Thursday, 20 August, 2020
Remember my agoraphobia? Well, I did yesterday. Going out is difficult some days but I try to keep in mind that not going out is just as difficult since it leads to not wanting to go out. And then your body develops all sorts of nasty anxiety symptoms anticipating or attempting it, which results in not wanting to do it again. It’s a vicious cycle. Most of the time I go by the 50-50 rule. If it’s just as likely I’ll have a positive outing as it is that I’ll have an negative one, I will go with the 50% positive option. Why not?
That’s what Thursday was like. For one thing it was a little stormy inside the flat, and for another it was the sixth anniversary of my dad’s death. I was feeling down but out I went – going with the 50% positive rule.
My plan was to look around Clarence Road, a major site for the riots in 2011, and then loop into Clapton Square, out again to get a few groceries and home. This is a short excursion and I didn’t do terribly but, well, see for yourself.
And yay, there are some curved streets. I just didn’t get to explore them all.
Before I left the flat I decided to do a bit of research into Clarence Road and was surprised to find very little online. What I did find was many records of the riots and reports of stabbings. This was all I could find: Back Lane (a forerunner of Clarence Road), a short cut from Church Street to the heart of Clapton village by the pond. As a back lane, it doesn’t merit much mention. It’s still a nice shortcut and one I tend to forget – the cut-throughs and short cuts from Upper and Lower Clapton Road, if I can just remember which turning to take.
There are some interesting things along Clarence Road, though. It borders Pembury Estate and is often quite lively (pre-pandemic) with a record store, corner shops, a few cafes, and not quite yet trendy.
It’s well worth remembering the riots now. Sitting in our flat just a very short walk away, we were unaware how much havoc and damage was happening on Clarence Road. Once it was cleared and the shops and homes recovered, the street seemed to take a turn for the better. People wanted to support each other, to clean up, to move on, to show the world they were not hooligans.
It was much warmer out than I’d anticipated. I’d caved and bought a bottle of water but the sun was full and there was little shade. I don’t do well in the heat. I was determined to go over to Clapton Square and take photos of the notable houses but my resolve was flagging.
I did my best and it really wasn’t good enough but here goes.
Clapton Square is a quiet, grand area in this eclectic neighbourhood. It was laid out in 1816 in the fields of the manor of Hackney. Two sides of the square are lined with tall, partly stone-dressed, classical, Georgian terraced houses. The central gardens have a finely restored drinking fountain donated in 1894. But confession, I have never gone in. There are always far too many drunken people laying about in there so I need to find another brave soul to go in with. Apparently, the wall and iron railings are original – with apologies for no close-ups this time.
Sadly, by this time I was starting to feel unwell. I’d drank most of my water, but I was now feeling very nauseated and concerned about getting home. My carefully planned house by house exploration was evaporating and I needed instead to find some shade and another cold drink.
I wandered out of Clapton Square, with St John of Hackney directly across from me. A quick visit to the Sainsbury Local and some cool, quiet air. On my way to the bus I went past Flynn’s pub and thought about the heavy contrasts I’d seen on my walk.
A little PS from Wikipedia. Seems I wasn’t the only one that fancies living or spending time in Clapton Square:
19th century Jewish writer Grace Aguilar lived in the Square. Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) visited, around 1905, his friend Theodore Rothstein who resided in the square.
Clarence Place
Resident and eminent scientist Joseph Priestley, a fellow of the Royal Society wrote:
On the whole I spent my life more happily at Hackney than I had ever done before
He lived at the house (demolished in 1880) on the corner of the Passage and Lower Clapton Road, in the 1790s. A mob had hounded him out of his house and laboratory in Birmingham who opposed his support for the French Revolution. He was invited to come to Hackney to take up the post of Unitarian Minister at the Old Gravel Pit Chapel where he had many friends amongst the Hackney Dissenters. A plaque marks the site of his house above the existing corner building in Lower Clapton Road. He emigrated to America in 1794 fearing a repeat of his family’s persecution.
In a cottage behind Priestley’s house, in the closing years of the 18th century, lived a Huguenot widow, Louisa Perina Courtauld, a designer of gold plate who married a silversmith. Their son, Samuel Courtauld (junior), founded the Courtauld dynasty of silk and artificial fibre manufacturers and a descendant founded the Courtauld Institute now in Somerset House.
5 Clapton Square – home of Thomas Briggs, chief clerk of Robarts, Curtis Bank, Britain’s first railway murder victim on 9 July 1864 (Mr Briggs Hat, Kate ​Colquhoun, ISBN 9780349123592 2011) (​“On 9 July 1864, businessman Thomas Briggs walked into carriage 69 on the 9.45 Hackney-bound train.
A few minutes later, two bank clerks entered the carriage – but as they sat down, one of them noticed blood pooled in the seat cushions and smeared on the walls.
But there was no sign of Thomas Briggs.”) You’ll have to read the book for the rest.