Save Norton Folgate
(Click on this image to enlarge)
I learnt recently that British Land’s slogan is ‘Creating Places People Prefer’ yet this shows what they want to do to Norton Folgate in Spitalfields – demolishing more than seventy per cent of the buildings on a site which sits entirely within a Conservation Area.
In 1977 the newly-formed Spitalfields Trust, including Dan Cruickshank and with the support of Sir John Betjeman, stopped British Land from redeveloping Elder St in Norton Folgate, but now British Land have come back again to obliterate the neighbourhood under a hideous corporate plaza.
Their plans show no respect for one of the last fragments of distinctive Spitalfields streetscape which has evolved over centuries, replacing it with bland corporate office blocks of up to thirteen storeys, offering little to the tech industries and small businesses which thrive in the East End.
Next week, Dan Cruickshank and The Spitalfields Trust launch a campaign to stop British Land and save the Ancient Liberty of Norton Folgate – and it is my pleasure to curate an exhibition at Dennis Severs House, opening next Saturday, to which you are all invited.
The display illustrates stories of Norton Folgate’s rich cultural and social history, and showcases the Trust’s alternative scheme, devised by Architect John Burrell, whose alternative scheme for Smithfield Market was key to saving the market. Also, Adam Dant is unveiling his Map of Norton Folgate which will serve as the centrepiece of the show.
The focus of The Spitalfields Trust’s vision for the future of Norton Folgate is one that respects history – preserving the existing buildings and providing a wide variety of spaces suiting businesses of different scales which can deliver jobs for local people, and increasing the amount of housing, including affordable housing.
Alongside the exhibition at Dennis Severs House, there will be series of talks, readings and walks announced over coming weeks that explore Norton Folgate’s lively history, celebrating the presence of Christopher Marlowe, Charles Dickens and Sir John Betjeman in Norton Folgate.
British Land were responsible for the destruction of the northern half of Elder St in the seventies
Elder St in 1977 after demolition commenced
Dan Cruickshank shows the destruction to John Betjeman
Bishopsgate Without viewed from Norton Folgate, 1912 (Photo by Charles Goss)
Bishopsgate Without viewed from Norton Folgate, 2012
Colour photographs © Simon Mooney
Archive images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
Although the deadline is 12th February, Tower Hamlets Council confirm they will accept emails and letters until the Hearing of the Application, which is likely to be in April. Please send comments by mid-March to be sure they are included in the planning officer’s report.
It is important to use your own words and add your own personal reasons for opposing this development. Any letters which simply duplicate the same wording will count only as one objection.
Be sure to state clearly that you are objecting to the application.
The following points are known as material considerations and are valid reasons for Councils to refuse Applications.
1. THE ELDER ST CONSERVATION AREA
British Land’s Application proposes the demolition of approximately 75% of the existing buildings on the site, yet the Application lies entirely within the Elder St Conservation Area – including the site of a scheduled Ancient Monument, and numerous listed and locally-listed buildings.
The Tower Hamlets Conservation Area Appraisal states, “Overall this is a cohesive area that has little capacity for change. Future needs should be met by the sensitive repair of the historic building stock.”
2. HEIGHT & MASSING
British Land’s Application proposes buildings of 11-13 storeys in a Conservation Area where the predominant height is only 3-4 storeys.
British Land’s Application replaces the fine grain of courtyards and distinctive buildings, the result of complex historical evolution, with inflexible monolithic structures based on large floorplates – focusing merely on short-term maximum return on investment.
These plans ignore the viability of the area in its current built form. Small-scale regeneration has worked in Shoreditch and Tech City.
Although there a consented (but universally disliked) previous scheme for the site, these new proposals greatly exceed it in height, in massing, in the loss of open space and in the mistreatment of the remaining historic buildings.
3. THE TREATMENT OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS
British Land’s Application undervalues the importance of the existing historic buildings, reducing them to shells.
