London: Clapton

Powerscroft Rd

Lower Clapton is a small area of Hackney, London, hidden in the North East of the inner city, and Clapton is my new home. It rests on the border of London's current youthful society - the Bobo's of London. Only four years ago, the main street in the area was known as 'Murder Mile' thanks to its high amount of gun crimes and shootings. It seems that the creation of a pond can cure vice in an instant - and the closure of a troublesome club can also help. 

St John's Hackney

Lower Clapton is now a very pleasant residential area; some of the brothels have been replaced by organic cafes and shops but what is wonderful about Clapton is that the vibrant inner city life still exists with in all this change, no one culture has won the balance of dominance. Along side these new organic cafes are bordered up shops that play host to Turkish and Caribbean social clubs, a peak through the door will reveal middle aged men sitting around tables, drinking coffee and playing games, or perhaps a pool table surrounded families and teenagers. Men sit on chairs outside and smoke cigarettes that rest under their white moustaches. Hairdressers in the area also seem to have this function at night time - their lights on at one am, and groups of people socialising, laughing and playing.

Back of the Houses

The area was once known for its gangs, those responsible for those many gun shots. Hackney is still a battle ground for the Postcode Wars. E5 and E8 fight over their territory unsure of their real cause, no one seems quite sure why a post code is a matter of life and death. A search for Hackney on Youtube will instantly produce endless amateur rap music videos declaring war on their neighbouring post code. London Fields, a widely 'gentrified' area still suffers from the odd gang fight, sometimes during the day, but this can make it all the more exciting.Side by side with this culture, Hackney has a lifestyle not found elsewhere in London. There are a mix of young artists, models, graphic artists and designers with high aspirations. Unlike the Kensington types, the young dream of self employment  and this movement has a continental attitude and is less English. This generation is global.

Clapton Passage

So, Clapton is a small collection of Victorian housing estates, centred around Clapton Pond, St John's Church and Sutton House. The houses feel almost Jewish and the windows on Chatsworth Road seem Persian. On a wlak in the area, I will encounter African Gospel singers leaving the Round Chapel in full attire, Muslim ladies in their veils, Polish workers, attractive young couples, middle class mothers, middle aged Historian types, friendly beggars who are happy to have a long conversation, Caribbean men and women shouting friendly exchanges across the street and so on and so forth. As I said, no culture is dominant, and I hope it stays this way. The feeling is gentle and safe, though this may be alien to visitors.

A friend of mine from my typically English market town home once thought of moving to London. When I told him of where I lived he said, "My friends told me that the place is a shit hole." I responded saying his friends could not be very adventurous. This is not a place of middle England where Topshop fills the street and the white pub culture has taken over at night, where spotty lads and short skirted ladettes fall over the high street, hoping for a fight and a fuck. This is a place of trade and dynamics, where fat men ride mobility scooters covered in fruit, and the smell of cannabis is as normal as tobacco on some streets whilst others are interested in a life outside of England, and a life of opportunity and  creativity.

Maybe I am idealising, but after a life in a market town where ideals are already set by a retired generation, Clapton holds a positive future full of life. The area proves that a multi cultured England can workwhilst keeping the traditions of a country; never have I seen so many milk floats, green grocers and lollipop men as I have here, all English traditions that seem to be dying in the smaller towns.

The history of East London is still apparent here; the cockneys, the Victorian gentry, the country side it was built on and the modern society of England since the Windrush generation. It can all be felt still, whilst looking over garden fences and visiting local shops. Many of the houses have been left untouched by landlords, their floorboards still revealed, and detailed features still in tact.  Outside windows are presented with carved wood columns and main lights hang from floral discs. Luckily the area managed to skip much of the Changing Rooms modernisation which allowed MDF to become a norm in English housing. Though all of this may change, and the balance may tip once more as it does so often in London.