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Beigel Shop, Brick Lane

Eleanor’s richly-hued watercolour paintings of favourite East End Bakers set my stomach rumbling just to look at them . “I live in a bakery-free part of the East End and popping out for decent bread usually involves a cycle ride,” she admitted to me, “So I’m always on the lookout for good bakers and I wish we still had a proper bakery in every neighbourhood like they do in the rest of Europe.”

In common with Eleanor, I also plan my routes around the East End using the bakers’ shops as landmarks – so that I can take consolation in knowing the proximity of the nearest one, just in case the desire for something tasty from the Bakery overtakes me.

“One of my regular bus routes has The Baker’s Arms as its final destination and close by is a beautiful set of almshouses, built by the London Master Bakers’ Benevolent Institution in the nineteenth century,” Eleanor informed me, elucidating bakers’ lore,  as she took the first bite of a freshly baked Hot Cross Bun still warm from the oven.“Luckily people always want bread, so the traditional bakeries can still thrive alongside new businesses – but I do recommend sampling the goods a few times in each one, just to be sure which is the best…”

Robertsons, Lea Bridge Rd

Novelty Bakery, East Ham

Jesshops, Newington Green

Rinkoff’s, Vallance Rd

Goswell Bakeries, Canning Town

Akdeniz Bakery, Stoke Newington

Star Bakery, Dalston Lane

Fabrique Bakery, Hoxton

Raab the Bakers, Essex Rd

Percy Ingle, Lea Bridge Rd

Anderson’s, Hoxton St

Daren Bread, Stepney Green

Illustrations copyright © Eleanor Crow