Petticoat Lane Heritage Trail
The Petticoat Lane Heritage Trail project launched in July 2024, having received funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Section 106 money distributed by Tower Hamlets Council.
The project will be led by London Historic Buildings Trust (LHBT) working with participatory design studio, make:good. Collaborating with members of the community and local organisations, the project will focus on championing the dynamic and diverse heritage of this fascinating part of East London.
The mission of the project is to facilitate local people to identify and champion Petticoat Lane’s diverse and, in places, unrecognised, heritage via a permanent Heritage Trail in the public realm that links to digital heritage resources. Additional benefits are: to provide paid, training, learning and social opportunities for local people; stimulate local pride and empowerment; foster emerging local partnerships; encourage new audiences and increased footfall to Petticoat Lane; and to inspire minds.
The project will:
- Recruit, train and mentor four local people to research Petticoat Lane history that is of significance and interest to them and the community.
- Recruit, train and mentor two local people to undertake six complementary oral histories of current community figures. These will supplement the historical research and be deposited in a local archive.
- Create a Steering Group consisting of local stakeholders and community representatives, to guide the development of the Trail’s content and design.
- Work with local charity Streets of Growth to recruit, train and mentor two young people to photograph life on Petticoat Lane.
- Deliver four community design workshops with Toynbee Hall clients, school students, young people and the general Petticoat Lane community to feed into the Trail’s design and scope.
- Design and install a series of permanent artwork or ‘plaques’ around Petticoat Lane, representing a different theme of Petticoat Lane’s heritage
- Develop a linked online Heritage Hub with Trail Map, research content and further resources.
- Host a celebration event to launch the Trail.
- Evaluate the project and deliver two ‘Lessons Learnt’ training sessions for others looking to deliver similar community heritage projects, both in the Borough and City and beyond.
The funding received follows an initial pilot project led by LHBT and Tower Hamlets Council to develop the concept of a heritage trail in the area. Four local people came on board to explore the heritage and history of Petticoat Lane that was of interest to them and that they felt should be shared. This pilot project culminated in a temporary Trail in the form of stickers around the streets. You can still see this temporary trail around the area.
The new project will build upon this pilot, creating a more detailed Trail with both physical and digital versions. There will be more opportunities for local people to get involved in directing the Trail content and contributing to the Trail’s design, as well as paid roles in research, photography, and oral history. Throughout the project LHBT will be working closely with local organisations, Toynbee Hall – a social welfare charity – and Streets of Growth – a youth intervention charity. A suite of KS1 and KS2 school resources will also be created and a series of training workshops to support others undertaking their own community heritage project will be held at the close of the project in spring 2025.
What’s been happening - August and September 2024
The project started in July with the local recruitment for the roles of Heritage Researchers and Story Collectors. Natalie, Danielle, Eliza, Mark, Aishah and Nasrat were successful, and each have a personal connection to the Petticoat Lane area, and are working alongside a team of professional historians, heritage consultants and oral historians to mentor them as they explore potential content for the Trail.
Since the team have come on board they’ve undertaken initial research and oral history training and begun work on identifying content for the Trail. The Trail is looking to take a thematic approach, with each marker in the townscape representing a different aspect of Petticoat Lane history, such as migration or working lives.
Mark, one of the Heritage Researchers and Story Collectors, has shared with the project his personal connection to Petticoat Lane, which inspired him to apply to take part:
“My great-great grandfather Joseph Palkowksi arrived in the area in 1886, having escaped the pogroms in Vitta (a small village near the Ukrainian Capital of Kiev). He opened a costermongers at the corner of Old Castle Street and Wentworth Street, selling cheap china. Joseph's son, Marks Palkowski, opened a Jewish Deli, called Marks of the Lane in 1941 at 59 Wentworth Street (later expanded to include 57), specialising in smoked salmon with a smoke hole.
"Marks of the Lane continued trading until the mid 1990s with my great uncle Mossy Marks and my grandmother Golda Levy, at the helm. They had a stall outside the shop selling pickled and shmatlz (salted) herring. My mother, Betty Levy daughter of Golda Levy, worked in the Deli until she emigrated to South Africa, where I was born. She returned with me to London in 1960 and I worked in the Deli every Sunday through the 1970’s to the mid 1990’s, selling Lutkas (a potato pancake).”
Share your ideas for the Trail
We’ve started developing ideas for the Trail. Take our short survey to provide feedback and input on the themes and content of the Trail.
Deadline for responses: 28 October 2024
Join the Steering Group
Do you live, work or study in the Petticoat Lane area?
Do you want to have your say in how a Heritage Trail around the area might look?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, there is an upcoming opportunity to get involved in the Petticoat Lane Heritage Trail project by joining the Steering Group. The Group will be formed of people with a stake in the local area, including residents, community organisations, Tower Hamlets Council and City of London.
This is a voluntary opportunity for people with lived experience of being local to the Petticoat Lane area.
The Steering Group will:
- Advise on potential Trail themes and topics
- Suggest locations of stops
- Review designs of the Trail
- Approve digital content and a physical map
Time commitment:
4x 2-hour workshops, in-person locally. These will be held on weekday daytimes between August 2024 - January 2025, with meetings being held in August, October, November, and January.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 23rd October and will focus on the design of the Trail.
How to express your interest:
We are recruiting for the Steering Group on a rolling basis until January 2025. You might want to attend all of the meetings or one session, we're looking for people who are interested in having a say in how the Trail is developed.
Send your expression of interest to Laura Owen, Heritage Trail Project Officer, at hello@lauraowen.co.uk answering the questions below:
- Why do you want to be part of the Steering Group?
- What is your connection to the Petticoat Lane area?
- What would you bring to the Steering Group?
We value lived experience in equal footing to professional experience, so please consider applying if you haven't sat on a Steering Group, Board or Committee before.
