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SPITALFIELDS LIFE

The Battle for Brick Lane exhibition curated by The Gentle Author at Annetta Pedretti’s House, 25 Princelet St, E1 6QH, is open from noon until 6pm this Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th June, and every weekend through July. If you would like to volunteer to invigilate, please email heloise@spitalfieldstrust.com. There will be a protest march to Stop The Truman Brewery Shopping Mall this Sunday BETHNAL GREEN MULBERRY AT THE HIGH COURT Today – thanks to generosity of our supporters – a Judicial Review commences at the High Court of Tower Hamlets’ decision to grant permission to Crest Nicholson for their redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital, including digging up the five hundred year old Bethnal Green Mulberry. HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY It was a dark moment when I heard the news that the Planning Inspector who oversaw the Public Inquiry into the future of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry had made a judgement in favour of the boutique hotel. An even darker week followed as I awaited NICHOLAS BORDEN’S LATEST PAINTINGS Ever since I met Nicholas Borden painting at his easel in the midst of a blizzard in Bethnal Green in 2013, it has been my delight to follow his work and publish his new pictures here in the pages of Spitalfields Life.Over recent months, Nicholas has been extraordinarily productive out on the streets of London, creating all these new paintings that you see below. THE LIVES OF THE SPITALFIELDS NIPPERS Walter Seabrook was born on 23rd May 1890 to William and Elizabeth Seabrook of Custance St, Hoxton.In 1901, when Walter’s portrait was taken by Horace Warner, the family were living at 24 & 1/2 Great Pearl St, Spitalfields, and Walter’s father worked as a printer’s

labourer.

AT TUBBY ISAAC’S JELLIED EELS STALL The earliest photo of “Tubby” Isaac Brenner who founded the stall in 1919. Tubby and one of his sons in the twenties. Ted Simpson, Solly and Patsy Gritzman in the forties, after Tubby and his sons left for America. In Petticoat Lane, sixties. Ted serves jellied eels to Burt Reynolds and American talk show host Mike Douglas in the seventies. SO LONG, SWEET & SPICY So Long, Sweet & Spicy. March 27, 2013. by the gentle author. As a tribute to Sweet & Spicy, which closed yesterday, I am republishing my feature celebrating a beloved Spitalfields institution on Brick Lane since 1969. If you ever stood in Brick Lane, baffled by the array of curry houses and harangued by the touts, and wondered “Where do the

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

– the

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

– the

MYCHAEL BARRATT’S MILE END MURAL Mychael at work on the mural in the summer of 2011. The mural was painted by Mychael Barratt, James Glover & Nicholas Middleton. . 1. George Bernard Shaw was an early member of the Fabian Society. who regularly met on the Whitechapel Rd. 2. William Booth started The Christian Mission and The Salvation. Army on the Mile End Rd. THE EXECUTIONS OF OLD LONDON 1 day ago · In the days before the internet, television or cinema, public executions were a popular source of entertainment in London. Ed Maggs, fourth generation proprietor of Maggs Bros booksellers (now safely esconced in their new home at 48 Bedford Sq), sent me this fine

selection of

THE PELLICCI MUSEUM

12 hours ago · This is Lucinda Rogers‘ drawing of E.Pellicci in the Bethnal Green Rd, London’s most celebrated family-run cafe, into the third generation now and in business for over a century – and continuing to welcome East Enders who have been coming for generations to sit in the cosy marquetry-lined interior and enjoy the honest, keenly-priced meals prepared every day from fresh ingredients. THE LAVENDER FIELDS OF SURREY ‘Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender!’ is the cry that invites in the street the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. A considerable quantity of the shrub is sold to the middling-classes of the inhabitants, who are fond of placing lavender among their linen – the scent of which conquers that of the soap used in washing. MISERICORDS AT ST KATHARINE’S PRECINCT Tutivillus the demon eavesdropping upon two women. I spent a morning on my knees in St Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse, photographing these rare survivors of fourteenth century sculpture, believed to have been created around 1360 for the medieval St Katharine’s Chapel next to the Tower of London, which was displaced and then demolished for the building of the docks in 1825. SEBASTIAN HARDING’S ARCHITECTURAL MODELS Part of Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery. Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery is the centrepiece of the Battle for Brick Lane exhibition at Annetta Pedretti’s House, 25 Princelet St, E1 6QH, from noon until 6pm this Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th June and Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th June. If you would like to volunteer to invigilate this weekend, please email THE DEATH OF THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY A story that began more than five centuries ago in Whitechapel ends today with the announcement of the Secretary of State’s decision to give the go ahead for the bell-themed boutique hotel, destroying the possibility of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry ever having any future as LYNDIE WRIGHT, PUPPETEER As a child, I was spellbound by the magic of puppets and it is an enchantment that has never lost its allure, so I was entranced to visit The Little Angel Theatre in Islington. All these years, I knew it was there – sequestered in a hidden square beyond the Green and best approached through a narrow alley overgrown with creepers like a

secret cave.

SO LONG, PHILIP PITTACK So Long, Philip Pittack. May 12, 2020. by the gentle author. The rag merchant Philip Pittack died yesterday of the Coronavirus. He was a charismatic and universally popular character in the East End and beyond, one of the very last of the gentlemen cloth merchants of Spitalfields. Running Crescent Trading in Quaker St in genial

partnership with

HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY It was a dark moment when I heard the news that the Planning Inspector who oversaw the Public Inquiry into the future of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry had made a judgement in favour of the boutique hotel. An even darker week followed as I awaited LEW TASSELL AT THE QUEEN’S SILVER JUBILEE These pictures conjure up very different memories for me — it was the dawning of punk rock, and Vivienne Westwood and McLaren — I am not talking of the later touristy and dumb Mohican version of punk — I mean the original stirrings, which took inspiration from The Situationists, Blake, Shelley, Proudhon, Durrutti, Dickensian London, and 18th and 19th century sedition, all of which gave

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

As a child, I was spellbound by the magic of puppets and it is an enchantment that has never lost its allure, so I was entranced to visit The Little Angel Theatre in Islington. All these years, I knew it was there – sequestered in a hidden square beyond the Green and best approached through a narrow alley overgrown with creepers like a

secret cave.

THE DEATH OF THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY A story that began more than five centuries ago in Whitechapel ends today with the announcement of the Secretary of State’s decision to give the go ahead for the bell-themed boutique hotel, destroying the possibility of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry ever having any future as HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY It was a dark moment when I heard the news that the Planning Inspector who oversaw the Public Inquiry into the future of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry had made a judgement in favour of the boutique hotel. An even darker week followed as I awaited BETHNAL GREEN MULBERRY AT THE HIGH COURT Today – thanks to generosity of our supporters – a Judicial Review commences at the High Court of Tower Hamlets’ decision to grant permission to Crest Nicholson for their redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital, including digging up the five hundred year old Bethnal Green Mulberry. NICHOLAS BORDEN’S LATEST PAINTINGS Ever since I met Nicholas Borden painting at his easel in the midst of a blizzard in Bethnal Green in 2013, it has been my delight to follow his work and publish his new pictures here in the pages of Spitalfields Life.Over recent months, Nicholas has been extraordinarily productive out on the streets of London, creating all these new paintings that you see below. THE LIVES OF THE SPITALFIELDS NIPPERS Walter Seabrook was born on 23rd May 1890 to William and Elizabeth Seabrook of Custance St, Hoxton.In 1901, when Walter’s portrait was taken by Horace Warner, the family were living at 24 & 1/2 Great Pearl St, Spitalfields, and Walter’s father worked as a printer’s

labourer.

THE BETHNAL GREEN MULBERRY VERDICT Nurses dancing around the Bethnal Green Mulberry. After campaigning to Save the Bethnal Green Mulberry since 2017, I am overjoyed to report yesterday’s decision of the High Court to refuse Crest Nicholson’s redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital and stop the developer digging up the 400 hundred year old tree. WILFUL DESTRUCTION AT THE TRUMAN BREWERY The work was undertaken covertly on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th January when the yard was cordoned off by security guards while mechanical diggers removed the surface and the debris was hastily taken away on trucks. When the Spitalfields Trust contacted Tower Hamlet Council on Thursday 28th to halt the destruction, the owners of

the brewery

SO LONG, SWEET & SPICY So Long, Sweet & Spicy. March 27, 2013. by the gentle author. As a tribute to Sweet & Spicy, which closed yesterday, I am republishing my feature celebrating a beloved Spitalfields institution on Brick Lane since 1969. If you ever stood in Brick Lane, baffled by the array of curry houses and harangued by the touts, and wondered “Where do the

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

secret cave.

labourer.

the brewery

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

Rayner was an inventor of considerable talent and Caird had the financial resources to develop the commercial potential. They set up a partnership in 1889 and took a lease upon 777 Commercial Rd, a former sailmakers, spending more than fifteen hundred pounds in equipping it with machinery for their purposes. The company prospered and in 1893 THE EXECUTIONS OF OLD LONDON 19 hours ago · In the days before the internet, television or cinema, public executions were a popular source of entertainment in London. Ed Maggs, fourth generation proprietor of Maggs Bros booksellers (now safely esconced in their new home at 48 Bedford Sq), THE LAVENDER FIELDS OF SURREY ‘Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender!’ is the cry that invites in the street the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. A considerable quantity of the shrub is sold to the middling-classes of the inhabitants, who are fond of placing lavender among their linen – the scent of which conquers that of the soap used in washing. PAMELA CILIA, TRUMAN’S BOTTLING GIRL 1 day ago · Pamela Cilia. The reputation of the Truman’s bottling girls has passed into legend in Spitalfields. In the course of my interviews so many people have regaled me with tales of this heroic tribe of independent spirited females. who wore dungarees and clogs which thundered upon the cobbles as made their way through the narrow streets en masse, that I have been seeking one of these glamorous MISERICORDS AT ST KATHARINE’S PRECINCT Tutivillus the demon eavesdropping upon two women. I spent a morning on my knees in St Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse, photographing these rare survivors of fourteenth century sculpture, believed to have been created around 1360 for the medieval St Katharine’s Chapel next to the Tower of London, which was displaced and then demolished for the building of the docks in 1825. SEBASTIAN HARDING’S ARCHITECTURAL MODELS Part of Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery. Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery is the centrepiece of the Battle for Brick Lane exhibition at Annetta Pedretti’s House, 25 Princelet St, E1 6QH, from noon until 6pm this Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th June and Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th June. If you would like to volunteer to invigilate this weekend, please email HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY It was a dark moment when I heard the news that the Planning Inspector who oversaw the Public Inquiry into the future of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry had made a judgement in favour of the boutique hotel. An even darker week followed as I awaited ADAM DANT’S MAP OF THE PARISH OF ST MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS Adam Dant’s MAPS OF LONDON & BEYOND is a mighty monograph collecting together all your favourite works by Spitalfields Life‘s Contributing Cartographer in a beautiful big hardback book. Including a map of London riots, the locations of early coffee houses and a colourful depiction of slang through the centuries, Adam Dant’s vision of city life and our prevailing obsessions with money THE BETHNAL GREEN MULBERRY VERDICT Nurses dancing around the Bethnal Green Mulberry. After campaigning to Save the Bethnal Green Mulberry since 2017, I am overjoyed to report yesterday’s decision of the High Court to refuse Crest Nicholson’s redevelopment of the former London Chest Hospital and stop the developer digging up the 400 hundred year old tree. SO LONG, RON GOLDSTEIN So Long, Ron Goldstein. Ron Goldstein died last Saturday 29th May at the fine age of ninety-seven. If – like Ron Goldstein – you were your parents’ tenth child, growing up in a tiny terraced house with a clothing factory on the top floor in Boreham St, Brick Lane, and sharing a room with your three elder brothers, then you might also be ROLAND COLLINS, ARTIST Roland Collins. Ninety-seven year old artist Roland Collins lived with his wife Connie in a converted sweetshop south of the river that he crammed with singular confections, both his own works and a lifetime’s collection of ill-considered trifles. Curious that I had come from Spitalfields to see him, Roland reached over to a cabinet and pulled out the relevant file of press cuttings

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

Part of Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery. Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery is the centrepiece of the Battle for Brick Lane exhibition at Annetta Pedretti’s House, 25 Princelet St, E1 6QH, from noon until 6pm this Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th June and Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th June. If you would like to volunteer to invigilate this weekend, please email THE LIVES OF THE SPITALFIELDS NIPPERS Walter Seabrook was born on 23rd May 1890 to William and Elizabeth Seabrook of Custance St, Hoxton.In 1901, when Walter’s portrait was taken by Horace Warner, the family were living at 24 & 1/2 Great Pearl St, Spitalfields, and Walter’s father worked as a printer’s

labourer.

