Saturday, 27 January 2018
There’s a lot to see in my neighbourhood and many ways to walk towards the same point. There’s also a ton of history – enough to probably bury me under for years so I try to pick up bits of it as I can.
Just at the end of the road is the newest Pembury Circus development. It’s built on part of the Pembury Estate.
Pembury estate has two distinct parts; Old Pembury (divided into East and West) and New Pembury. Old Pembury consists of 24 walk-up blocks dating from the 1930s. New Pembury consists of streets of maisonettes and bungalows dating from the 1960s.
In recent years some of the Pembury estate was demolished and newer buildings were constructed along the periphery, called Pembury Circus. I have no idea how much of it is affordable housing but it was the beginning of big changes in the local community. One concession to the former residents was the inclusion of the community centre on the ground floor of the largest new building. There are many community events and a cafe serving breakfasts and lunches. One of these days I want to try their chana roti.
At the top of the road that borders the estate is Hackney Downs Park, which gives its name to the station and my whole neighbourhood. This is one of many Hackney borough parks.
Walking away from the park and along the top edge of the park is one favourite way to get to Lower Clapton, another area that is just starting to change into more trendy, vibrant area.
The next part of my journey is probably my favourite bit – cutting through from Lower Clapton Road to the Narroway (the upper part of Mare Street, Hackney’s main road). To get there you walk from the now abandoned Clapton Police Station and through the grounds of St. John-at-Hackney Church. It amazes me that in very urban Hackney there are pockets of land that look mostly unchanged from their pastoral beginnings.
To my right is St. John-at-Hackney Church.  a very active church. the original dating from 1275. The current church building was built during the 18th century (1792). It was designed by James Spiller, who was influenced by Sir John Soane. (This a massive coincidence since I recently have been to John Soane’s museum.) St. John does a lot for the homeless as well as hosting large musical events. Of the old church only a tower, St Augustine’s Tower (substantially rebuilt 1520), remains. The tower is open to the public once a month so I will take some photos there when I can.
At this point weve reached the Narroway (Narrow Way) which is being pedestrianised. It used to be the route for buses and, trust me, with so many bus routes in Hackney with a bus station entrance at the bottom
, that didn’t make it a very fun place to walk. I won’t lie – it’s maybe the lamest shopping area around. Its redeeming quality is a small Marks & Spencer.
