London’s Alleys: Dirty Lane, SE1

This is a new alley that runs underneath a railway through a long line of brick arches that have been polished up to become a row of posh shops. The alley is part of Borough Yards, an upmarket development that has been turning a few yards and the railway arches into a cluster of shops and cafes.The area of the development pretty much fills the site that was once occupied by Winchester Palace and its gardens. By the 1740s, the area was fully developed with a large timber yard in the middle and lo