NICHOLAS BORDEN’S LATEST PAINTINGS Ever since I met Nicholas Borden painting at his easel in the midst of a blizzard in Bethnal Green in 2013, it has been my delight to follow his work and publish his new pictures here in the pages of Spitalfields Life.Over recent months, Nicholas has been extraordinarily productive out on the streets of London, creating all these new paintings that you see below. MYCHAEL BARRATT’S MILE END MURAL Mychael at work on the mural in the summer of 2011. The mural was painted by Mychael Barratt, James Glover & Nicholas Middleton. . 1. George Bernard Shaw was an early member of the Fabian Society. who regularly met on the Whitechapel Rd. 2. William Booth started The Christian Mission and The Salvation. Army on the Mile End Rd. AT TUBBY ISAAC’S JELLIED EELS STALL The earliest photo of “Tubby” Isaac Brenner who founded the stall in 1919. Tubby and one of his sons in the twenties. Ted Simpson, Solly and Patsy Gritzman in the forties, after Tubby and his sons left for America. In Petticoat Lane, sixties. Ted serves jellied eels to Burt Reynolds and American talk show host Mike Douglas in the seventies. JACK LONDON, PHOTOGRAPHER Jack London took photographs alongside his work as a writer throughout his life, creating a distinguished body of photography that stands upon its own merits beside his literary achievements.In 1903, the first edition of his account of life in the East End, The People of the Abyss, was illustrated with over a hundred photographs complementing the text and a new edition published by Tangerine

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becomes possible.

STEPNEY’S LOST MANSIONS Stepney’s Lost Mansions. Novelist & Historian of London Gillian Tindall takes over as guest author this week in celebration of the publication of her new book, A Tunnel Through Time, A New Route for an Old London Journey by Chatto & Windus. With the Crossrail station already taking shape in Whitechapel, you may feel that it is drawing

the

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

becomes possible.

the

REMEMBERING THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN Playing at Doctor – A Scene in the Hospital for Children, Hackney Rd, Bethnal Green. The former Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in the Hackney Rd is a landmark of deep significance for generations of East Enders, yet a decision to flatten it and replace it with densely-built generic ‘new slums’ type flats has been made by Tower Hamlets Council, without any public consultation THE LAVENDER FIELDS OF SURREY 1 day ago · ‘Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender!’ is the cry that invites in the street the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. A considerable quantity of the shrub is sold to the middling-classes of the inhabitants, who are fond of placing lavender among their linen – the scent of which conquers that of the soap

used in washing.

MISERICORDS AT ST KATHARINE’S PRECINCT Tutivillus the demon eavesdropping upon two women. I spent a morning on my knees in St Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse, photographing these rare survivors of fourteenth century sculpture, believed to have been created around 1360 for the medieval St Katharine’s Chapel next to the Tower of London, which was displaced and then demolished for the building of the docks in 1825. GEORGE PARRIN, ICE CREAM SELLER Please keep your eyes open for my old friend George Parrin, the Ice Cream Seller, who is cycling around the East End now and, if you see George, stop him and buy one – and he will tell you his story. ‘I’ve been on a bike since I was two’ I first encountered Ice Cream Seller, George Parrin SEBASTIAN HARDING’S ARCHITECTURAL MODELS Part of Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery. Sebastian Harding’s model of the Truman Brewery is the centrepiece of the Battle for Brick Lane exhibition at Annetta Pedretti’s House, 25 Princelet St, E1 6QH, from noon until 6pm this Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th June and Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th June. If you would like to volunteer to invigilate this weekend, please email HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY In response to the recent decision, Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green, wrote, ‘It was a source of pride to have Big Ben and America’s Liberty Bell made right here in Whitechapel. This short-sighted decision destroys the hopes of it ever returning to a working foundry and is a tragic loss of a really important part of our

local and

THE CITY CHURCHES OF OLD LONDON St. Michael, Cornhill, 1912. As shabby old residents that have survived from another age, the churches speak eloquently of an earlier world when the City of London was densely populated and dozens of places of worship were required to serve all the tiny parishes crowded up beside each other. FAVOURITE EAST END ARTISTS Here are some of my favourite East End artists as featured in EAST END VERNACULAR, one of the titles for sale this weekend. John Allin – Spitalfields Market, 1972. S.R Badmin – Wapping Pier Head, 1935. Pearl Binder – Aldgate, 1932 (Courtesy of Bishopsgate Institute) Dorothy Bishop – Looking towards the City of London from Morpeth

School

NICHOLAS BORDEN’S LATEST PAINTINGS Ever since I met Nicholas Borden painting at his easel in the midst of a blizzard in Bethnal Green in 2013, it has been my delight to follow his work and publish his new pictures here in the pages of Spitalfields Life.Over recent months, Nicholas has been extraordinarily productive out on the streets of London, creating all these new paintings that you see below. THE BRIDGES OF OLD LONDON Southwark Bridge, c. 1925. Old wooden bridge at Putney, 1880. The second bridge to be built after London Bridge, constructed in 1726 and replaced by the current stone structure in 1886. On Tower Bridge, 1905. Tower Bridge, c. 1910. John Rennie’s London Bridge of 1831 viewed from the waterside, c. 1910. London Bridge, c. 1930. LEW TASSELL AT THE QUEEN’S SILVER JUBILEE These pictures conjure up very different memories for me — it was the dawning of punk rock, and Vivienne Westwood and McLaren — I am not talking of the later touristy and dumb Mohican version of punk — I mean the original stirrings, which took inspiration from The Situationists, Blake, Shelley, Proudhon, Durrutti, Dickensian London, and 18th and 19th century sedition, all of which gave

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

becomes possible.

the

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

becomes possible.

the

REMEMBERING THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL FOR CHILDRENQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL LONDONQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL LONDONQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL UKQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL UK Playing at Doctor – A Scene in the Hospital for Children, Hackney Rd, Bethnal Green. The former Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in the Hackney Rd is a landmark of deep significance for generations of East Enders, yet a decision to flatten it and replace it with densely-built generic ‘new slums’ type flats has been made by Tower Hamlets Council, without any public consultation THE LAVENDER FIELDS OF SURREY 22 hours ago · ‘Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender!’ is the cry that invites in the street the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. A considerable quantity of the shrub is sold to the middling-classes of the inhabitants, who are fond of placing lavender among their linen – the scent of which conquers that of the soap

used in washing.

