0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08I feel a foreigner in my own borough.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11We were born here.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Lived here.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17We are finding ourselves marginalised out of the area.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24You would never get better than the East End, I don't think.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26And I feel a lot of the culture is moving out.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29I don't think there's going to be a lot of East End left.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32I don't, honestly. I do think it's going to just dwindle out.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38And you wonder where they've all gone.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42You see them all moving out, but you wonder where they've all gone.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49The life that we knew is finished.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53- Don't you agree?- Yeah. It's finished.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01People who pass opinions about immigration and how
0:01:01 > 0:01:03wonderful it is for us,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06they should come and spend a day or two in Newham.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12If they think that is good for England, well, I'm a Dutchman.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Newham, in London's East End, is home to a tightknit
0:01:22 > 0:01:24white working-class community
0:01:24 > 0:01:27who have lived here for hundreds of years.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32But over the past 15 years,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35something extraordinary has happened to this cockney tribe.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38More than half of them have disappeared.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Now, the few who remain are struggling to
0:01:40 > 0:01:44hold on to their identity in the place they've always called home.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51- Right, I'm helping out in the kitchen. - KIDS SQUEAL
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Please, listen! I've got burning pots in my hand.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Millie, Teddy, go through the other way!
0:01:56 > 0:02:00The Oakmans are one of the oldest families left in Newham.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03You're getting all of the flavours of the lamb going through now!
0:02:03 > 0:02:05- We've got to get about 17 dinners out, Pat.- That's all right.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08I've got to do Jackie a dinner as well, so that's another one.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11'Pat and Debbie are fifth-generation East Enders,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15'whose family have always lived streets apart from each other.'
0:02:15 > 0:02:18It's nice to have traditional East End families
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and all get together and all get on.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23We all have our ups and downs, don't get me wrong,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24we've had moments where we've had...
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Like, I row with the girls big time.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29But we'll always be there for each other.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33- You can smell it now, can't you? - Mmm. Smells lovely.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35It's like a kebab. It's falling off the bone, look.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37This is Christmas Day dinner!
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Well, it is, isn't it? Come early. Reminds you of Christmas Day!
0:02:44 > 0:02:46So Debbie starts to fill up.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49So Debbie starts to fill up, look.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52But one of their flock is about to leave the fold.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55She's going to be all right, you know that.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57DEBBIE SOBS
0:02:57 > 0:02:59I'm going to miss her the same as you, aren't I?
0:02:59 > 0:03:01'We are a close family.'
0:03:01 > 0:03:03But the girls are like sisters.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06It ain't like a mum and two daughters, it's like three sisters.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11With Debbie, that's why she's like she is, a bit tearful. Do you know what I mean?
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Isn't it nice, the lamb? Really tasty.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15You can't beat Dad's lamb, can you? Let's be honest.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18The Oakmans have one son and two daughters.
0:03:18 > 0:03:2228-year-old Amy and 33-year-old Leanne,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24who each have two children of their own.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Leanne's got the two boys, Freddie and Teddy,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and then Amy's got Millie and Madison.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33They're my life, they're my world. I'd give up my whole life for my kids.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37From 16, up until however old I am now, until the day I die,
0:03:37 > 0:03:38I've had them babies.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Do you know what? I'm pleased I got this done,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43but I'm glad I ain't washing up! Aw!
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- Any volunteers? Thought not.- That's why you need a dishwasher.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50But today marks the last of the long tradition for the Oakmans.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53In a week's time, Leanne is leaving her East End roots
0:03:53 > 0:03:56to make a new life an hour away, in Rayleigh.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Obviously, it's like... I want to see the difference.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03I mean, she's the only girl I've got moving out to Essex,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05other than that, we've always been in the East End of London.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08- It's a better life.- In what way?
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Years ago, people would have a fight with their fists
0:04:10 > 0:04:14and that would be it, when we grew up, down the school. Not any more.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Now people will bring in knives.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20It's not like the old East End, everyone knew everyone,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23leave your doors open, you knew who you was hanging around with.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25- You don't no more.- It's not your children, it's other people.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It is other people as well. It's just scary, I think.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Newham has been shaped by immigration for generations.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But the past 15 years have been defined by it,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41as Newham welcomed unprecedented numbers of new residents
0:04:41 > 0:04:43from all corners of the globe.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47At the same time, more than half of the white British population has
0:04:47 > 0:04:51moved out, breaking the tightknit family their community was built on.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55What has happened, what has happened to the East End roots?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Where's the close-knit family? I'm still here because my mum's here.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01And that's how we was raised.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05To be around each other - every minute of the day, if you had to be.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Do you know what I mean? And this is what I can't get.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10That I'm now losing my children to Essex,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13because they don't want to live in the East End.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15And I still want to know why.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18I've lived here and I'm born and bred here and I'll probably die here.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Because I'm an East Ender. And I want to stay in my roots.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Yeah, I just think, as sisters, you have always got that best friend.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- Hmm.- And as obviously now she's moving out,
0:05:34 > 0:05:39- my best friend's now moving out... - Yeah.- But...- Yeah.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40It is hard.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Yeah. She's not gone forever, that's how I've got to see it.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Yeah, that's what I said, it is true.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48I'm not emigrating, I'll still be here.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50- Come here, come here, come here. - KIDS YELL AND CRY
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Yeah.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54No, it's going to be a killer.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It's going to be like Amy losing her right arm.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59And it's going to be like Leanne the same.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00All the best, Leanne.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'They are going to be lost without each other,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07'and only time will tell how they cope with it, once it's happened.'
0:06:07 > 0:06:09- To a new chapter!- Cheers!
0:06:09 > 0:06:13It will split us all up, there's no doubt it will.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Yeah, it will. That's the hardest thing.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The biggest change, I think, is the pubs shutting.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41- Yeah.- They're closing.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45There are so many pubs closed down.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Muslims don't drink, do they?
0:06:51 > 0:06:55That's another change. A major change.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56And stopping the smoking.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00You look at EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02they've all got a pub in them!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I'd like to know where my local pub is! In Bethnal Green, I've got one.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- I've got one pub now. - Salmon and Ball's still there.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10That's right.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15I feel that we've been ethnically cleansed.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It's so sad.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22The East Ham Working Men's Club has been serving Newham
0:07:22 > 0:07:25for over 60 years
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and is now one of the last places of refuge for
0:07:27 > 0:07:30its dwindling cockney community.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34This is a sort of final bastion.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38This is like an oasis, this place, you know?
