13th September 2020 – slightly weird

Thursday, 8 September, 2020

Every now and again I take a walk down Hackney Road. It was on my list of places to revisit and Krish suggested adding in Columbia Road on a non-market day. Add to that my increasing ‘need’ for Vietnamese food and we had a deal.

Home at the top and the areas I visited at the bottom of the map

My route along Hackney Road and Columbia Road. It was slightly twistier than this but it’s close enough. It felt like a long way

The days are shorter and the temperature is staying in the 17 to 20C range. It suits me well. Any warmer than 23 and I’m not so happy being out for long walking. There’s an added layer to being out these days. The kids have gone back to school. In the mornings and around 3:30, the buses and roads get much busier. I’ve read that they are suggesting as many students as possible ride bikes or walk to school and stay off public transport. While this must be happening, it’s also true that car traffic has increased. There must be a lot of parents driving students to school and, at peak times, there’s a lot of stop and go traffic outside the window.

At any rate, added to the ‘Covid caveats’ of avoid the post office on a Friday and Monday, stay away from the supermarket on the weekend, don’t walk on the Narrow Way unless you have no choice, I’m adding don’t travel on the buses till after 10am or between 3:15 to 4pm.

Look how many buses on Dalston Lane by The Pembury! This is almost as bad as it usually gets on Oxford Street. They increased the number of buses for the returning students

We missed most of the buses but then one showed up and we got in as far as Cambridge Heath Station. That’s where Hackney Road begins. Hackney Road is thought to follow a prehistoric route and into the 1700s was farmland with very few homes. During the 19th century this changed dramatically, as commercialisation became more the norm, and it took on a very urban look.

Before we set out we explored Clare Street, which runs along the Cambridge Heath railway arches. We had a little chat with some guys in the motorcycle shop. They reported business was quiet.

Motorcycle shop under the arches at Clare Street

There's always a lot of art on Clare Street

We took a little walk back towards Hackney Road again passing new and old buildings and some which seemed a mix.

This building looked like they’d built modern stories on top of the original house

The old-new building turned out to be the ex Duke of Cambridge. Krish pointed out that was at Cambridge Heath and that was how it was named

The last time we went down Hackney Road, we hadn’t enjoyed it as much as usual so this time we wandered slightly off the road and looked at what was around the corners. There were some cool discoveries along the way.

This has been a hotel for a while and now it’s a Mama Shelter. This chain calls itself an urban refuge – lively, unique and quirky There are hotels in 12 cities and 7 countries

Colourful houses on Pritchard's Road — Colourful houses on Pritchard’s Road, and the east end hold-out, Billy’s Cafe

Old council flats on Coate Street. The balconies seemed random

Lovely old Charrington's Pub on Coate Street — Lovely old Charrington’s Pub on Coate Street. Around here there would have been pubs on almost every corner

We also came across two very interesting buildings as we turned back to Hackney Road. On the corner with Garnet Street is the former Adelphi Chapel School date “1853, enlarged 1868”. This was a missionary school with 30 pupils built as a day and Sunday school, but also used as a chapel. And then we saw a baby blue building and couldn’t decide if it was cool or just ugly. It turned out to be a significant building. Built for £300,000 in 2002, FAT’s Blue House is a live-work house with an over-emphasised street-facing façade. The practice considers it to be one of the most important houses of the 21st century, or so the FAT website says.

Adelphi Chapel School building

The plan to divert occasionally was working out really well, but we were back on the main road and headed towards Columbia Road. At Goldsmith’s Row, there are two more treasures. First the old Queen Elizabeth Children’s Hospital. Also known as the North-Eastern Hospital for Sick Children, it was founded in 1867 and admitted 10,000 patients each year. For years we would walk past this then-derelict building. It was large and sombre. Then one day we noticed it was going to be developed into new flats. I seem to remember feeling a bit crestfallen that the blackened historical building would be gone. It’s not so bad, though.

It’s called Mettle & Poise, and was a sell-out success, with every new home sold off plan two years before the completion of the redevelopment in 2017.

On the other side from the old hospital (now M&P) is the lovely wooded Hackney City Farm. It was established in 1984 as a community and educational resource and to give borough residents, particularly young people, experience of animals. There’s a farmyard, area for grazing, garden and a tree nursery with butterfly house. The farm is home to a range of animals, including poultry, sheep, rabbits, bees, pigs and a donkey. Hackney City Farm also runs workshops and sells honey and free range eggs, among other things. A city oasis.

As you can probably tell, this is another area of Hackney (bordering on Tower Hamlets) that was overwhelming to read about. I’ve done my best!

There was one more stop for us before we found Columbia Road – the Phlegm mural on the Portuguese Love Affair cafe.

The Phlegm wall art in Ion Square on the Portuguese Love Affair Cafe building

Continue reading “Hackney Road and Columbia Road – incredible histories”