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Minor Stepney Disasters Of The Seventies

February 1, 2025
by the gentle author

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Photographer Philip Cunningham set me this series of minor Stepney disasters of the seventies

Milk spillage in Bancroft Rd

“In the seventies, when I was studying photography, I carried a camera with me most of the time. The East End was a very lively place in those days and all sorts of things happened, both good and bad, all the time. I never sought out disasters, I just stumbled upon them and the wonder is that, as far as I know, nobody was seriously harmed.

The Mile End Rd leads right into the city and it is straight and safe, but drivers took incredible risks. The car crash happened just at the end of Mile End Place where I lived.

The flat fire in Alderney Rd was tragic, I do not know how it started but everything inside was destroyed. The poor occupant was standing in her dressing gown, devastated. Many more people smoked then and fire-proofed furniture had not been heard of.

One day, after I had dropped my daughter off at school in Cephas St and was late for college, I heard a smash of breaking glass. I ran back to discover the milk disaster. I took a few photos but, curiously, the milkman had disappeared. When I returned in the afternoon to collect my daughter from school, everything had been cleared up, not a even a trace of any broken glass or spilt milk.

The dustcart fire was in Harford St. Like the other disasters, it something I just happened to stumble across. The engine had caught fire and the cart was a write-off, but no-one was hurt.”

Philip Cunningham

Fire in Alderney Rd

Car crash in Mile End Rd

Dustcart fire in Harford St

Milk spillage in Bancroft Rd

Photographs copyright © Philip Cunningham

The Juvenile Almanack

January 31, 2025
by the gentle author

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On this  last day of January, I thought this might be a good moment to look forward to what the year has in store with this almanack from the eighteen-twenties, published by Hodgson & Co, 10 Newgate St. I am grateful to Sian Rees for drawing my attention to these wonderful images.

Images courtesy University of California Libraries

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At Bevis Marks Synagogue

January 30, 2025
by the gentle author

Built in 1701, Bevis Marks Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in this country and it has been continuously in use for over three hundred years, making it – according to Rabbi Shalom Morris – the oldest working synagogue in the world.

Its origin lies with Spanish and Portuguese Jews who came to London in the seventeenth century, escaping persecution by the Catholic Church and taking advantage of a greater religious tolerance in this country under Oliver Cromwell’s rule. When war broke out between England and Spain in 1654, Antonio Robles, a wealthy merchant, went to court to prove that he was Jewish rather than Spanish – establishing a legal precedent which permitted Jewish people to live freely in this country for the first time since their expulsion by Edward I in 1290.

By 1657, a house in Creechurch Lane in the City of London had been converted into a synagogue and the site of Bevis Marks was acquired in 1699. Constructed by Joseph Avis, a Quaker builder who is said to have refused any profit from the work, and with an oak beam presented by Queen Anne, the synagogue was completed in 1701.

Remarkably, the synagogue has seen almost no significant alteration in the last three centuries and there are members of the current congregation who can trace their ancestors back to those who worshipped here when it first opened – even to the degree of knowing where their forebears sat.

On the sunlit morning I visited, my prevailing impression was of the dramatic contrast between the darkness of the ancient oak panelling and the pale white-washed walls illuminated by the tall clear-glass windows, framing a space hung with enormous brass chandeliers comprising a gleaming forest of baubles suspended low over the congregation. You sense that you follow in the footsteps of innumerable Londoners who came there before you and it makes your heart leap.

The lowest bench for the smallest children at the end of the orphans’ pew

Rabbi Shalom Morris turns the huge key in the original lock at Bevis Marks

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At Princelet St Synagogue

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Signs Of Life

January 29, 2025
by the gentle author

First Snowdrops in Wapping

Even now, in the depths of Winter, there is plant life stirring. As I travelled around the East End over the past week in the wet and cold, I kept my eyes open for new life and was rewarded for my quest by the precious discoveries that you see here. Fulfilling my need for assurance that we are advancing in our passage through the year, each plant offers undeniable evidence that, although there may be months of winter yet to come, I can look forward to the spring that will arrive before too long.

