Back in 2013, a search on the web for images of Roman Road and Bow returned zero results. A search of physical archives at the local archive library returned very little too.
Overshadowed by the bigger trade centres of neighbouring hamlets Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Isle of Dogs and Limehouse, Bow has been poorly documented until now. As the older generation disappears, so too the opportunity to discover and save photos and memories of Bow’s past.
Social Streets launched a social media campaign to surface images help in private collections. A Facebook group called Living in Bow invited past and present residents to share personal photos and memories of Bow. Many of the members of Living in Bow no longer live in the area but thanks to technology photos and memories can be shared across continents and timezones.
Through social media Social Streets has unearthed photos and memories that may have disappeared forever, a precious resource for ensuring local history and heritage isn’t lost and to help create a sense of place and identify for the area.