150 years of Building Ilford exhibition

The excellent 150 years of Building Ilford exhibition at the Redbridge museum shows how the town has developed from virtual village status in the mid 19^th century.

The pictures and videos take the visitor through different periods, revealing how Ilford developed along a steady line, with sudden upheavals seeing big changes in the basic choreography of the town.

The early 1900s saw the bridge down the hill from the Broadway, over the River Roding flowing on to the Thames further along. Few, today, would realise that Ilford used to be a place where boats docked and unloaded cargo.

Then there was the old clock tower at the top of the hill at the Broadway cross roads.

One scene shows an aerial shot of the high street in 1937, busy with people and early motor cars. A place for the well healed, as well as the workers, keeping things ticking.

The old distinctive Hippodrome building, standing opposite the railway station, was destroyed in the war, eventually be replaced in later years by a series of shops including  C&A in the 1960s.

Noticeable in the depictions from the first half of the 20^th century are the trams and tracks running along the high street and other avenues around the centre of town. What a retrograde step it was when all these tramways were torn up by the car dominated culture of the post war world – a sign that not all change is for the better. Maybe, one day the they will return, with tramways once again running from Ilford right into the centre of London.

The 1960s were another time of major recasting of Ilford, with the distinctive brash building of that era coming to dominate the skyline. Big shops like Harrison Gibson stand out.

The next big changes came in the 1980s, with the new bypass around the centre of town, some pedestrianisation. Some old buildings were removed but one positive development saw the building of the central library in 1984. The Exchange also arrived creating a new hub for the town amid that pedestrian precinct.

Now today, the town seems to have entered another period of recasting, with the coming of Crossrail, likely to further change the nature of the town. More housing is coming to the area, with Sainsburys due to redevelop its present site, building hundreds of flats on top of a new supermarket. Other developments are underway or in the pipleine .

The exhibition is fascinating for its depiction of how humankind is constantly changing and shaping the built environment. Sometimes for good, sometimes for ill - with the often subjective judgment residing in the eye of the beholder. The people, though, are but players on the stage, there for a short while, before moving on . The transitory nature of the built and human environment is well illustrated in this excellent exhibition – well worth a visit.

*The 150 years of Building Ilford exhibition runs until June 2018 at the Redbridge Museum, Central Library Ilford