Chats Palace Exhibition

You may have read in Hackney Today (20th Sept) about our upcoming exhibition at Chats Palace.

In this exhibition, words and images we have gathered over the last year tell the story of Chatsworth Road.

Shops like ‘Chatsworth Tyre Service’ and the butcher ‘Mighty Meats’ have been run by the same family for decades. The computer repair shop doubles as a Koranic school. In the last few years, a French deli, juice bar and gourmet coffee shop have appeared alongside the Kashmiri kebab shop and Jamaican takeaway.

Each plays their own part in keeping alive this peculiar and wonderful street.

The Olympics (the site is a stone’s throw away) and the revival of Chatsworth Road street market, once Hackney’s biggest, could see this fascinating stretch of road change beyond all recognition.

We felt compelled to capture and share these diverse stories before they disappear forever.

8th October - 27th November
Open Wed–Sat
12–5pm (‘til 9pm Thu)
Tel: 0771 874 9895

Info, images, interviews
Contact Jane, jegginton@btopenworld.com

Chats Palace
42-44 Brooksby's Walk
London E9 6DF
www.chatspalace.com
London Overground – Homerton
Buses – 236, 242 and 276

The Juice Bar

“Chatsworth Road is raw and diverse. I love it around here” says Lumiere, owner of the local juice bar. “It’s a real community, which is something quite special in London, but it’s not too in your face: it’s just right.” All of the juices on offer are named after local streets. Berry Blurton is made up of strawberry, peach, papaya and blueberries while a Clifden Cherry is a startling combination of cherry, strawberry, banana and mint. All around are heart shaped signs, “I opened this place because I wanted to give something back.“ It is hard to define: yes, it’s a juice bar with organic elements, not least the reclaimed tree trunks outside, but there is velour wallpaper on the walls, smooth jazz playing in the background, trickling from water features and the sound of the sea can be heard when you open the toilet door. There is even a VIP room downstairs, complete with red rope. Lumiere insists it is not a café. There is no tea or coffee on sale, but then he does a brisk trade in Yummy Mummy – a mixture of fig, date, vanilla and banana that is a clear nod to the changing demographic, Clapton Carrot, a refreshing blend of carrot, ginger, orange, apple, celery and a unique combination of banana, strawberry, orange, milk and granola, which he chooses to call a Homerton Hangover.

The French Deli

“We need the market to work. It really hurts to see empty shops and landlords just leaving”, says the owner of the French deli, L'epicerie at number 56. Along with Venetia at the coffee shop across the road, Remi was something of a pioneer on the street, a local resident who has been in business in Chatsworth Road since the end of 2007. Blackforest ham, bresaola, chorizo, fennel salami, fresh hummous and campaillou sourdough bread are all for sale at what he describes as a fine food shop as much as a deli. Much of the produce comes direct by van from Rungis, an enormous wholesale market outside Paris and from fair trade cooperatives.

Regal Pharmacy

“We have been in Chatsworth Road for 45 years’ says the owner, Jay. We used to own the pharmacy in what used to be the old post office, then in 1989 we moved to a place across the road, before moving here in 1998. We also used to have a sweet shop, where the internet shop is now, next to William Hill. It would be lovely to have a market. Beautiful.” Jay remembers when the market was here. “You couldn’t move it was so busy. One of the last market stalls was called Jack and Jill and sold fruit and veg. It sadly shut up shop in 1995. Our counter sales have dropped 50% in the last ten years but we are becoming increasingly health orientated, particularly in terms of natural health and we are also offering more services to the community.

In the photo is Harish, Pinar, Jay, Vipul, the manager, and Louise

East London Locks

'I think Chatsworth, which everyone calls Chats, is a fantastic road. I have had an office here since 1998 and if I don’t come here, I get withdrawal symptoms.' Mike the owner grew up on the old Bethnal Green Road and works here with his son, Huseyin, whose mother is from Cyprus. I think the market would suit the area, which I have seen really improving. There are lots of new businesses setting up, like the toyshop, the bookshop, the deli and the funky juice bar.

