JEWISH EAST END OF LONDON PHOTO GALLERY & COMMENTARY

London's East End Synagogues, cemeteries and more......

My personal journey through the Jewish East End of London

Jewish London Walking Tours with Phil...to enquire about a tour please email Phil
 
Phil!It's my hobby to take informative and educational walking tours around London's Jewish East End and London's Jewish West End. I also have a walk that takes in historic Limehouse and Poplar - an area of more general interest but with some surprising Jewish connections.  My tours are reasonably priced and make great presents for special people.  I can usually fit in with your required dates/times so to enquire about a tour, or arrange one for yourself or your group please email Phil 
 
All my customers are entitled to a 10% discount off a meal at London's premier Kosher restaurant: Restaurant 1701 located in the secluded courtyard of historic Bevis Marks Synagogue, Bevis Marks, London EC3A 7LH.  Ask me for your discount card.
 
Regrettably I cannot undertake any walks in August
Sandy's Row, London E1
 
Sandy's Row - a street and a synagogue in London E1
 
I recently took news reporter Cindy Martin of internet television channel Jewish News One on a walk around Jewish Spitalfields in the East End of London. Places visited included Sandys Row synagogue and the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in Brune Street. A very cold day, but great fun! You can see their video report here: A walk through London’s historic East-End Jewish quarter  I also took them on a walk round Jewish Soho in London's West End, and you can see that video here: A Walk through London's Jewish West End
 
I am a member of the Jewish East End Celebration Society and co-produce their magazine The Cable with my brother David.
 
If you love Klezmer, you'll love this: Klezmer Klub concert

Best wishes, Phil
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Some recent letters:
 
Hi Phil,
 
Just a quick note to thank you very much for today. My parents and I really enjoyed ourselves and that you had a personal connection to what you were talking about was really important to us.

Thank you
 
Rick
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Philip

We just wanted to say thank you again for the great morning you gave us. Your humour and excellent local knowledge made for a really memorable day. We will definitely recommend you to others and will explore the possibility of doing it again with a bigger group of family.

Best regards
Martin & Emma
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Hi, Phil!


Thank you so much for taking us around, and for looking up the London Syatts for us. We've been back home in San Francisco for a week, and while the jetlag has worn off (at last), the memories of our meander through Grandma's East End childhood will stay with us for years to come.

Be well, take care and stay in touch.
Karen
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A selection of photos from some recent Jewish tours are below:
 
League of Jewish Women West End Jewish walk in Godwins Court
League of Jewish Women West End Jewish walk in Godwin's Court, Bedfordbury
 
American friends inside the former Great Garden Street synagogue, off Hanbury Street
American friends inside the former Great Garden Street synagogue, off Hanbury Street 
Hebrew grafitti, Bevis Marks synagogue
Hebrew grafitti, Bevis Marks synagogue
Magen David, Alberts, Aldgate
Magen David above Alberts, Aldgate East
 
Brune Street Soup Kitchen
Soup kitchen for the Jewish Poor, Brune Street
 
My tour group outside the last Jewish owned Chicken shop in Petticoat Lane
My tour group outside the last Jewish owned Chicken shop in Petticoat Lane
Pearly King and Queen, Covent Garden The artists Gilbert and George in Fournier Street off Brick Lane
Pearly King and Queen, Covent Garden, London's West End The artists Gilbert and George in Fournier Street off Brick Lane, London's East End 
My Family group inside a secret courtyard off Hanbury Street 
My Family group in a hidden courtyard off Hanbury Street
My group outside the Jack the Ripper pub in Gunthorpe Street
My group outside the Jack the Ripper pub in Gunthorpe Street - this was a cold day!!
My group touring Jewish Soho, Great Newport Street Soho Square, one time centre of Jewish life in the West End
Walking the Jewish West End in Great Newport St  Later we visited Soho Square - hub of Jewish Soho
     
A walking tour with a group of R.A.D.A students at the Cable Street mural getting a feel for Arnold Wesker's play Chicken Soup with Barley.
A walking tour with a group of drama students at the Cable Street mural getting a feel for Arnold Wesker's play Chicken Soup with Barley. 
Rabbinic students from  the Leo Beck College visiting Sandys Row synagogue Rabbinic students from  the Leo Beck College visiting Sandys Row synagogue.
A relation of David Brandon Bravo discovers his grave in the Novo cemetery, Mile End A group of academics from Finland visit Sandy's Row synagogue on their educational tour

Inside Fieldgate Street synagogue

Inside Nelson Street synagogue with Sutton & District synagogue

Inside Fieldgate Street synagogue

Inside Nelson Street synagogue with Sutton & District synagogue

A group from South London Liberal Synagogue inside Fieldgate Street synagogue

A group from South London Liberal and Kingston Liberal synagogues about to have lunch after a walk round the East End

A group from South London Liberal Synagogue inside Fieldgate Street synagogue

A group from South London Liberal and Kingston Liberal synagogues about to have lunch after a walk round the East End

Inside the former East London synagogue, Rectory Square, Stepney

Outside the former East London synagogue, Rectory Square, Stepney

Inside the former East London synagogue, Rectory Square, Stepney

Outside the former East London synagogue, Rectory Square, Stepney

A coach tour of the East End with residents of the Nightingale Home

A coach tour of the East End with residents of the Nightingale Home

A coach tour of the East End with residents of the Nightingale Home

A coach tour of the East End with residents of the Nightingale Home

Bevis Marks synagogue wedding canopy (chuppah)
Inside Bevis Marks synagogue, a wedding canopy (chuppah) is ready for a wedding
 
Dear Philip,
 
Thank you so much for a wonderful and insightful introduction to the Jewish East End.  I still need to sit down and write up my notes – and then can decide where and what to review again with you.  You found the icons, markers and site points which I would never have identified on my own.  You also bought the East End alive for me – and I was really able to imagine what it would have been like for those early immigrants in 1895.  Look forward to our next jaunt.
 
Kindest regards, Tracy H. January 2013
 
The streets of the Jewish East End of London:
 
Streets of the Jewish East End of London
To enquire about a tour please e.mail Phil

website copyright of Philip Walker