An area so rich in history deserves a well researched offering like this. Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed this informative, pun filled episode: More power to your elBow!!!
If its just a tag thrown up, that isn't "real" Graffiti, that's tagging. The only aim to tagging is to get your name seen in as many places, by as many people possible. Futura is a Graffiti artist, and been around since the 1980s. His work featured as the cover to UNKLE's 1998 album Psyence Fiction. He's now also done a clothing line with UniQlo and cycle company Cinelli. These "vandals" are legitimate artists. One of my favourite artists ever, Adam Neate, started off as a Graffiti artist. Think you've fallen into the trap of labelling all spray paint expression as Graffiti and haven't considered the many nuances involved in the art.
If they put me in charge of things, I'd require proof of age to buy spray paint. Initially you would need to be 18, if that didn't work I'd up the age to 21, then 25. If the graffiti infestation continued, I'd ban paint spray cans altogether and people who wanted things spray painted could take them to a hardware shop or hire a licensed contractor to spray paint larger things. On reflection perhaps it's better if they don't put me in charge?
There was also rapid suburbanisation in Bow. The terrace of houses featured in the clip was built around 1860. There is a symbiosis between speculative building of commuter houses and speculative railway building.
Nice to see a brief glimpse of the actual church at Bow. I used to ring there a couple of times a week when living in Mile End in the early 90s. Bomb damage in the war left the stairs up the tower blocked, so the bells are now rung from the ground floor via very long, and stretchy, ropes - just inside the door seen in the video. For reasons I was never clear about, Sunday morning ringing took place at the end of the service with the parishioners often walking out through the middle of the ringing circle while we desperately tried to avoid getting them caught in the flailing ropes.
@@AtheistOrphan Dove's Guide still has them listed as a ground floor ring, so more than likely (there's a scary looking ladder going up the inside of the tower for maintenance access). dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?tower=13996
Years ago, in the company of my mates on a lads day out (to Brands Hatch actually), we drove across a bridge over the local canal where there was a sign proclaiming "Bow Locks". We were in hysterics!
@@pavlekodak2147 The wording on the sign and its pronunciation bear a resemblance to a common and rather coarse word that refers to part of the male reproductive system, viz. the scrotum and its contents. Hope this helps, Pavle (Pavel?)and apologies to anyone offended.
Funnily enough, having just watched this, I unintentionally ended up visiting Bow Church Station, and Canary Wharf Station that I'd watched your video on the other day :) Keep up the good work, Jago, you've brought me much entertainment and information about our wonderful city, it's rail network and history.
I used to live in this area, and walked along this stretch many, many times. I never knew there was so much upheaval and history related to the railways here. Makes me quite sad in a way, I miss this area an awful lot.
i worked for BR in 1969 till 71, and would often walk from Poplar Dock to Hackney along the track and frequently explored the abandoned stations and sidings along the way. My job on a Friday was to take the shovels and giant tea kettle along the now DLR track to Fenchurch street, the through the streets to Liverpool street station and place them under the Platform so as to be ready for collection on a Saturday nightor Sunday engineering works
Thanks for this bit of history that involves some lines worked by my former colleagues from Stratford loco Depot. Incidentally, at 08:48, that picturesque shot across Limehouse Basin has one of those marvellous Thames Sailing Barges, Xylonite, with the grey hull and tall masts on the right. There's a whole other subject of transport strongly linked to London, right there.
I have worked at Bow church station and now work for the hire company in the video but not at that branch. Did not know about the bow stations I did know of the other local station in Coborn Road. 😄
Must've been a pain trying to go across London in those days. Sure, great there's lots of railways, but that's the issue: there's lots of railways; each with their own ticketing, prices, stations, routes and conflict
They did come up with the Railway Clearing House to sort that kind of thing out, although it was far from perfect - especially when two rival companies were involved.
With the single branch line that goes from Gas Factory Junction to Fenchurch Street Line Junction where the single line meets with the Great Eastern Main Line west of Stratford and east of Bethnal Green. And goes over the A11 Bow Road. That branch line doesn’t get used a lot except for diversion and c2c trains moved from Ilford depot as empty stock. Which i think is very interesting to see just 1 train on the single branch line in East London.
I lived in London for 13 years before moving to Leicester in 1990. In the past 30 years I have been back only once, for a week. Your videos bring it all back to me, like an old friend. Thank you :-)
I used to live in Bow as a Child (1960s ) and I remember the railway sidings by St Andrews Hospital , also I remember when using Fenchurch street , sometimes the train curved off just after lime house and went via stratford then back to Barking
The platforms of the old Bow Road station are still in place on the viaduct just to the north of the bridge over Bow Road. I too used to explore both them and those of the closed Bow Road station when I was a kid in the late '50's and early '60's.
Lovely to see The Bow Bells pub near the end there. I used to live relatively nearby, Bromley-by-Bow was my commuting station, then I'd walk through the Three Mills area to get home. The Bow Bells was a good pub, it was about a 20 or so minute walk away but it was nowhere near as dodgy as many of the others that were closer. As I found out!
