Six photos from yesterday's walk, none of which were interesting enough for a full post of their own.
This shop used to be the PercyInglebakery at the eastern end of Roman Road, which closed permanently last July along with all their other stores. Last autumn I watched workmen unceremoniously removing the fixtures and fittings and since then it's been empty. But thanks to a banner hanging above the shutters we now know that the new tenants will be Sweet Talkers Dessert, an independent eatery selling pink ice cream, pink cupcakes and rich pink gateaux with an extra dollop of cream on top. As yet their website has no content and their Instagram has no posts (interestingly they plumped for sweettalkerdesserts rather than the technically correct sweettalkersdessert), but apparently they are Opening Soon. From a carb palace to a sugar temple, that's how it goes. I sighed.
I sighed because I'm more likely to buy a pastry than a sundae... and then I stopped and reminded myself this isn't all about me. I sighed because Roman Road's riddled with dessert parlours so doesn't need more... and then I checked my assumption by walking the length of the road and didn't see another. I sighed because sugar is so much worse for you than stodge... and then I remembered it's your diet that matters, not a single meal. So I suspect the real reason I sighed is because Roman Road is evolving and moving away from what I'm used to, a bit like when my local Post Office closed and was replaced by two halal grocery shops. But what I really need to remember is that I never went into Percy Ingle anyway so its replacement is irrelevant, I'm just inventing notional disappointment... and anyway there's still a Greggs beside the chippie directly across the street.
This was the scene on London Fields yesterday morning as a pop-up tent promoting Low Traffic Neighbourhoods drew in the crowds. It was organised by Hackney Living Streets and the Hackney Cycling Campaign, and their cunning ploy was to offer a free breakfast of croissants, fruit, coffee and/or orange juice to everyone stopping by. Kickstart a conversation, hand out some postcards and hope everyone goes home and adds their support on the London Fields LTN consultation webpage. The advantage of a gazebo in a park, obviously, is that pedestrians and cyclists are going to notice whereas drivers and cabbies are most likely stuck in traffic elsewhere.
I don't know why the London Fields LTN is quite so contentious but it currently has 4820 comments submitted on the council website which is double the total of any other Hackney LTN. Maybe it's because the measures were introduced in September last year so pedestrians and cyclists already know how much they like them and drivers have had eight unhappy months of having to go round the long way. There is a tendency to see LTNs as a moral crusade, either wholly good or wholly bad, whereas the important thing is which of the individual interventions work and which go that one step too far. Engaging sensibly with a consultation, prompted by a free croissant, has got to be better than blinkered fury.
This is April Street in Shacklewell, a gorgeous 1880s terrace with one of those old NE postcode streetsigns everyone loves. I smiled on finding it, but felt like I'd stumbled on it one month late because a post about April Street would no longer have timely relevance. But it did get me wondering which month of the year has the most London streets named after it and which months have none at all. Here are the results of my research (and Spring wins hands down).
I spotted this pair at the top end of Hackney Downs, pulling a little cart packed with water bottles and feeding a tree. Newly planted trees tend to need a lot of aftercare because they have unnaturally small root systems, having been grown in nurseries with an economic interest in packing saplings close together. Heavy watering helps young trees establish a connection to the soil, even in a showery month like this, as these two volunteers plainly know. I love their trolley, I love their dedication and I love that their group is called the Tree Musketeers.
The group's based at a long-established Tree Nursery at the southern end of Hackney Marshes. There's lots to be done there, if that's your thing, but they also plant trees elsewhere, care for community orchards and manage forest trees in Wick Woodland. I'm sure they'd welcome more volunteers seeking to help the environment and the planet, as might similar initiatives nearer where you live, although I'd be surprised if any other branches have such a cool name.
This impressive legalese is pinned up on a bridge leading onto Hackney Marshes and at several other entrances to the site. An injunction imposed 11 months ago has been discharged, and the peculiar thing is the way the notice refuses to admit precisely what it is that's no longer banned.
It's lots of things actually, starting last summer when 'persons unknown' flooded onto Hackney Marshes and abused the space. Unlicensed musical events, damage to trees and plants, the possession of nitrous oxide, the playing of loud amplified music, the lighting of fires and the dropping of litter have all been subject to arrest since June last year. That's pretty damned draconian which is why the injunction was always going to be time limited. But I can see why Hackney council might be unwilling to list and laminate the things you're no longer not allowed to do.