MISERICORDS AT ST KATHARINE’S PRECINCT 1 day ago · Tutivillus the demon eavesdropping upon two women. I spent a morning on my knees in St Katharine’s Chapel in Limehouse, photographing these rare survivors of fourteenth century sculpture, believed to have been created around 1360 for the medieval St Katharine’s Chapel next to the Tower of London, which was displaced and then demolished for the building of the docks in 1825. GEORGE PARRIN, ICE CREAM SELLER Please keep your eyes open for my old friend George Parrin, the Ice Cream Seller, who is cycling around the East End now and, if you see George, stop him and buy one – and he will tell you his story. ‘I’ve been on a bike since I was two’ I first encountered Ice Cream Seller, George Parrin THE CITY CHURCHES OF OLD LONDON St. Michael, Cornhill, 1912. As shabby old residents that have survived from another age, the churches speak eloquently of an earlier world when the City of London was densely populated and dozens of places of worship were required to serve all the tiny parishes crowded up beside each other. NICHOLAS BORDEN’S LATEST PAINTINGS Ever since I met Nicholas Borden painting at his easel in the midst of a blizzard in Bethnal Green in 2013, it has been my delight to follow his work and publish his new pictures here in the pages of Spitalfields Life.Over recent months, Nicholas has been extraordinarily productive out on the streets of London, creating all these new paintings that you see below. HOPE FOR THE WHITECHAPEL BELL FOUNDRY In response to the recent decision, Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green, wrote, ‘It was a source of pride to have Big Ben and America’s Liberty Bell made right here in Whitechapel. This short-sighted decision destroys the hopes of it ever returning to a working foundry and is a tragic loss of a really important part of our

local and

FAVOURITE EAST END ARTISTS Here are some of my favourite East End artists as featured in EAST END VERNACULAR, one of the titles for sale this weekend. John Allin – Spitalfields Market, 1972. S.R Badmin – Wapping Pier Head, 1935. Pearl Binder – Aldgate, 1932 (Courtesy of Bishopsgate Institute) Dorothy Bishop – Looking towards the City of London from Morpeth

School

THE BRIDGES OF OLD LONDON Southwark Bridge, c. 1925. Old wooden bridge at Putney, 1880. The second bridge to be built after London Bridge, constructed in 1726 and replaced by the current stone structure in 1886. On Tower Bridge, 1905. Tower Bridge, c. 1910. John Rennie’s London Bridge of 1831 viewed from the waterside, c. 1910. London Bridge, c. 1930. LEW TASSELL AT THE QUEEN’S SILVER JUBILEE These pictures conjure up very different memories for me — it was the dawning of punk rock, and Vivienne Westwood and McLaren — I am not talking of the later touristy and dumb Mohican version of punk — I mean the original stirrings, which took inspiration from The Situationists, Blake, Shelley, Proudhon, Durrutti, Dickensian London, and 18th and 19th century sedition, all of which gave BORIS BENNETT, PHOTOGRAPHER Boris Bennett, 1985 “My father, Boris Bennett, was the doyen of Jewish wedding photographers and became a legend in his own lifetime. Over the course of his working life, he took 150,000 wedding photographs and it was cited in the Jewish East End that, ‘if you haven’t got a Boris wedding picture, you aren’t married.’ Even today, it is hard to find a London Jewish home where a

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

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becomes possible.

the

SPITALFIELDS LIFE

labourer.

AT CAIRD & RAYNER

becomes possible.

the

REMEMBERING THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL FOR CHILDRENQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL LONDONQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL LONDONQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL UKQUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL UK Playing at Doctor – A Scene in the Hospital for Children, Hackney Rd, Bethnal Green. The former Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in the Hackney Rd is a landmark of deep significance for generations of East Enders, yet a decision to flatten it and replace it with densely-built generic ‘new slums’ type flats has been made by Tower Hamlets Council, without any public consultation THE LAVENDER FIELDS OF SURREY 19 hours ago · ‘Six bunches a penny, sweet lavender!’ is the cry that invites in the street the purchasers of this cheap and pleasant perfume. A considerable quantity of the shrub is sold to the middling-classes of the inhabitants, who are fond of placing lavender among their linen – the scent of which conquers that of the soap

used in washing.

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SPITALFIELDS LIFE

IN THE MIDST OF LIFE I WOKE TO FIND MYSELF LIVING IN AN OLD HOUSE BESIDE BRICK LANE IN THE EAST END OF LONDON

* Home

* Bookshop

* My Promise

VAGABONDIANA

April 25, 2020

by the gentle author This is William Conway of Crab Tree Row, Bethnal Green, who walked twenty-five miles every day, calling, “_Hard metal spoons to sell or change.” _Born in 1752 in Worship St, Spitalfields, he is pictured here forty-seven years into his profession, following in the footsteps of his father, also an itinerant trader. Conway had eleven walks around London which he took in turn, wore out a pair of boots every six weeks and claimed that he never knew a day’s illness. This is just one of the remarkable portraits by John Thomas Smith collected together in a large handsome volume entitled _“Vagabondiana,”_ published in 1817, that it was my delight to discover in the collection of the Bishopsgate Institute . John Thomas Smith is an intriguing and unjustly neglected artist of the early nineteenth century who is chiefly remembered today for being born in the back of a Hackney carriage in Great Portland St and for his murky portrait of Joseph Mallord William Turner. On the opening page of _“Vagabondiana”_, Smith’s project is introduced to the reader with delicately ambiguous irony. _“Beggary, of late, has become so dreadful in London, that the more active interference of the legislature was deemed absolutely necessary, indeed the deceptions of the idle and sturdy were so various, cunning and extensive, that it was in most instances extremely difficult to discover the real object of charity. Concluding, therefore, that from the reduction of metropolitan beggars, several curious characters would disappear by being either compelled to industry, or to partake of the liberal parochial rates, provided for them in their respective work-houses, it occurred to the author of the present publication, that likenesses of the most remarkable of them, with a few particulars of their habits, would not be unamusing to those to whom they have been a pest for several

years.”_

Yet in spite of these apparently self-righteous, Scrooge-like, sentiments – that today might be still be voiced by any number of venerable bigots – John Thomas Smith’s pictures tell another story. From the moment I cast my eyes upon these breathtakingly beautiful engravings, I was captivated by their human presence. There are few smiling faces here, because Smith allows his subjects to retain their self possession, and his fine calligraphic line celebrates their idiosyncrasy borne of ingenious strategies to survive

on the street.

