@@JohnRogersWalks very underrated channel. You do some great stuff mate. The tour of Modena was brilliant. Please keep making content, it’s really helped me get through lockdown 👍🏻
Delighted to see Gainsborough School still standing amid the general destruction. I started at Gainsborough in 1950. I used to walk along Eastway, past the Eton Mission church where in the 60's the 'Ton up Vicar' Bill Shergold started a club for bikers. I lived in a prefab off Wick Road, now the site of where the A13 flyover passes. I remember walking home from school in thick, choking smog. I left Hackney in the early 60's when I started at Hornsey Art School, just when one of my favourite authors, Iain Sinclair was moving in! Thanks for a great nostalgia trip
I done a YTS course around the Carpenters Road/ Hackney Wick area around 1990, back then it was a heavily industrial area with not much residential housing, at lunch time I often went to the canal to feed the ducks my leftovers remember one lunchtime I was shocked to see a dead horse go floating by. The newbuilds in the video feel soulless and without character or maybe its because of lockdown. This type of all to similar soulless (blamounge) architecture as I call it can be found all over east London docklands, Gallions Reach, Barking and Thames Gateway going out east. Any ways another great video John thanks for sharing 👍
To me this area was my old stomping ground and party nights, now I have matured (am too old now?) I have since returned to Hackney Wick to visit Rule Zero (for the super mature board gaming) on Roach Road, I have to be entirely honest I find the area discombobulating now with the straight roads and buildings, it feels perplexing to me know...
This is cool... I have so many memories of Hackney Wick going back over 25 years... Its totally different... We used to go to massive warehouse parties on Carpenters rd and Waterdon rd and Fish island too...
spent my best years raving in the Wick especially the old slaughterhouse in Waterden Road but I think we did most of the old building from hackney wick to stratford they were the best times!
@@chrisfunx7968 I think I spent a New Years Year and following day at a rave at the old slaughterhouse,happy memories indeed. Hackeny WIck/Carpenters Rd was for a time the epicentre of the "party scene" and for me will always invoke lost weekends and "interesting" journeys home. Think I may dig out my "No Sleep till Hackney" CD and play it to remind me of those more anarchic and less corperate times.....
I left East London in 2000. For some time I lived on Morningside Estate and remember the 26 bus drivers refusing to drive down to Hackney Wick at night. So in a way not recognising so much, seeing people out and about on the streets is a great improvement.
I grew up in Hackney Wick, does anyone remember the number 6 bus? It was a traditional routemaster and it was replaced by the modern 26 which took up part of its route. Great video as always, John.
Yes certainly do and the number 30 they both stopped in the same depot in the corner just past the St Mary Eaton Mission ( 59 Club ) I lived at 116 Berkshire Road Hackney Wick E9.
I know I’m going to be ok , there is life outside my shielding . Walking vicariously with you John and we will be following in your footsteps when we are free to roam . Thank you it really helps xxx
I never drank in the Lord Napier but worked in the area and in the mid 1980s the pub had a refurbishment and the landlord put a sign up in the window that read " Anyone found damaging the fixtures and fittings will get DONE" Made me laugh.
John - Great video, as always. A couple of things that might be of interest - the Lord Napier is indeed in the process of being renovated and will be reopening under the management of the Electric Star group, who of course also run the Heathcote Arms - your local! Also, the building on the corner of Wallis Road (Sainsburys) replaces the old Garage which was in your previous video, but while the plaque about Parkesine was on that building, the actual building that housed the works has in fact been preserved and is behind that new residential block - you can see it if you look down the side just before the Beer Merchant's Tap - which is on the ground floor of what was Central Books - as per your previous video they moved out to Dagenham a few years ago.
Great video, John. This is the first time I’ve come across your videos and I’m loving the social and history walk that you gave. My mothers family lived in The Wick from 1930’s onwards. On the old map, that you showed, Victoria Road, became Wick Road, Montague Road became Trowbridge Road running parallel to Felstead street. The Gainsborough school, where my mum attended in the 40’s, was Berkshire Road school named after Berkshire Road that ran along side the school. Gainsborough School, I believe, was on the east way but may have been damaged during the war. The Eton Mission boat house was where my uncle used to go, plus my other uncle, Vic Miller, was a member of The Eton Manor boys club, run by Mr Villiers. Eddie Clayton, who went onto play for Spurs, was a good friend of my uncle Vic and a Eton Manor boy. My Nan, and I think my mum, worked at Clarnicos. There is an old pub in the eastway, now a food place, where a distant uncle used to park his horse and cart, whilst he got drunk in the pub. When he’d had enough but was too drunk to go home, he would climb onto the cart and let the horse take him home. In Prince Edward Road, before the war, was a dwelling that my family named ‘the hole in the wall’ it was where my great aunt lived. Sorry for the long message
Lee, I know it well as I attended both Berkshire Road and Gainsborough School which as you say was on Easway. I lived in #5 Berkshire Road and also #66 Eastway. Did you know that Gainsborough School had a "play ground" on the roof? Have not been back for years but would love to. Bronco Toilet paper works, Clarnicos and Lesney Products, Glicksteins wood wharf on the canal.
Used to go to Hackney Speedway in the 60s. The noise of the bikes still echoes at the back of my mind. The smell was also distinctive, especially when the Oxo factory was going. The Wick was a dirty and forbidding place back then, but I wish I could go and visit for a day now and then. Just see it how it was. John is right about change being jarring. This makes me feel very nostalgic and sad.
Good comment. I used to go to Hackney greyhounds on Saturday mornings,in particular. I' have been in Bexley for 38 years now Geffo Me. Where are you now, please?
@@Isleofskye. Originally Clapton. Hackney Marshes was only five minutes away and I was always over there with my older brother. I can remember barges coming down the Cut being pulled by Shire horses. Live in Kent these days. I still have an affection for the area though and wander back when I can.
In the 1980's I worked for a company called Pitney Bowes and Stratford / Lower Hackney was my patch. Hackney Wick wasn't a term that was used too much back then. Before the Olympics bulldozed away the history of the area there were hundreds of small businesses in the area that just used to survive mainly because their rent was cheap. As always a fascinating video that has taught me so much that I didn't know about this area
@@zigzung5569 yeah it was more of a term used by the girls on the service desk to denote that this part of Hackney belonged to my patch (basically the area of the Wick bordered by the Eastway and Stratford High Street) Don't worry, I'm not trying to erase any of its history, the Olympic Delivery Committee is doing that.
