Author Archives: Geoff Clements

* The “Romford Brewery”-its history & legacy

Posted on by Posted in Historic Buildings, Pubs, Quirky Topics .

Because of the Covid19 virus lockdown situation, London Shoes has obviously had to temporarily suspend the weekly jaunts out to the big ‘Smoke’.

Fortunately, during this current ‘lockdown’ period, ‘Shoes’ has still been able to post regular articles to its Website-Facebook & Twitter portals, by utilising material that had been collated but had not yet published.

However, this week’s publication ‘is’ actually a topic that London Shoes was able to get out there on-the-road and physically do, by incorporating the task into my ‘daily exercise’ activity – all because the subject matter in question was right on my ‘home turf’, in Romford within the London Borough of Havering.

So – this week’s London Shoes blog is all about the history of what was, for over 200 hundred years, Romford’s main industry and biggest employer…..the “Romford Brewery” !!!

The once iconic Romford Brewery was founded in 1708 by one Benjamin Wilson.

It originated as an extension to the already long standing ‘Star Inn’ that was situated in the old ‘High Street’ on the main road out of the City of London, that lead onwards towards Chelmsford, Colchester and eventually on to Norwich in the east.

The Star Inn was the ideal location to set-up a brewery, as it was located alongside the ‘River Rom’, allowing the brewery to take advantage of the river’s free flowing water, a necessity in the brewing process.

 

In 1799 the brewery was bought up by a reputable brewer by the name of ‘Edward Ind’.

With the opening of a mainline railway network at Romford in 1839 – travel and transportation of freight and people to and from the brewery, became much easier to manage, and allowed the business to expand rapidly. In fact, the brewery was so big that it even had its very own bespoke railway sidings connected to the main-line Romford Station.

In 1845 renowned London brewers Octavius & George Coope bought in to the business – and as a result, the brand name of ‘Ind Coope’ was born. By the early 1900’s the Romford Brewery employed over 450 people.

Fast forward several decades to the late 1960’s-early 1970’s the brewery employed over 1,000 workers and the site covered 20 acres.

One of the Romford Brewery’s most popular beers was ‘John Bull-Bitter’, named after the historic English farmer character – and his distinctive caricature logo displayed on the product.

However, in the late 60’s early 70’s real-ale started to become increasingly popular, and by the end of the 70’s there was a certain enthusiasm and kudos around the quality of real-ales in the market, particularly with the formation of CAMRA (Campaign for Real-Ale) organisation in the early 1970’s.

It’s probably fair to say that the Romford Brewery’s ‘John Bull Bitter’ didn’t always go down too well with the majority of the CAMRA enthusiasts – as it was often described as being too watery, and full of suds – and as a result, the popularity of the product started to fade, which in turn had an adverse impact on the Romford Brewery’s business.

Sadly, in 1993 the long standing Romford Brewery closed and was subsequently shut- down for good – causing an adverse economic and employment impact to the area.

So – my London Shoes quest this week was to try and track down any of the Brewery’s historic landmarks or fixtures or references that might still be in situ – and this is what I found.

Following the Brewery’s closure, the old Brewery site was completely re-developed and then re-opened in 2001 as a massive retail shopping complex called ironically “The Brewery”. However, down one side of the old Romford ‘High Street’ where the Brewery once stood, there remains a row of some the original factory buildings, which retain many of their original design features and fixtures & fittings. One of the old brewery buildings is now, quite fittingly, the home of the ‘Havering Museum’ (Havering being the London Borough in which Romford is situated).

In front of these buildings, there is a distinctive ‘hump’ in the road where the bridge across the River Rom was once situated – the river where the Brewery acquired its water supply from.

The Brewery’s ornate iron gates at one of the original entrances to the Brewery site are embellished with magnificent ‘hop & vine’ emblems.

Situated at what was once another entrance to the brewery (now the entrance to the shopping complex car-park), is a huge copper ‘brewing tun’ (a sort of large vat) once an integral part of the brewing manufacturing process – and now situated there as a historic landmark to commemorate just how important the Brewery once was, and the factory’s influence on the town of Romford during its 200 year tenure.

In the car-park of the now shopping complex, there stands a huge obelisk that reaches to the sky like a giant chimney that pays homage to the many large brewing chimneys that once stood on the original Brewery site.

Now – having completed a blog, I would normally trot off to a nearby pub for a couple of ‘cheeky’ beers – but obviously under the present global pandemic lockdown circumstances, that particular avenue of pleasure has been taken away from me, as all the pubs are closed.

However, what I did do was wander on up the road a little bit from the old Brewery site, to have a gander at the local landmark that is the famous and iconic ‘Golden Lion’ pub situated at the head of the Romford Market Square.

The ‘Golden Lion’ holds the amazing accolade of being one of the oldest pubs in continual use, in England.

Historic archives show that there has been an inn/tavern at its present site since 1440.

Throughout the 16th Century and beyond, the Golden Lion was a famous and popular coaching ‘halt’ (e.g. stopping-off point) on the main route between the City of London and Colchester in the east.

Most of the buildings structure today dates back to the 17th Century, although its frontage was re-built in the early Victorian era.

Inside the pub itself, a couple of the original wooden beams from the 17th Century are still in situ – and it is claimed that the building is haunted by 7 spirits – but I guess the only spirits you are likely to see in there are alcoholic ones (if the bloody place was open of course)

So – that concludes my little story about the old Romford Brewery, a topic right on my doorstep, literally a 15min walk from my home. Shame I couldn’t finish it off with the customary ‘cheeky’ one, but it is what it is, and it was good to get back out on-the-road and do something constructive – so I may publish a few more ‘local’ blogs whilst living in these strange times.

