London - East London

"To help you understand the history of these sites make sure you carry a copy of London Brewed, available here: "

A map of the route of the walk. Courtesy Paul Williams

Blind Beggar, Whitechapel

Pride Of Spitalfields

Whitechapel Wander

Start at Stepney Green Tube Station

Turn right out of the station and start walking west towards the City. This is the Mile End Road and is extremely busy with people and traffic at all time - be cautious.

On the corner of Cephas Avenue are the remains of Charrington & Co. Ltd. The retail park is on the site of the main yard and the building occupied by Adams the solicitors on the corner is the main office,

Return to the main Mile End Road and continue west towards the City. The White Hart brew pub is at 1 Mile End Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 4TP.

Next is the Blind Beggar, Whitechapel where the Krays used to drink. Clean and sanitised now, it gained its notoriety in 1966 when George Cornell was blatantly murdered by Ronnie Kray in cold blood. Admittedly, he had just called the most infamous and dangerous gangster of the East End "a fat poof"! Strangely, no one in the pub at the time noticed, what are the chances of that?

Next to the Blind Beggar, the gate and courtyard belonged to Mann, Crossman & Paulin Ltd. Walk through the entrance to the Health Centre (at the moment!) and view the interior of the entrance yard.

Almost diagonally opposite is Sidney Street, where an infamous siege occurred in 1911. The Black Watch were called in and a small company climbed to the brewery tower to get a line of fire. The then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, accompanied the troops. Stand in front of the brewery and see if you can see Sidney Street. I bet you can't. This is because (my theory) history records a brewery tower but fails to mention it must have been the bottling store tower opposite the brewery. Here you can get a clear line of sight on Sidney Street. The whole incident attended in person by none other than Winston Churchill himself as Home Secretary.

Return to the Mile End Road and continue westwards towards the city. As you get close to Aldgate High Street turn left into Whitechurch Lane. At the end of this road, at the point it meets the Commercial Road, on the left are the buildings of John Furze & Co. Best viewed from the opposite of the road in front of the Gunsmiths Proofing House for small arms.

Retrace your steps to Whitechurch Lane and head north, crossing the Mile End Road and entering Brick Lane via Osborn Street. This area has now become Bangla Town and it almost end to end curry houses.

Proceed up Brick Lane until Henage Street on the right. Stop at the house next door to The Pride of Spitalfields pub, a noted real ale establishment. This is the former brewer's house for Best & Co.

Continue along Heneage Street to the end and turn left into Spelman Street. The buildings at the end of the road on the corner are the remains of the Alma pub which housed Tilney & Co brewery.

Turn left at the junction into Hanbury St. Walk to No 29 Hanbury St. This is the site of Jack the Ripper's fourth victim, Annie Chapman. Her body was discovered at about 6:00 am on Saturday 8 September 1888 on the ground near a doorway in the back yard. Chapman had left her lodgings at 2 am on the day she was murdered, with the intention of getting money from a client to pay her rent. Her throat was cut from left to right. She had been disemboweled, and her intestines had been thrown out of her abdomen over each of her shoulders.

As this was for some time part of the Truman brewery premises, strange noises and sightings have been reported by brewery workers!

Retrace your steps and turn left into Spital St. Half way up the road are the the remains of the Truman Cooperage. This area backs onto the main Truman Brewery site. At the end of Spital St turn left in to Buxton St. When you get to the cross roads with Brick Lane you are now surrounded by the substantive remains of Truman, Hanbury & Buxton & Co. Ltd.

The brewery area covers the entire both sides of Brick Lane. It is also a hive of commercial activity having been turned into small cafes, restaurants and shops.

This is the end of the tour.

HOWEVER

If my previous reference to Jack the Ripper takes your fancy, turn down Brick Lane towards Commercial Road (south with the brewery behind you). Eventually on the right is Fournier Street. Turn into this and proceed to the end where the Ten Bells, Spitalfields is situated on Commercial Street. This is where Jack is said to have picked up a number of his victims.

You have been warned!