Sunday 6 March 2016

Leyton

I seem to be having a run of visits to north-east London, so let's continue the theme in Leyton. This was a cold wet Saturday, which was hopefully the last hurrah of winter.

Our first clock of the day (would that be one o'clock?) was spotted on the Tesco supermarket on High Road Leyton.





It is a slightly odd place to put a clock. I wonder whether whatever building that previously occupied the site also had one? Pacifying the locals by maintaining a local feature perhaps.


Just around the corner in Lea Bridge Road, the seconds are beating away at The Drum public house.



The Drum was originally called Nancy's, and before that was an auctioneer's premises (which might explain the clock). In 1986 it became one of the earlier Wetherspoons pubs.



And just down the road are the London Master Bakers Alms houses. Peering through the gates you can just see the clock on the main building.

 





 
And a little bit further along the same road is the slightly newer Ibis hotel. Whilst the clock is not dissimilar in design to the one at the alms houses, the scale is totally different.



Just look at the size of those clock faces. They are absolutely huge in comparison to the size of the building as a whole. And like the Tesco one around the corner, they are in a slightly odd location - again, are they trying to replicate a previous clock on the site? (Does anyone have a detailed knowledge of local Leyton history?).



A quick peek at a distance at the cricket ground pavilion...




...before moving on to re-join Leyton High Road and finding the town centre clock:





It is then a short walk to the gem that is Leyton Library. Opened in 1882 as the town hall, it became the library when a larger town hall was built next door.











By now I was getting thoroughly cold and wet, so time to catch the Central Line at Leyton station, with one last opportunity for a clock picture: