Hello from London: London’s Unknown
East End and a Tour of the Zetter Hotel
It’s amazing what you can pack into a day: our sightseeing
tour on the Number 11 bus had introduced us to some of London’s
most important sights. During our walking tour we explored Buckingham
Palace, the Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, arriving just
in time for Big Ben ringing in the noon hour. Then we took a sightseeing
tour on the Thames River and got to know the city from a completely
different perspective. With only three days in London we were trying
to cover as many sights as possible, and so far on our second day
we had definitely managed to squeeze in a lot of important landmarks.
Tower Bridge
After rushing to catch the Docklands Light Railway to our meeting
point at Whitechapel, we connected with our walking tour a bit late,
but we were ready to get to know “London’s unknown East
End”. The tour was led by Harry
Jackson, a passionate Londoner who grew up in Liverpool in the
1960s. Harry moved back to London in 1973 and gained extensive knowledge
of the city during the 1980s when he worked for London Transport.
This was also the time when he became a certified Blue Badge tourist
guide. Blue Badge guides go through a two year training program
at the Institute of Tourist Guiding and provide reliable and professional
guiding services all over the UK. We joined the tour a bit late,
and Harry was already in full swing, enthralling a curious crowd
of about 20 people.
Harry Jackson, our expert Blue Badge tour guide
In a city with so many diverse and historic areas, London’s
East End is one of the most fascinating neighbourhoods. Part of
the area was used as graveyards during Roman times, and during the
Middle Ages villages started to sprout up east of the medieval walled
City of London. From the beginning many noxious industries were
located here: from tanneries to breweries, foundries, gun powder
factories and bone processing facilities to make soap and china,
the East End attracted many dangerous and unpleasant industries.
Street in the East End
People from the countryside started flocking into this area, and
successive waves of immigrants also started to call the East End
their home. In the late 17th century large groups of French Huguenots,
Protestant refugees from France, set up shop here and started many
silk-weaving businesses. Irish Weavers came shortly after, and in
the latter half of the 19th century Ashkenazi Jews fleeing the pogroms
of Tsarist Russia settled in this area. Many local residents started
working in the docks and shipyards in the east side of London. The
most recent population influx stems from a large number of Bangladeshi
immigrants who have called this area their home.
Three officers of the London Metropolitan Police
In his well-spoken and entertaining manner, Harry showed us some
sites connected to the famous Jack the Ripper, an unidentified serial
killer who is thought to have been responsible for eleven murders
in London’s East End in late 1888. In rather gruesome details
he started telling us about some of these horrific crimes, most
of which were committed against prostitutes whose throats were slit
and whose bodies subsequently were brutally mutilated and eviscerated.
London's East End
During the late 19th century the East End of London was a cesspool
of poor or homeless people who suffered from highly exploitive work
conditions. Prostitution and street crime were rampant. The series
of Whitechapel Murders terrified the local population, received
extensive coverage in the local press and became the stuff of legends
and urban myths. Due to the anatomical knowledge applied in the
murders, one theory supposed that Jack the Ripper was a medical
doctor. Despite the fact that in some cases police arrived on scene
just minutes after the crime, the perpetrator was never found.
London's East End
At a stop at the local Royal London Hospital, Harry
filled us in on the story of another colourful personality related
to London’s East End: Joseph Carey Merrick, better known as
"the Elephant Man". Born in 1862 he suffered from severe
facial disfigurements that left him no other choice than to work
in a sideshow once he became an adult. Harry pointed out that Merrick
worked in a sideshow in a local Whitechapel shop, but decided to
go to Belgium in 1886 where he ended up being mistreated, and most
of his earnings were stolen by the man who ran the show.
London's East End
Prior to leaving for Belgium, Merrick had obtained the business
card of a local surgeon who was working at the Royal London Hospital.
Dr. Frederick Treves, who was later knighted, took a liking to the
Elephant Man, and after Merrick’s return from Belgium, he
arranged for him to get permanent living quarters at his hospital
where Merrick lived until his premature death in 1890 at only 27
years of age.
