Comments on: Phil Maxwell On Sclater St

By: Maurice

Maurice — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 05:34:30 +0000

I grew up in Vallance Rd and went down the Sunday market almost every week. So many memories. The City is closing in fast. A terrible shame.

By: Mark Griffin

Mark Griffin — Wed, 02 May 2018 17:07:56 +0000

Anyone know any more about the various animal dealers, or who relatives who mentioned them? Becoming a bit intrigued after seeing a couple of cabs being pulled by Zebras and finding out that Sclater Street was once the place to stock up your private zoo with exotic animals or just a caged bird if you couldn’t go to an Elephant or camel?

By: martin

martin — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 02:08:30 +0000

Alas it is all now gone. The last of the authentic street life of old London that has prevailed for centuries has at last been obliterated by the developers. When i look at these fab photos i feel slightly vindicated i left London when i did in 2002. What’s left now is buffed and polished real estate with no soul and people who can’t afford the crazy rent and house prices. In the 20 years i lived there I felt connected to the real authentic old London that manifested itself in the street markets, cafe’s and pubs. At least Borough market is still there – for the time being.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 17:29:57 +0000

Great photos and comment from Robert.
I remember the slight culture shock of experiencing the market in the 70s, having never seen anything like it in the Midlands! The mess and clutter were an integral part of it I think.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:41:25 +0000

I remember this so well from when I lived in London in the 1980s. Five or six years ago, the last time I was in London, I went down Brick Lane/Cheshire St/Sclater St on a Sunday morning, and was sorry to see so much of the atmosphere gone. Cheshire St in particular seemed to have been so gentrified with posh boutique shops that it had lost its soul.

Anyone else remember queueing for the most delicious latkes at Marks deli on Cheshire St, and then on weekends when feeling a bit flush, getting some of their superb smoked salmon? Then as you went further along Cheshire St, on the right and just off the street were a couple of covered yards where all sorts of stuff was sold, including at least one stall which always used to be covered in a large mound of electric drills. There was always a feeling that at least some of this stuff must be knocked off, and I seem to remember – though may be wrong – that part(s) of the Cheshire St & Sclater St markets may have been classed as markets overt, meaning that one could buy stolen goods, with no fear of recourse from the law/legal owners.

Returning to Brick Lane, there were some greengrocer’s barrows, with an opportunity to pick up fruit and veg for the lowest prices imaginable. I always assumed these were the barrows that used to trade up in the West End during the week, returning to the East End to sell off the leftovers from the Saturday trade up West.

Heading north up Brick Lane, you came to Bacon Street. Turning left onto Bacon St took you to the rear of the northern market yard of Sclater St. Importantly on a cold winter’s day, there was often a stall selling apple fritters on Bacon St. I remember the bicycle stalls, hardware stalls, the seafood stall, with its piles of eel bones on the ground where customers, myself included, spat them while enjoying a portion of jellied eels. You could get a great bacon sandwich in the southern market yard on Sclater St too. Then as you walked along Sclater St towards Bishopsgate and Liverpool St, the stalls started to peter out, and become less formal and more saddening, till you were confronted with what seemed to be the desperate trying to sell whatever trinket they might have or have come across. And then you came to Bishopsgate and reentered the late 20th century.

Although I have ancestors who lived on these streets in the 19th century, I was only ever a visitor to this world, which it is sad to see is now all but lost, yet lives on in photographs like those above.

By: Achim

Achim — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 13:43:51 +0000

Drawn from life!

Love & Peace
ACHIM

By: sarah ainslie

sarah ainslie — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 21:28:58 +0000

Great pictures and each one tells such a wonderful story.

By: pauline taylor

pauline taylor — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 11:22:52 +0000

Well said Robert Green, but why oh why do street markets create so much mess? I know that these excellent photographs were taken many years ago, but we still have the problem here in Colchester. Our market has been moved to the High Street and last night the rubbish was thick on the ground outside our town hall and blowing about everywhere, why do traders not pick it up?

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 09:12:51 +0000

Superb photographs, as always, by Phil. He captures the soul of the people and the street itself so beautifully. It’s yet another historically important area that looks like being subsumed into the ever-expanding City and buried beneath another hideous “development” that has no room for local people or their way of life.

By: Constance Marie Pierce

Constance Marie Pierce — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 08:24:26 +0000

A rich array of human interactions layered with emotional connections emerge throughout these compelling photos. I wonder what decades the above series covers. The fifth photo down depicts a child looking backward who rather resembles a very young David Bowie.

~ Congratulations to Mr. Maxwell on his publication ~