The original B109 ran through the heart of Hackney and would have been a blessedly short walk between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central stations. But once Mare Street closed to through traffic the A107 was diverted round the houses instead, simultaneously wiping out the B109 (Amhurst Road) and the B110 (Dalston Lane), so that's two B Roads I don't have to tread.
The replacement B109 is in Newham and is one of the main north/south roads connecting Barking Road to Romford Road. It's not one of the busy shopping arteries, more a second fiddle intermediary, and fairly representative of the Victorian heart of the borough. It's also quite dull, I have to admit, but I can promise a serious confectionery icon (and an unexpected sighting of the Stig) which I hope will keep you reading.
I'm starting at the southern end of Katherine Road so I can follow the houses in street number order. Vera Lynn's childhood home is up a street on the other side of Barking Road so alas I can't tell you about that. Instead I'm ducking between Brit Local (your local branded shop) and Eazy Homes (landlords wanted) to enter East Ham's terraced grid. The houses have very small front gardens, just large enough for bins and maybe pot plants, bikes, leftover paint or discarded clotheshorses. You can also get your car exhaust fixed or your shock absorbers tweaked here, indeed backstreet Newham offers many such opportunities. I wonder if you can guess what the famous confectionery company will be.
The Earl of Wakefield served pints from 1895 to 2013, particularly to West Ham fans, but the pub is now a church where you can meet Pastor Claude on Sunday afternoons. This first parade of shops has just one national chain, namely Ladbrokes, because they know where their clientele hangs out. Builders merchants are unusually commonplace, including one whose awning reveals it used to be an Afghan Halal Oriental Cuisine Restaurant. Occasionally the pavement narrows to make way for plastic buckets, brooms and shovels. Newham council put up "Sam Say's 20 Is Plenty" signs at the end of umpteen sidestreets ten years ago and still haven't got round to removing all the aberrant apostrophes. The confectionery story is well worth waiting for, honest.
A man stopped me beside a display of Dulux Weathershield and asked "You're not looking for the metal shop are you?" I was not, and a few minutes later when I spotted the aforementioned establishment I wondered if the man had wanted to know where it was himself but phrased his question really badly. In these troubled times it's hard to know whether the catering equipment & carpets shop is permanently shuttered or just doesn't bother opening in the morning. Some local residents have meter cupboards that don't close. Front gardens still aren't quite large enough to park a moped. The confectionery giant is now only couple of paragraphs away so hang in there.
This wouldn't be Newham if there weren't eventually some flats, some three-storey and some seven-. These appear just before the road rises to cross the District line, about halfway between Upton Park and East Ham stations, at bridge number D155. High walls ensure no trains are visible. Azeem Enterprises have been manufacturing threads, zips and elastics on Katherine Road since 1972, and their workshop still has the words Trimming Merchants stuck above the window in wonky red letters. Ahead we cross the B165, better known as Plashet Grove, which is the chief east/west road in these parts. The local butchers have branded this Halal Meat Corner, and if the lights take a long time to change you can stop and watch them carving poultry and lamb through the giant windows. The sweets are close now.
In the early 19th century the cottages here formed the hamlet of Plashet. One was owned by a historian called Katherine, who ultimately gave her name to the road, and whose mother was the famous prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. She lived round here for a while too. Today the area looks anything but rural with dense terraces, skips on the pavement and a surfeit of white vans loading white goods outside a bathroom showroom. For those who like to know which bus route we're following, it's now the 325. St Stephen's garage no longer sells Flare petrol but does do MOTs. Grangewood School is the only (ISA accredited) independent school in Newham, because Newham is not Richmond, and is housed in the former Plashet Park United Reformed Church Hall. Look, here it is!
Wow, this is not what you expect to find down an obscure B Road off the Newham beaten track. It's where esteemed purveyors of boiled sweets Trebor started trading in 1907, launching what would eventually become a global sugar-based empire. The name Trebor is famously 'Robert' spelled backwards, a fact which won't have escaped the attention of co-founder Robert Robertson. The current building is a 1935 Art Deco upgrade. a move which allowed the company to diversify into compressed powder confectionery like Refreshers and Parma Violets, and also saw the birth of Extra Strong Mints. Further Trebor factories followed in Chesterfield, Woodford and Colchester, and this outdated Forest Gate outpost eventually closed in 1983 to be converted into loft apartments. For a full-on minty-fresh Trebor history, head here.
Opposite the former sweet factory is a Tesco Express (established 2011) in which mints remain available. Less mainstream items can be purchased from the Himalaya Food Store nextdoor. That seriously ornate-looking pub is The Duke of Fife, or was, because since 2012 it's been filled by a Paddy Power bookmakers and an African restaurant. If I might just list shop names to pad out this paragraph, the next stretch includes Diamond Carpets, The Trimming Shop, Empress Property Management, Jamil's Barber Shop, Vape, Dhajia's, Wok & Pie, Panda's Kitchen and Five Star Trimming. I will not mention Anne's Patisserie because a) it's entirely atypical b) it's closed. I will mention Forest Gate Homeopathic Services because a) it's quite retro b) it's entirely unnecessary. And here's the Stig.
He may not be the real Stig, given he stands permanently on the pavement outside Quality Car Paints Limited, but he does do a very successful job of luring passing pedestrians to look at the wide range of aerosols within. We're almost at the end of the road after a walk that's been so long the house numbers are now in the high 500s. The flats on the corner of Romford Road occupy the site of Plashet Hall, locally known as Potato Hall, whose rooftop lantern once commanded views of ships on the Thames. The flats are considerably less interesting. But at least the sweet factory was good.
