The Ten Bells

[John Bennett]

Yo Jenny, you can't beat a good rant once in a while.

It all boils down to the changing social demographic of the area. I can only go back so far, but when the pub was called the 'Jack the Ripper' it always seemed to be very quiet - mostly locals by the look of it. This would have been about 1985 onward in my personal experience.

Interestingly, I recently read an interview with Sandra Esqulant (who has run the 'Golden Heart' up the road with her husband since 1979) and she said that the 1980s were a terrible time for trade, especially once the market had begun to wind down. If one thinks about what the area was like then, the immediate area was predominantly Bangladeshi occupied or in ruins. In other words, there weren't an awful lot of pub-goers in the area, although there were certainly a few more choices in those days, particularly on Brick Lane; The Jolly Butchers, Frying Pan, Seven Stars and Old Two Brewers were still operating then.

What changed I guess is when the old Georgian houses were being bought up - suddenly they weren't sweatshops and banana storage facilities any more, they were residences. The people who took these properties on were hardly dyed-in-the-wool working class pub locals and they seemed to be the first local residents to kick up a stink about the Ripper Tours. Different social background, different ethics, one might say.

And then there were the young artists who arrived in the 1990s when the old Truman brewery started being used as gallery space and studios. This was when places like the 'Golden Heart' and 'Ten Bells' saw a reversal in fortunes. Sandra Esqulant loves her locals apparently (Tracy Emin is one) and looks on them as revitalising the area, which they no doubt do. But the 'Golden Heart' doesn't have the same history as the 'Ten Bells'.

The 'White Hart' on Whitechapel High Street on the other hand (the one George Chapman worked under) has several boards up about JTR and nobody seems to mind. But if you look at the clientele there, it's very different from up the road.

As I have said before, just over a decade ago, Spitalfields was not really the sort of place where one would go for a good time. Now it certainly is, although those that do go there for leisure seem quite happy for the area to change on their terms, rather than fit in with the history already there.

But that's how it's always been, whether you were Huguenot, Jew, Bengali or annoying poseur. Umbra Sumus. I wonder who will be next?

[JennyL]

Thanks, John--I enjoyed your "ranting".

I also believe every word you write is true, but it's funny--the irony to me is that here in little old Los Angeles a pub that dates back to the era of and included among its patrons infamous Victorian crime victims would be considered the epitome of "urban cool", chic, etc-whether it was overtly alluded to or not.
While I'm sure(or hope) no ripperologist would want to see a terribly cheesy approach to the pub's JtR association, the fact is that the pub is still here, it was there then, it has that connection, and that makes it genuinely historical and, well, cool--certainly not the opposite of cool, if cool is a place with a hell of an infamous history.

So funny (or sad) that our L.A.-version sh*t-holes are just that-bars that are truly dumps--with no charm and no hip patrons--that no one wants to be caught dead in. Our trendiest places rather go for exactly the neo-victorian/edwardian/roaring 20s look & vibe that I'd guess the Ten Bells would want to avoid at any cost!
I put it down to we poor Southern Californians being starved for history. Our few genuinely older buildings dating 100 plus years and back are therefore rare treasures, at their "coolest" when restored or maintained authentically-much more chic than the modern urban sort.

Jenny

[John Bennett]

Old fart goes on a Ten Bells rant...

Hi Jenny,

I guess the simple fact of the matter is that The Ten Bells has effectively 'reinvented itself'.

Despite the no doubt occasional 'Ripper buff' popping in for a curious visit, the current management/staff have little or no interest in that side of its history and the pub has been stripped of all the paraphenalia in an effort to transform it into the sort of boozer that appeals to the trendy, arty crowd that now flock into the area (whether they actually live in the area or not). It has been 'rediscovered'.

Here's an example which I may have posted a while back. I was helping a documentary film crew a few months ago and they had called the pub to arrange a possible bit of filming inside. According to the production co-ordinator, the reception on the other end of the phone was negative if not hostile. The owner said that they want nothing to do with JTR and did not want to be associated with what they felt was a distasteful interest in the murders. He did say however (and this says it all) that if it was a location for a big budget fashion shoot they were after then they were interested, but apparently it was a stupid amount of money. After telling me this, the production coordinator merely uttered the phrase 'stuck-up arseholes'.

If you go there at peak times such as Friday or Saturday nights, one does get the impression that the customers (who are predominantly under 30s and hip-looking) feel comfortable there. And there isn't really a local accent to be heard. I suppose they can now afford to weed out the Ripper tourists as it's busy enough already. 20 (or even 10) years ago it wasn't the case.

I had an Australian guy on my tour last night who used to go on Martin Fido's tours in the early 1990s and they used to stop in the pub during the tour. He couldn't believe that they had removed the JTR stuff and thought the pub looked in a terrible state. He appeared genuinely put out.

