"End of a mile from where?" a Mile End Travel Page by planxty

Since I joined VT, which seems like a lifetime ago, I have had my home location set as London. This is, strictly speaking, true. I do live in London, and I love living here. However, as any resident of a big city will tell you, you don't actually live in London, New York or Paris, you live in Mile End, Brooklyn or the 13th arrondissement.

Mile End is, to say the least, cosmopolitan. It is a part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which has one of the highest percentage of immigrant people in the UK. Predominant amongst these groups are Bangladeshis, Somalis and, latterly, people from the "accession states" of the EU (Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania etc). all of this gives the place a very vibrant atmosphere although, it must be said, not without it's share of problems between the various groups. I suppose this is almost inevitable.

Oddly enough, I have very few images of my local area, a situation I will rectify soon. I suppose you never really take photos of what is on your own doorstep, although there is certainly plenty here to see.

From a purely VT point of view it is difficult to post tips as it is hard to know where Mile End, Whitchapel, Bethnal Green and Stepney begin and end. I will do my best to get everything in the right places.

As far as I am aware, the name derives because the place was a mile from the old City Gate of Aldgate. Certainly a walk along Whitechapel Road going East from Aldgate would suggest it is there or thereabouts.

In the Middle Ages, it was common land where people would gather just outside the crowded confines of the City and it is here where the Men of Essex famously met King Richard II during the Peasants Revolt of 1381.

It was certainly a place where herds of cattle etc. were kept prior to being taken into London for slaughter to feed the expanding City. Street names which still survive, like Hayfield Passage, bear witness to this.

Apart from the work of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, in the 19th century, the area also gave rise to the Dr. Barnardo's Children's Homes, another charitable organisation still working today.

There are also reminders that the area has always been an area favoured by immigrants. The first Jewish cemetery for Jews after they were allowed back into England by Cromwell is just off Mile End Road, and the Siege of Sidney Street (also close to where I live) shows that Russian immigrants were here in the early 20th century.

As I said, a great and historic place to live, and hopefully some more tips soon.