Down the decades, London has lost many evocative, historic sites. Not the famous national monuments or the greatest architectural buildings, but former industrial and transport premises, those that belonged to a bygone age when the world was very different and things were done very differently. So, it is heartening to report on the restoration, nay resurrection, of the old Tram Depot in Clapton. Once a major hub for horse-drawn trams, connecting London’s East End with the City, taking workers to and from Aldgate and Moorgate, for some 18 years the site has appeared neglected and increasingly forlorn. The depot was seemingly destined to follow other such once bustling premises, into the sterile anonymity of steel and glass office blocks and luxury apartments.
