Comments on: Wilful Destruction At The Truman Brewery

By: Clare Barclay

Clare Barclay — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 20:47:47 +0000

I came across this article while having a nostalgic on-line review of Spitalfields, where I used to stay during the 1990s, at 27 Fournier Street. I revisited in 2009/2010. This is a travesty. The Truman brewery was a landmark and a beautiful market. Why would these greedy owners want to ruin the character of the neighbourhood – they will lose out in the end. And tearing up those beautiful pavers?! I recall the battle over the old Spitalfields market in the early/mid 2000s. They were going to tear it down and build a high rise. The neighbourhood put up a fight and was able to work out a compromise and the result is vastly superior to what might have been. Can this type of battle not be fought over the Truman brewery? This will ruin Brick Lane and the character of the neighbourhood, forever.

By: steven harris

steven harris — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 04:29:26 +0000

So very sad and a personal loss. As a boy in the 1960s, living next door in the Great Eastern Buildings (now demolished), I used to run along those very same paved roads and streets as I headed up to commercial street. Woodseer street is also well remembered as the place to get bits of scrap wood (Best’s wood yard) for starting the coal fires in the buildings. A loss of history to support the development of yet another characterless dedication to corporate greed 🙁

By: Catherine Gouldinh

Catherine Gouldinh — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 21:43:16 +0000

I am very sad to hear of the destruction at the Old Truman Brewery. Even with the support of the well known historian Dan Cruickshank, and others who care deeply about the heritage of Spitalfields, we do not seem to be able to save the irreplaceable traces of the past. We must keep trying. The place has still more stories to tell. I, as so many others, have been tracing my family’s history. A number lived and worked in Brick Lane around the 1850’s and had their links with the Truman Brewery. I had only recently discovered that one ancestor was the landlord of The Black Eagle and living there was a nephew who went on to be given the commission to supply granite for the Embankment and the Eddystone Lighthouse among other things. How interested I was to see the pictures of the granite paving stones and how shocked I was when I read what had happened.

By: Yanjela Sherpa

Yanjela Sherpa — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 17:45:38 +0000

This is such a shame! Coincidentally I am currently working on the Truman Brewery site for my masters architecture project and had been looking at the condition of these ground paving extensively and have been able to survey these in drawing thankfully. It’s unfortunate to see that now these no longer remain..

By: melissa delano

melissa delano — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 17:53:27 +0000

I agree with above…”Harmsworth”….visualize eyeroll…and sent him an email too…from northern New Mexico…where we face the same kind of insanity….I have never been to Spitalfields and never really knew about it until recently when I stumbled across this blog…and it is wonderful…an incredible education! Thank you for being here!

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:29:42 +0000

Heartbreaking, and disgraceful behaviour, both from the owners, and for the Planning Enforcement team for not doing their job properly. I have sent an email expressing my concerns to Patrick Harmsworth (a rather ironic surname!)

By: Jill Carey-Stuart

Jill Carey-Stuart — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:04:51 +0000

Totally unimaginative and blinkered behaviour.
15 years ago when visiting Bohemia in the Czech Republic we witnessed sets being relaid in town squares, with natural stone of different colours being used to deliniate parking bays, no parking zones and other messages commonly made in paint – brilliant. Of all the wonderful places we visited, and things we saw, the renovations of town squares, (together with the sight of huge teenage boys queuing up to go into school with their slippers under their arm) left a lasting impression!

By: Cherub

Cherub — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 20:47:26 +0000

The old paving would have looked beautiful if it had been carefully restored and cleaned, as the stones are lovely colours.

This type of thing is happening everywhere. I live in Switzerland and one of the districts close to me has buildings dating back to the 13th c, yet the residents are up against council planners who want to rip up all the old paving to replace it with large modern flagstones they are using in more modern parts of the city. They also want to widen the pavements. The residents rightly argue their small village like district will lose its character if this goes ahead. You cannot just take something from early medieval times and catapult it into the 21st c, then again it seems you cannot reason with planners either 🙁

By: John Lsngan

John Lsngan — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 16:32:32 +0000

Name and shame them Can retrospective rcive site of cpmminity importance be placed on this?
COuld listing be placed on this retrospecively. Have English heritage bern approachef. Yhis is a unique working gloor, snd im sure it could have bern incorporated into design.
Developers demolished a pub in Carlton Vale kilburn the day befire listing wss placed on it. And had to rebuild back to original.

By: Sue Mayer

Sue Mayer — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:42:10 +0000

Thank goodness Dan took photos as that is all we have left now. Developers are only interested in making a large profit. All of this history is lost to be replaced with offices and a shopping mall. Covid has changed the world forever so we no longer need more office space and yet more shopping malls, when will somebody realise this and stop these ridiculous developments.

I think Tower Hamlets should be investigated for failing to protect this site and this is not the first time they have been found wanting. Why, oh why, would you believe a developer surely common sense tells you that somebody from the council needed to go and inspect the site?

I am grateful I no longer live in London especially as I used to live in the Tower Hamlets council area.

This is all very depressing.