Holding The Baby
On The Record Project
Portraits taken as part of a project exploring experiences of childcare and parenting in London's East End by by On The Record, where people were interviewed and their stories published in their own voices, as podcasts, on a dedicated website, and in a travelling exhibition touring all of Newham's ten libraries between 2018-2019.
To hear extracts from these stories in a series of podcasts visit the Holding The Baby website or download the the Holding The Baby tracks from iTunes or Soundcloud. The full interviews are kept at the Bishopsgate Institute Archives.
Sylvia Clarke
Sylvia became a carer to her young brother at 10 years old when her mother became bed-bound with depression, or what we might now call post-natal depression. She told stories of missing school and how much she enjoyed a few short years in the countryside where she was evacuated during the London WWII bombings. Despite the obstacles Sylvia managed to achieve good enough grades to go to grammar school, she loved music and taught herself to play the piano.
At grammar school she discovered you were meant to play with specific fingers! Sylvia went on to become a teacher and on retiring she wanted to dedicate more of her time to music, but a sudden degenerative disease has meant she lost a lot of mobility nearly as soon as she did retire. She still has her piano in her living room tuned regularly, though she doesn't often get to play it.
Brenda Crew
Brenda spent most of her life in Plaistow. Brenda's husband worked for the RAF which meant moving base often, and she describes the loneliness she felt there, particularly after giving birth. Eventually Brenda moved back to East London, right next door to where she grew up and where her parents still lived, and divorced her husband.
She describes the joys and difficulties of being a single mum, of the great help and sometimes stress of having her parents so close, who could be reached by an adjoining gate in their back gardens.
Shirley Peters
Shirley Peters photographed at her home in Manor Park. Shirley Peters was born in Antigua but mostly raised by her grandmother in Dominica, as both her parents worked full-time. She describes how her grandmother couldn't read or write but knew all the words in Shirley's alphabet book from the pictures.
Shirley came to the UK in the 70s to train as a nurse, and her own daughter is also highly educated. Now, in turn, Shirley cares for her three grandchildren as her daughter works full-time.
Joyce Gilman
Photographed at Summerdale Care Home where she lives. Joyce spoke about how her mother tragically lost two babies before she and her siblings were born, and though she was a loving mum the loss was so devastating it made her "a bit hard", and held her back from loving her surviving children "too much".
Joyce described how she raised her own children at her mother-in-law's house and with regular visits to her own mum's house, which is why they are so close. Joyce confessed her love of her grandchildren is so strong that it can be frightening sometimes, that she loves them too much.
Eva and Norah
Eva (left) and Norah (right) photographed at Stepney City Farm, where they first met in the 1980s. They both had young children at the time and quickly became close friends. Eva needed and wanted to go back to work, whilst Norah wanted to be a stay at home mum, so Norah became a childminder to Eva's daughter and the arrangement suited them both.
They talk about how important it is not to judge parents and the choices they make for their families, and are just one example of how families deal with the opposing pull of earning enough to raise children and spending time with them at home.
Bob Rogers
Photographed in his family home where he lives and where his parents lived before they passed away. Bob describes how his parents worked as a team, and all together they were the Three Musketeers. "Dad went to work to work to pay for the food, mum cooked the food, and I did the washing up. It's a team."
He shared fond memories of growing up in Canning Town, helping out his parents on their allotment, and going to the Speedway together for holidays. He recalls the cacophony of sound in the East End from the docks and other industry, the "End End lullaby".
John and his son Joe Newman
John and his wife decided that he should stay at home when their son was born, whilst his wife went back to work. He describes the anxiety he felt at the time that health visitors or other people would question his suitability to look after his son, and that they would ask where the child's mother was.
He remembers clearly often being the only father at playgroup sessions and how he would be 'dad' to all the other children there too. If statutory parental leave could be split between parents equally many more men would choose and cherish to be stay at home dads like John.
Holding The Baby installation at Newham Library.