Ilford Photos 1978-2020

To announce the forthcoming Series 2 of Ilford Retro, we proudly present an anthology of Series 1, as a slideshow of every scene. The book is also available and we would like to notify you that Amazon will be increasing its prices on all its self-published books from 20th June, so do order soon if you wish to at the current price. We look forward to restarting weekly uploads and reminiscing with you again...

[@prajvalrao4871]

Everything looked cleaner back then.

[@IlfordRetro]

The streets of yesteryear do always seem neat and tidy don't they

[@Newengland1966]

I lived there in 1974 was great growing up in the 70s when the elderly say the famous words the good old days now im 57 i understand what they ment i wish i could go back to those lovely days.

[@IlfordRetro]

It was a great time indeed, and as each year passes, looking back becomes evermore nostalgic

[@julianjimenez5038]

Wow, seeing the Odeon there at Gants Hill roundabout brought back memories, with the Valentine pub also being knocked down just to the right of the photo taken.

[@IlfordRetro]

It's a bit of a shock to look back at the old photos and compare them to today's development isn't it. The pub and cinema were hubs of the community, and while housing is today's highest priority there aren't the same places to form that broad community cohesion like there was at Gants Hill.

[@storm3698]

Brilliant. Miss the old days of ilford which were magical especially at Xmas. 🎉

[@IlfordRetro]

They certainly were..............

[@rajnirvan3336]

Xmas in 1980s was my favourite time. Especially when my now late grandmother would take me to Woolworths for toys

[@Synchrodipity]

I grew up near Ilford in the 1970s and still remember it before the town planners arrived. Yes, the shoppers spilled out into the traffic laden streets, and yes there was nowhere for anyone to park -- but it had character and was somewhere people wanted to go. Nowadays, whenever I go there I feel like I've visited a lost cause -- it's just declined so much; people just seem depressed.

[@IlfordRetro]

Hopefully, as things move in cycles, things will look up in the near future!

[@shakeenjatt4824]

this rely took my back to my childhood the seven kings swimming poool

[@IlfordRetro]

glad to hear that it brought back some good memories!

[@junehoward6668]

brought back some good memories.

[@IlfordRetro]

it's great to have you along June

[@peterwalton1502]

Ilford was a nice place. The area has changed for the worst in the last 20 years

[@ryandoherty6174]

Loved Ilford 80/90s! Nan worked in Bodgers. Had Wimpys on a Saturday if I didn't play up😅 Remember the opening of The Exchange, very exciting at the time.

[@IlfordRetro]

Was so good to get a treat at a fast food place on a Saturday afternoon, wasn't it... Ilford was heaving in those days and you're right that the opening of The Exchange was something magical at the time. Incredible how small it is compared to today's behemoths like Westfield.

[@ryandoherty6174]

@IlfordRetro Yes indeed! After being marched around every shop in Ilford, the last one being Bejams, I'd then know it was Wimpy time and home! Nights out were decent too. The Island, 5th Avenue and Stop outs. I was too young for Room at the top!

[@IlfordRetro]

@@ryandoherty6174a perfect Saturday from morning till night (although perhaps not all at the same age!) As kids we always used to ask for Ice Magic on the Bejam trips, used to love that stuff on ice cream....

[@MrSavvynet]

So glad you are back! Ilford will always be my spiritual home. Thanks for posting

[@IlfordRetro]

Thank you MrSavvynet, may that spirit live long!

[@cafsixtieslover]

I used to have a Saturday job at Bodgers and got a lot of my clothes at C&A. Ilford Town Centre is awful now.

[@IlfordRetro]

It's great that you were part of the town's story when you worked at Bodgers and shopped locally. With the advent of places like Westfield and before that, Lakeside and Bluewater, town centres are not the draw they once were. Popular stores like C&A and Bodgers, Wests and Harrison Gibson really are a thing of the past.

[@jeannier9]

Just amazing matching work - and such memories !

[@IlfordRetro]

Thank you J Ross

[@anthonyp6810]

Basically summed up my child hood. Would have loved to seen old king George hospital as dad used to work there. This is home and many more years to come

[@IlfordRetro]

We wish we had a pic of the old hospital to do a comparison but we have we've not come across it yet. If we do, then it will certainly be an episode. Great to hear your memories of growing up in Ilford.

