With the UK Government’s Covid19 current restrictions, rules and regulations in place – ‘non-essential’ travel is not encouraged – as a result, London Shoes is unable to get out ‘on-the-road’ to start this new year of 2021, with a brand new blog topic.
However – all is not lost, as just before the ‘lockdown’ instigated just a couple of days before Christmas, Shoes was fortunate enough to squeeze in a couple of blog topics, that weren’t too far from home.
This publication is just one of those from that particular days activity, and forms Part 2 of the theme “London Street Art” – and focuses on the amazing “Tower Hamlets-Landmarks” of Aberavon Road-Mile End-Bow-London-E3.
This particular venture out was a bit special for me personally as it took me back to a specific district I know very well, having worked in the area in the late 1980’s.
The ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural is on full display on a wall located at the entrance to Aberavon Road – which is situated directly opposite Mile End tube station (Mile End tube is serviced by the Central and District lines – the red and green ones on a standard London Underground Map)
The Aberavon Road mural depicts landmarks/places of interest that can be found within the ‘London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ – and it portrays well known and historic locations such as:- Brick Lane (where all the curry houses are) – Columbia Road (where the famous flower market is held) – the Limehouse Basin (a pivotal waterway of the old Docklands) – Canary Wharf (the now financial district of London) – York Hall (once a famous swimming baths plus a very place where many a famous boxer plied there trade early in their career) – the Olympic Park where the majority of the 2012 Olympic Games events were held – & today its the home ground of my beloved West Ham Utd FC) – the iconic Queen Mary University (one of the top educational centers in London) – The old London docklands warehouses (still in situ down Narrow Street near Wapping) – The Royal London Hospital (in Whitechapel) – Victoria Park (in Hackney) plus many other sites that make up the Lon Bor. of Tower Hamlets.
Unfortunately and strangely – I couldn’t find any info on the internet or from any other sources, to clarify who the artist is, or how long this magnificent and engaging mural has been displayed on the wall in Aberavon Road – but I’m sure that once I publish this article on the London Shoes website, there is bound to be a reader who will hopefully be able to confirm this for me.
So there we have it – the very first London Shoes blog of 2021 – the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End- short & sweet, but still worth covering off in my opinion – and also, it was also good to return to an old workplace stomping ground – hope you enjoyed it.
Take care & stay safe
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See below the entire gallery of photos taken to accompany this blog
Mile End Tube Station – (serviced by the Central Line and the District Line – the red & green lines on a standard London Tube Map). The tube station is almost directly opposite Aberavon Road where this set of murals can be found.
The murals of Aberavon Road-Mile End-as seen from a distance
Aberavon Road-Mile End-London E3
Me alongside the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End-E3
A close-up of the famous Limehouse Basin image – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A close-up of Canary Wharf – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A close-up of the famous York Hall image – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A close-up of the famous Olympic Park Stadium image (my little warriors West Ham Utd’s home ground) – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A close-up of Me alongside one of the east-ends most famous streets – Brick Lane – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A close-up of the historic old London Dockland’s warehouses down in Wapping – part of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
A panoramic view of the ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural in Aberavon Road-Mile End
The old Barclays Bank-Mile End Station branch – which was a sub-branch to the Barclays Whitechapel branch, where I worked in the late 1980’s – this is a building I used to have to visit regularly, when working at Whitechapel.
The Queen Mary Uni image – part of the Aberavon Road ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural. The Uni/College (known as QMC in my day) was a site I used to have to visit on a regular basis when I worked down the road at the Barclays Bank Whitechapel branch in the late 1980’s – as we had a small sub-branch located in the Uni campus.
The ‘Canary Wharf’ image – part of the Aberavon Road ‘Tower Hamlets-Landmarks’ mural – Canary Wharf being the location of the last Barclays site I worked at before my retirement in 2017
Great street art and a mural I’ve yet to visit. Thank you for a great post!
My family comes from around there. My great granparents lived on Tredegar Rd and are buried in what i believe is now called Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, which I believe is worth a visit.
What a wonderful memory you brought back as I worked in that area in early 70’s and at that time in the immediate vicinity of Mile End Station – directly opposite to those interesting murals – were a very popular restaurant La Boheme and in a small side street ( Eric Street) was a single bar pub called the Wentworth Arms. The restaurant was run by George Kattos who was a Greek Cypriot ( I was a best man at his wedding and went to his funeral three years ago) and the pub was run by two lovely Australians Colin and Dick and I remember Dick used to tell us of his experiences when he was a pilot with the Australian Air Force. Only the East End could have diverse characters like those three. This is further reflected in those murals which in your usual style you have brought to our notice. Keep it up Geoff.
Hello Bob,
Thank you, as always, for your kind comments – they are very much appreciated, and I’m glad that you enjoyed the Aberavon Road ‘mural’ blog, and that it brought back your happy memories of the Mile End Rd👍
Thanks also, for sharing your memories of the La Boheme restaurant and the Wentworth Arms pub – I am sure that there will be future readers of this particular piece, who like you, will have their memories and recollections of those 2 places 👍
Cheers Bob &!stay safe
GEOFF (LONDON SHOES)