Today, I booked with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners again - but not with Laurence Summers this time! They do have walks guided by other people, and this one, guided by Barrie, was of Brick Lane. Except.. I then noticed it was also on TAC. So I cancelled my original booking, and booked through them instead (cheaper). Oh, how mercenary of me.. but Barrie was the one who decided to advertise it there as well!
Overslept a little - I was late to bed - and when I woke, I had a flurry of getting ready. Yay, I was out the door in time for a bus! Now, the one I caught - the first to come that I could use - was one I had to change from. But reading the warning that came with it.. it was diverted around where I was supposed to change! Lordy. So I got off before the diversion. These diversions are all over London now - and sure enough, as you come down City Road, it's completely closed to traffic. Temporary, but annoying as hell. So I recalculated my route - and found another combination to use, based on the next bus barrelling towards me! I had to change again - but with that wonderful Hopper fare, within an hour you only pay once! One of the cleverest inventions.. Anyway, there were no diversions on these, and I arrived early.
It wasn't too hard to spot Barrie - he kind of made himself known. Anyway, he waited a good while for everyone, and kept his phone on for the one person who hadn't arrived by start time - very considerate. One couple got confused between Whitechapel High Street, where we were, and Whitechapel Road.. and when they found us, they were confused between Aldgate Station and Aldgate East Station! Could happen to a bishop, as they say. Anyway, when they arrived, she was wearing a neck fan like the one I just bought! They are inconspicuous until you turn them on..
There was a number of people who'd booked with TAC - oops, I completely forgot that I had to pay £3 to the guide for walks booked that way! Silly me, I have done this before. Happily, I have plenty of change. Anyway - in short, this was a fabulous tour! Packed with information, as he said, he kept it light, not devlving too deeply into any subject, but touching on broad themes that he thought would interest us. And it worked so well. He explained that he was Jewish himself, so there'd be a Jewish bias to the walk - it was great when he had a personal experience to relate, like how things were when he was a lad! And he was always open to contributions from his attentive audience - like the American, describing the American Jewish experience. (Apparently, he's over to London a lot and is always going on Barrie's walks.)
After a bit about the Jewish history of Whitechapel, we moseyed on to Brick Lane itself.
(Did you know that one of the many waves of immigrants to the area were good at brickmaking, and Brick Lane was the nickname given to the street that they used to transport their product to the docks? Well now!)
We heard a lot about the Bangladeshi immigrants:
And on Princelet Street, just off Brick Lane, we saw the lofts that the Huguenots used for their looms, building an extra floor at the top of the house to catch the light for their weaving:
The following building started life as a Huguenot church, then the Huguenots were replaced by the Jews, and it became a synagogue - finally, the Bangladeshis arrived, and it's now a mosque! Opinions differ about the stainless steel minaret, however, which is quite recent:
This street plaque of a viola commemorates the fire that occurred during a viola concert at this location:
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We popped into Truman's bewery for a chat about that! Crikey, it's ages since I've been here:
And lookee, the clock was stopped at the time the last shipment left the brewery:
We saw a terrific store of street art!
And we stopped outside the original stockist of Dr. Martens in London! A mecca for skinheads, back in the day, it seems - and the owner came out to chat to us!
We finished off at Beigel Bake, apparently London's best beigel shop. Always to be found with a queue outside, it's open 24/7! And according to him, the beigels are twice the size and half the price of any in North London. And who am I to argue with that..
Well with the heat and all, I was exhausted by the end of that - but so glad I came. What a fantastic tour! Heartily recommended, especially for people who want an introduction to the East End - it gives a terrific overview, and as he said, if you want more detail, you can look into it after. I'll be looking up more of his.. the only shame is that, unlike Laurence, Barrie doesn't do socials at the end of the walk. Ah well..
Unwilling to eat around this area (I wanted more than a beigel), I dragged myself back to O' Neill's, where - shock horror, I got a table! The last one, I think - I squeezed myself in beside a dedicated fan of one of the teams playing on the tvs. He was sweet - every time he cheered something they did, he apologised for disturbing me! Unfortunately, this was the death knell for my well-worn cap, which got a big gobbet of rice with curry sauce all over it, and can't be washed. Ah well, roll on the next one.. it served me well.
For tomorrow, I finally gave up on Meetup - the best things coming up were walks, and it's supposed to rain. Instead, I'm headed with TAC to a show called Mediocre White Male, at the King's Head (another place I haven't been to in years!). Mercifully, the temperature is supposed to drop a bit as well.
On Tuesday morning - unless I get an offer in the meantime for that company I'm waiting on - I have an interview for a well-paying contract. In the evening, I'm back with Civilised London - for a Syrian meal this time, at Imad's Syrian Kitchen. Meeting beforehand at The Clachan. So I can update them with the latest news in this ongoing saga.
On Wednesday - well, I've signed up with Soho Comedy Factory Shows and Socials, which organises free events on Wednesdays at the aforementioned Soho Comedy Factory. Again. And again, this is subject to change. Watch this space..
On Thursday, I've decided on film. Having garnered all the available films this week, I had an interesting choice to make: ended up eliminating lots of films from the top of the list for sheer lack of interest! Basically, the decision process ran like - if this came on TV, would I watch it or turn it off? And so I came down to the one I really wanted to see. Nope is the latest from the excellent Jordan Peele, and stars Daniel Kaluuya (again) as the hapless victim of horrific events - extra-terrestrials this time. With Jordan Peele's typical injection of humour, this promises to be fun! And it's on at my local, so I get to see it for free.
And then, of course, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
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