Hackney | >Re-PHOTO

Old Ford, Hertford Union & Hackney

Old Ford, Hertford Union & Hackney

Gunmakers Lane, Hertford Union, canal, Old Ford, Tower Hamlets, 1988 88-8am-33-Edit_2400 — *Gunmakers Lane, Hertford Union, canal, Old Ford, Tower Hamlets, 1988 88-8am-33*

The short street which goes across the canal on Three Colts Bridge probably got its name from the pub, the Gunmakers Arms, which stood opposite it 438 Old Ford Road on the west side of St Stephens Road – and perhaps there were once some guns made nearby. In April 1915 the pub was taken over by the East London Federation of Suffragettes, led by Sylvia Pankhurst, a more militant and working class breakaway from Women’s Social and Political Union who turned it into a day nursery and clinic.

The Connaught Works here on Old Ford Road was a furniture factory and is said to date from the 1920’s though it looks earlier and was extended to the east around 20 years later.

Gunmakers Lane, Hertford Union, canal, Old Ford, Tower Hamlets, 1988 88-8am-34-Edit_2400 — *Three Colt Bridge, Gunmakers Lane, Hertford Union, canal, Old Ford, Tower Hamlets, 1988 88-8am-34*

This early 19th century cast iron bridge presumably dates from the building of the Hertford Union Canal which opened in 1830. It is Grade II* listed Scheduled Ancient Monument. A pub, the Old Three Colts, was close by at 450 Old Ford Rd from 1792 or earlier but was I think demolished a few years after WW2. St Stephens Road used to be called Three Colts Street, possibly because this pub was more or less at its end.

Victoria park Rd, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-35-Edit_2400 — Victoria park Rd, Homerton, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-35

The Three Colts Bridge leads to the Gunmakers Gate of Victoria Park, and I walked across the park to Victoria Park Road. This gothic fantasy of a building is now the Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy but was built in 1864-5 by Robert Lewis Roumieu as a French Protestant Hospital by a Huguenot charity, La Providence, who had decided to move out of earlier almshouses and hospital in Finsbury to a larger and more rural site here.

After WWII, La Providence moved to Rochester, selling the building to Roman Catholic nuns, the Faithful Companions of Jesus, and it reopened as the St Victoire Convent Girls’ Grammar School. When I made this picture it had become Cardinal Pole RC School and in 2014 was sold to be an academy school. The building is Grade II* listed.

Terrace Rd, Church Crescent, South Hackney, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-21-Edit_2400 — *Terrace Rd, Church Crescent, South Hackney, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-21*

These Tudor-style group of cottages are thought to have been built in 1847-8 to designs by George Wales who was the architect of Monger’s almshouses further down Church Crescent. The other houses between the two sites are more classical in design but also thought to be by Wales.

They are Grade II listed and still there and look now rather neater, with the middle property of the Tudor three having had its brickwork cleaned and looking considerably brighter. It also appears to lack the variation in colour of the darker brickwork which I find more attractive, though perhaps it looks more like when it was newly built.

Terrace, Cassland Rd, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-25-Edit_2400 — *Hackney Terrace, Cassland Rd, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-25*

This remarkable terrace at 20-54 Cassland Road overlooking Cassland Crescent is Grade II listed and was built from 1794 using funding from subscribers who made monthly payments over a period of four years, with the houses being allotted by ballot to a subscriber as each was built. All 18 were completed and occupied by 1801. This kind of co-operative funding of a development predates the earliest more conventional building societies.

James Taylor, gallery, Collent St, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-26-Edit_2400 — *James Taylor, gallery, Collent St, Hackney, 1988 88-8am-26*

The James Taylor warehouse was built in 1893 in Collent Road, which was described by the James Taylor gallery as “Formerly a Victorian factory, china warehouse, squat and film location.” Around ten years ago it was transformed with the facade and front building on the site being retained, along with a long wall along the north almost to Cresset Road as a part of a complex redevelopment with up to 10 storeys containing 69 flats, office space and an underground car park.

I made a few more exposures around Well St and I think my walk probably ended on neaby Mare Street, where I photographed the Crown pub (not online) and then probably caught a train from Hackney Central.

Clicking on any of the pictures will take you to a larger version in my album 1988 London Photos, from where you can browse other images in the album.

Walking Around Kingsland Road

Walking Around Kingsland Road. This is the final part of my walk on 3rd Augest 1988. The previous post on this is More From the Balls Pond Road.

Tottenham Rd area , Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-64-Edit_2400 — *Tottenham Rd area , Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-64*

My walk continued south of the Balls Pond Road. I think this workshop was in Bentley Road, a short street which connects both the Balls Pond Road and Kingsland Road to Tottenham Road in an area which was then dominated by light industry, most of which has now disappeared. This building had the large notice above its doorway with the message ‘WANTED – EXPERIENCED SKIRTS’ which rather amused me.

