Memory Lane Stepney

[mossie]

In my gentle sightseeing thread I threatened you with a trip to places I worked at in London, but changed my mind, and have gone back to where I lived at that time. I left school in July 1948 and worked on a farm while trying to find something better. Eventually I got a job as an office boy in a firm of bean counters in the City of London, which meant leaving home, and i was found a place in a hostel in Stepney in the East End of London where boys from Dr Barnardos went between leaving school and entering the armed forces at 18, as was the norm then. The hostel has long gone and the site and surrounding area transformed into sorely needed social housing. This plan on the site shows the whole area. At the top is the main Commercial Road and the bottom Cable Street. Through the centre runs an overhead railway which carries the main Southend line and the Docklands Light Railway which serves the general old Docklands area. On the right is Stepney Causeway running under the railway line, and it was here that the main Dr Barnados Home for Boys was built, the next street in those days ran parallel called Bower Street which now forms a loop on this map. The Hostel was on this street and close up to the railway. The dormitory was on the upper floor and, laying in bed, one could feel the faint vibration from passing trains. I lived here for some 8 or 9 months before getting a job with the Met Office. I hope this is all clearer than mud.



Here is a view of the block of flats fronting onto Commercial Road



And here is where Bower Street exits the bridge from beneath the railway



The whole area suffered very badly during the London Blitz and much rebuilding has since been done so it si virtually unrecognisable now but this is virtually on the other side of Commercial Road



However next door to the new flats on Commercial Rd is this old pub, The Royal Duke, now looking very sorry for itself



while just up the road is this Art Deco cinema, reputedly the largest in England at about 3,500 seats



I'll give us all a rest now and indulge myself again tomorrow.

[bixaorellana]

Fascinating, Mossie -- I'm looking forward to much more.

When you were there in 1948, were all the places that were bombed just open land, or temporary buildings or ... ?

It must have been a big deal for you to get a place in hostel, as I imagine housing must have been very strained at that time. Would you have had to leave if you'd turned eighteen while staying there?

Tell us more!

[patricklondon]

If I may put in some supplementary information, these days the Troxy serves as a general purpose public hall for all sorts of meetings and entertainments. The local council uses it as the counting centre for elections, and on the occasional Sunday when I've been past there, there have been evident signs of big wedding celebrations, usually from the local Bangladeshi community - plenty of glittering saris in bright colours, that sort of thing.


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[mossie]

Thanks Patrick, I was hoping that you, as a local, would be up to date on the area. I remember going to it as purely a cinema but know that they have to spread their wings to attract audiences nowadays.

Bixa, I was just happy to leave home and set off into the world, I would have had to leave the hostel at 18 to join the services. London was full of 'bomb sites' as they were called, which had generally been cleared up and levelled off while their owners decided what to do with them. In a few places temporary buildings had been put up and some had been rebuilt. Seriously damaged buildings were made safe and then made roughly habitable, as was the case with parts of my old school in Canterbury. I well remember when I had a car in the middle '50's, being able to drive into central London and parking on a bomb site close to Piccadilly Circus very cheaply. There was a bomb site left undeveloped in Ludgate Hill if memory serves me correctly, well into the '60's. Some people made fortunes buying up central London bomb sites for peanuts and later developing them.

But back to my life at the time. Picture 3 above shows the bridge at the south end of Bower St which we used to pass through to gain access to Cable St and then on to the King Edward VII park, and further on to a riverside pub, the Prospect of Whitby on Wapping Wall. I have mentioned this somewhere before, but there were two or three of us who would, when funds allowed, have an evening in there drinking cheap beer. Today this pub is well worth a visit as it is a veritable museum, I was not aware of its history and had accused it of having a zinc topped bar, but the web site tells me that the bar is covered by pewter and is the longest such in the country. It has been patronised by many of the great and good, reputedly including Dickens, not to mention Princess Margaret and various film stars. the brewers web site tells more here www.taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/prospect-of-whitby-wapping/c8166/ When we were there it just appeared to be a rough dockers boozer. I had arranged to meet my young son there for lunch and he took this snap of me clearing Wappings dust from my throat



Running beside the pub is this alley which I include for htmb's benefit, being the pelican expert



I don't advise rushing down because it ends in a steep little flight of stairs into the Thames



To get to the pub one has to cross over the entrance to Shadwell Basin, which was part of the London Docks at the time. To enable ships to enter the roadway was lifted by this contraption, a bascule bridge operated in the same way as Tower Bridge, except that this has one leaf whereas there are two at the Tower.



