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An amazing survivor from an earlier era. It is just five minutes walk away from the Tower of London, yet I wonder how many of the millions of tourist would ever venture here?
In 1859 John Wilton opened a Music Hall behind five Georgian houses in Graces Alley, just behind Cable Street. For 30 years the venue saw singing, dance, comedy, circus acts and classical concerts in the Music Hall tradition. Since then it has housed a Methodist Mission, supported striking dock workers, provided a retreat for East Enders when they stopped the fascists in the Battle of Cable Street, and sheltered people who had been bombed out of their houses in the Second World War.
In the 1960s it was threatened with demolition, but a successful campaign (supported by Sir John Betjeman) saved it and it is now a Grade II* Listed Building.
in 2004 the venue was revived as a performance space, and also as an unusual venue for functions. The venue now hosts a wide variety of performance art, and the aim is to restore the venue gradually to its former glory.
Designed by ER Robson 1886; rebuilt after a fire in 1931.
The People's Palace was built in the 1880s to be a pleasure pavilion for East Londoners, in the same way Crystal Palace and Alexandra Palace had become for South and North Londoners respectively. It also incorporated a technical college which gradually took over from the pleasure pavilion.
The technical college became Queen Mary College London, part of the University of London, in 1934 at which point the building became part of that University. It is now called The Queen's Building.
During the London Olympic Games large screens were put up in several locations around London. The Victoria Park London Live site ran from Friday 27th July until Sunday 12th August, and also incorporated a stage, bars, food stalls and entertainment, as well as three screens showing BBC coverage of the Games. Entry was free.
The Victoria Park Cemtery was privately-owned and opened for burials in 1842; when it closed to burials in 1867 there were an estimated 300,000 bodies here, a testament to Bethnal Green's appalling death rate during the Victorian era.
After years of decay and decline, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association raised funds to have the Cemetery turned into a park; it was named Meath Gardens after the Earl of Meath, Chairman of the MPGA. This portal at the western entrance, off Smart Street, is about all that remains of the former cemetery.
One notable burial here was the Aboriginal Australian cricketer, John Cole, who died in June 1868. In June 1988 a tree was presented to the Aboriginal Cricket Association and planted here, with a plaque on the ground reading: 'In memory of King Cole, Aboriginal cricketer, who died on the 24th June 1868. Your Aboriginal dreamtime home. Wish you peace'.
A number of blocks of privately-owned flats have recently been constructed at the edges of Meath Gardens, but the land these stand on was formerly railway or industrial land and was not part of the Cemetery. The allotments in the north-west corner were also not part of the Cemetery.
Sunday 22nd March 2015 - Jewish Cemetery in Brady Street, Whitechapel.
This cemetery opened in 1761 and closed to burials in 1858, and although Whitechapel's Jewish community has long since moved away from the area this is an important site for people trying to trace their ancestors, and it can still be visited by appointment with the United Synagogue burial authority.
The cemetery contains some famous occupants - notably Nathan Mayer Rothschild - founder of the British branch of the celebrated banking dynasty. He died in 1836 and is buried next to his wife Hannah.
In the 1980s Tower Hamlets considered acquiring the site for development by compulsory purchase order, as by law any cemetery where no internments have taken place for over 100 years can have its occupants removed and the site redeveloped. To scupper this, the cemetery was reopened for a single burial in 1990, that of Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild (1910 - 1990), the third Baron Rothschild who was buried next to his illustrious predecessor. As a result, the site cannot now be developed until 2090!
Architects: SimpsonHaugh, 2017. Faceted glazing at the base of a new 31-storey residential tower. South Dock, Canary Wharf, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Middleton Street, Bethnal Green, London E2. The Bethnal Green Housing Association was founded in 1926 and Queen Margaret Flats, its first development, opened three years later. The foundation stone was laid by Neville Chamberlain MP, who was at the time Minister for Health and would later go on to become Prime Minister.
The Bethnal Green Housing Association expanded over the years through mergers and acquisitions, and changed its name to Gateway Housing Association in 2008. It still manages Queen Margaret Flats as part of its portfolio of 2,800 properties and sheltered accommodation in the London Boroughs of Tower hamlets, Hackney and Newham.
Marking the outbreak of the First World War, and commemorating the British and Colonial servicemen killed during its course.
The installation consisted of one ceramic poppy for each of the 888,246 serviceman. It was installed at the Tower of London with poppies added each day from 17 July, concluding 11 November.
The project was conceived by artist was Paul Cummins, with setting by Tom Piper, and was designed to appear as a sea of blood spilling out.
The title of the piece comes from a poem in the unsigned will of an unknown soldier who died in the war: "The blood swept lands and seas of red, / Where angels dare to tread"
Bethnal Green, London E2. This section of Canrobert Street forms part of the Winkley Estate which was built speculatively and aimed at craftspeople and tradesmen. Many of the houses have workshops in the back garden.