You can tell from these works that John Thomas Smith loved Rembrandt, Hogarth and Goya’s prints because the stylistic influences are clear, in fact Smith became keeper of drawings and prints at the British Museum. More surprising is how modern these drawings feel – there are several that could pass as the work of Mervyn Peake. Heath Robinson’s drawings also spring to mind, especially his illustrations to Shakespeare and there are a couple of craggy stooping figures woven of jagged lines that are worthy of Ronald Searle or

Quentin Blake.

If you are looking for the poetry of life, you will find it in abundance in these unsentimental yet compassionate studies that cut across two centuries to bring us a vivid sense of London street life in 1817. It is a dazzling vision of London that Smith proposes, populated by his vibrant characters. The quality of Smith’s portraits transcend any condescension because through his sympathetic curiosity Smith came to portray his vagabonds with dignity, befitting an artist who was literally born in the street, who walked the city, who knew these people and who drew them in the street. He narrowly escaped a lynch mob once when his motives were misconstrued and he was mistaken for a police sketch artist. No wonder his biography states that,_“Mr Smith happily escaped the necessity of continuing his labours as an artist, being appointed keeper of prints & drawings at the British Museum.”_ Smith described his subjects as _“curious characters”_ and while some may be exotic, it is obvious that these people cannot all fairly be classed as vagabonds, unless we chose instead to celebrate _“Vagabondiana” _as the self-respecting state of those who eek existence at the margins through their own wits. One cannot deny the romance of vagabond life, with its own culture and custom. Through pathos, John Thomas Smith sought to expose common human qualities and show vagabonds as people, rather than merely as pests or vermin to be

driven out.

A Jewish mendicant, unable to walk, who sat in a box on wheels in

Petticoat Lane.

Israel Potter, one of the oldest menders of chairs still living.

Strolling clowns

Bernado Millano, the bladder man Itinerant third generation vendor of elegies, Christmas carols and

love songs

A crippled sailor advertises his maritime past George Smith, a brush maker afflicted with rheumatism who sold chickweed as bird food. A native of Lucca accompanying his dancing dolls upon the bagpipes Blinded in one eye, this beggar seeks reward for sweeping the street Priscilla who sat in the street in Clerkenwell making quilts Anatony Antonini, selling artificial silk flowers adorned with birds

cast in wax

This boot lace seller was a Scotman who lost his hands in the wars Charles Wood and his dancing dog. Staffordshire ware vendors bought their stock from the Paddington basin and sold it door to door. Rattle-puzzle vendors. A blind beggar with a note hung round his neck appealing for charity. Images courtesy © Bishopsgate Institute

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Street Life

THE PUMPS OF OLD LONDON

April 24, 2020

by the gentle author _“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry” -Thomas

Fuller, 1732_

Hardly anyone notices this venerable pump of 1832 in Shoreditch churchyard, yet this disregarded artifact may conceal the reason why everything that surrounds it is there. Reverend Turp of St Leonard’s explained to me that the very name of Shoreditch derives from the buried spring beneath this pump, “suer” being the Anglo-Saxon word

for stream.

The Romans made their camp at this spot because of the secure water source and laid out four roads which allowed them to control the entire territory from there – one road led West to Bath, one North to York, one East to Colchester and one South to Chichester. In fact, this water source undermined the foundations of the medieval church and caused it to collapse, leading to the construction of the current building by George Dance but, even then, there were still problems with flooding and the land was built up to counteract this, burying the first seven steps out of ten at the front of the church. Later, human remains from the churchyard seeped into this supply (as in some other gruesome examples) and it was switched over to mains water. Today, the sad old pump in Shoreditch has lost its handle, had its nozzle broken and even its basin is filled with concrete, yet a lone primrose flowers – emblematic of the mystic quality that some associate with these wellsprings, as sources of life itself. Before the introduction of the mains supply in London, the pumps were a defining element of the city, public water sources that permitted settlement and provided a social focus in each parish. Now, where they remain, they are redundant relics unused for generations, either tolerated for their picturesque qualities or ignored by those heedless of their existence. When I began to research this subject, I found that no attention had been paid to these valiant survivors of another age. So I set out West to seek those other pumps that had caught my attention in my walks around the city and make a gallery for you of the last ones standing. Holborn is an especially good place to look for old pumps, there I found several fine examples contemporary with the stately Georgian squares, and the Inns of Court proved rewarding hunting ground too. At Lincoln’s Inn, the porter told me they still get their water supply untreated from the Fleet river, encouraging me to explore South of Fleet St at the Temple, although to my disappointment Pump Court no longer has a pump to justify its name. Up in Soho, at Broadwick St, you will find London’s most notorious pump, the conduit that brought a cholera epidemic killing more than five hundred people in 1854. Now it has been resurrected as a monument to the physician who detected the origin of the infection and had the pump handle removed. Today, the nearest pub bears his name, John Snow. The East End’s most famous specimen, the Aldgate Pump – that I have written of elsewhere in these pages – was similarly responsible for a lethal epidemic, underlining the imperative to deliver a safe water supply, an imperative that ultimately rendered these pumps

redundant.

Perhaps the most gracious examples I found were by St Paul’s Cathedral, _“Erected by St Faith’s Parish, 1819,” _and in Gray’s Inn Square. Both possess subtle expressive detail as sculptures that occupy their locations with presence, and in common with all their pitiful fellows they stand upright like tireless flunkies – ever hopeful and eager to serve – quite oblivious to

our indifference.

In Shoreditch churchyard, this sad old pump of 1832 has lost its handle, had its nozzle broken and basin filled with concrete, and is attended by a lone primrose. In Queen’s Sq, Holborn this pump of 1840 has the coats of arms of St Andrew and St George. In Bedford Row, Holborn, this is contemporary with its colleague in

Queens Sq.

In Gray’s Inn Sq – where, in haste, a passing lawyer mislaid a red

elastic band.

This appealing old pump in Staple Inn is a pastiche dated 1937. This is the previous pump in the location above, more utilitarian and

less picturesque.

