We love a bit of font. And we couldn’t resist asking local letterpress printers Harrington & Squires to help out with the artwork for our recent Tufnell Park special issue – now online for the first time.
Before we reveal our thirtysomething countdown, first a word about Chrissie Charlton and Vicky Fullick, who moved into The Corridor building in Fortess Road in 2005. “It’s an unusual space to run a print workshop from,” says Vicky, “and at a tiny 1.2 metres wide we have just enough space.”
As well as taking commissions for bespoke stationery, invitations and cards they also run weekly workshops for those who are interested in learning to hand-set metal type and letterpress print. Sounds like you? Swing by and say hello.
Anyway, without further ado, onto the three dozen Tufferish titbits of gossip, history, food, culture and celebs…
1. Failed bank bar squatted
The imposing former Barclays bank opposite the tube, now home to thronged rock ‘n’ roll dive Aces & Eights, took a while to find its feet in its post-pecuniary years. Known first as Bar Lorca, then the Grand Banks, both ventures had failed by 2004, leaving squatters to take over and set up an Occupied Social Centre offering cultural events. Aces open half a decade or so later.
2. There isn’t actually a park here
You’ll have noticed that, of course. That part of the name comes from the grand estate-building aspirations of the mid 1800s, which turned dairy farms into the rows of solid housing still going strong today. The recreational field is about to reopen though for those seeking green space, and a nice view with their wine from Bunny’s (see #12).
3. Lost Public Baths
Eclectic music venue The Dome was once, in fact, baths – of the kind folk would go to have a wash once a week. Later known as wrestling hotspot the Tufnell Park Palais, the Stanley Hall and Baths is commemorated by a plaque in 1884 – still visible on the wall on Junction Road.
4. Clive James no likey
The Australian broadcaster writes about the area at length in his memoir Falling Towards England. He lived in “a first-floor horror of a room at the high end of Tufnell Park Road” when he first moved to in 1962, joking that he was “at the cutting edge of the bohemian experience”. By which he meant it was slightly rubbish.
5. Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece painted on Fortess Road
Seminal artist Ford Madox Brown created his most notable painting, Work, while living at No 56 (see the plaque on Fortess Terrace) from 1855 – 1862. He also used the back garden in several paintings, including Stages of Cruelty. Hunt ‘em out.
6. Naked lady by the window
A former landlady of The Junction, which dates back to the mid 19th century, had a penchant for parading starkers by the windows above the beer garden – but only when she had an audience. At least, that’s according to recent owner Jacky Kitching, who ran the pub for thirteen years.
7. The tale behind Cardigan Club Café (RIP)
Owner Minh Chi’s seamster parents came to Mile End as immigrants from when she was a child and worked in a factory making cardigans – and this is what lends the café its intriguing name. Shame it’s closing down.
8. Legendary gay club
The world’s biggest LGBT Club “where Eastern beats blend with Western classics” is right here on our doorstep. Monthly Club Kali is at The Dome and has been going nearly two decades serving up “sizzling Bollywood, Bhangra, Arabic, and dancefloor” classics. Never made it down? Their 19th birthday bash is on June 20.
9. Comic classic spawned
The must-read blockbuster of summer 1892 was The Diary of a Nobody, set in the aspirational if down-at-heel suburb of Holloway/ Tuffers. These tales of Mr Pooter and his pompous social pretensions originated from a series in Punch Magazine, and as a book, have never been out of print since.
10. Picturehouse or manor house?
The area received its name in 1753, when haughty William Tufnell became the first in a long line of eponymously-named landowners. And take a guess where their ancestral manor was? Right where we queue up at the Holloway Odeon.
11. Fire at the boozer!
A barman and a scrappy dog had to be rescued in 1967 from Victorian landmark the Boston Arms, which dates back to 1899, when fire gutted the public and saloon bars. Newspaper clippings report the dog’s name as Champ. Hooray!
13. “Adult” ice cream
Did you know that north London’s hippest ice cream parlour, Ruby Violet, makes sorbet out of on-trend Campari? But only during the blood orange season, which has sadly just finished. So only another 11 months to go then – but in the meantime we heart another “adult” classic, the chilli chocolate, big time. Oh, and get a salted caramel for the kids while you’re at it. [/box]
14. The manor still has gates
You mean you’ve missed them? The posts marking the threshold can still be spotted at the western end of Tufnell Park Road. This is also an old Roman thoroughfare that led onwards through the dairy pastures and over the hills towards Hampstead.