Public Washing Baths, Englefield Rd, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-53-Edit_2400 — *Public Washing Baths, Englefield Rd, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-53*

The Public Washing Baths on Englefield Road were opened in 1932, long after the first public baths in London which opened in 1847. It remained in its original use until the 1960s, a vital facility as many individuals and families lived in rooms and houses without access to more than a washbasin or kitchen sink and without running hot water, and would come to take a bath (slipper bath) here, particularly on a Saturday or Sunday when they were off work. The baths were cheap and popular, with over 60,000 baths being taken there a year.

When I photographed them the sing outside read ‘ENGLEFIELD LAUNDRETTE’ and gave its opening hours but I think it was no longer in use. Shortly after this it became a centre for the Vietnamese Boat People in the borough, run by the An Viet Foundation until 2017 and in 2019 received a grant from the London Mayor to fund a new kitchen for its continuing use as a Chinese and Filipino community centre. I’m unsure of its current status.

Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-55-Edit_2400 — *Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-55*

Kingsland Road was obviously a very piecemeal development with each plot here having a different buidling height, though they were all built to the same front line.

Metropolitan Hospital, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-56-Edit_2400 — *Metropolitan Hospital, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-56*

The Metropolitan Hospital was built here in 1886, but had been founded by Joseph Fry, the son of the more famous Elizabeth, in Stepney 50 years earlier. It moved to several sites and was planning for a new building in Bsihopsgate Street when the site was needed for an extension to Liverpool St Station and the Station Hotel, and this site further north outside the City was found.

The hospital treated outpatients and had beds for 160. It had been set up as a free hospital but failed to attract sufficient funds and and removed the ‘free’ from its name. But the income from subscribers was still not enough to keep all of its beds in use. In 1948 it became a part of the NHS and was finally closed in 1977. Since I made this picture it has been refurbished for residential use and has lost the ‘HOSPITAL’ from its frontage and is now Metropolitan House.

London Dog Centre, Kingsland Rd, Middleton Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-41-Edit_2400 — London Dog Centre, Kingsland Rd, Middleton Rd, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-41

To the left of the London Dog Centre is a narrow and winding street, Glebe Road, which runs along to beside the railway line and then straight beside it to industrial and commercial premises built back to back with those on Kingsland Road, going all the way north to Richmond Road. One of these units presumably sold carpets.

The London Dog Centre claims to have good quality puppies usually avaialable and also carries a large sign for the next shop along, Waynes Removals who offered free estimates for D. H. S. S. & Cash, as well as selling cookers. It looks as if Wayne (or Mr Waynes?) has left a few random pieces of furniture on the pavement including some some of shelf unit in front of the LDC.

Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-44-Edit_2400 — *Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-44*

Finally at the end of my walk I went up and down the Kingsland Waste, in front of the shops

Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-31-Edit_2400 — *Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-31*

The Waste began in the middle of the nineteenth century when the land owner allowed people to trade alongside the road without charge and developed into a long and packed area of stalls selling secondhand goods, often of dubious utility, all the way from Middleton Road up to Forest Road, around a quarter of a mile to the north.

Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-32-Edit_2400 — *Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-32*

Back in 1988 there were still many stalls on Saturdays, but over a rather shorter length, and some of the shops also spilt over onto the pavement. But on weekdays there were only a few traders. The market got smaller over the years, and Hackney council eventually refused to renew the licences for the remaining traders in 2015, saying it generated too much waste. But there was a local outcry and they were forced to reopen it a year or two later.

Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-22-Edit_2400 — *Kingsland Waste, Kingsland Rd, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-22*

My walk ended here on the Kingsland Road. I spent most of the rest of August in Paris – you can see the black and white pictures in Around Paris 1988 – and it was only 25 days later on 28th August that I was able to go for a walk in London again. More from that at a later date.

More From the Balls Pond Road

Balls Pond Road got its name from John Ball, the landlord of a pub next to the pond, in “about the middle of the 17th century … the Salutation House’ or ‘Boarded House’ ..famous for bull-baiting and other brutal sports and the pond for duck hunting.” The name Balls Pond Road was applied in 1865 to the whole length of the street which had been developed under various names.

*Arundel Arms, Boleyn Rd, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-11-Edit_2400*

One of the pubs featured in the Stoke Newington Lost Pubs Walk which states it was probably named after Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, a page at the court of King Henry VIII; the king had a hunting lodge at Newington Green in the 1500s which explains a number of local street names including Boleyn Road. Its pub sign featured the 14th Earl, Thomas Howard, but the figure in my picture is unlikely to have been one of the Earls.

