​The purpose of Aldgate in Conversation was to record conversations of people about life in the city. They could talk with with one of our interviewers or someone they know.  Friends might reminisce, a grandson may interview his grandfather or a daughter her mother, or a neighbour may share stories and memories with neighbour. They found out how your parents met, what their grandparents did in the war and so much more. They simply booked a time, and then came with the person they wanted to converse with at the allocated time.  Facilitators were on hand to help them through the interview process .  

The Interviews

Dan Cruikshank

Art Historian, writer, BBC television presenter, conservationist and Spitalfields resident talks to Dino Jacovides for Aldgate In Conversation, about the history of the area, and his activism to protect the architecture of Spitalfields, Whitechapel and Aldgate.
​ More about Dan Cruikshank click Here

Laurie, Manny and Den

Laurie, Manny and Den, 'The boys' as we've come to know them have seen big changes in their lives, Manny is 100 this year (2017) and Den 87, and yet, as they testify in this afternoon chat outside Kossoff  Bagel shop on Middlesex Street, many things are the same. "We still have the characters" Manny tells us; as the old one's die off there's others it seems take their place. And it's true, they tell the stories of the characters they knew as boys and young men, and have themselves become the characters of today. This is a delightful, funny, touching and nostalgic journey tint the past 100 years of the East End. As they talk life goes on around them, people pass and exchange greetings. But certain things are disappearing and we are beholden to record them. A week after this recording, Kossoffs which has been here here for over a century closed for the last time. Knowing that, it's especially poignant watching the woman in the background clearing up the cafe at the end of the day.

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