Eastside Community Heritage
THE DEBATE and oral histories
So is Redbridge in
London or in
Essex?
"I went to university in Cardiff and whenever they asked where I was from I just naturally said 'London'...But I had to write my home address on something, 'Clayhall, Ilford, Essex', didn't even think. And some bright spark was like 'Hey Essex?! I thought you said you were from London?!"
Sarah's Experience
There was considerable discussion about how best to create these new boroughs. Initially, the government wanted Wanstead and Woodford to merge with Walthamstow. Many people of Wanstead liked this option, as it was a neighbouring area that had some similarities. Government guidelines looked to produce constituencies in roughly equal size, and wanted each borough to have a population of around 300,000. This meant Woodford and Wanstead eventually combined with the Borough of Ilford in 1965.
It was named 'Redbridge' after the bridge, made of red brick which crossed the River Roding and physically linked Wanstead and Woodford with Ilford.
However, after the amalgamation in 1965, very little actually changed for residents. Many areas maintained their Essex postcodes and telephone numbers. The only thing that has changed has been the administrative powers, but questions of identity and culture have arisen.
REDBRIDGE BECOMES A BOROUGH
HARRY'S EXPERIENCE
"We moved to Clayhall in early 1970. We picked Redbridge because there was an established Jewish community and I just felt at home. All the shops around the corner were Jewish owned. You could take your pick of Jewish butchers and delis and grocery shops, you name it."
With Redbridge's history of being a diverse area, it has been seen to have similarities with any other East End London borough. However because of its reputation for being an area that communities move 'out' to when they have made a good living and can afford a more suburban lifestyle, the Essex vibe has also been preserved.
RESIDENTS OF REDBRIDGE
AGNES' EXPERIENCE
"During the period Claybury was also a teaching school for doctors. I enjoyed being there and made lots of friends. At the time there were about 42 nationalities predominantly Europeans and later on Africans, Asians and others joined."
Eastside Community Heritage conducted interviews with people who were residents of Redbridge before and after it became a London borough to see if they could answer the question...
A LONDON BOROUGH OR AN ESSEX TOWN?
ESSEX
LONDON
"If you look at parts of Wanstead, it’s E11. So, it’s actually ‘Wanstead, London, E11’ so it’s got a London postcode. If you look at Woodford, we’ve still got an Essex address, and an Essex postcode, but localised more in Ilford and… whatever."