[@anthonycliftonjones2564]

I grew up in nearby Gantshill and Ilford was a mile walk through the fabulous Valentine's Park. Slowly but surely the demographic changed. The first signs of discord happened in the late 90s when Muslims started to bait the Jews and Christians in Ilford town centre, even going so far as threatening the Jewish community with bomb threats at Beehive Lane Synagogue in Gantshill.

[@IlfordRetro]

It is sad for humanity when anyone threatens anyone else, no matter what race, religion or belief they are or have.

[@YasinBusEnthuiast2024]

Good memories, how ilford has changed a lot and new things I wished born early 😂

[@IlfordRetro]

Well hopefully we can make the past a reality for you in the present Yasin 🙂

[@MJ-bb8op]

Crazy the amount of rows of houses that had been knocked down. Great series, really wished there was something like this for Leyton

[@IlfordRetro]

You're right about that, lots were affected and moved on during a period that seemed to drag on and on. Thanks for supporting the channel and commenting, we often wish we'd taken many more photos around east London than we did.

[@MJ-bb8op]

@@IlfordRetro my aunty lived in goodmayes and another still lives in gants hill up the road so I'm familiar with Ilford mostly. Love the format. Great job. Do you have plans for similar stuff?

[@IlfordRetro]

@@MJ-bb8op great to hear you have some local connections, and thanks for stopping by this channel. Yes, in fact we've been thinking about featuring some other areas perhaps some time after this series, because there are so many places which have an interesting history, some of which we've captured before changes. Ideas still in their infancy but shots from beyond Redbridge may well feature in the future.....

[@MJ-bb8op]

@@IlfordRetro Oh yes plus originally I was born in Leytonstone and and raised in Leyton, I remember before the M11 link road and all the protest about it although I was only 10 or so at the time, That is brilliant, where are you thinking of exploring next? I'll be keep an eye out, love seeing shops and stores I remember from my childhood.

[@IlfordRetro]

@@MJ-bb8op I remember the furore around the M11 link road too, it was big news at the time... To avoid copyright claims we use our own photos for each episode and hence we are a bit limited to what we have taken over time. Our 70s and 80s photos are heavily llford-based but like some of the Romford and Stratford area ones we've featured in Series 2, we are seeing whether some of our pics of other parts of London are worthy of inclusion in the future. Thanks for watching this space as they say!

[@rajnirvan3336]

My 1st visit to Ilford was around late 1981 or early 1982 when my grandparents moved to Sunnyside Road from Manor Park. My parents and I moved in late 1983 to Goodmayes from Manor Park too as it was a great move too. 7:07 was saddest day in history of Ilford when in January 1983 when Woolworths disappeared until 18 years later. My now late grandmother brought me my toys from there when I was a child. Other than that I'll cherish the memories of Ilford as were the happiest days of my childhood until September 1985. I got emotional when had to leave school to go South London (was a culture shock too) although always came back to visit family and friends on some weekends and school holidays.

[@IlfordRetro]

Funny how toys from childhood and where they came from always stick in the mind. It was also strange that Woolworths closed when it did in 1983, even though it was still a very popular store. Some great memories you have of the town.

[@rajnirvan3336]

@@IlfordRetro exactly. Should never have shut down. Every High Street Woolworths was a gem. It should have moved to new premises after. Was surprised when The Exchange opened and didn't have one until departure of C&A. I remember when visiting had to either go Romford or East Ham for Woolworths. Even the locals said was a mistake closed down

[@IlfordRetro]

@@rajnirvan3336 couldn't agree with you more. Was a bit of a trek to either East Ham or Romford, strange it took so long for it to return.

[@ianleach752]

Thanks for the post

[@IlfordRetro]

You're welcome Ian

[@safiae6875]

Great video really enjoyed watching this! lovely to see how different Ilford looked back then :)

[@IlfordRetro]

Thank you Safia E 🙂

[@jacqueline3297]

So many memories

[@alfa3485]

Great to have you back, Ilford Retro. Look forward to your posts.

[@IlfordRetro]

Thank you for always joining us Alfa

[@Un-Woke]

Lived in Green Street for a while a few years back and it didn’t feel like part of London. Moved back to Scotland. So sad.

[@ninaromm5491]

1970 - 4 Billion less people on the planet... Makes a difference to cities

[@IlfordRetro]

Definitely, as more of the global population lives in cities than in rural areas these days.

[@IlfordRetro]

Definitely, as more of the global population lives in cities than in rural areas these days.

[@johneaton25]

Well this part of Londonstane certainly doesn’t look like this anymore 🤔 RIP

[@SA-yb7mt]

So nice to have you back with new images of the past. This comeback video is brilliant! Thanks!