In New Square, Lincoln’s Inn. Between Paternoster Sq and St Paul’s Churchyard. Outside the Royal Exchange in Cornhill. The text on the pump reads,_ “On this spot a well was first made and a house of correction built thereon by Henry Wallis Mayor of London in the year 1282.” _Designed by architect Nathaniel Wright and erected in 1799. Aldgate Pump marks the boundary between the East End and the City of London. The faucet in the shape of a wolf commemorates the last of these beasts to be shot outside the walls of the City. London’s most notorious pump in Broadwick St, Soho. Five hundred people died in the cholera epidemic occasioned by this pump in 1854. Reinstated in 1992 to commemorate medical research in the service of public health, the nearby pub is today named “John Snow” after the physician who traced the outbreak to this pump. A red granite kerbstone across the road marks the site of the original pump. Archive image courtesy Bishopsgate Institute _You may also like the to read about_

_The Pump of Death

_

_The Signs of Old London

_

_The Ghosts of Old London

_

18 Comments

from → Past Life ,

Street Life

JOANNA MOORE’S SPITALFIELDS

April 23, 2020

by the gentle author _Artist Joanna Moore undertook this series of drawings of Spitalfields’ less well known landmarks_

THE

OLD ST PATRICK’S SCHOOL in Buxton St, dating from the eighteen sixties, stands upon the grass of Allen Gardens beside the Georgian vicarage of the former All Saints church – the last survivors of the nineteenth century streets that once stood here, long before the park was laid out. Enfolded by its lofty garden wall, containing huge exotic shrubs and dripping with climbing plants, this finely proportioned cluster of buildings rises with tall attenuated chimneys, like some mysterious castle of romance. St Patrick’s School is a tantalising enigma to those who walk through here regularly and have heard tales of the secret tropical garden which is rumoured to exist behind these implacable walls. THE WATCHHOUSE on the corner of St Matthew’s Churchyard in Wood St was built in 1754 and, with the growing trade in human corpses for dissection, in 1792 it was necessary to appoint a watchman who was paid ten shillings and sixpence a week to be on permanent guard against resurrectionists. A reward of two guineas was granted for the apprehension of any body-snatchers and the watchman was provided with a blunderbuss and permission to fire from an upper window, once a rattle had been sounded three times. The churchwarden who lives there today told me that, according to the terms of his lease, he still holds this right – and the blunderbuss and rattle are stored in the house to this day. The small structure at the rear originally housed the parish fire engine, in the days when it was just a narrow cart. In 1965, the Watchhouse gained notoriety of another kind when fascist leader Oswald Mosley stood upon the step to give his last open air

public speech.

GIBRALTAR WALK off the Bethnal Green Rd is a handsome terrace of red brick nineteenth century artisans’ workshops that once served the furniture trade when it was the primary industry in this area. Of modest construction, yet designed with careful proportions, the terrace curls subtly along Gibraltar Walk, turning a corner and extending the length of Padbury Court, to create one long “L” shaped structure. These appealing back streets still retain their cobbles and there are even a couple of signs left from the days of furniture factories, but, most encouragingly, the majority of these premises are still in use today as workshops for small industries, keeping the place alive. In Emanuel Litvinoff’s memoir, “Journey Through a Small Planet” describing his childhood in Cheshire St in the nineteen twenties, he recalls the feared PEDLEY ST ARCHES where, _“Couples grappled against the dripping walls and tramps lay around parcelled in old newspaper. The evil of the place was in its gloom, its putrid stench, in the industrial grime of half a century with which it was impregnated.” _And today, with a gut-wrenching reek of urine, graced by a profusion of graffiti and scattered with piles of burnt rubbish, the place retains its authentic insalubrious atmosphere – a rare quality now, that is in demand by the numerous street fashion photo shoots, crime dramas and pop videos which regularly use this location. There is a scheme to turn the Great Eastern Railway Viaduct into a raised park – like the High Line in New York – but in the meantime wildlife flourishes peaceably upon these graceful decaying structures dating from the earliest days of the railway, constructed between 1836 and 1840 to bring the Eastern Counties Line from Romford to the terminus at Shoreditch High St. Nestling at the base of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s monumental spire for Christ Church, Spitalfields, is the tiny private roof garden on the top of 3 FOURNIER ST, where what was once planted as a camomile lawn has grown to become a wildflower meadow with pink campions, oxe-eye daisies and sorrel abounding. The pitched roofs on three sides entirely conceal this verdant arbor from the street and create a favoured climate where freesias, carnations, honeysuckle, wallflowers, foxgloves, wild strawberries and lettuces flourish, surrounded by espalier fruit trees and rambling roses, all unknown to those who tread the dusty pavements of Commercial St far below. Built in 1754 by Peter Le Keux, a silkweaver, this elegant old house follows the same Tuscan Order of architecture that was Hawksmoor’s guiding principle, and as you ascend the staircase endlessly winding up to the roof garden, you come upon subtle intricate details, like banisters with square capitals, that match those across the road at the church. THE WORRALL HOUSE of 1720 is the quintessence of the Spitalfields nobody knows – built in a secret courtyard between Fournier St and Princelet St by Samuel Worrall, the builder responsible for many of the surrounding houses, it can only be approached through a narrow passage behind a heavily-encrusted door. When you step through this door, into the dark cobbled alley lined with ancient planks covered with paint and tar that has not been renewed in over a century, you feel – more than anywhere in Spitalfields – that you have stepped back in time. Here Samuel Worrall built a handsomely proportioned yet modest house for himself in his own builders’ yard. Just one room deep with a pedimented door and stone balls atop the gateposts, it resembles a perfect lifesize dolls’ house. Facing East and constructed of a single layer of bricks, it only receives sunlight in the morning and is not a warm building in Winter, yet there is an irresistible grace and mystery about this shadowy house of enchantment, presiding silently upon a quiet courtyard that is outside

time.

JOANNA MOORE’S DRAWING OF VICTORIA COTTAGES in Deal St was done upon the spot where Geoffrey Fletcher, author of “The London Nobody Knows,”sat and drew the same view in May 1977, when this terrace was threatened by bulldozers. Built in 1855 by the Metropolitan Association for Dwellings for Housing the Industrious Poor, after the design of Prince Albert’s Model Cottages for the Great Exhibition of 1851, these are one of the earliest examples of two storey cottage apartments. Scheduled for demolition in a slum clearance scheme, they were saved in 1978 through the intervention of Peter Shore who was both local MP and Environment Minister. If Geoffrey Fletcher came back today he would be delighted to step through the old iron gate and discover well-tended cottage gardens where the fragrance of flowers hangs in the air. Pairs of neat white front doors lead either to the ground or first floor dwellings, which, although designed as the minimum in the nineteenth century, appear generous and sympathetic by contemporary standards. To the rear is a peaceful flagged courtyard where residents hang their laundry and tend the shared garden. Drawings copyright © Joanna Moore _You may also like to take a look at_ _Joanna Moore, Artist

_

_The Return of Joanna Moore

_

15 Comments

from → Cultural Life

, Street Life

LIST OF LOCAL SHOPS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

April 22, 2020

by the gentle author _A.L.Barry, Chandlers & Seed Merchants, Roman Rd_ Every Wednesday, I shall be publishing the up to date list of stalwarts that remain open in Spitalfields. Readers are especially encouraged to support small independent businesses who offer an invaluable service to the community. This list confirms that it is possible to source all essential supplies locally without recourse to

supermarkets.

Be advised many shops are operating revised opening hours at present, so I recommend you call in advance to avoid risking a wasted journey. Please send any additions or amendments for next week’s list to _spitalfieldslife@gmail.com_ _This week’s illustrations are shopfront photographs from the beginning of the last century, reproduced courtesy of Philip Mernick

._

.

_J.Garwood, Greengrocer, Bow Rd_ GROCERS & FOOD SHOPS The Albion, 2/4 Boundary St Ali’s Mini Superstore, 50d Greatorex St AM2PM, 210 Brick Lane As Nature Intended, 132 Commercial St Banglatown Cash & Carry, 67 Hanbury St Brick Lane Minimarket, 100 Brick Lane The Butchery Ltd, 6a Lamb St _(Open Thursdays only)_ City Supermarket, 10 Quaker St Costprice Minimarket, 41 Brick Lane Faizah Minimarket, 2 Old Montague St JB Foodstore, 97 Brick Lane Haajang’s Corner, 78 Wentworth St Leila’s Shop, 17 Calvert Avenue _(Call 0207 729 9789 between 10am-noon on Tuesday-Saturdays to place your order and collect on the same day from 2pm-4pm)_ The Melusine Fish Shop, St Katharine Docks Nisa Local, 92 Whitechapel High St Pavilion Bakery, 130 Columbia Rd Rinkoff’s Bakery, 224 Jubilee Street & 79 Vallance Road Spitalfields City Farm, Buxton St _(Order through website)_ Sylhet Sweet Shop, 109 Hanbury St Taj Stores, 112 Brick Lane Zaman Brothers, Fish & Meat Bazaar, 19 Brick Lane

.

_Vanhear’s Coffee Rooms, Commercial Rd_ TAKE AWAY FOOD SHOPS _Before you order from a delivery app, why not call the take away or

restaurant direct?_

Absurd Bird Fried Chicken, 54 Commercial St Al Badam Fried Chicken, 37 Brick Lane Band of Burgers, 22 Osborn St Beef & Birds, Brick Lane Beigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane Beigel Shop, 155 Brick Lane Bengal Village, 75 Brick Lane Big Moe’s Diner, 95 Whitechapel High St Burro E Salvia Pastificio, 52 Redchurch St China Feng, 43 Commercial St Eastern Eye Balti House, 63a Brick Lane Enso Thai & Japanese, 94 Brick Lane Holy Shot Coffee, 155 Bethnal Green Rd Jonestown Coffee 215 Bethnal Green Rd La Cucina, 96 Brick Lane Leon, 3 Crispin Place, Spitalfields Market Nude Expresso, The Roastery, 25 Hanbury St E. Pellicci, 332 Bethnal Green Rd Pepe’s Peri Peri, 82 Brick Lane Peter’s Cafe, 73 Aldgate High St Picky Wops Vegan Pizza, 53 Brick Lane Quaker St Cafe, 10 Quaker St Rosa’s Thai Cafe, 12 Hanbury St Shawarma Lebanese, 84 Brick Lane String Ray Globe Cafe, 109 Columbia Road Sushi Show, 136 Bethnal Green Rd Vegan Yes, Italian & Thai Fusion, 64 Brick Lane Yuriko Sushi & Bento, 48 Brick Lane

.

_S.Jones, Dairy, Bethnal Green Rd_ OTHER SHOPS & SERVICES Boots the Chemist, 200 Bishopsgate Brick Lane Bookshop, 166 Brick Lane _(Books ordered by phone or email are delivered free locally)_ Brick Lane Bikes, 118 Bethnal Green Rd Brick Lane Off Licence, 114/116 Brick Lane Day Lewis Pharmacy, 14 Old Montague St Eden Floral Designs, 10 Wentworth St _(Order fresh flowers online for

free delivery)_

Harry Brand, 122 Columbia Road _(Order gifts online for delivery)_ GH Cityprint, 58-60 Middlesex St Leyland Hardware, 2-4 Great Eastern St Post Office, 160a Brick Lane

.

_Huxtables Stores, Ironmonger, Broadway, Plaistow_

ELSEWHERE

City Clean Dry Cleaners, 4a Cherry Tree Walk, Whitecross St Gold Star Dry Cleaning & Laundry, 330 Burdett Rd Hackney Essentials, 235 Victoria Park Rd Quality Dry Cleaners, 16a White Church Lane Newham Books, 747 Barking Rd_ (Books ordered by phone or email are

posted out)_

Region Choice Chemist, 68 Cambridge Heath Rd Symposium Italian Restaurant, 363 Roman Road _(Take away service

available)_

Thompsons DIY, 442-444 Roman Rd

.

_Pearks Stores, Grocer, High St, East Ham_

3 Comments

from → Market Life BLUEBELLS AT BOW CEMETERY

April 21, 2020

by the gentle author With a few bluebells in flower in my garden in Spitalfields, I was inspired make a visit to Bow Cemetery and view the display of bluebells sprouting under the tall forest canopy that has grown over the graves of the numberless East Enders buried there. In each season of the the year, this hallowed ground offers me an arcadian refuge from the city streets and my spirits always lift as I pass between the ancient brick walls that enclose it, setting out to lose myself among the winding paths, lined by tombstones and overarched with trees. Equivocal weather rendered the timing of my trip as a gamble, and I was at the mercy of chance whether I should get there and back in sunshine. Yet I tried to hedge my bets by setting out after a shower and walking quickly down the Whitechapel Rd beneath a blue sky of small fast-moving clouds – though, even as I reached Mile End, a dark thunderhead came eastwards from the City casting gloom upon the land. It was too late to retrace my steps and instead I unfurled my umbrella in the cemetery as the first raindrops fell, taking shelter under a horse chestnut, newly in leaf, as the shower became a

downpour.

