Shoreditch – powerful architecture, marvellous metal and a helping hand

This actually follows on from this piece I wrote on my Substack – I continued my walk westwards from Norton Folgate towards City Road, entering this part of old Shoreditch at Worship Street.

Many years ago I recall being disappointed that the magnificent box girder bridge over the railway in Worship Street, used as a location in many movies as a prostitute pick-up zone, had been removed a couple of days before I had planned to go and photograph it for London The Way We See It*, a website set up by dicksdaily who nominated a street each week and we'd have fortnight to go and take photographs, then load up a max of three. It was a wonderful way to see different perspectives.

The bridge was later reinstated, and further along the street what looks like the love child of Nefertiti and Ming the Merciless appeared:.

I love it – look at those tapering corner columns, so redolent of Egyptian temple architecture, and the futuristic spaceship vibe, as if any second it might do a vertical take-off! It's actually the charging station for the loading bay mechanism next to it, allowing heavy items to be transported to the railway lines and platforms below.

I turned left into Curtain Road. The Horse & Groom pub is probably one of the oldest structures remaining on this section of the street. It's worth a visit for it's wood panelled interior, but be sure to check out the artwork and signage on the side:

As you can see, the large red letters show that here was a service station/petrol garage here back in the 1950s, indeed probably pre-that too – I'm judging by the type style here, I can't be bothered to research absolutely everything I write about unless it ends up being part of a guided tour!

Lower down on the wall someone has added some info about the QE1-era Curtain Theatre that used to be in the area behind the pub. I visited the site back in, ooh, er, about ten years ago when archaeologists were busy looking for clues and artefacts. I recall being really fed up that day which is possibly why I didn't take any photos let alone write about it on this blog.  Ah – found it in Londonist.

Then, via a few zig-zags, to the junction of Leonard Street and Paul Street where there is a building I have been watching for many years. Ironically, it's called Development House, which is amusing because it has been in a state of nothingness for many years, accessed only by graffiti artists. 

But it's the sculptural piece that adorns it. that I'm interested in.

The artwork It depicts two men scaling the building and reaching for a third person to join them. I wonder if another companion piece was originally installed in the gardens below...?**  

I have, on many occasions, tried to find out who created this marvellous artwork as I cannot see any marks that could be names on it – perhaps someone else with a better zoom lens can help me here. A visit to RIBA library would be helpful but it's gonna be closed for while yet. 

A proposed development was planned for here, due to be completed in 2022. But it now looks as if demolition has been shelved because the interior is currently available for rent, having been 'freshly refurbished' so perhaps the building and the sculpture is here to stay for the foreseeable future. 

I wonder if the change in plans has anything to do with the gaping great hole on the north side of Development House which has looked like this for as long as I care to remember:

Let's end on one my other favourite details in this area... from the open air basement car park, head northwards along Tabernacle Street and then turn left into Singer Street. A few paces in on the left side there is a gateway leading to the rear. I find it wonderfully uplifting that, even though the ground floor has clearly be refitted, they retained the gorgeous bit of fancy Victorian metalwork for Nos 5, 6 & 7.

 

*having just googled LTWWSI, I discover that top of the list is a project of the same name by Bob Marsden.  I think this might be the same Bob Marsden that I got chatting to a couple of years ago in Victoria Embankment Gardens where we were both admiring the military statuary and we have been following each other ever since. If it is indeed the very same BM, he's a lovely fella. 

** This reminds that there is another sculpture on a late C20th building that I need to find out about here on the side of 1 Putney Bridge Approach which is more abstract in form. 

Small remnants of wood block road surface in Shoreditch, EC2

Oooh... I've found more bits of +100year-old wood still embedded in our streets.

Well, your honour, I was wandering along Scrutton Street, London EC2, heading in a south-easterly direction, when I happened upon this manhole cover outside No.44, opposite No.51:

Nice. So I retraced my steps and found more wood in another manhole just a few metres away outside No.48-50 – it was hard to make out the how many segments contain wood being as it was filled with rain that day:

I thought about hunting for more, but the weather was miserably cold and I'd been on my feet all day, so I will check next time I am in the vicinity.

To see all the woodblocks I have found so far, click here. A guided walk on this subject should be available by June via janeslondonwalks.

R.I.P. Stamford Trading ghostsign, Hoxton

This enormous ghostsign for Stamford Veneers, high up on a Kingsland Road stables building facing the Overground Line at Hoxton has recently been overpainted.

