Dalston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dalston, Hackney | |
  Dalston, Hackney shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| London borough | Hackney |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E8 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| European Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Hackney South and Shoreditch |
| London Assembly | North East |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Dalston is a district in the London Borough of Hackney, England, in Inner London. Its historical borders are Kingsland Road and Kingsland High Street in the west, London Fields in the east, Downs Park Road in the north and the Shoreditch parish boundary in the south. Its main shopping street, Kingsland High Street, follows the route of the Roman Ermine Street, and has the road number A10.
Modern Dalston is often seen as the area surrounding both sides of Kingsland High Street, even though some of the west side is within the London Borough of Islington. As such, it bestrides the main route north from the City of London.
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[edit] History
The village was one of four small villages within the Parish of Hackney, Dalston, Newington, Shacklewell, and Kingsland that were all grouped for assessment purposes, together having only as many houses as the village of Hackney. The village of Kingsland was around the crossroads at Dalston Junction, and the centre of the small village of Dalston was further to the east, along Dalston Lane. By 1849, it was described as a recently increased suburban village, with some handsome old houses, and by 1859 the village had exceeded its neighbour and with the railways and continuous building, the village of Kingsland disappeared.[1]
[edit] Redevelopment and future
While any investment in an area is generally a good thing, the gentrification of an area only two miles north of the City has led to a rapid increase in the price of property. This has caused resentment from residents priced out of the area in which they had been raised. The process of change has been accelerated since the East London Line extension (to be renamed the East London Railway on completion) and the reopening of Dalston Junction Station was confirmed in the run-up to London's successful bid to hold the 2012 Olympics.
[edit] Entertainment
Dalston has always been an important transport nexus and shopping centre. It was also, at one time, an important entertainment centre, with four or five cinemas within a radius of half a kilometre, and the Dalston Theatre, a former hippodrome and music hall that later became the Four Aces blues club and the Labyrinth nightclub. The Dalston Theatre was demolished in February 2007, despite an active local campaign to save it.[2]
The last survivor of Dalston's 20th-century entertainment boom is the justly celebrated Rio Cinema, one of the very few cinemas left in East London and, indeed, one of the few independent cinemas left in London. Besides its regular programmes of popular and art movies, the Rio also features film festivals and children's matinees.
Arcola Theatre in Arcola Street produces some of London's best quality fringe theatre and is a centre for a number of theatre-related community activities such as its theatre writers' programme, youth theatre and 60+ drama.
Dalston once sported some excellent 1970s-1980s pub rock venues but these are largely defunct. However the new Dalston Culture House, the first wing of which has opened on Gillett Square, hosts the renowned Vortex Jazz Club, recently moved from Stoke Newington.
Also worthy of note is Centerprise, a long-established BME community bookshop where regular events take place in the coffee bar. And Fassett Square in Dalston was the inspiration for the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, Albert Square, cementing its relationship with the entertainment industry.
[edit] Shopping
Dalston is not a glamorous shopping centre but it has become legendary in northeast London, mostly thanks to its excellent Ridley Road street market. The keyphrase here is 'value for money' and for food shopping it is hard to better this area. Fruit and vegetables, some fairly exotic, are available at low prices, and the local halal butchers, clustered around the high street end of the market, are hard to beat in terms of price. Ridley Road market is reputedly the basis for the one found in BBC's Eastenders. The Kingsland Shopping Centre mall (formerly Dalston Cross) is a useful, if drab, supplement to the main market street. It has recently been extended to house a Matalan budget clothes store over the car park.
The ancient shopping street of Broadway Market, to the South East of the district, boasts a wide selection of 'up and coming' boutiques, pubs and cafes. Thanks to these, and the successful Saturday Farmer's Market, this area immediately adjacent to London Fields is regarded as thriving.
[edit] Area profile
Contemporary Dalston is a lively neighbourhood with an ethnically varied population. Architecturally it is a mixture of 18th and 19th century terraced houses and 20th century council estates. It is currently undergoing rapid gentrification, partly because of the planned construction of a new railway station at Dalston Junction, part of the extension of the East London Line due to be completed in 2010 and partly due to the revitalisation of large parts of East London in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics (Hackney is one of the four host boroughs of the Games).
Dalston has attracted new immigrants to the UK for over one hundred years; at the turn of the century it was a popular Jewish area for the newly arrived from central Europe. In the fifties and sixties, as the Jewish community became more affluent, they were replaced by a large Caribbean community in Dalston, which is reflected by the wide choice of Caribbean foods available in Ridley Road. As the Caribbean community slowly drifted out of Dalston it then became popular with the Turkish, as well as the Vietnamese. Recent émigrés to the community are the Polish community judging by the numbers of Polish delicatessens now appearing and other stores catering to Polish tastes.
Fassett Square was the inspiration for the BBC Soap EastEnders. Originally, there were plans to film the series there, on location. However, Fassett Square (Albert Square) and Ridley Road Market (Walford Market) were rebuilt on the set in Elstree, Borehamwood to have a more controlled filming environment. The origin of the area of Walford was from Walford Road and many of the houses on the show use the same exterior design. Both Barbara Windsor and Tony Holland, one of the original creators of the show, lived at different times on the street.
That is not the only connection with entertainment industry. Around the corner, music hall artiste Marie Lloyd (1870–1922) used to reside on Graham Road, and the house has a Blue Plaque.
[edit] Pop-Culture References
- The seventh track on Razorlight's 2004 album Up All Night, is named Don't Go Back To Dalston. The song is not disparaging towards Dalston as such, as Dalston appears to be a metaphor for the East London drug scene in which the band formed and found success. It could also be a reference to the R.E.M. song "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville".
- Bad Manners' 1980 song "Ska Night Bus to Dalston" is the B side of hit "Lip Up Fatty".
- The fifth track of Snowpony's 2001 album "Sea Shanties for Spaceships", is named "into the heart of dalston".
- In the second series of TV show The Mighty Boosh, Vince, Howard, Naboo and Bollo share a flat in Dalston and in the third series they work in a second-hand shop - 'Nabootique' - there.
- Mike Leigh's Naked featured exterior shots of a house at the junction of Downs Park Road and Saint Marks Rise.
- In Stephen Frears' film Dirty Pretty Things, Audrey Tautou's character Senay Gelik lives in a flat overlooking Ridley Road's street market.
- In the Doctor Who episode "Love & Monsters" Obsessive fan "Elton" had a market stall on the Ridley Road.
- The 2007 film "Run Fat Boy Run" (directed by David Schwimmer was filmed in Dalston (St. Marks Conservation Area). Dennis Simon Pegg stays in a flat on Sandringham Road across the road from St. Marks Church.
[edit] Education
- For details of education in Dalston see the Hackney article
[edit] Transport and locale
[edit] Nearest places
- Canonbury to the north-west
- De Beauvoir Town to the west
- Hackney Central to the north-east
- Haggerston to the south-east
- Hoxton to the south-west
- Islington to the west
- Kingsland to the west
- London Fields to the east
- Newington Green to the north-west
- Shacklewell to the north
- Shoreditch to the south
- Stoke Newington to the north
[edit] Nearest railway stations
- Dalston Junction railway station (opens 2010 as part of the East London Railway)
- Dalston Kingsland railway station
- Hackney Downs railway station
- London Fields railway station
[edit] References
- ^ Hackney: Dalston and Kingsland Road, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 28-33 accessed: 07 December 2007
- ^ Open Dalston campaign accessed 27 May 2008
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] External links
- History of Dalston & Kingsland Road (British History Online)
- Open Dalston
- East London Line extension
- Hackney Environment Forum
- The Rio Cinema
- EASTeight Magazine for the Dalston area
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