The Albert Square matriarch, Peggy Mitchell, once told her former husband’s brother (with whom she was romantically involved) “I’m old East End. Proper. You don’t mess with me”. Seemingly, what she meant by being “old East End” was that she was to be feared, rather than approached by in-laws for sexual encounters.
This toughness is typical of the East End, an area which has a history like maybe no other region in London. In this column I intend to look at the relationship between the East End of old and new, looking at the changes and the stalwarts in landscape, residents and culture, focussing on one street or district in each article.
Vol. 6: Bethnal Green – Pugilism and Protection Pests
Bethnal Green
The history of Bethnal Green is a rich narrative, in terms of a tale, but a story of the poor in fiscal terms. The impoverished have inhabited this part of the East End for as long as it has been a recognised district and, as such, it has been a hotbed for violence and villainy for many years.
Having been the hometown of great boxing champions like the mythical English champion Daniel Mendoza and latterly the World champion of the welterweight division John H Stracey (among various others), Bethnal Green’s reputation as a boxing Mecca is cemented without even factoring in the world famous York Hall and the Repton Boxing Club.
Conversely, with Valance Road having been the base and familial home of the celebrity gangster twins, The Krays (themselves reputable former boxers), gore, aggression and fear have seemingly always had a hold over the area.
Indeed, it is perhaps the legend of the blind beggar of Bethnal Green which best sums up the area. Ostensibly a ballad about a poverty stricken former member of the English gentry who was suddenly able to find a sum large enough to pay a huge dowry for his daughter’s wedding, it led to the naming of the Blind Beggar pub in nearby Whitechapel, where Ronnie Kray would murder fellow hood George Cornell.
Pugilism
Bethnal Green has historically been a place where fists rule. As a well-known boxing haven and home of the aforementioned, world-renowned York Hall venue – a boxing legend up there with New York’s Madison Square Garden – it has always been known for its tough inhabitants and pugilistic pursuits. Today it is still home to the Repton Boxing Club, which has produced various greats down the years – the latest of whom being Darren Barker, the newly-crowned IBF World middleweight champion.
Beyond these institutional boxing icons, Bethnal Green has produced, been home to or been the training ground for (mainly at the great Repton club) some of the great British fighters in history. From world champions like John H Stracey (abovementioned), the welterweight champion of the World, and the World junior middleweight champion, Maurice Hope, to Olympic champions such as Audley Harrison, Bethnal Green has played a huge part in the lives of many British fighters and continues to do so.
The pugilistic prowess of this tough district is undeniable then. It was equally known for its combatants in its various pubs throughout the 20th century, having been a ferment foothold for handy East End chaps whose main after hours activities involved walloping each other down the Bethnal Green Road whilst blotto.
The modern day Bethnal Green, it must be said, is not quite as violent as it once was. As with much of the East End (and most of the districts covered hitherto in this column), these days it is more of a stomping ground for thin hipsters with moustaches and Warhol complexes than burly working class ruffians with small man complexes. It is now a choice for many students and pseudo-fashion doyennes as their dwelling due to its relatively inexpensive rents (compared with neighbouring towns) and quick access to the West End via the Central Line.
Bethnal still has an edge though; do not be completely fooled by its ostensible succumbing to Hoxton sprawl. Its various estates still carry a slight whiff of purpose-built animal cages and the streets still have the odd bruiser cruising through them, looking for a quick buck or a punch up. It is perhaps for this reason that the area has kept some of its soul and some of the old East End we find so mystical.
Protection Pests
The notorious Kray twins terrorised Bethnal Green and its residents throughout the 1960s with their Omerta-style wall of silence in the neighbourhood and their brand of slickly-attired thuggery that wreaked havoc throughout the area. Backed up by their gang of hoodlums, known as ‘The Firm’, the terrible two plotted their maniacal rackets and violent oppression of local business owners from ‘Fort Valance’, their parents’ home at 178 Valance Road – a now demolished two up-two down.
It is perhaps fitting that Bethnal Green’s most famous (infamous?) sons would be two twin brothers brought up in extreme poverty in the wartime/post war period in the area, whose teenage years would be fuelled by a love of boxing and street fights, but whose early adult life would be enshrouded in a strange blood lust and racketeering career which would see them both spend the next half of their respective lives under the custodial care of Her Majesty. Such is the history of Bethnal and its surrounds that it would always be the way that Britain’s most notorious gangsters would have arisen from its red brick, bread line streets.
The Krays are a strange anomaly. Ron was gay and Reg bisexual. Ron was a clinical paranoid schizophrenic and Reg was an undiagnosed depressive. Both were capable of extreme violence and were known to egg each other on to commit violent acts, which oft escalated out of control. Both were of Irish traveler stock. Neither was particularly literate.
Yet, despite all of their conflicting personal foibles and quirks, and their rather untraditional backgrounds and sexual preferences, they were accepted as true celebrities in the 1960s – a decade that some believe was the great liberalising period of Great Britain, but a decade that was actually still rather guarded and discriminatory. For instance, in 1960s Britain the Tories still ran with the slogan ‘If you want a nigger for a neighbor, vote Labour’ in a couple of local election campaigns and many of the populace took Till Death us Do Part’s Alf Garnett character as a straight gag man as opposed to an ironic outward look at a bigot.
Perhaps what is more surprising is the reverence with which they were treated and seen in by a great number of white, English working class males of the time and beyond. Perhaps it was such that these men were acting out of fear rather than adoration or even respect in the 1960s, but their hero status today is a peculiar and, frankly, disquieting aspect of culture among young males.
The legend of The Krays today is huge. Immortalised in biographical books by John Pearson (Ian Fleming’s biographer no less) and mystified in The Libertines’ ‘Up the Bracket’ from the album of the same name, as well as their eponymous movie starring the brothers Kemp (of Spandau Ballet fame), The Krays are bona fide underworld heroes to many. Don’t believe me? Watch some clips from their funerals on Youtube.
In a similar manner to Che Guevara and Al Pacino’s Scarface character, the two have become murderous poster boys and can be found on many a t-shirt and bedroom wall. The world is full of unlikely idols…
Violence in Vogue
Bethnal Green is the former deadly playground of many a violent hero. Its horrific legacy is in its past and its future looks to be more gentrified and civil, maybe more like the sport of boxing than the act of protection or long firms. That said, Bethnal Green will always carry a mystique for its dark, nightmarish gore and its history of blood, sweat and guts as success vehicles.
The blind beggar is behind, in Bethnal’s boorish bygone days. Its present and future are in limbo, dependent on it fully shaking off its violent reputation.
