Month: May 2026

06
May
2026

On the Number 55 Bus, and the Substantial Civic Function It Performs Between Hackney and Holborn

Harper-Thames on the substantial daily working life of one bus route, the substantial population it carries, and…

06
May
2026

On the Curtain Road Music Venue Question, and the Quiet Disappearance of the Small Stages That Made East London What It Is

Harper-Thames on the substantial closure of the small-capacity venues, the substantial economics that make their reopening difficult,…

06
May
2026

On the Hackney City Farm, the Substantial Pig That Lives in It, and the Strange Civic Position of Animal-Based Public Education in Inner London

Harper-Thames on the working life of an urban farm, the funding model that keeps the pig fed,…

06
May
2026

Walking the Regents Canal from Limehouse to Camden, and What the Towpath Tells You About How East London Has Changed

Harper-Thames on the substantial seven-mile walk, the substantial cyclists who continue to ignore the speed limit, and…

06
May
2026

Sunday Morning at Columbia Road, Where the Flower Sellers Have Outlasted Approximately Eleven Generations of New Arrivals

Harper-Thames on the dawn rituals of the East London flower market, the working life of a stallholder,…

04
May
2026

Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday Morning Is Evidence That London Is Worth It

Harper-Thames on the Weekly Ritual of East London’s Most Cheerful Street and What It Says About the…

04
May
2026

I Attended a Shoreditch Networking Event and I Have Information to Share

Harper-Thames on the Specific Theatre of East London Professional Socialising, What People Say They Do, and What…

04
May
2026

The Old Street Roundabout Is Being Redesigned and I Have Strong Feelings About Roundabouts as Urban Policy

Harper-Thames on TfL’s Plans for Silicon Roundabout, What Makes a Junction Work, and Why Pedestrians in East…

04
May
2026

The Best Fifteen Minutes of My Week Happen in a Courtyard Off Bethnal Green Road and I Am Not Going to Tell You Which One

Harper-Thames on the Specific Joy of Discovering a Place Before the Algorithm Does and the Impossibility of…

04
May
2026

The Shoreditch Mural I Walk Past Every Day Just Got Cleaned Up and Now It’s Worse

Harper-Thames on Street Art, Restoration, and the Specific Problem of Making Raw Things Look Finished Reported by…