Blood Alley

Don’t ask me why my first post is about Vancouver’s Blood Alley, because even I don’t have the answer to that question. I only remember the first time I stepped into Gastown, there were two things that intrigued me, the first was obviously the famous steam clock that whistles every 15 minutes, and the second is the infamous Blood Alley.

According to the storytellers, in the 1900’s, Blood Alley used to be filled with butcher shops that rinsed out buckets of blood at the end of day, resulting in the inevitable blood in the street. And as if that was not enough, it was said that public executions were also held in the blood alley square. Pretty ghastly, eh?

But on the other side of the coin, some historians said that Bloody Alley is just an ordinary alley, and it’s real name is Trounce Alley, after Victoria’s Trounce Alley. The cause of all of these confusing and conflicting history? A mistake on a map published in the Vancouver World in 1896. Apparently, the author of the map named Water Street as Carrall and Carrall as Water St. Therefore, that mistake somehow got Gaoler’s Mews, which at that time was the location of a jail, and Blood Alley mixed up.

Which one do you want to believe?

Anyway, enough about the inconclusive stories about Blood Alley. Other than it’s conflicting history, Blood Alley is also a fence that separates two vastly different classes.

On one side of Blood Alley lies posh eateries like L’abattoir, Judas Goat Taberna, Salt Tasting Room, and also exclusive boutiques like Haven and Neighbour…

And on the other side of Blood Alley lies the poverty stricken Stanley New Fountain “Hotel”, it is obviously not a hotel built for the rich.

When you stand right in the middle of Blood Alley and you turn your head to look at one side of it, and then the other… it’s like looking at night and day.

I don’t know what this guy is doing… I just hope he doesn’t fall…

Remember the first picture of this post? That was a few years ago, this is now.