Comments on: Val Perrin’s Empty Brick Lane

By: Margaret Mcdermott

Margaret Mcdermott — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 18:04:46 +0000

There are only two Brushfield Sts in the UK I live on the other one but no Hawksmoor church at the top .

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:35:51 +0000

I love these images, which just reconfirms the ebb and flow of life. I particularly like the resilience and smiling faces of the children, the polished shoes and briefcase of the man as he inspects the pages of a book on the ground, and the old lady with her battered old pushchair, but wearing a warm coat and polished shoes. There is a dignity about them all, and this is just a transition period until a new community gradually drifts in, repairs the properties, and ensures the area thrives once again.

By: Pauline Taylor

Pauline Taylor — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 10:19:54 +0000

Apologies from me too GA but to reply very quickly to Rupert. Frederick Greenwood and Thomas Hardy were also friends and Hardy was a member of the committee set up to organize ‘The Great Occcasion’ which was the dinner to Greenwood that Sir James Barrie had suggested. The dinner was held on April 8, 1905, the list of those who attended occupied thirty lines in The Times and included many politicians as well as great literary figures, and just so that we don’t completely forget the point of this post, there was also a note from Baroness Burdett-Coutts in which she spoke of her ‘dear and honoured friend’. The baroness was a great champion of the working classes and a philanthropist. Created Baroness in 1871 by Queen Victoria she was the first woman to be ennobled in recognition of her charitable accomplishments and widely known as the ‘Queen of the Poor’ for the work she did in London. Frederick helped her and they became great friends.

By: aubrey

aubrey — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 09:16:14 +0000

’70-72 photos? The look much like like ’50’s when I was growing up. I think one must infer that there was not much happening in the area during those decades.

By: Rupert

Rupert — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 09:06:17 +0000

Sorry TGA that I continue my chat with Pauline through your comments.

Well Pauline, I would agree with the niece, Dickens was driven on by the financial disasters visited upon the family by his Father, and I sense he revelled in his celebrity. Certainly the way he treated his wife was truly obnoxious, hopefully in 21st Century that would not be tolerated and his writings boycotted. Thackeray, on the other hand, was a well rounded and travelled gentleman, which I think is reflected in his gently mocking writing, yet primarily within middle-class circles. The two, I think, culminating in the output from my chum Tommy Hardy, who wrote across the social spectrum, however his rather stiff-collared manner not reflected in his personal life.

I digress, not unusually for me!

By: Pamela Traves

Pamela Traves — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 03:48:07 +0000

So Dismal, grey and sad. So far away from Beautiful from London. ???

By: Pauline Taylor

Pauline Taylor — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:36:26 +0000

Thank you Rupert. I feel both of them looking over my shoulder whenever I try to write, I could never hold a candle to them but I am always happiest with a pen or a pencil in my hand. You might be interested to learn that both Frederick and James were friends of Dickens and Thackeray (the great Thack) and Frederick entertained them in his home. The niece of Frederick’s wife met them both, and she recalled, when she was over 100 years old, that Mr Thackeray was very nice but she did not like Mr Dickens. Frederick encouraged and gave a start to many famous Victorian authors when he was editor of the Pall Mall Gazette. One of them was Sir James Barrie who recalled that, when he was first asked to come to London to meet Mr Greenwood, he had to buy a top hat which he wore on every subsequent visit giving it the name of the Greenwood Hat, he also arranged a dinner in Frederick’s honour towards the end of Frederick’s life at which he said that he just could not say how much he owed Mr Greenwood and how much he loved him !

By: Ron Wortz

Ron Wortz — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 12:35:26 +0000

Excellent photos. Thank you for another great look back at days past in London.

By: Rupert

Rupert — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 11:09:44 +0000

What a recollection from Pauline Taylor ???????????

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 10:26:10 +0000

A short story in a single photo. The man bending over and inspecting a fallen book.

Just look at him. A natty fellow. Him, with his polished shoes, the tiny feather in his hat, the plaid lining in his sturdy topcoat, and a neat orderly attache case. Now, tell, me — why would THAT
fellow need to bend over and turn the pages of a grimey forgotten book? Is he a collector, hoping to spy a treasure? (and, oh dear, if it IS a treasure…….what does he do next?) Did he straighten up, wipe his hands on his pristine pocket handkerchief, walk away…….and then come back and look at the book again? What was the content that piqued his interest?

Thank you to the photographer/story-teller who captured this moment. And to you, GA.