Too Sweet

This Caribbean takeaway, open every day from 11.30 to 10, does a brisk trade in patties, stewed chicken, oxtail, fried dumpling and chicken foot soup. Kevin, who is Jamaican, has owned this shop, which used to be opposite the funeral parlour, for ten years. ‘We have everyone coming here, not just Africans and West Indians. Even Vinny Jones comes here. There is a really nice community here and we are always very busy. We just want the market and to make people appreciate it.” One of Kevin’s customer comes here every day. He always orders ‘rasta man food like ackee and saltfish’ and Jamaican bun, which is a kind of cake, served with cheese, saying: “I wouldn’t come anywhere else; this place is the best. You get proper food and don’t ever get a belly ache”.

Star Discount Store

Ismail, Riza, Gazi and Huseyin are four Kurdish brothers who have been living in London for 20 years. The owners of the fruit and veg shop sold it in February 2009 and opened up this discount shop next door the same month. All now in their 60s, they were finding getting up at 2am to go to Spitalfields too exhausting, although they still work 12 hours a day, six days a week and struggle to compete with supermarkets as some cash and carry prices are higher than in the big chains.

BJ Fashions

BJ taught herself how to sew. In her shop are four industrial size sewing machines and in the window mannequins dressed in brightly coloured outfits. BJ works six days a week, listening to a Nigerian Muslim station and has been living just off Chatsworth Road for more than 18 years.

Kashmir Kebabish

Nadeem is from the Pakistani side of Kashmir, which he explains is a beautiful part of the world, half in India, half in Pakistan. The food he serves is Pakistani, which tends to be spicier than Indian dishes. On the menu are samosas, kebabs, curries, steaks and sweet lassi. “Our customers are from everywhere – they are Chinese, White, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi” When I ask him what he thinks of Chatsworth Road, he shakes his head: ‘I work here 12 hours a day, so I don’t ever get to see it.”

Hop

One of the more recent additions to the street is Hop Toyshop hoptoyshop.co.uk, owned by local Maria Chalidze.

Chatsworth Laundry

There has been a launderette on this site for 50 years. Before that it was an Off Licence. 22-year-old owner Zak, originally from Gujarat, India, has been running things since he was just 18. With a penchant for expensive sports cars, when the smell of marijuana began to permeate the premises last year, all the old ladies doing their laundry assumed it was him. The police then discovered that his neighbour was growing and harvesting a plantation of 100, human sized specimens. Open until midnight every day, Chatsworth Laundry serves the local population as well as businesses throughout London, with pick ups from commercial premises throughout Hackney and the West End. 'We get everyone here really, but at one time there was nothing much here; now it is becoming really trendy.'

Book Box

The owners of the bookshop, the Book Box, live above the shop. Downstairs is a ceramics cafe, where customers can paint their own pottery while indulging in ice cream, cup cakes and milkshakes. It was an old fashioned barbers before it became a book shop and before that was Vanderbilt, the butchers.

'It's Dead in Here'

Pam from the Cooperative Funeral Parlour at 80 Chatsworth Road has a good sense of humour. 'It's dead in here', she cackles, enjoying the pun. 'Even here we are suffering from lack of business. People have to register their deaths at the Town Hall in Mare Street where there is a co-op so we get left out. We do have a chapel of rest here but it is rather damp. The council planted a tree outside – we didn’t want it – it went through a gas main.'

Chatsworth Supermarket

Asif is the manager of the 24-hour Chatsworth Supermarket, which has an Eastern European Social & Snooker Club downstairs with a huge TV screen showing Turkish programmes and sport. “I used to run Altun across the road with my family. We did it for four years but it just became too hard, because of the long hours and too much competition on Chatsworth Road with so many shops selling the same thing. We were working 14, 15 and 16 hour days. I still work 12 or 13 hours six days a week.“

Cobblers

A dusty galosh dangles on one wall and an ancient platform boot swings from the ceiling next to a truncated Eiffel tower. Hanging above the counter stuffed full of cottons, elastics, screws and bits of paper is a single lime green cowboy boot, which remains unclaimed since the owner went into prison in 1972.

Claiming his is the oldest shop in the street, the owner, 75-year-old Suleyman from Cyprus bought the cobblers in 1967 and still makes and repairs shoes on the premises. Learning his trade as a shepherd in his home country, where he first crafted shoes under a tree looking after his herd, he brought his self-taught trade to London with him and has never stopped. ‘I love it. I have so much energy for shoes.’