Standing beneath the dripping tree in the half-light of the storm, I took a survey of the wildflowers around me, primroses spangling the green, the white star-like stitchwort adorning graves, a scattering of palest pink ladies smock highlighting the ground cover, yellow celandines sharp and bright against the dark green leaves, violets and wild strawberries nestling close to the earth and may blossom and cherry blossom up above – and, of course, the bluebells’ hazy azure mist shimmering between the lines of stones tilting at irregular angles. Alone beneath the umbrella under the tree in the heart of the vast graveyard, I waited. It was the place of death, but all around me there was new growth. Once the rain relented sufficiently for me to leave my shelter, I turned towards the entrance in acceptance that my visit was curtailed. The pungent aroma of wild garlic filled the damp air. But then – demonstrating the quick-changing weather that is characteristic of April – the clouds were gone and dazzling sunshine descended in shafts through the forest canopy turning the wet leaves into a million tiny mirrors, reflecting light in a vision of phantasmagoric luminosity. Each fresh leaf and petal and branch glowed with intense colour after the rain. I stood still and cast my eyes around to absorb every detail in this sacred place. It was a moment of recognition that has recurred throughout my life, the awe-inspiring rush of growth of plant life in England in spring. _You may also like to read about_

_At Bow Cemetery

_

_Snowfall at Bow Cemetery

_

_Spring Bulbs at Bow Cemetery

_

_Find out more at __www.towerhamletscemetery.org_

33 Comments

from → Plant Life

, Spiritual Life

VAL PERRIN’S EMPTY BRICK LANE

April 20, 2020

by the gentle author _At Shoreditch Station, looking through to Brick Lane_ Something curious has happened in Spitalfields. As the streets have emptied of people and shops have closed, it is as if we have passed through a time warp and the place is returning to how it was when I first knew it in the seventies. In this selection from Val Perrin’s superb pictures of Spitalfields taken between 1970-72, I have focussed on his atmospheric photography of the deserted streets, evoking the sense of abandonment which prevailed at that time.

Cheshire St

Brick Lane

Sclater St

Hanbury St

Brushfield St

_

_More of Val Perrin’s Brick Lane

_

19 Comments

from → Past Life ,

Photo Life , Street

Life

ROSIE DASTGIR’S LETTER FROM TOKYO

April 19, 2020

by Rosie Dastgir

_Contributing Writer ROSIE DASTGIR sent me this despatch with photographs from Tokyo_ _‎⁨Yoyogi Park⁩, ⁨Shibuya_ There have been hints for days that the virus is coming to Tokyo – the thinned-out crowds along the Meguro River, banked with cherry blossom, the usual sakura celebrations eerily damped down. On the ten minute walk to Nakameguro, my subway station, I pass shuttered cocktail bars under the railway arches that stretch along a brightly lit street. Normally it thrums with people heading home from work for beer or piling into the many little ramen and sushi restaurants, and Spanish, Mexican and French bistros. A hasty shift from sit down service to takeaway is underway. I arrived here in Japan in February to visit my husband who is working in Tokyo at present, not expecting to outstay the arrival of the blossom that heralds the arrival of spring. It is now past full bloom as I wait in abeyance, my flight home in March cancelled by the airline. We have been waiting for days for the government to announce a state of emergency and for lockdown in the world’s most populous city. But I do not know what is happening. I speak no Japanese and know barely anyone here. My Google Translate app is a slippery and unreliable friend when it comes to interpreting the written signs and warnings springing up on store fronts and lampposts. At dusk, I walk outside to see what is still open. The young couple who run the miniature Italian bistro round the corner from our apartment wave through the lamplit windows where I ate a perfect pizza last week. I pause to peer through the blinds into the amber light. The folded-in air about the place has been been replaced by something else. There is a spirit of readying and preparation, with plastic boxes and dishes being lined up in cheery precision. On the blackboard outside, the only English word standing out is ‘takeaway’, giving me a pop of joy. Carbonara risotto and pizza margherita to go, which in Tokyo means beautifully cooked and then sculpted in Saran wrap. The pink moon rises over the little graveyard beside the busy highway and I head to the 7–Eleven, the local convenience store that is my second home. It glows with possibility, the jingle soundtrack tinkling _Cheer Up Sleepy Cheap_ as I drift round the shelves to see what is missing. The gaps speak of pragmatism rather than panic, I tell myself. The emptying began a month ago when semi lockdown was implemented in Tokyo, and schools and municipal spaces were closed. An extreme step for this orderly city which produced a quiet rush on hand sanitizer and face masks. Tylenol has fled the shelves. The anti-bacterial floor wipes are in peculiar demand. I try not to become

restive.

Here are the boys gathered around the magazine section, lost in manga comics. There is the cute girl printing out documents at the photocopier. A mother wrangles her knee-high charge in school uniform and a floral face mask. Oh, they are back to school then. The masked cashier greets me jubilantly with “Irasshaimasé!” as she scans my carton of milk, a bag of sesame crisps and the pale pink mascara wand I have chosen from the make-up section. In February, I bought a can of Sakura-themed Asahi beer here, shiny pink with blossom and still emblazoned with the doomed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That is all over and hanafukui time is here now, flower snow drifting onto the paths and

the river.

In the Tokyu Store, a supermarket close to the station, I stare at a blank space where I believe toilet roll once was and I angle my Google Translate at the label. A woman notices and knowingly advises me that Japan will not run out. “We have plenty,” she says and I do not doubt her. This is not what I fear. Needling messages arrive – shot through with panic – from a friend in New York. The fear has gripped him now, as if he had not noticed what was going on for months in Wuhan and South Korea. It has come to Europe and the United States and friends are understandably terrified. On WhatsApp, I still glimpse reassuring frames of life from our home in London – the freshly washed cat, a glossy tuft of grass, a bowl of hummus, one of my daughters revising for university exams and an oil painting by the other. Distance stretches out between us. My family is bifurcated in two cities by the coronavirus. I am nearly 10,000 km away from London. I watch a video of flight patterns around the globe. From tomorrow, British Airways will cease flying from Tokyo to the United Kingdom. I flinch at a feeling I have resisted until now. I weigh up the odds. If I need to get back to London, I can fly via Qatar through the Gulf. It would take twenty-four hours. It is just possible – I tell myself – if there is an emergency. If? The emergency is already here. _You may like to read these other stories by Rosie Dastgir_ _At Tjaden’s Electrical Repair Shop_ _Gulam Taslim, Funeral Director_ _The Lahori Chefs of Whitechapel_ _A Walk in Whitechapel_

9 Comments

from → Human Life

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