Didache & Overbeyond Hit Brick Lane

Mike and I hit Brick Lane in East London today and as with most of our outings the first photograph is seriously created over a beer. We enjoyed the outdoor seating in the beer garden of 'The George' and Mike as usual gets the most comfortable one.

Brick Lane is in the district of Whitechapel, which has a fascinating and sometimes bloody history. It is home to the most famous bell foundry in the world - Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were both made here. The first pic is Tom (overbeyond) outside the foundry.

The second pic is one of the oddest addresses in London: Eleven and a Half Fournier Street!

Whitechapel was also the district in which the Whitechapel Murders took place in the autumn of 1888 - better known as Jack the Ripper. The Ten Bells pub (third pic), as anyone will know who has seen From Hell with Johnny Depp, was where some of the victims frequented and was the last place the final victim, Mary Kelly, was seen alive. The site of her death is only about 50 yards away, now a multi-story car park.

Cheers
Mike

I'd say there's lots of photo ops there in London.
Good to see you two get together as it always produces interesting shots and a bit of history too.

It is always fun to go with a fellow shutter bug......

Great shots..

Three more ....

The first is the loading door of the Whitechapel Foundry .. it is interesting (for you Americans) to think that the Liberty Bell was hoisted out this door onto a cart to begin its journey across the Atlantic.

The second is in Spitalfields Market, right across the street from the Ten Bells pub - it was founded by Charles II in the late 1600s as a fruit and veg market. These days it's all fashion and antiques.

The third is Tom changing his lens in the same market.

Cheers
Mike

A few more now. Didache will be able to give you some words on the history of the church.

I appreciate seeing these shots. I'll probably never get to London but I've seen all the "tourist" shots. The shots you two take both together and singly show the little things that I'd never see in a travel brochure.
I love the last two shots especially.

I always enjoy seeing your get togethers and the history lesson is a bonus. Thanks for posting your adventures.

A short bit of history about Tom's church shot. The Great Fire of London was in 1666, and, due to all the wooden buildings, much of London was decimated. Following the Fire, immigrants flooded into the East End, many of whom were Irish or from Central/Eastern Europe. The government became concerned that the area was becoming overwhelmingly catholic (those were different days and they saw it as a problem then - remember that it was only just over a century since people got executed over issues like this). Hence, Nicholas Hawksmoor (a protege of Sir Christopher Wren) was commissioned to build six churches in the East End of London. His brief was to create churches which were solid, had to be looked up to, and were extremely imposing. Basically his brief was to build churches that made the statement: "You can build your catholic chapels, but you cannot hope to compete with the power, the majesty and the permanence of the Anglican church". I think Tom's shot of Christchurch captures this grandeur and power very well. Another note: at the time of the Ripper murders, witnesses in police statements continually made reference to the clock of Christchurch when describing the times they saw things. History lesson over :D The reason I know all this stuff is because I gave a slide lecture on the Hawksmoor churches a number of years ago.

Last three from me: the first is a piece of wall art. The second is a bluegrass band that was playing just off a market (one of the great things about London is that you find the oddest things just walking about). The third is Tom in the door of the Ten Bells pub.

Cheers
Mike

More good stuff photographically and historically.
One of the interesting things I learned about the great fire of London was that despite the tragedy, it also wiped out the plague by roasting all the rats, I guess.

I have to laugh at the picture of Tom. Looks as though he is saying, "hurry up with the picture, I want a beer"..

I agree with Frog. I enjoy viewing your images of the UK gatherings as it is so much more substantial than viewing the tourist photos in travel magazines etc. Especially when we have such great photogs from the UK here in our forums.
Thanks for sharing these . .