'Many people who buy cheap shoes now don't want to pay for repairs; usually I make them pay first and still they don't come back'. His sign clearly says: 'We will only keep your shoes for three months', although one woman came back shouting: 'You lost my shoes' – after three years. With more than 100 pairs of unclaimed shoes in the workshop at the back, it is clear that a lot of the footwear has been in the shop a great deal longer than that. Suleyman is a self-confessed hoarder who never throws anything away, who has four sewing machines in the shop and another four ‘spare’. ‘People say: ‘ooh, you have a lot of stock, look at all this stock’, but stock is money and if you have cash you spend it.’

Also on offer are knife sharpening, key cutting and sewing machine repairs. ‘I do everything. You have to. The market here was good; things were much better then and there were a lot more people’. Today the ‘Repairs’ sign outside the shop is falling apart and missing an ‘R’ and the distinctly faded window display complete with debris and dead plants appears to have remained unchanged since the shop opened. Yet Suleyman, smiling, remains optimistic, saying: ‘When a tiger is hungry, what does he do? He looks for food. And that is how customers find me.’ With rates at £1,400 a month and recently introduced parking restrictions, he admits to struggling, but says for him his work is his hobby and offers to design and make to measure a pair of boots for me for £200.

Getting up at 4am, he opens the shop daily from 7am to 4pm ‘because I want to talk to people’. 'Everyone in Chatsworth Road calls me Dad', says Suleyman, who still walks the length of the high street several times a week. ‘I am very happy. I spend my life here.’

Shutting Up Shop

The dentist on the corner of Dunlace and Chatsworth Road, which reportedly had blood on the ceiling and always felt more like a dodgy cab office than anywhere you would go for your health, closed around three years ago and is still empty. The disused mobile phone shop next door is now used as a prayer room. Next door to that, Halah Meat and Groceries has been closed for at least two years. A row of three disused shops (numbers 33, 35 and 37 Chatsworth Road) is a sad statistic and hopefully one that is not the shape of things to come on the street. Happily, one door down, at number 39, The Regent is a hive of activity six days a week.

The Bike Shop

Sol has been running the bike shop since 1990, before that he owned a fishing tackle and sports shop at number 62.

Jai Dee's

This 'Seafood and Caribbean Cuisine Restaurant' does a brisk trade in everything from curry goat, fried lobster tails and salt fish to peanut porridge, rum fruit cake and macaroni cheese.

The Off Licence

The men who run the off licence are the proud owners of a two and a half year old rottweiler called Cesur.

'The Shop'

The owner of 'The Shop' at number 40, Chatsworth Road (whose opening hours are clearly displayed in the window: Monday–Sunday: closed) enjoys living on 'this peculiar and wonderful street'.

" I bought ‘The Shop’ in 1999 where St Lucian twins were dealing in ‘import and export’. In many ways things are even more interesting now. I love the fact that a different ethnic minority occupies each shop. This block and the one opposite were built specifically as part of a new neighbourhood in the 1870s; the road was put in afterwards. Percy Ingles on the corner is the only chain on this street – that is, apart from the three bookmakers. It opened in 1991 when the market was still thriving, in what had been a bakery 150 years before."

Herbert, 87 years old

Herbert was born just off Chatsworth Road, where he still lives.

"When you woke up in the morning you could hear the birds singing. It was a different world then. There would be bands playing on the marshes, kites in the sky and real street parties with acrobats. It might sound like heaven – it was – but we didn’t know it then. There were seven butchers – I used to get faggots, salt beef and saveloys. We did all our shopping on Chatsworth Road and had all our entertainment there too. There was no need to go anywhere else. Where the snooker hall is now was the cinema and we all used to go to the pictures a lot. Cohen’s grocery store was there, the first Tesco. There were two pie and mash shops – one was where the Chinese is now; we had a lot of dinners in there. The old post office was an electrical shop and the dentist by the school was a television shop. There were two ironmongers that sold everything, as well as a tailors, a drapers and several fish shops. The Blackhorse pub was wonderful and always busy. The market stalls used to go right down as far as Chats Palace and opposite was the Corner Pin pub where everyone went. At the market they used to make sweets – they smelt lovely."

