WHITECHAPEL ROAD
This being Banglatown, there’s more HFC (Halal Fried Chicken) than KFC. Fish and chips at Jack the Chipper is also an option. But lunch has to be a curry at the Brick Lane Brasserie … With lockdown but a few days away, I’m surprised there’s no queue outside Jack the Clipper . I’m sure quite a lot of people know this (© Michael Caine): the traditional red & white barber’s pole refers to bandages and blood. This stems from the days of blood letting, with the pole representing the staff patients gripped to encourage blood flow during the procedure. The usual addition of blue stripes to poles in the USA is maybe just patriotic – or could represent arterial blood – or a barber who can’t decide which way to vote. Topical stuff, huh? At the time of its closure in 2017, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry was the oldest manufacturing company in Britain, having been founded in 1570. They made the Libe...