I went on one of the tours of Spitalfields organised by – and currently still delivered by – the Gentle Author, who has published the blog Spitalfields Life since August 2009 when he pledged to write a post a day for thirty years.

I found the tour incredibly moving because he knows the area so intimately and cares about it so passionately, not least from fighting so many campaigns to save it (he is currently awaiting the verdict on the judicial review of the battle round the Truman, Hanbury and Buxton site in Brick Lane).

We started at Christ Church.

Then The Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor:-

Then, down Parliament Court, a passageway I don’t know:-

We walked at a fantastically brisk pace through Spitalfields Market to Elder Street:-

Then, to Hanbury Street, down Fournier Street, Puma Court and back to Christ Church with stories at nearly every street corner animating its past. I thought I knew the area reasonably well, but as nothing:-

https://www.thegentleauthorstours.com/