The changing face of The East End a' Lundun

Hare Street, Bethnal Green, July 12th, 1922. Children gather near Lewis's hairdresser's shop on the day that the barber, Lewis Briskin, and his wife, Kate, were found dead.

The name Hare Street has gone, the street now being part of Cheshire Street, and the buildings pictured no longer exist.

Bethnal Green.jpg

Wish I could hear them speak. Maybe this is some of them 50 years later

Reply 1

NJA

1962: Children doing the twist in Montclare Street, Bethnal Green. It was their way of protesting against cars being parked in their play street.

Reply 2

Napp

How times have changed, Bethnal green looking decidedly different these days. Both aesthetically, ethnically and generally much more shoddy these days. The sound of sirens being more common than anything else :lol:

Reply 3

NJA

"get yer 'air cut!"

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 4

UnclePete

Original post by NJA

"get yer 'air cut!"

How's this for a trip down Memory Lane of the former East End?
Taken in colour- the old 8mm Kodak
most likely- around 1958-60, it shows the pollution free electric trolleybuses that once ran complete with BBC Light Programme music (the Radio 2 of the time).
'East London Trolleys'.
https://M.youtube.com/watch?v=ejnRrN3QhgE

London at one time, just immeadiately before WW2, had the largest and most efficient electric trolleybus system in the world. Stretching from Uxbridge in the west- further west than where the present 607 buses terminate now in fact and within a couple of hundred metres of the Bucks border- to Chadwell Heath in the east, and from Bexleyheath/West Croydon in the south to Barnet and Edgware/Cannons Park/ Waltham Cross in the north. Only WW2 stopped, literally in some cases by months, the system being as big again had the south London extensions and tram route conversions gone ahead.

The intensively worked and extensive East End routes were the among the first to be converted after London Transport's decision, in the mid fifties mainly on cost grounds, as both the buses and electrical infrastructure were coming to the end of their economic life, for conversion to diesel operation.

In spite of what some folk may think, pollution was an issue on the agenda then, but not so politicised or mainstream as now.

But then we were still preoccupied recovering from WW2 ( notice some of the cleared bomb sites and prefabs on the film, especially near the Tate & Lyle works at Silvertown with the old East London Line soon to be part of CrossRail), and to use Mr. Tony Blair's election expression two or more decades later, "things were only going to get bedder" !

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

NJA

Original post by UnclePete

How's this for a trip down memory lane of the East End?
Taken in colour around 1958-9 it shows the electric trolleybuses that once ran intensively there.
Google/Youtube in Eastend Trolleybuses ( I 'll post the direct link when I can get it to work).
Complete with BBC Light Programme music (the Radio 2 of the time ! ).
London at one time, just immeadiately before WW2, had the largest and most efficient electric trolleybus system in the world. Stretching from Uxbridge in the west- further west than where the 607 buses terminate now in fact- to Chadwell Heath in the east, and from Bexleyheath in the south to Barnet and Cannons Park in the north. Only WW2 stopped, literally in some cases by months, the system being as big again had the south London extensions and tram route conversions gone ahead.
The East End routes were the first to be converted after London Transport's decision, in the mid fifties mainly on cost grounds, as both the buses and electrical infrastructure having been the first to be installed, were coming to the end of their economic life, to be converted to diesel operation.
In spite of what some folk may think, pollution was an issue then but not so politicised or mainstream as now.
But then we were still recovering from WW2 ( notice some of the bomb sites on the film) and to use Mr. Tony Blair's election expression two or more decades later, "things were only going to get bedder" !

Previously the pollution was horse excrement, before that local farmers would drive their livestock in.

Reply 6

UnclePete

Original post by NJA

Previously the pollution was horse excrement, before that local farmers would drive their livestock in.

I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe a Freeman of The City of London can still drive his flock of sheep if he has such, over London Bridge at any time and date of his choosing?
One of the main contributory factors in the London smogs of the time was coal smoke from domestic fires, as house coal was low grade with a very high tar content. Our beloved steam train engines didn't help, although higher grade and superior calorific content fuel was used to keep smoke emissions down. At the former locomotive depot of 'Top Shed' outside King's Cross, the Public Health Inspectors as they were called then were always observing emissions with fines if they exceeded a certain level.
Going on from my earlier post I've managed to put the direct Youtube link in about the former East End electric trolleybuses : https://M.youtube.com/watch?v=ejnRrN3QhgE
Anybody recognise the various landmarks? I certainly do a few of them, i..e. Shoreditch/Commercial Street, Hackney Road near Columbia Road looking back towards Kingsland Road?, North Woolwich, Forest Gate/Romford Road/junction with Green Street, West Ham Church, Bakers' Arms ? Plaistow, Stratford Broadway, Upton Park, the former Victoria Docks terminus, Walthamstow depot ( the distinctive former tram company offices building is still there today) and the Silvertown flyover demolished a few years back.
Comments anyone, especially you current E-Enders?

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 7

NJA

Even as late as 1936 , they were using wooden blocks covered with tar to pave roads even though the number of horses in London had reduced drastically. The blocks were to absorb the noise from horses hooves and soften the impact.