Architecture – Page 24 – slightly weird

7th June 201811th June 2018

Mare Street for plants, Bump Buddies event, and Pasta!

Thursday 7 June, 2018

We want to put plants on the windowsill now that we are opening the windows up. It feels like a lengthy process. So far all that’s happened is talking about it. Such is life with a perfectionist. Let’s make this so!

Plan: herbs on the kitchen windowsill – parsley, basil, rosemary…so far. I think also thyme, oregano, and sage, perhaps coriander – not sure. In the living room a mix of green plants and wildish flowers plus lavender. Instead of a box, we will have pots grouped together.

There are some nice plant shops on Stoke Newington Church Street and I can go there today or tomorrow and pick some things up. But I’ve also noticed from the bus a place called Hackney Flower Warehouse so I decided to pop along there in a quiet time to see what they had to offer.

The shops are at Victoria Park Road right by the Regent’s Canal. It’s old school Hackney in this neighbourhood.

**The flowery plant here really makes a difference to the old building front along Mare Street**

Regent’s Canal stretches from the Grand Union Canal at Paddington in the West to the Limehouse Basin and the Thames in the east It’s 13.8km (8.6 miles) long. It also runs parallel (just a dozen metres away) to the house I grew up in so it’s an old friend. While the Grand Union Canal can be wide and surprising with its greenery and wildlife and majestic views, Regent’s Canal is like an everyday Londoner. There are factories, derelict stretches, ordinary homes – modern and old, and walkers, runners and bicyclists along the way. Building began in 1812 and the first stretch was open in 1816. The part that runs through Hackney opened in 1820 so almost 200 years ago.

On the Regent's Canal Bridge at Andrews Road — **On the Regent’s Canal Bridge at Andrews Road**

It can be very picturesque along the canal, with its greenery and barges but not everywhere. Going through Hackney Wick it can be a real mess with the expected graffiti everywhere. This section is a mixed bag.

There’s a fair bit of construction on the east side. I wonder what they’re planning.

I see there’s a plant warehouse on my side of the street so I wandered around that a bit. Some really nice big plants and containers, a bit on the pricey side. I headed over to the flower warehouse and look around. It’s a nice feeling that everywhere in the world, when you step into a florist, the warm damp smells are the same. It’s quite heady.

Nothing blew me away here. I walked around a few times, seeing the options and making mental notes of what might be nice. The prices here are pretty good. In fact, they are about on par with Columbia Road Flower Market – three or four small plants for £10 – and it’s a lot less crowded! Noted! I’ll see what I can get along Stoke Newington Church Street and perhaps return to fill in some gaps.

Enough flags? Along Mare Street — **Enough flags? Football frenzy along Mare Street**

6th June 20188th June 2018

Hackney Downs Park, Upper Clapton

Wednesday, 6 June, 2018

I’ve been making two dolls in sarees for Shahanaz. It was a real challenge but I now know how to wrap a saree, not that I’d like that headache too often! And to be really honest, after making so many cute dolls, I didn’t like them very much at all by the time I’d finished. So I asked Shahanaz to meet me so that we could rip out a few stitches and re-sew until they were right.

We were meeting on Hackney Downs since it’s halfway between us. I don’t go there so often these days.

**Tennis courts at the Bodney Street entrance**

**Mosaic, a mental health social enterprise inside the park**

Luckily, Shahanaz didn’t want too much to change. We changed the position of the shoulder areas and pleated the back a little and then we took a photo of them on the bench with their optional head scarves. Usually, we go for coffee – She’s discovering coffee! – but it’s Ramadan so I hope our next visit together is a bit more delicious.

**The finished dolls ready for delivery, and my feet!**

Krish has had a bad back ache for about a week. This is from an old injury that every now and again flares up. The usual announcement is a loud yell from the bed when he can’t move or get up from lying down. He’s reluctant to talk to doctors about anything and it might take a while to book an appointment, attend it, and get attention. So I suggested he try the Osteopaths at Core Clapton, where I went last year for a nagging shoulder pain. You can book online and there are often same-day appointments. I booked one for him for Wednesday, when I could go with him.

It’s a ten-minute bus ride away in Upper Clapton on Northwold Road so we headed up there and went inside.

