To spot the Castle Club, look for a striking red-brick building with spiky rooftop battlements and tall chimneys, rising just behind the brick wall to your left.
Now, imagine the year is 1855, and right here stands a brand-new, almost castle-like school, its red bricks glowing in the sunshine and those tall, Gothic-style turrets practically begging for a few bats to flutter around them at dusk. This was no ordinary school: it was the Elizabethan Ragged School, paid for by Laurence Sulivan, whose grandfather once ran the powerful East India Company. He named it for his beloved wife Elizabeth-who, just so you can drop it into conversation later, happened to be the younger sister of the Prime Minister! Picture ragged-clothed kids shuffling in, their eyes wide with awe at the grand architecture-probably worried they'd have to joust at recess.
Fast forward: the old classrooms once echoed with children's songs, but soon they were used for caring for sick children, those struggling with tuberculosis. You can almost hear the faint coughs and whispers of hope. Later on, the air was filled with the excited chatter of teenagers as it became the Eight Feathers youth club-a place of safety, games, and a little teenage mischief, I reckon. The Castle Club has worn many hats, but standing here, it still looks ready for a tale or two. If only these walls could talk… or maybe, after sunset, they do!