Stay safe everyone

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Summarised below are the full range of photographs accompanying the ‘Romford Brewery’ blog

One of the original entrances to the old Romford Brewery

 

A photo of the old Romford Brewery site in the 1940’s

 

Some of the old Romford Brewery buildings still in situ along the old ‘High Road’ – the hump in the road where the bridge over the River Rom was once located – is quite noticeable

 

The Romford Brewery buildings as they were back in the factory’s heydays

 

The very same buildings as they are today

 

Another view of the old Brewery buildings still in situ – again, the ‘hump’ in the road where the River Rom flowed into the brewery site, is clearly visible

 

Me outside one of the original entrances to the old Romford Brewery

 

An old b&w photo from the 1920’s – showing just how prominent the Romford Brewery was on the local landscape

 

An old ceramic tile advert promoting the Brewery’s “Ind Coope’ brand, that originated in 1845

 

An old advert promoting Romford Brewery’s ‘John Bull-Bitter’

 

One of the original entrances to the Romford Brewery

 

One of the old Brewery buildings is now the home to the ‘Havering Museum’

 

An flagstone embedded into the Brewery buildings wall – commemorating the demolition of the bridge that once crossed the River Rom and led into the brewery.

 

Another commemorative plaque displayed upon a wall of the old Romford Brewery building – this recognises an act of bravery by a local Romford PC

 

One of the original entrances into the Romford Brewery site

 

The ornate ‘hop & vine’ emblems ton the gates leading into what was once the main entrance into the Romford Brewery

 

Me – in front of one of the Brewery’s old ‘hop & vine’ entrance gates

An old ‘bar-towel’ advertising Romford Brewery’s ‘John Bull-Bitter’

 

An old ‘brewing tun’ from the Romford Brewery factory, now stands outside the main entrance to the now ‘Brewery’ shopping centre!

 

A ‘past & present’ view – showing the old ‘brewing tun’ vat with The Brewery Shopping Centre obelisk in the distance

 

Me – with the old ‘brewing-tun’ vat and the current ‘Brewery’ shopping centre obelisk in the background

 

An old can of the Romford Brewery’s ‘John Bull-Bitter’

 

The entrance to what is now the ‘Brewery’ shopping centre

 

The ‘Brewery’ shopping complex, built on the site of the old Romford Brewery – that was formally opened in 2001:-)

 

Inside the ‘Brewery’ shopping complex, built on the site of the old Romford Brewery – that was formally opened in 2001:-)

 

Another view of the ‘Brewery’ shopping complex, built on the site of the old Romford Brewery – that was formally opened in 2001:-

 

A close-up of the top of the obelisk located in the ‘Brewery’ shopping centre car-par – depicting the old brewery chimneys that used to operate on the site.

 

Me – in the ‘Brewery’ shopping centre – that used to be the site of the famous Romford Brewery

 

The ‘Golden Lion’ pub, situated at the entrance to Romford Market – holds the amazing accolade of being one of the oldest pubs in continual use, in England. Historic archives show that there has been an inn/tavern on this site since 1440.

 

Romford’s historic ‘Golden lion’ pub – just a couple of hundred yards down the road from the site of the old Romford Brewery

 

Another view of the ‘Golden Lion’ pub

 

Another view of the ‘Golden Lion’ pub

 

A quite recent photo from Inside the ‘Golden Lion’ pub, where a couple of the wooden beams in its structure, date back to the 1700’s

 

Me – all socially distanced & masked up – outside the ‘Golden Lion’ pub – Romford

 

A retro beer mug – with the Romford Brewery’s ‘John Bull-Bitter’ logo on it

 

A socially distanced& masked-up me – outside the Golden Lion pub, and with the old Romford Brewery buildings in the background – Stay Safe everyone x

 

 

London’s “Ghost Signs” – Part 2

Posted on by Posted in Art, Quirky Topics .

During these strange Covid19 lockdown times, London Shoes has clearly had to curtail its weekly jaunts out to the ‘Smoke’ for obvious reasons. Fortunately ‘Shoes’ has still been able to continue posting material regularly on to its website–facebook & twitter portals, by utilising material in storage, but not yet published.

This specific article is a typical example of material that has been gathered-up along the way whilst ‘Shoes’ has been on-the-road covering off other topics – and this particular blog is actually a ‘Part 2’ feature of a subject matter that was first published way back in March 2017, just a few weeks into the roll-out of my London Shoes initiative.

So – this posting is the 2nd London Shoes feature on the topic of “London’s Ghost Signs”.

What is a ‘ghost sign’ I hear you ask?

‘Ghost sign’ is a term given to old advertising signs or pictures or slogans that have been painted to on exterior walls of buildings, to promote a brand, product or company.

This method of advertising has actually been around for centuries – but only really came into prominence, especially in Britain and Europe, from the late 1800’s – and from thereon it remained a popular mode of advertising right up until the early 1960’s.

The more prolific and brash style of painted adverts originated from the USA at the end of the 19th Century where the sign-writers were known as ‘Wall Dogs’.

These huge advertising murals were artistically coloured with leaded paint, and that’s probably the reason why some of them have lasted reasonably clearly to this very day.

At one time these ‘paintings’ could be seen emblazoned everywhere on the exterior walls of commercial buildings throughout London & the rest of Britain – and were a testament to the artistic skills of the sign-writers of the day.

It’s amazing to think that, against all odds’ some of these magnificent works of street-art, are still around today, having survived  wars, decades of re-development, massive social changes and have been bombarded with all kinds of weather and pollution – and those that remain in place today continue to provide a sort of historical street-art, cultural backdrop to the hustle & bustle of everyday life.

In most cases (but surprisingly not all) these ‘ghost signs’ have ‘outlived’ the products and companies that they originally advertised.

