YOU won’t Adam and Eve’ it—but London’s East End is one of the most quintessentially English’ manors in the kingdom. We have more English tourist attractions, businesses and organisations per head than most areas, according to a survey for St George’s Day which puts the deprived Tower Hamlets in 10th place in the nation’s English’ attractions

By Mike Brooke

YOU won’t Adam and Eve’ it—but London’s East End is one of the most quintessentially English’ manors in the kingdom.

We have more English tourist attractions, businesses and organisations per head of its population than most areas.

That’s according to a survey this week by the Local life’ website, which puts the deprived inner-urban Tower Hamlets in 10th place in the nation’s English’ attractions for St George’s Day on Thursday (April 23).

KNOBBLY KNEES

Survey categories included cricket clubs, tea rooms, holiday camps with knobbly knee’ contests and traditional Morris dancing with bells on.

The website company’s chairman Tony Martin reckons: “There’s no doubting Tower Hamlets’ Englishness’ as the perfect place to head for a nice cuppa and a rousing chorus of Jerusalem.”

That might surprise anyone strolling down the cosmopolitan Whitechapel Road or the curry mile’ along Brick Lane.

But categories also include fish and chip shops—and that’s where the East End’s pride blossoms, being the birthplace of our national meal in 1870.

THE TOWER

And yes, we do have our own cricket club, down on the Isle of Dogs, while Tower Hamlets council regularly holds tea dances, including a special one on St George’s Day itself at Whitechapel’s Brady Centre.

Tower Hamlets, of course, does play host to the Tower of London, Britain’s most popular attraction and most famous icon of the English, as well as three 18th century Hawkesmoor churches.

There are 2,155 residents to every English tourist attraction, business or organisation in the East End, the 10th highest ratio on the country’s hot list’ and second in London only to Westminster—home of Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Lord’s cricket ground.

But the East London Advertiser has found no evidence of holiday camps in the East End with knobbly-knee competitions.