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East End London in Colour


Hroth
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Browsing the BBC website and came across an article titled "Unseen photos of East End London in glorious colour", showing a number of excellent townscapes from the 60s/70s.  The pictures look like good source material for anyone wanting to create a realistic landscape around a transition industrial/urban layout.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-43141667

 

 

A selection is being exhibited at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, 3 February – 5 May 2018. This might interest anyone in the locality!

 

http://www.ideastore.co.uk/granick

 

 

There is also a collection of the photos in a book published by the Hoxton Mini Press.

 

https://www.hoxtonminipress.com/products/the-east-end-in-colour

 

 

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I enjoyed these pictures last week too as a link on the BBC Website.  We were living in Hackney Wick until last year and I found some excellent local pictures of the station and junction (now the A12) and even Victoria Park station that was sited about 60m from our flat.  Very evocative.

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Interesting. At that time us gentler folks would not venture dwn the East End! . They are useful for anyone modelling any British town or city. The shop names define the period, as it were loads of changes to the high street over that period. From small local Tesco stores topre supermarket Sainsburys and various gas/electric showrooms.

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Still quite busy when I went for job interview for an engineering cadetship in 1969,aboard m.v. Akaroa in 1969, in the Royals. In that 1963 photo, the second on the left is B.I., and the two in front I reckon are Port Line

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From the original hi-res scan I did I can see the tug's name is PLATEAU. It's is pulling ???A PRODUCER, registered in ???ON JAMAICA (Kingston, I'd guess). The B.I. ship on the left with two white bands on the black funnel has an eight letter name, possibly registered in London, but it's not possible to make it out beyond that.

I do remember getting stopped by the Bascule bridge near the former Harland and Wolff yard riding back from Kent some time in the 1970s (1976, I think). That was the last time though.

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There were still some ship repair yards operating well into the 70's. A friend of mine was first mate on the Hoveringham IV, a suction gravel dredger that had been damaged in a storm. Whilst it was moored on the Thames awaiting its turn in the yard my friend invited me and some others for a tour of the vessel. This was about 1974/75.

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Amazing to see the extent of shipping in West India Quay in 1971. When did the last commercial, cargo shipping leave what we now know as Canary Wharf?

 

David

 

About the last date I can find is 1981.

The West India Docks officially closed in 1980 and that was one of the last.

Containers and the EEC, that would I suppose be from 1973, saw a rapid wind down in shipping although the area was in decline some time before that.

I don't mean that to be a political comment. The change from imported sugar cane to home grown sugar beet and several other things that happened around that time all contributed to the closures.

Bernard

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I took a ferry trip from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich in 1981/2(ish):

There was a wonderful unofficial commentary en route.

At around this point (and excuse the non-pc language) it went like this:

 

"Ladies an' gentlemen, if you look at the banks right now you will see some of the docks an' warearses wot 'as been bought up by the arabs an' what is bein' turned inno luxury arses an' flats. They have done more damage in three months than what Jerry did during' the 'ole war".

 

The whole thing was an eye and ear opening experience and woke me up to the real character of London.

Edited by Osgood
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I took a ferry trip from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich in 1981/2(ish):

There was a wonderful unofficial commentary en route.

At around this point (and excuse the non-pc language) it went like this:

 

"Ladies an' gentlemen, if you look at the banks right now you will see some of the docks an' warearses wot 'as been bought up by the arabs an' what is bein' turned inno luxury arses an' flats. They have done more damage in three months than what Jerry did during' the 'ole war".

I'm sure the film "Cockneys vs Zombies" is actually a paraody of the Yuppie invasion of London's docklands.

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In one of those documentaries from the 50's and 60's where they try to predict the future one predicted that city gents would move to live in Victorian terraces in the East End. But not commuting in his own one man helicopter though. :jester:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for posting that - I'm really grateful. I did see a couple of the photos on TV and of course completely forgot about the book. I've now ordered it!

 

Around 1974 I worked at Spillers in Croydon with the computer mob. We sometimes borrowed Burroughs' own systems at their offices at Bell Lane, round the back of Liverpool Street, and I spent a few nights working there. There was a coffee stall which did fantastic bacon rolls - the place was frequented by taxi drivers, and anybody else having to work nights, including us. The stall was run by a big guy who had a speech impediment - I think he was a former boxer. 

 

The poor old drunken guys in the area used to make a fire practically up against the back door of the office and occasionally there was a bit of a punch up. They were nearly falling over anyway but I did see one roll into the fire. 

 

I thought after four years in the Smoke I was used to it, but I wasn't. I should have taken the old Pentax down Spitalfields while I had the chance, but I'm no Don McCullin or for that matter David Granick.

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I thought after four years in the Smoke I was used to it, but I wasn't. I should have taken the old Pentax down Spitalfields while I had the chance, but I'm no Don McCullin or for that matter David Granick.

 

Or even Dan Cruickshank

With acknowledgements to my friend The Gentle Author.

Sorry for only being able to provide B & W.

Bernard

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I thought after four years in the Smoke I was used to it, but I wasn't. I should have taken the old Pentax down Spitalfields while I had the chance, but I'm no Don McCullin or for that matter David Granick.

In many ways it doesn't matter as long as your picture is in focus you're still recording history. There must have been many places where nobody ever bothered.

 

Anyone remember the film, narrated by James Mason,  "The London Nobody Knows"? 

I've got it recorded when it was on TV, unfortunately on Betamax....

Yes, but I used VHS. I think it was on Channel 4. .At the time it was shown the same flats near the north end of Euston station that were being built in the film were being refurbished with new external cladding. I wonder what will happen to them now though.

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Anyone remember the film, narrated by James Mason,  "The London Nobody Knows"? 

 

I've got it recorded when it was on TV, unfortunately on Betamax....

 

 

In many ways it doesn't matter as long as your picture is in focus you're still recording history. There must have been many places where nobody ever bothered.

 

Yes, but I used VHS. I think it was on Channel 4. .At the time it was shown the same flats near the north end of Euston station that were being built in the film were being refurbished with new external cladding. I wonder what will happen to them now though.

Its now on Youtube, sorry I don't have a link but it should be possible to Google it.

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I managed to get to The Idea Store.

In the flesh the exhibition is a must.

The range and amount of photographs is amazing.

They are printed off in about 10" x 8" size and mounted on a much larger sheet of white paper.

People then add their comments and the exhibition grows over time.

Some fascinating social comments by people who lived in the actual buildings.

I managed to add a couple of remarks.

There is also a slide show running in a darkened tent and this takes you back to seeing the slides as intended. A very atmospheric experience.

There were quite a few photographs with a railway theme.

Attached are a few street scenes and a some railway scenes.

The railway shots are photographs of the exhibition photographs taken by me so me apologies for the poor quality.

I feel that the scenes are of sufficient interest to be worth posting.

If you can get down to Stepney to see it then go, as it is a superb exhibition.

Elder St

Founier St

Whitechapel Foundry

Truman Hanbury and Buxton Brewery

Millwall Junction, I love the atmosphere in this one.

LT&SR warehouse

Limehouse, Site of new DLR station. The original Limehouse station was further east.

Minories. Always a favourite, known by many but not often seen like this.

Acknowledgments to DG and TGA.

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Bernard

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