It might surprise you to know that there is a massive global interest in ‘Ghost Signs’ – a bit geeky I know, but there are clubs, societies, magazines, blogs, vlogs produced all over the world, particularly in the USA, UK, France & Australia – discovering them, logging them, photographing them, filming them, constructing ‘walking tours’ to view them and then discussing them, is an extremely popular ‘hobby’ for thousands of ‘Ghostie’ enthusiasts worldwide.

So – for this 2nd ‘Ghost Sign’ article, London Shoes has collated photos of a number of additional ghost signs its stumbled upon whilst on-the -road since it published its fist article on the topic 3 years ago – and have also added a little narrative on the history of some of the ‘signs’.

London Shoes will continue to capture and collate photos of any more ghosts signs it stumbles upon, as and when the current ‘restrictions’ allow non-essential travel – but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed this little article, and its accompanying photos.

See below, the full summary of photos accompanying this ‘London’s Ghost Signs’-Pt 2 blog

 

The ‘Bovril’ product was once widely advertised on the sides of buildings throughout London – this one remains quite prominent down in Brixton-London SW2

This unusual ‘ghost sign’ that once advertised ‘Peterkin Custard’ – can be found down in Clapham-London SW4. This product was launched in 1905 by the Peterkin Mill company who produced self raising flour-normal flour & custard, which it was still selling in the 1920’s. The Peterkin Mill used to be owned by one “J Arthur Rank” who sold it off when it wasn’t doing so well, and then he moved into ‘films’.

 

A well preserved ‘ghost sign’ on display down in Kensington. ‘Lidstone & Co Butchers’ had operated in the Kensington area since the early 1800’s.

 

Across the road from the famous Churchill Arms pub in Notting Hill, is a building whose exterior walls are still adorned with the business of its original occupants – who were still trading in timber right up until recently.

 

Displayed on the side of a building on the Romford Road in Manor Park E12, is an old ‘ghost sign’ that once advertised Bovril (awful stuff!!!)

 

A ‘ghost sign’ that once advertised Players Cigarettes – can be found in Mitcham Rd-Tooting-London SW17. Everyone smoked in those days.

 

An old marmalade ‘ghost-sign’ in Notting Hill Gate-London W11 – just opposite the tube station.

 

One of the many ‘ghost signs’ that can be found on buildings down in Stoke Newington-London N16

 

One of the many ‘ghost signs’ that can be found on buildings down in Stoke Newington-London N16

One of the better conditioned ‘Ghost Signs’ is displayed on an old warehouse buildings down at Trinity Wharf-London E14. In 1794 ‘Mathers’ were given a licence to boil whale blubber at the London Docks, to extract whale oil, that was then used in the manufacture of many products.

 

Another well preserved historic ‘Ghost Signs’  displayed on another old warehouse buildings down at Trinity Wharf-London E14. ‘Ditchburn & Mare’ became the distinguished ‘Thames Ironworks Company’ – whose works football team became my beloved ‘West Ham Utd FC’…………’Come on you Irons’!!!

 

A ‘triple’ Ghost Sign on display down in Southwark-SE1. ‘Rose Brand Fine Teas’ – ‘Ashby & Sons Ltd’ & another company to do with manufacturing ventilators.

 

A close-up of the ‘Rose Brand-Fine Teas’ element of the ‘triple’ Ghost Sign on display down in Southwark-SE1

 

Not exactly a ‘Ghost Sign’ by definition as such – but a magnificent wall painted mural advertising the ‘Lord Morpeth’ pub and its connections to the plight of the Suffragettes – this magnificent painting is displayed on an exterior wall of the Lord Morpeth pub in Bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*London’s “Lost Music Venues” – Part 2

Posted on by Posted in Music .

During these strange lockdown, stay at home, social distancing times, London Shoes is still able to continue publishing its popular weekly blogs – by simple recourse to unpublished material held in its vaults, stored there specifically for rainy-day situations.

So-this week’s blog represents Part 2 on the topic of “London’s – Lost Music Venues”.

First cab-off-the-rank is a pub I used to frequent regularly in my mid-teens, throughout the early 1970’s.

>>The “Green Man” pub-Leytonstone-E11
The Green Man pub in Leytonstone-London E11 is a place that is steeped in history.

Records show that there’s been a tavern & coaching inn on its site since the late 1600 – mainly because its location was once on the main roadway between London and Cambridge.

Back in the day, the ‘Green Man’ was a popular stopping off and meeting point for highwaymen, and in its folklore it is said that the building is haunted by the ghost of legendary highwayman ‘Dick Turpin’.

Anyway – throughout the 1970’s, the pub had a resident band by the name of ‘Deep Feeling’ that would play their every week, drawing in crowds from all over east London and beyond – a very popular band.

Deep Feeling were a ‘covers’ band – but with a bit of an unconventional twist. This bunch of exceptional musicians did not simply bang out covers of popular chart hits of the day – instead they played covers of classic album tracks, mainly from the more progressive bands of the day – a very unusual and some might say risky approach – but one that was extremely popular with the punters.

At any weekend down at the Green Man in the early 70’s the band would be up on stage banging out all time legendary classic tracks from the likes of super groups such as Yes – Genesis – Pink Floyd – Led Zeppelin – plus many more, to a very appreciative audience – and many would say that their ‘covers’ were often better than the ‘live’ versions played by the original groups themselves.

I do have a slight personal tenuous link to the Green Man, because in Aug 1973 I started work at Barclays Bank-Leytonstone branch, just a couple of hundred yards down the road from the pub, and I got to know some of the bar staff when they used to come into the branch to do the banking and collect their change orders – and I often used to head back to Leytonstone at the weekends to have a beer with them, whilst watching the excellent Deep Feeling do their stuff up on stage.

The Green Man pub is still around today, but now it is one of the O’Neill’s pub chain, and sadly no more ‘live’ music.