@@jonnotshared7590 Fair enough, i was born and bought up in Hackney and never heard the term Lower Hackney. In saying that Hackney Wick is probably the area of Hackney i know the least about.
this is so informative ive lived in hackney wick for almost 18 years and didnt know about its history in this depth, only knew about the old race stadium and the factories as my grandparents had worked in them before they were knocked down and turn into housing and restaurants, a great video
Loved those 'before and after' clips you inserted in the edit, John. Great tour of HW - shame Howling Hops still shut. (17:59 - some locals claimed all those new flats were built on top of 'contaminated' toxic soil? Chromium, arsenic and naphlathene? P.S: £700k for a two bed flat in that Bagel Factory - and at 30:44 - right of shot: £5.5m worth of Big Breakfast house. There's a clip on YT of Mark Little, Paul O'Grady, Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan stood on the opposite bank having a chat - check out the backdrops of Hackney Wick - fascinating.)
My town is full of these empty flats that are too expensive for most. I wonder what these cost? I did some research...Two bedroom flats start around £ 645,000.
@@lordgemini2376 www.theguardian.com/society/2011/may/18/non-white-british-population-ons The Guardian appears to agree, so must be true. So are you saying Britains ethnic minority populations are the native english now?
@@lordgemini2376 Funny the 2021 UK census has English Scots Welsh and Irish as an ethnicity category. What exactly are you denying here. Ancestral history & diversity ok for thee but not for me?
As always, such a fascinating and educational chronicle - thank you! I also feel that bewildering sense of disorientation (& loss) when confronted with bold, monochrome building developments. The struggle between a place that is growing, destroying its past to become transformed for increased population, is just as confounding as that of the place which once was developed & populated, and now falls ruin to time and decay.
Great video John, I am fascinaged with this part of town and totally agree such rapid change needs to be documented somehow, so thank you for that. It's a shame there is generally so little to record what was here and also in the Olympic Park before the developments all moved in. The Saint Etienne/Paul Kelly film from 2005 is very good, which they felt compelled to make for similar reasons. I always get quite melancholic thinking about what has gone, even though the area was not one I really knew at all, how strange is that. I'm sure I am over-romantisicing things, I recall Paul Kelly saying that after five weeks of fliming they were completely sick of the place!
Hello John. As a Brummie born and bred , now living in Lancashire for many years, I could not point to any of the places you walk through on a map. This for me is the pleasure of your walks, places that I am completely new to. Many thanks.
I Recall Waterden Road had one of the dodgiest boot-sales in London on a sunday - guys with a suitcase of pirate CDs and software, people selling various exotic animal parts for food, and the deeper in you went, the dodgier it seemed to get. Also a big church in a warehouse with Afro-Carribeans dressed in their Sunday best. Mid-80s at a guess
I remember the afro-carribean church, we used to see them on Sunday morning after leaving bleary eyed from the illegal warehouse raves that happened every weekend in the area.
Hi John. Thanks for this video, very interesting and lots of info from you. Not exactly my area(my area was docklands,Stepney and Bow) but do know some of this area. The only dislikes is the rubbish on the walls especially on the older buildings. Thanks again for the video👍
Thanks for another cracking urban ramble and for documenting the changes ,yes it can be very disorienting when things change Manchester has gone similar changes
Another great video John. I used to work at Here East and it’s a very strange and hollow environment. Ford and Sports Interactive (Football Manager developer) have offices there. You used to be able to get on a bus from Westfield that took you to HE, but they’ve since tightened the rules and now have to show proof you work there to get the free bus. Hackney Wick has become a testing ground for the uninspired commercial and residential architects of Britain (where are the Howard Roarks of today?). It really feels like an extension to Canary Wharf in a certain way and it’s funny to see their marketing materials reference the art scene of as a key USP. There was an art festival around there called Hackney Wicked which had focused on the artists of that area, however during that event, there were several petitions to save the art spaces from being lost to the cold developers of today. I wonder if they succeeded, but doesn’t appear they were.
Interesting link to Canary Wharf you make their Amir, that makes a lot of sense - easy commute by bike down the Lea then Limehouse Cut or a couple of stops on the Jubilee Line or DLR. I know a lot of artists have moved to Barking and further east in search of space, I remember Hackney Wicked.
Great video John! Love too see you do a return to Stepney / Whitechapel. Sadly a seriously big development of unaffordable apartments going up next too the Hospital and Stepney Way. Nothing there for the local community.
The Bagel Factory was previously Littner Hampton Carpets with a large car park and the warehouse entrance on Hepscott Road. My parents run a furniture business which is now the flats occupying 25-37 Rothbury Road, the area has completely changed since. Used to go to the scrap yards later on when older to get car parts all gone now too.
The building next to Clarnicos and now part of the power sub station was the old oxo factory. From the canal side u could see the windows covered in 1940s blitz union jack style brown strips up until the mid eighties.
I remember in the 90 I just to walk hackney wick alot for doing shopping in a shopping market back in the day, now it change alot, Thank for you for walking
Brought back some memories. Worked for a while in the Atlas Works in Berkshire Road. Installed a printing press in the back of the building near the canal, could not get the thing levelled up, found that the floor was running up a slope and that the area was where they used to unload enormous reels of paper off barges and into the factory to produce Bronco toilet rolls. Crikey, it was cold and primative but served its purpose at the time - 1975. How its changed! Great tour, thanks.
Thank you John. Wonderful as always. My mum was born in Peabody building in Bethnal Green in 1922 and apparently had quite a tough time in those days. I went to college in Hackney Downs. Bob.
Superb walk John, even though I was a little lost . My Grandad used to tell me the open trucks pulled by trains going through Custom House (where I’m from) were a beautiful shinning blue colour...... with all the Bluebottles settled on the bones, passing through to/from the bone works ? Thank you again for the entertainment and memories
Thanks John, I haven't been to Hackney Wick for a few years so it's interesting and a bit scary to see how many blocks of flats have been built on Fish Island - I would be very disoriented round there too!
One positive is that the area is a bit of a flood risk, so the developers largely haven't been allowed to build residential units on the ground floor. So while the buildings may be bland and souless, hopefully as the commercial units get filled and used as shops / work spaces there will be a fair bit more life and variety at street level.
Thank you John on the insite of the change of the area as i was born in Hackney so seen all the transformations then resided to the Netherlands retuned 2011 felt like a tourist.
