Memories of Wapping 1900-1960 : 'Couldn't Afford the Eeels'

Wapping, once a vital part of the Port of London, has undergone many changes since the Second World War. Slum clearance, the closure of the docks and redevelopment have irrevocably altered the landscape of the area. This volume, combining the memories of over thirty people of Wapping during the earlier part of the twentieth century with a painstakingly researched historical narrative of the area, provides an important legacy of an age which has now vanished and a community which has changed forever. Whilst working as a GP in Wapping for twenty years, Martha Leigh became fascinated in the first-hand memories from people who had lived and worked in the area between the First and Second World Wars. As well as recreating a view of working-class life in an enclosed community during the period, the book covers the decline of the docks, family life, work, housing and leisure as well as tackling more esoteric subjects such health, gender roles and attitudes towards Jews.