Photos of Gardiner's Corner 1963

lovely photos, it's not an area I know but very interesting just the same

Naughty 'M' you got me with the title, had to scroll up and down a few times

 

Thanks @"M" I remember all of that very well although most of the photos were taken after my time.

I knew Gardiners Corner very well (used to be The Scotch House). The shop was called Gardiners Corner Store and the triangular piece of land that it sat on was known as Gardiners Corner (and still is - although the store burned down in the early 70s). It was at the corner of Whitechapel and Commercial Road.

They removed the shops around there and built a large modern office block and shops and it now forms a big roundabout.

Just a few yards down Whitechapel, opposite Gardiners, is Brick Lane (now commonly known as Bangla Town because of all the Bangladeshi restaurants and shops). Street names down there are in English and Bengali.

Directly across the road from Gardiners Corner is Aldgate East Underground Station and a little further along the road is Aldgate Station. The Aldgate was one of the toll gates into London (gate removed in the late 1800s.) Near Aldgate station there was the Aldgate Pump, a water pump for 'drinking' water. The East End of London was named as such after being 'East of the Aldgate Pump'. The Pump started a big epidemic where a lot of people died because the water came through under the ground of a cemetery!

The picture of Spitalfields Market also brings back memories. That photo had to be taken either very early in the morning in the summer, but more likely mid afternoon in the Autumn (looking at the clothes people were wearing). The market was the wholesale fruit and veg market for London and opened from about 4.30 a.m. until early afternoon. I used to buy my veg there (in the 1950s) for my stall in Roman Road market, which opened at 7 a.m. The pubs at Spitalfields had special licences to allow them to open at 4.30 a.m.

 

Oh! Was that you?

 

What you selling?

 

Do I get a discount for both?

 

Is it 20% for those of us that are ++?

 

So, can I pick what I want?