Clik here to view.
The King Of The Bottletops in Bow
Contributing Photographer Sarah Ainslie visited Robson Cezar, the artist known as the King of the Bottletops, at his studio in Bow where he contrives mind-boggling pictures with bottletops he collects...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Club Row Weavers Houses Are Listed!
A pair of weavers’ houses at 3-5 Club Row dating from 1764/66 I am overjoyed to announce that – thanks in no small part to the campaign waged by you the readers of Spitalfields Life - yesterday the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adam Dant’s West End Squares
Cartographer Extraordinaire Adam Dant has been making forays from his home in Shoreditch up to the West End and this pair of characteristically ingenious maps of St James’s Sq and Berkeley Sq are the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Help me publish a book of THE CREEPING PLAGUE OF GHASTLY FACADISM
One of the most popular posts of recent years has been THE CREEPING PLAGUE OF GHASTLY FACADISM, my gallery of notorious London facades. Since then I gave a lecture at RIBA and contributed articles on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Abomination In Bethnal Green
This is an extract from my article in the current issue of Design Exchange magazine. One of the most popular posts of recent years has been THE CREEPING PLAGUE OF GHASTLY FACADISM. Now I have written a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Film About The Whitechapel Bell Foundry
It is my great delight to present Gavin Kingcome‘s Save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry film [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] As you will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adam Dant’s Map Of Civil War London
You may recall that Adam Dant & I set out to walk the lines of the Civil War defences from Wapping to Westminster last month, as part of Adam’s research for his map of London in the Civil War which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Botch-Up In Bishopsgate
The centuries old White Hart in Bishopsgate has been botched up with a cylindrical office block on top, facaded and the ancient cellars destroyed. It is a development by Amsprop, the company of Sir...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Survey Of The Whitechapel Bell Foundry
In 1895, when C R Ashbee of The Guild of Handicrafts in Bow learned that Trinity House wanted to demolish Christopher Wren’s Trinity Green in Whitechapel, he published a survey of the architectural and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Boishakhi Mela Parade
Tomorrow, the Boishakhi Mela is celebrated in Spitalfields starting around 11am The streets of Spitalfields are closed off from dawn and, in the cool of early morning, an expectant hush lies upon the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At Chatham Royal Dockyard
Cliff, HMS Gannett Behold the ancient mariner I met at Chatham Dockyard. After a long career navigating the seven seas, he now guides visitors around HMS Gannett permanently berthed in a dry dock on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lesley Lewis, The French House
Today, I commence a new occasional series in collaboration with photographer Sarah Ainslie of GREAT LANDLADIES OF LONDON. I want to celebrate the wonderful women who are responsible for those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Claridge At The French House
Contributing Photographer John Claridge has been a regular at the French since the sixties and below you can read his eulogy to this beloved London institution. Now he has a book launch there and an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Claridge’s Soho Faces
There is a strange atmosphere in Soho these days with the redevelopment of Walker’s Court, the destruction of Foyles and the desecration of Denmark St – which makes it a tonic to enjoy these portraits...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At The Italian Parade In Clerkenwell
Sunday 21st July sees the 134th Italian Parade in Clerkenwell and the weather promises to be much better this year than when photographer Colin O’Brien & I joined the crowds In spite of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Facades Of Spitalfields
In today’s extract from my forthcoming book, I explore the rash of facades that has erupted in Spitalfields. THE CREEPING PLAGUE OF GHASTLY FACADISM combines a gallery of the most notorious facades and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
So Long, Leon Kossoff
Today we remember Leon Kossoff (1926-2019) who died on Thursday 4th July aged ninety-two. He was one of the few artists from the East End to win an international reputation. Presiding over Spitalfields...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tessa Hunkin At London Zoo
Visitors to London Zoo this week have enjoyed the additional attraction of watching Tessa Hunkin and her crew from Hackney Mosaic Project installing two joyous masterpieces of mosaic on either side of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At Aldgate Pump
Since Aldgate Pump is currently shrouded for renovation, I thought it was time to recount the notorious tale of this celebrated East End landmark See these people come and go at the junction of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nineteenth Century East End Darlings
In sharp contrast to Horace Warner’s Spitalfields Nippers, this selection from Philip Mernick‘s collection of cartes de visite by nineteenth century East End photographers, gathered over the past...
View Article