Hackney Road
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
arterial route running from Shoreditch Church
St Leonard's, Shoreditch
St Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road, within the London Borough of Hackney. The current building dates from about 1740...
to Cambridge Heath
Cambridge Heath
Cambridge Heath is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The earliest recorded use of the name is as Camprichthesheth in 1275.It forms part of the East End of London and is located north of Bethnal Green. The area is the location, at Patriot Square, of the former Bethnal Green Town Hall...
. It occupies a no mans land in between Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
and Haggerston
Haggerston
Haggerston is an area and a electoral ward in the London Borough of Hackney, in northeast London, UK. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south, Kingsland Road on the west, Middleton Road on the north with London Fields and Broadway Market on the east...
. For half of its course it forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
and Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
.
It has yet to experience the gentrification of nearby Columbia Road
Columbia Road
Columbia Road is a street in Washington, D.C., that forks from Connecticut Avenue north of Dupont Circle, and branches north and east through 16th Street to the McMillan Reservoir...
or Broadway Market
Broadway Market
Broadway Market is a street running from London Fieldsto the Regent's Canal in Haggerston in the London Borough of Hackney, east London.Before the late 20th century it was the site of a busy fruit and vegetable market, but this slowly dwindled over time - in the early 2000s, market activity was...
and presents a spectacle of inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
urban dereliction (Harrison 1985). Derelict buildings include many defunct pubs - such as the curiously named 'Flying Scud' - and the empty Children's Hospital. Completing the picture are striptease
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
venues such as Browns, The Olde Axe and Images (Clifton 2002), bingo halls, fast-food outlets and building sites. However, there is a city farm, which brings a touch of the pastoral to this particularly urban area. Hackney City Farm
Hackney City Farm
Hackney City Farm is a city farm in Haggerston the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated on Hackney Road at the junction of Goldsmith's Row....
is located at the junction of (intersection with) Goldsmith's Row on the northern (Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
) side of the road. Next to the farm is Haggerston Park
Haggerston Park
Haggerston Park is an open space in Haggerston, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bounded by Whiston Road , Hackney Road and St Saviour's Priory, Queensbridge Road and Goldsmith's Row ....
.
In 2008 a 178-room Days Hotel London Shoreditch opened at the junction with Pritchard's Road.
Hackney Road is served by the 55, 48 and 26 buses.
On 21 July 2005 at 13:30 BST a small explosion occurred on the Number 26 bus travelling from Waterloo
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
to Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick railway station
Hackney Wick railway station is on the North London Line in the London Borough of Hackney, on the northern side of the boundary between Hackney and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground...
, on Hackney Road at the corner with Columbia Road. There were no fatalities in the explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
.