I stayed in an air BandB in Hackney Wick last year , best holiday I’ve ever had - really friendly people and beautiful surroundings- can’t wait to visit and explore more in 24 - ❤
Wow, how things have changed! As a teenager visiting from Australia in 1972, I remember catching a Routemaster bus from Kensal Rise to Hackney Wick to go the speedway. It was fantastic to see how big the speedway league was in Britain. The noise of the bikes and the smell of the fuel was memorable. One of our best Australian riders was riding that night but was just rubbish compared to the local lads..! It was sad but funny that a novice race had to be declared because no-one finished!!! 😳
Hiya John . I bumped into your channel early in January when I was off with covid and in pretty bad shape . Your videos really took my mind off of it though It was great to see quite a suprising amount familiar places including my home town of Amersham I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your channel and what a godsend it was binge watching your walks . Hopefully I will be able to get out there in the not too distant future. Thanks for making a bad time a lot more bearable. Craig .
Hi Craig - glad the videos could help you through a difficult time. I'd love to go for a walk out to Amersham at the moment, but looks like it'll be another couple of months
Fascinating! 11:48. 117 Wallis Road used to be Moorprint's works - Alan and Perce's place - Many a fine bit of print for Abbey National and Abbey National Offshore!
Good morning John! This is a GREAT film, and really takes me back to the mid-1980s I spent the best part of my working life in the area selling paper to the vast number of printers that were based, along with associated trades, there were a vast number of people employed thereabouts (many, many 100's), especially around Wallis Road, Whitepost Lane & its immediate environs. Sounds as tho' you knew & know the area very well! There was a bigger concentration of 4-colour printers here than anywhere else in the country, the internet and the commercial banks finished the then industry. These days I'm in a wheelchair and would never consider walking (trundling) the streets to reminisce. It was, as you know, a filthy industrial area and had been for 150 years+, no wonder the fish kill you speak of was so acute. I could go on... Super, informative, compulsive viewing! I have learned so very much as a result. VBW x
The Beer Merchant tap is somewhere myself and many other Hammers fans end up after games! Very wide selections of really good beers, nice atmosphere if you dont want a really hectic one after matches. T. Great Walk John!
There used to be a lot of printing and print finishing in Hackney and Stratford, including New Plaistow Press who specialised in printing school magazines. I remember pointing the school where my mother worked as secretary at the time in their direction. A related industry in the area was the making of printing inks and solvents.
Very interesting...but I do find those apartment blocks in Fish Island very soulless and disorientating. As a woman I find those spaces very intimidating and isolated especially at night, maybe I'm missing something? Great video as ever John stay safe , 🙂
It does seem to be the product of a developers implementation of an architects vision and less so that of a social scientist or anthropologists input. Carry mace 😉
Once again John, very informative and pleasant walk. Before the Eton Manor Boys Club, it was indeed the Eton Mission; where my great grandfather Frederick Grace (lightweight) trained & boxed.
Really enjoyed that John, loved all the layers of graffiti and the older buildings and industrial areas that are still there, an eye opener as always, thanks!
I learnt the knowledge of London to get my taxis license in a room in stour wharf nice to see its held on so far 25 students at a time as we used to say when struggling with map work cant see the woods through the trees now with over development you cant see the sun or the sky through the blocks
Great video John, thank you for taking us along with you, i miss exploring the east end of London. I’m a west end gal and pre covid, loved hoping on a bus and heading to the east end and exploring. It’s good to have someone who knew it before the developers took hold of it and changed it beyond recognition. Looking forward to the next video 👍
Thank you so much. I live in Lower Clapton so I explore these areas with my wife and have often wondered about the history and stories from these areas.. Now I can venture out with a little more knowledge. Thanks youtube for bringing me this channel.
Another educational video John, I did like the part of Shellac, my wife is in the beauty industry and she did not know where it originated from, again absolutely brilliant video, keep up the great work. until next time.....
Great video as always John. I always think of late 80’s illegal acid house raves when I think of Hackney Wick. There was a few around there at the time and it was very industrial too. Lots of small factories and industrial units. It’s changed beyond recognition in less than half a generation. I think we need to be careful with the old rose coloured spectacles though. It wasn’t the most pleasant of areas back then. Dangerous and dirty is my memory of the place. Looking at some of the old buildings you can see it was very well to do at one time, but that was a long time ago. Does anyone remember the red Police Box further down toward the Blackwall Tunnel?
@@cliftonfowler5063 do you remember Labyrinth in the peanut factory on Dace Road?There was another one next to the bit of motorway that leads to Blackwall Tunnel from Hackney Wick. On the left if you was coming from Leyton. Cant remember the name of that one.
The buildings remind me a lot of the "Hafencity" (Harbour city) here in Hamburg. The same kind of red and yellow brick ( in german called "Klinker") facade. Also an area that used to be industrial and was then redeveloped.
Excellent video John, this had it all, the graffiti was a mixture of Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist ', Fagan, Bill Sykes and the Arrful Dodger meets the Bronx in New York. Add this with the new builds on Fish Island meets the future ' Matrix '. Keep up the good work👍👍👍👍👍
I've been watching your videos for a good few years now and I always watch your videos first thing on a Monday morning. Your enthusiasm and knowledge are great! It really sets me up for the day!! They're a great comfort in these troubling times. Thanks for posting them John. They are much appreciated.
Fascinating video. The development of Hackney Wick and Fish Island is bewildering, and makes where the industry is moving to. And also, if some of it is staying, why would people want to live right next to it in the blocks springing up from nowhere 🤷♂️ I have family who live just next to Victoria Park, so this neighbouring area that has a lot of old and recent history really intrigues me 👍
I thought you might be walking up Wick Road to the junction with Well Street? Maybe another walk along Well Street one day? I lived above my dad's shop near there in Well Street until I was 11 when we moved to Leytonstone. Used to get the bus to school from Leytonstone to Clapton went along Eastway.. unrecognisable now! Going back to the early 1960s mind so nothing is the same.
Brilliant video thanks John. Lovely to hear a mention for Hackney speedway. It is striking how hugely popular Speedway racing and support for teams was compared to now. it's completely gone from London and borders where you could go to a different track every night of the week plus many more. You may know that in the custom House area where the mighty West Ham team rode, there are risks named after the riders. They used to have 40,000 fans in for a home match on a Tuesday evening!!!!
