David Boote has a lifelong fascination with history, particularly the kind that is about people who began life with nothing exceptional.  Everyday experiences are made remarkable by comparing them with the lives of others, whether close in space and time or far distant.  Shared memories, regrets and aspirations bind people together. Contrasting ones stimulate our thoughts and emotions.

David took early retirement at the time Leyton & Leytonstone Historical Society was founded and has been a member of its committee throughout. He spent some of his unexpected leisure time in the Waltham Forest Archives at Vestry House Museum discovering the area’s past. Communicating his discoveries is his passion.

He took a degree in history, much of it the political, diplomatic, religious, military and constitutional history which is now his least favourite kind, before a career in the civil service. He has lived in Waltham Forest since 1977, in Walthamstow, Leyton / Leytonstone and Chingford. He relishes the borough’s built heritage and its green open spaces, and its easy access to the rest of Britain’s capital city.

Pubs and Highway Robbery Tour
Meet outside Leytonstone tube Station, Church Lane
Duration: 90mins
Age: 18+

27/08/21 : 18:30 : Booking only, click here for tickets
28/08/21 : 14:30 : Booking only, click here for tickets
10/09/21 : 18:30 : Booking only, click here for tickets
18/09/21 : 18:30 : Booking only, click here for tickets

“Highway Robbery and Class Distinction, Leytonstone’s pubs of olden days”

A walk in a wiggly line past north Leytonstone’s pubs, still in business and long gone, with suspect stories of public spirited landlords, treasonous lawyers and ambitious caterers.