4. THE NEW BUILDINGS
The design of new buildings on Norton Folgate, on Fleur de Lys St and on Elder St fail to reflect local character – and are much taller than the existing buildings, reaching a uniform 9-13 storeys, with little graduation.
5. THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
British Land’s consultation process failed to respond meaningfully to local objections, despite their claims to the contrary. From the first public meeting, it was clear that the scheme was already fully-formed.
6. HOUSING & JOBS
The proportion of housing is too low and the proportion of affordable housing is disappointing. British Land’s Application aims to make money at the expense of the needs of the local community.
British Land’s focus is on office jobs for non-local people – primarily high-income commuters. The percentage of retail use, which might provide local jobs, is hugely outweighed by office use.
WHERE TO SEND YOUR OBJECTION
Letters and emails should be addressed to
Beth Eite
planningandbuilding@towerhamlets.gov.uk
or
you can post your objection direct on the website by following this link
Quote applications: PA/14/03548 and PA/14/03618
Town Planning, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Follow the Campaign at facebook/savenortonfolgate
Follow Spitalfields Trust on twitter @SpitalfieldsT
The Spitalfields Trust’s SAVE NORTON FOLGATE exhibition is at Dennis Severs House, 18 Folgate St, E1 6BX, from Saturday 14th February.
Sandle Bros, Manufacturing Stationers
Not so long ago, there were a multitude of long-established Manufacturing Stationers in and around the City of London, of which Baddeley Brothers is the only survivor today. Sandle Brothers opened in one small shop in Paternoster Row on November 1st 1893, yet soon expanded and began acquiring other companies, including Dobbs, Kidd & Co founded in 1793, until they filled the entire street with their premises – and become heroic stationers, presiding over long-lost temples of envelopes, pens and notepads which you see below, recorded in this brochure from the Bishopsgate Institute.
The Envelope Factory
Stationery Department – Couriers’ Counter
A Corner of the Notepad & Writing Pad Showroom
Gallery for Pens in the Stationers’ Sundries Department
Account Books etc in the Stationers’ Sundries Department
Japanese Department
Picture Postcard & Fancy Jewellery Department
One of the Packing Departments
Leather & Fancy Goods Department
Books & Games Department
Christmas Card, Birthday Card & Calendar Department
A Corner of the Export Department
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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Roger Pertwee, Manufacturing Stationer
I have just heard that the former premises of Gary Arber, the legendary Printer & Stationer of 459 Roman Rd, are under threat from developers. Learn more about the campaign to save it at Roman Rd Residents & Businesses Association
Read my stories about Gary Arber
Tim Hunkin, Cartoonist & Engineer
Tim Hunkin
I know I cannot be the only one who still has a cardboard file of copies of Tim Hunkin’s genius cartoon strip, ‘The Rudiments of Wisdom,’ clipped weekly from the Observer and cherished through all these years. So I hope you will appreciate my excitement when Tim invited me over to Bloomsbury last Sunday to photograph the arrival of his automata and slot machines, prior to next week’s opening of Novelty Automation, his personal amusement arcade.
I can now reveal that there were a few anxious moments as Tim’s nuclear reactor lurched violently while being manhandled from the van. But you will be relieved to learn that all the machines fitted through the door and are safely installed inside his tiny premises in Princeton St off Red Lion Sq, where – for a small fee – Londoners will be able to practice money-laundering, witness a total eclipse, lose weight, get frisked, get divorced, get chiropody and – of course – operate a nuclear reactor.
Yesterday I went back to admire Tim’s machines, illuminated and humming with life in their new home, which gave me the opportunity to have a chat with the engineer while he tinkered with the works, making his final adjustments and ironing out a few last minute snags. “I started making things as a child and the cartoons were a distraction at university when I couldn’t have a workshop,” he revealed modestly, his hands deep inside a machine, “I started drawing for a student magazine and that led me to the Observer.”
Leaning in close with a puzzled frown, Tim tilted his gold spectacles upon his brow and narrowed his eyes in thought, peering into the forest of cogs and levers. I hope he will forgive me if I admit could not ignore the startling resemblance at that moment, in his posture and countenance, to Heath Robinson’s illustrations for Norman Hunter’s Professor Branestawm stories.