>>The ‘Hammersmith Palais’:

This famous old London venue was first opened in 1919 as the ‘Hammersmith Palais de Danse’ – the very first ‘Palais’ dancehall venue in Britain. Throughout the following decade the venue became a roller-skating rink and an ice-skating rink – before reverting back into a dancehall in the 1930’s.

In the late 1950’s the renowned and extremely popular ‘Joe Loss & his Orchestra’ were the resident band there, and in fact, at one time, the band’s vocalist was one Ross McManus – Elvis Costello’s dad.

On a good night, the Hammersmith Palais could hold up to 2,000 punters – and in the early 60’s both the Beatles and The Rolling Stones played there. Throughout the mid to late 1970’s and beyond the Hammersmith Palais was a popular venue for the top ‘punk’ bands of the day with bands like The Police and The Jam and The Clash all recording ‘live’ albums from their performances there – and the Palais was also one of the main London venues hosting different genres of African & Afro Caribbean music with everything from artists like King Sunny Ade, Delroy Wilson & Toots & the Maytals just to name just a few, performing there.

One of the early singles released by The Clash is “White Man in Hammersmith Palais”, and just so happens to be my personal favourite of theirs.

Sadly in 2007, the Hammersmith Palais closed its doors for the last time as a music venue, and this wonderful historic building was demolished. In its place today is a student accommodation building, but at least on its external wall there is a commemorative plaque to remind people of the historic importance of the old Palais.

>>The “Alexandra Palace”-North London:

Another venue that has hosted some significant music events, but is historically famous for much more significant stuff than that is the “Alexandra Palace” in North London.

The ‘Ally Pally’ (as it is more commonly known as) is a massive iconic building that looks down on North London and because of its location, is a landmark that can be seen for miles around.

It was first opened in 1875 as ‘The Peoples Palace’ and throughout its life time it has been famous for a number of things, mainly as the once home of TV and Radio broadcasting – and also as a major exhibition centre.

However, in terms of ‘music’, it has its own little place in the history of rock music.

In 1962 it was renowned for hosting all-night ‘Carnival of Jazz’ gigs, and in 64 The Rolling Stones first played there.

But it is mainly as a result of an event held there back in 1967 when it hosted the now legendary “14 Hour Technicolour Dream” that the Ally Pally gained its little niche in ‘live’ music history.

The ’14 Hour Technicolour Dream’ event was held during the heights of the so called Summer of Love, and was a multi-artist gig held for the purposes of raising funds for the infamous and controversial ‘underground’ counter-culture newspaper the ‘International Times’.

The likes of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Soft Machine, The Move, Pete Townshend, The Pretty Things, plus many more, offered their services for the event, and an estimated 10,000 attended. Pink Floyd was the headline act and they took to the stage at 5am in the morning. The gig has subsequently gone down in music history and is even talked about to this very day.

In 1969 The Who performed their rock opera ‘Tommy’ there to a massive audience.

In recent decades the likes of Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Jam, the Stone Roses, Bjork, Blur and Jayzee have all played the Ally Pally, and the venue has also been used for such events as the ‘Brit Awards’ and the ‘Mobo Awards’ – so quite a musical heritage for a multi-purpose venue.

>>The ‘Rainbow Theatre’-Finsbury Park:

The ‘Rainbow’ in Finsbury Park north London – probably my favourite ‘lost’ music venue, as it is a place that had many a great night out in my youth.

The ‘Rainbow’ first opened as the ‘Finsbury Park Astoria’ cinema back in 1930.

In the 60’s it hosted gigs by music legends such as the Beatles, The Beach Boys and Jimi Hendrix.

In 1971 the venue was given over entirely to music and renamed the ‘Rainbow Theatre’, and for the next decade it hosted the best of the best in terms of music of all genres, especially rock music – literally anyone who was anyone, played the Rainbow – the list is endless:- The Faces – Pink Floyd – Yes – Eric Clapton – James Brown – Genesis – Stevie Wonder – Van Morrison – Queen – Kool & the Gang – Deep Purple – The Jackson 5 – Wings – David Bowie, are just some of the many legendary gigs at the Rainbow.

As I mentioned earlier, this was my personal favourite venue – and I went to quite a few times particularly in the early 1970’s.

One gig that I attended there has now gone down in music history and is referred to even to this day.

In August 1972 the Rainbow hosted a gig by David Bowie & the Spiders from Mars. His now iconic album “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars” had only been released a couple of months earlier, and this gig was part of his very first ‘Ziggy Stardust’ tour – a tour which had commenced in February that year, when Bowie was generally an unknown in the rock hierarchy stakes.

Opening for Bowie that night were a reasonably ‘new’ band by the name of ‘Roxy Music’, who themselves had only just released their very first album.

Bowie pulled out all the stops for this Rainbow gig. The stage was set-up with scaffolding and walkways everywhere, for Bowie to strut his stuff around on – there was a large screen backdrop that displayed various images – the lightshow was exceptional – and to cap it all, the now late mime artist Lindsay Kemp & his Troupe accompanied Bowie & the Spiders on stage as they ran through their set of selected tracks from his ‘Man Who Sold the World’ – ‘Hunky Dory’ & ‘Ziggy Stardust’ albums – it was without doubt one of the best gigs that I have ever experienced, and one that will be forever etched on my memory .

Sadly, the Rainbow closed down in 1981 and stood disused for over a decade, prevented from being demolished because of its Grade II listed protection status. However, in recent years it has become the home of ‘The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God’.

>>‘Flamingo Club’ – Wardour Street-Soho-W1:

The ‘Flamingo Club’ first opened in 1957 in the basement of an old grocery store deep in the heart of London’s Soho district.

It started life as a jazz club, and in fact the legendary ‘Ronnie Scott’ who went on to open a jazz club of his own under his own name – was once the saxophonist in the Flamingo’s resident band.