I cycle through the Bow area every now and again along Cycle Superhighway 2, and had no idea there had been so many Bow stations. Thanks for another great learning experience Jago. You should write a book, with al of this precious knowledge you share. 👏🏾❤👌🏾
Great video..I used to work in Bow and took the DLR from Stratford to Devons Road daily. Once or twice spotted a C2C train on the curve on stock movement.
I managed to ride down to Poplar Docks on the old North London line, back in 1981 time, on a 7 car DMU railtour. Probaly te last passenger train down there until the DLR came along. They let us out where the lines branched east & west, no platforms, just leap off the train if you were able to! Found a class 03 shuter and several freight wagons, all still in use, they didn't look abandoned........ Now even the new bridge put in across the A102 has been taken down at Victoria Park Juncion and very little signs remain to show where the line went.......
I feel like your making this video shows that you Bow-ed to pressure from groups more interested in the abandoned stations of the area. Which is good, because it made for a really interesting video! Great stuff as always.
I got a somewhat bizarre ad for Kraft Philadelphia before this video which said ‘You came here for holiday inspiration remember?’ Er no, I came here to learn about railway stations. I can’t imagine anything inspiring me to take a holiday in Bow.
Thank you. I was at school at Tredegar Square which is on the curve and we used to enjoy watching the freight traffic between the two halves of the Eastern Region passing.
I take it you're another Old Cooperian, so you must mean the view out the library window through the gap in the houses left by the bombing.( you'd never be watching the trains from the ground floor class rooms!) Even if you couldn't see them you could guess what was passing by the sound. Did you ever see "Tom Thumbs' arch", or Coborn Road station? They're both along that bit of line.
@@ianbaxter8299 those windows were so high you couldn't see out. Although I only went to Coopers in 1971 and we were the last class until we moved down to Upminster in 1972. There was only one class which became 6 when we moved
That film would make a good intro to a pub quiz. Well, it had me scurrying into the kitchen for a glass of my local single malt (I live in Scotland). It's called Glengoyne and I challenge Jago to make a film about that! There is an abandoned railway that passed near the distillery.
Lived in East London for many years, never ever got to see any train on the single line connection between Fenchurch St. & Stratford that went over the main Bow Road.
I did go to Bow Road station a couple of years ago to have a look round the area. The Nunnery Gallery close to the Bow Church is worth visiting and it has a nice cafe.
Thank you, very interesting. You are right the various companies and speculators wasted huge amounts of money competing against each other without developing a rational railway network.
Greetings XJ6. Most enjoyable. I'm told that during the heyday of the goods traffic in this area there was quite a lot of livestock and in particular sheep. The offloading point was called Bow Peep. There was also a specialist electric guitar warehouse proposed for the late 1950's which was to be called Bow Diddley. Very sunny here too so I'm going to have a nice lie down in a dark room. Kind regards as always
The bridge by the old magistrates court and bookies used to apparently be called the Ferodo bridge because of the tire company that sponsored it. I know there were several other 'Ferodo' bridges. Some of my family also ran a Kosher Butchers in its shadow but it was demolished!
i miss London and especially Bow where i used to live and work.The first place i visit when i get back will be Muxima if its still there.The best Cafe in London
Nice to see this wee it’s own video! We do still use the Gas Factory-Stratford connector line which of course goes through the station site on the viaduct. It was double track until it was singled to make way for the DLR as it merged on a tight rising curve from Bow Church to occupy the up line formation. The down platform is still pretty much there but we are not allowed to step out onto it if we are held at the signal as it is unsafe. I have seen a few pictures of the station but as you rightly say it was never busy 🤷🏻♂️ As you go round the bend on the DLR, you can still see the bridge that carries the Great Eastern main line, under which the Poplar lines once went en route to joining the North London line. This line saw the notorious Hat Murder in the 1860s which you have probably already covered so I’ll shut up 🙄 Greatly entertaining stuff as ever sir 😎👍🍀🍻
Great video Jago! Have you thought of covering the South London LInes (London Bridge to Victoria), originally electric overheads. An electric depot at Peckham Rye and the competition with street trams.
When l used to travel a lot from Liverpool street in the early 90s to Stratford you could see the old empty track bed of the line through Bow ,which used to leave the North London line and going to London docks passing under the GE main line near Mile end !! l believe it's part of the DLR now ?
Hooray for the Railway Junction Diagrams map at 1:46! Particularly helpful for this complicated area. I stopped the video and perused it for a time. The mass of lines look like a ball of wool after a kitten has played with it, and it's a real eye-opener how many railways made the effort to get down to the London Docks area (often by running powers or agreements) and put all their various goods stations in.
Franklin Jarrier's London rail map always comes in handy when watching your history videos. I see the link from Fenchurch Street to Stratford is still there - do any train services use it, or is it just retained for operational convenience?
Excellent vid. A feather to your bow. Take a bow. Good to know. But what a row. Best sit on a bough and watch the rowers below row about Bow as passengers plough right through from Slough to Loughborough. Ow!