Open by 1881 it was a Trumans pub, rebuilt around 1930 and closed around 2006 and was demolished and replace by a block of flats above ground floor commercial premises.

Elbe Footwear, Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-13-Edit_2400 — *Elbe Footwear, Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-13*

This part of the Balls Pond Road still presents a similar appearance by Elbe Footwear has no been replaced by Isabella Mews, with a wide gated ground floor entrance. I suspect Elbe may have had owners whose names begin with L and B rather than any connection to a German river.

Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-16-Edit_2400 — *Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-16*

A nicely restrained early 19th century two storey terrace at 65-79 Balls Pond Road, Grade II listed in 1975.

Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-01-Edit_2400 — *Balls Pond Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-01*

The view from across the street shows its simplicity but for me is a less interesting picture.

Alfred Halpern Ltd, Balls Pond Rd, Dalston, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-02-Edit_2400 — *Alfred Halpern Ltd, Balls Pond Rd, Dalston, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-02*

This building, also on the south side of the street and so in Hackney looks as if it was about to fall down, but has been refurbished. Alfred Halpern Ltd at 49, Balls Pond Rd according to their fading sign were Vacuum Formers & Importers was the former Maberly Chapel or Earlham Hall, built around 1820 as an Independent Chapel, with a later school from 1844, together Grade II listed. The listing text states it has ‘MABERLY CHAPEL’ in the triangular area at the top of the frontage, but in my photograph only the letters MAB ar recognisable, with much of the plaster peeling. It has now been removed.

Balls Pond Rd, Dalston, Islington, 1988 88-8e-61-Edit_2400 — *Balls Pond Rd, Dalston, Islington, 1988 88-8e-61*

There was an impressive row of fridge-freezers and cookers in front to the shop and neighbouring billboard on the Balls Pond Road, as well as a long, well-spaced row of prints in the picture. If they were really the size on the advert it would have been worth buying a can of Esso Superlube+.

The CALOR GAS shop (were those gas fridges?) had become a dry cleaners before 2008, but the billboard site was still then emptry, but was filled with ground floor shops and residential above shortly after.

Tottenham Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-63-Edit_2400 — *Tottenham Rd, Kingsland, Hackney, 1988 88-8e-63*

This LCC temporary housing was still lived in on Tottenham Road, a long street parallel to the Balls Pond Road joining Southgate Road to Kingsland Road. There has since been extensive redevelopment in the area and and these temporary buildings have long gone and I can no longer find the building in the background.

The previous post on this walk is Canonbury, Green Lanes and Balls Pond Road. My walk around the area will continue in a future post.

Canonbury, Green Lanes and Balls Pond Road

My next walk on Wednesday 3rd August 1988 began on a train going over the River Thames at Strand on the Green, the North London Line, taking me to Highbury & Islington from where I walked through Canonbury to Green Lanes, where I photographed an interesting pair of houses and found some rather poetic graffiti on my way to Newington Green and went on the the Balls Pond Road.

Grosvenor Ave, Canonbury, Islington, 1988 88-8c-14-Edit_2400 — *141 Grosvenor Ave, Canonbury, Islington, 1988 88-8c-14*

In my dreams last night I was sitting in front of my computer and just turning it off after searching for the location of this house, which on my contact sheet is simply given as ‘?Highbury Grove’, and it flashed onto Google Streetview as the application closed. I was just coming round and wasn’t sure whether this was dream or memory, so as soon as I got back in front of the screen today I looked up where I thought it had been – and found no such street existed. However a few more minutes searching – and looking at the next image on the contact sheet helped – I recognised it as 141 Grosvenor Ave in Canonbury.

The house next door in the semi-detached also had those distinctive vertical brick panels in the colums of the porch and at the side of the windows, but they have been disguised I think by white masonary paint, and possibly others have suffered a similar fate.

But the dream got me thinking more about taking these pictures and about my photography generally as I lay half awake in bed. I think I had walked around half a mile before making my first picture on this walk, past many other houses and shops I might have stopped to photograph but had not done so and I reflected on this. I’ve always been a rather timid photographer and often find it difficult to start taking pictures until something jolts me out of this, and once I’ve got going my reluctance fades. Making a photograph exposes not just the film (or these days the sensor) but also the photographer.

Green Lanes, Highbury, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-65-Edit_2400 — *Green Lanes, Highbury, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-65*

I can’t remember the exact route I took to Green Lanes, perhaps up Petherton Road, as the few pictures I made (not on-line) are typical of the area but not easy to locate, but I then walked south towards Newington Green, but a grid reference written on this frame of the contact sheet together with the street name Green Lanes suggests this shop window was near Aden Grove.

