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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"
This hydraulic pumping station was built in 1858 for the East India Dock Company, to provide power for the new cranes and other hydraulically-powered equipment being introduced at the time. It continued to provide power until the Docks closed in 1967; surprisingly the building survived and has now found new uses. An 1890 Accumulator tower in nearby Blackwall Way has also survived and is now occupied by a wine retailer.
The art-deco shelter in Bethnal Green Gardens is thought to have been designed by London Transport architect Stanley Heaps, under the tutelage of Charles Holden whose station designs of the 1930s are legendary. What could have been a functional structure to house an air vent for Bethnal Green Station was instead turned into an attractive amenity for users of the Gardens.
The structure has been neglected in recent years, but during Summer 2013 a group of local residents set up 'The Kiosk', a weekend pop-up café. They are hoping to negotiate a longer lease with Tower Hamlets Council to establish something more permanent and to restore the shelter to its former glory.
The Kiosk reopened as a one-off for London Open House Weekend (21/22 September); on display were copies of the original plans for the shelter, as well as some historical photos of Bethnal Green Gardens.
Mural onthe wall of the Freedom Press Bookshop and Publishers. It was put up by the Freedom Press and the Whitechapel Art Gallery as part of the Bethnal Green City Challenge.
According to Derelict London, Chisenhale Works - Old Ford (Bow)
Morris Cohen (Veneer Works) built the current Chisenhale Works building (called CHN Veneers) in 1943 to produce veneer for the construction of Spitfire cockpits and propellers and plywood for Mosquito planes during WW2. Part is now art gallery and studios.
The daffodils are in their prime around the time of the Spring Equinox and are often seen as symbolic of this time. Museum Gardens, Bethnal Green.
At the Spring Equinox the day and night are of equal length; in the Northern Hemisphere day will now be in the ascendant and our focus becomes more to the outer than the inner. It is the time when the signs of new life are everywhere, when the life force itself seems unstoppable.
The ancient Germans celebrated a Godess names Oastra, whose symbol is an egg, another symbol of spring fertility. This symbol endures today with chocolate easter eggs and painted eggs, and traditions such as egg-rolling. The female hormone, oestrogen, is named after her.
As with many festivals, Christianity has adapted the traditions of older religions and Christians celebrate Easter - the rebirth of Jesus Christ. Unusually though the date is determined by a lunar event - Easter Sunday is taken each year as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox, which means it can occur as early as 23rd March and as late as 25th April. Easter is the only Christian festival to follow a lunar rather than a solar calendar.
Mile End, London E1.
One of London's most hidden secrets. Even many people who walk regularly past an innocuous green door set into a wall in Cleveland Way do not realise that behind lies a footpath, giving access to a whole terrace of Victorian cottages. Yet all you need to do is push gently on the gate to be admitted to another world of peace and tranquility, just a few steps from the busy and bustling Mile End Road.
As part of the Park's improvement work the splendid Burdett-Coutts drinking fountain has been restored to its full glory.
The fountain was erected in 1862 and was the gift of the wealthy banking heir and philanthropist, Angela Burdett-Coutts.
Lauriston Road, Hackney E8, close to Victoria Park.
Inaugurated in 1859 as the Metropolitan Free Drinking fountain Association to provide free drinking water to ordinary people, it changed its name in 1867 when it added animal welfare to its remit. At the time live cattle were still being taken to Smithfield Market in The City; and there were vast numbers of horses engaged in local transport (including delivery of goods and taxi cabs).
The Association stopped building troughs in 1936. Those which survive today, such as this one, are commony turned into flower beds.
Altab Ali Park stands on the site of St Mary Matfelon, the original "white chapel" which was demolished after being bombed in 1940. Altab Ali was a local Bangladeshi man who was murdered by white racists in 1979.
Location: Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, London, England
Taken at Latitude/Longitude:51.514839/-0.067576. 0.17 km North-West Whitechapel England United Kingdom (Map link)
Mile End Road, London E1.
The area between Mile End Gate (Whitechapel) and Stepney Green was once known as Mile End Old Town, and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was popular with well-to-do merchants and shipowners, who wanted to be close to the River Thames but away from crowded riverside communities such as Ratcliff, Wapping and Limehouse. A few elegant townhouses still survive in the area as reminders of its past glories.
Location: Bow Road, London, England
Architect: Richard Tress
Built: 1849
And Charles Dickens too! Street art by Paul Don Smith, Wilkes Street, Spitalfields, London E1. August 2012.
On 21st February 1952, when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, dozens of students and political activists were killed whilst protesting that their local language, Bangla, should have equal status with Urdu. It is a replica of the Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
This simple obelisk in the north-eastern corner of Victoria Park, East London, is dedicated to the men of nearby Hackney Wick who died in the First World War.
Roman Road, Bow, London E3.
Vernon Hall was built in 1901 as Bow Library; two-thirds of the cost of its construction £6,000 was provided by The philanthropist John Passmore Edwards.
Museum Gardens, Bethnal Green Road, London, 21st September 2011.
As with the Spring Equinox, the day and night are once again equal. However from here, in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the dark that will now be in the ascendant. The Harvest, which began at Lammas/Lughnasadh at the beginning of August, should now be completed. The days are now getting noticeably shorter - in London the darkness appears a good three hours earlier than it did at Midsummer in June. It is also getting noticeably colder, especially at night. Even the sun is not as high in the sky as it was, leading to that pleasant dappled light just as the leaves on the trees start to wither and fall.
Greek mythlogy tells the story of Demeter, whose daughter Kore is abducted by Hades, Lord of the Underworld. In her despair she blasts the earth with her wrath, and nature begins to die. She summons him to Mount Olympus, home of the Gods, and the judgement is that Kore shall remain in her mother's realm, earth, for eight months of the year; and spend four months in the Underworld with Hades. This seems to correspond well with the Equinox and the festival of Imbolc, when signs of growth once again start to appear.
Pagans see this as a time of transition, and certainly this time of year is associated with high tides and winds which can bring storminess in their wake. As the Spring Equinox is a time to turn our thoughts outward, so the Autumn Equinox is the time to start looking inwards again. Many Pagans choose this time to rededicate themselves to their chosen spiritual journey.
Mile End, London E1.
One of London's most hidden secrets. Even many people who walk regularly past an innocuous green door set into a wall in Cleveland Way do not realise that behind lies a footpath, giving access to a whole terrace of Victorian cottages. Yet all you need to do is push gently on the gate to be admitted to another world of peace and tranquility, just a few steps from the busy and bustling Mile End Road.
Location: Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, London, England