The East End Assignment 5

One of the assignments was to explore the Bangladeshi community of London. This area is called the East End but is also known as the Brick Lane area. When we first arrived we were told to go to Spital Square and on to Folgate street. The houses there are very close together as you walk down this street but the difference between the newly formed Georgian style and the modern can be only told by the coloring of the houses. We found ourselves soon wondering through cute little shops that were very expensive and a court yard slowly being filled up by vendors to sell things from kids toys to bold pieces of jewelry. One of my favorites had to be the Scrabble board pieces glued onto a ring. As we continued on with our adventure we ran into the Christ Church. This church is absolutely beautiful with its prestigious white surroundings and its clean lines just give it a sense of purity within the church. The feeling of the church is grand and open with little to do about crosses.  I had remembered this Church from our Jack the Ripper tour. Now is when the interesting part begins. After turning down to get to Brick Lane the entire environment changed into something new. Every shop began to give off a scent of either curry or incense.
Down the way was a Brewery called the Old Truman's Brewery which has now been transformed into a community centre. From the outside you would never be able to imagine that this was a working Brewery until you see the sign over the walk way. The next stop was the Whitechapel Art Gallery that was actually closed by the time we got there. I was a bit disappointed in that. However, we got to spend more time at the Bell Foundry because of it. When standing outside of this building you would have never imagined that there would be so much history within its walls. As soon as you walk in to the small museum at the front you notice that the frame work for Big Ben is surrounding the front door. That in itself is pretty fantastic. The museum then explains that the Liberty bell was also cast there. We continued on to the back where there were all types of bells, little, big, chimes and even hand bells. A couple of the girls attempted to play Puff the Magic Dragon but failed miserably do the fact the the C was missing. Who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing two girls trying to figure out how to play Puff the Magic Dragon when only one of them knows how to read music. Good Times in the Bell Foundry.