A date for your diary – Hackney History Festival
Mark the dates in your diaries now, then head to the website to see what is happening, how to suggest what you’d like to see and even to get involved!!!
Christmas and cold!!!
There is a tree by the Pond which we understand was planted in memory of someone. This gets decorated at Christmas, as far as we know, by one of the relatives. These decorations frame our picture of the Pond and the bridge perfectly!!! Not everyone celebrates Christmas and not everyone, understandably, wants to celebrate it,. As we said, “In these...
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
The final week in November saw, after a long journey, the opening and consecration of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on Lower Clapton Road (tserhasion.org.uk). The building was originally the Clapton Cinematograph and has had various other identities over the years. With the generosity of two local residents, we were able to share a number of photos and videos of the...
A parklet
Looking back to earlier in the year, at CPNAG’s AGM, mentioned in an earlier post, back in May, we had a presentation from Gerry Tissier of the charity ecoACTIVE, and project manager of the Hackney Buzzline. Full details of that talk are in the earlier post. In that talk, Gerry mentioned various projects connected with the Buzzline, which help to...
Autumn continued…..
More art connected to Clapton pond. Firstly, in September, the band Tankus (yup, we’d not heard of them – showing our age!!!) released their song Clapton Pond. https://youtu.be/w9mwsPrUpnc?si=hZgqer6vmhblyhaL Then, in October, local band Rudimental used the Pond, and swimming car, for their album cover, provoking comments such as: “The award for the best album cover goes to….” “They’re mining our...
A new species?
September kept providing interest…. We had new wildlife visitors (albeit, no doubt, transient) to the Pond!!!
Homage to everything Clapton Pond
September continued apace…. One of the Pond’s neighbouring streets had its annual street party one weekend in September and this stunning creation, courtesy of Helen, Ben and family, won the cake contest in the face of some stiff competition. We do love the historical detail – the car on one side and the tree trunk on crushed railings on the...
We’ve become all arty!!
Further to the tree coming down, a reference appeared from 2009, showing that we had our own version of a BBC Two award winner, and it was being put to community use!!!! In 2009 a four-part BBC TV series called School of Saatchi was broadcast. Young artists competed against each other, showcasing their talents, for a chance to be chosen by famous...
A place of serenity, beauty and quiet contemplation??
Early September continued….. as we said: Ahhhh, Clapton Pond! A place of serenity and beauty, and even for quiet contemplation (when there’s no traffic coming past), except…… …. just occasionally we have our little periodic dramas! In March 2025, a car went for a swim and took out part of the railings on the West side of the Pond. On...
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A sad bit of local news!
The start of September saw a sad bit of news for the area. Many of us had got to know Tracey O’Brien, who sat outside the vet’s premises on the corner of Lower Clapton Road and Clapton Passage. She was homeless, had been dealing with a lot of issues for many years, had a massive heart and was known by...