Pic credit: by StockCarPete – see his full image here

It had been visible since the mid-1940s. My pics below, taken from the railway track, show the sign in October 2019 and earlier this month (Jan2024):

It’s beyond me why whoever did this wasted so much time and effort on this shoddy obliteration, especially as it doesn't appear that they spent much time and effort on it. By which I mean, it's not even been painted out properly – it's patchy – there are varying sections of thin and thick paint and roller marks are clearly visible. I suggest this has been achieved at speed involving long ladders or ropes, possibly at night time, rather than using a reliable contractor and scaffolding.

The sign featured a great example of the old Shoreditch telephone code and formed one of the first stops on my Hoxton and Shoreditch ghostsigns guided walk. I'll still include it on the walk though as a case study.

Oh well, the modern paint will fade away over time. The old sign will gradually re-emerge.

More telephone codes here.

Please help to save the unusual 'Art Deco' style façade of Willen House, Bath Street

If you have been on my 'Art Deco Shoreditch' walking tour you will know that a popular and provocative stop along the route is Willen House at 8-26, Bath St, London EC1V 9DX. 

It is such an unusual building because it looks to be 1930s, yet it was constructed soon after WWII, opening in December 1948 as shown within a plaque on the Lever Street corner. For the past few decades the building has been student accommodation and has suffered from a lack of care, the secondary double-glazing being particularly shabby.

Earlier this month, whilst out walking with some like-minded friends, I noticed seven information sheets in the windows of Willen House to the left of the main Bath Street entrance outlining tp bennett LLP's proposed changes for an upgrade to the building. Keen to keep up with my friends, I took some quick phone snaps so that I could read the info at a later date. And a good job I did that otherwise I would have been moaning about it for the rest of that day. The planned changes will effectively make it look like a new structure rather than a carefully-restored and adapted building. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. 

Having checked the 'work' section of tp bennett's website I can find no mention of this project to provide a link for you, so I have included my photos of the info sheets below (scroll down to the end) which, incidentally, were affixed L-R in reverse order which is itself sloppy.

I can also find no reference of these proposals on Buildington, which suggests to me that this is considered a cosmetic change, being that planning permission might not be needed here.

I have written a letter of complaint to the architects (see below) which I have cc'd to other parties who I think should be alerted to this insensitive shambles. 

Please note that it is the original exterior of the building that is worth saving here due to the quality of the products used. The interior was merely open spaces used as offices, storage and showrooms and, as such, would not have been in any way as impressive as the street-facing elements apart from, perhaps, the managing director's office which might have had some of-the-period interior design, but this would surely have been removed or altered when the building was converted for use a student accommodation. 

If you are also concerned about these proposals, please do write a letter of complaint yourself and make this issue known to any other parties you think could assist in preserving this unique and unusual building. 

For an idea of how the grey-washing of this will look, see what has happened to nearby Gilray House

..........................................

tp bennett LLP
One America Street
London SE1 0NE
willenhouse@tpbennett.com
Date: 12th January 2022
Re: Willen House Consultation / Revamp of Willen House, 8-26, Bath St, London EC1V 9DX 

