Famous places within 5 minutes walk of my house - update The Double R Club
Last August, as part of diamond geezer's local history month, I investigated various famous places within 5, 10 and 15 minutes walk of my house. One of these was the Kray Brothers' first club, which at the time I placed 15 minutes away down by Mile End staton. Not so. I've just discovered that the infamous 'Double R' club was in fact much closer to home, just up the road opposite Bow Church DLR station.
For a few years in the late Fifties the Double R club at 145 Bow Road was at the centre of the Kray brothers' semi-legitimate business empire. Reggie snapped up a cheap derelict shop here while his brother Ronnie was in prison, and furnished the premises with stolen goods. A gym was built on the first floor and Henry Cooper was invited to officially open the premises in 1957. It wasn't long before the club was attracting a crowd of sharp-suited businessmen, showbiz celebrities and scheming villains. Jackie Collins and Barbara Windsor were regular visitors, and entertainment was provided by cockney songstress (and soon-to-be actress) Queenie Watts. All went well at the Double R until Ronnie escaped from prison. He would turn up at the club uninvited, behaving violently and frightening the clientele. In 1960 Reggie was arrested, Ronnie turned his interest to bigger clubs in the West End, and the Double R closed down.
Sadly this notorious building no longer exists. A non-descript prefab now lies on the site, home to a car hire firm, while immediately nextdoor is a modern secondary school playground. I suppose I should be relieved that my area must be one of the few in London where the crime rate has actually gone down since the 1950s, but I think I may get a couple of extra door locks fitted just in case.
(Read the whole of local history month on one page on my london geezer site, now updated to place the Kray brothers in their rightful position.)
Famous places within 5 minutes walk of my house - update
For a few years in the late Fifties the Double R club at 145 Bow Road was at the centre of the Kray brothers' semi-legitimate business empire. Reggie snapped up a cheap derelict shop here while his brother Ronnie was in prison, and furnished the premises with stolen goods. A gym was built on the first floor and Henry Cooper was invited to officially open the premises in 1957. It wasn't long before the club was attracting a crowd of sharp-suited businessmen, showbiz celebrities and scheming villains. Jackie Collins and Barbara Windsor were regular visitors, and entertainment was provided by cockney songstress (and soon-to-be actress) Queenie Watts. All went well at the Double R until Ronnie escaped from prison. He would turn up at the club uninvited, behaving violently and frightening the clientele. In 1960 Reggie was arrested, Ronnie turned his interest to bigger clubs in the West End, and the Double R closed down.
