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On this month’s walk, Graham Barker goes window shopping am Shop till you drop – the Walk of the Month Shopping in Shoreditch WHETHER you’re looking for lastminute gifts or New Year bargains, there’s an eclectic mix of shops, boutiques and cafés to explore around Shoreditch and upper Brick Lane. It’s a place sparkling with enterprise and creativity. If you’re feeling tired of the high street chain stores, then take a look here. Emerging from Shoreditch High Street station, you’re immediately at Boxpark (1), an innovative pop-up retail parade created out of refitted shipping containers. Opened in 2011, it houses 50 shops and cafés – some are high street brands, others quirky independents. Dip in and out, to see the likes of Urbanears’ designer headphones, Moo’s bespoke stationery and offbeat artworks at Tusch und Egon. At the far end, cross over to the Tea Building (2). Holding a commanding corner position, this was built in 1931 for tea merchants, Lipton’s. Next door, the vast Victorian timber warehouses supplied the onceflourishing furniture trade in Shoreditch. At Ebor Street, a giant swan highlights the former White Swan pub; now cleverly stacked on the upper floors with a rusty ironclad extension, it forms part of Shoreditch House members’ club and spa. On Ebor Street, you’re following the boundary between Tower Hamlets and Hackney, delineated by iron bollards and the naming of Boundary Street further on. Street artist Ben Eine created the ANTI and PRO text running along both sides in his trademark giant lettering. Terence Conran’s Boundary (3), which helped kickstart the regeneration of Shoreditch, stands ahead. This converted printing factory is now a fashionable café-deli, restaurant and hotel, crowned with a rooftop bar. Facing it, Sunspel – the company best known for introducing boxer shorts to the UK – stocks quintessentially English menswear. Its Nottingham workshops are evocatively depicted behind the till. Next door, Dishoom serves Bombay street food. From Old Nichol Street, there are views to the Boundary Estate (4), built by the London County Council between 1890 and 1900 to replace the notorious Old Nichol slums. A playground and tree-lined avenues add dashes of greenery. From Chance Street you return to Redchurch Street (5). It’s hard to imagine, but narrow Redchurch Street formed the main route to Bethnal Green until 1878, when the present-day Bethnal Green Road was cut through to Shoreditch. Today, the jumble of Victorian buildings is home to a cluster of stylish and quirky boutiques. One pub remains – the Owl and Pussycat – with interior panelling dating back to 1760, weathered plasterwork and a gastropub menu. Next door at Chaat, Shanaz Khan serves authentic Bangladeshi home cuisine. And there’s coffee and pastries available beyond the Start: Shoreditch High Street Overground Station Finish: Shoreditch High Street Overground Station Distance: 1.2 miles Allow: An hour or more, with time for shopping kitsch curios at Maison Trois Garcons. Shoreditch Mosque is a faithful beacon nestling among all this enterprise. Club Row (6)was once the focal point for a Sunday morning animal market; as well as dogs and budgies, you might even have found snakes or monkeys here. Today it presents a different prospect: creative designs at InHouse, a glimpse of St Hilda’s East Community Centre and dazzling street art, including an intricate 3D shrine by CityZenKane. Opposite, Allpress Espresso is abuzz with caffeine hounds, the Electric Cinema screens armchair-and-blanket films, and cartoonish foxes painted by Malarky scamper along the street. It’s a heady mix. Labour and Wait sells brooms, tea cosies and traditional household gadgets. And 123 Bethnal Green Road, picked out by huge painted numerals, showcases up-andcoming designers. In upper Brick Lane, look out for cuttingedge wooden furniture at Unto This Last, classic and witty headgear from Bernstock Speirs, and playful jewellery from Tatty BETHNAL G Devine. Newcomer Hawkhurst Vault offers a pit-stop for tea. Tucked away down a cobbled sideturning, Padbury Court (7) is a surviving example of former furniture-making workshops. As you stroll beside them, think back to the cabinet-makers, French polishers and upholsterers who crafted here over the years. Cross Bethnal Green Road. Shops now flank you on both sides, including Espacio contemporary art gallery and vintage bike experts Isambard’s Cycles. The Well & Bucket pub stands centre stage amid a finely renovated terrace. Brick Lane (8) bustles with tourists, workers and taxi drivers. Queues form at the beigel shops – salt beef and smoked salmon are the top-sellers – and there’s a succession of retro shops. Clad in galvanised steel and opaque glazing, and topped off with a verdant roof terrace, No 23 Bacon Street is a remarkable house, designed in 2000 by architect William Russell. Alongside, the playground chatter of St Below: 123 Bethnal Green Road showcases up-and-coming designers 22 NEWS FROM TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 22 DECEMBER 2014 – 11 JANUARY 2015


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