Paul Walters

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London’s Enchanting Reinvention of the East End.

London’s Enchanting Reinvention of the East End.


There is nothing quite like walking the streets of London. In a word, it's pure, unadulterated entertainment especially if you choose locations of the calibre of London’s East End.


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When I lived in this great city in the late ’80s, the East End and in particular Brick Lane was run down and more than a little shop soiled. Here was the district where Bangladeshis took up residence after arriving in their thousands from the war-ravaged country that they used to call home.

Walking the busy and Brick Lane Market on a Sunday I would often see young Bangladeshi women with their gold nose rings, peeking at the passing parade through slits in the curtains from upstairs rooms.

Brick Lanes and Whitechapel are areas of London that, from the late 19th Century until the early ’90s was branded, " the worst criminal rookery of London" and was the benchmark for urban deprivation and decay. One only has to think of Jack The Ripper and the notorious Kray Brothers who plied their murderous trades with reckless abandon in this part of the city.

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Today, the East End has undergone an astonishing renaissance after a period of  ‘gentrification'  and is today considered one of the more desirable areas in which to live. In fact, it now bears the moniker of being, "the world's most vibrant contemporary art quarter". 

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The pavements, sidewalks and alleys in Spitalfields and the lanes flanking Brick Lane is a riot of colour giving the pedestrian a high energy feast of vibrant and often 'in your face' street art. An afternoon spent rambling from corner to corner in this highly creative parish is a delight as there’s plenty to surprise and much to amuse a keen-eyed visitor.

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This open-to-all outdoor gallery is a perpetual work in progress as the consistent re-daubing of the urban landscape means every visit is perhaps pregnant with possibilities as you're always likely to see something new, vivid and unique that somehow sprang up overnight.

Brick Lane’s plethora of Balti restaurants sits spicy cheek by delicious jowl along the street, all promising the best curries in London or indeed the world. One I noticed had a sign outside that said, “Prince Charles Always Eats Here!”  

Walking north up the street, below the landmark tower of the old Truman brewery is where the art really comes into its own. While admiring the artist’s handiwork you will pass the revamped Old Spitalfields Market in Brushfields Street
with its food stalls, cafes and restaurants which become tempting staging posts before or after a street art stroll.

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 Nearby artistic attractions include the Dennis Severs House  in Folgate Street, Raven Row in Artillery Street (a contemporary art space open free to the public Wednesday to Sundays) and the Whitechapel Gallery that specifically promotes artists living in the East End. The gallery is at the end of Brick Lane, close to Aldgate tube station.

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And while I'm being amused and galvanised on my mini-excursion there is a team on the street that's busy with ladders, tools and brushes, hard at work "installing" another large scale piece of public art beneath the railway bridge, thereby brightening up another formerly dark and forbidding space. As I watch, fine new examples of East End grotesque appear before my eyes. 

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Keep walking towards the river and you will come across the sharpest address in town - a fact that's easy to grasp when seeing it up close for the first time from ground level. 

Renzo Piano's 87-storey architectural marvel called The Shard pierces the sky and the often grey clouds above the London Bridge Quarter like an upthrust sword. 
This magnificent celebration of glass and steel has swiftly replaced 30 St Mary Axe, aka the Gherkin, as central London's building of note.

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The Shard is proving so popular as a major attraction that you need to cough up the fairly robust £29.95 to visit The View, which is located at a lofty 244 metres above street level on floors 68, and 72. If you wish to get one of the best views in London its best to book  a slot on the timed excursions and can be made in advance via the website.

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A more cost-effective approach is to try one of the three restaurants which are located on levels 31 to 33 but be warned they too are a little on the pricey side but at least you will get a meal.! From this vantage point, the views that can be enjoyed over a drink at one of the bars and are every bit as good as those from the giddy heights above. 


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For those fortunate to be checking into the Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard (occupying levels 34-52) will naturally have the luxury of savouring wonderful London views at their leisure and also have the pleasure of sipping cocktails with a view from the hotel's GŎNG Bar on Level 52.

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This exceptional building was, on completion, like the Gherkin, derided for their brash architecture but now Londoners adore them and, why wouldn’t you as they have added a bold statement to the ever-changing skyline

London. What’s not to love about this wonderful city?

