Bethnal Green's community newspaper

Bethnal Green LDN is a local magazine for Bethnal Green in East London. We bring you the best kept secrets about your neighbourhood from what's on to places to visit. Discover the best shops, restaurants, bars, coffee places and local attractions in Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath Road, Columbia Flower Market, Brick Lane and Hackney Road. Be the first to know about things to do locally, from events and exhibitions to courses and workshops. And discover the rich culture and heritage of our local neighbourhood.

Local democracy

LEAP workers picketing outside the Bethnal Green school, with signs that say "Defend Education."
LocalNews

School workers on day 21 of strikes after Council merges the borough’s alternative provision schools

Agatha Scaggiante

The Council has merged the alternative provision schools in the Isle of Dogs and Bethnal Green, sparking concerns about overcrowding

Empress Works in Bethnal Green.
Housing & Social CareLocalNews

Plans approved for 222 new homes despite resident concerns about blocked daylight

Nick Clark, BBC Local Democracy Report
Leila's shop on Calvert Avenue on a sunny day, with customers sitting at pavement tables.
LocalLocal democracyNews

Council to decide fate of Leila’s Shop after 300% rent hike

Angel Sun
Image taken from the townscape and visual impact assessment shows the view down Fashion Street from Brick Lane, with a green dotted outline of the proposed tower
LocalLocal democracyNews

Plans for tower block above Liverpool Street Station will disrupt skyline, says council

Nick Clark, BBC Local Democracy Report
Bansky's 'Flower Painter' on the wall of the Bethnal Green Men's Working Club.
LocalLocal democracyNews

Banksy artwork illegally taken and put on sale in America, says Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club trustees

Sophie Howarth
The Scarlett Letters radical bookshop with the owner Marin standing and smiling outside.
LocalLocal economyNews

The Scarlett Letters radical bookshop to close following Instagram blowout and staff balloting for strikes

Agatha Scaggiante

Local culture

Illustration of Arnold Circus on the Boundary Estate, taken from the Housing for the Working Classes Report, 1912-1913, with the signature of William Edward Riley
CultureLocal

Five local history and heritage sites you shouldn’t miss in Bethnal Green

Local Hub Editor

From London’s first housing estate to a building spanning three religions, we’ve picked the best historic sites to visit in

Black and white image Nemone Lethbridge in a white barrister wig.
CultureLife and livingLocal

Nemone Lethbridge on fighting for love, justice and the Kray twins

Sophie Howarth
Identical silhouettes of women facing each other in front of torn photograph of the Blind Beggar pub, revealing the face of Nancy Kray as a toddler.
CultureLife and livingLocal

The case of the two Nancys: Unravelling the Kray family mystery

Sophie Howarth
The Gentle Author looks at a stone bust, Spitalfields Life, east London.
CultureHeritageLife and livingLocal

Who is The Gentle Author? A peek behind the curtain at Spitalfields’ famous anonymous blogger

Agatha Scaggiante
A brick building with pale stone front along a main road, a staircase leads to the door with a blue sign above reading 'Providence Row Housing Association'.
CultureHeritageLocal

Down and Out in Bethnal Green: George Orwell’s arrest on Mile End road confirmed in 1931 court reports

Eleanor Thomson
Vagina museum in Bethnal Green.
CultureLocalLocal democracyNewsThe arts

Vagina Museum saved from closure after crowdfunding reached a staggering £70k in four days

Sophie Howarth

Out & About

Outside the Carpenters Arms on Cheshire Street, Bethnal Green
LocalOut & AboutPlaces to visit

Best things to do in Bethnal Green

Sophie Howarth

A centuries old bagel shop, an outrageous queer venue, and the Kray twin’s old haunts are just some of the

An image of York Hall building, which is large and white with red writing reading: YORK HALL. It has a sign hung at the front reading: Welcome to York Hall Leisure Centre
ActivitiesLocalOut & About

Best spas and saunas in London’s East End, home of the capital’s first ever public baths

Sophie Howarth
Street scene on Cambridge Heath Road in early May 2025, Bethnal Green, East London.
Eating & drinkingLocalOut & About

Is Cambridge Heath Road shaping up to be the new Hackney?

Agatha Scaggiante
A scene from Valkyries during Regent Opera's production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, at York Hall in Bethnal Green.
Going outLocalOut & About

Ringside tickets: Wagner’s Ring Cycle, a series of four epic operas, to be shown at York Hall boxing venue

Tabitha Stapely
Shopfront of Satan’s Whiskers bar after dark, with its orange neon sign above and graffitti covered shutters pulled down, on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, East London
Eating & drinkingLocalOut & About

Satan’s Whiskers: Your neighbourhood cocktail bar is as devilishly good as ever

David Bard
Two tourists taking a photo of the Three Monkeys street art by Banksy, on the railway bridge across Brick Lane.
LocalOut & AboutPlaces to visit

The last remaining Banksy murals in the streets of Tower Hamlets

Imogen Garfinkel