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Grundy Street, LONDON, E14 6AE

Built 1920-1921 to plans prepared by Harley Heckford, Borough surveyor and engineer. Further descriptive information at this http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46489#s4.

This was the first block of council flats to be built in Poplar. On the site of the former Oriental Terrace, it is named after the borough surveyor at the time, Henry Heckford. 'It is of yellow London stock brick, with a plinth and pilasters in red brick, the latter having artificial stone capitals. The round-headed front doorway has a keystone inscribed with the Borough Council's initials 'PBC', and there is also a stone set above the doorway inscribed 'Poplar Borough Council, 1920'. The second floor of the building is incorporated as an attic storey into the mansard slate roof and has large dormer windows with flat, corniced heads.' See http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46489#s4

An example of the post-war housing that replaced the bomb-damaged, jerry-built terraced streets which attracted the reputation historically of slums. Arthur Morrison, author of Child of the Jago, was born nearby and wrote about the desperate lives of the East End poor. See http://www.ferdinando.org.uk/achildof.htm Most of the streets around here were called after the surnames and first names of members of the families who originally owned the land: Duff, Grundy, Wade and so on.

Situated at the junction of Grundy Street and Kerbery Street, and backing on to Chrisp Street market with its clock tower. The pub is named for the 1951 Festival of Britain which provided the incentive for rebuilding this area of Poplar following wartime damage.

Artisan cottages leading up to the corner of Duff Street and Grundy Street where the old signboard on the wall, facing, is all that remains of the pub called The African Queen which closed in 2002.

On the corner of Duff Street and Grundy Street this late C19 building was once a pub, first named the South African Tavern, then The African Tavern and finally The African Queen. The earlier names reflect the far-flung travels of local sea-farers, the latter was perhaps more of a reference for cinema-goers (Humphrey Bogart, 1951). Sadly, it closed in 2002 and is now residential. I wonder what happened to the sign?

The 1951 redevelopment of Chrisp Street involved a then-innovative combination of shopping precinct and residential accommodation: so-called Living Architecture. This was all part of the Lansbury Estate experiment in social housing that paved the way for the New Town developments, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2001/jul/11/communities.urbandesign (The sign on the lamp post warns that cars parked illegally may be clamped or towed away.)

A place of worship and community centre on Kerbey Street, Poplar, East London.