Charles Cross

[rjpalmer]

I can't find a Calton Road, Mile End on the modern map so must have been demolished or called something else.

According to an old post by Eduardo, Carlton Road is now Portelet Road, and No. 24 was on the southwest corner of Leatherdale Street.

The only ordnance map I can find (from 1894/5) shows a small back garden (marked in yellow) and if the line is a dividing fence, it could show where Charlie was standing, with the back corner of the building next door directly behind him on the other side of the fence.

He would be standing in the upper of the two yellow squares facing north, herringbone cap in hand, perhaps meditating on a life well lived.

[GBinOz]

In this photo (auto sharpened in photoshop) the object in his right hand looks very much like a peaked cap. Looking at the height of his hands, it can be seen that his left arm is pointed back, and it appears to me that his hand is behind the alignment of the picket gate. Hard as I try, I can't see a chair.



Cheers, George

[rjpalmer]

The only ordnance map I can find (from 1894/5) shows a small back garden (marked in yellow) and if the line is a dividing fence, it could show where Charlie was standing, with the back corner of the building next door directly behind him on the other side of the fence.

Looking at this again, I don't think it works as described. The railed fence dividing his garden from the next house would mean his back is facing west, and his head east, but then there would need to be a second shorter fence (not shown in the ordnance map) dividing his own garden in half, which is possible if that long house (presumably No. 24 according to Ed) is subdivided. The camera angle would also have to be tilted towards the next house. Of course, who knows how accurate that 1894 map is by 1912, if that is indeed the date of the photo.

And I still think Eduardo should dig up the old fellow's skeleton and set my mind at ease. There was a condition known as 'pigeon chest' (pectus carinatum) and I still think he doesn't look quite right.