A new book charting the movement of East Enders to Havering and parts of Essex has been published.

A 1960s East End Childhood looks at how population pressures, employment opportunities and immigration caused the movement of many East End residents into places like Romford and Hornchurch.

Author Simon Webb, 58, said that he was inspired to write the book when comparing childhood in the 1960s to today.

He said: “A lot of people writing about the East End point out the good things and don’t point out the bad things like people dying young and having poor housing conditions.

“I really wanted to balance it out about what people write about the East End in the sixties. The main premise is that life in the 1960s was not really better than it is now. A lot of people say that children were given more freedom but people forget about how dangerous it was for children.”

The book also shows what children did for entertainment.

Relatives

Mr Webb said most of his information came from talking to people about their experiences of moving to Essex, especially friends and relatives who now live in places like Romford.

The author, who lives in Loughton, is working on two books – one about post-war school life and another about teenagers’ experiences in the 1970s.

He said: “I used to work with children so I am always interested with things to do with childhood.”

The book, published by The History Press, is priced �7.99.