A little photographic project that got way out of hand.
In July 2005, having just finished knitting pompoms with a friend over lunch in Brick Lane – but that’s literally another story – I cycled successively past Bacon Street and Lamb Street, which got me wondering how many other streets in London were named after food. Being the creative type, I determined to find out, so with a battered print copy of the London A–Z Street Atlas and an early digital camera, I started cycling all over London taking photos of the road signs which featured items of food or drink in their names.
I decided that the names had to be definitive, for example, Apple Road and not Apple Tree Road, and be recognisable as referring to the food, for example, Wensleydale Road but not Cheshire Street – you’d ask for Cheshire Cheese in order to be understood in a supermarket.
1,700 miles of cycling around London later, I have over 150 photos featuring every item of food or drink which appears on street signs in all 33 London boroughs. This website also lists the other 300-plus streets throughout London which have similar names, although as the city is ever changing, this may never be definitive.
When I’m not cycling around London hunting for food, I work as a designer and creative director, employing creativity to connect clients’ business strategy with relevant and beautiful visual executions.
Feel free to contact me directly if you think my creativity and commitment to seeing projects through would benefit your business. Or just get in touch with any comments on this Streats of London project.
