A Walk through Spitalfields with the Bishopsgate Institute

The changing face of Spitalfields

The Bishopsgate Institute in Spitalfields has recently undergone a major refurbishment and to celebrate the re-launch of their new look building they organised a series of free events and courses last week. These were obviously very popular as the first couple of things I tried to book on to were already full but I did manage to get a place on the 'Explore Spitalfields' walking tour last Friday lunchtime. This was led by an excellent Blue Badge Guide, Rachel Kolsky, who regularly leads walking tours as part of the series of courses offered by the Institute.

 Rachel began by emphasising that it was only possible to give us a taster of what Spitalfields has to offer in the 30 minutes allotted for the tour but it was a fascinating insight into an area which has had many functions and occupants over the centuries. We started in Bishop Square, a place which is now surrounded by shiny modern office blocks and bustling shops and bars but which many years ago used to be a burial ground and the original charnal house in which bones were stored has been preserved for people to view. We moved on to the market which has also seen many changes over the years. I still have fond memories of the way it was in the mid-1990s when I first came to London but after seeing it now, I want to go back to explore it again one week-end.

The next stop was Princelet Street which, with neighbouring Wilkes Street and Fournier Street, contains a small enclave of eighteenth century housing which has survived all the changes and redevelopment that has taken place around them. Rachel gave us a potted history of the inhabitants of these houses, many of whom were associated with the cloth trade and lived and worked in these houses from the French Huguenot weavers who were the first inhabitants to the Jewish immigrants of the early twentieth century. For a time many of the houses became sweatshops rather than residences but now most of them are private homes and one (no.13) is even a holiday home for rent from the Landmark Trust (if you're feeling rich!). You can't tell from the street but apparently the houses have long back gardens and many, like this one, have been beautifully restored:

Elsewhere on Princelet Street at no. 19 is a house that has not yet been restored and that has a particularly fascinating history as it has a synagogue built over it's garden. A campaign has been launched to save this building which is occasionally open to the public.

Another building with an interesting history is the Brick Lane Jamma Masjid. Now a mosque, it was originally built as a chapel by the Huguenots and has also been used by baptists, Methodists and an ultra-orthodox synagogue. The mosque is at one end of Fournier Street and at the other is the impressive Christchurch Spitalfields, which is where our whistestop tour ended:

Festival time

Just as the April showers finally seem to have arrived, the summer festival season is upon us and there are some great free festivals happening in London this summer.

In my local area, the annual Brockley Max festival kicked off last Friday with a lively afternoon and evening of music outside the Brockley Barge. I was there for a couple of hours in the evening and there was a fantastic atmosphere and a great mix of different types of music, ranging from a community choir to a ska band. The festival runs all this week and includes theatre, comedy, dance, workshops and children's events as well as lots of music.

Another of my favourite free festivals begins in a few week's time. The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival runs from 24 June to 2 July and if past events are anything to go by is likely to include some amazing spectacles. A year or two ago we watched a fire lit dance performance after dark in Greenwich Park. There doesn't seem to be anything quite the same this year but there are lots of other interesting free events on offer, including:

• A 21st century version of the Greenwich Fair which was the 'largest and most uproarious gathering of outdoor entertainment in Britain' until it started getting abit out of hand 150 years ago and was shut down.
• As the World Tipped , an aerial theatre performance about climate change in Mile End Park.
• An opportunity to view dance from an unusual angle at Canary Wharf with La Mirada Transparente's transparent stage. The audience sit on reclining seats underneath the stage.
• Les Girafes, the festival's finale in Woolwich town centre which includes life-sized giraffes, confetti explosions and evocative music.

Also, just about to start is the More London Free Festival at The Scoop. It starts with theatre performances from tomorrow but over the coming months there will also be music and film at this outdoor venue next to City Hall.

These are only a few of the many free festivals in London this summer ranging from one day local events to summer long celebrations at central locations. Let me know if you have any particular favourites.

A Tour of the Olympic Park

Like many of those who applied, we're currently waiting to find out whether our bid for Olympic tickets was successful. We only applied for four events and so far no money has been taken from our account so the waiting goes on.

In the meantime, I had the opportunity to go on a tour of the Olympic Park this morning. Security is very tight - you have to show photo ID to be allowed on the tour - and you are taken round by bus which you can't get off. So although you are allowed to take pictures you have to snatch a photo from the moving bus when you can. It's still interesting to see the buildings taking shape and the amount of work that is going in to creating the Park.

This was the best shot I managed to get of the Olympic Stadium. As you can see the landscaping for the Park is now going in although there is clearly still alot of work to do.

Olympic Stadium

I also managed to get reasonably good shots of the Velodrome and the Aquatics Centre. The latter looks a lot less finished than some of the other main venues but apparently the internal fittings are pretty much complete to the extent that there is already water in the pools.

The Velodrome

The Aquatics Centre

The bus took us all round the site, through the Athletes Village and past the new Stratford International Station which according to news reports last year may not now be international after all.

