Hackney social podcast
Sue Elliott-Nicholls, host of the Hackney and Newham History Social Club podcast, talks about the importance of documenting human interest stories
By Sue Elliott-Nicholls
Sue Elliott-Nicholls , Yared Markos from Kappa Coffee, Spencer Elliott and Joshua Mamptey from Mediorite on the camera
It was during the depths of lockdown when Jo Carter, from Hackney’s Immediate Theatre, called to say she was thinking about making a weekly radio show for isolated elders in Hackney. I scoffed: “Do you have any idea how hard it is to produce a radio show?”
Amused, and fancying a change from recording voiceovers of Moody Margaret from ‘Horrid Henry’ and various other animation characters in my cupboard, I said I’d host the pilot.
Two seasons, 50 programmes, and almost 50,00 listens later, via our platform on Resonance FM – plus a Charity Award shortlist for Arts, Culture & Heritage – we have a wealth of fantastic stories and memories of Hackney.
Knowing how people are obsessed with East End history, I went back to Immediate Theatre and, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and in conjunction with Hackney Archives and Newham Archives, we brought in documentary maker Tamsin Hughes to work alongside volunteers to make the Hackney and Newham History Social Club podcast series.
The podcast is a collection of beautiful and fascinating human interest stories carefully wound together with music, sounds and the fascinating facts about the histories of Hackney and Newham.
Mayank Patel, from Londis, N16
For example, the name Londis, ‘Lon-Dis’, comes from the ‘London District of the National Grocers Federation,’ a breakaway group of independent shop owners.
There was also a Malaysian club house (Kelab Melayu) on Cricketfield Road; It was the go-to place for merchant seamen and students.
We meet dozens of amazing people on the podcast. Judy Frumin recalls working in Smiths distribution dept. She says: “They used to talk to me in Cockney rhyming slang, proper Cockney rhyming slang, only using the first part of the rhyme to confuse me so I couldn’t tell what they were talking about!”
Sharon used to sneak into the West Reservoir as a child. She says: “Where the boating lake is now, it used to be a reservoir for the water board. And the historical building that’s beside it, I always thought was a prison. It was so wild and unkempt and all this wonderful foliage and greenery. It was so exciting for a child to walk through there.”
George James, who used to have a stall in Ridley Road, recalls: “I used to do what’s called ‘shave ice’ in Ridley Road Market. You’d get a hand-shaver of ice and you’d shave it into a cup and pour liquid on it. Like a slush basically. In the Caribbean we call it ‘fraco.’”
As Hackney changes it feels more important than ever to pay attention to this time in history, from the 1960s to the 90s, when so many different communities were starting a life here. We want to capture the stories before they are buried with the changing face of the East End.
Listen to all episodes of the Hackney and Newham History Social podcast here!
The oral history interviews recorded as part of this project have been added to the collection at Hackney Archives reference 2025/05.