“It’s much easier to make a living by drawing than by making things, and it’s harder to make things that work,” he confessed, turning to catch my eye, “I often say, I spent the first half of my life making things badly.”
“I just like being in my workshop, I get itchy feet sitting at a desk. But if my body gives out before my mind, I plan to write a huge book about Electricity,” he continued, growing excited as the thought struck him.
“I plan to hang on as long as I can,” he reassured me, returning his concentration to the machine.
“The ingredient you need when you make things is to know it’s worthwhile,” Tim said, half to himself, “There needs to be a point to it – sometimes I leave my workshop and go down to the arcade in Southwold and I see people laughing at my machines there. You can’t imagine how addictive that is for me.” Casting my eyes around the room at Tim’s array of ingenious and playful machines, each conceived with a sharp edge of satirical humour, I could easily imagine it. “I’m quite a loner, so it’s my connection to the world and it gives me great pleasure,” he confided without taking his gaze from the work in hand.
“People underestimate slot machines,” he informed me, almost defensively, “Once they have paid, they pay attention, read the instructions and concentrate because they have invested and they want to get their money’s worth. So you’ve really captured your audience.”
“In the eighties, I had a brush with the Art world, but I prefer the notion that, rather than buy your work, people buy an experience,” he concluded, adding “and you don’t have to be sophisticated to enjoy it.”
All this time, Tim had been fiddling with an hydraulic system which caused the eyes to shoot out of a bust of Sigmund Freud but – at that moment – was failing to pull them back in again afterwards. Constructed of old timber, the device comprised an automated bedroom with dream figures popping up from inside the wardrobe and outside the window.
“The machines are the stars not me,” Tim declared when I exclaimed in wonder to see the mechanism spring into life, “I’m looking forward to when I can get back to my workshop.” I left him there playing with the dream machine and I rather envied him.
Tim Hunkin and his team deliver their Nuclear Reactor in Bloomsbury
Tim Hunkin and the Dream Machine
NOVELTY AUTOMATION at 1a Princeton St, Bloomsbury, WC1R 4 AX, from Wednesday 11th February . Wednesdays 11am – 6pm, Thursdays 11am – 7pm, Fridays 11am – 6pm & Saturdays 11am – 6pm
Philip Mernick’s East London Shopfronts
These splendid shopfronts from the beginning of the last century are published courtesy of Philip Mernick who has been collecting postcards of the East End for more than thirty years. In spite of their age, the photographs are of such high quality that they capture every detail and I could not resist enlarging parts of them so you can peer closer at the displays.
S.Jones, Dairy, 187 Bethnal Green Rd
J.F. List, Baker, 418 Bethnal Green Rd
A.L.Barry, Chandlers & Seed Merchants, 246 Roman Rd
Direct Supply Stores Ltd, Butcher, Seven Sisters Rd
Vanhear’s Coffee Rooms, 564 Commercial Rd
Williams Bros, Ironmonger, 418 Caledonian Rd
Francis J. Walters, Undertakers, 811 Commercial Rd
Pearks Stores, Grocer, High St, East Ham
A. Rickards, Umbrella Manufacturer, 30 Barking Rd, East Ham
Huxtables Stores, Ironmonger, Broadway, Plaistow
E.J Palfreyman, Printer, Bookbinder & Stationer, High Rd, Leytonstone
J.Garwood, Greengrocer, Bow Rd
“The banana is the safest and most wholesome fruit there is”
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Billy & Charley’s Shadwell Shams
Old Truman’s Beer Labels
In Spitalfields, we all live in the shadow of the old Truman Brewery founded in Brick Lane in 1666, which makes the history of Truman’s part of the history of the place and thus a subject of fascination to us all. So I was delighted to come upon these pristine Truman’s labels for beer bottles dating from the middle of the last century which have never been used. There is a timeless quality to the elegant simplicity of their design and their unusual use of bold colours, combined with fine hand-drawn lettering, delivers an appealing series of small graphic masterpieces.
