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James Leman, Silk Designer
Celebrating the ninth birthday of Spitalfields Life with a week of favourite posts from the past year The oldest surviving set of silk designs in the world, James Leman’s album contains ninety...
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Dorothy Rendell, Artist
Celebrating the ninth birthday of Spitalfields Life with a week of favourite posts from the past year Self portrait by Dorothy Rendell I feel touched and privileged to have been given the eleventh hour...
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Some Recent Facades
A stonker at Borough Market Two years ago I wrote of the creeping plague of ghastly facadism which threatens to turn London into the backlot of movie studio where front walls replace architecture....
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The Bell Foundry & The Mulberry Tree
Towards the end of the last century, Tower Hamlets decided to identify the different neighbourhoods in the borough with cherished symbols representing the fundamental identity of each place. For...
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A Weekend In Fournier St
We are now taking bookings for this autumn’s course in blog writing. Come to Spitalfields and spend a weekend with me in an eighteenth century weaver’s house in Fournier St, enjoy delicious lunches...
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Public Practice
On Tuesday 18th September at 7:30pm, Finn Williams will be giving a talk at Leila’s Cafe hosted by the EAST END PRESERVATION SOCIETY, discussing the controversial role of council planners in shaping...
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The Triumph of Doreen Fletcher
Cover of Doreen Fletcher’s monograph . Regular readers will be aware of the magnificent paintings of Doreen Fletcher which were first shown in these pages in 2015. Doreen painted the East End from...
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The Small Trades Of Spitalfields
This Saturday 20th October at 11am I am giving an illustrated lecture on THE SMALL TRADES OF SPITALFIELDS in the crypt of Christ Church, exploring how the culture of artisans created the identity of...
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At The Barbican
Polly Powell, whose father Geoffry was one of the architects of the Barbican, sent me this short memoir of growing up in the shadow of the design and construction of a Brutalist masterpiece. Inspired...
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My Scrap Collection
For some time, I have been collecting Victorian scraps of tradesmen and street characters. I am especially fascinated by the mixture of whimsical fantasy and social observation in these colourful...
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Doreen Fletcher’s First East End Paintings
Over coming months, leading up to the opening of Doreen Fletcher’s retrospective at the Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts, on 25th January 2019, we shall be featuring her paintings accompanied by the stories...
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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...
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Luke Clennell’s Dance Of Death
More than fifteen years have passed since my father died at this time of year and thoughts of mortality always enter my mind as the nights begin to draw in, as I prepare to face the spiritual challenge...
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Alice Pattullo’s Calendar
Favourite illustrator Alice Pattullo kindly sent me a copy of her modest concertina-fold pocket calendar for next year and I was entranced by the beauty of it, and by her inspired choices of flowers,...
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When Max Levitas Stormed The Savoy
Remembering Max Levitas who died last Friday at one hundred and three years old, we present Matthew Sweet’s account of when Max and a band of East End Communist revolutionaries occupied the Savoy Hotel...
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Wilfred Owen In Shadwell
Wilfred Owen was killed in November 1918 but wrote this poem earlier that year . Shadwell Stair . I am the ghost of Shadwell Stair. Along the wharves by the water-house, And through the cavernous...
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A Tea Party For Doreen Fletcher
Portrait of Doreen Fletcher in her studio by Stuart Freedman . Please join me for for a tea party with complimentary sponge cakes at 3pm on Sunday 25th November at the Nunnery Gallery to celebrate the...
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Tony Norman’s Geezers
Reader Tony Norman from Brighton sent me these wonderful photographs of sculptures he has made, inspired by the faces in photographs by Phil Maxwell, John Claridge & Markéta Luskačová published in...
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Painting The Hamlets
Tonight is the opening of a new exhibition of paintings from Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, PAINTING THE HAMLETS, including several pictures from the collection that were featured...
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At Fishmongers’ Hall
This palatial building of Portland stone tucked under the west side of the foot of London Bridge is Fishmongers’ Hall. Many a time I have passed by on an errand to the Borough to buy fresh fish and...
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