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Andrew Tuer’s Old London Cries
Andrew White Tuer (1838–1900) was a bookseller, writer and publisher who set up the Leadenhall Press in the City of London and had a passion for the centuries-old culture of chapbooks and pamphlets...
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Rachael South, Chair Caner & Upholsterer
Rachael South at her workshop in Dalston It never fails to inspire me when I meet someone who finds joy in the work they do – and Rachael South, third-generation chair caner, is a prime example. The...
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Cyril Mann, Artist
Tubby Isaac’s Jellied Eel Stall, Petticoat Lane, c. 1950 After serving as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery in World War II, Cyril Mann returned to live in a tiny flat in Paul St with his wife Mary and...
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At The Ragged School Museum
The Ragged School Museum in Bow is a long tall building occupying the narrowest triangular site between the canal and the road, and it is as thin as a meagre slice of cake. In 1876, Dr Thomas Barnardo...
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The East London Group & Photography
Following the opening of the major retrospective at the Nunnery in Bow last week, David Buckman – whose book From Bow to Biennale recovered the lost history of The East London Group – considers the use...
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So Long, Butler & Tanner
When I started publishing books, I knew we must print them in England and support the survival of our home print industry. It was my privilege to work with Butler & Tanner, one of the greats of the...
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Janet Brooke’s City Churches
Christ Church Spitalfields Knowing how much I love the City Churches, Janet Brooke sent me this breathtaking series of linocuts portraying some favourite examples. “Each design is carved into a piece...
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Women’s Day At The Whitechapel Mission
Friday is Women’s Day at the Whitechapel Mission and, after our first visit to the Mission on Easter Tuesday, Photographer Colin O’Brien and I were honoured to be invited back to join the happy...
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The Many Spoons Of Barn The Spoon
Eighteen months after he opened his shop, I paid a call upon my good friend Barnaby Carder, widely known as Barn the Spoon, in the Hackney Rd last week to see how he was getting along – and I was...
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Viscountess Boudica Goes Cornish
Boudica bakes a hot pasty in her Baby Belling I am half-Cornish on my mother’s side, so – when Viscountess Boudica invited me over to Bethnal Green for a freshly-baked pasty yesterday – it was a...
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Herb Lester’s Pub Crawl
My old friend Herb Lester – who published the Map of Spitalfields Life a few years ag0 – took me on a pub crawl recently in celebration of his new guide book A London Pub For Every Occasion and here...
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John Thomas Smith’s Old London Cries
John Thomas Smith also known as ‘Antiquary Smith’ (1766–1833) My interest in the Cries of London originally stemmed from writing about the market traders in Spitalfields and thus I was fascinated to...
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At The Central Foundation School For Girls in Spital Sq
You may recall last year it was my delight to collaborate with Beryl Happe in staging the first reunion of the Central School Foundation School for Girls at their former School Hall in Spital Sq which...
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Old Girls Of The Central Foundation School
Writer Linda Wilkinson, ex-School Captain and celebrated author of two books about Columbia Rd, went along with Contributing Photographer Patricia Niven to this year’s Central Foundation School for...
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Another Fireplace Of John Moyr Smith Tiles
You may recall that over the course of 2011, I collected enough Minton tiles designed by the nineteenth century artist John Moyr Smith to tile the fireplace in my living room – many were cracked or...
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Catalogue Of Destruction
Bulldozers move in on the Queen Elizabeth Children’s Hospital Recently – as I walked down Cheshire St – I discovered a great hole on the south side, where the week before there had been an unbroken...
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At H Brettell & Sons Ltd
Rob Brettell, fifth generation in the family wood-turning business Contributing Photographer Alex Pink & I made a trip over to Forest Gate recently to visit H Brettell & Sons Ltd, one of the...
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The Mosaic Makers Of Hackney Downs
You may recall my friends the Mosaic Makers of Hoxton, led by artist Tessa Hunkin, who created the beautiful murals in Shepherdess Walk and Pitfield St last year. Now they have moved up to Hackney...
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Two Houses In Spitalfields
This is the secret door concealed behind the fireplace that connects the dwellings of Jocasta Innes, the Cook, Writer & Paint Specialist, and Richard MacCormack, the Architect, in Heneage St. It...
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At Goldsmiths’ Hall
While Bob Mazzer has been hanging his photographs at the Howard Griffin Gallery in advance of tomorrow’s book launch, I went over to the City to admire the glories of Goldsmith’s Hall The Leopard is...
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