please empty your brain below
I lived in Bethnal Green in the early 2000s and remember these signs well. It seemed very natural to divide a huge borough like Tower Hamlets in this way.

Dan | 12.02.22 - 8:03 a.m. | #

Perhaps replacing these signs hasn't been a strong point for Tower Hamlets Council.

Since at least 2014 (when I moved to Bow and spotted it), the sign for Mile End Road at the junction with Coborn Road (as in, where it becomes Bow Road) has been incorrect.

The sign says "Mile End Road, E1" which is incorrect as Mile End Road is in E3 not E1 until it reaches the Regent's Canal. The sign just metres away for Bow Road is correct.

I have since moved, but as far as I'm aware, the sign is still the same.

dg writes: been there, blogged that.

Charlie | 12.02.22 - 8:49 a.m. | #

I remember the purple bollards around Brick Lane in the 90s, anyone know if they or any of the other neighbourhood bollards exist?

Damian | 12.02.22 - 8:59 a.m. | #

Ah. I only started reading your blog last year, so I missed that one!

Regardless, how after eight years has someone at Tower Hamlets Council not noticed this?!

Charlie | 12.02.22 - 10:23 a.m. | #

Many of the lamp posts were painted to match. Apparently there was one crossroads where each corner had a different colour.

Kim | 12.02.22 - 11:08 a.m. | #

Curious that some of these have a full stop - E.1 - in the (partial) postcode. Before postcodes it was common to write the postal districts that way - W.C.1 for example - but both officially and in common practice it hasn't been done for getting on for 50 years - except on some London street signs.

Peter | 12.02.22 - 11:22 a.m. | #

Very interesting information, and so quintessentially "Diamond Geezer"! I must agree Bow's blue is the best.

cau1khead | 12.02.22 - 11:55 a.m. | #

I’ve never thought of Robin Hood Gardens being on the island. I assumed it was in Poplar. I’ve always imagined that the island started in line with the curves in the river and prior to redevelopment of the docks at the point of crossing the water. I also wonder if the absence of Isle of Dogs signs is due to how much of the island was under LDDC control.

Also I wonder if that’s why Victoria Park Wharf, overlooking the Hertford Union canal off Grove Road, was renamed Bow Wharf.

scrivens | 12.02.22 - 1:13 p.m. | #

I like this idea! I can see how it would add a sense of community to each area, and help those unfamiliar with the location to know where they are, but the local gangs could have a field day with turf wars!

There is a Black Poplar a few minutes walk from my house, and an Elm tree - both very rare survivors from pre-1980s!
I would suggest the picture is likely to be of a Lombardy Poplar though as they are the distinctive pencil thin variety. The Black Poplar is a normal 'tree' shape!

Cornish Cockney | 12.02.22 - 4:08 p.m. | #

There are six female examples of the rare Black Poplar tree to be found in the Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham (which is just nine miles from Poplar). Unfortunately, there are no male trees nearby to pollinate them.

Carllo | 12.02.22 - 4:20 p.m. | #

Here's an article about black poplars in Tower Hamlets. As well as reporting on the planting of some new black poplars, it records that there are still some mature specimens in Victoria Park, a couple in Meath Gardens and St Anne's churchyard, Limehouse. I concur with Cornish Cockney though that the silhouette used for the Poplar sign doesn't seem to be that of a black poplar.

O | 12.02.22 - 5:05 p.m. | #

The Liberal/SDP Alliance should be congratulated for having introduced such an amazing and valuable scheme. No area should forget it's local history and too many councils just want to sweep everything away in the name of progress.

Tones | 12.02.22 - 6:01 p.m. | #

I understand there are fastigate forms of the black poplar, as there are with other poplar species. The Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra "Italica", and related crosses) is one example. It is monoecious but wind pollinated so let’s hope there are some male trees upwind of the female examples in Dagenham. They take well from cuttings, if you want to try cutting a few twigs off and poking them into the ground nearby.

Andrew | 13.02.22 - 10:07 a.m. | #











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