I really enjoyed this video, filling in the gaps from that day out, and thanks very much for taking the time out to meet! It was great being able to have that chat on and off camera and to draw on your immense knowledge of the area to help figure out some of the questions I had about the Black Lion's history.
At the beginning of your video, John, you mentioned Borough of West Ham, The full title was County Borough of West Ham, Essex. This also included Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Chingford, Forest Gate and several other boroughs. In fact my birth certificate states Forest Gate Hospital Forest Gate, County Borough of West Ham. Then I went to bed on the 31 of March 1964 in Essex and woke up on all fools day 1st of April in the London borough of Waltham Forest.
I went in the Black Lion first time just before Christmas 1967. I was 18 years old, working as a computer trainee in Lamson Paragon, Canning Town, and all the office staff (and managers) chose to go to the Black Lion for a pre-Christmas booze up. Packed in like sardines, drinking beer and eating a roast beef sandwich whilst standing up - absolutely brilliant place and glad to see that it is still a proper pub.
Always loved yours and @tweedypubs videos John. Being a Hammer with Grandparents raised by the Stratford side of West Ham Park this one is special. As is the Black Lion and my fave ale there, Captain Bob. The Tram Depot was for the horse drawn service that served only Canning Town Station to the Greengate and into the depot at Tunmarsh Lane. Opened 29/9/1886, run by the North Metropolitan Tramways Company. The East Ham Electric Tramway depot, High St. South which was behind East Ham Town Hall.
I grew up in Stratford, you know at start of video when John was on about that pie and mash shop well I remember in early 80's there was a Hospital down there, can't remember the name. Up the Irons. Stuck in midlands now and when I wear my shirt people who don't know football always say, oh I didn't know you supported Villa 🤣😂 know chance. West ham till I die. Sound. 🙏🌞☮️🇬🇧👍
I don,t remember the road but my grandparents and family lived in that area then moved to East Ham I think before moving out to Essex and the Plot lands ,prefabs built after the war . Just looking in to some family history 😊
I'm moving to East London (from SE London lol) and watched lots of your videos on the areas. You have wonderful content and it's great to see a great pub like this will be within walking distance from me - I don't even drink alcohol, but I cherish the traditional British pubs and pub cultures and hope it can be preserved as much as possible. Thanks for the great introduction to this richly cultured area of the big city!
Thanks for that John and @TweedyPubs! I was very pleased to get a mention in that wonderful video and to hear that I have played a very small part in making that collaboration happen. John, I have been following you for years, and your content has consistently put a smile on my face. I am an Ex Walthamstow-lad (Orient fan of course), met an Aussie lass in Muswell hill, got married and have been exiled in Australia for close to 27 years now (our lives seem to have followed divergent paths)!. Your insightful and lyrical excursions around my 'ex-hood' and beyond are a delight. And to pair this with the wonderful Tweedy (also an absolute delight) was tremendous. More power to your collective elbows! Next time I am back in the manor, I would love to shout you both as many pints as you can take. Lovely stuff.
It doesn't always seem like the most sensible choice for a place to build a major global city! I'm reminded of that castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail built on a swamp.
I was born and raised in that area. My cousin lived in Plaistow. One of my schools was behind the Trebor Sweet Factory and that's what we could smell at every break time, boiled sweets being made lol.
Oh wow I’m famous, I’ve inspired a John Rogers video hehe!!! The Black Lion feels like a proper pub ☺️ (P.S. thanks John for being so lovely a yr ago when you signed your book for me in Wanstead!)
May I also recommend a fascinating book - “My life's battles” by Will Thorne (one of Labour’s first MPs, for this part of London early 20thC) which gives an amazing historical insight into life in another age
Great video chaps! The Luke Howard bit was classic Tweedy - digging out obscure but fascinating facts. And an impressive breakdown of the different cloud types! Fascinating to think of sweets being manufactured in London. Or indeed anything. Cheers John and Tweedy.
Thanks Mr WC21! I'm grateful to John for his generosity in keeping my ramblings in the video. Part of what I found so appealing about Luke Howard is that he was just a curious amateur when it came to meteorology... and yet he came up with something which is an absolute foundational element of the whole field of study. So I was reminded of that great tradition of amateur antiquarians (so often vicars weren't they?) of the Georgian/Victorian era - and of course their modern equivalent here on UA-cam! I'm currently in the midst of researching my next video and stumbled across a sizeable "pickle manufactory" right in the middle of Soho! Bizarrely it is tenuously relevant in helping to establish that a nearby pub was a coaching inn.
Great video John. Loved the Luke Howard connection. One of my favourite blue plaques is Luke Howard’s in Tottenham - ‘Luke Howard, namer of clouds’. Newham Bookshop is such a fantastic resource and I am looking forward to reading your new book.
Where they were standing was the otherside of the old wall of the site of the old Plaistow Maternity hospital, its main entrance was on Howard's road, attached to the Nurses training school. And the road is named after Luke Howard
Interesting video John ,was really surprised there are any pubs left in Plaistow Black Lion which sells ales was a real surprise, the parks in that area look amazing.
