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A Guide to the East End of London

by: BillyJones
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Word Count: 568

Most folk know that the capital city of the United Kingdom is London in the south east of England. As Europe's largest city, with a population exceeding 7 million people, there are several areas where different cultures seem to congregate leading to a multi-cultural and rather cosmopolitan society. One of the areas most people associate with true Londoners is the East End of London.

To some people the location of the East End is obvious, but the average tourist is often confused, expecting only a small area. In actual fact the East End encompasses all those districts which are to be found east of the centre. Of course such a large area contains a number of highly interesting places to visit and a number of top class tourist attractions. One thing that you really should make the effort to see is the fascinating collection of dolls houses at Bethnal Green Museum. The collection contains numerous antique houses dating back to the 17th century.

Londoner's who live in the East End are generally known, and commonly referred to, as "Cockneys". However, to be a true Cockney the person has to have been born within the sound of "Bow Bells" (the "Bow Bells" are the bells from Bow Church). Strangely the word "Cockney" is derived from the middle English word "cokeney" which is the name given to misshaped eggs or cock's eggs.

Sadly, during the dark times of the plague (1348-50), there were so many men, women and children killed that the dead had to be disposed of in large pits rather than individual graves. Archaeologists, digging in the area around Tower Bridge, found the remains of more than 700 bodies.

The main port of London was in the East End with the first being the West India Dock which was completed in 1802. For a long time, from 1788 to around 1960, it was the world's busiest port. At it's peak (in the 1930's) the port's docks saw 35,000,000 tons of cargo being handled and, at this time, the port employed around 100,000.

The East End of London has been home to many famous & infamous characters. The famous explorer Captain Cook married the daughter of the landlord of an East End public house in which Cook often visited. Another famous person closely associated with the East End is Joseph Merrick because he had been appearing in a freak show at the Mile End Road billed as "The Elephant Man", sadly a name to which he remains most widely known as to this day.

During the 1960's the East End became famous for the gangster operations of the "Krays". The Kray twins (Ronnie and Reggie) ruled an incredibly lucrative criminal empire which became headline news when they were finally brought to justice. One infamous East End criminal who famously evaded capture was "Jack the Ripper". In 1888 Jack the Ripper brutally murdered five women then ceased much to the annoyance of the police. There were many suspects but little hard evidence and the debate continues to this day as to who really was the Ripper.

Many assumed that the Ripper was a Jewish person because, at that time, Whitechapel was almost entirely Jewish. The East End had always been where most new incomers first set up home when arriving in Britain. Even today the East End has a massively diverse multi-cultural populous and this is likely to continue for a great many years yet.