The Flamingo soon attracted a solid following and was well known for its Jazz Weekend all-nighters.
By the time the 60’s began, the club had started to develop a bit of a bad reputation, as it was a regular haunt for London’s gangsters, pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers.

In 1962 the Flamingo became more widely known because of its tenuous connection to the Profumo Affair scandal, as it was the place where Christine Keeler’s two lovers ‘Lucky Gordon’ and ‘Johnny Edgecombe’ came to blows (this particular incident was covered off in detail in the recent TV drama about Keeler).

By 1963 the Flamingo had become the centre of the ever growing and popular ‘Mod’ culture – and it was also the sort of place that the likes of the Beatles, Stones & Hendrix plus other current stars, would regularly hang-out.

Apart from just the Mod’s, a lot of US Servicemen also used to gravitate to the Flamingo Club, which by now was well known for hosting music events that played genres such as R&B – Ska – Bluebeat & Reggae – attracting multi-cultural audiences.

Throughout its heyday the stars such as Ella Fitzgerald – Billie Holiday – Stevie Wonder – John Lee Hooker – Otis Redding – Rod Stewart – Pink Floyd – Eric Clapton – The Small Faces – all performed down at the Flamingo Club.

The resident band throughout the majority of these times was ‘Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames’ backing all the top US stars of the day, and they themselves went on to secure commercial success in their own right.

Sadly, times changed and the Flamingo Club as it was closed down in 1972 – but ‘live’ music continued to be performed there, as its upstairs was converted firstly to the ‘Whiskey-a-Go Go’ club and then in the 80’s the ‘Wag Club’ – a popular haunt of the ‘New Romantics’ movement.

In 2001 major renovation was undertaken and the site became an O’Neill’s pub – which it remains today.

Inside the pub today there are numerous items of memorabilia that refer to its old life, and on its exterior wall there is a plaque that commemorates just how important the old Flamingo Club was to the London music scene.

So – that’s Part 2 of London’s ‘Lost Music Venues’ – London Shoes ‘lockdown’ publication for this week, which I’m sure the music aficionados in particular will enjoy.

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Below is a full summary of all the photo accompanying Pt2 of  London’s ‘Lost Music Venues’ blog

An old photo of the ‘Green Man’ pub – Leytonstone-E11. It very much looked like this when I used to frequent its music nights down there in the early 1970’s

 

Me – across the road from the old Green Man pub-Leytonstone as it is these days – now an O’Neill’s pub

 

An old photo of the Hammersmith Palais, when it was the ‘Hammersmith Palais-de-Danse’

 

The commemorative plaque displayed on the building that today stands on the site of what was once the iconic ‘Hammersmith Palais’

 

In the late 1970’s The Clash released their 5th single “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” – one of my favourite records

 

‘The Jam’ – just one of the many bands to have played the Hammersmith Palais

 

In the late 1970’s The Clash released their 5th single “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” – one of my favourite records

 

The site today, where the Hammersmith Palais once stood – its now a student accommodation premises, but at least there is a commemorative plaque displayed (just to the left of the door) – that acknowledges the importance of the old venue to London’s music scene

 

Me – (with ‘lockdown’ barnet) with my personal fav single by The Clash – ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais)

 

The ‘Alexandra Palace’ – first opened in 1875 as ‘The Peoples Palace’ and throughout its life time it has been famous for a number of things, mainly as the once home of TV and Radio broadcasting – and also as a major exhibition centre!

 

In terms of ‘music’, the ‘Ally Pally’ has its own little place in London’s music history, when in 1967 it hosted the now legendary “14 Hour Technicolour Dream” event.

 

Scenes from the “14 Hour Technicolour Dream” event at the Alexandra Palace in 1967

 

 

Pink Floyd took the stage at 5am for their headlining performance at the “14 Hour Technicolour Dream” event at the Alexandra Palace in 1967

 

Me – outside the Alexandra Palace as it looks today

 

The iconic ‘Rainbow Theatre’ first opened as the ‘Finsbury Park Astoria’ cinema back in 1930

 

In 1971 the Finsbury Park Astoria was given over entirely to music and renamed the ‘Rainbow’ Theatre, and for the ensuing decade it hosted the best of the best in terms of music of all genres, especially rock music – literally anyone who was anyone, played the Rainbow

 

In 1971 the Finsbury Park Astoria was given over entirely to music and renamed the ‘Rainbow’ Theatre, and for the ensuing decade it hosted the best of the best in terms of music of all genres, especially rock music – literally anyone who was anyone, played the Rainbow

 

Crowds gathering outside the ‘Rainbow’ in Aug 1972 – for the David Bowie & the Spiders from Mars’ gig – I’m in there somewhere

 

For his gig at the ‘Rainbow’ in Aug 72, Bowie pulled out all the stops – the stage was set-up with scaffolding and walkways everywhere, for Bowie to perform on – there was a large screen backdrop that displayed various images – the lightshow was one of the most advanced ever used – and to cap it all, the now late mime artist Lindsay Kemp & his Troupe accompanied Bowie & the Spiders on stage as they ran through selected tracks from his ‘Man Who Sold the World’ – ‘Hunky Dory’ & ‘Ziggy Stardust’ albums

 

Sadly, the Rainbow closed down in 1981 and stood disused for over a decade, prevented from being demolished because of its Grade II listed protection status 🙁 However, in recent years it has become the home of ‘The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God’.

 

The ‘Flamingo Club’ first opened in 1957 in the basement of an old grocery store deep in the heart of London’s Soho district.