0:07:38 > 0:07:42And they can come in and mix with their own and have a good time
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and, you know, because they've got nothing else round here,
0:07:45 > 0:07:46nothing at all.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53Peter Bell grew up in Newham and is the manager at the Working Men's.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56I've been here 25 years, 25 years.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Came here when I had black hair, believe it or not.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59HE LAUGHS
0:08:00 > 0:08:04I love everything about this club. Everything.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Everybody's a character in here, really.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09We've got a fella called Boring Paul.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13You would never want to get in a conversation with Boring Paul.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Gary Lager, he gets so drunk, it's unbelievable.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Lou the Jew.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20'He doesn't take offence to that, you know?'
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Do you know Bobby Breck?
0:08:22 > 0:08:24- He'd be about 73 now if he was alive, wouldn't he?- No!
0:08:24 > 0:08:27There's a fella just passed away, he was called Bill the Bomb,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30because he'd just go like that, bang! You know?
0:08:30 > 0:08:32He was known as Eddie the Pie!
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Proper, proper East Enders. Yeah.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Good people.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39We had shared values.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42When you'd shoot someone, you'd apologise for doing it,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- wouldn't you?- That's right.- Yeah, "Can I buy you a drink?" - LAUGHING
0:08:45 > 0:08:48All that is totally gone now with multiculturalism.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54It's hard to find somebody who speaks English in Newham.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58We've always been a country where immigration has played a part.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02But not on the scale that we're finding now.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06You go from Aldgate to Barking now
0:09:06 > 0:09:09and there's very, very few English people left.
0:09:13 > 0:09:1615 years of mass immigration and white flight
0:09:16 > 0:09:19have brought Newham to its tipping point.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Thank you.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Now, Newham has the lowest white British population
0:09:27 > 0:09:28of anywhere in the UK.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35We've had this massive transformation in...
0:09:35 > 0:09:37Which it seemed to happen overnight.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41People who've not been back here for many years, they say,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43"Whoa! God, I can't believe what's happened here!
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"I'll come out of Upton Park station and I could be...
0:09:46 > 0:09:50"I could be in...Baghdad."
0:09:56 > 0:09:59It was about ten years ago, on the buses,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05you could count one white person, to maybe 20 Asian people, you know?
0:10:06 > 0:10:09And the schools, as well, you'd go past,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12you'd see a school day out and you'd think, "There's something missing there."
0:10:12 > 0:10:15And it was that there was no white children.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18It just seemed to be the Asian people were beginning
0:10:18 > 0:10:19to control this area.
0:10:23 > 0:10:2739-year-old Tony Cunningham is a bus driver whose family has
0:10:27 > 0:10:29lived in Newham for over 150 years.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35I think white people are given a very bad time round here.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Very, very bad time round here.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42And I'll never forget this girl, she was a young white girl, Whitechapel.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44This...they was fighting on the bus, this Asian girl was,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46"You white bitch" this, "You white bitch" that.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49And you know what the girl said to me that made me stick out?
0:10:49 > 0:10:53"I can't reply to you because what people would think about me."
0:10:54 > 0:10:57And I thought to myself, it's true that
0:10:57 > 0:10:59if that girl would have replied...
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Everyone would've accused... She would've been the racist,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04do you know what I mean?
0:11:04 > 0:11:06And that's terrible, that's shocking.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10The respect.
0:11:10 > 0:11:11That's gone.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Their manners are gone. You know, the Christian values are gone.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Everything. The English people just seemed to disappear.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Where have they all gone?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34But there's one thing that brings the East Enders who have
0:11:34 > 0:11:37moved away from Newham back to their roots.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41MUSIC: The Beigeness by Kate Tempest
0:11:41 > 0:11:44# The curtains in the room in her daddy's flat
0:11:44 > 0:11:46# A young girl heard the truth in an alley-cat
0:11:46 > 0:11:48# Howling on the roof next door Imagine that
0:11:48 > 0:11:50# All your idols were just like you
0:11:50 > 0:11:52# Nothing's beyond you Do what you want to do
0:11:52 > 0:11:54# If you feel that it wants you to
0:11:54 > 0:11:56# Them things you don't show, I can see
0:11:56 > 0:11:58# Them things you don't say, speak to me
0:11:58 > 0:12:00# Them things you hide ain't hiding
0:12:00 > 0:12:02# No firm ground but we ain't sliding... #
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Where's your tomato sauce?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Tony has two children.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12His eldest, 12-year-old Jack, lives in Hornchurch in Essex with his mum.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15But on match days he travels back to Newham to be with his dad,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17a lifelong West Ham supporter.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23I have said it sometimes. I said, "Jack, you don't know how lucky you are."
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I said, "My dad never done this."
0:12:26 > 0:12:28The season ticket was out of the question.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32My mum used to have to give me five pounds,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34which was a lot of money back then, to get me over West Ham.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Tony's dad Mack was one of thousands of immigrants from the Caribbean
0:12:40 > 0:12:43that arrived in the 1960s to make a new life in London.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Here he met Tony's mum, a fourth-generation East End cockney.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55I don't think my nan was too pleased with the idea,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57because my dad was from Jamaica and my mum was from here.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59And it was unusual then...
0:13:00 > 0:13:03He was pretty much a loner.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04Him and my mum were never really...
0:13:04 > 0:13:06I've never known them to be together.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10There might have been some problems from my dad here and there,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12but there were some problems from here and there.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19He was called "nigger" when I was growing up.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23You know, to be honest with you, I had to educate my nan.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26She had a cat called the same thing, but I said, "Nan, you have to..."
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Things...she...
0:13:27 > 0:13:29How can I tell her?
0:13:29 > 0:13:31I'll say, "Nan, you can't have a cat called that."
0:13:31 > 0:13:34You know, she didn't really get the gist of it.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37CROWD NOISE SWELLS
0:13:37 > 0:13:40I remember, at ten years old, I was going over here. West Ham.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46In them days, black players used to get bananas thrown at them.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49I remember a player once picking up a banana, peeling it and eating it.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51CROWD GROANS
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Now, 25 years on, Tony feels part of a new minority in Newham.
