Newsflash: two cinema chains seeking a K-Town venue

By on May 17, 2013 in Film

A week can be a long time in Kentish Town. Just seven days ago we reported on the closure of Pizza Express in the iconic old former poly on the corner of Prince Of Wales Road. Then on Wednesday we tried to galvanise our thousands of readers into acting together if we are all serious [...]

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Who is the new Mayor? Why, Kentishtowner Jonathan Simpson. Here’s his Top 5…

By on May 16, 2013 in Food, News, Pinboard

Yesterday saw Kentishtowner Jonathan Simpson become Camden’s “rock ‘n’ roll” mayor for the second time. And here he is, in all his finery, posing on what can only be called “the Spice Girls staircase” at the Town Hall. “Hopefully I will still be rock ‘n’ roll,” he told us this morning. And, suitably enough, the [...]

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Pinboard May 16: A date set for Kentish Town Carnival – and other spring fairs & festivals

By on May 16, 2013 in Art, Food, Music, Pinboard

1. K-Town Carnival Date – now set for Sunday June 16 There’s been much talk recently about the cultural health of the area. So now, let’s celebrate the fact that exactly one month today is the first ever Kentish Town Carnival, which takes place on Talacre Road and Gardens on June 16, from 11am till [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Let’s make a K-Town cinema or arts space actually happen!

By on May 15, 2013 in Art, Culture, Film, Theatre

A cinema? Arts hub? Ideas store? Now is the time to act. With the Bull & Gate no longer a live music venue, and the recent announcement of the Pizza Express closure, we are now seriously thinking it’s time to do something. After all, we are fortunate to have thousands of readers all passionate about [...]

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Ich Bin Kentishtowner: Ben Osborne, DJ and Arctic Monkeys biographer

By on May 14, 2013 in Q&A

Ben Osborne is, variously, a DJ, arts programmer, musician, radio presenter and writer who has lived locally all his life. He runs unusual multimedia events under the banner Noise of Art, cropping up at diverse locations such as the National Portrait Gallery, Roundhouse, summer festivals, and further afield in Paris and Berlin. His next event [...]

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Why It Matters: Saving St Pancras Old Church

By on May 13, 2013 in Why It Matters

It’s witnessed everyone from Dickens to the Beatles wandering in its churchyard. Volunteer Matt Shaw on why this ancient site needs your help. In 1968, no-one was more famous than The Beatles. This brought its own problems, as Justin Beiber would tell you today. The worst thing was the near-impossibility of escaping the public gaze, [...]

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Bench Tales – back now as a regular series

By on May 12, 2013 in Bench Tales

Readers may remember my scribblings on the stories behind memorial park benches over the years. There was the Free Weekend piece encouraging people to contemplate the inscriptions; the tale behind the Postmen’s Bench outside Kentish Town Delivery Office; and one of London’s finest inscriptions – the Memorial to the Unknown Husband on the South Bank. [...]

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Should the Pizza Express building become K-Town’s cinema?

By on May 10, 2013 in Film

Yesterday’s story that Pizza Express is due to close on May 28 has been met with quite a reaction. And it’s not necessarily that people are huge fans of the restaurant chain itself; it’s that this new development could again put a question mark over the much-threatened building’s fate. There’s been a heated(ish) debate about [...]

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Free Weekend? Explore Bristol – a beginner’s guide

By on May 10, 2013 in Drink, Food, Free Weekend?, Travel

Graffiti, sharing plates – and one spectacular bridge: Stephen Emms heads to the waterside city for just 24 hours We’re standing by an empty building next to the derelict, Grade II-listed Carriage Works on Stokes Croft, the street known as Bristol’s creative epicentre. Alongside the hipster coffee bars, graffiti is everywhere, as you might expect [...]

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Big Review: Old Eagle, Royal College Street

By on May 10, 2013 in Drink, Food

The Old Eagle is a long-term favourite. Which means that, in nearly three years of Kentishtownerism, it’s odd that we’ve barely given it a mention. Part of an attractive 1830s terrace, and subject of a very early piece back in 2010 (read it here), the Eagle’s otherwise remained what it’s always been: a damn good [...]

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