The curling notices suggest that Enright & Co Ltd m(established 1875) had left the building some time earlier, and although they say Houses Wanted, the upper left ‘Sorry Nothing’ was probably more appropriate. I rather liked the rather ghosty reflections in the glass, including my legs in the centre of the frame.

Roughly one in four of the pictures I made on this walk are on-line, and four of the ten from this particular film are these consecutive images from this section of Green Lanes.

Green Lanes, Highbury, , Islington, Hackney, 1988 1988 88-8d-66-Edit_2400 — *Green Lanes, Highbury, Islington, Hackney, 1988 1988 88-8d-66-Edit_2400*

There are still several of these ‘Mid-Late 19c’ houses on Green Lanes, roughly oposite Aden Grove and they are locally listed at 57-63 for their ‘truncated Dutch gables’. The bars on the windows at right have gone but they still otherwise look much the same.

Graffiti, Green Lanes, Highbury, , Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-51-Edit_2400 — *Graffiti, Green Lanes, Highbury, , Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-51*

Two writers appear to have taken advantage of this long stretch of white wall, probably empty industrial premises of some kind. Possible the “BIRD Turning in the sky air below the clouds’ there is no corner…” got in first complete with its extra apostrophe and the later writer (perhaps F. Ratttttl)tadded a line above and below, with some other additions including from an Arsenal fan.

Green Lanes here is on the border of the two London Boroughs of Hackney and Islington and I’ve included both boroughs in the captions even when I’m sure which side of the border I took the pictures on.

Graffiti, Green Lanes, Highbury, , Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-52-Edit_2400 — *Graffiti, Green Lanes, Highbury, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-52*

On the side of a boarded up shop, just off Green Lanes on the corner of Springdale Road was a more organised piece of writing, possibly advice to Fred to build a cradle for his baby. The reflecttion at left clearly shows the two buildings still on either side of Pegasus Close.

Annette Works, Halliford St, Ecclesbourne Rd, Islington, 1988 88-8d-31-Edit_2400 — *Annette Works, Halliford St, Ecclesbourne Rd, Islington, 1988 88-8d-31*

For once a picture which includes precise information on its location, the Annette Works on the corner of Halliford St and Ecclesbourne Rd in Islington. The house at 61 Halliford Street was or had been home to Multi-Print Co, and this side of it has now been extensively rebuilt. I wondered briefly if there might be some connection to Annette Crescent, a listed crescent not far away on the Essex Road, but failed to find any further information. It seems unlikely as Annette Crescent was named for its developer, Thomas James Annett, only picking up the ‘e’ in later years.

Southgate Rd, Kingsland, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-36-Edit_2400 — *Southgate Rd, Kingsland, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-36*

Southgate Road is another street on the Hackney/Islington border. There were no Vacancies at No 81, which is now together with No 83 ‘The Sydney Building’ a ‘warehouse conversion’ into flats with a rather prettier garden, roses replacing the buddleia.

Mildmay Rd, Canonbury, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-8d-26-Edit_2400 — Mildmay Rd, Canonbury, Islington, 1988 88-8d-26

This picture appears to show a woman looking out of a upper floor window but this is actually a painting on the wall. But there was a real woman coming along the street towards me. There is still a mural visible on the wall which can be seen rather better from Wolsey Road, but is largely obscured by an overgrown tree. I’m not sure if this upper part above and behind the main painted wall is still there.

The mural was painted in 1981 by Carolyne Beale for Mildmay Housing Action Area and is now in very poor condition, cracking badly. You can see a good colour picture of it all before the tree grew online, with a second picture of this lady at the window. I don’t think I photographed the mural properly, though I may have done.

More from the Balls Pond Road and Dalston in another post.

Click on any of the images in the post to see a larger version in my album 1988 London Photos, from where you can browse other images.

Xmas Protests – Low Wages, Evictions, John Lewis – 2014

Three Xmas Protests – Low wages, Evictions, John Lewis – in Brixton, Mayfair and Oxford St on December 14th 2014.

‘Santa’s Naughty List’ Living Wage

Lambeth Living Wage campaigners, led by an impressive Santa, protested in and outside shops in the centre of Brixton, handing out flyers calling for all workers to be paid a living wage. They urged shop workers to join a union and gave out forms.

While I was with them they visited department store Morleys, Subway and Poundland and they were going on to other stores in Brixton paying poverty wages. The protest was supported by Unite the Resistance, the Socialist Party, Unison (who provided the Santa costume), the Fast Food Rights Hungry for Justice campaign supported by the Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union, BFWAWU, the National Shop Stewards Network and other groups.

