Seventeenth Annual Report
Seventeen years ago this week, I began to publish a daily post in these pages. In this year’s annual report I have both good news and bad news, as you will read below. One concerns the fate of the Truman Brewery while the other is the announcement of Sarah Ainslie’s WOMEN AT WORK.
TRUMAN BREWERY
I regret to report that the Secretary of State has approved redevelopment of the Truman Brewery into a corporate plaza and data centre as the outcome of the Public Inquiry last autumn overseen by Government Inspector Paul Griffiths. I did not have a good feeling about this since he also oversaw the Public Inquiry into the Whitechapel Bell Foundry that decided in favour of a bell-themed boutique hotel. The pitiful disappointment is that Tower Hamlets Council created a Community Masterplan for the site to deliver 350 homes for local people as opposed to the Brewery proposal which includes only six social homes. This Masterplan could have been enforced by the Inspector but instead it was discounted. The Save Brick Lane campaign and Spitalfields Trust are now considering a legal challenge.
WOMEN AT WORK
Thanks to the support of you – the readers of Spitalfields Life – who contributed to our crowdfund in the spring, our plan to publish a handsome hardback monograph of Sarah Ainslie’s East End portraits WOMEN AT WORK has come to fruition.
Publication will be accompanied by an exhibition of Sarah’s portraits at Four Corners photography gallery in Bethnal Green, opening in November then touring through 2027 to two other venues in East London and the Alcove women’s library in Rhode Island.
You can help publication by preordering now and we will post you a copy signed by Sarah Ainslie at the beginning of November in advance of publication on 5th November. Additionally, we are including a complimentary copy of Journal of a Man Unknown (cover price £10) with all pre-orders in the United Kingdom.
CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER ‘WOMEN AT WORK’ AND GET A FREE COPY OF ‘JOURNAL OF A MAN UNKNOWN’
I cannot ignore the thought that the contradiction between these two pieces of news reflects the nature of our times. The Brewery decision reveals a government in thrall to big money and big tech in the quest for growth at any cost, despite the objections of more than 7000 people.
By contrast, Sarah Ainslie’s crowdfunded book celebrates the women whose work is often unrecognised, whether in factories, working from home or caring for the vulnerable – tradeswomen, community organisers, garment workers, faith leaders, artists, firefighters, shopkeepers, transport workers, cleaners and NHS staff, and all who sustain and bind together our communities with their warmth, labour and fellowship.
I am so proud to be the publisher of WOMEN AT WORK which speaks to this moment with defiant joy.
With such thoughts in mind, thus ends another year in the pages of Spitalfields Life.
I am your loyal servant
The Gentle Author
Spitalfields,
28th August 2026
CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY AND GET A FREE COPY OF ‘JOURNAL OF A MAN UNKNOWN’
We are including a complimentary copy of Gillian Tindall’s novel Journal of a Man Unknown with all preorders in the United Kingdom
I wonder what Paul Griffiths’other interests & “encouragement” come from?
Such bad news about the Brewery especially now when one might have hoped for better things from the new incumbent. I was only wandering past there a couple of weeks ago and hate to think what it’s going to look like when they’re done with the site. B88888ks.
Dear GA, thank you for all the years I’ve delighted in reading your posts. Your writings have become a fundamental part of my understanding of this great city and country in which we live. Your calls to mobilize for justice are ones that I and many, many others take very seriously, including of course the struggles for the Truman Brewery and, even more poignantly, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Even though we may not have persuaded those in power to see reason and save these historic sites, we have grown and united as a community — entirely thanks to you. Your publications such as Women at Work, your commitment to the working people of the East End, and your lively interest in the details small and large of everyday life are truly remarkable. We are with you, dear GA; please carry on!
And while we are looking for silver linings……….YOU, our Gentle Author, are still fulfilling your mission and bringing daily optimism to your readers.
Long may you wave. Many thanks for shining a light.