As we walked through the narrow streets of Whitechapel Harry also
showed us different locations that were hotbeds of political activism
and anarchism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Based on
its working class roots, London’s East End had had a long
history of social activism and labour organization. Even as early
as after the arrival of the Huguenot weavers in the late 1600s,
reading clubs were established that morphed into labour and political
organizations.
East End apartment block
Subversive actions culminated with the radicalism of the late 19th
century. Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe as well as Russian
and German radicals congregated in the Whitechapel area. Leon Trotsky
and Vladimir Lenin attended meetings here in 1903, and Joseph Stalin
participated in the Fifth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic
Labour Party which was held in a local church.
East London Mosque
Steps away we stopped on Fieldgate Street where we saw the East
London Mosque right next door to the Fieldgate Street Synagogue.
This Jewish house of worship was founded in 1899 and was rebuilt
after sustaining severe damage as a result of German air raids during
World War II. The Mosque right next to it was conceptualized in
1910 and serves London’s largest Muslim community, including
a large number of Bangladeshi, Somalian and North African members.
Whitechapel Bell Foundry, established 1570
We also walked past the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the oldest manufacturing
company in Great Britain. Established in 1570, this company cast
Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell as well as London’s Big
Ben. Master founders have existed in Whitechapel since the early
1400s. We also stopped at the remainder of the St. Mary Matfelon
Church, a thirteenth century church of which there is nothing left
other than a stone outline in a grassy area, the result of a German
World War II bombing.
Only the outline is left of St. Mary Matfelon Church
Our last part of the walking tour focused on Brick Lane, a street
that was historically the heart of the local brick and tile-making
industry in Whitechapel. This is now the centre of the local Bengali
community, and dozens of popular curry houses line the street. Brick
Lane has become a popular restaurant area, and many artists have
started to move into the neighbourhood. Today a street festival
was going on, and throngs of people were strolling on Brick Lane.
Stores along Brick Lane
Harry,
our expert guide, pointed out the Brick Lane Jamme Masjid, a
mosque that has been operating here since 1976. For more than 260
years this building has been used for religious purposes. Earlier
incarnations of the same building include the Spitalfields Great
Synagogue of 1898, a Methodist Chapel dating from 1819 as well as
La Neuve Eglise, a Huguenot Chapel built in 1742. This house of
worship is a perfect example of the transformations of this neighbourhood,
a result of the successive waves of immigrants who have settled
in London’s East End.
The Brick Lane Jamme Masjid
We turned left onto Fournier Street, a street originally inhabited
by Huguenot silk weavers who needed the large windows of their 18th
century houses to provide sufficient light for their detail-oriented
work. The entire Brick Lane area has been undergoing gentrification
for the last quarter century, and in some cases local houses are
now selling for several million pounds.
Some of the weavers' houses on Fournier Street
At the end of Fournier Street was the final stop of our tour: we
stopped at Christ Church Spitalfields, an Anglican Church built
between 1714 and 1729. Harry explained that since there was a shortage
of churches in the area, the construction of this church was initiated
by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches which had been
created by an act of the British Parliament.
Christ Church Spitalfields
Across the street we looked at the Old Spitalfields Market whose
buildings date back to 1887. A public market has been in existence
here since 1682 and was originally a wholesale fruit and vegetable
market. The fruits and vegetables were moved to the New Spitalfields
Market in 1991, while the old market today holds various fashion
outlets as well as various food and general retailers. Fittingly,
Harry finished us off with one final example of a murder by Jack
the Ripper which had taken place just around the corner from were
we stood.
Entrance to Spitalfields Market
Enriched with local London knowledge we walked to the Liverpool
Street Station from where we caught the Tube back to the Zetter
Hotel. Prior to going out for the evening I wanted to get a
quick overview of the hotel and requested a tour of the facilities.
Raquel Gallego, the Assistant Reception Manager, graciously volunteered
her time and took us up to the top floor of this five story hotel.