Another great video thank you. I've photographed around this area quite a bit over a similar period to you and have seen the old topography of the area change. And I now live in one of those apartments - just near white post lane. It was great to hear your experience of re-tracing your steps and filling in some more what I know of the area
Hi I stumbled on a video of you walking down the river Lea,I spent twenty five years in Harlow working on the canals and and streets of London,I have moved back to the north west now,but watching your videos it reminds me of the best side of north London unseen and mostly misjudged to most people,looking forward to watching old videos,and what’s to come,brilliant !!
My goodness, how do you know all this stuff???? You're a walking encyclopedia! Do you ever do guided walks or invite fellow walkers? I also live in east London, and I would love to go on some of these walks with you. I couldn't possibly go on my own because I have no idea how to get around to all these places and I would get totally lost trying to follow a trail to some of these destinations!
I worked from Wick Lane for 8 years. I lived by West Ham train station in Memorial Av until 2012. I was a delivery van driver so knew the area of east London very well! Your presentation is very good as is the camera work in your video blog's!! Very informative! A little surprised that you never mentioned the ''Big Breakfast'' house or Lock-keepers cottages as they were known by the old ford lock there. I used to deliver to all the garages all around there & along what was Carpenters Rd & all over the east end. Wonder how it would be without winning the Olympic bid.
My daughter have a geography GSCE exam tomorrow where part of the paper is about the redevelopment of Hackney Wick & the Olympic Park, I bored her with my stories of when I use to go to the speedway every Friday in the 80s (I pointed at the multi story to show where I use to stand ) and your video too. Having visited the area for her studies it really helped remind her of the key aspects and she hadn’t heard about the development of plastic.
Just discovered your channel. I worked for tower Hamlets back in 2014 when they decided to redevelop fish island. It's sad to see how much they've ripped the soul out of the area.
Amazing to see the modernization of hackney Wick to how it looked when I lived round there in 1997 has something on the horizon of this area within the coming years.
Before that whole site was redeveloped I commuted through there daily and knew most of it like the back of my hand but since it was flattened I now get easily lost there. I think you confirmed this for me John!, thanks for another great video!
Just stumbled upon this. Absolutely fascinating. The juxtaposition of London old and new really interests me. So great you can guide us when we can’t visit ourselves. Thank you.
My friend and I back in the late 60s supported Rayleigh Rockets Speedway and one time we went to Hackney Stadium and as we walked through the streets the smell was so bad and my Dad told me there was a glue factory in the area which probably produced Scotch glue from animal, horses mainly, hoof clippings, I had previously used Scotch glue as an apprentice Carpenter in the joiners shop. He also told me about the soap factory.Simply bringing back memories, thank you sir
Great that you’re documenting all these changes. Your vids will likely end up in an important historical archive some time in the future, when we’re all long gone no doubt. Quality 👍🏼
Just a note: the first view you show of HereEast is showing the part of the complex housing Loughborough University's London Campus. Great Video by the way.
I may be wrong but I believe that building in Dace Road at 29:40 was originally a multi-storey stables. As canal boats were horse-drawn canal-side buildings had to include facilities for horses. Last time I was in the area the graffiti artists had changed the sign for Bream Road to Dream Road, which I liked.
A similar mournful vibe also found on the Paul Kelly (of Saint Ettiene) doco " What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day?" filmed in Hackney Wick and the Lea Valley before the Olympics. Fantastic if you can stream it anywhere. A couple of shorts on RUclips.
this man makes me feel like everything is going to be alright ..
that's wonderful to hear JC
@@JohnRogersWalks from one John to another thank you and keep up the great work sir . Your the reason RUclips was invented. 👌👍
@@JohnRogersWalks very underrated channel. You do some great stuff mate. The tour of Modena was brilliant. Please keep making content, it’s really helped me get through lockdown 👍🏻
I concur...
Yes me to ,
Delighted to see Gainsborough School still standing amid the general destruction. I started at Gainsborough in 1950. I used to walk along Eastway, past the Eton Mission church where in the 60's the 'Ton up Vicar' Bill Shergold started a club for bikers. I lived in a prefab off Wick Road, now the site of where the A13 flyover passes. I remember walking home from school in thick, choking smog. I left Hackney in the early 60's when I started at Hornsey Art School, just when one of my favourite authors, Iain Sinclair was moving in! Thanks for a great nostalgia trip
I done a YTS course around the Carpenters Road/ Hackney Wick area around 1990, back then it was a heavily industrial area with not much residential housing, at lunch time I often went to the canal to feed the ducks my leftovers remember one lunchtime I was shocked to see a dead horse go floating by. The newbuilds in the video feel soulless and without character or maybe its because of lockdown. This type of all to similar soulless (blamounge) architecture as I call it can be found all over east London docklands, Gallions Reach, Barking and Thames Gateway going out east. Any ways another great video John thanks for sharing 👍
To me this area was my old stomping ground and party nights, now I have matured (am too old now?) I have since returned to Hackney Wick to visit Rule Zero (for the super mature board gaming) on Roach Road, I have to be entirely honest I find the area discombobulating now with the straight roads and buildings, it feels perplexing to me know...
Get that horse. Aqueduct field sizes (USA, Brooklyn NY) are too damned small. I recommend FedEx shipment.
This is cool... I have so many memories of Hackney Wick going back over 25 years... Its totally different... We used to go to massive warehouse parties on Carpenters rd and Waterdon rd and Fish island too...
spent my best years raving in the Wick especially the old slaughterhouse in Waterden Road but I think we did most of the old building from hackney wick to stratford they were the best times!
@@chrisfunx7968 I think I spent a New Years Year and following day at a rave at the old slaughterhouse,happy memories indeed. Hackeny WIck/Carpenters Rd was for a time the epicentre of the "party scene" and for me will always invoke lost weekends and "interesting" journeys home. Think I may dig out my "No Sleep till Hackney" CD and play it to remind me of those more anarchic and less corperate times.....
I left East London in 2000. For some time I lived on Morningside Estate and remember the 26 bus drivers refusing to drive down to Hackney Wick at night. So in a way not recognising so much, seeing people out and about on the streets is a great improvement.
I left hackney in 2010, morning lane. My mum used to own a pub there
I grew up in Hackney Wick, does anyone remember the number 6 bus? It was a traditional routemaster and it was replaced by the modern 26 which took up part of its route. Great video as always, John.
