Tea Bar, Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, London
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Tea Bar, Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, London by David Hallam-Jones as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Tea Bar, Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, London
Image: © David Hallam-Jones Taken: 21 Sep 2019
When Syd Tothill, a British soldier who had been gassed during WWI, returned to civilian life in 1919 he used £117 of his invalidity pension to pay for the construction of a top quality mahogany tea stall with fine etched windows and gleaming brass fittings. Mains electricity was added in 1922, hooked up to an adjoining lamp post, and the old water churn that previously stood at the rear of the stall was superseded by a supply of water from the mains. In spite of it being referred to as “a coffee bar,” which was considered a classier description for this type of stall, Syd’s most popular beverages were, it seems, tea, cocoa and “Bovex” (a “poor man’s version of Bovril”). In the 1960s, when Calvert Avenue was resurfaced, Syd’s stall could not be moved on account of the mains connections and so kerbstones were placed around it instead. The stall still operates from Monday to Fridays. See also: https://spitalfieldslife.com/2010/05/12/syds-coffee-stall-shoreditch-high-st/
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.526377
Longitude
-0.077988