 

In 2001 major renovation was undertaken at the old Flamingo Club site, and the premises became an O’Neill’s pub – which it remains today – and in this photo you can just about see the commemorative blue plaque to the right of the entrance – that acknowledges the importance of the Flamingo Club to London’s music history

 

On the exterior walls of the O’Neill’s pub at the site today, and also throughout the interior of the pub – there are many references to its previous existence as the Flamingo Club

 

The commemorative plaque outside the O’Neill’s pub in Wardour St-Soho – the once site of the famous ‘Flamingo Club’

 

Me – necking down a ‘cheeky’ one inside the O’Neill’s pub in Wardour Street – once the site of the iconic Flamingo Club

 

Me – back in the early 1970’s when I used to regularly frequent some of the ‘Lost Music Venues’ I’ve written about in this article – as you can see, even back then, I was partial to a ‘cheeky’ one (or two)

 

 

*London’s “Lost Music Venues” – Part 1

Posted on by Posted in Music, Quirky Topics .

In these unprecedented times and because of social distancing and the understandable travel restrictions, London Shoes has obviously had to considerably re-invent itself and its activities.

No longer can I just trot off into the ‘Smoke’ and do what I’ve been doing for the past 3 years.

However, all is not lost in terms of continuity, as fortunately I already had a few topics stockpiled – and with the advantage of photos I’ve held ‘in-the-vaults’ plus the migration of some that had been included in previous ‘Shoes’ publications – I am fortunately still able to knock-out a few blogs (for now anyway).

So – the subject matter for this particular publication, just so happens to be a topic that is very close to my heart, as it involves some places where I spent some fantastic and memorable evenings. The topic in question is probably gonna be covered-off in a small series of publications and is entitled……London’s “Lost Music Venues”

To kick-start Part 1 of this topic we firstly travel back to a tiny insignificant little venue tucked away in Old Compton Street-Soho – that, quite simply, is viewed nostalgically by some as the birthplace of rock’n roll in this country – “The 2 I’s Coffee Bar”. The 2 I’s Coffee Bar opened in 1956 and in the late 50’s its basement was a venue that hosted live ‘Skiffle’ music, which them morphed into early rock’n roll music.

The likes of Tommy Steele (once billed as Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley) – Cliff Richard & the Shadows – Adam Faith – Joe Brown & the Bruvvers plus many more early rockers, all cut their teeth at the 2 I’s making the venue extremely popular, and packed to the rafters most nights. The place, and the music performed there, influenced many of the stars that followed in the late 60’s and 1970’s, such as Marc Bolan and David Essex plus many more.

The 2 I’s Coffee Bar as it was, closed down in 1970, but a Café still remains on the site today, which has been specifically designed as a tourist attraction – and there is a green plaque on display on its exterior wall, to commemorate just how important the venue once was to the birth of Britsh rock’n roll.

Next up is the famous “Hammersmith Odeon”. The Hammersmith Odeon first opened in 1932 as the ‘Gaumont Palace’ seating 3,500 people.

Anyone who’s anyone in the music world has at one time or another played the Hammersmith Odeon.

In the late 1950’s Buddy Holly headlined there shortly before his untimely death.

During the 1960’s the likes of the Tony Bennett – Ella Fitzgerald – Duke Ellington – Louis Armstrong all played the Odeon – and the Beatles headlined an astonishing 38 shows in 21 nights there.

Throughout the 1970’s the major rock bands from all over the world headlined at the Hammersmith Odeon – bands like The Who – Queen – Thin Lizzy – Black Sabbath – Eric Clapton – Paul McCartney – Frank Zappa – Status Quo – Bruce Springsteen plus so many more.

In July 1975, the late David Bowie unexpectedly announced his ‘retirement’ on stage during his ‘Rock ‘n Roll Suicide’ encore – and announcement that made the media headlines the next day. In fact, what he was saying was that the gig was going to be the very last ‘Ziggy Stardust’ show that he would perform.

The entire event was very well staged managed by Bowie, as a film crew captured the whole gig, and it was subsequently released as a full length feature film.

Throughout the future decades, the top bands and artists of the day still continued to headline at the venue – and the Hammersmith Odeon even hosted monumental stage performances such as: – Joseph – Riverdance – Doctor Doolittle – Mama Mia – The Royal Variety Performance – Britain’s Got Talent plus many more.

Over 60 ‘Live’ albums have been recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon.

Today, the venue is more popularly known as the ‘Hammersmith Apollo’ & is still one of London’s most popular music venues.

Half way down Wardour Street in London’s Soho district there once stood one of London’s most legendary ‘live’ music venues – ‘The Marquee Club’.

The Marquee first opened in 1958 as a jazz club and operated from a site in nearby Oxford Street.

It moved to its more popular Wardour Street venue in 1964, and remained there until 1988.

The Marquee was quite simply pivotal in the launching the careers of most of the top bands of the 60’s & 70’s.

The Rolling Stones first played there in 1962, and following that, all the legendary greats such as The Who – Jimi Hendrix – Pink Floyd – Jethro Tull – Led Zeppelin – David Bowie – Genesis – right through to the Punk era and far beyond, all cut their teeth down there, covering off all genres of music from early rock’n roll, psychedelic, reggae, heavy metal, glam, soul – every night of every week – such an iconic venue.

Interestingly, there is a little bit of a tenuous link between me and the Marquee as between 1974 to 1978, I worked at the Barclays Bank branch in Wardour Street – just a couple of hundred yards down the road from the Marquee.

Anyway, next to the venue is The Ship pub where all the top muso’s of the day used to hang out and partake in a little pre-gig tipple or two before appearing the Club – and so I used to head down to the pub in my lunch hour(s) or after work, and often found myself propping up the bar with the bands and their crews – great memories.

Also, I was at the Marquee on the evening of 9th July 1976 when Southend pub rock band ‘Eddie & the Hot Rods’ were appearing there, and the gig was recorded and 4 tracks issued on a EP entitled ‘Live at the Marquee’ – a brilliant atmosphere, and the memory of their encore of Bob Seeger’s ‘Get out of Denver’ is so accurately captured on this record.

Another ‘live rock-music’ pub, that’s still around today, but now as a jazz venue, is the ‘Red Lion’ in Leytonstone-E11.

