Bow Road

This is Bow Road station which I visited at the end of February. It is the 15th station I have beem to on the District Line. The station opened in 1902 by the Whitechapel and Bow railway, which was later incorporated into the District Line. The Hammersmith and City Line opened here in 1936, then known as the Metropolitan Line. London Underground took over ownership of the station in 1950. The station building was Grade II listed in 1973. 

There are two platforms serving the District and the Hammersmith and City Lines. It is at this station that the Westbound trains from Upminster enter a tunnel to go underground. The gradient is 1 in 28 and is the steepest on the tube network. This is looking westwards and below is looking eastwards along the platforms. The station is on  quite a curve so you really do need to 'Mind the Gap'.

The station exits onto the Bow Road which also has a superhighway for bikes. These superhighways separate the bikes from other traffic. There are more and more commuters using bikes on the London roads but  many of our roads are not wide enough to accommodate heavy traffic and cyclists. These photos were taken early on a Sunday morning hence the lack of traffic. These superhighways have been created to make it safer for cyclists

I turned left out of the station onto Bow Road. I walked towards this small row of shops and noticed the clock protruding from the building. 

This beautiful green and gold ornate clock is dedicated to Minnie Lansbury. Minnie served on Poplar council and was one of 30 councillors sent to prison for not raising enough in local taxes. The men were sent to Brixton prison whilst the six women were sent to Holloway. Minnie contracted pneumonia whilst in prison and sadly died six weeks after being released at the age of 32. She had served time in prison previously as a suffragette.

On the pavement below the clock is this milepost facing the road. At one time these could be seen at regular intervals along the main roads.

                       

I left Bow Road and turned up Alfred Road. Lots of different types of housing in this densely populated area. This is Byas House built as social housing between the wars in 1932. Once owned by the council and rented out to tenants, many of the homes are now privately owned.

In the middle of the building is the coat of arms of Poplar Borough Council. Poplar was a local government district in the metropolitan area of London. It became a metropolitan borough in 1900 comprising of Poplar, Millwall, Bromley-by-Bow and Bow. In 1965 the former boroughs of Poplar, Stepney and Bethnal Green were merged to form the new London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Just round the corner on Harley Grove is the Gurdwara Sikh Sangat. About £1.4m was spent rebuilding the temple in 2013 after a fire had destroyed it in 2009 in a suspected arson attack. The building used to be a congregationalist chapel in 1836. It then became a synagogue in 1927 and then a gurdwara in 1979. The changing faces of the East End represented in this one building.

This Mile End Old Town (M.E.O.T.) boundary stone is embedded in the wall of the house below. Mile End Old Town was a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, becoming a parish in its own right in 1886. In 1889 it was transferred from Middlesex to the newly created County of London and then in 1900 became part of Stepney Metropolitan Borough. Now it all part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Morgan Arms pub opened in 1892. When built this area was known as 'cut-throat alley'. It has changed dramatically from the impoverished slums of Victorian times to the expensive trendy area that it is today.

Roman Road market is a traditional East End street market that has been going for over 150 years. 'Going down the Roman' has been a tradition for generations. The road lies on the old Roman road leading from Colchester to London.The Suffragette newspaper was published and printed on the Roman Road and sold on one of the market stalls. Many demonstrations took place on the road involving the suffragettes. On 13th October 1913 Sylvia Pankhurst, who was banned from appearing at meetings, went to a meeting in Bow Baths (no longer in existence). She had disguised her appearance and when the police arrived to arrest her she was able to escape with the help of the audience. The police turned on the audience striking them and breaking up the furniture, It was reported in the press as 'The battle of Bow' and a few weeks later a police officer was charged with assault.

A large majority of the stalls were women's fashion.

Half way along the road is Bow library founded in 1900. The foundation stone was laid by John Passmore Edwards, a journalist, newspaper owner and philanthropist who donated £4000 of the £6000 needed to build the library.

