The different sides of Whitechapel

Monday, 31 August, 2020

We wanted to walk around Whitechapel again. The area is very dense and has some heavy contrasts. Here I’ll give a warning: There are many, many photos and I did this walk two weeks ago. I no longer remember where each part belongs or what I was thinking about when I took the photos. I may have to juggle things about but I know I won’t get it completely right.

What matters, though, is that our walk took us through the older areas of Spitalfields, through some parts of Whitechapel that my grandparents – and even my parents – would have a hard time believing, and into some areas where the stark, modern lines struck a strong contrast with the old, sometimes converted, warehouses and factories.

To me, it was a typical Whitechapel adventure, where anything was possible, where the past and present cooperate and compete, and where the future can only be imagined. There’s a little bit of history, but not too much or my brain will hurt, and as much everyday thinking as I can muster along the way.

Map of Whitechapel walk — A wildly inaccurate map of where we walked

Our first overground train ride — We hadn’t taken the Overground since lockdown. The new trains were operating, the carriages were quiet and masks weren’t always apparent. It’s less than ten minutes from Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street Station

Keeping a safe distance and staying where you need to be, at Liverpool Street Station

It's rare to see Liverpool Street Station so quiet on a weekday — It’s rare to see Liverpool Street Station so quiet on a weekday

Venturing into Spitalfields. The building sign says 1682. It’s Ottolenghi at Artillery Passage and it had been closed temporarily for weeks

From Middlesex Street, the old and the new. Middlesex Street is the main road for Petticoat Lane

Paste ups as always — I didn’t photograph street art on this walk.This is an oldie but goodie

Toynbee Hall, built in 1886 to serve the poor of London’s East End

The Old Streets of Tenter Ground. Built by the Flemish weavers, the Huguenots who fled Belgium in the 17th century. Here, newly woven cloth was stretched taut to flatten on an open field. When the Huguenots left, housing was developed in 1829 and the Dutch Jews (The Chut) moved into the area

The Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor, Brune Street, *(5662 -1902)*

Brune Street Estate — London County Council Holland estate built between 1927–1936.

Houses where some of my ancestors lived are now finally gone. They were appallingly decrepit for years, a real eyesore. Now they’re gone, I feel quite sad

Finally, we got to Whitechapel High Street, at Aldgate East Station. The scenery changes dramatically.

It’s hard to imagine more of a contrast between the streets we’d just walked and what looms ahead. The corner of Whitechapel over by Aldgate East tube station, near Whitechapel Art Gallery, has been completely built up with modern towers. For a while, with the brief reminder of the old East End, we walked through a steel and glass jungle.

Here I feel incredibly lost on how we wormed through the streets. On one side, a modern tower, on the other a warehouse or factory. It was a crazy mix of new and old in a way that always makes me smile and want to know more. I don’t take notes when I walk. The walking and the seeing, and the picture taking is all I can manage so it will have to remain mostly a pictorial take on what there is to say once you venture off the main roads.

The Loom, Gower's Walk — The Loom, Gowers Walk

And finally things looked familiar again. This gives me a feeling of relief and disappointment all at the same time. Relief that my legs will get a break and I’m not actually ‘lost’ or going in circles, but also disappointment that now familiarity will set in and the adventurous part of walking will be gone.