A great walk, The Black Lion is a great pub spent a good deal of time there while at college. Your pronunciation of Plaistow is right. Always loved West Ham park, the first ever FA Cup goal was scored there, so ties in nicely with the sporting links
Great episode!! I was born in Plaistow and lived there until I was about 15. The empty ground by the station at 4:05 used to be a big car dealership called Dovercourt. I lived in Victoria Point, the block of flats seen between you and Tweedy at 15:46. Surprised you didn't mention the boxing club at the Black Lion. It had quite a reputation, it was there when I was a kid but may have gone now. Great to see my old stamping grounds, I haven't been back for years.
That was brilliant John and John. So great to see two very knowledgeable UA-cam legends out and about together enjoying a pint and some wonderful sights. Cheers!
I used to work at Stratford Freightliner Terminal (Temple Mills Lane) from 1990 - 1992. I used love taking a stroll over to the shopping centre during the quiet times (pre-Westfields). Very interesting area.
Absolutely loved this video. Having moved from Plaistow in 1980, seeing the areas I played in as a child brought memories flooding back. I have personal connections to many of the places you showed The Black Lion, my father was involved with their boxing club (patroned by Terry Spinks) My mother worked there as a barmaid and also played in one of their regular charity football matches West Ham Parish church, where my parents were married and I was baptised. The shot at the beginning of the flats with the yellow/orange frontages were built on the site of a row of shops bombed out on the junction of Geere Road, where my Grand parents lived. The triangular wasteland area used to the the shunting/goods yard for Plaistow Station, later taken over by a car dealership, where my father bought his first car. Swete Street is where I lived during the early late 60's early 70's. And if you had walked down Chesterton Road, into Chesterton terrace, you would have seen a great half circle of Georgian houses, which were there before the whole area was urbanised in the 1880's. Balaam street , where I moved in the mid 70's. And the old Balaam Street park was much smaller then, as the area to the left rear used to be a very large school, where the park took the land when it was demolished. At the bottom end, near the swimming baths, Eddie Kidd used to store his touring bus and motor cycles. And even West Ham park, as it backed onto Geer Road and Stopford Road, where both sets of Grand Parents lived and I often spent days there with them or playing football for my school on the large pitches over by the Territorial Army base. The park even has a "chrisp" connection for me, as Golden Wonder had a promotion to get free tickets for the Disney ice show by collecting packets. Needless to say the bins soon emptied of them when I went there .
There was much to enjoy in this video. Loved the carpet of golden leaves & was astonished at the amount of books about London in that book shop. Nice to meet Tweedy John too.
Speaking of crisps, I remember in the late 1960s there was a brand of crisps called 'Chipmunk.' They made Oxo flavoured crisps, at a time when all you could get from other manufacturers were plain or cheese and onion. Interestingly enough, the only place I was ever able to buy them was from a vending machine at Norwich swimming pool.
In the early seventies, during my apprenticeship, I attended West Ham College, and my local eatery was Leddiards pie and mash. I remember it having benches to sit on with sawdust on the floor. The land next to Plaistow Station was originally the LTS&R railway loco workshops. It was later moved to the opposite side of the tracks. I have a wonderful original linen plan of the "new" depot dated from the early 1900s. A pub opposite Stratford Park was The British Lion, long demolished, a few shops down from Leddiards. I had my first ever pint there.
My two favourite activities walking about in London and drinking beer in a pub with my two favourites London nerds, John and Tweedy. Great collab fellas! Really enjoyed both of your videos today.
Great! Thanks John. We live in Plaistow and on rare occasion I have a beer it's in the Black Lion. Will watch the video later when get back from Ilford Historical Society meeting.
Brilliant walk John of a place my brother and I know very well. Brought back so many memories of our mum enjoying pie and mash in that eatery you mentioned early in the vid. As young boys we used to play football in West Ham park while she washed it down with a pint in the British lion, a few doors down and now sadly demolished.
The Black Lion is a Turpin Pub. Dick Turpin worked as a Butcher's Apprentice in one of the shops along the road there. It's a great pub. Many happy nights there, also known as a haunt of the West Ham United greats. The marvellous Bobby Moore was known to quaff there among others
Excellent video John, I had never heard of Plaistow before. Over here our bookshops don't stock books on London but I have got a fair few from Amazon including 2 of yours, latest is Secret London by Andrew Duncan published by a company in Pennsylvania.
When I was a child I remember driving past the Black Lion with my dad. He pointed out the blocked up window was painted as a window with a man leaning out! It would have been the early 80s and there is a photo on the Camra website!!! The flat area by the station used to be Dovercourt car dealers....VW in the 70s and 80s then Ford Motors. And it is pronounced Plaa.. stow.
cclass the black lion pub is whee the west ham fans meet when they are at home thought we had converted you in to a hammer lol nice to see you on my manor at the bookshop i will get to meet you one day keep them going john you are a treasure be lucky Steve
@JohnRogersWalks cheers John for your reply. It's me watching post what you are making stops me from getting bored of London , like the saying does ....Great work and take care and warm if you make posts in this drab weather
I use to go to that pie and mash shop all the time as a kid Use to be 50p for pie and mash with a squash And now your drinking the local brew from where in live now in maldon
Thank you so much. I loved West Ham Park as a child especially watching the brass band play in that beautiful bandstand. Balaam Street is pronounced as Baylum.
