Born and bred in Eltham, Linda Cunningham is passionate about Greenwich and its history.
“I love Greenwich for its diversity and its history. I remember when I was working in the post office in Greenwich back in the late 70s, I used to walk along to the naval college gates and gaze through them but could never get in.”
Eventually Linda did get in and now she combines her love of Greenwich and of history in her job as a guide at the Old Royal Naval College. But she worries that some of Greenwich’s history is being lost:
“As local historians in the area are getting older or moving away, there are stories that are not being handed on. You can read history books on Greenwich but it’s the personal, funny stories that are not being passed on. Stuff that you can’t read in [Clive] Aslet and [John] Bold.”
The historian, who conducted extensive Greenwich research for her Ba(Honours) History, is now setting up her own course for people who want to learn about local history and share their stories too.
It’s an eight week course of two hour sessions, to be held inside Discover Greenwich.
“The first hour will be a presentation with me telling the facts as I can ascertain from every source possible. The second half will be about discussion and debate where we can talk about hearsay and things that are maybe less than factual but nevertheless really interesting.”
