Comments on: Chris Miles’ East End

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 20:30:31 +0000

I’m pretty sure that M. Evans ‘Garn Dairy’ was in Globe Road, Bethnal Green.

By: Maria

Maria — Sat, 27 May 2017 15:04:33 +0000

The top photo which features Peter Pan is East India Dock Road , Poplar E.14. My Mum ran The Army and Navy Store just a few shops along towards The Blackwall Tunnel. The photos of shopfronts and cafe’s were fantastic to see.

By: Chris Miles

Chris Miles — Tue, 09 May 2017 18:27:28 +0000

I just wanted to say thankyou for all the comments and compliments that have appeared here since the photos were published.
I knew that I was catching something special with these photographs when I took them 40 years ago but I didn’t have an audience or a way to share them with others who might be interested so they languished in various boxes over numerous house moves, always in the back of my mind as a project I hadn’t completed.
The daily updates on the Spitalfields Life blog have come to be a special part of my morning media routine so to have this work published here is a particular thrill.
Thanks again to all who have commented and communicated by email via the Gentle Author. If there are individual photographs that have a special significance for people I would be happy to make copies available for private use.
In a few days time I’m making a rare trip back to London and look forward to walking many of these streets again.

Chris

By: Philip Marriage

Philip Marriage — Tue, 09 May 2017 16:32:46 +0000

These are terrific, so interesting to see shopfronts of nigh on half a century ago – nearly all of which show far better typographic taste than todays bland plastic frontages. When shops start having plastic signs you know the area is going downhill and it’s a sign of gentrification when they becoming hand-painted again, eg Brushfield Street which was so poor that it thankfully never went through the plastic stage. The Galley/Freund shop looks almost Victorian with a veneer of so many signs plus the saw looking almost from Georgian times when many in the population were illiterate. Lovely, and thanks!

By: Phil Cunningham

Phil Cunningham — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:03:42 +0000

Some of my memory has returned. The picture ‘Common Market No’ is in Redlands Rd. Ian Mikado, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow told me he had a great aunt who lived there. I need a new memory!
PCU

By: Ros

Ros — Mon, 08 May 2017 22:01:09 +0000

Phil Cunningham says he can’t identify anything but actually one of ‘J.Galley and Sons successors to Henry Freund’ appeared in his own selection of East End shopfronts on March 21st with the caption Roman Road c 1976. Not that I’m suggesting he needs cataract surgery!! I do like these series of photos that you put up GA and am so grateful to all the people who had the foresight to take them

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Mon, 08 May 2017 10:42:42 +0000

Many thanks to everyone who chimed in and advised me about the significance of “George Davis is Innocent” graffiti. I did indeed “google” the topic, for further info, and have to admit I am
fascinated about his story and why he-of-all-people captivated folks to the extent that this plea
ended up written over most of South London. It reminded me that when I first moved to Manhattan in 1967, “FBI in the Library” seemed to be scrawled everywhere. As we say here:
“Go figure!”.

By: David Charnick

David Charnick — Sun, 07 May 2017 19:49:08 +0000

The J Kelly pie shop was our local here on Roman Road – now the Meze Barbeque Restaurant (150 Roman Road).

By: belle

belle — Sun, 07 May 2017 17:24:49 +0000

wonderful set of photos. George Davis is Innocent was written over much of the South London i knew.

By: Felix Moore

Felix Moore — Sun, 07 May 2017 17:01:14 +0000

I’m 90% sure S. Kornbloom Newsagents and Confectioners is my house. The doors and windows and the placement of the tree are exactly right and I know that half of our house (two 19th century houses knocked together) used to be a sweet shop. I’d rather not give out my address on the internet but is there a email address I could send it to?