Introduction From colourful East End markets to a Victorian Music Hall, the new London Overground extension weaves its way through some of the most fascinating areas of London. For Walk the line, London Transport Museum worked with local community groups to create audio walking tours that allow you to explore beyond the railway. There are 5 different walks to try: Dalston Junction to Hoxton; Shoreditch High Street to Whitechapel; Shadwell to Wapping; Rotherhithe to Surrey Quays; New Cross to New Cross Gate. Whitechapel: Bag a bargain at some of London s best known markets and let the ladies from the Women s Boundary Group at St. Hilda s East Community Centre show you around the area they call home. This walk introduces you to the fascinating history of communities that have settled in the East end and of a station long forgotten.
Shoreditch High Street station Shoreditch High Street used to be this tiny little station on Pedley Street, and it was always a bit dark and dingy and it was a bit scary going down there so the new Shoreditch High Street Station is a god send really, and it s regenerated the whole area. It s built on an area called Bishop s Gate or it used to be formerly known as Bishop s Gate Goods Yard, and hopefully we ll get loads of new shops there like Starbucks, which all the locals can use for their coffee shops. But um, yeah the bridge itself was um, put together using one of the biggest mobile cranes in the UK and it weighed 350 tonnes it was an amazing um, feat for them to do and it actually looks really really great as well.
Arnold Circus and St. Hilda s East Community Centre St Hilda s was set up 120 years ago by the Cheltenham s Ladies College and before the Boundary estate area was built, the whole of the area was just complete slums and the levels of poverty were among the lowest in the UK. St Hilda s primarily was set up to help the community and um, they would help through feeding them and clothing them and also helping with their education. The Boundary estate was built around 1900 and Arnold Circus was very much supposed to be the heart of the Boundary and it very much is today as well but um, the Boundary estate was set up as the first social housing estate in England and Arnold Circus was supposed to be the central part for the community to come and meet and listen to music, and it was actually set up a little bit after um, the Boundary estate was built around 1900 and sorry 1910 and it s celebrating it s 100 years this year and its very much a central part of the community today like um, St Hilda s. And together I think they bring the community together um, very much a community that you don t see in the night time, which is completely different to the day time community which is predominately Bangladeshi but the night life in the area has completely changed now and is very much an up and coming new Camden type area, Soho that type of thing and with the emergence of all the new bars and things like that and the
um, the um, vintage shops um, Shoreditch is a very much changing High area and Street it has to been for the last 150 years and it will continue to change.
Brick Lane and Brick Lane Mosque Alright um, the mosque in Brick Lane, which is a mosque now um, I found it interesting that it was a synagogue before and I didn t know it was a church before it was a synagogue. So it s always been a religious place for people to go and worship um, different groups of people from different backgrounds, different faiths have passed through Brick Lane which is interesting um, but now when I think of Brick Lane, I think of Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi community with their Indian restaurants um, the Indian sweet shops, the traditional clothing, the religious shops you know a mixture of everything basically and also I do think of kind of middle class people as well. A lot of middle class whites that have vintage shops, and cafes bars so it is a mixture which is a nice thing and yeah I enjoy Brick Lane. I like going through there because it is a very multi cultural you know nice place. It gives a good vibe and you know it s been parts of my childhood as I was growing up, you always know Brick Lane. Brick Lane s like the main place, the centre for us Asians so, Bangladeshis anyway but um, yeah that s interesting and the mosque. Most of the people, like back in the days from like, probably from my dad s time I m saying before there was East London Mosque there was Brick Lane so everyone used to go to Brick Lane mosque to pray so yeah that s part of memory.
Spitalfields Market Spitalfields Market is today I think is one of the best markets around um, its just so fabulously funky um, but it was actually opened in 1682 and was initially a fruit and flower market and um, the Corporation of London redeveloped it and it was then reopened in 1928. But it finally closed as a operating fruit and vegetable market in 1987 and was transformed slowly, very slowly, but now its very thought of very up market modern with lots of boutiques and sort of top notch shops, but um, there s still a market element to it and it s a great place if you re really into vintage stuff or if you really like um, picking up bargains but again its not cheap it s um, marketed for um, the people in the city not for local residents or anything like that so its still a really nice place to go and visit and just have a look at everything that just there, but its not cheap.
Petticoat Lane Market Um, Petticoat Lane Market um, started by the French Huguenots that settled in the area around 1598, and when they settled here some of them bought looms with them um, and set up their own weaving shops and for their own purpose mainly but they realised they can sell these um, clothes that they ve made and set up shops mainly in their homes. In the 1830s the name was changed to Middlesex Street because the Georgians and Victorians didn t like the association to underwear. There was a large influx of Jewish settlers in the area in the 1880s and, and they were able to influence the market being moved to, moved to Sunday so there was no clash with the Sabbath days. Still today Petticoat Lane market is very busy on Sundays and not open on Saturdays and the market had stalls that sold almost everything but there was also entertainment, escapologists and street doctors. But nowadays in the Petticoat Lane Market, they usually sell brand named clothes at cheaper prices, and brand jewellery at cheaper prices and very busy on the Sundays but less busy on weekdays.
East London Mosque and St. Mary s station East London mosque on um, Whitechapel High Street was opened on the 12 th of July 1985, for the local Muslims who all used the mosque um, it s become a bigger place to go and worship, they ve extended, they ve got loads of stuff for the community also to go and use. Um, it s also opened up for not only the Muslims but the non-muslims to go and visit if they like. And right next to that there s um, St Mary s Station which opened on 3rd of March 1884 and on the 22 nd of October 1940, the building was hit by a bomb and severely damaged, this was during the war and it kind of like disappeared. Not many people know that there was a station there but I didn t know myself until recently and um, now there s a um, a car garage there that sits on top of the station but apparently some people have said that you can still kind of see it right below if you look deep.
Whitechapel station and Royal London Hospital Whitechapel Station um, which we all know, um, we all use. Um, I think it opened some time around um, 10 th of April 1876, and it still remains all its original features and stuff. Um, opposite that you ve got Royal London Hospital who, place that we all use we all know throughout our childhood. I remember that I had all of my children there as well and um, it was once um, home of the Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, that was his name. Before Joseph Merrick cared for by the hospital he was a side show performer and was once exhibited at the back of a shop along Whitechapel Road. Um, that was because I think people at that time didn t understand all of that so they used to find it very fascinating and weird so they liked to go past and watch him.