East End Women's Museum launch new free tour celebrating women who made history

The former home and headquarters of Sylvia Pankhurst and the Suffragettes are among stops on a new heritage trail celebrating the women of east London.

Created by the East End Women’s Museum and historian Charlotte Tomlinson, self-guided tour, the Brilliant Women of Whitechapel, Bow and Barking Heritage Trail, will explore the stories of several women who have made contributions to London’s history.

It will be available to download for free from March 1 via the museum’s website, and takes roughly two to three hours, depending on walking pace.

The trail will begin on Woodseer Street, off Brick Lane, where activist Mala Sen co-founded the Bengali Housing Action Group for the safety of the Spitalfields growing Bengali community in the 1970s. It will follow the stories of women such as Hannah Dadds, the first female train operator on the London Underground, and famed prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, who is buried in Barking.

“East London is full of amazing stories of resilience, resistance and resourcefulness,” said Tomlinson. “London women have been shaping history for centuries and continue to do so today. Still, their stories are often overlooked. There’s only one statue of a named black woman in Britain today, and only a fraction of blue plaques honour women.

“I’m so excited to launch the East End Women’s Museum’s first heritage trail, and for people to discover and celebrate the incredible histories that are right on their doorstep.”

The trail’s last stop will be at the future site of the East End Women’s Museum, which will open in Barking in 2021. The museum, which currently exists in the form of pop-ups, touring exhibitions, workshops and online, was set up as a response to the “Ripper tourism” of East London.

Brilliant Women of Whitechapel, Bow and Barking will be available for free from March 1 at eastendwomensmuseum.org/heritage-trail