I lived in Maida Vale over 30 years ago & the Hackney Wick No. 6 bus was used to get to work when the weather was manky.
@@roddyteague6246 I often wondered about the people at the other end of the route!
Certainly do remember the no 6 bus.used to run to Kendal Rise. Used to catch it back from my Saturday job in a shoe shop in Carnaby St , Oxford Circus
Yes... now the 388 is the route that mimics the no 6. The Night 26 is a similar route bit only runs at night.
Yes certainly do and the number 30 they both stopped in the same depot in the corner just past the St Mary Eaton Mission ( 59 Club ) I lived at 116 Berkshire Road Hackney Wick E9.
I know I’m going to be ok , there is life outside my shielding . Walking vicariously with you John and we will be following in your footsteps when we are free to roam . Thank you it really helps xxx
I never drank in the Lord Napier but worked in the area and in the mid 1980s the pub had a refurbishment and the landlord put a sign up in the window that read " Anyone found damaging the fixtures and fittings will get DONE" Made me laugh.
John - Great video, as always. A couple of things that might be of interest - the Lord Napier is indeed in the process of being renovated and will be reopening under the management of the Electric Star group, who of course also run the Heathcote Arms - your local! Also, the building on the corner of Wallis Road (Sainsburys) replaces the old Garage which was in your previous video, but while the plaque about Parkesine was on that building, the actual building that housed the works has in fact been preserved and is behind that new residential block - you can see it if you look down the side just before the Beer Merchant's Tap - which is on the ground floor of what was Central Books - as per your previous video they moved out to Dagenham a few years ago.
To hear Birmingham described as "far too nice" for something is not what us Brummies are used to hearing. Thank you. ;)
took me by complete surprise as well. i'm from West Bromwich
@@djmajor2095 lol. The home of the best footy team except for this season! ;)
Great video, John. This is the first time I’ve come across your videos and I’m loving the social and history walk that you gave.
My mothers family lived in The Wick from 1930’s onwards. On the old map, that you showed, Victoria Road, became Wick Road, Montague Road became Trowbridge Road running parallel to Felstead street. The Gainsborough school, where my mum attended in the 40’s, was Berkshire Road school named after Berkshire Road that ran along side the school. Gainsborough School, I believe, was on the east way but may have been damaged during the war. The Eton Mission boat house was where my uncle used to go, plus my other uncle, Vic Miller, was a member of The Eton Manor boys club, run by Mr Villiers. Eddie Clayton, who went onto play for Spurs, was a good friend of my uncle Vic and a Eton Manor boy. My Nan, and I think my mum, worked at Clarnicos. There is an old pub in the eastway, now a food place, where a distant uncle used to park his horse and cart, whilst he got drunk in the pub. When he’d had enough but was too drunk to go home, he would climb onto the cart and let the horse take him home. In Prince Edward Road, before the war, was a dwelling that my family named ‘the hole in the wall’ it was where my great aunt lived. Sorry for the long message
Lee, I know it well as I attended both Berkshire Road and Gainsborough School which as you say was on Easway. I lived in #5 Berkshire Road and also #66 Eastway. Did you know that Gainsborough School had a "play ground" on the roof? Have not been back for years but would love to. Bronco Toilet paper works, Clarnicos and Lesney Products, Glicksteins wood wharf on the canal.
Goes to show how important it is to take photos of old buildings and empty spaces...Cheers to you 🙂👍🏻
Used to go to Hackney Speedway in the 60s. The noise of the bikes still echoes at the back of my mind. The smell was also distinctive, especially when the Oxo factory was going. The Wick was a dirty and forbidding place back then, but I wish I could go and visit for a day now and then. Just see it how it was. John is right about change being jarring. This makes me feel very nostalgic and sad.
Good comment. I used to go to Hackney greyhounds on Saturday mornings,in particular.
I' have been in Bexley for 38 years now Geffo Me. Where are you now, please?
@@Isleofskye. Originally Clapton. Hackney Marshes was only five minutes away and I was always over there with my older brother. I can remember barges coming down the Cut being pulled by Shire horses. Live in Kent these days. I still have an affection for the area though and wander back when I can.
In the 1980's I worked for a company called Pitney Bowes and Stratford / Lower Hackney was my patch. Hackney Wick wasn't a term that was used too much back then. Before the Olympics bulldozed away the history of the area there were hundreds of small businesses in the area that just used to survive mainly because their rent was cheap. As always a fascinating video that has taught me so much that I didn't know about this area
Funny, i've never heard the term Lower Hackney. Hackney Wick is a term long used by those born and bought up in Hackney.
@@zigzung5569 yeah it was more of a term used by the girls on the service desk to denote that this part of Hackney belonged to my patch (basically the area of the Wick bordered by the Eastway and Stratford High Street) Don't worry, I'm not trying to erase any of its history, the Olympic Delivery Committee is doing that.
@@jonnotshared7590 Fair enough, i was born and bought up in Hackney and never heard the term Lower Hackney. In saying that Hackney Wick is probably the area of Hackney i know the least about.
I love cycling around Hackney Wick. The perfect escape from the Big Smoke.
this is so informative ive lived in hackney wick for almost 18 years and didnt know about its history in this depth, only knew about the old race stadium and the factories as my grandparents had worked in them before they were knocked down and turn into housing and restaurants, a great video
this weekend felt like the first slice of spring being able to sit outside and not freeze haha.
You remind me of my dad in so many ways. Always finding fascination in the seemingly mundane.
Loved those 'before and after' clips you inserted in the edit, John. Great tour of HW - shame Howling Hops still shut.
(17:59 - some locals claimed all those new flats were built on top of 'contaminated' toxic soil? Chromium, arsenic and naphlathene? P.S: £700k for a two bed flat in that Bagel Factory - and at 30:44 - right of shot: £5.5m worth of Big Breakfast house. There's a clip on YT of Mark Little, Paul O'Grady, Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan stood on the opposite bank having a chat - check out the backdrops of Hackney Wick - fascinating.)
Would love to find this clip of macho man if you can link it
How many new build flats with Juliet balconies, and tech parks does a city need?
The native English not even breaking even on their birth rates.
Who are these bland pods actually being designed for?
My town is full of these empty flats that are too expensive for most. I wonder what these cost? I did some research...Two bedroom flats start around £ 645,000.
"native english" omega lul
@@lordgemini2376 www.theguardian.com/society/2011/may/18/non-white-british-population-ons The Guardian appears to agree, so must be true.
