Local History

Looking back

When families said no to playground on estate

It's ten years ago this week since people living on an east London estate were not keen on the proposed location for a new playground

Then & Now Early picture of church built on site of 14th century chapel

When community came together to rebuild ancient church after devastating fire

Then & Now Rare picture of cottage that made way for a town hall and fire station

Looking back When religious group wanted to reopen historic cinema

Then & Now: A reminder of high street shops lost from the 1960s

Then & Now: The Victorian cafe building that survives to this day

Looking back When the army stunned neighbours by setting up a missile base

Then & Now: The long lost pub in a century-old high street scene

When 500,000 came out to cheer the Queen

Then & Now: The former high street that was home to cottages and farms

Then & Now: The high street buildings that remain after 150 years

Then & Now: The farm that held many secrets

Then & Now: A glimpse of how Epping looked in the 1930s

Then & Now: The cafe that became the much-admired Chasneys

Then & Now: Former tea rooms that was retreat for London's poorest children

Then & Now: A century-old picture of a golf clubhouse in our area

Looking back The dramatic scene when a bus stop was ravaged by fire

Then & Now: The family who ran Epping businesses for almost a century

Then & Now: A busy bus terminus when day trippers flocked to the forest

Looking back When a pub underwent a facelift to appeal to 'hip' newcomers

Then & Now: The early bus with a top speed of 16mph

Then & Now: Rare picture of police box being installed

Looking back When crowds flocked to greet the Queen in Walthamstow

Then & Now: 120-year-old high street picture in which many buildings remain

Then & Now: The busy parade with shops remembered affectionately to this day

Looking back When boy racers were making life 'unbearable'

Then & Now: Cars and buses queue outside a railway station in the 1950s

Then & Now: A wonderful picture of trams reaching the end of the line

Looking back When a bomb stopped building at an Olympics training venue

Then & Now: Memories of two long, lost town centre pubs

The glamorous theatre star born in Snakes Lane

Then & Now: A newly-discovered picture of a landmark church

Looking back When the PM popped into Tesco

Then & Now: The family taxi firm still going strong after 150 years

The past publicans in the Tavern on the Hill's early years

Then & Now: When Larkswood was Britain's biggest open-air pool

Looking back When pub chain was 'still committed' to reopening historic venue

Then & Now: The much-loved shop that left plenty of fond memories

The garden walls containing evidence of former brickworks

Then & Now: Road name only surviving reference to long lost pub

Looking back When air ambulance shocked pupils by landing in their playground

Then & Now: The former inn with a horse-drawn coach outside

Showbiz Nostalgia When unions almost brought Elstree to its knees

Grand house where an Archbishop, brewer and cousin of a suffragist once lived

Then & Now: When a shopping parade was a small hamlet

Looking back When M&S confirmed interest in new Wanstead store

Then & Now: How a popular pub looked more than a century ago

Then & Now: Housing estate once home to a lord of the manor

Looking back When east London's pie and mash shops were celebrated in a new book

Then & Now: See how this scene has changed since century-old picture taken

Then & Now: When trolley buses used to take shoppers to busy shopping area

Looking back Dramatic scenes when building collapsed in East London

Then & Now: The 19th century houses designed by a prominent architect