There’s actually been a pub on the site of the Red Lion since the late 1600’s – it a very popular landmark amongst east-end pubs.

The current Red Lion building was built in 1891, and in the late 1960’s early 1970’s the hall at the back of the pub was the home of the ‘Chez Club’, a venue on the ‘live music’ circuit where many of the top bands of that era such as Genesis, Yes, Groundhogs & even Slade played.

In fact, the Red Lion goes down in history as being the venue where the newly formed Led Zeppelin made their London debut.

Again – there is another tenuous link between me and a music venue, because back in the Summer of 1972, I ventured down to the Red Lion in Leytonstone, to see a newly formed band called ‘Roxy Music’ make one of their very early performances – little did I know then that 1 year later, I would be starting work at the Barclays Bank branch in Leytonstone, just a few yards down the road from the pub.

So – that’s Part 1 of my London’s ‘Lost Music Venues’ that I’ve put together during these lockdown times – further instalments on this theme will continue, and I hope you enjoy reading all about them, as much as I have putting it together.

____________________________

Below is the full gallery of all the photos aligned to Part 1 of this London’s “Lost Music Venue” blog

Me – as I looked at the time I frequented the ‘Lost Music Venues’ I’ve mentioned in this blog

 

The “2 I’s Coffee Bar” in Old Compton Street-Soho, as it is today

 

The “2 I’s Coffee Bar” in Old Compton Street-Soho, as it was in its heyday in the early 1960’s

 

The “Hammersmith Odeon” as it is today – not as prolific in rock music as it was in the 60’s 70’s & 80’s – but still one of London’s most iconic entertainment venues

 

In July 1973, at Hammersmith Odeon, and the final gig of his current Ziggy Stardust tour, David Bowie announced his ‘retirement’ just before his encore of ‘Rock n Roll Suicide’ – the announcement was splashed all over the media the following day.

 

Me – outside the Hammersmith Odeon – a couple of years ago

 

An example of just one of the 60+ ‘Live’ albums that have been recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon

 

Another example of just one of the 60+ ‘Live’ albums that have been recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon

 

The site of what was the old ‘Marquee Club’ down in Wardour Street-Soho. This iconic club was located there from 1964 to 1988

 

A commemorative plaque displayed on an external wall of what was the famous ‘Marquee Club’ in Wardour Street

 

An early photo of The Sex Pistols outside the Marquee Club – in the mid 1970’s

 

Me (with lockdown ‘barnet’) – with my copy of the ‘Eddie & the Hot Rods’ EP that was recorded ‘live’ at the Marquee Club in 1975

 

“The Ship” pub Wardour Street – next door to what was the ‘Marquee Club’. A regular drinking den’ of all the bands (& me) prior to a gig at the Marquee Club

 

Me – a couple of years ago, necking down a ‘cheeky’ beer (just like the old days) in The Ship pub in Wardour Street, that was located right next door to the Marquee Club

 

The ‘Red Lion’ pub on Leytonstone High Road-London-E11, with the once ‘Chez Club’ hall to the rear of the building

 

Another view of the ‘Red Lion’ pub in Leytonstone High Rd – once the site of the ‘Chez Club’ music venue – and where I first saw ‘Roxy Music’ way back in 1972

 

Me – from a couple of years ago, necking down a ‘cheeky’ one inside the ‘Red Lion’ pub-Leytonstone, as it is today

 

*The real “Del-Boy’s”-London

Posted on by Posted in People, Quirky Topics, Streets .

This is a blog that is all about a good old friend of mine ‘Derek Sparrow’. In this blog Derek tells us all about his life-story from his birth in 1939 right up until 1973, when I first met Derek – and is titled –

“The real Del Boy’s London” 

Hello there – let me introduce myself – My name is Derek Sparrow – I am 81 years old – and although I am formally named ‘Derek’ I have always been known as ‘Del’.

I was born and bred in east London and I’m very much a proud East-Ender.

This is the story of my early life in the east-end, that has been put together by young ‘Geoff Clements’, a lad I first met in 1973 when he started work as a junior member of staff at Barclays Bank 839 High Road Leytonstone-London E11, where I was the ‘First Cashier’ at that time.

My Birth:
I was born on the 4th October 1939 in the upstairs bedroom of my parents home at number 8 Colchester Ave-Manor Park-London E12. I was their youngest child, and I had 2 older brothers.

At birth I only weighed just over 2lbs, and for the following few months I was kept and slept in a drawer of a piece of furniture in my parents bedroom, until I gained sufficient weight to be able to be placed in a cot.

My dear old mum admitted to me, later in my life, that, when she found out she was pregnant with me, she did not want a 3rd child – and so did her best to abort me, by drinking Gin and having hot baths etc

My Parents:
My dad was ‘Walter John Sparrow’. He had 14 brothers and sisters, who all lived in a house in Walton Road–Manor Park, until such time he married my mum – at which time they moved into a rented flat at no.1 Colchester Ave, just across the road from no.8 Colchester Ave, the house that eventually became the family home-where I was born.

My dad Walter had to scrape a living, and would ‘caddy’ for wealthy gents, at the local Wanstead Golf Course. Dad knew where all their bad shots had landed, and so would go and find all the ‘lost’ golf balls and then sell them. Times were very hard back then, and sometimes dad had to go before a Committee to try and obtain handouts to enable his family to survive-no such thing as State Aid in those days.

During WW2 my dad was an ARP Warden, and his look-out post was at St. Michael’s Church on the corner of Toronto Ave E12, and the Romford Road – just 3 streets from our Colchester Ave home.

Although I was only a nipper, I can clearly remember my dad taking me to his look-out post at the Church, and one occasion when he had to start the air-raid siren to alert the local public of an in-coming attack from German bombers – so that they could prepare to take shelter.

