newham Website

Things are moving on

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

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The crab apple tree in blossom

The site has now been handed over to Newham Parks and Cultures. We had a productive meeting on site to discuss the final works which hopefully can still be carried out with the remaining budged. We have decided to keep the fence in place for a while longer and open the site to the public in a slow process. The money saved from leaving the fence up will most likely be used to mend the fence and install a new gate at the community end of the site. The next step will be to enter into a key agreement’ with the Parks and Cultures.

Earlier on we tentatively pruned the crab apple tree. Our first act of gardening on site since it has been cleared. The pruning advice given to me was ‘make it look like a tree’ – The apples on the tree were always out of reach behind the fence and the tall bramble bushes that used to grow on site. I am really looking forward to actually pick one of them after having watched the tree for over five years and observing numerous people fighting their way through the bushes to taste the apples. Though it has been pointed out to me that crab apples are no good for eating but good for making jelly.

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Photo: Tim French

Somewhere has arrived in true style and with full gardening outfit. Karen and Nina with support of Tim and John have been very busy excavating an area of the site to expose the original soil. Nina and Karen want to see what seeds the original soil holds in order to create a seed sample of the existing plant live before the arrival of the new topsoil and before the council will start seeding the area later in the month. It has been a real pleasure to start digging on site and put hands and feet to it. Helped by the weather this felt like the first communal gardening session. Kids running around, picknicks on the floor, and a little sun burn. – Thanks very much Karen, Nina, Tim and John.

Also check Nina’s Flickr page with more images of the site – click here or the images below

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Photos: Nina Pope

Since then Nina and Karen have presented their first ideas for their proposal in a meeting with Newham Council and Modus Operandi. You can follow their progress on the blog they set up. They also found a name for the project which is: “What will the harvest be“. Among many ideas Nina and Karen propose a phased development of the site which test ideas with temporary interventions over the next two years. Nina and Karen will present their final proposal in a month or two. Then we need to fund raise.
Also present at the meeting was Elizabeth Whitbourn who is the English Heritage field advisor for the Abbey Gardens site.

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Robert Rogers and Karen Guthrie

Thanks to Nina and Karen I finally met face to face with Robert Rogers who has been contributing to many blog entries so far and has a wealth of local knowledge. Robert took us on a small tour around the site and the immediate area. I was really interested in the procession that the Monks lead from the Church to the Abbey along bakers row passing through the gate.

“it was said that West Ham Church was attached to the Abbey, so therefore staff from the Abbey which would have included the Monks would have used both, and at the time of Building the area was all farming, so there must have been some form of path between the two, if only one beaten down by their foot prints. Most modern roads follow old paths, and even today motorways mainly follow railway routes, which in turn followed Canals, which in turn run along the routes of the old turn pikes, many of which were just the old Muddy tracks that people would walk from A to B, normally by the most straightforward route, again very often from Church to Church as these at the time were the highest buildings which could be seen from a distance.”

Finally the environmental health officer came back with clarification of the soil report. See earlier entry – However it does not really clarify the issue:
Here is what they said:

“Bakers Row West Ham E15
Ground Investigation
Examination of the ground investigation indicates that there are elevated levels of arsenic, lead and Benzo (α) pyrene, with levels of up to 50mg/kg for arsenic, approximately 1000mg/kg for lead and 1.4mg/kg from a small number of samples taken in a random manner rather than the approved CLEA (Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment) methodology, despite the consultants stating that they have been taken and analysed in accordance with CLR11, (Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination) which requires a formal and regular grid pattern , and a larger number of samples. The statistics carried out by the company are therefore not valid. Statistical analysis to correct these factors has been undertaken, and the results indicate that there remains a slight problem.

If vegetables and fruit trees are grown on this site then there needs to be a minimum of 1000mm of clean topsoil over the site, with any trees planted in pits lined with a root membrane or in oversized pits backfilled with clean material. There would be no additional requirements to the recommended 600mm of clean topsoil in respect of the general planting of trees, shrubs etc, or with leisure use of the land by the general public.”

Sharon Swift righly pointed out that the purpose of the two reports was to determine the quality of the soil which was to be removed and to determine the quality of the soil that was dug out during the excarvation of the Gate house remains. The samples were taken from the mounds which since have been cleared. It would be best to undertake a fresh set of tests on a formal grid pattern. Luckily we can make the money stretch a bit more and sample the soil at the community section of the site.

With funding running out and no new funding secured at this stage it will also mean that Sharon Swift the landscape architect from Newham Council will not be involved as much. She has been extremely supportive and helpful in getting us this far. Thank you very much Sharon.

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Bomb Map

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Rob Rogers send through a map indicating where bombs fell in the immediate area around the garden during the 2nd World War. The depot was one of the first sites on which bombs dropped during the first day of the BLitz
See this link for more details.
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Map by Rob Rogers

The old Corporation stables at Bridge Road Depot

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Roberts Roger’s response to Nina’s research on the old Corporation stables at the Bridge Road Depot.

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“Nina I saw in your blog about the Corporation stables at Bridge Road Depot, thought you might like to see a photo of them. They were demolished when the depot was rebuilt in the early 1980`s.

Although I have not been here long enough to have remembered the horse and carts, I can remember the stables which were used for storage, but the old ring to tie the horses up where still in place.

Amongst the building in the distance can be seen the Adam & Eve Pub.

Thanks to Pat in our depot who had this photo in her collection and allowed me to get it scanned (by our directors PA Jan), so a kind of joint effort!

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‘A little line drawing of how the stables may have looked, there is a certain amount of `Artistic Licence` as I only had the one photo and it was not that sharp.’

Old Abbey Road map

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

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Robert Rogers came across this map at the Stratford Heritage Library.

Bakers Row shows as Abbey Road. The Railway Cottages along with the bridge are yet to be build.
It also shows a large garden on what is now part of the Depot.

“Your garden plans for Baker Row are not new, you are just recreating History!” says Robert.

Photo taken in Bakers Row 1891

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

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The photo of Sarah Hurrell nee Rickman with Leonard Charles Hurrell was taken around 1891, and was (we believe) in the garden of No.1 Bakers Row.

Bakers Row image

Sunday, March 9th, 2008

Hilary Powell has emailed these images of Bakers Row with the terrace housing on the abbey gardens site still in tact. The image showing the street celebration was taken on V-Day in 1945. the one with the towers in the background is from 1968.

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Time team discovers ancient abbey gate

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

Some local press about the dig from the Newham Recorder – click here.