0:13:59 > 0:14:00Yeah, you feel alone.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03Most of the Muslims, they stick together.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Their children stick together.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08If you're an outsider, don't want no part in, you know,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10they don't want to know you whatsoever.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14After spending his whole life in Newham, Tony has decided to
0:14:14 > 0:14:17join the exodus and is moving to Hornchurch to be nearer his son.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23CROWD: # I've looked everywhere... #
0:14:27 > 0:14:30MUSIC: I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles by Vera Lynn
0:14:30 > 0:14:34# In the air...
0:14:36 > 0:14:38# I'm dreaming dreams... #
0:14:38 > 0:14:41West Ham's moving. I'm moving.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44You know, I'm taking myself away from...
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I'm going to go and find a better life.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50And I don't regret it, not a bit.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55# They're born anew
0:14:56 > 0:14:59# Their days are few... #
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Now, even the most deeply entrenched East Enders
0:15:02 > 0:15:04are abandoning their roots.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09This year, West Ham United is moving out of the beloved Boleyn Ground
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and bringing an end to over 100 years of history.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It's everything to me.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19You know, I'm going to chain myself to the gates
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and they're going to have to drag me away from this place. I love it.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27# I'm forever blowing bubbles... #
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Sorry.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35# Pretty bubbles in the air
0:15:37 > 0:15:40# They fly so high... #
0:15:40 > 0:15:43But nowhere will this loss be more felt than in the
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Working Men's Club on West Ham's doorstep.
0:15:46 > 0:15:54# ..then like my dreams, they fade and die. #
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Big thing coming up when West Ham go after this season,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03and the closer you get to it, the more you start to worry, you know?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Through the week, we're not so busy, so we have to make it up wherever we can.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14On a good day, we'll take £12,000-£13,000 in a day,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16which is a lot of money, you know, a lot of money.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18That's a lot of money to lose, you know?
0:16:18 > 0:16:21So, therein lies the problem.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25# I've looked everywhere
0:16:25 > 0:16:28# I'm forever blowing bubbles
0:16:28 > 0:16:32# Pretty bubbles in the air. #
0:16:32 > 0:16:33ALL: United!
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I'm more upset about the older people, the old ladies,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46who have probably got no husbands and that,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48and they come in here with a couple of their little mates,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52they come in with walking sticks, they'll sit down, have a few drinks.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Proper old East End ladies, like, you know?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59'And that's not going to be there any more for them, you know?
0:16:59 > 0:17:01'So I think, where are they going to go?'
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Then I'm just going to do the raffles...
0:17:03 > 0:17:06'We have boxing shows upstairs, we have all the local boxing clubs.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08'We've got our own ring upstairs.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Joan, kettle's on, love!
0:17:10 > 0:17:13'We'll have weddings, funerals... It all happens here, you know?'
0:17:13 > 0:17:14I used to be a school dinner lady
0:17:14 > 0:17:18and I went to bed early one night and Harry, as usual,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21had that animal instinct and I said, "Hal, please leave me alone."
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I said, "I'm tired." He said, "Just five minutes!"
0:17:24 > 0:17:27I said, "All right, then, but be quick!"
0:17:27 > 0:17:30So as he mounted upon my body, all of a sudden,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32I thought, "What can I give him for dinner the next day?"
0:17:32 > 0:17:35So I lifted his shoulders up and I said,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37"Hal? Would you like liver and bacon tomorrow?"
0:17:37 > 0:17:38THEY LAUGH
0:17:38 > 0:17:41He said, "Thank you!" He said, "Is the window open?" he said,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- "Cos I'm going to throw you out in a minute!" - THEY LAUGH
0:17:48 > 0:17:50We have our tea dances twice a week,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52two ladies groups come and have their tea dances,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55you know, and they can just about make it up the stairs.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58And those that can't, we've got a little lift for them so they come up there, you know?
0:17:58 > 0:18:01And it's the highlight of their week, you know?
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Where are these people going to go if we have to close down?
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Afternoon, ladies.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09'It's a tonic for them, you know?'
0:18:09 > 0:18:13I hope you've all got extra make-up on today. Have you all got extra make-up?
0:18:13 > 0:18:17- And clean knickers.- And clean...? - Yes, just in case.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Can you make sure you keep the language down, please(!)
0:18:19 > 0:18:21- THEY LAUGH - OK.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23I lost my husband, Eileen lost hers.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26When I lost my husband, I didn't want to go to clubs.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Because I was in not a good place.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29And the lady, Eileen, that runs the club,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I met her on the bus and I decided to come
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and it was one of the best things I did.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37We've lost our community.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39My son used to live here, in East Ham,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42and he was frightened that his children
0:18:42 > 0:18:46weren't getting a good education, so he decided to move out.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49He's moved to a village called Bicknacre in Essex.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52And so, there's no-one left to look after us now.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58One of the tea dancers is missing today, Eileen, who is moving out
0:18:58 > 0:19:02of the East End following the death of her husband, Albert, five months ago.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09When you've been together like Eileen Storey had been,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11it'd been 68 years.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Married to the same man.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15And he's gone.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18And she's mostly lived in that place all that time.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- So, you know...- Well, we're going to miss her.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26I mean, we have lost an awful lot of our community and it's not right.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34This is the "Eileen and Albert Museum".
0:19:36 > 0:19:38He was a very shy person.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43But it lasted a long time, didn't it? 68 year.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- 'Do you miss him?'- Yes.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57It's been nice living here though.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01There used to be lots more of us than what there is now.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07The family downstairs is Somalian.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08She's lovely.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Sometimes, she posts letters for me.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14I put it through the window at the bottom of the stairs and
0:20:14 > 0:20:17she picks it up on her way out when she takes the little boy to school.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21They're a very kind family.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Eileen and Albert raised their family here.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29But one by one, they all left the East End.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Andy lives in Somerset,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37and David lives in Luton and Lynne of course lives in Norfolk.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45That is why I have to move, because there's nobody here belonging
0:20:45 > 0:20:46to me to keep their eye on me.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50With her health deteriorating,
0:20:50 > 0:20:5490-year-old Eileen is moving to Norfolk to be nearer her daughter.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59When I was talking to one lady called Lily up at the club,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04she's a little bit older than me, she's 91 now, I was saying something
0:21:04 > 0:21:08about moving and she said, "You don't want to go, really, do you?"
0:21:09 > 0:21:13If I let myself think about it, I don't want to go.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18LAUGHTER
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The life that we knew is finished.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24- Don't you agree?- Yeah. And that's true.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Newham has got the biggest immigrant population in this country,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30for the size of what it is.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33There's 147 languages in Newham!
