Episode 7: The Street
A new look at the High Street
We've expanded and revised our guide to the everyday clues to the past. Explore the new High Street History.
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A place, an object, an activity - what encapsulates your way of life? What's your heritage?
Often fractious but never dull, Brick Lane encapsulates everything that 21st century multicultural Britain should be. We tell its rollercoaster of a story through the people who’ve lived, worked and played there, and who claim it as their home.
In a city of diverse communities, no street embraces and wrestles with the debates generated by multiculturalism and heritage as vibrantly as Brick Lane in East London. It has probably absorbed more communities than any other into its fabric, from the Huguenots to the Jews to the currently predominant community of Bangladeshis.
As each community has moved on, the buildings have remained the same, even as their usage changes. The vibe of Brick Lane is chaotic, passionate and glorious - nowhere matches it for its embodiment of all things human. But, as it becomes a desirable address rather than a merely poor one, a vigorous contest has arisen about the claims on its heritage, or indeed what even constitutes its heritage.
This episode investigates how residents view the area and its buildings, in the light of its history as well as its present, from the owners of the now much-coveted 18th century houses in Spitalfields, west of Brick Lane, to the Bangladeshi restaurant owners who have helped turn the street into the commercial success of recent years.
The film also examines the price some residents believe the fabric of Brick Lane has paid for its state of constant cultural flux.
Content last updated: 13/05/2009
