Radical Women: Sylvia Pankhurst, the Match Strike girls and many more

This walk shows you where Sylvia Pankhurst and her East London Federation of Suffragettes fought for Votes for Women from 1912 to 1914. You see the police stations where Sylvia and her women often ended up; the places where rousing speeches were delivered; where supporters thwarted the police; where women were beaten up. You also see where, during the Great War, Sylvia ran a nursery, toy factory and restaurant for the poor. There’s also a memorial to a local councillor who fought for a fairer rates system. We show you the hall and nursery ran by philanthropists who helped the poor and brought a very famous politician to visit and stay with them here in Bow. And there’s the infamous Bryant and May matchbox factory, still here today, where its employees, with the help of reformer Annie Besant, fought for better conditions. There’s also a fascinating story about why Gladstone’s statue has red hands. And we see what must be the greatest mural in London.