‘Santa’s Naughty List’ Living Wage

Class War: ‘Evict Westbrook, Not New Era’

Scrooge at Christmas 2014 was US property developers Westbrook Partners who were intending to evict the tenants of the Hackney New Era Estate by Christmas so they can refurbish these low rent social properties and re-let them at market rents at roughly four times the current rents. Class War and friends protested at their Mayfair offices of in solidarity with the tenants.

Class War came with banners and posters and a Christmas Card which they presented to Westbrook with the message ‘Christmas Greetings! – but not for Rich Bastards’ and a pictures of wrapped gifts and the cover image from Ian Bone’s autobiography ‘BASH THE RICH’. It’s an interesting read and might make a friend a good Christmas Present, available from Freedom Press at a special discount.

This was one of a number of protests by the residents, Class War and other housing activists, with a video by Russell Brand going viral and a petition with 350,000 signatures that led to Hackney Council entering into talks with Westbrook and resulted in the estate being sold to the affordable housing group Dolphin Living.

Class War: ‘Evict Westbrook, Not New Era’

Cleaners Xmas Protest in John Lewis

Many shoppers who can afford it go to John Lewis to buy Christmas presents, but members of te IWGB trade union and supporters including some John Lewis customers were there not to buy gifts but calling for the London Living Wage for cleaners there and an end to their treatment as second-class citizens. Many of the Christmas shoppers applauded their noisy protest.

I met the cleaners on the top floor of the store where they had gathered in the restaurant before getting out banners and flags and a megaphone, with IWGB organiser Alberto Durango used to inform customers why they were holding the protest.

The together with a group of John Lewis customers they slowly and loudly made their way around the top floor to the escalator, moving carefully through the gangways to avoid any damage.

They made their way down floor by floor, pausing on the balconies to display their banners.

John Lewis security staff and managers met the protesters and asked them to stop protesting and leave the store. They continued their way protesting until they reached the ground floor, where police stopped them from leaving. Here the situation became confused, with a great deal of unnecessary pushing by the police which blurred many of the pictures I made. The protesters were trying to get out, store security was pushing them out and the police were pushing them back. Eventually most of the protesters managed to get past the police and the protest continued on the pavement outside. The protest inside the store had been totally non-violent for a little over a quarter of an hour and had the police not decided to push the protesters back they would simply have walked out.

A police officer made an attempt to seize the amplifier the protesters were using, but they held onto it and eventually he gave up. At least one person was arrested and carried out of the store by police, though I think charges were later dropped.

Cleaners Xmas Protest in John Lewis

Around Old St

H J Brooks & Co, Old St, Islington, 1988 88-5n-22-positive_2400 — *H J Brooks & Co, Old St, Islington, 1988 88-5n-22*

These pictures continue the walk around Finsbury and going back east along Old St to South Shoreditch. They are all in my album 1988 London Photos, but here I’ve put them in the order in which I took them. I also made some other exposures not on line, and the album only contains those images I now find more interesting and worth preserving.

H J Brooks & Co were at a number 136 on the south side of Old St, close to Tilney Court and the building is still there, now offering IT services and support. Henry Brooks was one of many companies in this area in the furniture trade, supplying the various fittings which can be seen in the window.

Kapital Kwickprint, Old St, Islington, 1988 88-5n-24-positive_2400 — *Kapital Kwickprint, Old St area, Islington, 1988 88-5n-24*

I think Kapital Kwickprint was quite close to the Old Street roundabout at the junction with City Road which I’ve since photographed on various occasions. The premises appear to be shared with Sheet Metal and Wire Workers Malbot Ltd, and it was their notices including a hanging sign that attracted my attention as well as a rather curious doorway, firmly shuttered and with the message ‘LETTERS FOR MALBOT LTD’ and an arrow pointing to a postbox beside it.

It is hard to identify this location now, but I think it was in Mallow St, where the next frame on the film was clearly taken. At top left is the address 3TO4.

Warehouse, Leonard St, Paul St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-12-positive_2400 — *Warehouses, Leonard St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-12*

This very sturdy-looking building is still present on the corner with Paul St and is now offices with the name ‘Victoria House’ and address 1 Leonard Circus. Like the warehouses further along the street it probably dates from the 1870s.

Warehouses, Leonard St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 198888-5n-13-positive_2400 — *Warehouses, Leonard St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-13*

Part of an impressive row of warehouses on Leonard St dating from 1874-7 which have now been converted to office and residential use. C W Burrows at 69 describe themselves as House Furnishers – and this area was a great centre for furniture manufacture.

The business of J.Davis & Company (Machines) limited, now dissolved, was described at Companies House as “Wholesale of machinery for the textile industry and of sewing and knitting machines – Importing and distribution sewing machines.”

