The Villages of Stepney (1995 documentary)

A consideration of the old borough of Stepney before its absorption into the new borough of Tower Hamlets. Still photographs and illustrations are used to re-evoke the Stepney of the past, with special attention to the area's Jewish history. The video makes a sweep from Bow in the East, where Burdett Road meets the Mile End Road through Wapping, Shadwell, Limehouse and Spitalfields to Middlesex Street in the west where Stepney met the City. Along the way it reflects on the Royal London Hospital, Stepney Green, the Commercial Road, Beaumont Grove, the Dunstan Houses, the London Jewish Hospital, the Bricklayer's Arms public house, Montagu Street and the London Yiddish Theatre. Synagogues still standing and those gone are given particular attention, from the Stepney Orthodox Synagogue (now Rosalind Green Hall), the East London United Synagogue, the Philpot Street Synagogue and the Congregation of Jacob synagogue on Commercial Road. Raines Grammar School on Arbour Square and the Talmud Torah School on Redman's Road provide jumping off points for reflections on Jewish education. The Zionist movement and anti-fascist action are remembered with reference to the Association of Jewish Youth. Jubilee Street provides a place to reflect on the Bangladeshi community that now dominates the area. The narrators commentary is supported by the words of historian Dr Gerry Black and the recollections of a number of local residents: Woofy Shaw, Sylvia Schneider, Frieda Hewson, Harry Borkin, Monty Goldstein and Monty Richardson.

Credits: Director, Aumie Shapiro; writer, Aumie Shapiro; editor, Michael Shapiro; photography, Henry Jacobs; photography, Bill Storey; photography, Albert Marchant; sound, Warren Recordings; music, Giora Feidman; sponsor, Sinclair Montrose Trust Ltd; sponsor, The National Heritage Arts Sponsorship Scheme.

Copyright: Springboard Education Trust, 1995.

Tower Hamlets Local History and Archives reference number: LC15077.