**Somewhat minimal but flexible space at Core Clapton**

Several squinty minutes with the registration form later, he was in there while I waited and wandered around a little. Core Clapton is designed for accessibility. They have a range of pay what you can services and the atmosphere is casual but definitely not amateur. The fact that a smiling Krish emerged 45 minutes later and booked another visit was a huge relief! And it was a lovely day so we walked home.

**The Crooked Billet Pub, Upper Clapton Road**

**Clapton Station, one stop away from my nearest station**

Slice of a building - looks flat from the front! — **Slice of a building – looks flat from the front!**

Clapton Pond - not sure why it's called a pond! — **Clapton Pond – not sure why it’s called a pond!**

Along Upper Clapton Road is The Round Chapel. The impressive building as we know it today opened in 1871 but it began in 1804 when it was a nonconformist, congregationalist church in 1804 at the nearby Old Gravel Pit Chapel. The Gravel Pit Chapel was in turn a breakaway group from the Ram’s Chapel in Homerton.

Hackney has had a lot of groupings and regroupings since the 17th century, since it was always a nonconformist area. These churches didn’t conform to the rules of the Church of England. Abney Park and Bunhill cemeteries, for example, were nonconformist burial grounds – both within Hackney. There were also three nonconformist academies – Homerton, Newington Green and Hoxton – which produced nonconformist figures like Daniel Defoe, and hymn writer Isaac Watts.

By 1868 the population had more than tripled and the much bigger Clapton Park (“Round”) Chapel was built. The population of the area grew massively and more houses sprang up.Then at the turn of the century, the congregation dwindled as people moved away to the outer suburbs.

The Chapel is a Grade II building, in the top 4% of protected buildings in the UK. This is in part due to its architecture – the unique round shape and its cast iron columns, controversial since they were typically used only in music halls and railway stations. Today the Hackney Building Trust has taken over the main auditorium and some rooms, while the adjoining Old School Rooms are kept by the church. The building was refurbished and is used as an event and workshop venue.

31st May 20188th June 2018

Hackney Town Hall

Thursday, 31 May, 2018

31st May is London History Day. This custom started last year. It coincides with the school holidays. More than 70 museums, galleries and cultural spaces were open and one that I noticed was a tour of the Hackney Town Hall and vaults so I booked a spot for 1pm.

Krish woke up with a terrible back ache and couldn’t move much for some time so it was hit and miss that I’d even go. Then things got better all around.

So on that warm, muggy day I raced over to the town hall and sat in the lobby with over a dozen other visitors, waiting for our guide. She turned up, armed with a stack of paper and wearing these shoes…

Who wears shoes like this to climb stairs, stand about, and walk around for an hour? So funny! Is it OK to criticise a tour guide? Then, I will. We learned later that this was her first time but I can’t help wondering why Hackney Council chose her for this job and do hope she gets better! Ninety per cent of the spiel was read from a paper, without expression and – guess what – reading into a paper script means your voice doesn’t travel. I honestly didn’t hear much of what was said so I’m going online to find out the history that we were surely told! Hope this guide gets better.

One thing I do remember is that the newest Portland stone Town Hall is 81 years old and that it is the third incarnation – the first being over at St Augustine’s Tower, and is small and now converted to Coral, a betting shop, the second was right on Mare Street taking up the space that the Town Hall square now occupies. Today’s borough was formed in 1965 when the smaller boroughs of Stoke Newington and Shoreditch were merged into the original borough of Hackney. It now forms the largest borough in London.

The Town Hall cost £99,870 to build in its promised ‘conventional but not showy’ style. It took three years to get there – from 1934-37.

Hackney’s shield shows St. Augustine’s Tower at the top. An eight-pointed Maltese Cross, for Hackney, which derives from the symbols of the Orders of the Knights Templar and Knights of St. John, both of whom held the Manor of Hackney. Three bells representing Shoreditch, these are the bells in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. Oaks for Stoke Newington, representing its origins in the Forest of Middlesex.

The motto is Justitia turris nostra – Being fair is what makes us strong! Or “Justice is our Tower” (reference to St Augustine’s)

Despite its limited budget, the architects managed to incorporate the art deco style of the times and, although spare, there’s enough evidence of this.