The Pound Shop

Everything from shopping trolleys to tennis rackets hang from the ceiling. Shelves stacked high with mouse traps, underpants and plastic bird nests give way to boxes full of fake flowers, football tops and face flannels. The question is: what don't they sell, here in this bargain Chatsworth emporium. A builder in the middle of buying screws asks: 'How much for the football, mate, 50p?, when someone interrupts with: 'Do you have any men's perfume?"

Fruit and Veg

Timur, (above) has just taken over the very popular fruit and veg shop that has been running for over 30 years. It's a hard job, working 18 hours a day. He gets up at 2am every day except Sunday to go to Spitalfields Market, stacking shelves until 11am. Sometimes he can have a bit of a sleep at the back until 3pm if his wife comes over, otherwise he works right through until 8pm.

Carnival Cards

"When we first opened, we went crazy, we sold everything," says Omar (above). "My family have had this shop for 26 years. It has changed a lot, partly because of legal reasons. At one time, newsagents were only allowed to sell newspapers and sweets, that was all, not even drinks. The the law has changed now, but also supermarkets and superstores are selling everything, so we do. When the market was here, we didn't bother as we couldnt compete. When the market left, sales really went downhill. We used to sell a lot of haberdashery, with wool and ribbons and threads, but we have almost phased that out now. About 15 years ago the back of our shop was just wool, and my mum used to give sewing lessons. When that stopped making money, we made it just cards."

"My dad, whose from Pakistan, worked in textiles, and when that went downhill he bought the shop. But the first year, he didn't even know what Valentines was, he didn't have a clue," explains Omar. His assistant (above) on Valentine's Day, 2010, when the shop's Valentine's cards numbered several hundred.

Today Carnival Cards also sells household goods, food, toys and stationery, as it has done since the mid '80s. Six years ago Omar's family were going to leave, as things were so "dead", then four or five years ago, the bookshop, the deli, Venetias and Hop the toy shop opened nearby and business picked up. "This end of Chatsworth Road is much better than the other. Definitely."

The Tyre Shop

Steve (above) and his family have had this shop for 51 years.

Clapton Glass

"This used to be a car salesroom selling landrovers, that was really a front. These guys put an ad in for a Roller and when the punter came in to hand over the 100 grand in cash they took him into that tin office that I still have in the corner. Two armed robbers came in with shot guns, perforating the office, and got the lot. Of course it was an inside job. I have been running this place for 28 year, was born in Columbia Road, although I now live in Essex – I love it there, nice and quiet. I once did a job for the Hard Rock cafe - that's how I got the sign, just asked if I could have it; I love it."

Keith's Electrical Shop

Keith, who is 78 years old, has been working in his capsule shop for 20 years, repairing radios and record players, supplying hoover bags and light bulbs and making electrical safety checks. According to Keith, making ends meet in the shop today is a case of just trying to "keep my head above water".

Greggs

Smoked barracuda, cat fish, cow nose and goat tripe are all on offer at Greggs. Gizzard (turkey and chicken), cassava, ugu (not unlike spinach) and fufu flour are all for sale. Kunle (above), from Lagos, Nigeria, has been working in the shop for eight years.

Caribbean Market

Ahmed is Turkish but specialises in Caribbean food. Fresh yam, mangoes, green plantain, breadfruit and coconut water are some of his most popular produce. Like so many of the shops on Chatsworth Road he is open seven days a week (8am–9pm), 365 days a year, including Christmas Day. Ahmed's cat, Lucy,who can often be seen sentinel outside his shop, is famous in her own right and has even been 'cat papped'. Since Hackney Council told Ahmed that Lucy was no longer allowed to be in the shop, she lives around the corner, but visits often.

Pak's

Pak's is packed with thousands of African and Caribbean hair and beauty products. With shops in Leyton, Finsbury Park, Harlesden, as well as Chatsworth Road, Paks has been in operation for nearly 30 years.

Princess

Princess is Nigerian and sells African fashions, jewellery, handbags and shoes in Sheriq Boutique, which has been open since 2005.

Going Underground

Who knew that lurking below the vibrant artery that is Chatsworth Road is an exciting, subterranean world? Step below the emporia of Chatsworth supermarket and you will discover an Eastern European Social Club. Hidden beneath the Bookbox is a ceramic cafe and in the depths of juice bar, Lumiere, is – unbelievably – a VIP room complete with red rope. On the miniature dance floor is a pair of red, sparkling shoes just waiting to take flight, and the toilet emits the sound of the sea when you shut the door.