I lead guided walks across London and have a keen interest in architecture, especially the ‘Art Deco' era. One of the most popular stops along my Shoreditch and Finsbury route has always been Willen House, especially when I explain to the group that this is not a 1930s building; that it was actually constructed just a few years after WWII and is therefore very unusual, not only for its lovely warm tones and quality of products used, but also because very few buildings were built at this time and certainly not to this excellent standard using quality products.
Earlier this month, whilst walking past the building, I noticed in the windows some information sheets that illustrate how tp bennett, a company who I have until this point respected and promoted, in the main for the excellent work created and overseen by Thomas Bennett back in the 1930s (such as, for instance, well-designed residential blocks in St John’s Wood and Westminster), is here planning to disguise almost all the original features which make Willen House so special and worthy of preservation.
Willen House is very unusual. There were only a handful of buildings constructed in the 1940s in London. This building has distinct ‘Art Deco’ styling yet, as the plaque on the Lever Street corner shows, it was completed in 1948 and opened on 7th December by W. Barrie, J. P., the then Mayor of Finsbury, hinting at how important an achievement this was to the borough and to the Willen Key Company at that time.
I have long been of the opinion that the Willien Key Company, which was founded in Battersea by James Walker in 1903, and moved to this area in 1923, had already planned and prepared for this building just prior to WWII, hence the quality of the products which would have been sourced or produced beforehand and the speed with which they were able to construct showroom, offices and warehouse. With much of the area devasted by bombs, the company, with their well-made locks and other property protection devices, would have been a business that was much-needed post-war, the products needed to secure homes and businesses in the surrounding area, indeed beyond.
The fabric of the building has indeed suffered since the Willen Key Company moved out and certainly now needs some attention, especially the interior, the windows, and rear of the building. However, the Bath Street façade with its tiled elements surely just need a good clean up. The tiles are now almost 75 years old and have stood the test of time well. The soft warm tone of the building is both delightful and unusual.
What appears to be proposed here is that the Bath Street façade is to be re-modelled and re-coloured to better tie in with the products used for the new build at the rear, effectively adapting the old to visually match modern cheap-to-install products, rather than making the new additions tie in with the quality and colour of the existing structure.
I am appalled and very disappointed to see that the plan is to cover, and therefore eradicate, the lovely warm beige tones that evoke a Mediterranean sunset, as well as the soft fluted tiles and the unusual chocolate brown double-stripe detail that frames those areas, in dull shades of monochrome that will over time become even more grey and dull, especially on dark or cooler days.
The integrity of Willen’s original building will be lost of these changes are implemented. A reference is made to the changes being “a nod to the past” and that the aim is “to refresh and enhance” yet it is evident that what we see here, is not a sympathetic renovation but a complete makeover that will make the building look like a pastiche of the streamline-moderne, such as in nearby Bunhill Row.
I have been advised that the proposed renovation has an approximate life of 10 years and that pale-coloured renders on north/east-facing walls are prone to patches of green mould during the first winter, producing an on-going suede effect. Application of this unnecessary coating will require damaging the surface of the tiles to make a key, whether by sand-blasting or abrasion, thus ruining them forever. This is irresponsible and far from eco-friendly in many respects. We need only to look many reclaimed pub and shop façades to clearly see how the scars made by paint application and its subsequent indelicate removal processes have caused irreparable damage.
As regards changes, additions and renovations to the rest of the Willen building, I agree that the windows are indeed in need of replacement. However, there are many good quality double-glazed units available these days with fine, thin, profiles/frames, both Crittall-style metal or UPV.
I am keen to know if the plaque on the Lever Street corner will be retained in these renovation plans, as surely it should be. A similar unsympathetic ‘white-washing’ of the past can be found in nearby City Road where Buckley Gray Yeoman’s external renovation of The Epworth Press building uses a too-bright iridescent white coating over the original soft ivory/natural-coloured faience tiles. It is ironic here that the iridescence does not sit well with the natural colour employed by the architects for the additional upper floors.
Conversely, for a reference of how renovations of this kind can be sympathetically achieved, please see this example at The Drapery, by Brooks Murray Architects where a once messy site has been cleverly adapted and repurposed to marvellous effect.
I look forward to your reply, or at least an acknowledgment of this letter

Jane Parker / www.janeslondonwalks.com / jane@janeslondon.com / @janeslondon

I had no idea 'materiality' was a word until I read this – try saying it out loud – it's almost impossible!

Clogs, brushes and cycle accessories – two ghostsigns clinging on to what's left of Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, EC2

So much is changing around Shoreditch these days. Low rise Georgian, Victorian and early C20th buildings are fast being demolished to be replaced with high rise glass blocks. I went to check on what's happening at the top end of Norton Folgate, a part of Bishopsgate that I'd understood had been saved from development. It used to be an interesting architectural patchwork as you can see here.

As my pic here shows, part of this terrace that abuts Folgate Street has [sort of] been saved but only those properties with red brick façades remain (some are covered in netting); the rest of these structures will be completely rebuilt albeit not as tall as the blocks that are going up to the left hand side which forms the beginning of Shoreditch High Street where once stood one of my favourite interwar buildings, a castellated showroom façade covered in beige faience tiles; Niclar House*.

Rather jaded by this, I went for a wander around the nearby streets to see what else has changed during this past year, specifically interested to see if two old hand-painted advertisements were still in situ in Holywell Lane. I'm glad to report that they are indeed still there but clinging on for dear life, so to speak.

The two signs face each other across the now defunct Victorian railway line that has been replaced by the new section of rails for the Overground Line further along the street. It's really weird how these old buildings are somehow still hanging on in there surrounded by an undulating sea of tall glass.

The east-facing advertistement on the bottom right (above) is barely legible, and would need access to that upper level where the train carriages are to get a better view of the wording in the whole sign. Tetramesh has a better shot of it here. I originally thought I could see "MEX" in there at the middle right and wondered if this was a link to rubber from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Indeed, Milton Manufacturing Co cycle accessories was at this end of the street in 1915. Or it might be a ref to The East London Rubber Company or Rotax Motor Accessories who were both nearby in 1939.