From this level, we were able to enjoy a look down the five-story
atrium all the way to the bar on the ground floor.
Raquel Gallego from the Zetter Hotel shows us around
The Zetter Hotel is a converted Victorian-era warehouse that features
59 uniquely designed rooms of which no two rooms are the same. Rooms
range from standard guest rooms to deluxe corner rooms, deluxe twin
rooms as well as various categories of rooftop studios. We first
went into a top floor studio that featured a queen size bed, a mini-bar
and kettle as well as a so-called “Raindance shower"
and bath. A large flat screen television with 15 satellite channels
is available as well as an iPod docking Station. Internet access
is complimentary, a feature that I, as a traveling journalist, always
enjoy. 4000 music tracks are available free of charge to entertain
the guests.
The cool staircase at the Zetter Hotel
Raquel showed me the rooftop balcony which featured two sitting
areas, an ecologically friendly solar lamp, and a great view over
London’s rooftops. Then we went to another room and checked
out the most popular deluxe rooftop studio: room 503, a favourite
destination for honeymooners. It features an oversize rooftop deck
with a sitting area, two reclining chairs and a most gorgeous vista
of some of London’s greatest landmarks: London’s business
district highlighted by the unforgettable shape of the Gherkin,
the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as the outline of
the London Eye, London’s gigantic Ferris wheel. This is definitely
a serene place of respite in the middle of the hustle and bustle
of this busy metropolis.
Room 503
Over a glass of lemon water, Raquel gave me more background about
the Zetter and its surroundings. The water itself was actually from
the hotel’s own 100 m deep well which provides a complimentary
bottle of still and sparkling water to all hotel guests on a daily
basis. The cold water was an excellent refreshment on an unusually
warm spring day that featured temperatures in the mid 20s.
Looking right at the Gherkin and the Barbican from the Zetter's
rooftop studio
We briefly touched on the neighbourhood surrounding the
Zetter Hotel: the Clerkenwell area has a great location between
the City and the West End. The St. Pancras / King’s Cross
tube stations are just one stop away, Liverpool Street Station is
two stops away and the heart of London’s financial district,
Bank Street, is also just two subway stops away. The neighbourhood
itself is very popular with locals and savvy travelers alike as
it teems with fashionable restaurants, bars, galleries and dance
clubs. Some of the city’s best restaurants are located here.
Outside view of the Zetter Hotel
The Clerkenwell area itself has an interesting long-standing history.
During the 17th century it was popular as a resort area that featured
various spas, tea gardens and theatres. The Industrial Revolution
caused the area to change and many breweries, distilleries and printing
businesses located here. The post World-War II era brought with
it a decline of these industries, but from the 1990s onwards gentrification
efforts rejuvenated the area, and it has become a favourite residential
neighbourhood for young professionals.
Cool sitting area inside one of the Zetter's rooms
With its ground-floor restaurant and bar, the
Zetter Hotel is a popular destination for locals and travelers
alike, and many businesses take advantage of its meeting rooms and
private dining facilities. Raquel added that because it is a small
hotel, the staff is very close-knit and guests are treated like
they are part of the family. Based on its style, comfort, quirky
personality and its environmental achievements, the Zetter has been
awarded Best Small Hotel at the Visit London Awards 2006.
The Zetter Hotel, a chic boutique hotel in a great location
Andrea and I have certainly been enjoying our time at the Zetter,
and the location is unbeatable. Since we had to get ready for going
out in the evening I thanked Raquel for showing us around this unique
hotel. Minutes later we were back on the road to make our way out
to Snaresbrook, a suburban area in North East London where we were
planning to meet with local friends of Andrea’s. After an
extremely hectic and action-packed day I enjoyed the ride in the
subway and the relaxed evening that followed at Debbie’s house.
Together with her family and friends, we spent a nice evening chatting,
and over a selection of Indian food, we shared our impressions of
these two whirlwind days in London.
Close to midnight we got back and dropped into bed exhausted, ready
to rest up for the adventures that were yet to come on our
third and last day in London.