The unsung and remarkable stories of the women who held London's East
End together during not one, but two world wars.
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Minksy, Gladys, Beatty, Joan, Girl Walker. While the men were at war,
these women ruled the streets of the East End. Brought up with firm hand
in the steaming slums and teeming tenements, they struggled against
poverty to survive, and fought for their community in our country's
darkest hours.
But there was also joy to be found. From Stepney to Bethnal Green,
Whitechapel to Shoreditch, the streets were alive with peddlers and
market stalls hawking their wares, children skipping across dusty
hopscotch pitches, the hiss of a gas lamp or the smell of oxtail stew.
You need only walk a few steps for a smile from a neighbour or a strong
cup of tea.
From taking over the London Underground, standing up to the Kray twins
and crawling out of bombsites, The Stepney Doorstep Society tells the
vivid and moving stories of the matriarchs who remain the backbone of
the East End to this day.