Great Eastern St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-15-positive_2400 — *Great Eastern St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 198888-5n-14*

Great Eastern St was constructed in 1876 and these buildings date from shortly afterwards. You can see a small part of No 42 at right of picture, which is Grade II listed and built with No 40 in 1877.

And this picture shows the Grade II listed building at 40-42 built in 1877 by J. W. Brooker for the cabinet ironmongers Edward Wells & Co. As the listing states it is “in an eclectic style with Gothic, Italianate and Venetian influences.” This building was only listed in 2006, and is currently occupied by a cafe and an estate agent. I’ve photographed the entrance on the corner at right on other occasions.

Christina St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-16-positive_2400 — *Christina St, Shoreditch, Hackney, 1988 88-5n-16*

Christina Street looking east from close to Phipp St. The site at right now has a building on it, and the street looks considerably tidier.

City Road area, Shoreditch, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-6a-02-positive_2400 — *City Road area, Shoreditch, Islington, Hackney, 1988 88-6a-02*

Today’s mystery picture. A quite distinctive building but I can’t remember what it was or exactly where it was, though probably somewhere quite close to Wesley’s Chapel on the City Road where I was photographing on the same walk a couple of frames later. It has a vaguely religious feel and may well have been sold and demolished since 1988. I hope someone will recognise it and tell me in a comment.

Click on any of the pictures to go to a larger version in my album 1988 London Photos, from where you can browse the album.

Fourteen Years Ago

Here is a piece I wrote about my activities on Friday 26 October 2007. I’ve adjusted the capitalisation, or rather added it – back then My London Diary (or rather ‘my london diary’) didn’t use capitals, a mannerism I now find rather twee. I think it was trying to adopt a very informal tone, something to differentiate it from more traditionally journalistic publications, in keeping with my aims set out when the site began expressed in a statement often repeated on the site:

a record of my day to day wanderings in and around london, camera in hand
and some of my comments which may be related to these – or not
things i’ve found and perhaps things people tell me.
if I really knew what this site was i wouldn’t bother to write it.
it’s london, it’s part of my life,
but mainly pictures, arranged day by day, ordered by month and year
some of my work gets put into nice organised websites
this isn’t meant to be like that

Later My London Diary got rather more organised.

Here’s the piece from 2007 which comes with rather more pictures which you can see starting here:

SIOE fail to attract support – or opposition

Whitehall to Temple, Friday 26 Oct, 2007

Only too often I turn up to photograph advertised events and find that really nothing very much is happening. Usually I’m disappointed, but with the march organised by SIOE (Stop The Islamicisation Of Europe) I’m really rather pleased.

SIOE appears to be two people. There are threes and fours from various other groups, including some from Germany and others from France, making a total of just under 40. My count is 36, the police say 40, making it the only demo where they have ever made a higher figure than me. There are around a dozen still photographers, and just slightly less shooting video, so the media get pretty close to the number of demonstrators.

We’d expected a counter-demo, but it doesn’t happen, though the police stop a couple who seem to be innocent passers-by and hassle them for being vaguely Islamic in appearance at Temple.

So I go to spend a little time in the National Gallery before making my way to Rich Mix, where I’m pleased to see they have got the Paul Trevor show sorted out again, and I can spend 30 minutes looking at some of the best documentary work from the 1970s and 80s – including pictures of several anti-fascist marches I was at – before going to see Brian Griffin and Roof Unit Foundations opening at [space].

And above is one of my four pictures in the Roof Unit Foundations show at [space] in Hackney, taken in Bromley by Bow, on the edge of what later became the Olympic site in 1982. It was an image inspired by Man Ray’s 1920 The Enigma of Isidore Ducasse, itself inspired by a passage in Les Chants de Maldoror, published under his pen name Comte de Lautréamont, ‘Beautiful as the accidental encounter, on a dissecting table, of a sewing machine and an umbrella’. I think my accidental encounter came about in Cooks Road, E15.

Hoxton 1948 Street Party

No, I wasn’t taking pictures in 1948, nor was Hoxton’s 1948 street party taking place in 1948, but on Saturday 24th August 2008, the date marking the handover of the Olympics to London from Beijing where the 2008 Olympics had recently finished.

Hackney was one of the three boroughs – along with Tower Hamlets and Newham at the centre of the London 2012 Olympics, coming to London for the first time since 1948. The London Olympics then were very much run on a shoe-string in 1948, with a total budget of well under a million pounds – allowing for inflation probably rather less than a hundredth of the budget for 2012.

People in Hackney had decided to mark the event with a ‘1948 Street Party’ in Hoxton in the area of Hoxton Road where the market takes place (confusingly around half a mile from a street named Hoxton Market) and there were shops, museums and various local organisations taking part and putting on events and displays. And appropriately for a celebration of 1948 they organised their own ‘Austerity Olympics’ on the street, as well as some more serious boxing.