Fatima

"Together, my two brothers, Bayram and Morat, my father, Hassan and me run our shop, Altun," explains Fatima. We are open every day from 7 in the morning to 11 at night and we all work ten-hour shifts. We have been here three years. I love our customers and I am always happy." Above the counter is a ‘Masallah’ – which looks like a large eye and gives protection for the shop. Fatima moved to the UK eight years ago from Gaziantep, Turkey's sixth biggest city and one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.

Changing Face

Many businesses have closed because of financial difficulties, family feuds, or death. The ‘Wrigleys shop’, as locals affectionately call it, features a dusty, fading window display of giant packets of chewing gum. They lie untouched since the sprightly, twinkly-eyed 83-year-old owner finally shut up shop in 1994. Over the years, the traditional ice cream parlour has been replaced with a powder blue coffee shop, the old library is now a community arts centre and the pie and mash shop has become a Chinese take away.

A Story of Faith: Wayside Community Centre

In the window of the Wayside Community Centre are copies of Reverend Jean's book, When God Intervenes. "We have a charity shop, a keep fit class for the elderly and help people with mental health problems – I just treat them as individuals," says Jean.

"Oh my god, when I first came to the shop, it was such a mess, derelict. It hadn’t been used for 15 years. Chatsworth Road was really down and a lot of the other places were closed down, closed for many, many years and it was really, really bad, you know. When we first came in here there was a big crashing sound of the ceiling falling in, the building was so shaky. The fire brigade came and all the shopkeepers came out and they couldnt really believe what I was doing. My family stopped talking to me and my husband said that everyone was laughing at me. I live in Powerscroft Road and have always been a local community member. It has involved a lot of fighting. I have gone through so much, but it has come out good. I really believe God sent me here."

Mighty Meats

"Thirty years I have been a butcher on Chatsworth Road," says Alex, the Cypriot owner of Mighty Meats (now at number 46, and originally at number 58). "There was a nice, beautiful market. Nice, very nice. When I came here, off licence was the off licence. Greengrocers was a greengrocers. Butcher shop was a butcher shop. Now you can see, every shop sells everything. I still only sell just meat – original – but we lost everything else. I don’t know if the market coming back will make a difference; the big problem is the supermarkets. Before people would wait in a queue to get their meat. If you come here and you try to park now they charge you a fortune. You go to the supermarket all the parking is free, darling."

According to Alex, Sunday opening about 20 years ago changed everything. Then, when the parking restrictions came in a few years ago, it was the real nail in the coffin. "Before, at the fruit and veg shop that was owned by Italians, there would be between 50 and 100 people inside. And it would sell just fruit and vegetables, not nuts or even eggs. I have never seen anything like it in my life – and I have been in London 40 years. Now everything's changed. Nothing original is left. Now all shops sell everything. There used to be seven butchers in Chatsworth Road. Seven and everybody was happy."

The World in Microcosm

Acclaimed street photographer, Colin O’ Brien and award-winning travel writer, Jane Egginton are a couple of Hackney residents who love living just off vibrant Chatsworth Road. This strip of high street is important culturally, socially and historically. As one local jokingly commented: “You can live your whole life on Chatsworth Road, with no need to ever leave. You can be born in the hospital at one end, attend the school at the other and then be buried by the funeral parlour conveniently situated somewhere in the middle.“

There's a Turkish greengrocers, a Nigerian butchers, a French deli, a Caribbean supermarket, two West Indian take-aways, a boutique coffee shop and an Eastern European Social Club. Other local businesses include an electrical repair shop, a dentist, two greasy spoons, two glaziers, several hairdressers and three betting shops. It also boasts a Muslim prayer room, a Methodist church, and a massage parlour. A computer repair shop gives Koran lessons and a snooker hall is housed in a listed building.

Chatsworth Road is a unique high street made up almost entirely of independent shops. Once host to Hackney’s biggest market, and within a stone’s throw of the Olympic site, this road, with its increasingly gentrified population, is in a state of flux. The reintroduction of the market in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012 will see this fascinating stretch of road change dramatically – perhaps beyond all recognition.