My grandparents, Bill and Emma Taylor with baby William, their first child. 

Nan was born in Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in 1886 and granddad in Greenwich in 1883. They met in the Greenwich foot tunnel and were married by special licence a few weeks later, that was in 1904 and Nan was just 17 years old.

They came to live in Hermit Road, Canning Town in 1905 where baby William was born and sadly died 15 weeks later. They had another fifteen children, one of whom also  died in infancy. My mum who was the youngest was born in 1928.

Photo: Private family collection

Here's my uncle Jack Taylor standing in the doorway of the family's rag shop in Ordnance Road, Canning Town in 1936. The shop, which was originally a bakers was bought by my grandfather in 1916. He ran a very successful business from here and another property and warehouse in Trinity Street.

There were 14 children in the family, not including the two babies who died in infancy.  My mum was born in the room above the shop in 1928 and I lived there for the first six years of my life. We finally moved out in 1957 when the shop was compulsory purchased by the council in the slum clearance.

Photo: Private family collection

This photo shows three of my aunts, Violet aged 11, Winnie aged 14 and Doris Taylor aged 17 of No.2 Trinity Street and Mrs Abbott a neighbour and family friend.   It was the 12th May 1937 and Trinity Street in Canning Town held a large street party for the coronation of King George VI.  The front of every house was decorated and bunting and flags were stretched across the road all the way down the street.

Jean Brewis sent us this charming photo of a childrens Christmas party at Beckton Gasworks in 1958. Every child received a wrapped present, you can see them piled up on the stage in the background. I wonder what they contained?

Many of the large factories in the area held similar events for the children of their workers. If you went to one of these parties we would love to hear your memories.

 Photo: Private family collection

Here we see the young Powell brothers outside their home at No.89 Roman Road, East Ham. If you have any memories of the Powell family do let us know.

Photo: Private family collection

This photograph shows my brother Richard Charles Tucker sitting in Class 3 at Water Lane School. He looks about 8 years old in this photo.

My family lived in Stratford and father worked for the Great Eastern Railway at Stratford Works as a carriage examiner. My brother was born in 1922 and my sister Betty in 1924, then I came along ten years after that. We all went to the same school, which at that time was for boys and girls - but no mixed classes.

Richard is sitting on the right in the second row from the top, the second one in, wearing his jacket. He is smiling but take a look at the faces of the other boys, they don't look very happy. Some are not wearing socks and most of them are not wearing jackets.

The two men at the back look quite stern - is one the teacher and one the headmaster? Were you in this class or perhaps a member of your family were?

There's not much that Newham's Ade Adepitan hasn't accomplished. The super enthusiastic Paralympian has won medals at the highest level, completed the London Marathon, and is now a sports commentator and actor. His dedication to disabled sport has played a pivotal role in building the exposure and development of the Paralympic Games in London 2012.

Adepitan, a former pupil of Lister School, was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1973. He contracted polio at six months old, which left his legs weak and damaged. His parents, both were teachers in Nigeria, decided to come to the UK so their son could receive better medical care. Adepitan's father came to Britain first to earn enough money to bring his wife and son here, the family settled in Newham.

At the site of the old Transport Depot in Greengate Street, there is a memorial to the members of the West Ham Tram Department killed in the Great War (World War One).

A service was held regually at the Memeorial up to the start of World War two. It was then revived after the war when in 1946, a service was held by the Vicar of Plasitow. A march-past by Ex-servicemen and the Home Guard and a band conducted by Mr W Challis led the Hymn singing. (thanks to an item by the London Transport Old Comrades Association).

The memeorial reads to the Heroic dead and there are 54 names on it, including one Holder of the Militery Medal (MM).

The names are as follows,

Allery.H

Beckwith.A

Trams, as well as a form of transport were also a point of civic pride for a lot of Local Councils, and West Ham Corporation was no exception.

The tram would also be used to celebrate major events, and before the open top bus ride which we see now days when the local football team has a major success, an open top tram would be used.

When ever the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Intuition) is mentioned, most peoples memories go back to the seaside and the sight of a large orange Lifeboat racing down a slipway, her brave crew off to face the perils of the sea, the danger captured in Phil Coulter famous song “Home from the Sea”, but not many would think of Canning Town and the River Thames!