Hackney Council, being doctrinaire New Labour were of course appalled by the idea of a community initiative such as this. Their idea of politics was for people to put an X in the Labour box of the ballot paper and then sit back and let those they elected get on with running things to their advantage – without the people getting in the way of their schemes. So instead of backing a community initiative which might display what people thought about the forthcoming Olympics they snootily set up their own rival event in a park a few minutes walk away, with a giant screen relaying the events from Beijing.

*There were two men waving Union Flags at the Hackney Council event.*

I went to both, though most of the hour and a half I spent at the council event was an hour and a half of my life lost, tedious in the extreme, except for a short performance by a local kids group. There was a Chinese group with flags and a lion, but they seemed to be deliberately hidden away in a corner.

Back on Hoxton St, things were much more interesting, and very much a reminder of my own youth in the 1950s. I enjoyed a very nice cup of tea served in 1948 style china by a “nippy”, and in the street were tea parties (with free cakes) and displays of boxing, jitterbugging and various objects from the 1940s kitchen (almost all of which we still use at home, including a pastry blender – and no, it isn’t used to make bread.) Pearlies came in force and had a sing-song round the joanna.

And then there was the ‘Free Hackney Movement’ (aka Space Hijackers) who brought some serious politics to the event along with a ‘tank’. Here’s what I wrote about them in 2008:

The Free Hackney protest sees London 2012 as a great opportunity for property developers to rip us off and make obscene profits building luxury flats in the area, while at the same time restricting public access, closing down the existing free facilities and demolishing social housing and local businesses. So far its hard to argue against their case given the closure of local sports facilities including the closure of the Temple Mills cycle circuit and the removal of the Manor Gardens allotments and the wholesale clearance of small local firms which were based on Stratford Marsh

In 2008 I commented “The Olympic development has so far been something of a catastrophe for the area, and a lot has to be done to recover from this, let alone produce a positive outcome for the area.” Unfortunately most of what has been done since has borne out the fears and predictions that were made by the Free Hackney Movement and others back in 2008. London 2012 was a bonanza for the few but disrupted the lives of many in the three boroughs.

More at:
Hoxton Handover – 1948 Street party
Free Hackney Movement
Hackney Council Hoxton Handover

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Clean Air – 1990 cyclists and 2019 XR East London

Cyclists protest, Whitehall, Westminster, 1990, 90-11c-14 — *‘Let London Breathe’ – Cyclists ride down Whitehall to a Trafalgar Square rally – November 1990*

Back in 1990, I rode with hundreds of cyclists from the London Cycling Campaign and others protesting about the terrible air quality in London from Battersea Park to a well-attended rally in Trafalgar Square. Following the rally, some MPs raised the issue in Parliament.

*XR East London marches for clean air – 12 July 2019*

Almost 30 years on there has not been a great deal of progress – and the statistics now show almost 10,000 excess deaths per year in the city due to air pollution, and untold misery from various respiratory conditions, some crippling. In 2019 XR East London met at Bethnal Green on Friday 12 July to march to Hackney behind a banner ‘The Air That We Grieve’, calling for a rapid end to the use of fossil fuels.

Much of the pollution comes from road traffic, and the already announced end to the sale of new trucks, vans and any other combustion-powered vehicle from 2030 onwards will do a little to improve air quality, but existing petrol and diesel vehicles will continue to be used for many years, though we may see more stringent ultra-low emission zones to restrict their use in cities.

But although the switch to electric will cut down pollutants such as nitrogen oxides as well as reducing climate changing carbon dioxide, it will still leave other harmful substances such as particulates from tyres and brakes in the air. And the carbon footprint is only lowered so long as the electricity used to charge those car batteries comes from truly renewable generation.

Cleaner air in cities also needs us to move away from the car to more eco-friendly means of transport – such as public transport and bicycles. Even electric scooters and electric bikes also have a part to play.

Better public transport means more trains, light rail, trams and buses. The simplest and most cost-effective solutions are probably more dedicated bus lanes and bus-only routes, and giving buses greater priority in traffic. Many years ago I cycled in French cities where buses had priority and motorists (and cyclists) had to give way whenever they wanted to pull out from a stop, and changes like this to our Highway Code and traffic rules would make a difference.

In 1990 cyclists were calling for 1000 miles of dedicated cycle routes through London. We do now have some ‘cycle superhighways’ and ‘quietways’, although many of these – we are now supposed to call them ‘cycleways’ – still involve sharing with often dangerous traffic. Progress is still slow, and there is bitter opposition from some interest groups, particularly black cab drivers.

