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This Is Jimmy’s London, 1944
Excerpts from ‘This is London‘ produced as a guide for servicemen & women in 1944 In these war-time days, when official guide books are not obtainable, a quiet perusal of ‘This is London’ will be...
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John Claridge At East London Liquor Co.
There is nothing like a glass or two of gin at nine-thirty in the morning to bring the mind into sharp focus, as Contributing Photographer John Claridge & I discovered last week when we paid a...
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Clive Murphy’s Matchbox Labels
Clive Murphy, Phillumenist Nothing about this youthful photo of the novelist, oral historian and writer of ribald rhymes, Clive Murphy – resplendent here in a well-pressed tweed suit and with his hair...
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A Celebration Of The Life Of Colin O’Brien
I hope as many readers as can do so will come along to St James Church, Clerkenwell, on Thursday 17th November. The bells will ring from 5:30pm and we will commence at 6:00pm. We will be showing...
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Two Favourite Blogs
With another of my Spitalfields Blog Courses coming up on November 19th & 20th, it is my pleasure to present recent work by two of my unashamedly favourite alumni – The Bug Woman and A London...
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The Spitalfields Mulberry
Yesterday, Richard Chartres, Bishop of London presented Christ Church, Spitalfields, with a Mulberry tree to plant in the churchyard in memory of the twenty-thousand Huguenot refugees that came here...
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Richard Ardagh At Wilton’s Music Hall
Designer, Typographer & Printer, Richard Ardagh of New North Press in Hoxton has collaborated with the pupils of Bigland School in Stepney to create these splendid letterpress signs for Wilton’s...
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The Costume & Mantle Worker
I spent an interesting afternoon in the Bishopsgate Institute archive recently studying copies The Costume & Mantle Worker, a bilingual journal in English and Yiddish for members of the United...
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My pal Paul Gardner, fourth generation proprietor of Gardners’ Market Sundriesmen, Spitalfields oldest family business since 1870, is featured in this short film by Imogen Farrell, Joshua Kwan &...
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Henry Silk, Basket Maker & Artist
Of all the painters that comprised the East London Group, I rate none more highly than Henry Silk and today David Buckman, author of the authoritative history From Bow to Biennale : Artists of The East...
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Henry Silk’s East End Still Lifes
Today I am delighted to preview the forthcoming exhibition of Henry Silk’s East End Still Lifes at Abbott & Holder in Museum St, WC1, opening Thursday 17th November. These lucid paintings recall...
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At The Royalty Theatre, Wellclose Sq
It is my pleasure to introduce the last of four features written by Julian Woodford, celebrating the publication of his biography of East End gangster & corrupt magistrate, Joseph Merceron, The...
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The Alphabet Of Lost Pubs H-L
You will be in need of refreshment once you have contemplated H-L in the third part of my series of The Alphabet of Lost Pubs, but let us not arrange to meet in the King’s Arms or the Lord Nelson...
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At The Garden Of Hope
(Click to enlarge this portrait of those involved in making the mosaic) It was my pleasure to take a trip to Tottenham recently to spend an afternoon at the Mental Health Unit where Tessa Hunkin and...
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Lucy Kemp-Welch At The Royal Exchange
On Armistice Day, we celebrate the work of Lucy Kemp-Welch and her mural Women’s Work in the Great War at the Royal Exchange in the City of London. If the current development proposals are approved,...
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The Publican & The Historian
In this extract from his newly-published book SPITALFIELDS, The History of a Nation in a Handful of Streets, Dan Cruickshank reflects on his friendship with Sandra Esqulant, landlady of the Golden...
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Tim Hunkin’s Housing Ladder
If you are heading to Clerkenwell this Thursday 17th November for our Celebration of the Life & Work of Colin O’Brien, starting at 6pm at St James, Clerkenwell Green, you might like to walk over to...
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Dan Cruickshank At Trinity Green
Despite public opposition, widespread coverage and the outcry of all the significant heritage bodies, Sainsbury’s are pushing ahead with their plans for a twenty-eight storey tower of luxury flats...
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The Programme For Tomorrow
Baddeley Brothers have produced beautiful cards designed by Friederike Huber which we will distribute tomorrow at our Celebration of the Life & Work of Colin O’Brien, but I am publishing the...
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The Alphabet Of Lost Pubs M-P
Among the fine specimens of watering holes in the fourth part of my series of The Alphabet of Lost Pubs, I am delighted to present The Marquis of Lansdowne which was saved from demolition in 2013 by a...
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