**The lobby with its art deco trimmings (and those shoes!)**

**On the first floor, lovely marble and a pretty cool Art Deco lamp at each staircase**

**Council chambers, modelled after the House of Commons**

On our tour with us, Carol Potter, the current Speaker — **On our tour with us, Clare Potter, the current Speaker**

24th May 201827th May 2018

Foiled Plans, Shoreditch and Whitechapel

Thursday, 24 May, 2018

What a crazy and too-warm day I had! After starting out so late yesterday I decided that I’d make an earlier start to see the London Hospital Museum. It’s been on my list for just ages. I took a quick look online for the location, decided where to have lunch, and added the Citizen M Hotel into the mix since the lobby concept looked interesting.

I started from Dalston Junction, a short bus ride from here and after three stops I arrived at Shoreditch High Street Station. Hard to remember what it was like before this line arrived in the area. So convenient and a pleasure to ride.

**Arriving at the cavernous ticket hall at Shoreditch High Street Station**

**Outside, a cornucopia of colourful street art**

I had decided to go to Dishoom and try their signature dish, black dal. It’s my second visit, my first being with my friends Mylene and Michele a couple of years back. This is billed as Indian street food. There’s a big effort to make the place look like somewhere in India, with lots of attention to detail in the fixtures, furnishings and ambience. Since I’ve never been to India, I can’t say how authentic it is.

Verdict – that black dal is fabulous. There were spices that I couldn’t quite figure out. Definitely one to research and make at home! I also had bhel, which I thought would be a refreshing contrast to the spicy, creamy dal. The drink is a sweet and salty lemonade. Perfect choice! £15 later…

I left Dishoom and headed over to Shoreditch High Street to find the hotel. I searched and searched. I had the address, I had the map, I even had the voice GPS on and, even after two complete circuits of the small block, I could locate neither a sign nor an entrance. It’s a mystery! I’m a bad map reader but this is ridiculous and way too time-consuming, so I headed for a bus over to the museum. At least I saw some nice art.

**Pretty diverse art at the back of Great Eastern Road and Shoreditch High Street**

If I was frustrated by not finding the hotel, I was due for more confusion. After first not finding the street with the museum because I was talking on my phone and not focussed enough, I then couldn’t find the museum anywhere. I looked again and again. It’s supposed to be in a church between Newark Road and Stepney Way. I could find no such thing. This puzzled me no end but no amount of looking or checking turned up anything that resembled a church or signage for the museum. There were, however, some original buldings around the hospital – reminds me of childhood. I was getting warmer and sweatier and on my third circuit, I headed for the bus home. Foiled twice in one day!

**Old homes around the new London Hospital**

I’ve looked at the map at home since, with a cooler head. I think I may know what I did wrong. I’ll try again in the next week or two.

23rd May 201827th May 2018

Penge Street Art Trail

Wednesday, 23 May, 2018 (afternoon)

I follow the Instagram account London Calling Blog ‘Documenting Street Art since 2015.’ They blog about and post street art from every London neighbourhood and have often helped me identify the pieces I’ve photographed. One thing I noticed is that Penge has a lot of street art. It has do with LCB’s Street Art Community Project aka SprayExhibition20 when a lot of pieces went up. The trend has continued.

I used to live not too far from Penge and I remember it being a not-too-desirable fairly boring place to be back then, so I wasn’t expecting too much. I knew it was quite residential and that it had a high street and that’s about all.

I was at a disadvantage, Krish having asked where I wanted to go and me having rattled off a half dozen options. He chose Penge. In a parallel universe I’d have prepared a map and plotted art pieces along the route. Instead I had some roughly scrawled notes to go with my admitted lousy map reading skills. Argh.

We set off about 2pm and arrived just after 3pm – love the Overground! We started at the southern end of the route, Anerly. Not much to see here but one shop shutter near the station did set the pace. Walking to our first stop, Maple Road, I remarked this looked quite a lot like Herne Hill but not as grand. Krish agreed.

Maple Road is a pretty ordinary street. It starts off small and residential and then starts to gain momentum with shops before meeting Penge High Street. We explored along the route and in some back alleys (quite reference to notes) and found quite a lot of art, good, bad, and indifferent. It’s a hard job choosing photos to post here but here we go with the first lot. I’ll add artists when I find the names.

This one is famous - doesn't quite do it for me — **This one is famous – doesn’t quite do it for me**

Leon Seesix - Dotmaster — **Leon Seesix – Dotmaster**

**We are not the droids you are looking for**

Neequaye Dreph Dsane - Dreph — **Neequaye Dreph Dsane – Dreph**