Finally we got to see The Orbit, the twisted tower designed by Anish Kapoor, which is currently under construction. The finished structure will include viewing platforms and restaurants and will be taller than the Statute of Liberty. There's been some debate as to whether the Orbit will become London's Eiffel Tower and I'm still undecided on it's architectural merits. However, given the success of the London Eye, it seems there is a ready market for attractions that allow people to view London from above so it should be a commercial success (assuming people are as keen to see East London once the Games have finished).

 

The Orbit under construction

To book a place on the free bus tours operated by the Olympic Delivery Authority phone 0300 2012 001. Apparently there is currently a three month waiting list.

A bicycle ride in Lee Valley Park

I'd heard a while ago that there was a good off-road cycle route along the Lee Valley but when I tried to get on to it a few years ago on an icy January day the access we planned to use was locked (I think due to work being undertaken in preparation for the Olympics) and being cold and hungry we gave up and found a cafe instead.

Last Friday on a much warmer day, my friend and I had a more successful trip along the route and I would thoroughly recommend it for a great place to get the experience of cycling in the country without leaving the city. The Lee Valley Regional Park is a long stretch of green space running north from the Thames all the way out to Ware in Hertfordshire along the banks of the River Lee. The cycle route follows the 26 miles of its length and is part of Route 1 of the Sustrans National Cycle Network which apparently runs all the way from Dover to the Shetlands. I'm not sure I'll ever cycle all of that but it was certainly useful to be able to follow the signs for it through Docklands and on to Victoria Park to reach the Lee Valley. 

 From South London, we took our bicycles through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel to reach the Isle of Dogs and pick up the signs for route 1. Unfortunately the lifts are currently being refurbished so we had to carry our bikes up and down the stairs but that shouldn't be necessary from June when the lifts are due to re-open. The sign-posted route takes you on quiet roads and traffic-free routes through Tower Hamlets. There is the occasional stretch on busier roads and one short section around Canary Wharf where the signs disappeared briefly but we found them again. The route passes very close to the Olympic Park and there are great views of the stadium. There is also on-going construction activity around this area but nothing that blocked our way this time.

Once you are away from the building work and into the Lee Valley it really feels like entering another world - you are surrounded by fields and marshland with only distant views of buildings. After cycling for a few miles we stopped for lunch near Springfield Park and I was amazed to see from a sign that we were still in Hackney. There are barges moored on the river here and it all looks very rural for somewhere that is officially part of Inner London.

We had to turn round at that point as my friend needed to get back but I want to go back sometime to explore the rest of the route. It's possible to catch a train back to Liverpool Street from several stations on or near the route so you don't have to do the full distance there and back. You can download a leaflet and map of the Lee Valley cycle route here.

Handmade Tales: Women and Domestic Crafts

When I discovered The Women's Library currently had an exhibition on about crafts, I knew I had to visit. As the daughter of a woman who never sits down without taking up some form of needlework, I've always been keen on being creative myself although so far I've only really mastered knitting.

Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed by this exhibition. This was partly my own fault as I had expected there to be more handmade objects on display, when in fact the emphasis was on books, magazines and other printed items which is understandable really given it was in a library.

A more fundamental problem, though, was I felt that they had used too broad a definition of women's 'domestic crafts'. The exhibition encompassed everything from patchwork, crochet and dress-making (the types of craft I had expected to see) to activities which many might consider chores rather than crafts such as cooking and some which are not necessarily undertaken primarily by women such as gardening and DIY.

The problem with having such a broad definition is that inevitably nothing could be covered in very much depth and it also made any omissions even more glaring. As someone had pointed out on the comments board, there was nothing on macramé - that 70s craft I remember from my childhood but which doesn't seem to have made a comeback recently in the way so many other crafts have. Which brings me to the final reason I was a little disappointed - there was not really any mention of the huge 21st century resurgence in the popularity of crafts such as knitting, crochet and dressmaking as evidenced by groups such as Stitch London and workshop venues such as The Make Lounge.

Having said all that, there was much that I enjoyed in the exhibition. There were a few pieces of beautiful handmade clothing on display including a Pearly Queen dress (1925) with every pearl sewn on by hand and a beautiful patchwork silk coat (1948) which a mother had made for her daughter as a dressing gown but which was so lovely she wore it as an evening coat. Contemporary artifacts on display included a pair of hand knitted slippers and a sampler someone had embroidered to photograph for use as the birth announcement for her daughter. There were also a small selection of old sewing machines and a range of other craft tools of all types from a garden fork to a Pyrex rolling pin.

Overall, I would say this is worth visiting if you're in the area and you're interested in crafts but you'll have to catch it soon as it finishes on 20 April. If you're keen to see handmade objects after that then the V&A is probably your best bet. I do plan to keep an eye on what's on at the Women's Library though as they run some interesting sounding events, many of which are free, including an Alternative Jack the Ripper Walk.