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Wednesday Picture: The Secret Of Leighton Place

By on May 16, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

It’s an oft-told tale that London’s piano industry was based in Kentish Town, but not so many folk know about this claim to fame: it was once home to the most famous taxidermists in the world. Rhinos, aardvarks, tigers, monkeys, elephant waste paper baskets, musical boxes made from tortoise shells – they were all stuffed [...]

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The Wednesday Picture: What was Mussolini’s link with The Forum?

By on May 9, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

It’s a popular spot to catch a world-class band, of course, although not quite enough to make your choice of Best Live Venue 2011. But what’s all this we’ve been reading about possible links, back in the 1930′s, with Mussolini? We’ll come to that shortly. First, look at how idyllic the spot was around 1800, [...]

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Wednesday Picture: How is Princess Diana linked to Highgate Studios?

By on May 2, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

Who’d have thought our humble manor would be connected to that titan of popular culture, Princess Di? Even less likely – you’d think – would be a link between the People’s Princess and those old warehouses behind Highgate Road. But, as Mrs Kentishtowner always maintains, truth is stranger than fiction. Our tale begins around 1850. [...]

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Wednesday Picture: The Cafe at Brookfield Mansions

By on April 25, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

There’s been a pleasant little stop for a cuppa at the base of Highgate West Hill for as long as anyone can remember. First Class Tea Rooms, no less. A godsend for those needing to recharge after a strident constitutional across the Heath or bone-rattling tram ride up from the slums of Kentish Town. These [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Kentish Town Panorama – and the old Assembly House

By on April 18, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

Regular readers will know that our manor is proper ancient – dating back to 1206 – and has many claims to fame. But did you realise that there exists a Kentish Town Panorama, depicting four and a half miles of local scenery at the turn of the 19th century? Historians say the work, completed by [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Karl Marx woz ‘ere

By on April 11, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

There are three locations in West Kentish Town with stories to tell about our most famous inhabitant. And no, we don’t mean her from 80s girl band Bananarama. This inviting red door is 46 Grafton Terrace, part of a stretch of ten houses with interesting curved steps and arched upper windows, originally called Fitzroy Road. [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Prince of Wales Baths (Kentish Town Sports Centre, if you must)

By on April 4, 2012 in Health & Exercise, Wednesday Picture

One hundred and eleven years ago, the local authority – then St Pancras – poured money into a state-of-the-art public facility for the residents of Kentish Town. Comprising of a wash house, public hall and baths, the deep red brick and terracotta edifice was a sight to behold, but one that withered in its visual [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Maud Wilkes Close, Kentish Town

By on March 28, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

This rather scenic garden is at the back of Maud Wilkes Close, just off Leighton Road, a seemingly unremarkable cul-de-sac of flats and houses built by the St Pancras Housing Association in 1999. Yet this green space, with its almost pastoral views over Lady Margaret Road to the Assembly House, has, like the rest of [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Which street connects Soul II Soul with Jeremy Beadle?

By on March 21, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

Back in the summer of 1991 I was a fresh-faced intern eager to get his foot in the proverbial door of magazine publishing. Rochester Place – that cobbled backwater nestling between Camden Road and Royal College Street – was home to a certain WV Publications, boasting titles on the vanguard of the VHS golden age, [...]

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Wednesday Picture: Where the hell is the Gospel Oak?

By on March 14, 2012 in Wednesday Picture

It’s question we’ve all asked, as we weave through the estates, pass under the dank viaducts on the way to Parliament Hill Fields, or pop for a pint to the Southampton. Well let me tell you something: it existed once! So, if you’re oak-curious, here’s how to find the spot. Take a right out of [...]

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