Alex Pink’s Spitalfields, Then & Now
As Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archive reopens tomorrow after months of building work, it is my pleasure to publish this collaboration with Spitalfields Life Contributing Photographer Alex Pink who selected photographs of familiar locations from the archive, and then set out with his camera to revisit the same streets and discover what changes times has wrought.
Cygnet St, Brick Lane, 1932
Cygnet St, Brick Lane, c.1965
Cygnet St, Brick Lane, 2013
Corner of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green Rd, 1971
Corner of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green Rd, 2013
Brick Lane, c.1960
Brick Lane, 2013
Brick Lane at the corner of Bacon St, 1974
Brick Lane at the corner of Bacon St, 2013
Corner of Sclater St and Brick Lane, 1975
Corner of Sclater St and Brick Lane, 2013
Corner of Brick Lane and Grimsby St, c. 1985
Corner of Brick Lane and Grimsby St, 2013
Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, c. 1973
Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, 2013
Fashion St, c.1965
Fashion St, 2013
Corner of Brick Lane and Chicksand St, c.1981
Corner of Brick Lane and Chicksand St, 2013
Brick Lane at the corner of Chicksand St, 1972
Brick Lane at the corner of Chicksand St, 2013
Corner of Wentworth St and Commercial St, c.1981
Corner of Commercial St and Wentworth St, 2013
Corner of Wentworth St and Toynbee St, 1989
Corner of Wentworth St and Toynbee St, 2013
Wentworth St, 1968
Wentworth St, 1989
Wentworth St, 2013
Wentworth St from Middlesex St, 1981
Wentworth St from Miidlesex St, 2013
Wentworth St from Middlesex St, 1981
Wentworth St from Middlesex St, 2013
Cobb St, 1968
Cobb St, 2013
Elder St, c.1935
Elder St, 2013
Archive images courtesy Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
New photographs copyright © Alex Pink
Visit Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives for opening times, collections & events.
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Love the comparisons. Thanks.
Many restored buildings look in better condition now. A great case for conservation.
Notice how much CLEANER everything is now?
Look at the liiter & dirt … especially in the 1970’s – which seems to have been “the pits” for the area, when it was at bottom.
In the much older photos, everyone, but everyone, is wearing a hat, too.
Thank you for these great photos and your great blog. Much appreciated.
Seeing what has persisted is very interesting – a great collection. Let’s have some more please.
Great pictures – it’s amazing how much more colourful everything is now…
These are great. I love to run my eye over all their detail. Thank you.
Great combination of old and new.
I love the before and after shots. Sometimes it’s depressing to see how much has been lost to mediocre new buildings but there are many positive examples of conservation here. More please.
Great photos. Can the bollard on the right hand side of Fashion Street 2013 be the same one as pictured in 1965 ? Positioned at the same spot and leaning at the same angle…..if only it could speak…..what changes. As others have said, many changes have been for the better and it is comforting to know that so much has survived.
Some wonderful images
Great pictures. I love the comparisons and I also noticed how much cleaner the area looks now.
My late father told me about the Jewish Community who lived in this area before the Second World War, and who subsequently moved out of the East End to North London and beyond.
Seriously awesome. Lots of observations to be made:
– Gentrification has the good and bad sides. Both very evident here.
– Some lovely buildings got razed only to be replaced by eye sores (Chicksand St is a good example)
– You cant see the Tower 42 in the 60s 🙂
– Halal shop in 1981 – Hilarious
– Yakee Doodle burger place on Petticoat Lane Market – sounds lovely
– People now wear animal onsies on the streets of Brick Lane casually.
– Beards – the timeless manly tool
– Yeah things are cleaner now – but that’s the case for all of London, especially the areas that saw super gentrification. EC1 to E1 is probably one of the most changed areas demographically since the 60s!
Lovely comparisons – I wonder if a sense of place will remain in 30 years time when we look back at another part of this area, Norton Folgate, and evaluate its change over time. My worry is that it will be unrecognisable and that British Land will have destroyed a unique and distinctive part of our city – an area, supposedly in a ‘conservation area’ that is subject to 70% demolition. It is still possible to object to this so called redevelopment – sign the petition at: http://bit.ly/1wcZYID