Walking with family and friends: Mile End to Old Street... and beyond

Regent's Canal.

Saturday October 12, 2024.

Keilyn and I set off from home at just after 09:05, for a short walk to Watford underground station, where we met my friend Steve. We boarded a train to Baker Street, changing to an Aldgate train at Finchley Road. We alighted at Liverpool Street and headed into the depths to catch a Central line train to Mile End, from where our walk would begin.

Leaving Mile End station we immediately headed to a small independent coffee shop, Coffee London, for some refreshments.

Across the road we noticed a mural and murals would become something that we would see a lot of on this walk, although we were yet to know this. 

With hot drinks in had we crossed Mile End Road, to check pout the mural, before we turned onto Grove Road and began our journey. 

Ahead of us was a railway bridge that carries the mainline from Liverpool Street over Grove Road. It is this mainline that we plan to follow back towards the City of London. However, this bridge was severely damaged on June 13, 1944, when the first V1 'flying bomb' to fall on London destroyed it and severely damaged homes on nearby Antill Road, to the east, and Burnside Street and Belhaven Street to the west. The latter streets were later demolished and a small park is now in their place. Walking through this park we could hear skittering sounds in the undergrowth, which turned out to be mice that seemed unperturbed by our presence as they darted from tree to tree. 

The path led us to the Regent's Canal, where we spotted three metal portraits by the towpath, so we went down to investigate. One of the metal statues was of a Towpath Horse, which were essential to pull boats along the canal, bringing trade and business to the area. The second was of Sylvia Pankhurst, who was a leading member of the suffragette movement and who worked tirelessly for better living conditions in the East End. The final statue is of Ledley King, an East Ender who would go on to play for Tottenham Hotspur FC and represent England at the World Cup.

We then crossed the Regent's Canal and found ourselves entering Meath Gardens, from its southeast corner. This landscaped garden was opened in 18 and has a children's playground, a fitness gym and basketball and football facilities. There is also a large Black Poplar in the centre of the gardens which has been here since the 1840s, making it one of the oldest trees in the area. 

Meath Gardens has an interesting history, too. It originally began life as one of the eight private cemeteries that sprung up in the 1840s. However, Victoria Park Cemetery, which opened in 1846, was so poorly run that it couldn't make money in this poverty stricken area. By 1856 it had fallen into such a state of squalor that calls for its closure soon rang out. It finally closed to burials in 1876, after 1000,000 interments, the majority of which were children. Nearly all of the monuments and gravestones were cleared and the grounds landscaped, with it opening as Meath Gardens in 1894. The bodies were never removed.

Continuing our walk we crossed beneath the mainline and continued west along Bancroft Road, before heading back under the mainline to Three Colts Lane. We crossed Vallance Road, where I took a photo of some newish houses that stand on the spot of some now demolished homes, one of which, 178, was home to Ronnie and Reggie Kray. A little further and we reached 'The Carpenter's Arms'. once the local pub of the Krays.

From here we headed north along St Matthew's Row where we spotted various mosaic designs, affixed to the walls of William Davis Primary School, and a Watch House, opposite, attached to the grounds of St Matthew's Church Gardens. 

This is a much larger Watch House than the one I had previously seen in Rotherhithe. We soon found ourselves on Bethnal Green Road which followed westward, before turning down Chilton Street and onto Cheshire Street. Here trendy cafes and vintage shops filled both sides of the road, which brought us out to Brick Lane. 

On Sclater Street a few market stalls were beginning to unpack their wares, so we stopped for a browse. Keilyn picked up a small 'bum bag', while I purchased two old London bottles and a couple of whisky miniatures, one of which I gave to Steve. Sclater Street soon rejoined Bethnal Green Road and we found ourselves beside Shoreditch Boxpark.

We headed south, along Shoreditch High Street, before heading west along Great Eastern Street until we reached Leonard Street. It was here that we stopped for some refreshments at 'The Griffin'.

Suitably refreshed we continued along Leonard Street, making a slight detour up Tabernacle Street to check out a mural in progress, before rejoining Leonard Street and heading up City Road to Old Street.

We followed Old Street a short distance before turning south on Whitecross Street, with its building covered in murals and plenty of Blue Plaques, which told the history of some of the buildings and places associated with the area. 

A fine rain, which had been threatening, finally began to fall, so we headed into the Barbican Centre to explore this brutalist architectural marvel, home to some 4,000 residents, a cinema, events space, bars and conservatory. Of course, Keilyn headed straight for the shop where we checked out the various items that were on offer. Soon enough we headed outside to the lake to take some photos of the buildings, as the rain was easing off.

Leaving the Barbican Estate we headed along Long Lane. Although Keilyn and I had packed rolls and snacks, Steve had not, so we stopped at 'Subway', where we all ate, with Keilyn finishing off her meal with some 'Ben & Jerry's' Cookie Dough ice cream. 

With energy levels optimised we crossed Long Lane and went for some refreshment at the 'Old Red Cow', which was a lovely pub.

We joined West Smithfield and checked out the work on the new home of the Museum of London, before heading up East Poultry Avenue and west along Charterhouse Street, where we discovered a memorial to people affected by a V2  rocket attack on the site on March 8, 1945.

Turning north we followed Farringdon Road before heading west along Ray Street, where we stopped outside the 'The Coach' pub, so that we could peer down into a grate outside the pub. We could just about see the water flowing below, but you could definitely hear it... the River Fleet.

Warner Street brought us to Phoenix Place and the Postal Museum, before we headed on to Pakenham Street and Cubitt Street. From here we headed west along Ampton Street, on to Sidmouth Street, Regent Square and Tavistock Place.

Cutting through Bramber Green we found ourselves on Judd Street and, ahead of us, we could see the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

Crossing Euston Road we made our way into King's Cross underground station, where we caught an Uxbridge bound Metropolitan train, which we took to Baker Street. The information boards indicated that we had 13 minutes until our Watford train, so Keilyn took herself off to the toilet, while I purchased drinks for us all at 'Starbucks'

With our drinks in had we boarded our train and sat back to enjoy the ride towards home.

Keilyn and I said goodbye to Steve and then took a short walk home, arriving just after 18:00.

It was a wonderful day filled with history, wonderful murals, interesting places and great company. I can see me doing a lot more walks through the East End in the future.

Distance travelled:

• Bus - 0.0 miles
• Cable Car - 0.0 miles
• Car - 0.0 miles
• DLR - 0.0 miles
• Ferry - 0.0 miles
• Overground - 0.0 miles
• River Boat - 0.0 miles
• Taxi - 0.0 miles
• Train - 0.0 miles
• Underground - 41 miles
• Walking - 7.4 miles