 The public libraries act of 1850 gave local boroughs the power to establish free libraries. It wasn't thought a particularly good idea but a public ballot amongst ratepayers showed that the people of Bow wanted a library. The old Bow library eventually became too small to meet the growing need for more books.  There was an extension in 1932 and another one in 1950 but eventually moved to larger premises in 1962. This building became Vernon Hall and in 2002 it became the first 'Idea Store' to be opened. The Idea Store is a public library that runs classes and courses for adults as well as having a digital hub, events and a cafe under one roof. To be honest this happens in many libraries that I have visited on my Underground travels but it's the first time I've heard the name Idea Store.

 

On the side of the building is the Macullum Clock.

The two figures are holding a plaque which reads 'Passmore Edward Public library'.

Interesting wire artwork on theoutside  wall of a primary school.

I left the market and walked back towards the Bow Road but it started raining. I decided a hot drink was needed and went inside this very inviting deli. Sadly it was only mid morning, too early for lunch but the pastries on offer looked delicious. Definitely one to remember if I am ever in this area again at lunch time. Apparently the owner explained that she cooks a buffet lunch.

This is a highly densely populated area with a wide variety of housing from Georgian terraces to 1960s blocks of flats. It is a far more popular area in the 21st century than it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. The East End of  London had a rough reputation. Most of my generation would think of the East End as a run down, poor area. Now there are upmarket cafes, bars and restaurants. The Victorian housing has been transformed into very desirable homes and looks stunning. Even the back to back terraced housing with front doors opening onto the street now look very smart. Parking is a real problem here but when you live so close to the Underground, DLR and numerous bus routes, do you need a car?

This  building originally opened as the City of London Union workhouse  in 1849. It was converted to an infirmary in 1874 and was extended in the 1930s when it became a hospital known as St Clement's. It ceased being a hospital in 2005.

The City of London shield can still be seen over one of the old entrances. 

The building has now been converted into flats.

This impressive building  is Central Foundation school. Built in 1896, it used to be known as Stepney and Bow Foundation Coborn Girls School. 
 In 1701 Prisca Coborn, a wealthy widow, died and left money and land to establish a free school for 50 poor children.  The school was originally further down the road near Bow Church. In 1891 it amalgamated  with the Stepney and Bow Foundation school run by the Coopers Company. The Worshipful Company of Coopers (responsible for making casks for liquor) received their Royal Charter in 1501 and since Victorian times have supported the building of schools.

On the corner of Bow Road and Harley Grove is this memorial to George Lansbury (1859-1940). It describes him as a 'great servant of the people'. He was twice mayor of Poplar. It was whilst he was mayor that the council refused to levy high rates on the poor and the councillors were jailed. One of them was his daughter in law, Minnie Lansbury. George Lansbury was later elected as an MP and became leader of the labour party 1931-1935. His granddaughter is Angela Lansbury, the actress.

Walking back along the Bow Road  you pass Bow police station.

Built in 1903, it was designed by John Dixon Butler who designed 200 police stations and courts. I wonder if that old TV programme 'Dixon of Dock Green' was named after John Dixon Butler. The police cells  once held the suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst in 1913 when she was arrested for smashing  windows. It has a Grade II listing not just for the building but the stables at the back as well. It closed as a police station in 1913 and there was talk of it becoming a hotel but I saw no sign of that today.

Across the road from the police station is a  modern magistrates court.

There is another station just 200m from Bow Road Underground station, Bow Church  DLR (Docklands Light Railway) station. The automated DLR opened in 1987 to serve the recently redeveloped Docklands area.

The Victorian pub 'Bow Bells', hard to miss with its bright orange frontage. The pub is supposed to be haunted but I never got the opportunity to find out as it was closed on both the days I visited. 

On the side wall of the pub is this mural showing the Bow pearly King and Queen. The tradition of pearly KIngs and Queens originated in the 19th century Victorian London. They evolved from  Coster Kings and Queens who were elected as leaders of London's street traders or costermongers. Their main role is to raise money for local charities.

On the corner of Bow Road and Fairfield Street is the former Poplar Town Hall. Built in 1937/8 by the architect company Culpin and Son.

The  balcony is decorated by five bas-relief figures representing the workers who built the building: a labourer, a carpenter, a mason, a welder and an architect. 

The entrance on Bow Road has a concrete canopy with ceramic mosaics by David Evans. Underneath the canopy is a larger mosaic illustrating the River Thames and a variety of industries from the area.

