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Henry Croft, Road Sweeper
Henry Croft Trafalgar Sq is famous for the man perched high above it on the column, but I recently discovered another man hidden underneath the square who hardly anybody knows about and he is just as...
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On The Beat With PC Lew Tassell
Lew Tassell at the Mansion House . Lew Tassell, formerly of the City of London Police, took me on a walk tracing the path of his old beat last week and regaled me with stories of his adventures in the...
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East End Toy Manufacturers of 1917
Seeking lost East End toy manufacturers by studying copies of GAMES & TOYS, a trade publication from 1917, in the Young V & A Archive in Bethnal Green, I was struck by the irony of the tragic...
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The Dandy’s Perambulations
I am grateful to Sian Rees for kindly drawing my attention to The Dandy’s Perambulations by Robert Cruickshank, being an account of a trip to Kew Gardens in 1819 You may also like to take a look at...
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At Wellington Buildings in Bow
No doubt you have seen them out of the corner of your eye, looming over Bow Rd tube station. Wellington Buildings, Cuthbert Arthur Bereton’s dignified Victorian housing blocks rise like fairytale...
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John Thomas Smith’s Antient Topography
Bethelem Hospital with London Wall in Foreground – Drawn June 1812 Two centuries ago, John Thomas Smith set out to record the last vestiges of ancient London that survived from before the Great Fire...
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Viscountess Boudica On Valentine’s Day
On Valentine’s Day, I cannot help thinking back to the days when we had Viscountess Boudica of Bethnal Green to make the East End a more colourful place, before she was ‘socially cleansed’ to Uttoxeter...
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The Match Girls At The Hanbury Hall
It is commonly known that brave female employees of Bryant & May – known as the Match Girls – met in the Hanbury Hall in Spitalfields to form one of the very first trade unions in 1888. There is...
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Restoring The Leonard Montefiore Fountain
Leonard Montefiore Fountain at Stepney Green Sadly, the streets of our capital are punctuated with neglected drinking fountains that have run dry long ago, dismissed mostly as unsanitary relics of...
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Harry Harrison’s East Enders
David – universally known as ‘Harry’ – Harrison or ‘Harry the Pencil’ (1947-2023) came to Mile End in 1979, and liked it so much he never left. An artist who became an architect, he died at the age of...
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James Mackinnon, Artist
Twilight at London Fields, 2012 James Mackinnon’s streetscapes of the East End in general and London Fields in particular have captivated me for years. The seductive sense of atmosphere and magical...
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The Costume & Mantle Worker
I spent an afternoon in the Bishopsgate Institute archive studying copies of The Costume & Mantle Worker, a bilingual journal in English and Yiddish for members of the United Ladies Tailors Trade...
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In Search Of Flower & Dean St
Contributing Writer, Gillian Tindall, went in search of Flower & Dean St Fishman’s Tobacconist, Flower & Dean St, seventies, by Ron McCormick It is a disappointing fact that some dwellings are...
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Jock McFadyen, Artist
Jock McFadyen will be displaying paintings at this studio from 18th March – 14th May, each Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 4pm at 4 Helmsley Place, E8 3SB Aldgate East by Jock McFadyen Hidden behind...
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My First Year As A Tour Guide
THE GENTLE AUTHOR’S NEXT TOUR IS SATURDAY 11TH MARCH AND BOOKINGS ARE OPEN NOW FOR SPRING & SUMMER TOURS . CLICK HERE TO BOOK . The drawing room at Townhouse awaits tour guests . As we commence a...
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New Consultation For The Chest Hospital
JOIN ME FOR FOR A WALK THROUGH SPITALFIELDS THIS GOOD FRIDAY, EASTER SATURDAY OR EASTER MONDAY . CLICK HERE TO BOOK FOR SPRING & SUMMER TOURS . The Bethnal Green Mulberry, September 2022 ....
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People You May Meet On My Tour
JOIN ME FOR FOR A WALK THROUGH SPITALFIELDS THIS EASTER . READ THE EMBARRASSINGLY GOOD REVIEWS . CLICK HERE TO BOOK FOR SPRING & SUMMER TOURS . Map of the Gentle Author’s Tour drawn by Adam Dant...
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Lament For The Bell Foundry
JOIN ME FOR FOR A WALK THROUGH SPITALFIELDS THIS EASTER . READ THE ASTONISHINGLY GOOD REVIEWS . CLICK HERE TO BOOK FOR SPRING & SUMMER TOURS . . What a pitiful sight this is. Six years after it...
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A Door In Cornhill
JOIN ME FOR FOR A WALK THROUGH SPITALFIELDS THIS EASTER . READ THE ASTONISHINGLY GOOD REVIEWS . CLICK HERE TO BOOK FOR SPRING & SUMMER TOURS . The Bronte sisters visit their publisher in Cornhill,...
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Some People From Spitalfields History
Here are some people from history who you may meet on my walk, as illustrated by Adam Dant upon the border of the map of The Gentle Author’s Tour of Spitalfields . Click here to book tickets for my...
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