Take eine letter, Miss Jones

Throughout East London, you may have noticed these letters, and thought there was rather a lot of them. The reason is that they are part of an entire alphabet created by Eine, a local artist.

You can read an interview here and see a google map of them all here.

Wick Week - Day 9 - Get your Rocks Off

The area is not the most salubrious, so any public art has to be robust - to say the least. Dropping a huge lump of granite in the middle of a playing field is therefore an act of genius. See the wide view here

Rushing back from holiday, the extended Wick Week continues (I am back by Monday but I don't expect to have time to prepare a post). Wick Week. 28% extra free!!!

Wick Week - Day 8 - Eton & Hackney

I couldn't talk about Hackney Wick without mentioning Eton. In the spirit of Victorian philanthropy, the famous famous public school, Eton, forged close links with the area, pouring money and effort into making it a better place for the poor to live. Eton Manor Boys Club, the playing fields, if you've read the Beating the Bounds words you will have realised how much lives will have been changed by this. This plaque can be found on St Mary of Eton church. See a wider view here.

Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the Beating the Bounds walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's photo is near 17. Wick Week - eight days for the price of seven!

Wick Week - Day 7 - Urban Gardener

Still in Cadogan Terrace, this image with the reflection of the trees, the nets and the window box so perfectly sums up the Urban Gardener.

Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the Beating the Bounds walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's photo is near 9.

Wick Week - Day 6 - Cadogan Terrace

Continuing the walk we came to Cadogan Terrace, an entirely elgant row of Georgian terraced houses opposite Victoria Park, always forgetting the odd few houses representing properties bombed in the war.

I rather liked this design, stencilled on a .... dustbin.

Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the Beating the Bounds walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's photo is near 9.

Wick Week - Day 5 - Canal Art

The quiet canal banks are perfect for the odd bit of graffiti, and some of it is quite odd. A surprising amount is rather good, though.


Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's photo is near 7.

Wick Week - Day 4 - Olympic Visions

The waterway by the Olympic building site is a little less pastoral. Here, you will find hordes of people are scurrying around to get the site ready for 2012, and legions of security staff who have no greater pleasure in life than to tell anyone with a big camera to stop taking photos.

On the other side of this fence used to be Hackney Greyhound Stadium. Here is a great article about the close relationship of London with dog racing.


Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's photo is near 4 & 5

Wick Week - Day 3 - The White House

We're off "Beating the Bounds" now, and this idyllic scene by the Lea Navigation has a ghost on its left - the White House where Dick Turpin the highwayman was known to have stayed.

Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's picture is near 3.

Wick Week - Day 2 - Tree Nursery

The thing about the Tree Nursery that you need to know is that it has been turned into an "Edible Garden". The Tree Nursery & Edible Forest Garden is a community operation, run by volunteers on Hackney Marsh. Trees are grown from seed and cuttings in the Tree Nursery, until they are large enough to be planted out in Hackney's parks and open spaces. Food is grown in the Edible Forest Garden as a model for local food production, using permaculture principles.

It is open to the public at odd times, and used as a resource by local schools. I'd urge you to go and visit, it is a real oasis surprise. These crab apples shout "autumn" to me.

Still on holiday, and the Wick Week continues. You can read the entire text of the walk (a lot more than just the photos) here. Today's picture is near 1 & 2.

Wick Week - Day 1

I'm away on holiday, and while I'm away, Wick Week (or thereabouts) will be playing here on London Daily Photo. When I was at the Hackney Wick Festival I went on a "Beating the Bounds" walk organised by The Hackney Society. This was a walk around the Marshes and the Wick with a storyteller, discovering all manner of things and bits of history about a fairly nondescript piece of London. Nondescript, but the focus of attention as the Olympics are right here in 2012. I had my camera with me (surprise!) so you can come, too.

This is the Tree Nursery, where we started I didn't realise that young trees could be that dangerous, as they obviously have to be fenced in. More on this place tomorrow.

Hidden East End

The garment trade in the UK has all but disappeared over recent years. Where there once was a thriving manufacturing base, there are now designer shops and restaurants. The East End was full of small business once, full of people scraping a living and dreaming of better things. You'll find those dreamers in Bangladesh, Macao, the Philippines. But, if you look carefully down the side streets there are still one or two places left.

Broadway Market

I've got two discoveries to share with you today, the first is Broadway Market, quite possibly one of the best kept of London's secrets. For a p[lace to shop it ranks alongside Borough Market - Borough has more food, this has more other stuff. And, although it leans heavily to the trendy, it still has some older character places rubbing alongside the new. One piece of advice - go for lunch. Even if you don't fancy the wild mushroom sandwiches being cooked up here, there is bound to be something to your taste. Hog roast, gourmet burgers, indian veggie, west indian, fellafel ...much much more. It would be such a shame not to visit hungry (Saturdays, make a date in your diary). Here's a picture of a selection of Balsamic Vinegars and Olive oils available from one stall.

The second is a Wee Birdy, who is a serious London Shopper. This link will take you to her reviews of Broadway Market stalls and shops... the next best thing to going. If you live half way around the world, go on, give her a read - you'll find out what you are missing.

See where on the London Daily Photo Map