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Bethnal Green mulberry tree

Bethnal GreenIndividual trees in EnglandMorus (plant)
Detail of black mulberry tree (Morus nigra) in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital 02
Detail of black mulberry tree (Morus nigra) in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital 02

The Bethnal Green mulberry tree is an ancient black mulberry tree, in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital, at Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Many British mulberry trees have associations with famous people, and while evidence sometimes survives to confirm these associations, this is not always the case. The Bethnal Green mulberry is the subject of an unconfirmed tradition linking it to the ill-famed Bishop Bonner - known as Bloody Bonner. The exact age of the tree is unknown but is thought to be at least 200 years old and may be over 400 years old making it the oldest tree in the East End. If the Bishop Bonner tradition is correct it may be around 500 years old and the oldest black mulberry in the United Kingdom. From 2017-2021 the tree was the subject of a successful community campaign to resist a developer application to move the tree, an action the campaigners argued risked the death of the tree.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bethnal Green mulberry tree (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Bethnal Green mulberry tree
Approach Road, London Bethnal Green

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N 51.532716666667 ° E -0.049555555555556 °
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Approach Road

Approach Road
E2 9FA London, Bethnal Green
England, United Kingdom
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Detail of black mulberry tree (Morus nigra) in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital 02
Detail of black mulberry tree (Morus nigra) in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital 02
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Gatehouse School
Gatehouse School

Gatehouse School is a co-educational independent school based in Sewardstone Road in Bethnal Green in East London, educating pupils from the ages of three to eleven years. The youngest classes follow a Montessori-style education, but the influence of the national curriculum has brought the older classes more in line with mainstream schools. The school admits children from the full ability range, with an emphasis on the arts, including visits to museums and theatres, as well as sports and outward bound activities. The school was founded in Smithfield, London by Phyllis Wallbank, in 1948. It was housed in the Gatehouse of St Bartholomew-the-Great church in Smithfield but moved to Bethnal Green in the 1970s. It has been run along Montessori method principles developed by the educationalist Maria Montessori and began serving children from 2 – 16 years of age, and at the time of its founding, was untraditional in its educational philosophy. The school's 60th anniversary in 2008 was marked by a service in the school's original home, St Bartholomew's in Smithfield. The school integrates children with a wide range of disabilities with able-bodied children. It follows the idea that true learning results from children exploring the world for themselves through play. It allows children to choose when to take their lessons during the week. A child is required to complete a certain number of lessons in Mathematics, English, Art, Geography etc. per week but would be able to decide when to do them. Students also have free lessons where they can choose any subject they like. The balance of subjects is often weighted towards a child's aptitude or current interests. Different abilities/ages of children are taught in the same session, and their teachers 'sign pupils off' for the lessons they have completed. Some older children (14/15-year-olds) can then take the amount of each subject they wished to do over the course of each week, resulting in some pupils spending the week doing 'what they want' e.g., Art/Monday, Geography/Tuesday, English/Wednesday, Biology/Thursday and then back to Art/Friday. After an hour for lunch pupils have an hour to read followed by 'afternoon activities'. These include football, swimming, and visits to museums. The school has also had two ponies, as well as a duck, for the children. It also has an old farm cottage just outside Clochan in Scotland. The Gatehouse School featured in several documentary programmes during the 1970s. Saxophonist & Bon Viveur Brian Hardy taught Art & Dance here. Actors Sophie Ward and Linus Roche were pupils.

London Buddhist Centre
London Buddhist Centre

The London Buddhist Centre (LBC) is a temple in Bethnal Green in East London, is the main base for the London Triratna Buddhist Community, formerly known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. It opened in 1978, and is located in an ornate, vernacular redbrick Victorian fire station, completed in 1888, and in use by the London fire service until 1969. The building was fire-damaged in the 1970s, before being renovated by volunteers for its current use. Further major improvements were completed in 2009. The centre teaches meditation and Buddhism and offers drop-in lunchtime meditation sessions Monday-Saturday, and evening sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, open to beginners. The centre also explores the teaching of the Buddha (dharma) and its relevance in today's society through seminars, courses, classes and retreats. Regular retreats are run at its retreat centre in Suffolk, Vajrasana. In addition to this the centre also runs courses and retreats using mindfulness based cognitive therapy approaches. Its courses for depression, based on the mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy methodology of Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, featured in the Financial Times in 2008. This initiative is supported by the local authority, the London borough of Tower Hamlets. The Times has also reported on the centre's work with those affected by alcohol dependency The building's ground floor areas include a library, bookshop and reception room, with painted murals, as well as two ornate shrine rooms with Buddha figures, or "rupas", sculpted by Chintamani, a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order. A third, basement, room for meditation and classes, primarily used by a project called "Breathing Space", opened in 2009. The building's upper floors house Buddhist residential communities. The LBC is a UK-registered charity (255420), and is part of a local network of Buddhist businesses and organisations within the Bethnal Green area. This includes Buddhist communities, a charity shop and an arts centre. The former fire station is a Grade II listed building.