The old Wheler Street Tunnel, next to Shoreditch Overground station. This remaining part is the Braithwaite Viaduct (built 1839). The tunnel used to run underneath Bishopsgate Goods Yard (demolished 2003) and has a chequered history - "The Wheler Street tunnel was one of the largest of east London’s informal dossing-places in the 1880s and 1890s. The pavement on the western side of Wheler Street would fill up with those with nowhere else to sleep, while the police patrolled the eastern pavement, ignoring them. From 5am, dockers and porters began to pass on their way to work, and some would throw coins and even their lunches to the neediest-looking children. Open-air preaching by various evangelical groups focused on Wheler Street, nearby Sclater Street and Bethnal Green Road, particularly on Sunday-morning market days. Miss Annie Macpherson took her followers, a portable harmonium and hymn books and began loudly singing beneath the arches. The arches were also, at this time, the site of a child-labour market (not, in fact, illegal, then), where boys and girls would wait to be hired by the day, or even the hour."
Aaron's Overground shot was taken here ( http://365project.org/azza_l/other-stuff/2011-10-08)
I love this Rich - I'm amazed you get to see stuff in London that I've not see having lived near here for all my life! Must get out more!! great light and depth
wouldnt be out of place here then....the street kids seem to have multiplied lately maybe in part because of all the displaced people because of the flooding...I bought a wee bracelet seller a banana today because she said 'why otay aukun?' and I melted.
October 18th, 2011
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