[@IlfordRetro]

Really nice to hear that, it means a lot. We're really pleased you like the video and hope there are plenty more memories that are nudged by the new series.

[@rockerSAL]

Nice to see The Golden Curry on left next to Ladbrookes (4.03) with my banner 'Rocker Sal' and what it looked like way back....wonderful video!

[@IlfordRetro]

Thanks for your comment @rockerSAL We recall you doing appearances at Golden Curry - do they still happen? Great to know you're still about

[@rockerSAL]

Indeed i do! I'm on Facebook 'Sal Bashir' and of course my own You Tube channel 'Rocker Sal' Im back at Golden Curry on 23 April!@@IlfordRetro

[@davidmoore2308]

I Remember when you could park in some of these roads for free and not get a ticket.

[@evanslater4551]

Such a shame at what Ilford has become now

[@joshuaparkinson6331]

Amazing video. Thankssssss :)

[@IlfordRetro]

You're very welcome, thanks for watching!

[@SsickMusic]

Welcome back Rod Forliter!!

[@IlfordRetro]

Thank you, it's great to be back!

[@anandradia2811]

From what it was to what it is. Sad state of affairs. And now we're about to lose Marks & Spencers at the end of June and Sainsbury's is about to go too. Ripping this place apart, bit by bit. The place is now full of casinos or betting shops. Well done Redbridge council.

[@IlfordRetro]

It's a difficult one to level at just the council, although they naturally have a part to play in managing who the town is for. When the industries of years gone by closed or moved to other parts of the country (eg Ilford Photo, Plessey, Howards Chemical works) there was no concerted effort by the authorities to attract new ones - and the skilled workforces - to fill the voids. It is a shame as you point out, but the council has little say in the commercial decisions of private retailers who wish to pull out of the town. (Foruntately?) the Sainsbury's site is being demolished and rebuilt by Sainsbury's itself (including the decision to make a smaller store in the new estate complex) so there will still be a supermarket in the same location.

[@ZowieBBowie]

Only park remains unchanged.

[@ianmoore4587]

Happy days but in my opinion, for what’s it’s worth, it would have worked better as ‘Then & Now’ rather than ‘Now & Then. Just saying 😊

[@IlfordRetro]

That would have been in line with the trend when doing a retrospective, especially considering many of the book titles in the field. The channel dwells more upon the reminiscing aspect of each scene (the 'then'), hence leading me to move from new to old. Those images sit marginally longer than their new equivalents too. But I understand what you mean, as others tends to do what you've described.

[@amankataria1997]

Anything on the Ilford Grand Hotel in Ilford?

[@IlfordRetro]

It's an interesting looking building and we're wondering whether the photo we have of that part of the street is good enough to do a comparison with.

[@robertjsmith]

Awful buildings,the only nice bit is the NatWest bank building.the cars are great.

[@IlfordRetro]

The Natwest bank building is definitely a jewel in the crown of the town centre, along with the Town Hall.

[@soylentgreennewdealtimeshare]

Believe it or not, before Communism completed the task, Ilford was correctly known to be Ilford, Essex. Made Mayors have been so successful in their assigned mission, that they've managed to misname most of beautiful Essex as 'London'. They then made sure that beautiful London was no more. Beautiful Essex will soon be completely disappeared too. In the meantime, until everyone is again ordered to play their part in planned mass panic and turn their homes into Supermax prison cells that need no lock, everyone is perfectly free to pay their extortion money to travel in their car subscription and go on a delightfully traditional outing to the Essex forest, whereupon they can pay Communist Trusts their extortion money to park. Progress. While we're all in such a nostalgic mood, some may remember our forefathers saying to each other, "It's a free country." Believe it or not, they believed it.

[@Thereishope664]

The social fabric of Ilford has been destroyed to build evermore ugly blocks of flats. It will eventually bite you back. Wouldn't go near it nowadays.

[@IlfordRetro]

Whether they have been built with better facilities for social cohesion than those from the post-war era I don't know, but the effect (good or bad) of high rise across London will be felt in the generations to come. Just as important is the feeling that new block dwellers are as much a part of the community as historical terraced house inhabitants. Are the community hubs - in the face of persistent retail closures - being provided? We hope they are, locally and nationally.

[@user-bm4lr9xn1g]

I worked there in 2007 an it was shite

[@Marvin-dg8vj]

I lived there in the mid 1990s . Apart from Valentine Park it was a dump