When you think of East London do you think of depressing Albert Square, the Kray twins, Dickensian hardship? Well think again! In the words of Ralph McTell – ‘Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London, I’ll show you something that will make you change your mind’.
Start early one Sunday at Bethnal Green Station (Central Line) – from here walk up Bethnal Green Road, turn right into Squiries Street and then left into Gosset Street, arriving at the top of Columbia Road. In the nineteenth century this was one of the East End’s most notorious slum areas, with poverty and disease being its most distinguishing features. Now however, it is home to trendy clubs, cafes and on Sundays, the vibrant Columbia Road flower market, selling every type of flower and plant imaginable. The original Columbia Road market was established in 1869 as a food market but fell into decline and was later moved to Sunday in order to accommodate the needs of local Jewish traders. It also provided an opportunity for traders to sell stock left over from Covent Garden and Spitalfields. The small Victorian houses on one side are now chic little shops selling gardening accessories, vintage home wares and garden ornaments. While away an hour having a coffee and a pastry in one of the cafes, soaking up the cosmopolitan atmosphere, listening to the market traders shouting ‘three farra fivva’ and watching the trendy clubbers coming home. If you do buy plants, the market traders will be pleased to give you advice on where to plant them and how to care for your new additions to the garden. I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t buy any flowers but did leave with a rather fetching pair of vintage daisy roots – that’s cockney rhyming slang for boots if you didn’t know!
From here you can walk up Columbia Road, away from the flower market, towards Hackney Road. This part of London has a long and fascinating history of immigration, starting with Jewish merchants fleeing the Inquisition in the 16th Century, the Huguenots escaping persecution in Europe in the 17th Century, Irish labour brought over to build the docks and most recently Bangladeshis and Bengalis. The area was also notorious as the setting for the Ripper murders in 1888 and the work of The London Burkers, a group of body snatchers who modelled their activities on those of the notorious Burke and Hare. They murdered their victims, to sell to anatomists, by luring them to their houses in Bethnal Green and Shoreditch. Cross the Hackey Road, and dip in to a small alley called Waterson Street. Turn right and head towards the little gem that is the Geffrye Museum (www.geffrye-museum.org.uk). Set in elegant 18th Century ironmongers’ almshouses, it was converted into a museum for the ‘education of craftsmen’ and it remains true to its origins, leading visitors on a walk through time, showing period living rooms of the urban middle class from Tudor, through Victorian times to current urban ‘loft’ living.
Although, not a large museum you can spend a couple of hours here. My daughter was particularly interested in the early rooms and heavy mahogany furniture, while I reminisced about trips to my grandparents who had a living room very similar to the 1930’s room shown. There are art trails, treasure hunts and word searches for the children and during school holidays there are all sorts of workshops and craft activities for children of all ages to enjoy. ‘The Geffryre is a museum of typical rather than exceptional objects...our special challenge ... is to find the relatively ordinary things of the past, owned and used by ordinary people’.
If you still have time left, why not head to Spitalfields market? Once the capital’s fruit and vegetable market, it is at its best and busiest on Sundays selling everything from organic food, to trendy clothes and handmade jewellery. Part of the original facade of the market still exists on Brushfield Street and you can also see the signs of the old fruiterers shops here and there. The shops are now mainly trendy boutiques or cafes and inside the market there are plenty of places to enjoy a long lunch. 
If shopping in London’s trendy market is not your thing, have a wander around the surrounding streets, which are steeped in history. Just behind the market is Fournier Street, first occupied by the Huguenot silk weavers and merchants. Some houses have been restored to their former glory by the new residents, identifiable by the large windows that gave more light to the weavers working on the looms. Dominating the streets at the back of the market is Christ Church, built between 1714 and 1729 by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren. Have a peek inside if you can – the ceiling looks like a giant iced wedding cake! It was in the church hall that the famous Bryant and May match girls strike was organised. In 1888, 672 girls went on strike against their terrible working conditions and even worse wages, helped by journalist Annie Besant, who rallied public support. Within 2 weeks, Bryant and May had backed down and met most of the girls’ demands. Feminism and trade unionism in Victorian times! Many other famous social reformers and political activists were to work in these streets, including William Booth, founder of the Salvation army, Lenin’s Bolshevik paper was printed here, Dr Barnardo set up the first ‘ragged school’ for the poor and notoriously Oswald Mosley and 3,000 blackshirted fascists tried unsuccessfully to march through these streets. They were met by 10,000 East Enders throwing bricks and stones, shouting ‘No Pasaran’ – the Spanish republican slogan meaning ‘They shall not pass’. I hope you enjoy your trip in the East End and if you really haven’t had enough and you don’t want to go home just yet, why not wander a few steps further east for dinner in one of the fabulous curry houses in Brick Lane – an gastronomic delight that has to be experienced by every one who wants to be known as a true Londoner!