Hellebores in Shoreditch

Catkins in Bethnal Green

Catkins in Weavers’ Fields

Quince flowers in Spitalfields

Cherry blossom in Museum Gardens

Netteswell House is the oldest dwelling in Bethnal Green

Aconites in King Edward VII Memorial Park in Limehouse

Cherry Blossom near Columbia Rd

Hellebores in Spitalfields

Spring greens at Spitalfields City Farm

The gherkin and the artichoke

Cherry blossom in Itchy Park

Soft fruit cuttings at Spitalfields City Farm

Seedlings at Spitalfields City Farm

Cherry blossom at Christ Church

Along The Regent’s Canal From Shoreditch To Paddington

January 28, 2025
by the gentle author

The towpath fiddler in Camden

I continued my ramble along the towpath of the Regent’s Canal as far as Paddington Basin in the frost, picking up my journey where I cast off in Shoreditch. Swathed in multiple layers of clothing against the cold, I was alarmed to encounter rough sleepers under bridges when I set out but, as the temperature rose, I was astonished to discover a zealous sunbather in Camden. My most inspiring meeting of the day was with fiddler Lee Westbrook who, like me, had also been encouraged to venture out by the sunlight. His music echoed hauntingly under the multiple bridges at Gloucester Ave. And by the time I reached Paddington, it was warm enough to unbutton my coat before taking the Metropolitan Line back again to Liverpool St.

Approaching Bridport Place Bridge

De Beauvoir Rd Bridge

Approaching City Rd Lock

Lock keeper’s cottage at City Rd Lock

At City Rd Lock

Danbury St Bridge

Approaching the Islington Tunnel

Entrance to the Islington Tunnel

Lock Keeper’s Cottage at St Pancras Lock

Bridge at Royal College St

Canalside Terrace in Camden

At Camden Lock

At Camden Lock

Lee Westbrook

Mansions by Regent’s Park

Bridge into Regent’s Park

Mansion in Regent’s Park

Onwards towards Paddington

In Lisson Grove

In Maida Vale

Little Venice

Paddington Basin

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Along the Regent’s Canal

Along The Regent’s Canal

January 27, 2025
by the gentle author

Taking advantage of a rare day of January sunshine, I enjoyed a ramble along the towpath with my camera, tracing its arc which bounds the northern extent of the East End. At first there was just me, some moorhens, a lonely swan, and a cormorant, but as the morning wore on cyclists and joggers appeared. Starting at Limehouse Basin, I walked west along the canal until I reached the Kingsland Rd. By then clouds had gathered and my hands had turned blue, so I returned home to Spitalfields hoping for another bright day soon when I can resume my journey onward to Paddington Basin.

At Limehouse Basin

Commercial Rd Bridge

Johnson’s Lock

Lock keeper’s cottage at Johnson’s Lock

Great Eastern Railway bridge

Great Eastern Railway bridge

Salmon Lane Lock

Barge dweller mooring his craft

Solebay St Bridge

Mile End Rd bridge

Cyclist at Mile End Rd bridge

Looking through Mile End Rd bridge

Mile End Lock keeper’s cottage

Looking back towards the towers of Canary Wharf

At the junction with Hertford Union Canal

Old Ford Lock

Victoria Park Bridge

Victoria Park Bridge

Barge dwelling cat

At Kingsland Rd Bridge

Looking west from Kingsland Rd Bridge

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Frank Derrett’s West End

January 26, 2025
by the gentle author

Cranbourne St

Fancy a stroll around the West End with Frank Derrett in the seventies?

This invitation is possible thanks to the foresight of Paul Loften who rescued these photographs from destruction in the last century. Recently, Paul contacted me to ask if I was interested and I suggested he donate them to the archive at the Bishopsgate Institute, which is how I am able to show them today.

‘They were given to me over twenty-five years ago when I called at an apartment block in Camden,’ Paul explained. ‘A woman opened the door and, when said I was from Camden Libraries, she told me a solicitor was dealing with effects of a resident who had died and was about to throw these boxes of slides into a skip, and did I want them? I kept them in my loft, occasionally enjoying a look, but actually I had forgotten about them until we had a clear out upstairs.’

Charing Cross Rd

Bear St

Coventry St

Regent St

Earlham St

Long Acre

Dover St

Carnaby St

Carnaby St

Charing Cross Rd

Cranbourne St

Dover St

Perkins Rents

Great Windmill St

Brook St

Conduit St

Frith St

Drury Lane

Dean St

Garrick St

Great Windmill St

Archer St

Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute

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