Mark Mason

The secrets of London by postcode: E (East)

Walford's origins, Isaac Newton's disguises and the postcode that Anthony Trollope abolished

  • From Spectator Life
Canary Wharf is so called because of a warehouse built there in 1937 by a company that imported fruit from the Canary Islands [Alamy]

How Walford in EastEnders got its name, why Isaac Newton visited bars in disguise and what happened when the IRA parked on a double yellow line. Our tour of London’s postcode areas has reached its penultimate stop – who fancies an E?

  • In the run-up to the 1997 general election, John Major visited the Mirror Group offices in Canary Wharf. One of the rooms he entered, high up in 1 Canada Square, was that of Kelvin MacKenzie, erstwhile editor of the Sun but by then boss of L!ve TV. Looking out of the window, the Prime Minister commented: ‘Incredible view you’ve got from here, Kelvin.’ ‘Yes,’ replied MacKenzie. ‘On a clear day, you can almost see a Tory voter.’
The towering 1 Canada Square [Alamy]
  • The room keys at the Buxton on Brick Lane feature binary codes that used to control the looms operated by East End weavers. The hotel is named after Thomas Fowell Buxton, a 19th-century MP who campaigned to improve the weavers’ working conditions.

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