But I have since had another, better, idea which also links to two-wheeled vehicles – I now think it's 'MAX' as in Max Steiner cycle accessories who were located at 35 Curtain Road, on the other side of the Gt Eastern St junction, for at least the period 1915-1939. More info on Max Steiner and the Pelissier brand here which includes some press ads. More can be found within Grace's Guide. I am pretty sure that, armed with the info in these ads, some of the wording on this wall sign can be deciphered. 

The sign on the side of No.55 is much clearer. It reads 'MAKERS OF. CLOGS. DRAIN & SWEEPS. MACHINES.' – this photo shows it more clearly in the 1980s. Having assessed the late Victorian directories, I think this is a sign for two or more products or companies available in this street.

At the very top front centre of No.55 there is a clear date mark: GT 1893. This surely must be George Tyrie, brushmaker. He could well have made the railsweeps; brushes that were often fitted to the protuding section at the front of steam trains to sweep away the leaves and other debris. Or it could refer to brushes and brooms used by railway workers who cleaned the rails manually. A dirty job.

And this links in with another company in the street, because at the same time, in the late 1890s, on the other side of the road at No.12, George Stevens is listed as a washing clog maker. It's possible that he was related to, the son of, Thomas Stevens who was listed at No.39 in 1832 (this might be the same property and the road might have been re-numbered, but I haven't checked). Thomas was one of two French clog makers in this street, the other being George Martin at No.44, before the railway line and before the building on which the sign was painted when clogs had evidently evolved to become boots. These heavy duty items of footwear had canvas leg coverings, sometimes up to thigh height, tightened and kept in place by leather straps and buckles. They protected clothes and the wearer from splashes, see right (a page in a Gamages catalogue). 

Ideas and info welcome – please use the comments section or contact me via social media @janeslondon

*Find out more – Niclar House features on London's Lamented Art Deco, my online talk via Zoom about some demolished interwar buildings and the structures that have replaced them. Click here for info. It used to form part of my Art Deco Spitalfields guided walk. Sigh.

Spring into Spring

This is part of a large mosaic wall panel which features on one of my guided walks.
But the walk does not take us to any of the places shown here.
Intrigued?
See here for more.

Sun Street and The Flying Horse

Demolition and reconstruction. Will it never end?

And this I saw it coming for years....

Sun Street runs behind the Broadgate complex just north of near Liverpool Street. Since early 2009 I have been keeping an eye on this terrace.
A couple of weeks ago I took a detour and was sad, but not surprised, to find that the whole Georgian terrace has been demolished but the The Flying Horse, a Victorian era public house, remains in business on the corner which, I assume, will soon be given scrub-up and a homogenised makeover as per the Three Crowns just north of Old Street Roundabout which, too, has been saved like a little historic jewel embedded into a modern glass bock.

Could someone please explain to me the logic and rationale here?
I am not suggesting we keep everything but jeez, this area is fast becoming as glassy as the Isle of Dogs or Nine Elms. I think, this leaves only Worship Street and Leonard Street with any pre-1880 buildings.

Flying Horse, Sun Street, March 2009

Flying Horse, Sun Street, June 2018

Sun Street, Georgian terrace, March 2009

Sun Street, March 2009

Jane's Advent Calendar – 18th December

An old Huguenot weavers' house at 18 Princelet Street, London E1.
Visit the fascinating museum at No.19 Princelet Street 

Nicholls & Clarke, Norton Folgate

I have always admired the clock on the imposing building that used to be the home of Nicholls & Clarke sanitaryware and ironmongery on Norton Folgate, and had been meaning to find out more about the company.
Lo and behold The Gentle Author posted this piece about it the other day which includes some lovely images of colourful bathrooms. See here for more about the company.
This ties in beautifully with some snaps I took in the Ladies' toilet in The Duke Of Sussex, Waterloo (Waterloo!)

Pastel yellow tiles, pale blue pipes and borders, turquoise toilet seats, pale pink accessories and navy blue skirtings – lovely!

More info about the Norton Folgate area can be found by searching the  Spitalfields Life site.

Burlesque in Brick Lane

I decided on the way home that I wasn't going to bother writing about this. But then I noticed the artist whose work is on show there is called Greg Holloway, and I live in Holloway and one of the lovely PR girls there this eve is doing a course at the Royal Holloway University, and I thought, ooh coincidences, so here goes.

Tom and I got to the Brickhouse in Brick Lane and were told we were gonna get a short preview of the show at 7.30pm. That never happened. So we had a couple of glasses of wine and went to look at the art. A rude waitress asked us to move out of her way. We weren't in her way at all. Then we tried some of the crudites that were offered to us. You should pronounce that 'CRUD-ites' as I have never tasted such dry, tasteless rubbish, even the morning after a bad party. Truly awful. And this was supposed to be a PR exercise!

