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| Hoxton Square V McGarve CC |
On a late spring/early summer Saturday in May whilst visiting London with my husband we met my brother at Hoxton Square, who had offered to take us on a guided walk from the Square via Broadway Market and then back to Spitalfields . Both my husband and I had had a challenging previous night trying to find an age-appropriate place, for our age, to eat and drink in Shoreditch. We gave up attempting to integrate with the young hipsters and back-tracked in the pouring rain down the very aptly named Old Street to where we were staying. We luckily came across The Craft Beer Co. which had a DJ spinning Northern Soul classics so the night was rescued. But we were still were needing some convincing of the merits of this much-raved part of the East End, so we were hoping my brother would come to the rescue, and thankfully he did.
I had only once visited Hoxton Square, a couple of times. The first time was in 1992 on the way to a street festival on Brick Lane when Young British Artists were beginning to occupy the buildings around the square. Then later on in the early noughties to visit the White Cube It's still an attractive spot but has possibly lost some of the artistic buzz now the YBAs and the White Cube have moved on.
The following are the self-selected urban landmarks from our East End stroll.
I had only once visited Hoxton Square, a couple of times. The first time was in 1992 on the way to a street festival on Brick Lane when Young British Artists were beginning to occupy the buildings around the square. Then later on in the early noughties to visit the White Cube It's still an attractive spot but has possibly lost some of the artistic buzz now the YBAs and the White Cube have moved on.
The following are the self-selected urban landmarks from our East End stroll.
1. Wells and Company Commercial Iron Works Shoreditch High Street - the red brick facade and Moorish tiling show that shop fronts can be beautiful
2. Boundary Garden Bandstand: Arnold Circus Boundary Estate - every neighbourhood needs a bandstand, my most common encounters with bandstands has been on seafronts and parks so this was an unexpected find, as was Boundary Estate.
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| Boundary Garden Bandstand V McGarvey CC |
3. Columbia Road - Location of the Columbia Road Flower Market and an attractive range of quirky shops including Vintage Heaven which had an array of ceramics including this display of TV favourites Green Beryl ware made by Woods Pottery (seem my previous blog about Middleport Ruins Up Close and Personal)
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| Columbia Road V McGarvey cc |
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| Woods Pottery Display V McGarvey cc |
4. Haggerston Park home of Hackney City Farm previously a brewery, great urban planting also we were witness to a bizarre impromptu fashion shoot outside the stables.
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| Hackney City Farm Visitor Centre V McGarvey cc |
5. Dericote Street off Broadway Market . Broadway market is an incredible street market of artesanal stalls that stops before London Fields, this is where I spotted my first bonnet of the day. This is a quiet street off the busy main market, I thought the simple, almost naive designs of these town houses were really compelling.
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| Dericote Street V McGarvey cc |
6. Guiness Trust Partnership Building Columbia Road. This fetching tower is a social housing landmark, built in 1892.
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| Guiness Trust Partnership Building |
7. Barnet Grove's curved corner, an eloquent corner punctuation departure from the usual angular
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| Barnet Grove V McGarvey cc |
8. Leopold Buildings tenement built in 1872 on Columbia Road, although slightly rough around the edges this majestically styled social housing.
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| Leopold Building V McGarvey cc |
9. Shoreditch's architecturally confused skyline, something old something new, some think it fascinating others pervasive.
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| Shoreditch V McGarvey cc |
10. Anna Maria Garthwaite, great to come upon this blue plaque honouring this distinguished textile designer on the corner of renovated Princelet Street in Spitalfields, the final notable landmark of our walk.
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| Princelet Street Anna Maria Garthwaite Blue Plaque V McGarvey cc |
You will notice that Brick Lane where I sited my second bonnet of the day, on what turned out to be a very warm afternoon, is notably absent from the above. This is mainly because these unexpected urban encounters upstaged it (for me!). I think Brick Lane is Curates Egg (fare in parts) and an acquired taste like the starkly renovated Wilkes Street in Spitalfields - but others love it and it is worth a visit. And yes this it is really 12 urban landmarks.
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| Wilkes Street Spitalfields V McGarvey CC |
My map of the area is available here Hoxton Square to Spitalfields Walk
References