Hiyas Mister Rogers, I got tipped off to your lovely channel via the excellent Tweedy. I instantly subscribed; I do so enjoy this type of interesting and informative video. Happy days.
That decadent Samuel Gurney obelisk is definitely not Quakerly. I was shocked when I saw the dedication. His sister Elizabeth Fry has a much more conventional egalitarian grave marker, which is now at Wanstead Friends' Meeting House even though her remains are buried in Barking opposite the old Meting House, which is now a gurdwara.
I live in Norwich, just off Earlham Road. Earlham Hall is part of the University of East Anglia. The well known ziggurat student accommodation built in the 1960s is close by. Along with many other University buildings. Earlham Park is open to the public. It must have been the parkland surrounding the stately home. Elizabeth Fry is well known in Norwich. Gurneys Bank eventually became part of Barclays Bank
The Black Lion is such a brilliant pub. I don't live in East London so I stumbled on it at the end of a very long walk along the river from Canary Wharf to Beckton and then back to Stratford (so I could get home to Tottenham on the train). Only went in for a quick break as I was knackered but ended up having more than a couple of pints there. Really magic spot.
It’s interesting to hear that Plaistow used to be an almost remote village back in the day. Even now though, despite its transport links, it still has that feeling of being isolated and removed from the rest of east London. It has a quite quiet energy to it.
Thanks once again John, always plenty of interesting and fascinating items discussed. Whenever I am in England, I pay hommage to my childhood, & visit the Black Lion when I can, before heading off to see West Ham United.
Hello John. Another fine video :D I wondered if you had any plans for walks this week? If not, I'd like to maybe suggest a trip out to Tring from Euston, for a delightfully colourful stroll along the ridgeway, up through to the Ashridge Estate. The trees in the Chilterns are awash with all shades of orange right now :D
We read Mary Renault's "The Last of the Wine" in a Greek philosophy class at William & Mary in Virginia. It's a novel set in ancient Greece and was very memorable. I recognized her name at once (from 40 years ago).
Yes, Mary Renault's books would have been published in the late 60s or early 70s, around the time of Mary Stewart's books about Merlin & Arthurian legend/myth
Going on about Buxton and the banking thing at the end reminded me of early 80's I had a Mate who lived in Buxton road. Just past Maryland. Went to School at St Francis in Bow road. 👍🇬🇧🙏☮️🌞
The ‘Great Northern’ was known locally as the ‘Top House’. You two got on as if you had been friends for years. Luke Howard has a blue plaque on a building in Bruce Grove Tottenham, just up from the station
Just wandered up to say “hello” and look you in the eye while I am doing it. Just watched The Chess Valley walk ending at Chatham(?). Apparently it is becoming a societal norm for it to be out of place to acknowledge a passerby. As you noted: not all the time - it restores a little confidence back in the assurance of the common niceties that were just that “common” place. Keep on keeping on Mr. R. I will too. 👋 😊
Is Tweedy pubs the modern version of Iain Nairn, pub architecture? Also crisps fact most were made by small local firms as they could not keep until packaging improved to keep them crisp.
Great video John, so many childhood memories. I use to visit Lediards pie mash shop in Stratford. I use to love going to Westham Park, so many exits to use, whether going to Plaistow, Upton park or Forest Gate. I am surprised the old VW car dealership is no longer behind Plaistow Station. Look forward to your next video, where ever that may be 👍😁😎
I was a bit disheartened when me and the wife nearly became the Landlord and Landlady of an old pub. The Bull Inn, in Bentley (the first UK TV 'reality' show was filmed there, first or second). We went through a couple of interviews with the Brewery, profit share all that stuff, living areas, rent, and then on to fixtures and fittings rental... Interesting fact. Even though the pub is centuries old nothing contained within the bar and lounge areas was original, it was all rented! Even down to the coal scuttle and coal bin next to the open fire place. All the old horse brasses were not old, they were recreations and rented for a monthly fee from a prop provider! Everything that gave the pub its 'authenticity' was a fraud. It was all rented! So since this enlightening moment I never look at oldie-worldie pubs the same... It is all a charade! Very few are original. Call me naive to believe otherwise...
I remember going to the Black Lion pub when I was younger when my mum was studying at the UEL site in Greengate. Had a jump in the West Ham ABC boxing ring. A few years later I started boxing at Newham Boys ABC down the road on Church Street. West Ham ABC and Newham ABC were fierce rivals. Kept stepping into the West Ham ring to myself. Will have to pop down the Black Lion and have a butch and a pint - it's been a while.