0:21:34 > 0:21:35That's right.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42We've lost our community. We are foreigners in our own country now.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46When you're on a bus, I mean, Eileen and I, we're the
0:21:46 > 0:21:49only two white people on there this morning.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52We'll be the only two and it'll be chock-a-block full.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54BUS ANNOUNCER: '..to Canning Town'
0:21:54 > 0:21:55It's murder.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14The Oakmans have raised their families in these streets
0:22:14 > 0:22:16for six generations.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Sisters Amy and Leanne are both stay-at-home mums
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and do the school run together every morning.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Not really raining yet, is it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I only live six minutes from Leanne's.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31I see Leanne every day.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Every minute of the day.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35We are a really, really close family.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40This is Leanne's last week with her family before she leaves
0:22:40 > 0:22:42the East End for a new life in Rayleigh.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49When I went and visited, I was like, "Oh, yeah!" It's so different.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52It's so much cleaner, the people are so much more polite,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and they'll say "Morning". Everybody knows each other.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57It's countryside...
0:22:57 > 0:23:00So much more for them to do.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01Morning!
0:23:01 > 0:23:03'It's more English in Essex.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06'I think my boys will be mixing with their own.'
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Let's go. Are you all right, darling?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11'If I didn't have boys growing up, I wouldn't have to move.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13'But I feel I need to.'
0:23:13 > 0:23:14For a better life.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18It sort of rocked the boat a bit for me,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20when Leanne said she was moving out.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22I was thinking, "Oh, God, what am I going to do?"
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I think it's more like my best friend's going.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'And you feel safest around your own people,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31'you feel more comfortable around your own kind of people.'
0:23:31 > 0:23:35And I think the fact is that every one of the white British,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38have all moved out to Essex, so I feel the couple...
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Well, the few that are left in the Newham feel, "Why stay here?
0:23:42 > 0:23:46"All our own have moved out, so why don't we up and move out with them?"
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Primary schools are fine.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51But as your child gets older anyway,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53they start getting a mind of their own.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Even when Mad goes to secondary schools, as a mum,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59I will be behind her all the way and the minute she
0:23:59 > 0:24:02steps out of line, whether I'm here still, whether I'm in Essex,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05she will be getting put straight back on that right road.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Because that's how we've been brought up.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12And how would you feel if she came back with a boyfriend who wasn't...
0:24:12 > 0:24:13- white or...?- Um...
0:24:13 > 0:24:16NERVOUS LAUGHTER
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I wouldn't be happy. I wouldn't be happy.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Because obviously, that's just how we've been brought up.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- Been brought up to stick to your own, sort of thing.- Yeah.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29There's multicultures in every family now.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31It's just something you have to accept.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33We're all the same, we're all the same sort of people,
0:24:33 > 0:24:37it's just I don't think the girls can get their head around it.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38It ain't my choice.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42But if they come home with someone and he was really good to them,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45no matter what, as long as he's going to look after them, I don't care.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47As long as my children are going to be looked after
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and have a nice life...
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- I think it'd be what people would say about us...- Yeah, but...
0:24:52 > 0:24:55I'm not the only mum to say that they
0:24:55 > 0:24:57wouldn't want their child with a different ethnic group.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01- I mean, like, I think I'm probably one of many, really.- Yeah.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04But I just think, as a mum, you just want...
0:25:04 > 0:25:07I think it's because of how we are. It's how we've been brought up.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10It all stems from how you've been brought up.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13If it's been allowed for you to mix with different cultures,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16then you can't see any different for your children.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19We was never allowed to mix with different cultures,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22we was always told to stick with your own and that's what we've done.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24It would be hard for me,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27but it would be hard if an Indian boy brought an English girl home.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29It would be exactly the same reasons.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31I mean, you see it on EastEnders with the Masoods.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33LAUGHTER
0:25:33 > 0:25:36When... I can't think of their storyline now,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38but they did bring a white girl home and Masood was going mental.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- They have to have arranged marriages, don't they?- That's right.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45- I mean, I love an Indian, so it wouldn't bother me anyway.- The food?
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Yes, the food. But obviously, yeah, no, I wouldn't disown them.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52But I would prefer them to stick to their own.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I just think everyone keeps themself to themself now.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56- Yeah.- Or they move on.- Mmm.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Like these are thinking of doing.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Tony Cunningham became a father for the second time seven months ago,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20when he and his wife Valli welcomed daughter Charlotte.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24If Charlotte wouldn't have been born, possibly,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I could have stayed, but it was always in my heart to go.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30But now I have the baby, and I think to myself,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33there'll be a better opportunity for my daughter there.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Valli is from Romania
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and one of 70,000 new residents to make Newham their home
0:26:40 > 0:26:43in the last 15 years.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45It was somewhere in 2006.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Um, I was on the bus, the 104, so I started to run to catch it,
0:26:50 > 0:26:56it stopped, at the bus stop, it took off, and at one point,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59the driver saw me and he stopped the bus, but he stopped it quite
0:26:59 > 0:27:03far from the bus stop, it was somewhere between the bus stops.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05And it was Tony, of course.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10So, next morning, I caught the same bus by mistake, or by chance,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12I don't know what it was.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15So we started saying hello to each other, "Hello!" "Hello!"
0:27:15 > 0:27:20"Hello!" You know? And then one day, he was quite shy, I think...
0:27:20 > 0:27:22SHE LAUGHS
0:27:22 > 0:27:25So he gave me his number.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28So this is where it all started, yeah.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36I've never met any bad Eastern Europeans.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39They have the same sort of standards as I remember my nan having.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43When I've been to church before now,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46I'd say half the people there are Eastern Europeans.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48So they're filling up the churches again.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And I think they're bringing something very good to the area.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56But I don't think it's going to come quick enough for Charlotte.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02And this school is the one I used to go to.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04But it was much more old-fashioned.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Is this the sort of school that Charlotte would go to?
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Charlotte can't go to this school, no.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Charlotte can't go to these schools.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15- Why not?- Um...
0:28:15 > 0:28:19I was thinking actually about that, and I was thinking, you know,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22is this to do with colour or has it got to do with religion?
0:28:22 > 0:28:24I was sitting down and I was having a think.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I worry... I worry about her, you know...
