Lea Bridge Roundabout

History of Hackney

In 1884: in 1975: and today: top 2 photos from A Second Look: A photography record of a walk through Hackney in 1890’s and todayBottom photo from Sludgegulper on Flickr“

15 Comments

  1. I like the 1884 Hackney. Can we go back?

  2. I love the 1884 one – that statue and lamp posts would not survive modern hackney drivers though.

  3. Apparently according to the book (from 1975) the staue has disappeared, but the drinking fountain was moved to the corner of Rectory and Amhurst Road in 1908. I don’t know if it is still there. There was talk of putting a new statue on the roundabout – but that was well before it was turned into a bus garage.

  4. There was a point when the roundabout had an underpass – it was filled in after a few too many muggingsPhoto from Alan Denney on Flickr“

  5. I remember the underpass, they closed it in the late 90s, maybe 97/8 just as I was moving down here. Lots of robbing led to them closing it down.

  6. The drinking fountain, minus the statue, was found some years ago and placed next to the Public Library in Homerton High Street. It was mostly overlooked and unappreciated, nearly always covered in rubbish. I don’t think it is still there, I will look next time I pass the Library!

  7. No, the fountain is not there any more, I do hope it has not been destroyed!

  8. STOP PRESS. It seems that the cold weather may have killed the weeds that grow on this flower bed. The remains of the fountain are there, I have taken a photo of it, and now I will try to attach it, Fingers crossed!

  9. @king4acknee is it this:From a topic I posted a while back http://www.yeahhackney.com/drinking-fountain-in-homerton/“

  10. Yes, that’s the one.   And here it is yesterday! “

  11. On a slightly different but related subject, I can’t  remember seeing the fountain on the corner of Rectory and Amhurst Roads, mind you I wasn’t looking for it, but that pointed building on that corner was once ‘The Regency Club’, a very trendy venue in the 50s and 60s and owned and run by two local blokes.. Ronnie and Reggie Kray!

  12. I’m glad to see that the remains of the fountain are still there, be it that it seems to have lost a bit more of the top compared to when it was at the Rectory Rd/Amherst Rd junction.It was me that started a one man campaign many years ago when the Lea Bridge Round-a-bout was being built, to get it moved from Rectory Rd, where it was being used as an unofficial rubbish bin, back to a spot on the round-a-bout but I was unable to persuade the powers that be to do that so the compromise was to re-house it in front of the new Homerton Library. A Hackney Councillor at the time, even tried to promote a sort of competition for someone to design a new statue for the top. This came to nothing though.

  13. @lincsgent great to get the history of the fountain and the roundabout, it has gone through some changes over the years. There really is a need for a bus station at Clapton Pond, which used to be the small roads round the back of the pond before the roundabout was replaced, but good to see that the statue still remains in the borough.

  14. Talking of the \small roads at the back of the Pond.” Back in the 50’s when the Trolleybuses were running there used to be a loop for them to go and stand round in Powell Road. The destination blind on them read “KENNINGHALL ROAD”.”

  15. And also in the 50s and later, there used to be an odd shaped double decker petrol bus parked behind the Pond which travelled to Stratford and back via Carpenter’s Road. It was odd because it was lower than a standard bus so that it could get under bridges along the route. This meant that the upper deck seats were arranged down the middle of the bus, as three-seaters, with gangways on either side. I remember even as a teenager having to stoop to avoid banging my head on the roof. I don’t know how many vehicles serviced this route but these buses were unique to the Hackney-Stratford link. Their ghosts pass through the Olympic Stadium.

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