Plaistow born girl here, lediards was the best pie and mash shop. My nan used to take me to the century picture house, we’d walk home towards Plaistow station and she’d have a makeson in the the railway, while I sat outside with a bag of crisps and a lemonade. 😆
Always a pleasure when Stratford is involved. At the start when you were on about that pie n mash shop I'm sure in early 80's there was a Hospital down that road. Interesting about the crisps. Cheers John. All the best. 🙏👍🇬🇧☮️🌞 P s watched a good documentary from 1964 about Bermondsey ,a decade before I entered the atmosphere. 🙏
Enjoy these vids. Maesbrook etc my gran was from Stratford and visited chadwell heath beautiful girlfriend there the Saxon parts are rare Waltham area I had some rare Saxon coins wanted eanred silver sceatta and Saxon brooch lovely vid nice to see some riverbank vegetation my grandad had an allotment hackney marshes was shocking few months ago the building in Stratford
Hello John. Plaistow Patrica is one of my favourites! “From the Mile End road to the matchstick Becontree, pulling strokes and taking liberties” I think she plied her trade on the area in the song that’s along the district line 👍🏻
Councils often require shops and establishments to continue a similar trade as to what they were before. Its very rare for a clothing chain to take over a closed KFC and be allowed to convert the premises to a clothing outlet. Restaurants stay restauranty etc It possibly it has something to do with licensing or business rates (I could be wrong).
This American loves salt and vinegar chips, I mean Crisps! There are so many odd flavors now but none compare to what I consider as the original 😊. By the way, I just received a copy of London A to Z so I could follow along on your walks, John. Only trouble is the print is too darn small!
sorry folks Luke Turner is owned by Tottenham. He lived at 7 Bruce Grove and is commemorated there with the only English Heritage Blue Plaque in Tottenham. He is known as the Father of meteorology for his detailed observations over many years of the weather and cloud formations in Tottenham. hope this helps.
What a great vlog, my 2 favourites 😊 I love the amateur cloud scientist story and those Plaidstowdians with all their beans 🫘 great stuff! Did you find Patricia? 😅 I’m a lawless brat from a council flat me!
I really enjoyed this video, filling in the gaps from that day out, and thanks very much for taking the time out to meet! It was great being able to have that chat on and off camera and to draw on your immense knowledge of the area to help figure out some of the questions I had about the Black Lion's history.
Thanks so much for a great day Tweedy
Lived there for several years, happy days. Grandad was a manager at the Denmark in the 60s. Keep walking and telling us stories John
At the beginning of your video, John, you mentioned Borough of West Ham, The full title was County Borough of West Ham, Essex. This also included Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Chingford, Forest Gate and several other boroughs. In fact my birth certificate states Forest Gate Hospital Forest Gate, County Borough of West Ham. Then I went to bed on the 31 of March 1964 in Essex and woke up on all fools day 1st of April in the London borough of Waltham Forest.
I went in the Black Lion first time just before Christmas 1967. I was 18 years old, working as a computer trainee in Lamson Paragon, Canning Town, and all the office staff (and managers) chose to go to the Black Lion for a pre-Christmas booze up. Packed in like sardines, drinking beer and eating a roast beef sandwich whilst standing up - absolutely brilliant place and glad to see that it is still a proper pub.
Always loved yours and @tweedypubs videos John. Being a Hammer with Grandparents raised by the Stratford side of West Ham Park this one is special. As is the Black Lion and my fave ale there, Captain Bob. The Tram Depot was for the horse drawn service that served only Canning Town Station to the Greengate and into the depot at Tunmarsh Lane. Opened 29/9/1886, run by the North Metropolitan Tramways Company. The East Ham Electric Tramway depot, High St. South which was behind East Ham Town Hall.
I grew up in Stratford, you know at start of video when John was on about that pie and mash shop well I remember in early 80's there was a Hospital down there, can't remember the name. Up the Irons. Stuck in midlands now and when I wear my shirt people who don't know football always say, oh I didn't know you supported Villa 🤣😂 know chance. West ham till I die. Sound. 🙏🌞☮️🇬🇧👍
' The Tramways of East London ' by ' Rodinglea', is the source of the tram info.
I was born in Plaistow in 1936, Plaistow Park Road, my parents ended up with a cafe in Ilford opposite the Plessey Factory in Ley street.
I was born in Plaistow in 1998 🤝
I don,t remember the road but my grandparents and family lived in that area then moved to East Ham I think before moving out to Essex and the Plot lands ,prefabs built after the war . Just looking in to some family history 😊
I'm moving to East London (from SE London lol) and watched lots of your videos on the areas. You have wonderful content and it's great to see a great pub like this will be within walking distance from me - I don't even drink alcohol, but I cherish the traditional British pubs and pub cultures and hope it can be preserved as much as possible.
Thanks for the great introduction to this richly cultured area of the big city!
