Summer At Arnold Circus
Huge thanks to Farokh Talati, Head Chef at St John Bread & Wine, for so generously baking this magnificent Apple Strudel for the guests on The Gentle Author’s Tour of Whitechapel this Sunday. Click here to book for a Whitechapel Tour
At this time of year, the canopy of trees over-arching Arnold Circus is an awe inspiring sight to behold, as if a forest clearing had been magically transported and placed at the centre of a maze of city streets. From within the tiny park you see the towering red brick mansion blocks framed by trees, imparting an atmosphere of lyrical romance entirely in tune with the Arts & Crafts ethos of Britain’s first Council Estate.
Yet, if you wander further within the Estate, you come upon satellite gardens contrived by the residents using old baths, canes and twigs as a means to create temporary vegetable plots among the yards between the buildings. The idiosyncratic forms of these curious contraptions hung with glinting things offer a sympathetic complement to the regularity of the architecture and it makes your heart leap to see cherished home grown vegetables nurtured so tenderly in unexpected circumstances.
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The gardens are fantastic. Hard to imagine that in a city as crowded, with heavy traffic and constant movement, there are spots of such peace and natural beauty. Thank you for sharing. I also enjoyed the posts about the tree houses – I have an 8 year old granddaughter and 6 year old grandson in Edinburgh who would never, ever have left that forest. Also, as a resident of Germany, home of the strudel, I can tell you that is one magnificent apple strudel!
Wonderful to see all the greenery, and not a space wasted
What a lovely place, it’s like an oasis of calm in the midst of a bustling city.