Comments on: The Romance Of Old Bishopsgate

By: Flora

Flora — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 05:56:16 +0000

The two recent photographs are renarkable & illustrative of what is happening both physically & more. This is disaster capitalism. The obliterating domination of the ruthless.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 08:54:10 +0000

Yes, I agree the final photograph says it all

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:01:36 +0000

What is happening to our City? The last photograph sums it all up. The greed of the few seems to usurp the history and memories of the many.

By: Peter Holford

Peter Holford — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 17:35:55 +0000

I too lament the reckless changes in London. But even worse is that this is being replicated in other British cities. I have to drive into Manchester every evening. As I drive over the hill Manchester is laid out below. These days it’s a forest of red lights – a pair for every crane. The destruction is rapid and the height of the towers completely out of scale to what is deemed worth saving. The final picture here could easily be in Manchester and probably other large cities.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:12:26 +0000

Thank you for the wonderful old photos .
To be honest I do not have fond memories of Bishopsgate as a workplace . After leaving school in nearby Bethnal Green I was sent to interviews from agencies to many banks and buildings there, but found the narrow streets and lack of sunlight quite depressing. After coming out of the job interviews and walking through the streets I recall the feeling of despair at having a future job that I would have to travel daily to these old grimy buildings. The banks were then old fashioned establishments and seemed quite oppressive with hardly any space between the desks. I fortunately found a job in Cheapside and the space and sunlight seemed much more welcoming. On the first day I started and feeling quite lost with the mountain of paperwork I looked up from my desk and through the window from the building over the road I could see the face of I boy I knew at school, looking out . We instantly greeted one another with a cheerful wave but strangely never saw him again in all the years I worked there. I could spend a sunny lunch hour sitting on an open green spaces In Cheapside , eating my lunch, very occasionally with a lovely temporary typist that the agency had sent

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:19:19 +0000

“Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? This is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won’t all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes. ” —- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

I was snooping around recently for quotes about Preservation, and found this gem, above.
Every time I stride through Grand Central Terminal, I think of how close we came to losing it.

By: Linda Hird

Linda Hird — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 10:22:35 +0000

Thank you for these iconic images. I’m saddened by London’s domination of cranes and the ever changing skyline: my husband has contacted the mayor – ‘please let me know when it’s finished and I’ll return to my home town’

By: Mathilde Grange

Mathilde Grange — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 09:44:54 +0000

Awful, but most of all, sad, very sad. And incomprehensible.

By: Steve Hanscomb

Steve Hanscomb — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 09:17:12 +0000

Although a fabulous and very interesting piece, it makes for sickening reading. I haven’t worked in Aldgate for a few years, but since I left the area, the unique Still and Star was deemed unworthy of saving from the wrecking ball, despite being one of the last corners of old London and actually being depicted in a Dore print.
I applaud all of those who take the trouble to fight the developers and uncaring City chiefs, but it truly is a struggle and one so often lost.
I have seen the front of PaulPindar’s house at the V&A. It’s such a pity that the house couldn’t have had more of it reconstructed. The empty windows have the appearance of a skull without any life left.
I’ve seen so many of the places I loved over the years torn down and replaced by offices or flats. Cafe’s, pubs, even whole shops that made areas attractive to tourists, like Jermyn Street, that was the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter film. That was owned by Crown Estate, but even Prince Charles couldn’t save the shops.
It is hard to care now, as much of what I loved is gone. Probably people from every generation have said the same.

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 08:21:23 +0000

That final photograph says it all…