Thanks for that John and @TweedyPubs! I was very pleased to get a mention in that wonderful video and to hear that I have played a very small part in making that collaboration happen. John, I have been following you for years, and your content has consistently put a smile on my face. I am an Ex Walthamstow-lad (Orient fan of course), met an Aussie lass in Muswell hill, got married and have been exiled in Australia for close to 27 years now (our lives seem to have followed divergent paths)!. Your insightful and lyrical excursions around my 'ex-hood' and beyond are a delight. And to pair this with the wonderful Tweedy (also an absolute delight) was tremendous. More power to your collective elbows! Next time I am back in the manor, I would love to shout you both as many pints as you can take. Lovely stuff.
Im endlessly fascinated with the amount of water(marsh, ponds etc) in and around London.
It’s a very wet place what with the Thames basin and all the river valleys that drain into it
It doesn't always seem like the most sensible choice for a place to build a major global city! I'm reminded of that castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail built on a swamp.
Tweedy Pubs and JR in one video. Excellent stuff!
I was born and raised in that area. My cousin lived in Plaistow. One of my schools was behind the Trebor Sweet Factory and that's what we could smell at every break time, boiled sweets being made lol.
Is Trebor Sweets named after someone whose name was Robert ?
Oh wow I’m famous, I’ve inspired a John Rogers video hehe!!!
The Black Lion feels like a proper pub ☺️
(P.S. thanks John for being so lovely a yr ago when you signed your book for me in Wanstead!)
Yes wibble 😂 thanks for that
Thank you for planting the seed that helped to make this happen!
Thank you! And it was my pleasure to sign your book
May I also recommend a fascinating book - “My life's battles” by Will Thorne (one of Labour’s first MPs, for this part of London early 20thC) which gives an amazing historical insight into life in another age
Great video chaps!
The Luke Howard bit was classic Tweedy - digging out obscure but fascinating facts. And an impressive breakdown of the different cloud types!
Fascinating to think of sweets being manufactured in London. Or indeed anything.
Cheers John and Tweedy.
Thanks Mr WC21! I'm grateful to John for his generosity in keeping my ramblings in the video. Part of what I found so appealing about Luke Howard is that he was just a curious amateur when it came to meteorology... and yet he came up with something which is an absolute foundational element of the whole field of study.
So I was reminded of that great tradition of amateur antiquarians (so often vicars weren't they?) of the Georgian/Victorian era - and of course their modern equivalent here on UA-cam!
I'm currently in the midst of researching my next video and stumbled across a sizeable "pickle manufactory" right in the middle of Soho! Bizarrely it is tenuously relevant in helping to establish that a nearby pub was a coaching inn.
Great video John. Loved the Luke Howard connection. One of my favourite blue plaques is Luke Howard’s in Tottenham - ‘Luke Howard, namer of clouds’. Newham Bookshop is such a fantastic resource and I am looking forward to reading your new book.
Where they were standing was the otherside of the old wall of the site of the old Plaistow Maternity hospital, its main entrance was on Howard's road, attached to the Nurses training school. And the road is named after Luke Howard
Hah, came to post that exact same thing. By far the best blue plaque in London (although it has been hidden away for ages because of building work).
This is what I like about your videos John. A Good meander, a little history, a pint and some mates.
My old stomping ground ... What a double pleasure watching this today, a special day for me!
Another great Sunday evening video. 👍
Thanks Paul
Great video as I’m from Plaistow and I’ve been to all the places you walked around. Many thanks
Interesting video John ,was really surprised there are any pubs left in Plaistow Black Lion which sells ales was a real surprise, the parks in that area look amazing.
I'm here from Tweedy pubs, looking forward to binge watching your work👌👌💙 from West Cumbria
Many thanks. Welcome to the channel!!
A great walk, The Black Lion is a great pub spent a good deal of time there while at college. Your pronunciation of Plaistow is right.
Always loved West Ham park, the first ever FA Cup goal was scored there, so ties in nicely with the sporting links
Great episode!! I was born in Plaistow and lived there until I was about 15. The empty ground by the station at 4:05 used to be a big car dealership called Dovercourt. I lived in Victoria Point, the block of flats seen between you and Tweedy at 15:46. Surprised you didn't mention the boxing club at the Black Lion. It had quite a reputation, it was there when I was a kid but may have gone now. Great to see my old stamping grounds, I haven't been back for years.
Two of my absolute favorites! Love you guys!
You two are pure and total CLASS!
That was brilliant John and John. So great to see two very knowledgeable UA-cam legends out and about together enjoying a pint and some wonderful sights. Cheers!
Cheers!!
Ive never click so fast!! Both legends 😊
Same!
I used to work at Stratford Freightliner Terminal (Temple Mills Lane) from 1990 - 1992. I used love taking a stroll over to the shopping centre during the quiet times (pre-Westfields). Very interesting area.
wonderful - loved 'meeting' Tweedy - his pub videos look great! Thanks! Do some more 'meetups' occasionally - ideally at pub! Cheers.
Lovely ramble and very interesting discussion. What a marvellous bookshop and local park. Thank you.
Absolutely loved this video.