0:28:28 > 0:28:32I don't want her to forget who she is or where I'm from,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34or her mum's from.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36I don't want her to forget these things.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39I think these schools around here will make her lose her identity.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47The schools, you know, you find a Nativity play.
0:28:47 > 0:28:48No more Nativity plays.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Christmas cards, no more Christmas cards.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Nothing like that is celebrated any more, it's sort of rubbed out, it's just a holiday.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Her face won't fit around here.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04That's what I worry about.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07You see on the news, Muslims this and Muslims that
0:29:07 > 0:29:11and that thing that happened up in Birmingham,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13I worry about things like that down here,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15because you've got the same sort of cliquey...
0:29:15 > 0:29:17There's no mixing.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Have you visited schools around here?
0:29:20 > 0:29:23I've taken a look on the outside of the schools round here and a lot
0:29:23 > 0:29:26of them are, you know, mainly Muslim children.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29Is she going to know any other way?
0:29:29 > 0:29:35Will she feel or will she think that is the only way and the right way?
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Will she have options?
0:29:37 > 0:29:41I don't care if Charlotte goes to a school and there is a mix
0:29:41 > 0:29:44and everything is on an even keel.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47And she says, "Dad, I want to do this, I want to do this, I want to do this..."
0:29:47 > 0:29:50I don't think there's choice around here.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54The schools, they terrify me around here, absolutely terrify me.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Newham has 66 primary schools
0:30:04 > 0:30:06serving nearly 40,000 children.
0:30:07 > 0:30:1020 years ago, more than half of them were white British.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15At Drew Primary in the heart of the Docklands,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17there are now just three per class.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Fond, fond memories of going to that school.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25I made some good friends there - still in touch with now -
0:30:25 > 0:30:28that have since moved out of the area.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Kelly Keyes was a student at Drew Primary 25 years ago,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36where she now sends her six-year-old daughter, Ellie.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41We sent Ellie to Drew because it was local and it was convenient,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and I knew the area as well.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47I still knew some of the staff from when I was at school.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51'I've had to make a whole new lot of friends,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53'and new contacts around here.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56'So sometimes I feel like the new one at the school gates.'
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Come on. Be careful.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01Careful. No-one run about.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:31:03 > 0:31:05'We also have a soft spot for that school.'
0:31:05 > 0:31:08I'm going to get the names of your classmates.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11'Two generations of our family's been going to that school.'
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Usman Hussain's family immigrated
0:31:15 > 0:31:18to London from Bangladesh in the 1930s.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21He's lived in the East End all of his life.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24His two daughters now attend Drew Primary.
0:31:24 > 0:31:30'I think my children are being exposed to different cultures,
0:31:30 > 0:31:31'different faiths.'
0:31:31 > 0:31:32Come on, be careful.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38'So I'm quite happy, because they will be more open-minded.'
0:31:38 > 0:31:39Be careful of the mud. Be careful of the mud.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42In saying that...
0:31:43 > 0:31:47..I have to say that the British way of life
0:31:47 > 0:31:50is something they are not experiencing...
0:31:52 > 0:31:54..because of lack of British children.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Head teacher Emma Peltier was headhunted from Australia
0:32:00 > 0:32:02to take over at Drew two years ago.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04- Good morning.- KIDS:- Good morning.
0:32:04 > 0:32:05Morning.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07'On my first day, when I stood outside,
0:32:07 > 0:32:08'not one child said hello to me.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12'I'm saying "Good morning" to parents, "Good morning" to families,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14'and they all looked at me and just kept walking.'
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Good morning.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18'The area has changed a lot.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21'If you look back 15 years ago,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24'most of the children in the school were white British.'
0:32:24 > 0:32:25Good morning.
0:32:25 > 0:32:31We're no longer living in a monocultural society.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33They're coming in from everywhere.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37We have 43 languages spoken.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40And probably at least once a week
0:32:40 > 0:32:41we have a child arrive,
0:32:41 > 0:32:43or a family arrive,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45who have no English.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47But really, really quickly
0:32:47 > 0:32:49the children pick up the language.
0:32:52 > 0:32:53THEY PLAY WINTER WONDERLAND
0:32:53 > 0:32:58Schools and children can be a fantastic way of
0:32:58 > 0:33:02people assimilating into a society, because children don't see colour,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04children don't see religion.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10'Children don't see all of those things that adults may see.
0:33:10 > 0:33:11' "I'm three, and actually I like you
0:33:11 > 0:33:14' "because you like playing with trucks."
0:33:14 > 0:33:18'If we're leaving all of that to happen at home, then actually'
0:33:18 > 0:33:21there's nowhere that's bringing all of these communities together.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25And I think that this school can bring all these people together.
0:33:30 > 0:33:31'This is West Ham.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36'Soot from the factories.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39'Soot from the funnels of liners in the dock.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42'And in the midst of it all, a boy.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44'He goes to Drew Road School,
0:33:44 > 0:33:46'and this is the top class.'
0:33:47 > 0:33:51Drew was once at the epicentre of the industrial East End
0:33:51 > 0:33:54and the white working class communities that thrived here.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56'The school stands on the brink of the dock,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58'where Harry's father works.'
0:34:02 > 0:34:04My parents worked locally.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08My mum worked in Tate & Lyle, in the sugar factory
0:34:08 > 0:34:11and my dad worked in Charrington, the brewers.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14It was a very close-knit community.
0:34:18 > 0:34:19You see in Drew School,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21if you see the school picture,
0:34:21 > 0:34:26it was 98% white, English children.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Now, you look at the latest picture...
0:34:30 > 0:34:34.."Oh, my God, is that Drew School a school
0:34:34 > 0:34:36"from Africa or Romania?"
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Might sound racist - believe me, I'm not racist,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41but it's just how it feels now.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Being a cockney means the type of jokes we crack,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51the sense of humour we have.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Some people may find it offensive or racist.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Another thing is go to the pub and drink, but I don't drink.
0:35:00 > 0:35:01That's another big part.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06Another part is supporting West Ham, our local club.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Usman is a fifth-generation East Ender.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15His family moved to Newham when he was 13 years old.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21It was predominantly white people.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24I think us, the Khans and the Kolas -
0:35:24 > 0:35:26three Asian families.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Initially, should I say,
0:35:30 > 0:35:32we faced a little bit of racism in this area.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41We could not wear our traditional clothing
0:35:41 > 0:35:47in fear of being picked on or in fear of being looked down upon
0:35:47 > 0:35:49or racial remarks.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52They're over here and you can't do nothing about it anyway, can you?
