Tipplers and temperance campaigners feature on this walk aroun ON this month’s walk, you’ll encounter Salvation Army founder William Booth, explorer Captain Cook, and the Charrington’s brewing empire. And the street names – Cephas Avenue, Bellevue Place, Mile End Waste, Assembly Passage – carry the echo of history. From Stepney Green station – opened in 1902 as part of the Whitechapel and Bow Railway – skirt left into Globe Road. Escape the traffic by cutting left under Withy House. As you head around the green beyond, there’s a glimpse of Osier Court – a delightful Art Deco block. Cephas Avenue terraces march towards the former St Peter’s Church (1), built in 1838 in pale Suffolk brick – matched by the adjacent vicarage and school – and converted into housing in 2001. The street name of Cephas means rock, a name attributed to the apostle Peter. The blossoming street trees add splashes of pink and white. From Cephas Street, wind left through Coopers Close, your route narrowing to a footpath. As you emerge on to Cleveland Way there’s a chance to peer at Bellevue Place (2), a verdant enclave of Georgian cottages tucked behind a wooden doorway. Vawdrey Close is home to the Toby Club; now council offices, it was set up as a social club b y l o c a l brewer Four centuries Charrington’s. Two cheery Toby jugs depict Toby Ale, one of their main brews. Further on, the rear corner of Trinity Green chapel incorporates boundary stones, marking the division between MEOT – or Mile End Old Town – and St Matthew’s Bethnal Green. Changes are afoot in Cambridge Heath Road, with Crossrail excavations in progress, and Sainsbury’s due to be remodelled as Whitechapel Square, with new homes and a public plaza. Standing at the corner, the White Hart (3) – inset with finely carved panels and crowned by a cupola – has its own microbrewery, One Mile End; as you pass, you might get a waft of Hospital Porter or Docker’s Delight in the making. By this crossroads – exactly one mile distant from the City wall at Aldgate – the Mile End tollgate once stood. The road widens out to form Mile End Waste. Shaded by an avenue of plane trees, there are two memorials – first a bronze bust and later a preaching figure – to William Booth (4). In July 1865, he Start: Stepney Green tube Finish: Stepney Green tube Distance: 1.5 miles Allow: 50 minutes 2 5 6 3 4 7 8 chose this spot beside the now-gone Vine Tavern to preach from a wooden platform. From that modest start, his ‘Salvation Army’ grew into a worldwide organisation. There’s a fancy mix of arches and bows at No 27a (5). Built in 1905 for the Albion Brewery’s engineer – the double doors led to the motor trolley shed – it has recently been converted by Soho House into a burger-and-chicken joint. Next, peek through the railings of 1 11 9 10 12 Trinity Green (6). A central lawn is framed by tiny almshouses, built in 1695 under the will of sea captain Henry Mudd for “28 decay’d Masters and Comanders of Ships or ye Widows of such”. Model galleons project from the front. Charis – a residential alcohol and drug therapy unit – stands on the site of the Great Assembly Hall established by Frederick Charrington; a member of the wealthy brewing family, he renounced his inheritance Clockwise, from left: The Toby Club, set up by local brewer Charrington’s; Cephas Avenue means rock and is attributed to the apostle Peter; the former Wickhams department store, once known as the ‘Selfridges of the East End’; the Whitechapel mural; William Booth preached abstinence from a wooden platform in Stepney Green; the former St Peter’s Church, which was converted into housing in 2001; the Art Deco Osier Court; the central lawn at Trinity Almshouses; Stepney’s oldest house, built in 1694 by Lady Mary Gayer; Bellevue Place, a verdant enclave of Georgian cottages; Trinity Almshouses were built by sea captain Henry Mudd; the entrance to hidden gem Bellevue Place Above: social housing project Beveridge Mews 18 NEWS FROM TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 20 – 26 APRIL 2015
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