If anybody has more old Truman’s Beer Labels or can tell me who designed them, please get in touch
You may also like to read my stories about Truman’s Beer
Picking Hops for Truman’s Beer
First Brew at the New Truman’s Brewery
Tony Jack, Chauffeur at Truman’s Brewery
Textile Designs At Rodney Archer’s House
Rodney Archer, the Aesthete of Fournier St, & his pal Trevor Newton, the Curator, have been busy again, lining Rodney’s magnificent old house with a collection of original French nineteenth century designs for satins and silk velours, created at the Lyons factory of Antoine Donat between 1840 and 1865.
Trevor came upon these designs in a long-abandoned silk mill and they have not seen the light of day since the eighteen-seventies which accounts for their vibrant unfaded colours. Each design is labelled on the reverse with the date and instructions for setting up the loom, and all are for sale – many for as little as twenty pounds.
It certainly makes a splendid display in Rodney’s blue and gold drawing room on the first floor – the one with Oscar Wilde’s fireplace in it – and since these houses in Fournier St were built on the income from silk weaving, it is difficult to imagine a better location to enjoy these rich and extravagant designs, glowing in the February sunlight .
31 Fournier St will be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays from Thursday February 19th until Thursday March 19th – from 10am until 4pm weekdays and 2pm until 5pm on Saturdays. Numbers are limited and visits are by appointment only.
To receive an invitation, please email newtonartist@hotmail.com saying when exactly you would like to visit and how many will be in your party.
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Snowdrops At The Chelsea Physic Garden
The Snowdrop Theatre
At the weekend, I rose early on an overcast morning and took the District Line over to West London to join the other passionate horticulturalists at the Chelsea Physic Garden at opening time on the first of the Snowdrop Days. The Garden is closed during the winter months but these special openings permit the opportunity to admire the drifts of snowdrops, supplemented by rare species on display in a Snowdrop Theatre and a sale of exotic varieties.
The snowdrops in my garden in Spitalfields have already been in flower for a couple of weeks, encouraging my anticipation of seeing those at the Physic Garden. Through the passing years, the wonder of these flowers that appear in the depths of winter, glowing white against the dark earth as the first harbingers of spring, has never dimmed for me. Yet such is my short-signtedness, I did wonder whether the differentiation of multiple varieties might be no more than academic in my case.
Fortunately, the Physic Garden has strategies to bring snowdrops to your eye level. As you come through the entrance in Swan Walk, you encounter snowdrops growing in moss balls hanging from the trees – in the Japanese style – and then you arrive at the Snowdrop Theatre where sixteen different specimens line up for your scrutiny behind a crimson proscenium. To my mind, there has always been a drama in the appearance of snowdrops emerging out of the darkness and, placed in a theatre, their natural stage presence delivers an effortless performance worthy of applause.
Once you have taken a stroll through the woodland planting upon the southern edge of the garden where clumps of snowdrops may be viewed in an approximation of their natural environment, attending by starry yellow aconites and pale-hued hellebores, you visit the marquee where dozens of varieties are lined up on a long table just waiting for you take them home and cherish them.
I paced up and down, peering over and looking closely to ascertain the precise nature of the fine distinctions between all these snowdrops. The attendants even opened the showcase that contained the most expensive varieties at thirty and sixty pounds a pop, so that I might examine them too. Yet I could not bring myself to favour any particular example over another. The differences were immaterial. I love all snowdrops equally.
Moss balls planted with snowdrops hang from the trees
Hellebore
Aconites
Selecting snowdrops from the dozens of varieties on sale
Sir Hans Sloane leased the land for the Chelsea Physic Garden to the Society of Apothecaries in 1673
SNOWDROP DAYS run at the Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Rd, Chelsea, until Sunday 8th February from 10am-4pm – including a variety of lectures, walks & workshops with snowdrop experts.
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