Having moved from Plaistow in 1980, seeing the areas I played in as a child brought memories flooding back.
I have personal connections to many of the places you showed
The Black Lion,
my father was involved with their boxing club (patroned by Terry Spinks)
My mother worked there as a barmaid and also played in one of their regular charity football matches
West Ham Parish church, where my parents were married and I was baptised.
The shot at the beginning of the flats with the yellow/orange frontages were built on the site of a row of shops bombed out on the junction of Geere Road, where my Grand parents lived.
The triangular wasteland area used to the the shunting/goods yard for Plaistow Station, later taken over by a car dealership, where my father bought his first car.
Swete Street is where I lived during the early late 60's early 70's.
And if you had walked down Chesterton Road, into Chesterton terrace, you would have seen a great half circle of Georgian houses, which were there before the whole area was urbanised in the 1880's.
Balaam street , where I moved in the mid 70's.
And the old Balaam Street park was much smaller then, as the area to the left rear used to be a very large school, where the park took the land when it was demolished.
At the bottom end, near the swimming baths, Eddie Kidd used to store his touring bus and motor cycles.
And even West Ham park, as it backed onto Geer Road and Stopford Road, where both sets of Grand Parents lived and I often spent days there with them or playing football for my school on the large pitches over by the Territorial Army base. The park even has a "chrisp" connection for me, as Golden Wonder had a promotion to get free tickets for the Disney ice show by collecting packets. Needless to say the bins soon emptied of them when I went there .
I assume you went to Curwen Junior School too??
There was much to enjoy in this video. Loved the carpet of golden leaves & was astonished at the amount of books about
London in that book shop. Nice to meet Tweedy John too.
Speaking of crisps, I remember in the late 1960s there was a brand of crisps called 'Chipmunk.' They made Oxo flavoured crisps, at a time when all you could get from other manufacturers were plain or cheese and onion. Interestingly enough, the only place I was ever able to buy them was from a vending machine at Norwich swimming pool.
Love , love love this walk. More collab please!
In the early seventies, during my apprenticeship, I attended West Ham College, and my local eatery was Leddiards pie and mash. I remember it having benches to sit on with sawdust on the floor. The land next to Plaistow Station was originally the LTS&R railway loco workshops. It was later moved to the opposite side of the tracks. I have a wonderful original linen plan of the "new" depot dated from the early 1900s. A pub opposite Stratford Park was The British Lion, long demolished, a few shops down from Leddiards. I had my first ever pint there.
My two favourite activities walking about in London and drinking beer in a pub with my two favourites London nerds, John and Tweedy. Great collab fellas! Really enjoyed both of your videos today.
Thanks Kevin
Great! Thanks John. We live in Plaistow and on rare occasion I have a beer it's in the Black Lion. Will watch the video later when get back from Ilford Historical Society meeting.
Brilliant walk John of a place my brother and I know very well. Brought back so many memories of our mum enjoying pie and mash in that eatery you mentioned early in the vid. As young boys we used to play football in West Ham park while she washed it down with a pint in the British lion, a few doors down and now sadly demolished.
Thanks for sharing that Stephen
Two of my fav UA-camrs in one!! Btw, Luke Howard has a Blue Plaque in Tottenham.
Excellent as ever! Great to see Tweedy also.
Nice one John! 🌟👍
The Black Lion is a Turpin Pub. Dick Turpin worked as a Butcher's Apprentice in one of the shops along the road there. It's a great pub. Many happy nights there, also known as a haunt of the West Ham United greats. The marvellous Bobby Moore was known to quaff there among others
Thanks John that was a great east London walk
Glad you both did this collaboration. Watched you both for a while now, both very eloquent, informative and entertaining chaps😊
Thanks John for another brilliant stroll through my childhood memories.
Excellent video John, I had never heard of Plaistow before. Over here our bookshops don't stock books on London but I have got a fair few from Amazon including 2 of yours, latest is Secret London by Andrew Duncan published by a company in Pennsylvania.
Cheers for taking me on a walk around my old manor as well as giving me information that I wouldn’t have otherwise known…🎉😊
When I was a child I remember driving past the Black Lion with my dad. He pointed out the blocked up window was painted as a window with a man leaning out!
It would have been the early 80s and there is a photo on the Camra website!!!
The flat area by the station used to be Dovercourt car dealers....VW in the 70s and 80s then Ford Motors.
And it is pronounced Plaa.. stow.
Had many a steak and kidney pudding plus a few pints in the Black Lion when I lived off Balaam Street.
cclass the black lion pub is whee the west ham fans meet when they are at home thought we had converted you in to a hammer lol nice to see you on my manor at the bookshop i will get to meet you one day keep them going john you are a treasure be lucky Steve
Thanks! Great collaboration! Congratulations on selling out your book, John🎉
Thanks very much!!!
The Black Lion a great place to have a drink home of West Ham boxing club. Thanks for sharing this nostalgic walk John 🤝
Have they rebuilt it. Was knocked down last time I went? The boxing club?
