High Street 2012 4) WHITECHAPEL ROAD (middle) Greatorex St to Vallance Rd
It seems entirely appropriate that Whitechapel Road should be one of the two cheapest properties on London's Monopoly board. Admittedly you can't buy a house around here for twenty quid any more, nor a hotel for 450, but it's still true that prices are about a tenth of those in mighty blue Mayfair. In most European cities the upwind west is a more desirable location than the downwind east, and Whitechapel never managed to buck the whiffy trend. Even as early as the late 16th century John Stow was reporting on distasteful development in the area...
Conditions in Whitechapel have changed dramatically since the 1860s, helped on in no small measure by the Luftwaffe. But this is still a street frequented by Tower Hamlets' poorer souls and immigrant communities [photo]. At the Salvation Army's Booth House hostel, homeless men gather on the access ramp for a fag and a beer. In upstairs solicitors and downstairs travel agents, local families make distant plans for a well-earned trip back home. Shrouded women and prayer-capped men gather on the shadowy pavement in readiness for the appointed hour for worship. Workers from Eastern Europe sit at coffee-stained wooden tables in internet cafes to send smiling photos to loved ones via Hotmail. Along the street are hi-vis outerwear merchants for that job down at the construction site, and betting shops to gamble away the wages later. Other more multicultural wholesalers, meanwhile, offer everything from glittering saris to Friday best suits.
Precisely four years from today, the men's London Olympic marathon will come powering along this central stretch of the Whitechapel Road. The elite runners won't be here for long, not if they can help it, and the TV cameras probably won't want to linger on this substandard streetscape either [photo]. But the world will still see a far less negative image than has existed here in any bygone era. And if High Street 2012 works its magic, the future could be even brighter.
four local sights » East London Mosque: Completed in 1985 and paid for by the local community (and the King of Saudi Arabia), the East London Mosque's golden dome and triple minarets dominate this part of the street. The brick building's not quite so ornate below roof level, with separate arched entrances for male and female worshippers. Nextdoor is the white-tiled London Muslim Centre with its striking Islamic patterned overhang, and then a rather large office block which looks like it helps to pay the rent. Most impressive, but I've never quite managed to take a really decent photograph of the place. [photo][photo] » Rivoli Cinema: The site of the East London Mosque was previously home to the Rivoli Cinematograph Theatre (bombed), which was previously the site of a venue for boxing and music hall called "Wonderland" (obsolete), which was previously the site of the New East London Theatre (burnt down). » St Mary's station: Between 1884 and 1938 there used to be another underground station between Aldgate East and Whitechapel, next to the Rivoli Cinema, serving through services to the East London line via St Mary's Curve. But a mid-street halt wasn't really necessary, and few shed a tear when it was Blitzed a couple of years after closure. On the site today, a Citroen showroom. [photo] » Express Packaging UK: Printed carrier bag specialists, for all your garment rail requirements and display sundries. An Aladdin's Cave for local retail outlets, with naked trade mannequins on parade in the window. [photo]
High Street 2012
Conditions in Whitechapel have changed dramatically since the 1860s, helped on in no small measure by the Luftwaffe. But this is still a street frequented by Tower Hamlets' poorer souls and immigrant communities [photo]. At the Salvation Army's Booth House hostel, homeless men gather on the access ramp for a fag and a beer. In upstairs solicitors and downstairs travel agents, local families make distant plans for a well-earned trip back home. Shrouded women and prayer-capped men gather on the shadowy pavement in readiness for the appointed hour for worship. Workers from Eastern Europe sit at coffee-stained wooden tables in internet cafes to send smiling photos to loved ones via Hotmail. Along the street are hi-vis outerwear merchants for that job down at the construction site, and betting shops to gamble away the wages later. Other more multicultural wholesalers, meanwhile, offer everything from glittering saris to Friday best suits.
four local sights
