Week 7; Pirates in Poplar
My class visited Poplar, in search of doing service for the people in one of the poorest areas in all of London. Poplar, located within Tower Hamlets, an area construed of multiple poor rural villages on the east side has always been on the biggest. It has maintained a lot of attention since it first began in the 13th century, from it first being given away by a Bishop to the Abbey of St Mary de Graces and then again to Prince Charles II when he was invested in the prince of wales. Many people have wanted to turn it around, however, one of the most influential people of the area would be John Mucknell.
John Mucknell grew up in one of the surrounding neighborhoods of Towerhamlets, but when he was married he moved into Poplar because of its rapid industrial growth. The area was huge for shipping, booming right where the Canada one building now stands. John first started working for the East India Company as a commander here in Poplar, fighting for the crown during the English civil war against the Puritans. After the war, he kept the ship and used it to raid and destroy trade within the area and was named the “Kings pirate” because he flew the British flag still. Johns pirating damaged the community but it wasn’t until the heavy bombing during world war two that Poplar fell into a rapid decline. Poplars quick fall into poverty created rebellions within the community over taxation and the king.
This past that Poplar has had is still reflected in the town today. Incidents of stabbings and gang violence have spread throughout the area and have gotten so bad that a park within the community was built entirely out of the knives that have been confiscated from the local high school. Poplar being so poor has once again caught the eye of the government and is in the process of re-urbanization. While many in the community are excited to see the effects, the wheels of bureaucracy take a long time to turn and it still won’t be for some time that actual change happens. That is why it is important for what we can do today.
We met with Harca, an equal lending housing company whose main focus is Poplar. They sent us to a café in the area where we spent our morning fixing up the garden as well as their dining halls. This café is a common meeting spot for many people within the community and does well to unite everyone here. That is why it was so important for the work we did, the building was beginning to look run down and I am glad we were able to give it the facelift it needed and take all of the stress of that much work off of the shoulders of the staff who were so kind to us. There is no better reward than the feeling you get when you do service.