0:35:54 > 0:35:56"Oi, Paki,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59"go back to your country. Urgh, you smell of curry."
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Although they themselves love to eat curry.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05So we could not go out.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07We suffered so much racial abuse.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13But those very same people in the end have become my friends,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16because, in my heart, I'm an East End boy,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19they are East End boys as well,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22my taste is the same as theirs.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25My favourite band, Oasis,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27was the same as theirs.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I'm crazy about football, they're crazy about football.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33So those people that gave us racial abuse in the end accepted me
0:36:33 > 0:36:36and became my good friends, hence I'm not naming them.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Yeah, my friends have moved out and...
0:36:44 > 0:36:46..I do miss them.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Instead of just migrating to Essex,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53why don't you stay here, fight for it?
0:36:54 > 0:36:58But they just throw the toys out the pram and say,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02"Nah, this area's been taken over by Asians and Africans.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04"Oh, we're leaving."
0:37:04 > 0:37:05THEY CHATTER AND HOLLER
0:37:05 > 0:37:08I miss those days, to be perfectly honest,
0:37:08 > 0:37:13where everyone knew everyone and everyone's business was everyone.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Such a tight-knit community,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18this has been disturbed.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21A way of life has been disturbed.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32At the Working Men's Club,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35the younger members left in Newham are fighting to keep
0:37:35 > 0:37:38some of their East End traditions alive.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44A lot of my friends have moved out now to Essex.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45There's not many of us left round here,
0:37:45 > 0:37:47but there's still a few
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and everyone still comes for a drink down here,
0:37:49 > 0:37:50this is where you see everyone.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Everyone comes for a drink maybe on a Saturday,
0:37:52 > 0:37:54or if they've got an event on, we all meet up
0:37:54 > 0:37:55and we come down here for a drink.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58- It's the only time we get everyone together now, innit?- Yeah.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Our mums and dads used to come here, so we've all grown up together
0:38:03 > 0:38:05and just followed suit, really, haven't we?
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It's nice to see everyone. You know every single person.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Yeah, it's always here. I think this is literally the last place.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16They take this away, then they're taking apart the community, really.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19- Yeah, definitely.- It'd be a shame.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23I started boxing when I was five years old.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25My dad got me into that, actually.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29My dad went into prison,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32so my mum had it hard with five kids in the house.
0:38:34 > 0:38:3729-year-old Darren Loveday grew up boxing in Newham
0:38:37 > 0:38:39and won national junior champion at just 12.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Darren has moved out of the East End to Rainham in Essex,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49but returns to his roots to fight for the Working Men's team.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55I come back here every two weeks and I'm on the phone to my missus,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57"I hate this fucking area."
0:38:57 > 0:38:58I really do.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01There's too much crime going on around here
0:39:01 > 0:39:03and I'm so glad to be away from it all.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09I was studying... electrician in college.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13I remember walking out of college and I heard,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16"White boy, drop your phone and walk off."
0:39:18 > 0:39:21No disrespect - I was probably the only white kid in that college.
0:39:21 > 0:39:22SHE SHOUTS ENCOURAGEMENT
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Well, they didn't know I done boxing.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27I threw a 20-punch combination on all three of them
0:39:27 > 0:39:29and they all went down.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32They said they were going to do me for racism.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I'm white.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37They said it's a racist attack.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39I went, "That's bullshit."
0:39:39 > 0:39:41My nan and my mum are Indian
0:39:41 > 0:39:43and I don't think I'm racist.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47But I'm not having no little fucker telling me,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49"White boy, drop your phone."
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Essex feels more like home.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56I've been to Hornchurch, Upminster and now I'm in Rainham.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59I've been all over Essex and it's a better place.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Tony is hoping to find his Eldorado in Essex
0:40:06 > 0:40:11and the place he's been searching for to raise his daughter, Charlotte.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Probably the first thing I think about when I get up
0:40:14 > 0:40:18is, "How am I going to get her out of this area
0:40:18 > 0:40:20"and a life outside this area?"
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Probably we're going to be strangers in another area
0:40:27 > 0:40:30and people are probably going to look at us a little bit funny.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36I just need her in an area with people that I knew
0:40:36 > 0:40:37when I was growing up.
0:40:39 > 0:40:40I'd feel safe then.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48It's like a maisonette, so it's ground-floor...
0:40:48 > 0:40:49Today, Tony and wife Vally
0:40:49 > 0:40:53are flat-hunting on the outskirts of Hornchurch,
0:40:53 > 0:40:54near where his son Jack lives.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01You've got your second bedroom through here.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06So it's all nicely decorated, so you haven't got to do too much in there.
0:41:09 > 0:41:10It's nice.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16- Then you've got your master bedroom in here.- This is lovely.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19The toys were left out over there - I used to see that years ago
0:41:19 > 0:41:21and people just don't touch 'em. You just don't.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23There's a lot of people moving over this way
0:41:23 > 0:41:25because of the nice area, demographics are really...
0:41:25 > 0:41:28We're running, mate, running, not moving!
0:41:28 > 0:41:31A lot of people are saying the same sort of thinking, you know?
0:41:31 > 0:41:33It's for her school and it's for a new start.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35Exactly, and there's good schools round here.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37I know, my son just goes to school in Hornchurch,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41so I know bits and pieces about the area. This is lovely in itself.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44It reminds me of blocks from before.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47This is how it used to be in East London, exactly the same,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50set out as it is outside, everything.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52I remember it, it's like going back in time.
0:41:52 > 0:41:53But, um...
0:41:54 > 0:41:57..we can't deal with it no more. I can't deal with it no more.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Perhaps I'm getting a little bit older, but I can't...
0:41:59 > 0:42:02There's certain parts of my area where I don't go.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04- Yeah, it's not good, is it? - No, it's not good.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07- Especially when you've got a young family.- And now I've got a daughter,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10to be honest with you,
0:42:10 > 0:42:11she wouldn't be going anywhere.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14She can't grow up where we're from.
0:42:14 > 0:42:15This, for me, is ideal.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Even if I don't like everything myself,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19I'm not doing it for me any more,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22cos I could still carry on probably living there,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24- but with her, it can't happen.- No.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26So, essentially, you want to...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29- This is ideal.- ..roll back time and go to where you kind of was before?
