Poplar Baths and Chrisp Street Market; Past, Present and Future

This photography exhibition was curated by the Men’s Cabin Group and will be exhibited in Poplar Union’s gallery space throughout June and July, 2017. The exhibition documents the past, present and future of Poplar’s iconic Poplar Baths and Chrisp Street Market.

It is open to the public and celebrates Poplar’s vibrant history and future. Visit anytime within our opening hours.

The Men’s Cabin – About the Exhibition

The exhibition grew out of a photographic course we set up in 2016, with funding support from Can Do Community Start Up and Tower Hamlets.

After sessions with local photographer Alan McFetridge we went armed with cameras to the Market and Poplar Baths to capture images for our exhibition.

Poplar Baths and Chrisp Street Market

Chrisp Street Market and Poplar Baths have been central to the culture and everyday life of the area since the mid-nineteenth century. Street markets and public baths are an endangered species and part of our aim was to capture the unique atmosphere of both venues.

Chrisp Street Market is due to have a makeover soon and the baths have recently re-opened after many years of dereliction.

As well as improving our camera skills we hope to save iconic images of the area. To obtain the material for the historic part of the exhibition we had the co-operation of the Tower Hamlets Local History Library. Images of the new proposals for Chrisp Street Market were obtained with the help of Chrisp Street Market Management Office.

The Men’s Cabin

The Men’s Cabin is a health and wellbeing group for men. It was established in 2012 to be a focal point for men over 55. We are learning to cook healthily and safely, studying food handling and nutrition in 2016. Our members are also involved in exercise and social activities where we cook. We also organise outings locally and visits to other groups in London.

The Men’s Cabin currently meet at Brownfield Community Cabin (St Leonard’s Road, Poplar, E14 0QU) every Wednesday at 1pm-3pm. They are always looking for more men to join their group. If you are interested or have any questions, you can contact Jayne Clavering on 020 3069 7401 for more details.

Thank You

The Men’s Cabin thank the following organisations and people for their help and assistance with our project:

Can Do – Funded our photography with Start Up Support
London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Small Grant Award funded this exhibition
Alan McFetridge – Local Photographer, our photographic tutor
Perdita Jones – Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
Bree Sims – Editor, HARCA Life
Harriet Davies – HARCA, help with publicity
Ray Farress and Steve Bracki – Sunnyside Men’s Shed – displays
Joshua Taylor – Manager, Poplar Baths
Simon Carroll – Chrisp Street Market Management
Tufail Ahmed – Photo Genesis Printers – this booklet’s printing
Jayne Clavering – funding applications co-ordinator