@@marcussimmons7388 No they didn’t rebuild it, they moved just down the road to Jordan Hall in 2009
Great video John and wonderful to see you with Tweedy
Ooh subscribed to Tweedys channel, always up for a great pub, Timmy Taylors my home pint😅great video as always John, and John😊
Brilliant Stuff! Great collab John, best regards to you both 🍻🍻
Debussy & brilliant pubby banter!
A Great post from two of three guy's who does very good, interesting and factual post....GREAT work from you both...and this isn't an exception
Cheers Patrick
@JohnRogersWalks cheers John for your reply. It's me watching post what you are making stops me from getting bored of London , like the saying does ....Great work and take care and warm if you make posts in this drab weather
I use to go to that pie and mash shop all the time as a kid
Use to be 50p for pie and mash with a squash
And now your drinking the local brew from where in live now in maldon
The Greyhound and hare was my local 👍
A nice collaboration, interesting chat and walks!
Thank you so much.
I loved West Ham Park as a child especially watching the brass band play in that beautiful bandstand.
Balaam Street is pronounced as Baylum.
love your videos John and your pronunciation of Tayto crisps
West Ham Park looks amazing!
Hiyas Mister Rogers, I got tipped off to your lovely channel via the excellent Tweedy. I instantly subscribed; I do so enjoy this type of interesting and informative video. Happy days.
Hi there - thanks for coming over from Tweedy - welcome to the channel
Great walk John, I lived in Warwick Road off of Romford Road spent a lot of my time in the Black Lion good memories
Two of my favourites in a single video. Very enjoyable.
That decadent Samuel Gurney obelisk is definitely not Quakerly. I was shocked when I saw the dedication. His sister Elizabeth Fry has a much more conventional egalitarian grave marker, which is now at Wanstead Friends' Meeting House even though her remains are buried in Barking opposite the old Meting House, which is now a gurdwara.
I live in Norwich, just off Earlham Road. Earlham Hall is part of the University of East Anglia. The well known ziggurat student accommodation built in the 1960s is close by. Along with many other University buildings. Earlham Park is open to the public. It must have been the parkland surrounding the stately home. Elizabeth Fry is well known in Norwich. Gurneys Bank eventually became part of Barclays Bank
Been following and watching you both for quite a while. Both are fantastic channels. Would love to share a beer with both of you!
I used to do some of my drinking in the Gryhound that you mention in the video, I lived in Plaistow for most of the 90s.
Did you play in pool team
@@richardbacon429 No, but we used to play pool with Alfie sometimes, anyone who ever went in there would probably remember him. 😀
The Black Lion is such a brilliant pub. I don't live in East London so I stumbled on it at the end of a very long walk along the river from Canary Wharf to Beckton and then back to Stratford (so I could get home to Tottenham on the train). Only went in for a quick break as I was knackered but ended up having more than a couple of pints there. Really magic spot.
In the late 60’s & early 70’s a lot of the West Ham players went in the Black Lion after games. Could you imagine that happening now ⚒⚒
Bet you had Bond's,Lampard, Patsy Holland. What a treat.🤣😂🙏🌞☮️🇬🇧👍
@ I can remember Bobby Moore, Brian Deere, Bobby Ferguson
A very interesting and informative video, my roots being from West Ham North East... great thanks
Great collaboration 👍and nice to see Mighty oak getting a mention know the brewery well.
It’s interesting to hear that Plaistow used to be an almost remote village back in the day. Even now though, despite its transport links, it still has that feeling of being isolated and removed from the rest of east London. It has a quite quiet energy to it.
Good choice of a pub, the Black Lion, I know it well.
Yeah had both my grandparents wakes there
I always watch your videos and Tweedy's as a double header every Sunday.. This is great.
Thanks once again John, always plenty of interesting and fascinating items discussed.
Whenever I am in England, I pay hommage to my childhood, & visit the Black Lion when I can, before heading off to see West Ham United.
Hello John. Another fine video :D
I wondered if you had any plans for walks this week? If not, I'd like to maybe suggest a trip out to Tring from Euston, for a delightfully colourful stroll along the ridgeway, up through to the Ashridge Estate. The trees in the Chilterns are awash with all shades of orange right now :D
That sounds glorious- I haven’t been out there since I shot this video 8 years ago ua-cam.com/video/ve0xK9_OxWA/v-deo.htmlsi=SkhuoOTgSZDpOzme
Thanks John 👍 was surprised about how much your guest knew about plaistow
He’s a very knowledgeable chap Yoshi
We read Mary Renault's "The Last of the Wine" in a Greek philosophy class at William & Mary in Virginia. It's a novel set in ancient Greece and was very memorable. I recognized her name at once (from 40 years ago).
Yes, Mary Renault's books would have been published in the late 60s or early 70s, around the time of Mary Stewart's books about Merlin & Arthurian legend/myth
Going on about Buxton and the banking thing at the end reminded me of early 80's I had a Mate who lived in Buxton road. Just past Maryland. Went to School at St Francis in Bow road. 👍🇬🇧🙏☮️🌞
The ‘Great Northern’ was known locally as the ‘Top House’. You two got on as if you had been friends for years.