So are you saying Britains ethnic minority populations are the native english now?
@@lordgemini2376 Funny the 2021 UK census has English Scots Welsh and Irish as an ethnicity category. What exactly are you denying here. Ancestral history & diversity ok for thee but not for me?
As always, such a fascinating and educational chronicle - thank you! I also feel that bewildering sense of disorientation (& loss) when confronted with bold, monochrome building developments. The struggle between a place that is growing, destroying its past to become transformed for increased population, is just as confounding as that of the place which once was developed & populated, and now falls ruin to time and decay.
Hackney Wick was pretty grim in the 90's-00's tbqhwu (but also did go to loads of great warehouse parties there)
Great video John, I am fascinaged with this part of town and totally agree such rapid change needs to be documented somehow, so thank you for that. It's a shame there is generally so little to record what was here and also in the Olympic Park before the developments all moved in. The Saint Etienne/Paul Kelly film from 2005 is very good, which they felt compelled to make for similar reasons. I always get quite melancholic thinking about what has gone, even though the area was not one I really knew at all, how strange is that. I'm sure I am over-romantisicing things, I recall Paul Kelly saying that after five weeks of fliming they were completely sick of the place!
Clarnico Mint Creams were our ‘posh’Christmas treats when I was a lass in a Yorkshire mining village.
We would sometimes buy a quarter on a Sunday, in a paper bag from a newsagents with those big jars of sweets.
Hello John. As a Brummie born and bred , now living in Lancashire for many years, I could not point to any of the places you walk through on a map. This for me is the pleasure of your walks, places that I am completely new to. Many thanks.
You are now part of the city John - your memories contribute to the history of the areas you visit. Thank you.
I Recall Waterden Road had one of the dodgiest boot-sales in London on a sunday - guys with a suitcase of pirate CDs and software, people selling various exotic animal parts for food, and the deeper in you went, the dodgier it seemed to get. Also a big church in a warehouse with Afro-Carribeans dressed in their Sunday best. Mid-80s at a guess
That was probably KICC (the church)
I remember the afro-carribean church, we used to see them on Sunday morning after leaving bleary eyed from the illegal warehouse raves that happened every weekend in the area.
Hi John. Thanks for this video, very interesting and lots of info from you. Not exactly my area(my area was docklands,Stepney and Bow) but do know some of this area. The only dislikes is the rubbish on the walls especially on the older buildings. Thanks again for the video👍
Yes John keep it up 👍🏾 mate love seening your walks glad to see u the other day
Your guy Impact
Enjoyed this video, reminds me of when we cycled from Hackney Wick along the Canals to Limehouse Basin. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for another cracking urban ramble and for documenting the changes ,yes it can be very disorienting when things change Manchester has gone similar changes
Another great video John. I used to work at Here East and it’s a very strange and hollow environment. Ford and Sports Interactive (Football Manager developer) have offices there. You used to be able to get on a bus from Westfield that took you to HE, but they’ve since tightened the rules and now have to show proof you work there to get the free bus.
Hackney Wick has become a testing ground for the uninspired commercial and residential architects of Britain (where are the Howard Roarks of today?). It really feels like an extension to Canary Wharf in a certain way and it’s funny to see their marketing materials reference the art scene of as a key USP. There was an art festival around there called Hackney Wicked which had focused on the artists of that area, however during that event, there were several petitions to save the art spaces from being lost to the cold developers of today. I wonder if they succeeded, but doesn’t appear they were.
Interesting link to Canary Wharf you make their Amir, that makes a lot of sense - easy commute by bike down the Lea then Limehouse Cut or a couple of stops on the Jubilee Line or DLR. I know a lot of artists have moved to Barking and further east in search of space, I remember Hackney Wicked.
Great video John! Love too see you do a return to Stepney / Whitechapel. Sadly a seriously big development of unaffordable apartments going up next too the Hospital and Stepney Way. Nothing there for the local community.
Another 30minutes of enjoyable viewing .Thank you John
thanks for watching Steve
The Bagel Factory was previously Littner Hampton Carpets with a large car park and the warehouse entrance on Hepscott Road. My parents run a furniture business which is now the flats occupying 25-37 Rothbury Road, the area has completely changed since. Used to go to the scrap yards later on when older to get car parts all gone now too.
The building next to Clarnicos and now part of the power sub station was the old oxo factory. From the canal side u could see the windows covered in 1940s blitz union jack style brown strips up until the mid eighties.
keep it u john, gt footage! i love hackney, always will.
Here East is a hideous building. Each time I visit Wick it feels like all the culture is being squeezed out of the place. Great video, thanks.
Great video, I had a house n the Eastway no 64, great to see it still there. Thanks for subbing the channel.
No worries - good to hear about your old house
@@patricko4964 ooh what year,? I was there 88 yo 90 ish
I remember in the 90 I just to walk hackney wick alot for doing shopping in a shopping market back in the day, now it change alot, Thank for you for walking
Brought back some memories. Worked for a while in the Atlas Works in Berkshire Road. Installed a printing press in the back of the building near the canal, could not get the thing levelled up, found that the floor was running up a slope and that the area was where they used to unload enormous reels of paper off barges and into the factory to produce Bronco toilet rolls. Crikey, it was cold and primative but served its purpose at the time - 1975. How its changed!
Great tour, thanks.
Thank you John. Wonderful as always. My mum was born in Peabody building in Bethnal Green in 1922 and apparently had quite a tough time in those days. I went to college in Hackney Downs. Bob.
thanks for that Bob
Superb walk John, even though I was a little lost . My Grandad used to tell me the open trucks pulled by trains going through Custom House (where I’m from) were a beautiful shinning blue colour...... with all the Bluebottles settled on the bones, passing through to/from the bone works ? Thank you again for the entertainment and memories
Thanks John, I haven't been to Hackney Wick for a few years so it's interesting and a bit scary to see how many blocks of flats have been built on Fish Island - I would be very disoriented round there too!
One positive is that the area is a bit of a flood risk, so the developers largely haven't been allowed to build residential units on the ground floor. So while the buildings may be bland and souless, hopefully as the commercial units get filled and used as shops / work spaces there will be a fair bit more life and variety at street level.
Moving me with talk of industry and heritage in hackney. I hope you know you are giving people hope with your films
Thank you John on the insite of the change of the area as i was born in Hackney so seen all the transformations then resided to the Netherlands retuned 2011 felt like a tourist.
