I recently received the section of High Street 2012 that I am to research and it is close to Bow Church. 'Easy' I thought! A group of council blocks of flats and a couple of large old buildings. Then I went along to February's training session at the archives. I realised that before the blocks of flats were built there was something else there. Suddenly not quite so easy.
I began my archives research this week and it became really interesting. I began to get a sense of the area. There used to be lots of shops of bygone trades - a chandlers, an eel stew shop, a clog maker, harness maker and so on. Also I found that at one time there was a music hall - The Eastern Empire Music Hall then renamed the Bow Palace Music Hall.
The trades that seemed almost guaranteed survival were the funeral directors and the public houses! Within a short distance there was the Bow Bells, which still exists complete with a reported ghost in the ladies toilet, Bird in Hand, Black Swan, Three Cups, White Horse and the Bombay Grab. Six pubs, a music hall and a cinema all in a short distance and only on one side of the road! It shows that it must have been a lively area.
I look forward to continuing my research and learning more.
Barry Blinko
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