Luke Howard has a blue plaque on a building in Bruce Grove Tottenham, just up from the station
A great video with two of my favourite UA-camrs and a great pub
Just wandered up to say “hello” and look you in the eye while I am doing it. Just watched The Chess Valley walk ending at Chatham(?). Apparently it is becoming a societal norm for it to be out of place to acknowledge a passerby. As you noted: not all the time - it restores a little confidence back in the assurance of the common niceties that were just that “common” place. Keep on keeping on Mr. R. I will too. 👋 😊
Is Tweedy pubs the modern version of Iain Nairn, pub architecture?
Also crisps fact most were made by small local firms as they could not keep until packaging improved to keep them crisp.
Great video John, so many childhood memories. I use to visit Lediards pie mash shop in Stratford. I use to love going to Westham Park, so many exits to use, whether going to Plaistow, Upton park or Forest Gate. I am surprised the old VW car dealership is no longer behind Plaistow Station. Look forward to your next video, where ever that may be 👍😁😎
Thanks Lee
Plaistow’s local express was called the railway tavern. I lived opposite as a kid 😂
Mr Tweedy,and Mr Rogers,excellent viewing,loved it .
I was a bit disheartened when me and the wife nearly became the Landlord and Landlady of an old pub. The Bull Inn, in Bentley (the first UK TV 'reality' show was filmed there, first or second). We went through a couple of interviews with the Brewery, profit share all that stuff, living areas, rent, and then on to fixtures and fittings rental... Interesting fact. Even though the pub is centuries old nothing contained within the bar and lounge areas was original, it was all rented! Even down to the coal scuttle and coal bin next to the open fire place. All the old horse brasses were not old, they were recreations and rented for a monthly fee from a prop provider! Everything that gave the pub its 'authenticity' was a fraud. It was all rented! So since this enlightening moment I never look at oldie-worldie pubs the same... It is all a charade! Very few are original. Call me naive to believe otherwise...
What a wonderful video....thanks !
Anybody remember Christopher crisps. Oxo flavoured and sold at Cricklefields sports ground?
Yes ?
I remember going to the Black Lion pub when I was younger when my mum was studying at the UEL site in Greengate. Had a jump in the West Ham ABC boxing ring. A few years later I started boxing at Newham Boys ABC down the road on Church Street. West Ham ABC and Newham ABC were fierce rivals. Kept stepping into the West Ham ring to myself. Will have to pop down the Black Lion and have a butch and a pint - it's been a while.
Plaistow born girl here, lediards was the best pie and mash shop. My nan used to take me to the century picture house, we’d walk home towards Plaistow station and she’d have a makeson in the the railway, while I sat outside with a bag of crisps and a lemonade. 😆
Always a pleasure when Stratford is involved. At the start when you were on about that pie n mash shop I'm sure in early 80's there was a Hospital down that road. Interesting about the crisps. Cheers John. All the best. 🙏👍🇬🇧☮️🌞 P s watched a good documentary from 1964 about Bermondsey ,a decade before I entered the atmosphere. 🙏
Enjoy these vids. Maesbrook etc my gran was from Stratford and visited chadwell heath beautiful girlfriend there the Saxon parts are rare Waltham area I had some rare Saxon coins wanted eanred silver sceatta and Saxon brooch lovely vid nice to see some riverbank vegetation my grandad had an allotment hackney marshes was shocking few months ago the building in Stratford
Hello John.
Plaistow Patrica is one of my favourites!
“From the Mile End road to the matchstick Becontree, pulling strokes and taking liberties”
I think she plied her trade on the area in the song that’s along the district line 👍🏻
Councils often require shops and establishments to continue a similar trade as to what they were before. Its very rare for a clothing chain to take over a closed KFC and be allowed to convert the premises to a clothing outlet. Restaurants stay restauranty etc
It possibly it has something to do with licensing or business rates (I could be wrong).
This American loves salt and vinegar chips, I mean Crisps! There are so many odd flavors now but none compare to what I consider as the original 😊.
By the way, I just received a copy of London A to Z so I could follow along on your walks, John. Only trouble is the print is too darn small!
Great video john 👍 😊🍻
Thanks Christopher
sorry folks Luke Turner is owned by Tottenham. He lived at 7 Bruce Grove and is commemorated there with the only English Heritage Blue Plaque in Tottenham. He is known as the Father of meteorology for his detailed observations over many years of the weather and cloud formations in Tottenham. hope this helps.
Luke Howard, not Turner...
West ham are spam john 🎉 cheers for the video, always a pleasure 🎉
3 pubs or 103 pubs, always a good watch Mr Tweedy
What a great vlog, my 2 favourites 😊 I love the amateur cloud scientist story and those Plaidstowdians with all their beans 🫘 great stuff! Did you find Patricia? 😅 I’m a lawless brat from a council flat me!
Cheers Ross