At long last, there are signs that the new London has arrived in Stepney. We’re able to have eggs and bacon in Foxcroft and Ginger, the new, so-called ‘artisan bakery’ which has been installed in the old Wickham’s Department Store, which English Heritage has shamefully failed to list in spite of being one the grandest buildings in the old East end and the subject of a memorable eulogy in Nairn’s London.
A developer has bought the building and installed work units upstairs. Now we don’t have to go to Spitalfields for bread and cappuccino. Farewell to the chicken shops which have traditionally lined the Mile End Road!