Wednesday, 28 October, 2020
Hackney has a lovely little museum. It’s housed in the modern library building beside the town hall. Despite its small size, they’ve managed to capture the history and spirit of the area. The focus is on immigration to Hackney and its oldest exhibit is from Saxon Times – it’s a logboat believed to have been made from a tree felled in 950 to 1000 when the tree was 200-250 years old. It was found near the Lea River in 1987. If such things fascinate you, you can read about it here. You’ll also see photos since my own were hindered by too much glare. The logboat itself is under glass in the floor but there is usually a model of it on the floor – it’s been stored away for now.
Of course the museum has been closed for some time but opened mid October with an exhibit of photos taken in the 1980s. I booked my slot online and waited for the day to arrive. Then on that day, I planned my route over there so that I could make the most of the time outside.
My walk started with a walk past these two ‘ladies.’ Ming Hai, a rather terrible Chinese restaurant and Casablanca, a Caribbean restaurant. I’d say both are worth a miss for food but they are constants around here. Ming was closed for some time and just reopened a week or so ago. Every day the owner comes out at the same time to open the shutters and set up her day. Her customers are loyal. Casablanca seems to be open for long, long hours – from early until quite late. People come from far away and we have our theories about its role in the community, based on who comes, who goes, and who hangs around outside.
At the junction of Dalston Lane there’s Navarino Mansions. They were built in 1904 by the Four Per Cent Dwellings Company (now IDS, Industrial Dwellings Society) a group of Jewish philanthropists to relieve the overcrowding in homes in the East End of London. I love these buildings and they definitely deserve a lot more photographs and research but for now here are three images.
Navarino Road is an elegant street and quite different in character than how I started on Wayland Avenue (Navarino Road beginning on the other side of Dalston Lane). I can imagine that this street was settled by people who had a bit more money in their pocket.
I always turn down Wilton Way. I love the villagey feel of that street. To my right a bit is Violet, the bakery which baked the cake for the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan. I’ve been going to Violet since I moved to Hackney. and Claire its American owner was an unknown. Claire lives on Wilton Way still but I don’t know where exactly. Today I turned left instead to head towards the back of the Hackney Empire and eventually the library.
After Wilton Way’s residential area there’s a pretty dramatic fork in the road, with one side (to the left) called Penpoll Road, a colourful but mysterious name.
