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’”
Category Archives: Pearlies
‘DelBoy I.’ at the Cockney Museum
Last week, I finally visited the Cockney Museum, which had been closed for refurbishment over the winter. It’s just outside Southwest London in Stoneleigh, on the trainline from Waterloo to Dorking. George Major, the Pearly King of Peckham, opened it in 2020, having collected exhibits for his dream of a Cockney museum all his life.Continue reading “‘DelBoy I.’ at the Cockney Museum”
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”
LONDON TALKS 