We need too an overhaul of London’s taxi system, with rules still made in the days of horse-drawn Hackney cabs. I’ve often stood at bus stops in the City waiting for my bus, held up by traffic while 20 or 30 or more black cabs drive by, the great majority of them empty. A move away from ‘ply for hire’ to smartphone based systems summoning a cab from a nearby taxi rank would hugely cut both congestion and pollution in the centre of London.

More at XR East London marches for clean air. You can click on the black and white image above to go to the album with more pictures from the 1990 cyclists protest.

As always I was travelling around London on public transport (I sometimes bring up a folding bike on the train) and as the march neared its end I boarded a bus in the opposite direction back to Bethnal Green where I took the tube back to Holborn, then took the short walk to the University of London’s Senate House, where exploited outsourced workers were holding a noisy protest after the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Wendy Thomson had failed to reply to a request to meet them and discuss their grievances. You can see more about this at IWGB welcome new Vice Chancellor.

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.

Hackney Wick (1)

Waterden Rd, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1982 32z-65_2400

Thinking about the New Year – or about the past one – simply makes me feel angry and depressed, and though I started to write something I couldn’t finish it. There is plenty of stuff already on the web and in print about it. So I decided to continue writing and posting pictures about my project from the 1980s on the Lea Valley. And so to Hackney Wick.

Eastway/Waterden Rd, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1982 32z-66_2400

Not that Hackney Wick presented an encouraging face back in 1982. It had been an important industrial area in previous years, but now industry was in terminal decline, with Thatcher abandoning the idea of manufacturing in favour of services, accelerating its decay, driving to a post-industrial future.

There was a bleakness too in the Greater London Council’s Trowbridge Estate, with its seven 21 storey blocks completed between 1965 and 1969. It provided much-needed housing but by the 1980s was showing evidence of neglect, but there was still considerable local opposition to the series of demolitions which began in 1985 three years after I took this picture in 1982. By 1987 three blocks had been demolished, and they were all gone by 1996, with some spectacular pictures and video being taken of some of them being blown up – not always very effectively.

Hackney Stadium, Waterden Rd, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1982 32z-52_2400

Hackney Greyhound Stadium only finally closed in 1997, but was struggling for some years. Going to the dogs had gone out of fashion. It had begun in the UK in the late 1920s, an import from the USA where it had started in California in 1919, and its heyday was in the 1930s, with the Hackney Wick Stadium having its first race meeting on April 8th 1932. Later the stadium was also used for Speedway and Midget Car racing. I never went to Hackney Stadium and my only visit to dog racing was by mistake at Wimbledon Stadium around 1960 where I went on several occasions with a friend who was a speedway fan, and one week he got the dates mixed. I didn’t enjoy it.

BRONCO, British Patent Perforated Paper Co, Atlas Works, Berkshire Road, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1982 32k-46_2400

Among the many products which previous generations relied on Hackney Wick for was toilet paper, which for many years was made at the Atlas Works by the British Patent Perforated Company, better known as Bronco. We now live in softer times and their less porous and more hygenic product went out of favour. This was first patented in the USA in 1870, but Hackney Wick can claim to be the source of many inventions.

Wallis Rd, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1983 36n-44_2400

Before Bronco, the Atlas Works were home to dyestuffs company Brooke Simpson Spiller who had taken over the company set up by the founder of the synthetic dyestuff industry William Henry Perkin. There they employed several of the leading organic chemists of the late 19th century who developed a number of new dyes. My own very brief and much less illustrious career as an industrial chemist also began (and very soon ended) in dyestuffs, but at a west London company – and the lab there was still using some samples signed on the bottle by Perkin himself.

Queens Yard, Whitepost Lane, Hackney Wick, Tower Hamlets, 1992 92-8d26_2400

It was in Hackney Wick that the first synthetic plastic, Parkesine was manufactured, and where oil distillers Carless, Capel & Leonard marketed the first product to be given the name Petrol, and also where dry-cleaning came to the UK thanks to Achille Serre. But the largest and best-known of the Wick’s industries was Clarnico (until 1946 Clarke, Nickolls,Coombs until 1946) who opened a jam factory here in 1879 and went on to produce many well-known sweets – a total of over 700 varieties – in what became the largest sugar confectionary factory in Britain, but closed in 1973. You can read about it at the Wick Curiousity Shop site, which also has a photograph of me and a few from my web site.

Kings Yard, Carpenters Road, Hackney Wick, Hackney, 1992 92-8d15_2400

Other products from the Wick you may have eaten include Fray Bentos pies, produced here by a part of the huge Vestey meat company from 1958. The pie business was sold on to Brooke Bond, acquired by Unilever and finally sold to Campbell’s Soup in 1993, when they promptly moved production away from Hackney.