EastEnders star Anita Dobson says east London has become 'unrecognisable'

"The 76-year-old actress grew up in the Stepney Green area of the East End and spent many Saturdays wandering through the markets of Brick Lane with her father. Since the 1950s, the area has been home to a Bangladeshi community, who emigrated to the East End after World War II. Local families began growing restaurant businesses, contributing to Brick Lane being known as it is now: as one of the UK's top curry capitals."

"Reflecting on the changes, Anita described the East End as an extraordinary mixture of its past as she remembers it and the influx of what's happened to England, to the world; that it's much more cosmopolitan. On a recent visit, she said she noticed how much the area had changed and admitted she didn't recognise it. She said: It wasn't as I remembered it. The shops were all different, and even the street names were different, so it was quite a shock."

Anita Dobson grew up in Stepney Green and wandered Brick Lane markets with her father. Since the 1950s a Bangladeshi community settled in the area, emigrating after World War II and establishing many restaurants. Those businesses helped make Brick Lane one of the UK's top curry capitals, and Tower Hamlets recognised the community's contribution in 1997 by establishing a cultural quarter. A recent visit left Dobson calling the area unrecognisable, noting different shops and changed street names. She described the East End as more cosmopolitan with many more races, colours, accents, voices and religions, and warned that modern London feels less social with diminished community spirit.

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