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Leyton and a Puzzle: Pictures from walks around parts of Leyton in August or September 1994 and a puzzle from south of the river.

*New Spitalfields Market, Sherin Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-53*

Traffic congestion, lack of space and outdated buildings led the City of London Corporation to relocate its wholesale fruit and vegetable market out of Spitalfields to a purpose-built 31 acre site in Leyton which opened in 1991.

*New Spitalfields Market, Sherin Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-54*

Stratford Market, which had been founded in 1879 by the Great Eastern Railway as a competitor to Spitalfields also moved to the new site. According to Wikipedia, New Spitalfields Market “is Europe’s leading horticultural market specialising in exotic fruit and vegetables – and the largest revenue earning wholesale market in the UK.”

*New Spitalfields Market, Sherin Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-43*

There were plans for this, Billingsgate Fish Market (in the West India Docks) and Smithfield Market to move to a new consolidated site in Dagenham Dock and planning permission was given in 2021, but in November 2024 the City decided this was no longer economically viable. New Spitalfields will remain in use while there are now plans to relocate the two other markets to Albert Island at the east end of the Royal Docks.

*Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-45*

The market is on the east side of Hackney Marshes a short distance from the River Lea and I walked east along Ruckholt Road into Leyton. I think this building was probably in a side turning just off this road and I think has probably been demolished. But I was only interested in the colours an shapes.

*A E Cornell, Furniture, 363, High Rd, Leyton, Waltham Forest, 1994, 94-901-46*

This shop is now occupied by Woodland Estate Agents who opened here in 2005 and the building looks rather less run-down. Of course I was attracted by the Union Flags in the windows and door as well as the Churchillian poster with its pointing finger, though I’m unclear what we should DESERVE. Perhaps someone will have memories of this shop.

*Chinese Takeaway, Fish & Chips, London, 1994, 94-901-32*

I think this was also in Leyton as another almost identical image is on the next frame of film to the picture of A E Cornell’s furniture shop. The Chinese Takeaway seems to have been at 17D and had a name ending in GARDEN. But of course my interest was mainly in the peeling mural of two rather strange-looking jockeys and horses on the side of the neighbouring bookies.

*Frederick Place, Bloomfield Rd, Woolwich, Greenwich, 1994, 94-901-24*

And finally a little puzzle from the same film but taken south of the river on Bloomfield Road in Plumstead. The L and the S are clear and there are hints of two other letters, perhaps an I and a T. There could have been other letters, out of frame to the left. The building has been demolished and replaced by new housing, though some parts of the unusual paving remain. I can’t remember now if I knew what the site was, but have a vague feeling it may have been a garage and there is still a garage at the back of the new houses.

Please comment if you know more about this or any other of the pictures. More colour from 1994 to come.

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A Puzzle and More North London: My post today from my colour work in May 1994 begins with a plea for help. I’ve spent ages trying to find the location of this first picture and hope someone will recognise it and let me know.

As you can see it shows a street with some impressive houses beside a pond. Unfortunately the only information I recorded back in 1994 was on the back of the contact sheet containing this and a dozen other images:

Bounds Green / New Southgate
Hendon
Barnet
Vauxhall : 28 May 1994

On the film this frame comes between one which I think is from Barnet and some which are clearly at Vauxhall suggesting that this may also be in or around Barnet. But I don’t know Barnet at all well and other pictures taken there at the same time do not include a duck pond like this or any of the houses here.

Although my black and white work was fairly well organised at the time – and I was selling some and putting work into libraries, colour was then simply personal projects. At the time I was also working in south London, and this picture could possibly have been taken there. I’d like to know.

*Hobart Corner, New Southgate, Enfield, 1994, 94-53-62*

Henlys were a major car dealer in the UK mainly for British Leyland, but here they were selling Vauxhall. The New Southgate Gas Works were first built in 1859 and closed in 1972 and this gasholder was a landmark on the North Circular Road until it was demolished in 2014. It was the largest of three on the site and had been built in 1912. It was still in use in 1994 and was only decommissioned in 2001.

Planning permission was given in 2021 for tower blocks with 182 homes on the site but the developer has now dropped these and it is expected to remain empty for several more years.

*Chinese Restaurant, Edgware, 1994, 94-54-62*

Chinese Restaurant, Edgware, 1994, 94-54-64 — *Chinese Restaurant, Station Road, Edgware, 1994, 94-54-64*

I made several pictures of this Chinese Restaurant in the centre of Edgware. The reflection in the window shows the building on the corner of Manor Park Road and Station Road.

*Northway House, High Road, Whetstone, Barnet, 1994, 94-54-66*

Northway House was built in 1968-70 and was a landmark office tower development on the High Road in suburban Whetstone. Back in 1994 it still appeared well-used and in good condition but by 2015 much of it had become empty and dilapidated.

Planning permission was granted to a developer working closely with Barnet Council on a “mixed use residential led mixed use development” which retained and renovated the original building and was completed in August 2025.

Goldies, pub, 58, Regents Park Road Finchley, 1994, 94-54-51 — *Goldies, pub, 58, Regents Park Road, Finchley, 1994, 94-54-51*

Formerly known as the Golden Eagle, this pub was demolished in 2002. In its place, just north of the North Circular Road is now Holiday Inn Express London – Golders Green.

There was a pub on this site in the 1930s, built by Charringtons but I think this building dated from the 1950s or 1960s. Possibly it was rebuilt following war damage or because of the conversion of the road to a much wider double carriageway

Tag: puzzle

Leyton and a Puzzle – 1994

A Puzzle and More North London -1994