Hackney Central

Hackney Central turned its old parish town hall into a betting shop and made a Burberry factory outlet its most visited attraction, which is a fairly honest account of what the place worships. Chaplin played the Empire on Mare Street, and a few doors down a bar now serves cocktails beside shrunken heads, so a night out goes cultured or deeply strange depending on which door you push. Tesco started life as a market stall on Well Street, and a century later the people buying here walk straight past the big one on Morning Lane to queue for sourdough.