THE head of history at a Woodford Green secondary school has teamed up with an esteemed historian to write a book on local historical heroine Sylvia Pankhurst.

Talvinder Bhullar, who teaches at Woodbridge High School, along with Sylvia’s authorised biographer Shirley Harrison, were first approached with the idea of producing the book for teenagers last year to help celebrate a series of events in Redbridge commemorating the suffragette and anti-fascist’s life.

Sylvia Pankhurst - A Classroom Companion, written by Ms Harrison and edited by Mr Bhullar, tells the story of the former Woodford Green resident’s life of campaigning, and accompanies a sister book by Ms Harrison called Sylvia Pankhurst - A Citizen of the World.

Mr Bhullar said: “It’s been a very rewarding experiencing working on it.

“She has a lot of relevance to Redbridge but she’s just not talked about very much.

"When I first started work on this project it wasn’t an area of expertise for me, but the more I found out about her the more fascinated I was.

“But the book is not about how ‘great’ she is, but it’s about children deciding for themselves whether she was significant and is so what makes her significant.”

Ms Harrison and Mr Bhullar will be appearing at the Village Bookshop on Woodford Green High Road this Saturday (April 25) to talk about the books and sign copies between 12 noon and 2pm.