Swinging Stoke Newington - A Journey Through Changes in the 1960s

Presented by Amir Dotan at the 22nd Stoke Newington History Talks event on 20th June 2024

1. Amir Dotan
Swinging Stoke
Newington
A Journey Through Changes in
the 1960s

2. Stoke Newington, yeah baby!

3. Loss of borough status

4. The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington (1900-1965)

5. “According to the scheme which was laid down for the constitution of Metropolitan
Boroughs in connection with the London Government Act, 1899, it was proposed that
the minimum population which should be sufficient to constitute a separate Borough
should, unless for special reasons, be 100,000 and the minimum rateable value
£500,000.
The population of Stoke Newington and South Hornsey at that time was estimated by
the Registrar-General at 54,047, and their aggregate rateable value was £314,839.
The inhabitants of Stoke Newington were deeply concerned at the threatened loss of
separate existence for the locality, and made active representations to the appropriate
Ministry upon the subject. At one time it was suggested that the area should be
excluded from the County of London that it might be put without the scope of the
scheme. This suggestion was also objected to by the inhabitants. The outcome was
that the area of Stoke Newington and South Hornsey was incorporated as a separate
Borough, which it has ever since remained.”

7. King’s Crescent, N4 Mountgrove Road, N5 Blackstock Road, N5 Leconfield Road, N5
Green Lanes, N16 Riversdale Road, N5 Crossway, N16 Stoke Newington Road, N16

9. 1945

10. 1945
“The Council submits that an increase in size of local government
areas tends to a decrease in public interest and to a development of
Bureaucracy; this would lead to one of the great dangers of the
future, namely, the discontinuance of our democratic system of
government. Two of the most valuable assets of securing a true
democracy are local patriotism and local pride; these cannot be
stimulated if people are deprived of their interest in the district in
which they live.”

12. Metropolitan
Borough
Acreage Population
Stoke Newington 863 52,301
Shoreditch 658 40,455
Hackney 3,289 171,342
TOTAL 4,810 264,098
Metropolitan
Borough
Acreage Population
Islington 3,091 228,345
Finsbury 587 32,887
TOTAL 3,678 261,232
The London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Islington

13. Comment on Facebook
“I remember my mum complaining about the ‘Take Over’.
Nobody wanted to be Hackney. We lost our Town Hall and
identity. We were proud to live in Stoke Newington but hated
the thought of being classed as Hackney.”

14. Comment on Facebook
“The people of Stoke Newington were upset to be merged
with Hackney and Shoreditch. Many people objected to it at
the time. There was no doubt there was a lot of snobbery as
Stoke Newington was seen by many to be above Hackney
and certainly Shoreditch. We were like a village.”

15. Comment on Facebook
“I didn't like Stoke Newington becoming part of Hackney. It
then lost its identity. I still don't class Stoke Newington as
part of Hackney.”

16. Comment on Facebook
“I was and I still call it Stoke Newington. I will not call it
Hackney.”

17. Comment on Facebook
“Mum loved playing around with words said she thought
they should have combined the names and called it
Stokehackenditch.”

18. Loss of grand old buildings

19. Alexandra Palace

23. Holland House (1961)

25. West Hackney Church

27. Hit with high explosive bombs on 18/19th Sep 1940

28. The old Town Hall (1962)

30. South Hornsey Local Board (1865-1900)

31. Church Street
Rear of Dynevor Road
Matthias Road
Blackstock Road
Green Lanes
Stoke Newington Road
Seven Sisters Road

32. Proposed library and child welfare centre

34. Green Lanes Methodist Church (Demolished 1968)

36. Photos by F. A. Wirth

37. The church that replaced it was demolished in 2013
Photo by Julieta Hernandeza

38. Presbyterian Church Lordship Road (Demolished 1969)

40. Interior of the church

41. All that remains of the church

42. All Saints Church, Aden Grove

43. All Saints Church, Aden Grove

44. Aden Lodge (Built 1962)

45. “I was telling my mother about
the information that you had
provided about the church, where
her parents were married and my
mum, who is 88, said ‘oh I’ve got
the key to that church’.
Her mother was passing the
church when it was being
knocked down in the 50s and she
asked the men working there for
the key to the church that was still
in the door because that was
where she’d been married. They
handed it over and she eventually
gave it to my mother.”
Graeme Light
A key is the sole relic of All Saints Church

46. 1-Way High Street, 1967

50. Famous bands visiting

51. What do all these musical acts have in common?

52. Photo by Peter Marshall

55. Edward Mann’s Hat Factory

59. The end of Trolleybuses, 1962

60. Trolleybuses were in use from 1931 to 1962

65. Council Housing

66. Woodberry Down Estate completion, 1962

67. Woodberry Down before the estate was built

68. Rowley Gardens (Built 1963)

69. Built on the site of Northumberland House, a private psychiatric hospital

70. 1952 - The future site of Rowley Gardens

71. Hugh Gaitskell House (Built 1964)

72. 1952 - The future site of Hugh Gaitskell House

73. Expansion of Milton Gardens Estate, 1965-66
Photo by Roy Urch

74. 1960s expansion1952

75. 1-40 Chaucer Court

76. 53-68 Chaucer Court

77. Herrick House

78. Lincoln Court (Built 1969)
Photo by Traxcitement on Flickr

79. 1952 - The future site of Lincoln Court

80. 1933 - Lordship Road housing scheme
1935 - Clissold Court, Greenway Close
1936 - Lordship Terrace housing scheme
1938 - Hewling Street housing scheme
1950 - Amwell Court, Green Lanes
1951 - Gordon Lodge, Queen Elizabeth’s Walk
1957 - Portland Rise extension
1957 - Manor Road, Listria Park improvements
1960 - Prome House, Green Lanes
1962 - Aden Lodge, Aden Grove
1962 - Milton Grove Laundry
1969 - Lincoln Court, Bethune Road
Howes & Jackman Architects were prolific in Stoke Newington

81. Ambassador Cinema closing,
1963

82. The Apollo Picture House opened in 1913
Re-opened as the Ambassador Cinema in 1933

83. Closed in 1963. Converted into a Bingo Hall by 1965
Re-opened in 1974 as the Astra Cinema. Closed in 1983

84. Today, it's a mosque and a restaurant

86. Clissold Park

87. The Rustic Bandstand

88. 1893 design specifications

89. 1912 alteration

92. A stage replaced the bandstand in 1966

95. New Schools

96. Clissold Park Secondary School, 1968
Photo by Peter Marshall

99. 1952 - The future site of Clissold Park School

100. Grazebrook Primary School, 1969

101. 1952 - The future site of Grazebrook School

102. Courtesy of Bruce Oliver
1969 - A view of the demolition site looking east towards Yoakley Road

104. Thank you