North London Food & Culture

History

History

How did the ‘King Of The Hippies’ shack up in Gospel Oak?

Sid Rawle often dressed in flowing robes or monk outfits – and nabbed a prime spot on Vicars Road too

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Hitch a Ride through John Betjeman’s Kentish Town

‘I can remember the horse tram, open on top, and I longed to clutch one of those bobbles that hung down temptingly from the plane trees’

Drink

Why I love one of Kentish Town’s last traditional boozers

Karrie Kehoe failed to find any of her fellow countrymen or women in O’Reilly’s, but it’s still one of the friendliest joints around, she says

History

Remember The Cross Nightclub? Here it is in 2012

Here’s an image sure to bring a fond tear to the misty eye of electronic music lovers of a certain age. These cleared-out arches used …

Shopping

Wednesday Picture: A Brief History of Queen’s Crescent

‘Barefoot, hungry children, clad in rags, were a common sight as they raked over the refuse heaps of Queen’s Crescent market in seach of half-rotten …

Wednesday Picture

Wednesday Picture: Kentish Town Booze Wars in the Evening Standard, 1977

Look at this old Evening Standard I discovered under the floorboards recently. The date? Friday May 30, 1977. Eagerly flicking through the pages, it read, …

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Wednesday Picture: The Secret Bovine History of Camden Town Tube

To even the most passionate NW1 residents and office workers, Camden Town tube station is an annoyance to be suffered, with its constant buzz of …

History

Check out how Sainsbury’s in Kentish Town looked in 1955

The chain have been in the neighbourhood for 140 years, so here’s their story, from beginnings on Queen’s Crescent to the mammoth Camden store on the banks of the Regent’s Canal

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Wednesday Picture: Wilkin Street Mews Slaughterhouse and the Mystery Of the Albert Hall

Cobbled Wilkin Street Mews has had a bit of a PR boost recently. Until fairly recently it seemed a decaying remnant of its Victorian past, …

Wednesday Picture

Wednesday Picture: The Battle Of Little Green Street

‘If there’s a hierarchy of cute NW5 streets, then this one sits fatly at the summit’. Or so we said in one of our first …

About Kentishtowner

The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.