De Terra’s chef Rafael Cagali: being Brazilian-Italian and gay in a hyper-masculine world
Rafael Cagali, head chef of Bethnal Green’s two Michelin Star restaurant Da Terra, on finding his passion for cooking and
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Culture
Your guide to the people, passions, culture and heritage that have formed Bethnal Green’s identity. Discover the communities and cultures of our neighbourhood, its creative industries, social history and personal stories; the heritage that has created our identity; and what we are passionate about, from philanthropic initiatives to campaigns to save our heritage and the environment.
The Joiners Arms: from “let’s save this one gay bar” to “let’s save queer spaces”
Friends of the Joiners Arms is pioneering accessible and inclusive queer spaces, against the backdrop of the ongoing mass closure
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Artist Milou Stella: on the influence of psychology and queer theory on their quest to blur the rigid lines of categorisation
We speak to Milou Stella, an interdisciplinary queer artist, on how art has helped them overcome difficult personal challenges. “I
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Columbia Market Hall: from failed fish market to thriving flower market
Built by philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, Columbia Market Hall once stood where Columbia Road Flower Market now exists, and was an
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Repton Boxing Club champion Billy Taylor’s obituary
East Ender Billy Taylor’s illustrious career spanned that from Olympic boxing champ, a member of the Territorial Army, to starring
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How Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club has become the UK’s favourite queer venue
In an interview with drag star Margo Marshall, we explore the ways BGWMC maintains its working class routes whilst embracing
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Paul Blumsom’s personal pilgrimage into his working class Huguenot history
Paul’s book about his grandfather tells the working class and Huguenot history of Bethnal Green – of refugee silk-weavers, Jack
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Nancy Kray: surviving the fallout of Britain’s most notorious mobsters
After 21 years silenced, Nancy Kray – the niece of Bethnal Green gangster twins – shares what it means to
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Painter Eleanor Crow: Bethnal Green’s accidental archivist
Eleanor Crow’s illustrated world of the East End prove that paintings can develop lives of their own, instigating surprising and
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How Calverts cooperative has helped form Bethnal Green’s riotous and artistic identity
Channelling the seditious energy of printers from the 1600s, Calverts printing cooperative has been putting the activism into Bethnal Green
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Three generations of E Pellicci: what it takes to run a world famous cafe
We talk to Bethnal Green’s most iconic sibling duo since the Kray twins, Anna and Nev – the third generation
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A day in the life of fresh fish fishmonger, Ramadan
Fresh fish is a high street staple on Bethnal Green Road. We speak to the passionate fishmonger Ramadan about what
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