Paul v Walters is the best selling author of several novels and when not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali he scribbles for several international travel and vox pop journals.

www.paulvwalters.net


Komentar

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #19

#17
Jerry Fletcher Once again, thanks for stopping by and indeed, so it goes!

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #18

#19
CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit Well you just made my day. if my writing stimulates an action from a reader then it means the piece has done its job. Head east young man and while there try the curry...Prince Charles apparently thinks it's splendid

CityVP Manjit

4 tahun yang lalu #17

Don't know how you do it, but you make me want to go back and visit that part of London, a part of London that I would not want to get caught being dead in so many decades ago. I know that some parts of West London that used to be a happening place look more run down now and yet I have heard how much gentrification has transformed the East side of London. Being born on the West side, it is difficult for me to conceive that the place to live for upwardly mobile Londoners is on the East side of London - but economically and culturally you make great points, especially when it connects one closer to the Financial District and a richer cultural experience than at anytime in the past. You definitely got me thinking !

CityVP Manjit

4 tahun yang lalu #16

Don't know how you do it, but you make me want to go back and visit that part of London, a part of London that I would not want to get caught being dead in so many decades ago. I know that some parts of West London that used to be a happening place look more run down now and yet I have heard how much gentrification has transformed the East side of London. Being born on the West side, it is difficult for me to conceive that the place to live for upwardly mobile Londoners is on the East side of London - especially where it connects one closer to the Financial District. You definitely got me thinking !

Jerry Fletcher

4 tahun yang lalu #15

Paul, once again you give me view and name for arts of that view. I've seen photos before but tohave the shard and the gherkin identified puts a whole new spin on it. And so it goes.

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #14

#15
Ian Weinberg Wow! There's a good story right there !!!

Ian Weinberg

4 tahun yang lalu #13

An enchanting review indeed Paul Walters. My late brother-in-law grew up in the ‘neighborhood’. As a youngster he became a ‘runner’ for the Kray brothers (not sure exactly what the role entailed!). One day Ronnie Kray called him in and said ‘‘Hey Bob, we got enough muscle. We need some brains”. So they sent him off to university. On completion of his degree, the Kray brothers were no more - imprisoned for life. But Bob emerged as a successful product of the East End!

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #12

#13
Time to revisit methinks ?

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #11

#11
Pascal Derrien Why not add Don Philpot to the list. His ridiculous posts clog up the system and the comment threads

Pascal Derrien

4 tahun yang lalu #10

Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee WOULD YOU MIND GETTING SOMEBODY FROM YOUR TEAM TO GET RID OF SAMANTHA SABATTOLI SHE HAS BEEN POLLUTING MANY POSTS THE LAST 10 DAYS THANKS

Robert Cormack

4 tahun yang lalu #9

Definitely on my "to do" list, Paul. I've always wanted to know where Prince Charles eats. If it's mushy peas, I'll be happy.

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #8

Cyndi wilkins

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #7

#5
Pascal Derrien there's always a next time!

Ken Boddie

4 tahun yang lalu #6

#4
But surely, Paul, when in Rome you’ve gotta have a good old ‘bubble bath’, particularly when you’re three quarters cut or ‘Brahms and Liszt’?

Pascal Derrien

4 tahun yang lalu #5

A city I went to I went through but never really had the time to explore

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #4

#1
Ken Boddie With that kind of cockney rhyming slang I would recommend steering well clear of the East End even in its gentrified state.

Paul Walters

4 tahun yang lalu #3

#2
Thanks as always

Debasish Majumder

4 tahun yang lalu #2

always fascinating to read your enriching buzz Paul Walters! enjoyed and shared. thank you for the buzz.

Ken Boddie

4 tahun yang lalu #1

It's hard to 'Adam and Eve', me old 'china plate', that the East End has been pacified, gentrified and artified. Back in the seventies, you wouldn't catch me walking down any East End 'frog and toad' at night without a bodyguard (or should I say Boddie-guard?), or I'd risk getting punched in the 'north and south' 👄 or the 'fireman's hose' 👃. I wonder if the old Cockney rhyming slang (whatever that is) is still used? 🤗

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