15. Raves in the yummy mummy pub
Well-heeled local the Tufnell Park Tavern hasn’t always been the genteel buggies-and-brunch destination it is today. Less than a decade ago it was known as Progress, more rowdy nightclub than pub, with raucous all-day parties in the garden, screeching cars and fights kicking off in the road after dark. Yikes. Before that? It was the Tufnell Park Tavern (again), a fairly famous jazz venue with some very fine architectural detail that the “eejits who thought they’d make money running raves ripped out”, says reader Dick Muskett.
16. The N7 poisoner
Creepy murderer Dr Crippen clumsily disposed of his wife in a house on Hilldrop Crescent in 1910 (don’t bother to go and gawp, it was reduced to rubble in WWII). As he absconded with his mistress, disguised as father and son, the unfolding case caused a national sensation.
18. Fans still flock to sitcom flat
Yes, it was aeons ago now, but cult TV sitcom Spaced is an all-time classic. Set in a flatshare at the imposing 23 Carleton Road (better known as Meteor Street to fans), pilgrimages to shoot grinning selfies and carve adoring graffiti still continue today – 15 years on. [/box]
19. African destination dining
Fortess Rd, with Lalibela at the top and Queen of Sheba at the Kentish Town end, is a veritable Ethiopian restaurant hotspot. Drawing in the vegans – religious observance in the country means there are over 200 meat-free days in the calendar – it’s a must-do for adventurous gourmands too. Unroll some spongy injera bread and get dipping.
20. Forgotten Overground stop
Station Rd is the only remaining hint that a busy railway stop once deposited over 140,000 passengers a year where it meets the corner of Junction Road, just next door to today’s Shaolin Temple. Folk alighted mostly for the local cattle market, but when Tufnell Park tube opened nearby in 1907, numbers dwindled so fast that John Betjeman immortalised it in a poem as the “lonely station”.
21. Hollywood star washed his keks here
In the mid 1980s – apparently – Jude Law lived above the launderette opposite what is now Sainsbury’s on Fortess Road. Rumour has it that his greying grundies received a spin or two in the machines downstairs.
23. Dahhling! Thesps woz ‘ere
Charles Booth’s famous survey into London Life and Labour – conducted from 1886-1903 – states that the original development of Anson and Carleton roads housed “a mixture of retired merchants and music hall artistes who were rich enough to holiday abroad over winter.” Ooh la la![/box]
24. Spag House is not a chain
Just opposite the tube, honest Italian food is served as it has been since the 70s. Legendary chef and host Enzo moved back to Italy a few years ago, but his traditions for affordable, traditional dishes remain. Many people still confuse it with the identically named chain of restaurants, but in fact it is a proud independent. Yay.
25. School closed by multiple drownings
Back in 1878, so many girls from a private school once found at the junction of Carleton and Brecknock perished in the Princes ice shipping disaster that the school was shut down completely. Over 650 people died overall – the worst ever loss of life on the Thames – when the pleasure paddle steamer was struck by a coal ship.
26. Famous artist exhibits at local cafe
Internationally-renowned painter Natalie D’Arbeloff has lived in the area since the mid 1990s. She has shows worldwide still occasionally at Rustique on Fortess Road too. “The soft lighting, terra cotta walls and bookshelves of the Literary Cafe provide an ambience which suits my intimate works,” she says.
28. The spot where 4 postcodes meet
Brecknock Road is the Camden-Islington borough boundary – and also a longstanding bohemian shopping parade where Tufnell Park, Kentish Town and Camden meet (that’s NW1, NW5, N7 and N19). And behold ye the collision of north London scruffiness at the southern end: organic store Bumblebee, world food restaurants, Salvino deli, a boutique or two and vegan footwear store Third Estate. [/box]
29. Secret cinema
Every other Tuesday from 8pm at the Lord Palmerston is the Tufnell Park Film Club: bag yourself membership for a tenner, and the flicks are nearly always worth catching. Regulars can vote on which films to watch (Chinatown or Vertigo, for example), and classics might include A Hard Day’s Night. And it’s all curated by Wayne Gooderham and Nigel Smith, who wrote our December cover story on lost cinemas in Kentish Town.
30. Welkom to Korfball
The mixed sex Dutch team sport – a bit like the bouncy love child of basketball and netball – has landed at Acland Burghley and is on the lookout for new players, if you fancy it on a hopefully balmy evening. Every Thursday 7.30pm-9pm. New players can attend for free for their first two weeks.
31. Piano factory opposite the tube
The new Future and Found store right opposite Tufnell Park tube was “probably once a piano factory”, says owner Andrea Bates. “It has had many reincarnations throughout its life, including a film school.” And now it’s Tufnell Park’s leading interiors shop, with – we hope – a cafe in the lovely courtyard in the near future.