I stayed in an air BandB in Hackney Wick last year , best holiday I’ve ever had - really friendly people and beautiful surroundings- can’t wait to visit and explore more in 24 - ❤
Wow, how things have changed!
As a teenager visiting from Australia in 1972, I remember catching a Routemaster bus from Kensal Rise to Hackney Wick to go the speedway. It was fantastic to see how big the speedway league was in Britain. The noise of the bikes and the smell of the fuel was memorable. One of our best Australian riders was riding that night but was just rubbish compared to the local lads..! It was sad but funny that a novice race had to be declared because no-one finished!!! 😳
Hiya John . I bumped into your channel early in January when I was off with covid and in pretty bad shape . Your videos really took my mind off of it though It was great to see quite a suprising amount familiar places including my home town of Amersham I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your channel and what a godsend it was binge watching your walks . Hopefully I will be able to get out there in the not too distant future. Thanks for making a bad time a lot more bearable. Craig .
Hi Craig - glad the videos could help you through a difficult time. I'd love to go for a walk out to Amersham at the moment, but looks like it'll be another couple of months
@@JohnRogersWalks The garden of remembrance should be looking nice by then . So definitely worth a visit !
Fascinating! 11:48. 117 Wallis Road used to be Moorprint's works - Alan and Perce's place - Many a fine bit of print for Abbey National and Abbey National Offshore!
Lived and worked in Hackney Wick since 05, Great video
thanks Jerome
Good morning John! This is a GREAT film, and really takes me back to the mid-1980s I spent the best part of my working life in the area selling paper to the vast number of printers that were based, along with associated trades, there were a vast number of people employed thereabouts (many, many 100's), especially around Wallis Road, Whitepost Lane & its immediate environs. Sounds as tho' you knew & know the area very well! There was a bigger concentration of 4-colour printers here than anywhere else in the country, the internet and the commercial banks finished the then industry. These days I'm in a wheelchair and would never consider walking (trundling) the streets to reminisce. It was, as you know, a filthy industrial area and had been for 150 years+, no wonder the fish kill you speak of was so acute. I could go on... Super, informative, compulsive viewing! I have learned so very much as a result. VBW x
"Make it a date, Friday at 8, bring a mate and don't be late". The Hackney Hawks theme tune was "The Magnificent 7".
Vic Harding ......😢
Friday's have never been the same since Waterden road changed.
As an Eastbourne fan loved comming to London esp hackney...
@@djrudog1158 I was at 'The Wick'the night another promising rider crashed and never recovered from his injuries. Paul Muchene 4/7/89...i think.
Thanks to Len Silver, still going strong at 89 promoting speedway at Sittingbourne.
The Beer Merchant tap is somewhere myself and many other Hammers fans end up after games! Very wide selections of really good beers, nice atmosphere if you dont want a really hectic one after matches. T. Great Walk John!
Thanks for that Thomas - I'll have to give it a try when they re-open
There used to be a lot of printing and print finishing in Hackney and Stratford, including New Plaistow Press who specialised in printing school magazines. I remember pointing the school where my mother worked as secretary at the time in their direction. A related industry in the area was the making of printing inks and solvents.
Very interesting...but I do find those apartment blocks in Fish Island very soulless and disorientating. As a woman I find those spaces very intimidating and isolated especially at night, maybe I'm missing something? Great video as ever John stay safe , 🙂
Really good point.
It does seem to be the product of a developers implementation of an architects vision and less so that of a social scientist or anthropologists input.
Carry mace 😉
Once again John, very informative and pleasant walk. Before the Eton Manor Boys Club, it was indeed the Eton Mission; where my great grandfather Frederick Grace (lightweight) trained & boxed.
Really enjoyed that John, loved all the layers of graffiti and the older buildings and industrial areas that are still there, an eye opener as always, thanks!
thanks for watching Lois
I learnt the knowledge of London to get my taxis license in a room in stour wharf nice to see its held on so far 25 students at a time as we used to say when struggling with map work cant see the woods through the trees now with over development you cant see the sun or the sky through the blocks
Learn to use commas 👍🏼
I love your walks John you are a good spirit mate 👍
Great video John, thank you for taking us along with you, i miss exploring the east end of London. I’m a west end gal and pre covid, loved hoping on a bus and heading to the east end and exploring. It’s good to have someone who knew it before the developers took hold of it and changed it beyond recognition. Looking forward to the next video 👍
Thank you so much. I live in Lower Clapton so I explore these areas with my wife and have often wondered about the history and stories from these areas.. Now I can venture out with a little more knowledge. Thanks youtube for bringing me this channel.
Another educational video John, I did like the part of Shellac, my wife is in the beauty industry and she did not know where it originated from, again absolutely brilliant video, keep up the great work. until next time.....
cheers Nick - that fact about Shellac surprised me as well
Definity, it's what you call "useless information" but always good at a party.
I love these walks in and around London. Living in Tokyo, I hardly get the chance to visit these days. Much appreciated.
glad you enjoy them all the way over there in Tokyo - I'd love to walk round that city and Osaka some day
@@JohnRogersWalks. Well, they are both fine cities. If you ever find your way to Tokyo, give me a shout. Have a great week.
Great video as always John. I always think of late 80’s illegal acid house raves when I think of Hackney Wick. There was a few around there at the time and it was very industrial too. Lots of small factories and industrial units. It’s changed beyond recognition in less than half a generation. I think we need to be careful with the old rose coloured spectacles though. It wasn’t the most pleasant of areas back then. Dangerous and dirty is my memory of the place. Looking at some of the old buildings you can see it was very well to do at one time, but that was a long time ago. Does anyone remember the red Police Box further down toward the Blackwall Tunnel?
I went to some of those raves in that area.
@@cliftonfowler5063 do you remember Labyrinth in the peanut factory on Dace Road?There was another one next to the bit of motorway that leads to Blackwall Tunnel from Hackney Wick. On the left if you was coming from Leyton. Cant remember the name of that one.
@@StarWarsJay I don't remember the names of the raves I went too or how I got there or got home afterwards.
@@cliftonfowler5063 haha they must have been good ones.
@@StarWarsJay They certainly were.
The buildings remind me a lot of the "Hafencity" (Harbour city) here in Hamburg. The same kind of red and yellow brick ( in german called "Klinker") facade. Also an area that used to be industrial and was then redeveloped.