 

As it is beneath the canopy it is easily missed. The building  is currently the Bow Business Centre

At the other side of Fairfield Street, still on Bow Road, is the old co-operative store which was built in 1919. The co-op shops were in every small town when I grew up. The profits from the shop would be given back to the customers, in the form of dividends. I don't think you had to pay to join as most people used to belong to the co-op and look forward to the 'divvy' a couple of times a year which would be spent in the co-op.

At the top of the building is a beehive, a symbol of co-operation between workers.

Bromley Public Hall has been a central part of the local community since 1890 and is now a GradeII listed building. You would come here to register births, marriages and deaths. As well as the administration offices there is a large elegant room set aside for ceremonies including weddings..

I walked down Fairfield Street passed the 1908 Bow Garage. This was the terminus for trams, trolley buses and is now home to 123 buses.

These buildings used to be part of the Bryant and Mays match making factory. This was probably the most important match factory in the country. It was well known not just for its matches but also for its lack of care for its employees. Safety matches were made by dipping the timber match sticks into a white phosphorous mix. The exposure to the chemicals caused a condition known as 'phossy jaw', causing a horrible  deformity of the jaw.   The poor pay coupled with the health risks led to the Match Girls' strike of 1888. Annie Besant, ,  journalist and reforrmer, backed the strike ensuring it received huge publicity.The factory owners backed down and improved the working conditions. The strike was seen as an important historical event of the early women's right movement.

Match production ceased in 1979 and the main building has now been converted into private apartments.

The Bryant and May initials can still be seen on the outside of the building.

Near the old match factory is Grove Hall Park which is on the site of the former Grove Hall Lunatic Asylum which was established around 1820 for ex-servicemen. The well planted grounds became a public park in 1909.

It was extended in 1930 with the addition of the garden of St Catherine's convent which was founded in 1866.  A church was built next to the convent in 1869 which is still in use.

Our Lady and St Catherine of Siena.

The Dominican nuns left the convent and moved to Staffordshire in 1923. The church was taken over by the diocese.

The remainder of the convent's buildings included a boarded school and an industrial laundry. The latter ws sold to the local borough and is now part of the Bow Arts Trust, known as 'The Nunnery'. Luckily for me there was a very nice cafe in the arts centre. After I had taken advantage of the refreshments on offer I walked out of the alleyway back onto the Bow Road.

In front of me stranded on a small island in the middle of the road is Bow church. Although the church in Bow has been rebuilt over the years, parts date back to the 13th century. 

The church was unlucky enough to be hit by one of the last bombs dropped by the Germans in the Second World War in the last big raid in the Blitz. This caused a lot of damage to parts of the church, which weren’t fully restored until the 1950s. For hundreds of years this church has been isolated by a road on either side.

Outside the church is this statue of William Gladstone. He was a Liberal Prime Minister for 12 years over four terms between 1868 and 1894. The statue was donated by Theodore Bryant, the director of the Bryant and Mays match factory.

If you look closely at the statue you will notice the hands are painted red, a reminder that there was blood on the hands of the donor for the way the factory girls were treated.

Just before the very busy modern Bow interchange you pass this 17th cent building with its unusual bay windows on the first floor. Bow would have been a rural village when this building was constructed. The windows on the ground floor were probably  added later when it was converted into a shop.

This is the Bow flyover which was constructed in the 1960s. It stands on the site of the original Bow bridge. Bow Bridge was a stone bridge built in the 12th cent over the River Lea. The bridge was constructed by order of Matilda, wife of Henry I as she had encountered problems crossing the river on her way to Barking Abbey

The Bow Brdge from an engraving by W. Bartlett in 1832. It is said that Bow got its name from the shape of this bridge.


The flyover brought my visit to Bow to an end and I wandered back to the tube station and home. I had found my visit to Bow of great interest. It has taken me weeks to finish this post for a variety of reasons. I was hoping to visit 20 -25 stations this year but that will not be happening now. Due to the Covid pandemic I am not sure when I will travel on the underground again. I have visited 120 of the 270 stations so I still have a long way to go. I just have one more station that I have photographed and I will publish that in the near future.