Aldgate after the desks empty, EC3N and E1
Aldgate is the seam. On one side EC3N and the last of the Square Mile, on the other E1 and the start of the East End, and the line between them runs down the middle of a road that used to have a gate across it. This page is about the hours after half past six, which is when the district changes hands.
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by name- E1 8GPAldgate
- E1 8ENAldgate
- EC3N 4DJTower Hill
- EC3N 4AJTower Hill
- EC3A 7ABCity of London
Nearest platforms
Walking time- Aldgate1 min walk
- Aldgate East3 min walk
- Tower Hill6 min walk
Nearest carriages to Aldgate
Lucy and Sonya give Aldgate as the stop they work most, and the 6 carriages above are the nearest on service tonight. Any of the 28 on the the board can be asked for by name instead.
A gyratory turned into a square
For decades Aldgate was a roundabout that pedestrians went under rather than across. The gyratory was undone and the middle of it is now Aldgate Square, with grass, a row of trees and St Botolph without Aldgate sitting at the edge of it, which is a considerable improvement on a subway.
South of the square, Goodman's Fields is a whole new quarter of towers and courtyards built on what was a car park, with a paved route running through it from Leman Street to Mansell Street. Petticoat Lane, properly Middlesex Street, runs north from the square. East, the road becomes Whitechapel High Street and the market begins. The Tower is six minutes south west and most people here forget it is there.
Towers full of rooms, and Goodman's Fields
The house at E1 8GP is the big one, several hundred rooms on Goodman's Fields itself. At E1 8EN, a few steps away, the studios have kitchens rather than bedrooms, and guests who stay a week tend to end up there. The one at EC3N 4DJ looks straight at the castle. At EC3N 4AJ the grand one occupies the old Port of London Authority building. A tall new tower stands north west at Bishopsgate, EC3A 7AB.
That is five addresses and nothing more. We take no commission from any hotel, hold no arrangement with any of them, and nobody at their desks is expecting us. Residential bookings in the Goodman's Fields towers run alongside the hotel ones and work in exactly the same way.
One minute, three minutes, six minutes
Aldgate station, on the Circle and Metropolitan lines, is a minute from the square. Aldgate East, on the District and Hammersmith and City, is three minutes east. Tower Hill is six minutes south west and picks up the Circle and District as well as the DLR from Tower Gateway next door.
Her route in comes through the City, which after seven is the fastest road in London and before seven is not. Reckon on thirty five minutes early in the evening and twenty five later. EC3N and E1 are Zone 1, so nothing is added for the journey.
Desks empty at half six
The bookings here belong to the evening rather than the night. Somebody finishes at six, goes back to a room ten minutes from the office and would rather not eat alone. Consultants on a three week project in one of the E1 8EN studios. Visitors who chose Aldgate because it is cheaper than the West End and closer to everything than they expected. The common request is a start between seven and nine and a length of two or three hours, ending in time for a reasonable morning.
A second sort of message comes in later, around eleven, from people who went out with colleagues, came back to the hotel and found the evening unfinished. Those are short bookings, usually an hour or ninety minutes, and Nell takes a good many of them between Monday and Thursday.
From the office to the room
Half past seven on a Tuesday, two hours at £500. She meets you in the lobby at Goodman's Fields, you walk four minutes to a table on the square side and eat without hurrying, and you are back before half past nine. The booking closes at half past, and the fee is the one you were quoted at the start with nothing appended.
When there is more evening to fill, three hours at £700 leaves room for a drink afterwards at the hotel. Ninety minutes at £400 is the tightest useful length here and works when dinner has already been dealt with.
Who works this corner, and what is next to it
Lucy and Sonya are the two anchored at Aldgate. Laura and Rosa come from the Whitechapel side, Lea and Roxi down from Spitalfields, and Luna from the station. Everyone else is on the board.
Whitechapel starts where the High Street begins, nine minutes east. Spitalfields is seven minutes north, Shoreditch fifteen minutes the same way, and Liverpool Street is eight minutes north west.
Two notes worth reading for Aldgate
Aldgate, asked and answered
01How soon can she be at a Goodman's Fields hotel?
Around thirty five minutes from confirmation before seven, and closer to twenty five after it. The City roads empty out once the offices do.
02I am in a studio apartment rather than a hotel room. Does that matter?
Not at all. Give the building, the floor and the name the apartment is booked under, and Nell confirms all three back to you once.
03What is the cost of two hours at Aldgate?
£500, travel included. The step either side of it is £400 for ninety minutes and £700 for three.
04Can a booking start straight after work?
Yes, seven is the commonest start we take here. Write in during the afternoon and Nell will have it held before you leave the office.
05Is Tower Hill covered from this page?
Yes, down to the river, along with Mansell Street, Leman Street and the Minories. The figure is the same throughout.
Next along from Aldgate
The trains stop. We do not.
One message with the date, the time and the postcode, and the rest of the night is arranged quietly, anywhere from Hoxton down to the basin at Limehouse.