Some barely-clothed girls came on stage and waved their arms around a bit. Then a tattooed female did a bit of stand up. We left. It wasn't really my kind of thing. Or perhaps it might have been if it all hadn't seemed so half-hearted and mediocre.

Burlesque... hmmm... not getting enough attention at home love? Art? Performance? Really?

Eastenders

I accidentally caught 10 minutes of the omnibus edition of Eastenders on Sunday; a programme I haven't watched in a long time. For those of you who aren't aware of this programme, it's a soap opera on BBC1 about the people who live in and around a make-believe square in London's East End. It's been going since February 1985.

Anyway, as I tuned in just The Vic (pub) had burned down and it was the following day...

Peggy went into the burnt-out Vic in a white jacket. She touched and stroked blackened objects and walls. She even sat on the stairs. Yet she left with clean hands and only a tiny smudge on her shoulder.

Crackhead Phil went out onto the street. His face and clothes were covered in soot. Billy, also filthy, told him to go back to bed. Have these people not heard of baths or showers?

After 10 minutes I changed channels.

Then on Tuesday I went to my local cafe for lunch and found a copy of The Sun to read. (It's been a really high-brow few days!). In his TV column Ally Ross had written a long piece on Eastenders and it seems had I tuned in earlier on Sunday I'd have seen a few other gems. Such as, when the fire started, Dot was told to go home and call the fire brigade, as if no one had heard of mobile phones. And Phil had been boarded up behind an inward-opening door!

Add to this why no-one ever works outside the square, owns a washing machine, and much more... it's no wonder the pedant in me doesn't usually watch it.

Top row: Queensway, Victoria Palace, King Street, Tottenham High Road.

Middle row: Holloway, South Tottenham, Highgate, Whitechapel.

Bottom row: The real East end; Mile End Road, Hackney and Stepney

Luther; a wonderfully preposterous TV cop drama

I was a bit late finding Luther. I watched the first two episodes back-to-back on iPlayer and was hooked. Idris Elba, in the title role, is great. And Ruth Wilson, as Alice, is sublime. Paul McGann must be good too, because I despise him in it.

It's all so ridiculous that it's compelling. And I love recognising all the different places around London, like Blackfriars Bridge and Daniel Libeskind's building in Hollway Road, used as a place where Paul Rhys's creepy character held a press conference. Also interesting that his character's macabre art gallery was at 73 Leonard Street, an address that I am sure a company I used to work for moved to. The Shoreditch area, specifically Leonard Street, is used a lot in the programme and is in real life littered with art and art galleries, one place even has a suitable macabre name to tie in to this piece.

Top row: Cornhill, Old Broad Street, Leonard Street, Little Newport Street.

Middle row: Leonard Street, The Blackfriars pub, Holloway Road, Upper Street

Bottom row: Blackfriars Bridge above and below, Praed Street, Bow Street Police Station

Brick Lane gates

Yet another stupid plan has been hatched... this time erect some gates at either end of Brick Lane apparently designed to echo the shape of a Muslim headscarf.

Oh gawd, no!

The media seems to be worried about which cultures and religious groups are going to be offended or excluded, but I think the real issues are that these modern metal monstrosities are unnecessary, a waste of money (£2million!) and, more to the point, very ugly and unsympathetic to the surroundings!

Pics all from in and around Brick Lane

Top: graffiti; modern coal hole outside school in Brick Lane; Mighty Mo graffiti on the bridge; ghost sign for Bernards/Lewis.

Middle: Huguenot window shutter fixing; old Sclater Street sign; Huguenot door knocker; Sweetoof graffiti.

Bottom: old Shoreditch station; Frying Pan pub sign (now an indian restaurant!); ripped posters; Huguenot boot scraper.

Matt Monro, Born Free, in Shoreditch

Yesterday morning Matt Monro's daughter Michele was on BBC Breakfast talking about the book she has written about her father.

Matt Monro had the most amazing singing voice; apparently Frank Sinatra said of him, “If I had to choose three of the finest male vocalists in the singing business, Matt would be one of them”.
But Sian Williams likened him to Michael Bublé. That'll be Bublé as in bubble; as in full of air.
Silly woman; has she got something wrong with her ears?

Matt was born in Shoreditch in 1930 as Terence Edward Parsons, so here's a Shoreditch montage.

The lion cub isn't in Shoreditch; it's in N4. It's a ref to Born Free.