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Perhaps, yeah, I think that's what I might be doing, mate.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35It warmed my heart, if I'm honest with you.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39I feel nice and comfortable, look.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42Believe it or not, I feel very good as well.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45I like it here. I'll come nicely here for a cup of coffee,
0:42:45 > 0:42:47just look at the people.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51- I like it.- Yeah, quick, Jack can just find you.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53His school is just not far from here, is it?
0:42:53 > 0:42:55No, 15 minutes at the most.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58But if it's 20 minutes, it might be a really nice walk.
0:42:58 > 0:42:59I like it.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01- It's very, very nice.- Perfect.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25It's hitting home more now, it's seeming more real
0:43:25 > 0:43:29now I'm putting all my last bits and pieces in.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31It's, like, two days and that's it.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35It's seeming more sad and, at the same time,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39stressed, obviously, cos I'm thinking of everything to do.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45It's the area I grew up, it's my roots. I've lived here all my life.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48It's memories, as well, of everything.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Obviously, all my family's here,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53so...I'll probably feel a bit...
0:43:54 > 0:43:57..um, lost, in a sense,
0:43:57 > 0:43:58cos they're like my mates.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05When she goes, it's going to be really hard for me and I think...
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Yeah, it's going to be hard.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12It will be hard.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I rang Amy and I was saying to Amy, "You've got to do something."
0:44:27 > 0:44:28SHE EXHALES HEAVILY
0:44:28 > 0:44:30But no.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34No-one can persuade her, she's made her mind up, so...
0:44:36 > 0:44:39I don't know, she ain't having none of it.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42And I am gutted, of course I am.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43But she's got to do it now,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47because I'm just making myself ill over it, to be honest with you.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50I'm making myself really not well over her.
0:44:50 > 0:44:51Morning, hiya.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Can I have a refill, please? You just need a...
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- I just need another ped. - And toenails.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01This is cos it's the first time I've proper spoke about it.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09It will feel really mad, just being two.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Innit? We're always together, ain't we?
0:45:12 > 0:45:14- BEAUTICIAN:- Mum and daughter, always together.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16- Yeah.- Same as our hair, when we have our hair done.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18We've got our own hairdresser
0:45:18 > 0:45:20and she comes in and she does the three of us.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24- Everything we do is like that, innit?- It's always done as three.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28She's still going to come back for her nails, though,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30- ain't you, Leanne?- Yeah. - I reckon she will...
0:45:30 > 0:45:32- THEY SING:- # There's no place like home. #
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I never dreamed in my whole life that my girls would move, ever,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40and leave the East End. Never would I.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Don't get me wrong, it has changed a lot,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47but it ain't as bad as what people make it out to be,
0:45:47 > 0:45:51I don't think, and now they're making me feel unsettled.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53"Why are you staying, Mum? Why do you want to stay?"
0:45:53 > 0:45:56People go to me, "You ain't still living round there, are you?"
0:45:56 > 0:45:58I'm like, "Round where? Like what?"
0:46:00 > 0:46:03I just don't think you can beat your roots you come from, to be honest.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08DISTANT SIREN WAILS
0:46:21 > 0:46:25There is one place left that still feels like home for Tony
0:46:25 > 0:46:28and it's here he's gathered family and friends
0:46:28 > 0:46:29for Charlotte's christening,
0:46:29 > 0:46:32a week before he will leave the East End behind.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36CHURCH ORGAN PLAYS
0:46:39 > 0:46:42THEY SING A HYMN
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I feel at peace when I'm in here.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53A lot of it connects me to the past and how people were.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57You can go into a church...
0:46:58 > 0:47:01..and there's, like, 60 or 70 people that are friendly.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05You will not get that any more.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07That church, that is the last.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10You go to most areas, people don't care any more.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14You walk down East Ham high street and people just do not care.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18At least you're in there with people that do care.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20- VICAR:- Charlotte,
0:47:20 > 0:47:21Christ claims you for his own...
0:47:23 > 0:47:25..and lead you in the light and obedience of Christ.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29'Which is why it's important for Charlotte to, you know...'
0:47:32 > 0:47:34..for her to be christened.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Now, darling, I'm going to just put some water over your head.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41'And she's part of something now.'
0:47:41 > 0:47:44..that within the company of Christ's pilgrim people
0:47:44 > 0:47:47you may daily be renewed by his anointing Spirit.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48- ALL:- Amen.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Well done, Charlotte, you were perfect.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06HE LEADS PRAYER IN ARABIC
0:48:12 > 0:48:15When I was young, I lived a double life,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17to be perfectly honest with you.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20One with the family and the relatives
0:48:20 > 0:48:22and one with the English friends that I had.
0:48:24 > 0:48:25It was a dual life I was living.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31Sometimes it did get tiring but, as I grew up,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34I learned to appreciate my Asian heritage
0:48:34 > 0:48:36as well as my British heritage.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Now, I'm proud of both.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42Usman grew up in Newham
0:48:42 > 0:48:46and is the only one of his peer group to still live there.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48He has recently started a prayer group
0:48:48 > 0:48:51for the burgeoning Muslim community in his area.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53HE RECITES PRAYER IN ARABIC
0:48:55 > 0:48:56If I had to go to a mosque,
0:48:56 > 0:48:58I had to take two trains
0:48:58 > 0:49:01or three buses to get to a mosque.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06But now, with the influx of migrants in this area,
0:49:06 > 0:49:11there are quite a few people from my religious background
0:49:11 > 0:49:13and we do arrange a Friday prayer service.
0:49:13 > 0:49:19Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'm going to see this day.
0:49:19 > 0:49:20'So there are positives.'
0:49:21 > 0:49:23Brothers, please fill in the gaps.
0:49:23 > 0:49:29'But since 2004, the whole of Europe want a piece of England,
0:49:29 > 0:49:32'just everything all of a sudden in my area is changing,
0:49:32 > 0:49:38'from being a small community where not many cultures clashed,'
0:49:38 > 0:49:43to hundreds of cultures clashing all at the same time.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Initially, it was really difficult,
0:49:45 > 0:49:47but now I'm getting used to it.
0:49:47 > 0:49:48'I have to.'
0:49:48 > 0:49:55We are trying our very best to arrange Arabic classes for children,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58so, inshallah, we will need some support...