Apart from this dental surgery and the cafe at the far end, all the buildings inbetween are boarded up and empty, awaiting office-ification.
Block of flats constructed by Poplar Borough Council in 1920. Corner of Chadbourn Street and St Leonard's Road, Poplar.
Middleton Street, Bethnal Green, London E2. This is an offshoot of the Rocky Park Community Garden in the prevous photo and is managed by tenants of the Hollybush Estate.
The Peabody Housing Trust has recently completed a new development at Three Colts Lane, Bethnal Green. The development folows the curve of the railway viaduct which was built in 1872 to carry the Great Eastern Railway's then-new suburban lines to Enfield Town and Chingford.
As part of the new development a new pedestrianised public thoroughfare has been created to link Three Colts Lane and Witan Street, which acts as a new short-cut to and from Cambridge Heath Road and Bethnal Green Underground Station.
Bethnal Green became a Metropolitan Borough in 1900. In 1910 this magnificent Town Hall, designed by Percy Robinson and W. Alban Jones and constructed of Portland Stone, was opened on the corner of Cambridge Heath Road and Patriot Square. The newer eastern extension (left background) was added in 1936. When Bethnal Green was merged with the Boroughs of Stepney and Poplar to form the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on 1st April 1965, the building became redundant and was neglected for many years. In 2010 it was restored to its former glory and now houses a luxury hotel, apartments and a restaurant.
More than 100 firefighters battled the fire before the fire department gave up. The fire burned for four days.
Witnessing all these documents go up in smoke inspired this story on my blog: www.mindthis.net/mindthis/2006/07/paper_view.html
Trinity Buoy Wharf is tucked into the end of a small peninsula at the point where the River Lea flows into the Thames, and for many years this was an isolated and forgotten part of London. Until 1988, this was where Trinity House built and maintained the buys and lightships that were used to aid navigation around the Kent, Essex and Suffolk coasts.
Trinity House was originally a voluntary organisation of shipmen and mariners, and was granted a Charter in 1514 by King Henry VIII, becoming "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undividable Trinity of St Clement". It gained its Coat of Arms in 1573, and with it the authority to erect beacons and other markers to aid navigation around the coasts of England; these evolved into the buoys, lightships and lighthouses for which Trinity House is still responsible around the United Kingdom.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was established in 1803 for the construction of wooden sea buoys, and over the years has adapted and expanded with the development of cast iron buoys in the 1860s. An experimental lighthouse was built in 1864 to test equipment and train lighthouse keepers; it still stands today.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was closed in December 1988 and acquired by the London Docklands Development Corporation, who decided to turn it into a centre for creative enterprises. In 1996 a long lease was granted to Urban Space Management, a company with a track record of regenerating former industrial locations.
Modern 1960s church built on the site of the original St Boniface. Whitechapel had a sizeable German community in the 1800s, many of whom were employed in the sugar refining industry.
Roman Road looking west at the pont where Bow becomes Bethnal Green and E3 becomes E2. The 1960s tower blocks of the Cranbrook Estate form the backdrop.
Hertford Union Canal, Bow.
The 'Canal and River Trust' is a new charitable foundation, established to take over from British Waterways, which was Government-owned. The move has been widely welcomed as the Trust can access a wider variety of funding.
Allen and Hanbury was founded as a pharmaceuticals manufacturer in London 1715. Their Bethnal Green factory opened in 1874 and was also responsible for surgical instruments, and for administration and scientific research. After damage during the First World War the factory was rebuilt in 1920 and continued in use until the late 1960s. It has recently been refurbished and brought back to life as 'The Pill Box', a centre for small businesses and new enterprises.
The Experimental Lighthouse and adjoining Chain and Buoy Store were designed by Sir James Douglass and erected in 1864. The lighthouse was used by Trinity House to test equipment and to train lighthouse keepers.
Trinity House was originally a voluntary organisation of shipmen and mariners, and was granted a Charter in 1514 by King Henry VIII, becoming "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undividable Trinity of St Clement". It gained its Coat of Arms in 1573, and with it the authority to erect beacons and other markers to aid navigation around the coasts of England; these evolved into the buoys, lightships and lighthouses for which Trinity House is still responsible around the United Kingdom.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was established in 1803 for the construction of wooden sea buoys, and over the years has adapted and expanded with the development of cast iron buoys in the 1860s.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was closed in December 1988 and acquired by the London Docklands Development Corporation, who decided to turn it into a centre for creative enterprises. In 1996 a long lease was granted to Urban Space Management, a company with a track record of regenerating former industrial locations.
The London Hospital (it only gained the "Royal" prefix in 1990) was originally founded as the London Infirmary in Moorfields in 1740, moving to its present location in 1757. Behind the original buildings a new state-of-the-art facility is being constructed; included on the roof is a new helipad for the Air Ambulance service which is based here.