Ken's Cafe is no more

This is a sad sight on Green Street, Ken's Cafe is now closed and has lost its famous sign. Carol and Ken have retired and the venue of legends is no more. It felt a bit like being Indiana Jones finding the ruins of a lost civilisation. Or as Wordsworth might have put it: "Where is it now the vision and the gleam, the egg chips and beans?"

My recent visit to the Newham Bookshop also allowed me to explore the new housing development on the site of the Boleyn Ground. Perhaps it will be slightly better when it's finished, but it's basically just a monolith block of flats dominating the road where the John Lyall Gates used to stand. Slightly better news is that the Boleyn pub is being restored by a Remarkable Pubs and its listed Victorian features will still be seen in all their glory. Though strangely enough the beer-soaked carpet isn't included in the renovation.