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where the master of suspense began

Alfred Hitchcock's Leytonstone

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Leytonstone · Leytonstone
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The east London birthplace of the master of suspense, marked by a blue plaque and a station gallery of film mosaics, all free.

Getting there. At and around Leytonstone Underground station in east London.
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Leytonstone · Leytonstone
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The lowdown

Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899 above his father's greengrocer's shop in Leytonstone, and the area that shaped the young director now honours him for free. A plaque marks his birthplace, but the real treat is inside Leytonstone station, where the pedestrian tunnels are lined with seventeen colourful mosaics depicting scenes from his films and his life.

From the shower in Psycho to the birds and the spy thrillers, the mosaics turn an everyday Tube station into a free gallery of cinema history. It is a lovely tribute, free to enjoy on any journey through, to the local boy who became one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

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The mosaics are in the pedestrian underpasses by the station, so you can see them all for free with a normal journey through. See if you can identify the films, from Psycho and The Birds to his cameo appearances.
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