I believe The Ten Bells looks like it does because it has been marketed as 'urban cool'. It seems that those who are not entirely 'urban' believe that to be 'urban', a pub has to look like a sh*t-hole. Thus, they like it that way. Hence the shoddy furniture, peeling paint, awful toilets etc. In a way, the environment takes second place to the ability to have a good time in it - and lets face it, the young crowd that go there in their droves today do seem rather good at enjoying themselves, in spite of the grotty surroundings. In fact they have a hard time stopping enjoying themselves long enough to move out of the way when one is trying to get past! As a friend of mine put it during a visit last year, "I'm so bloody trendy I can't let you past".

Still, I pop in occasionally - people watching is quite fun there. Anybody remember 'Nathan Barley'?

JB
Rant over. Until the next one.

[JennyL]

What I can't quite fathom is why the staff of Ten Bells would be hostile to anyone with the least interest in its infamous history? It's mentioned here on the boards over and over how dicey it is to snatch a photo, or how one daren't mention anything to do with the history to the 'tenders, etc. Why is that?

If it were a jealously guarded locals-only sort of pub perhaps I could see it but it's described as just the opposite--full of trendies, poseurs, that sort...in which case, especially if it's a bit of a dump, isn't its hardcore rep the reason those folk are there? Isn't it all the "cooler" that it's the pub where the most famous serial killer's victims did their drinking? Why is the Ripper association taboo? I'd think if I worked behind the bar I'd be pretty interested in its unique history!

In any case I'm surprised that there's attitude or outright rudeness towards professed-or suspected-ripperologists...if they're buying beers! That above all makes no sense to me. Isn't the aim of a pub to rake in the customers? Only way I could see a disdain for crime enthusiasts is if they swarmed in without buying anything.

[Celesta]

I like the name of the medium: Marion Dampier-Jeans.

If I was in the Ten Bells at night and heard paranormal activity, Dampier Jeans is probably what I would have.

Yeah. But I would be headed for the door too fast to worry about it. I'll leave that paranormal stuff to braver folks, like Mike C. or Philip H.

[Celesta]

Archaic, That's a good vid. Thank you.

Gary, Welcome aboard, if I haven't already greeted you. If I have, welcome aboard, anyway.

[Archaic]

Hi, Gary, and welcome aboard!

Great Ten Bells story; got any more?

Some of us are stuck on the wrong side of the pond & have to visit these cool sites vicariously.

Best regards, Archaic

[gary]

Hi all,
Just chipping in my two pennorth.
In the '80s I worked 1/2 mile away and usually popped in for one at lunchtime
or on the way home.
About midday, in I goes to find the tv set up in the middle of the floor and
with a crowd around it all paying avid attention.
Within a couple of minutes on comes a five minute documentary about the
pub, including video taken inside.
Quite surreal watching a programme and then glancing aside the tv to see
exactly the same thing (the wall mural) in real life.

Gary.
PS the manager at the time, a canadian, told me exactly what other posters
have said "it was a s_ _thole then and it's a s_ _thole now".

[Archaic]

Good One, John!

I like the name of the medium: Marion Dampier-Jeans.

If I was in the Ten Bells at night and heard paranormal activity, Dampier Jeans is probably what I would have.

Ha ha ha Archaic

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

Well, John, I did notice the dampier jeans too!

But if the ghost really was Liz, then she had grown three inches smaller (if I heard right! )

Since at least to my ears the ghost was 5'2", while according to the victim info on our site Long Liz was 5'5" !

The same problem as always with these allegations; if Long Liz wants to give clues about the murder, why does she scare the customers?! Is that her spirit's past-mortem sense of humour?!

All the best
Jukka

[John Bennett]

I like the name of the medium: Marion Dampier-Jeans.

If I was in the Ten Bells at night and heard paranormal activity, Dampier Jeans is probably what I would have.

[Archaic]

Hi, GM. Then maybe you should watch the short YouTube clip of the man drinking Absinthe at the Ten Bells... i wonder if he ever returned to his body & went home???

Archaic

[The Grave Maurice]

Well, somebody has to do it...

Damn straight. There were several evenings in the late '70s when I had to do it virtually all by myself.

[JennyL]

Neat clip that--thanks for sharing.
I couldn't stand the constant cutting back & forth in the video, particularly the first half, but what a treat to see Paul Begg! And Mr. Rumbelow with his knife.

Did you notice that the announcer says "Eric" Kosminski rather than Aaron at the end? I swear he does. Well--typical!

[Archaic]

Typical jazzed up rubbish..the ghost of Liz Stride haunts the Ten bells ?

Well, somebody has to do it...

A.