Exploring the History of Plaistow & West Ham Park

Two suggestions in a recent Q&A video led to great East London day out.

I started with a walk from the Gurney obelisk on Stratford Broadway to the Black Lion pub in Plaistow to meet Tweedy Pubs, an 18th century coaching inn. It is indeed a great pub, an authentic London boozer as had been suggested with excellent cask ale. After our pint we started our stroll and Tweedy pointed out a couple of lost pubs – The Coach and Horses, and The Greyhound. I’d passed another lost pub on the way to the Black Lion, The Railway Tavern opposite Plaistow tube station. Tweedy talked about Plaistow resident Luke Howard who came up with the naming convention for clouds, although in the comments people are very keen to point out that Howard is claimed by Tottenham with a blue plaque to seal the association.

We then walked through Plaistow Park and discussed some of the history of Plaistow from Thomas Burke’s enthusiastic description of Plastovians in the 1920s to the grand houses that once marked this marshy lowland including homes of the Earl of Essex and the Duke of Cumberland. Our meander took us to the site of a former tramway garage just off Tunmarsh Lane. Then we parted company on Barking Road where I signed copies of my new publication The Black Path at Newham Bookshop.

John Rogers at Newham Bookshop
John Rogers Plaistow Park

From the bookshop I walked through the backstreets of Plaistow to West Ham Park where I delved into the history of this fantastic London park which is celebrating its 150 year anniversary this year. Once the home of Dr Fothergill at Ham House, it was bought by the Gurney family from Norwich in the 18th Century and then eventually purchased by the Corporation of London in 1874 to be preserved as a public park. The park keeper’s whistle ended my autumn stroll around Plaistow and West Ham Park and I made my way over the railway tracks and up Odessa Road for a pint in Leytonstone to round off a fantastic day.

Watch  @TweedyPubs video here

Beguiled by Leuchtturm1917 notebooks

I’ve developed a real affection for these Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. My wife bought me one originally, and it got me instantly with its pocket-size, soft cover, and cream dotted pages, with page numbers. It’s the small details that can make all the difference. I’m now on my fourth one. And you get pen loops that go in the back in different colours that can match the notebook. Possibly my favourite feature is the index on the first few pages of the notebook. Filling that in when you’ve finished your notebook is a great moment. I use these all the time for planning walks and writing up my thoughts and reflections in the pub after a walk – as advised by the great topographical writers of the early 20th century.

Autumn Walk on the Capital Ring

Walk 3 – Crystal Palace to Beckenham Place Park

About twenty years ago I collected the whole set of free Capital Ring leaflets from Thornhill Square Library in Islington. We used to go there for the ‘Stay and Play’ sessions in the basement and to use the Children’s Library. But as these things often transpire I didn’t actually use the maps until early March 2020 when I walked from Richmond Bridge to Horsenden Hill (Walks 7, 8 and part of 9). It was a great walk. I didn’t go back onto the Capital Ring until February 2023 when I did the glorious stroll from Crystal Palace to Streatham Common (Walk 4). So the other Sunday, with a light rain moistening the golden leaf-fall, seemed like the perfect time to make a run to London’s inner orbital walking trail.

Autumn trees in Beckenham on the Capital Ring

The Capital Ring is the kid sibling of the London Loop – 78 miles compared to the Loop’s 150 miles divided into 15 sections rather than 24. And a key point is that they’re much closer to Central London making each section much more accessible. The season seemed to beckon me back to Crystal Palace but to walk in the opposite direction towards Grove Park (Walk 3). With the leaflet as my guide I circuited Crystal Palace Park, paid homage to the dinosaurs before heading out along Penge High Street. I could barely have chosen a more perfect suburban autumn perambulation as the route drew me across Alexandra Park, down Old Farm Lane, traversing Cator Park where the Chaffinch Brook and the River Beck flow, before I ended my Capital Ring excursion on the heights of Beckenham Place Park with its grand manor house and views out over Kent and Surrey.

Beckenham Place Park - Capital Ring

How long will it be before I return to the Capital Ring, I have no idea. I still have a short section of the London Loop to complete, but there’s no hurry. The Thornhill Square leaflets on top of my bookshelf aren’t going anywhere and will wait patiently till I’m stuck for an idea for a walk and remember they’re up there looking down at me.

The Black Path – launch at Broadway Bookshop

Writer John Rogers at Broadway Bookshop Hackney for the launch of The Black Path

Last Thursday, 24th October, saw the launch of my text, The Black Path, as part of the London Adventures series at The Broadway Bookshop published by Three Imposters. It was a perfect place for the launch sat right on the course of the Black Path in Broadway Market, Hackney. I’d walked this ancient drovers path back in January for a YouTube video, and writing this publication gave me an opportunity to dig deeper in the rich history of this storied thoroughfare that runs from Walthamstow to Shoreditch, and then along Old Street to Smithfield.

The Black Path by John Rogers, published by Three Imposters
The Black Path by John Rogers, published by Three Imposters at Broadway Bookshop, Hackney
Writer John Rogers at Broadway Bookshop Hackney for the launch of The Black Path
Writer John Rogers at Broadway Bookshop Hackney for the launch of The Black Path
Writer John Rogers at Broadway Bookshop Hackney for the launch of The Black Path
The Black Path by John Rogers, published by Three Imposters at Broadway Bookshop, Hackney
The Three Imposters and John Rogers, Broadway Market Hackney
With the Three Imposters before the launch outside the Pie & Mash shop mentioned in the booklet (now an opticians
St Leonards Church Shoreditch at the start of a walk along the Black Path to Broadway Bookshop
St Leonards Church Shoreditch at the start of a walk along the Black Path to Broadway Bookshop
Writer John Rogers at Broadway Bookshop Hackney for the launch of The Black Path

You can buy The Black Path here directly from Three Imposters

Islington’s Lost River and the source of the Walbrook

Islington the Watershed

It feels apt to be posting the blog on the day of the launch of my text, The Black Path, in the London Adventure series published by The Three Imposters. Walking the Philley Brook (Filly Brook, Fillebrook) with the brilliant Compilerzone in August that sound artist Brigitte Hart put me in touch with a friend who had pushed his cheese barrow along the length of the Black Path. What a great story. The conversation with Berto the Cheese Merchant turned to the matter of the Angel, and Berto mentioned Stephen Myers book, Walking on Water, which maps one source of the Walbrook rising in Islington and roughly following the course of City Road before making its confluence with the eastern branch of the Walbrook around Curtain Road. Berto placed the source outside the public toilets in White Conduit Street. Wow! This blog has its origins, twenty years ago, in that very terrain when I lived opposite the site of White Conduit House and became obsessed with the pleasure gardens of the area and their associated springs and wells. I had never come across any references to the Walbrook rising at the Angel, despite walking the City of London’s principal lost river twice. I had to explore further.

White Conduit House in 1820 from Old and New London
White Conduit House in 1820 from Old and New London
White Conduit House in 1827
White Conduit House in 1827
Site of White Conduit House Islington
Site of White Conduit House
White Conduit House Islington