From here it is easier to see the green painted rack and pinion system which drove the bridge against the water counterbalance.



Here is a view of the basin looking towards the City, which is about a mile or so away



Another Victorian relic is this , which belonged to a company set up to utilise water power





Here is a superb example of Victorian craftsmanship on an old pub further along. I have run out of suitable snaps but will have to return to complete this little tale at a later date

[Deleted]

I am absolutely loving these photos of 'ordinary' London which looks so extraordinary to me. I hope you return soon.

[bixaorellana]

Your pictures, as always are excellent and informative, Mossie. I love bridges and your bascule shots are great. The word pictures from both you and Patrick really bring the area to life.

A pewter bar! Somehow that seems the height of luxury.

I don't think I've ever seen a carving like the one in the last picture -- deeply chiseled out of brickwork.

[onlyMark]

As regards the pub - ".....and it was a notorious haunt for smugglers, thieves and pirates."
You'd know it well then.
I like how it has retained its character and not, for example, had its walls covered with an excess of old ploughs and black and white photos etc etc like they seem to do to make a pub more 'authentic' nowadays. It's a proper pub.

[patricklondon]

You would have known the Prospect before Dan Farson took it over and made it fashionable - I seem to remember reading somewhere someone's complaint that whenever some sophisticated Londoner-about-town proposed to take them somewhere to see "real, down to earth London" it was always the Prospect of Whitby, by which time it was anything but, of course.

Nowadays, it is, in a way, just another riverside pub, along with the Captain Kidd, the Town of Ramsgate and the Grapes in Limehouse, all set in amongst the upmarket flats in the old warehouses (I daren't tell you how much they sell for, and as for the Georgian houses round Wapping Pierhead..... If I tell you that the "local residents" who protested about Thames Water being allowed to corral off bits of the King Edward park (for the works to build their massive super-sewer beneath the Thames) included the likes of Helen Mirren........).


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[breeze]

I notice, Mossie, that you are taking care not to stand too close to the Black Sheep sign on the bar. But I assume it's a brand of beer. Impressive that the bar surface is pewter.

We learned something from you yesterday--bascule bridge. I looked it up on wikipedia (and made sure that Mark wasn't the one who made the entry).

Much as I like all the buildings you've shown, my favorite photo so far is the brick or terracotta sign for the Three Suns. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in photos (and definitely not in real life).

Looking forward to more, wherever your camera takes you.

[mossie]

Here for Bixa and breeze is the other two panels from the old pub in context. Decorative brickwork was a feature of the age and much rubbing down of soft red brick was required.



Now here are a couple of sightseeing cruisers, these boats run a regular service up and down the river and are well worth the trip. You get a commentary in the city section but not out in the wilds as here. In the background is the Isle of Dogs, on which the bankers in their obscene palaces should be confined. On bread and water.



Thanks once again Patrick. Please remember that I am a dinosaur and 1949 was a very different time. I lived in that hostel paying 25 bob a week, £1.25 in todays funny money, and earning £2.75 a week. Wouldn't be able to buy a pint with that now. I do remember on odd occasions having to walk the couple of miles to work, not being able to afford the penny hapenny bus fare, just over half a decimal penny down Commercial Road. The Prospect is full of photos and odds and end, note how the bar is made from old barrels supporting the counter, a ships wheel hanging from the ceiling, etc etc. The website says that one of the upstairs room was used for a boxing ring.

It is bad enough breeze emphasising that I was the Black Sheep but Mark reminded me of the story about the pirates. It was said that the penalty for piracy was death. Pirates were executed round here by being pegged down on the beach between the low and high tide marks. They were left there for three tides to wash over them. If they survived they were pardoned. Who says we don't show mercy.

I hope to return in a week or so as there are more photos I intended to take and areas to explore, any excuse to quit these four walls.

[onlyMark]

Mar 29, 2017 14:57:38 GMT breeze said:

I looked it up on wikipedia (and made sure that Mark wasn't the one who made the entry).

I'm getting a bad reputation here.

As regards the pub, it must be London because you've got cashew nuts and pistachios behind the bar. Can't see a pork scratching for love nor money.
My parents ran a pub for a few years, by the way. That's how I seem to remember what a firkin is.
In the last photo with the boats, I bet those apartments on the opposite bank cost a bob or two.

[mich64]

I enjoyed your photos and thoughts Mossie. I also like the stone floor in the pub. One difference I notice is there are no stools at the bar and I like that.