In our From the Collections series, a member of our team selects items from our archives and shares why they are drawn to them. Will Roberts, our Digital Engagement Officer, shares his love for some mysterious found photos and reveals how, with the help of social media, some answers were finally uncovered.

There are so many treasures within our Special Collections that it’s hard to pull out a favourite, but recently I was made aware of a set of photographs that really left an impression on me.

A few months back, we needed an image for our website relating to Brick Lane, East London. So, I did what I always do and spoke with Stef Dickers, our all-knowing Special Collections and Archives Manager. Stef produced a perfect set of photos for my needs; photos that came with their own story of discovery – if not of the images themselves. Stef had come across negatives of these images on a stall in Spitalfields market, which he bought for £5 unaware of what they depicted. Once they were developed, they were revealed to be an incredible time capsule.

We had no information about these pictures, such as who the photographer was, when they were taken, or who the people photographed were. As you can see from the gallery below, though, the images are a fascinating slice of life from that time. They show the bustling markets of Brick Lane, full of life and detail. Each image tells a story, and behind each of them are more stories that we may never know, only hypothesise.

I fell in love with these pictures, not only because of what they showed but also for the mystery of where they came from. As they’re favourites of mine, I’ve shared several of them on our social media. One of which, the main image above, I posted on our Facebook page. This led to a wonderful turn of events.

He tells me that after the National Front had been seen off by the local Bengali community and their allies, he and his comrades had felt how important it was to be there supporting the community and help fight racism where possible. “Around this time there was a big physical fight with the fascists” he recalls, “They were expelled from the area and thankfully never came back.”

When I ask for his memories of the area at the time, he says “As you can see, the crowds around Brick Lane were a bit different then, very working class, but like they are now, they were very culturally diverse. There were a lot of curry houses down there, many of which have gone now, some of them were very good and quite cheap - the Sweet and Spicy was particularly good. The Bagel shops are still there too.”