33. Shakespeare went to Acland Burghley
The 1960s-built school has had its fair share of famous alumni: reggae singer Eddie Grant, MOBO-nominated rapper Ms Dynamite and her brother Akala – aka “the hip hop Shakespeare”. [/box]
34. Posh fishmonger about to land
Delayed until July 1, Jonathan Norris is set to take over no 140 Fortess Road, currently in the throes of a substantial refit. He already has two other successful outlets across the capital, including Pimlico and Victoria Park, Hackney. It will source the very best British fish and shellfish from “small boats in the West Country”.
35. Underground river
Tufnell Park is the source of subterranean stream the Hackney Brook. It rises near Mercers Road and runs south to cross the main Holloway thoroughfare near Tufnell Park Road. Psychogeographers: why not follow it above ground?
36. What’s “malodorous” at Nuraghe?
Nothing, of course. But the best dish to order at this Dartmouth Park Hill trattoria is the splendidly named Malloreddus: traditional tiny dumplings made from semolina dough with an elongated ridge conch shape to catch the sauce. And what a sauce! Slow-cooked pork with fennel, saffron and tomato. This is why the joint is rammed at weekends.
37. The house with celeb cred
You’ll be aware that Homeland star Damian Lewis is the area’s biggest residing star right now (when’s he’s not in LA, of course). But did you know his N19 home was previously owned by another Brit-done-good-on-US-telly, Hugh Laurie?
Phew. We’re off to have a cuppa somewhere far, far away. With thanks to Dick Muskett, Jacky Kitching, Jennir, Secretartistnw5, Kentishtowncats and everyone else who contributed. Know a fact about Tufnell Park? Share it below…
Now this one has taken us by surprise. Shoe Shop – so named after its former life as footwear retail outlet – is closing at the end of this month. February 27th to be precise (when, as they say on their website, they’ll be “gone for good”.)
And it’s not even particularly sinister, either (although the aforementioned phrase does sound rather dramatic). Australian chef-owner Paul Merrony, who ran the acclaimed Giaconda Dining Rooms on Denmark Street for many years, is simply moving to the country with his wife. Fair enough.
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Classic cooking in a minimal environment. Photo: Stephen Emms
Classic cooking in a minimal environment. Photo: Stephen Emms
Over the last eighteen months what have we enjoyed in its pared-back surrounds? Silky chicken liver parfait, buttery baked mushrooms, leg of lamb steak capped with honey-sweet roast tomatoes – and, best of all, a juicy pink rib-eye smothered with a creamy shallot and green peppercorn sauce. You couldn’t fault the wine list, either.
But skills of a talented chef aside, did other factors perhaps affect its trade? The opening hours were sometimes difficult to fathom, with a limited lunch and dinner service – we got caught out on at least one occasion – and last year saw the arrival nearby of the very popular ‘cave à manger’ Patron. Good-value new openings like Beef & Brew and a new ex-Vinoteca head chef at The Junction may not have helped its cause, either.
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Anyway, whatever the reason for the couple’s departure, it’s a loss to NW5’s dining scene; but at least the site is remaining a restaurant – so watch this space for more info.
10 thoughts on “37 Things You Never Knew About Tufnell Park”
There’s a Ford Madox Brown painting of the view from his window, looking towards Hampstead from Fortess Road called, “View from my Window”. If you are in the right spot (up high), the view today is remarkably similar.
Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal were often guests at Ford Madox Brown’s house.
The film Sapphire, about ‘race’ and ‘passing’ in the nineteen fifties (dir Basil Dearden 1959) was shot partly in Tufnell Park. The central white family lived somewhere in the area and there’s an up-hill shot of Brecknock Road from Tufnell Park tube.
These are both brilliant facts, thanks! Keep ’em coming….
Minor point, but you have the timeline of Aces & Eights wrong. The building was a bank, then it was an American diner, then it was Grand Banks bar, then it was vacant for a while, then a squat, then refurbed as Bar Lorca and finally Aces & Eights.
I miss Enzo
Everyone misses Enzo. (Whisper it, but Spag House’s food has probably improved though. Especially the Pizza. Enzo never could get his head around Pizza.)
Yup, everyone misses Enzo, (or ‘Vincent’ = Vicenzo), but he was seriously ill and went back to Italy. He left it to the (latin american) waitresses, but it has since moved on to Albanians, don’t ask me how, the waiter is Albanian.You can get decent pizza there now, like a million other places, but the atmosphere has nose-dived.
I seem to recall it was called “Fat Sams” and was utterly bereft of paying customers!
Few weeks after I regretfully left this area I was told about a secret room inside the aces n eights. A door near the toilets leading to some sort of basement. Or so my very drunk friend reported.
Is it true? And, if so, is it really so hidden?
Need to mention the famous Tufnell Park Football team who made the final of the FA Amateur cup final 1919–20 season, losing 1–0 to Dulwich Hamlet.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufnell_Park_F.C.