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peterbirksSo I went for a half-hour walk at lunchtime, passing through haunts that I haven't seen for two decades. At the end of Pitfield Street I crossed New North Road into the infamous Murray Grove. Although some of the low-rise council houses have been demolished, to be replaced by new private developments, the sense of hopelessness that pervades the area has not gone away. One row of shops, in which the old Mecca Bookmakers/William Hill still stands, is covered in scaffolding, presumably to prevent a building only 40 years old from falling down. That appears to be the total extent of work done on the betting shop, which looked as down-at-heel as ever. The Pitfield St shop was also in the same spot, apparently unaltered since I first worked there in October 1974. The other row of shops in Murray Grove, also beneath council flats, was only half-occupied; the inhabitants were a moneygram service, a Caribbean takeaway, an off-licence and a not-very-posh funeral parlour ("all denominations catered for"). It only needed a solicitor who specialised in asylum cases and legal aid defence to complete the set.
At the end of Murray Grove I turned left into Shepherdess Walk, passing The Eagle (as in "Up And Down The City Road, In And Out of The Eagle") which is next to Shoreditch Police Station. I got drunk many a time in various pubs round this locale, with the Eagle being a frequent lunchtime haunt in 1983/84. Next to it was the Shepherdess Café. Time really seems to stand still round these parts.
Then across City Road and down Bath Street, turning left into Old Street. The Argos is still there where I bought my mum's birthday present in 1981 or thereabouts, although now it is renamed Argos Extra. I couldn't quite see what was "extra".
Datastream is renamed Thomson Reuters, but it's still the same building. There's still The Artillery Arms, and still The Angel. The Fox in Paul St has been tarted up, and that short space of road between Pitfield St and the Old St roundabout has seen the most changes. Looks like the Glue Pot and the Nelson are effectively no more. Oh, and the Pitfield St Microbrewery, whose star shone brightly for a few years and which sold some obscure lagers when Grolsch was considered fancy because of its old-fashioned bottle top. Well, that's a minimart off-licence now.
I couldn't see if it did moneygrams.
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At the end of Murray Grove I turned left into Shepherdess Walk, passing The Eagle (as in "Up And Down The City Road, In And Out of The Eagle") which is next to Shoreditch Police Station. I got drunk many a time in various pubs round this locale, with the Eagle being a frequent lunchtime haunt in 1983/84. Next to it was the Shepherdess Café. Time really seems to stand still round these parts.
Then across City Road and down Bath Street, turning left into Old Street. The Argos is still there where I bought my mum's birthday present in 1981 or thereabouts, although now it is renamed Argos Extra. I couldn't quite see what was "extra".
Datastream is renamed Thomson Reuters, but it's still the same building. There's still The Artillery Arms, and still The Angel. The Fox in Paul St has been tarted up, and that short space of road between Pitfield St and the Old St roundabout has seen the most changes. Looks like the Glue Pot and the Nelson are effectively no more. Oh, and the Pitfield St Microbrewery, whose star shone brightly for a few years and which sold some obscure lagers when Grolsch was considered fancy because of its old-fashioned bottle top. Well, that's a minimart off-licence now.
I couldn't see if it did moneygrams.
+++++++++++++
