Faithful followers will remember our London Talks stall at last year’s Festival of Communities at Queen Mary University, where we handed out hundreds of tiny badges with London slang words. As we were observing how much people enjoyed those words, discussed and rated them, and came up with more iconic dialect words and expressions CaitlinContinue reading “Get ready for REAL TALK East London merchandise!”
Category Archives: East Enders
The Modern Cockney Festival 2023
With the 3rd of March, the ‘Fird of the Fird’ or ‘Speak Cockney Day’, rapidly approaching, it is time for Andy Green and Saif Osmani to get ready for the next run of their Cockney Cultures events. Andy and Saif have been organising activities and talks around Cockney dialect and culture for several years withContinue reading “The Modern Cockney Festival 2023”
Coffee with @TheEastEndPoet
Last week I met with Chris Ross, a.k.a. @TheEastEndPoet on Twitter and Facebook. Chris is a born and bred Cockney, born in Mile End Hospital and raised in Roman Road. He is a retired telephone salesman, dad of one, granddad of six and great granddad of six. And he writes poetry – often about theContinue reading “Coffee with @TheEastEndPoet”
‘Actually quite a cool family tradition’
It’s a sunny October Sunday, when I meet a bunch of Pearly Kings and Queens on the steps of St. Martins-in-the-Field off Trafalgar Square, where the Pearly Association have gathered for their annual Harvest Festival. The Pearly Kings and Queens are traditionally associated with East End Cockneys, so I was interested to hear from youngerContinue reading “‘Actually quite a cool family tradition’”
East Ender with a ‘bookworm’ accent
I met Afroza on one of the recent hot summer days, but we stayed cool in a coffee shop basement. Afroza grew up in Bow in a large Bangladeshi family of eight siblings and now lives in Shoreditch with her family. Afroza would call her accent ‘a bit Cockney, a bit posh’. It’s the latterContinue reading “East Ender with a ‘bookworm’ accent”
Audience with the Pearly Queen of Clapton
Teresa is the Pearly Queen of Clapton and a true Cockney, ‘born within the sound of Bow Bells’. She grew up in Leyton, East London, and now lives in Loughton, just outside of London in Essex, but her family is from all over East London, ‘so that is where our heart is’. Teresa comes fromContinue reading “Audience with the Pearly Queen of Clapton”
‘Cockney is such a comforting sound’
I met Hunter on his day off from his job as a head barista in a coffeeshop in Hampstead. But we stayed in his natural habitat, as he picked a lovely small café in Islington near where he lives. His family is from the East End and his mother was actually born ‘within the soundContinue reading “‘Cockney is such a comforting sound’”
Educated, with a twang of London
Boodie spent his childhood in W9, but has lived in the East for most of his life. This is also where we met, in a pub in the East End. He describes his own way of speaking as ‘educated, with a twang of London that doesn’t shift’ and that comes from ‘humble beginnings’. He summarisesContinue reading “Educated, with a twang of London”
Cockney songs
This week I met with Frank, a true East Ender. He lives near Upminster, in the Essex countryside now, but spent all his childhood and youth in Forrest Gate, E7. Frank has lived in many different places in Essex and would call his own accent ‘East End twice removed’. Having worked in the construction industryContinue reading “Cockney songs”
East End memories from Essex
Last week, I spoke to husband and wife Richard and Janice in Colchester, Essex. Janice was born and raised in Tower Hamlets and remembers a blissful childhood there. When she was eleven, her family moved to Loughton, Essex, where teachers gave her a hard time for her Cockney accent. Now she would call her ownContinue reading “East End memories from Essex”
LONDON TALKS 