Incredible video, I used to live in Hackney Wick and never really thought about any of the land history. Many thanks for this.
Excellent video John, this had it all, the graffiti was a mixture of Charles Dickens ' Oliver Twist ', Fagan, Bill Sykes and the Arrful Dodger meets the Bronx in New York. Add this with the new builds on Fish Island meets the future ' Matrix '. Keep up the good work👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks for video John
Thank you for the video. It is very informative.
my pleasure Cheryl - thanks for watching
@@JohnRogersWalks you welcome
I've been watching your videos for a good few years now and I always watch your videos first thing on a Monday morning. Your enthusiasm and knowledge are great! It really sets me up for the day!! They're a great comfort in these troubling times. Thanks for posting them John. They are much appreciated.
Excellent video, makes you wonder what it will look like 5 years from now
Another great video John, the thing I miss the most about old Hackney Wick is the smell of Bagels.
and what a great smell that is Ian
Fascinating video. The development of Hackney Wick and Fish Island is bewildering, and makes where the industry is moving to. And also, if some of it is staying, why would people want to live right next to it in the blocks springing up from nowhere 🤷♂️
I have family who live just next to Victoria Park, so this neighbouring area that has a lot of old and recent history really intrigues me 👍
I thought you might be walking up Wick Road to the junction with Well Street? Maybe another walk along Well Street one day? I lived above my dad's shop near there in Well Street until I was 11 when we moved to Leytonstone. Used to get the bus to school from Leytonstone to Clapton went along Eastway.. unrecognisable now! Going back to the early 1960s mind so nothing is the same.
Brilliant video thanks John. Lovely to hear a mention for Hackney speedway. It is striking how hugely popular Speedway racing and support for teams was compared to now. it's completely gone from London and borders where you could go to a different track every night of the week plus many more. You may know that in the custom House area where the mighty West Ham team rode, there are risks named after the riders. They used to have 40,000 fans in for a home match on a Tuesday evening!!!!
Astounding.!!
Absolutely Fabulous!!
The way you make History so incredibly interesting:)
Another great video thank you. I've photographed around this area quite a bit over a similar period to you and have seen the old topography of the area change. And I now live in one of those apartments - just near white post lane. It was great to hear your experience of re-tracing your steps and filling in some more what I know of the area
Hi I stumbled on a video of you walking down the river Lea,I spent twenty five years in Harlow working on the canals and and streets of London,I have moved back to the north west now,but watching your videos it reminds me of the best side of north London unseen and mostly misjudged to most people,looking forward to watching old videos,and what’s to come,brilliant !!
My goodness, how do you know all this stuff???? You're a walking encyclopedia! Do you ever do guided walks or invite fellow walkers? I also live in east London, and I would love to go on some of these walks with you. I couldn't possibly go on my own because I have no idea how to get around to all these places and I would get totally lost trying to follow a trail to some of these destinations!
I worked from Wick Lane for 8 years. I lived by West Ham train station in Memorial Av until 2012. I was a delivery van driver so knew the area of east London very well! Your presentation is very good as is the camera work in your video blog's!! Very informative! A little surprised that you never mentioned the ''Big Breakfast'' house or Lock-keepers cottages as they were known by the old ford lock there. I used to deliver to all the garages all around there & along what was Carpenters Rd & all over the east end. Wonder how it would be without winning the Olympic bid.
My dad was born in East Ham, you've got that right.
Interesting. Intriguing. Calming. I’ve really taken to watching these videos when I want a little me time. Thank you John for taking us along.
That's wonderful to hear John - thanks
My daughter have a geography GSCE exam tomorrow where part of the paper is about the redevelopment of Hackney Wick & the Olympic Park, I bored her with my stories of when I use to go to the speedway every Friday in the 80s (I pointed at the multi story to show where I use to stand ) and your video too. Having visited the area for her studies it really helped remind her of the key aspects and she hadn’t heard about the development of plastic.
that's wonderful - great to hear it was useful
Just discovered your channel. I worked for tower Hamlets back in 2014 when they decided to redevelop fish island. It's sad to see how much they've ripped the soul out of the area.
Keep up the Sunday uploads John, look forward to it each week.
I used to love going to see the Hackney Hawks at the Speedway stadium - "Make a date, Friday at eight!" We lived nearby, on the Trowbridge Estate
Amazing to see the modernization of hackney Wick to how it looked when I lived round there in 1997 has something on the horizon of this area within the coming years.
Thanks John - always got lost in Hackney Wick....
Before that whole site was redeveloped I commuted through there daily and knew most of it like the back of my hand but since it was flattened I now get easily lost there. I think you confirmed this for me John!, thanks for another great video!
Just stumbled upon this. Absolutely fascinating. The juxtaposition of London old and new really interests me. So great you can guide us when we can’t visit ourselves. Thank you.
Thanks for posting that. I deliver round that area occasionally, it was good to have it explained.
My friend and I back in the late 60s supported Rayleigh Rockets Speedway and one time we went to Hackney Stadium and as we walked through the streets the smell was so bad and my Dad told me there was a glue factory in the area which probably produced Scotch glue from animal, horses mainly, hoof clippings, I had previously used Scotch glue as an apprentice Carpenter in the joiners shop. He also told me about the soap factory.Simply bringing back memories, thank you sir
I grew up and still live in hackney wick, also went to Gainsborough school.. its so weird seeing a glimpse of my house on youtube 😅
Loving these walks John , makes me feel at bit less lonely WFH
Great that you’re documenting all these changes. Your vids will likely end up in an important historical archive some time in the future, when we’re all long gone no doubt. Quality 👍🏼
Just a note: the first view you show of HereEast is showing the part of the complex housing Loughborough University's London Campus. Great Video by the way.
Love walking in Hackney wick. Such a unique landscape.
I may be wrong but I believe that building in Dace Road at 29:40 was originally a multi-storey stables. As canal boats were horse-drawn canal-side buildings had to include facilities for horses. Last time I was in the area the graffiti artists had changed the sign for Bream Road to Dream Road, which I liked.
Another brilliant video John.. thanks for this. You always make me smile 🙂
thanks so much Shay - great to hear
A similar mournful vibe also found on the Paul Kelly (of Saint Ettiene) doco " What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day?" filmed in Hackney Wick and the Lea Valley before the Olympics. Fantastic if you can stream it anywhere. A couple of shorts on RUclips.