Sparrows Can't Sing

Hi John,

I don't have any actual photos as the street was demolished in the late 60's/early 70's but the stills on Sparrows Can't Sing, numbers SC045 and SC047 are of Cowley Gardens in Stepney.

My Nan used to live there as a child and my Aunt can remember the film crew being in the area when she visited her Grandmother, my Great Grandmother.

I've just got hold of a copy of the film on DVD and it was lovely to see the street, even though the part of Cowley Gardens you saw on the screen was the end that was being demolished. My Nan lived the other side of the railway arches as Cowley Gardens was split in two.

Please see attached photo of the street taken in 1952 and i've also copied below, a link to a map that shows Cowley Gardens and how it was split by the railway line. Cowley Gardens is just to the right of Shadwell Station.

http://www.mernick.co.uk/elhs/maps/s1952.htm

My Great Grandfather Edward was killed under the railways arches when he was sheltering there during a bombing raid in 1945 so it must have been hard for my Nan and Great Grandmother to walk past there every day.

Fab website by the way

Kind regards

Lisa West