0:49:58 > 0:50:02'Because of those minorities, it's reared its ugly head.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06'Regrettably, in Paris, in Madrid,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09'or our beloved city, London,
0:50:09 > 0:50:12'it can be really, really tough being a Muslim right now.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14'The other day, I went to the chemist'
0:50:14 > 0:50:18and the English gentleman was speaking about something,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20as soon as I walked in...
0:50:20 > 0:50:21Oh...
0:50:21 > 0:50:22they stopped.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26The pharmacist is a very good friend of mine.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29I said, "What was that gentleman saying?" He said, "No, nothing."
0:50:29 > 0:50:32I said, "No, be honest. What was he saying?"
0:50:32 > 0:50:35He said, "No, he was talking about Isis and how evil they were."
0:50:35 > 0:50:38I said, "Why could he not carry on in front of me?"
0:50:38 > 0:50:42I would have been the one who would have encouraged him more.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46I would have been the one who was saying more against the Isis
0:50:46 > 0:50:49because I hate them - I don't consider them Muslims.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52'It does hurt sometimes when people say,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55'because you are a Muslim, you are not British.
0:50:55 > 0:50:56'How can I not be British?
0:50:56 > 0:50:59'Fifth generation British, mate.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04'It does get difficult sometimes. It really hurts.'
0:51:04 > 0:51:07That's when I think, if my childhood friends were around,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11right now would have been ideal.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14They would have vouched,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17"He's more British than us.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21"He's...much, much more British than us.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25"He's much more proud of being an East Ender than us."
0:51:25 > 0:51:26I'm still here - they're not.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28I'm a proud East Ender.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51Today, Leanne will begin her new life in Essex...
0:51:52 > 0:51:55..marking the end of an era for the Oakham family.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59I've got to try and get round there,
0:51:59 > 0:52:01but I don't know how I'm going to be...
0:52:01 > 0:52:03That's my thing - I don't do goodbyes.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Even though I know she's only going...
0:52:05 > 0:52:07She ain't going to the other side of the world or whatever -
0:52:07 > 0:52:11she's only going to Rayleigh - but... I know that's final then.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Yeah, I could never imagine leaving or moving, or...
0:52:23 > 0:52:24Never.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28I'd always thought I'd live here all my life, but...
0:52:28 > 0:52:30As you get older and you see things different,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32and things change,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34you need to put your priorities first
0:52:34 > 0:52:36and that's the boys, really.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41Oh, don't!
0:52:41 > 0:52:44You can't get me started on them.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50- SOBBING:- No, I'm going to miss them dearly - big time.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Yeah.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59I think, as a nan, you want to be there for them all the time.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02And you want them to know who you are and you want to whatever...
0:53:02 > 0:53:04with them, but...
0:53:04 > 0:53:06Yeah, I'm going to be gutted, big time,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08for not seeing them as much as I do now.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15I want to feel like I'm living in England and belong there,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18really, again, to be honest.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23Back to the old East London, how it used to be.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Being there with your own people and fitting in again.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32It feels like she's passed away. It feels really bad.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Like, I go to bed thinking about it, I wake up thinking about it.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38We've always lived in Newham, so...
0:53:38 > 0:53:41None of us have ever, ever thought about moving out
0:53:41 > 0:53:43because we all live in a fishbowl, really.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Now we're losing a close, close member of the family,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49straight away that's put a guard up to me thinking,
0:53:49 > 0:53:51"Well, I need to go.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53"I've got to move."
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Then, if I move, I know my mum will follow.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57If my mum follows, I know my nan will follow.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00So then you've lost a big generation,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03a family generation, in Newham.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07So that's another family up and gone to Essex.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10CHATTER
0:54:23 > 0:54:26To pack a lot of bits and pieces still.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29'I have always been all right round here.'
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Then you see something happen on the street and you just say,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34"Yeah, you are making the right move."
0:54:34 > 0:54:36Erm...
0:54:36 > 0:54:38INDISTINCT SPEECH
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Tony and Vally are closing the door on the East End
0:54:41 > 0:54:44to make their new home in Hornchurch.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47When we was down there today, believe it or not,
0:54:47 > 0:54:48we took some stuff there,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52there was an old boy, he come over and introduced himself.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54My sort of person, you know.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57There was a couple of people that...
0:54:57 > 0:55:00come up and said hello, and told us a bit about the area.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04But then there's a few people that also give us that look, you know...
0:55:04 > 0:55:06of outsiders moving in.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08So...
0:55:08 > 0:55:11I'm all right. I'm all right with that sort of thing
0:55:11 > 0:55:12cos I've seen it before.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18But they'll get to know us. They'll warm to us.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30I...
0:55:30 > 0:55:32After the next race, you can have...!
0:55:33 > 0:55:36'I just don't think you can beat your roots you come from,
0:55:36 > 0:55:37'to be honest.'
0:55:37 > 0:55:39The East End, you would never get better
0:55:39 > 0:55:41than the East End, I don't think.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45'I just think the East End is still here.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47'If you want to look for it, it's still there.'
0:55:48 > 0:55:51'Eventually things will change, but it'll be too late then.
0:55:51 > 0:55:52'It'll be too late.'
0:55:52 > 0:55:55I think it's... I don't know, perhaps I'm kidding myself.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Perhaps it's too late already. Perhaps it's all gone now anyway.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03Perhaps the good old East End has gone after all that, you know.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Perhaps I'm living in the past. Perhaps it's me.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07HE LAUGHS
0:56:10 > 0:56:13'Time's moving on now, so everyone's moving out,'
0:56:13 > 0:56:14everyone else is moving in.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16We've got the foreigners coming in here
0:56:16 > 0:56:20and they're not taking over - we're letting them.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24'It's like no-one never stood their ground, did they?'
0:56:24 > 0:56:26- Bye.- You will be fine.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29Bye.
0:56:29 > 0:56:30Oh.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32Oh, you're a lovely boy.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36I'm going to write you a letter when I get to my new house.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38Been here a long time.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41Yeah.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I hope my next neighbours are as nice as you are.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Yeah, bye.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51'In ten years' time, maybe not even that,
0:56:51 > 0:56:58'there will be absolutely no trace of cockney culture,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00'no trace of British culture,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02'I can assure you, in ten years' time.
0:57:02 > 0:57:03'Not even that, maybe.'
0:57:05 > 0:57:11Everything this area stood for is being eradicated, slowly but surely.