 

Later in life dad worked full-time as a steward at Wanstead Golf Club for 12 years, looking after all the wealthy members, such as doctors and lawyers etc – keeping all their golfing gear clean and tidy.

Eventually dad left his job at the Golf Course and went to work for Ford Motor Company in Dagenham. The Golf Club were sad to see him go, as they thought a lot of him there – and they gave him a glowing letter of recommendation, which some years ago I gave back to the golf club for their museum archives.

My mum was ‘Amy Georgina Robinson’. She was born in Hackney-London E8, then at some stage, her family (which also included 14 brothers & sisters) moved to Walton Road–Manor Park, where she met my dad. Mum was and remained a housewife and had no other job, other than running the family home and looking after me & my brothers.

Memories of Colchester Avenue – When walking into Colchester Ave as a youngster, I clearly remember there was a corner shop on right hand side, that we used to call “Rumbles”. It was run by a Mrs. Rumble and she used to sell hay to the horse & cart drivers, travelling along the Romford Road, doing their deliveries etc. She was a remarkable lady as she did all the loading of big heavy bundles of hay herself, and continued this for quite a number of years, until no longer able to.

 

The eldest ‘Rumbles’ brother was a really lovely man, and when I was young, somewhere around 5,6,7, I used to go and join him at 5am every morning to help mark-up the daily newspapers for the delivery boys, who had quite a number of rounds all around the Manor Park area.

Years later when I was about 9 or 10 one of the brothers caught me stealing comics from them – and quite rightly, I remember getting into serious trouble about that.

The shop next to ‘Rumble’s was a newsagent called “Fileks”, which was handed down by the parents of 3 brothers to run. I can clearly remember that 2 of the brothers always ended up having fist fights with each other, that sometimes spilled out into the street. Us kids used to watch their fights through the gaps in the shops door – great entertainment for us.

About 50 yards from our house – there was a small mews building, where people took scrap iron and old clothes in exchange for a few pennies. That business too was run by 3 brothers who again always seemed to end up having physical fights among themselves in the middle of the street – so amusing to us youngsters.

Further on down Colchester Ave, not far from our house, on the bend on left hand side –  there was a firm called “Knott’s Wood Yard” that made furniture etc. You can still see the gap where the yard used to be, but today there are now a few residential houses built on the site.

Another clear memory I have of my childhood is that every Sunday the Salvation Army used to come to our street to play their music and preach to us.

There were very few cars around in our poor deprived area when I was a youngster, and so home deliveries were made to households for essential groceries such as flour – milk – bread etc, all delivered by horse drawn carts.

At the very eastern end of Colchester Avenue, there stood a massive milk depot. All day long the delivery horses and carts used to come in and out of the Depot, and us kids used to shovel up the horse manure off the street, and then try and sell it to the nerighbours for a few half-pennies, so they could use it for their gardens.

Today the milk depot site houses a load of council flats.

My School Years:
My first school was my Primary School and was known locally as ‘Walton Road School’ – and conveniently, it was only a few minutes walk from my Colchester Ave family home.

I was only at the Walton Road Primary School for a short while, as the place got bombed out, and so all us kids were moved across to the Fourth Avenue School, which was still an infants school. By the time I had reached junior school age, my previous Walton Road School had been rebuilt, and so we all moved back over to there again for the rest of our schooling. By that time the ‘Walton Road School’ had been re-named ‘The Jack Cornwall School’ – named after a ‘local’ lad who had lied about his age to join the Royal Navy, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for bravely manning his ship’s guns, when all was lost.

Today, there are a number of landmark references to Jack Cornwall, such as street names etc – in commemoration of his bravery.

I attended The Jack Cornwall School  from the age of 11 until 15 years old – at which time I left for good and started full-time employment.

Growing Up – Memories:

Every Sunday I used to have to attend St. Michael’s Church in Toronto Rd at its junction with the Romford Road (the church that had been my dad’s look-out post, when he was an ARP Warden in WW2) and had to listen to the Reverend Webb’s sermons.

Near the bottom end of Colchester Avenue, there was an opening to a narrow alley-way, known locally as the ‘Butts’. This alley went under the railway bridge on which trains to and from Liverpool Street in the City of London would travel back and forth. The Butts pathway went right through to the far corner of the massive City of London Cemetery – and then further on to ‘Wanstead Flats’, an area of public grassland that was the ‘playground’ for all us east-end kids.

As kids we used to play on the sand hills of Wanstead Flats, and used to go across its pond to a little island in the middle of the lake. Many families used to have picnics on the ‘Flats’. Also situated on Wanstead Flats, there used to be a bandstand, with brass bands playing at weekends. Even after the end of WW2 for a few years, barrage balloons could still be seen floating in the skies above the ‘Flats’.

My mates and I would always be playing football on the ‘Flats’, sometimes up until 10pm at night, and would often get ‘a-clip-round-the earhole’ for staying out late, and worrying our parents.

Apart from Wanstead Flats, the other local ‘playgrounds’ where me and my young mates would ‘hang-out’ were Wanstead Park – Valentines Park in Ilford & Barking Park just down the road from Ilford. Also – us youngsters (including the girls) used to play on the old “bomb sites” scattered throughout the local streets close to my Colchester Avenue home.

As a youngster, all I only ever to wanted to do was play football, usually in our street (until we broke somebody’s window that is). Very few cars around in those days.

I became captain of the school football team- as I was lucky enough, although being quite small in height and size, to be born with a natural talent where most sports where concerned. Other than football and sport, I had no real hobbies as such, but I did like girls!!!.

I clearly remember the day when the old King died – my abiding memory of that day was me and my mates walking home from Jack Cornwell School at the end of the days lessons, and an older guy we knew, going the opposite way called us across the road to specifically tell us the news, his words were “Your King has died” – its funny the things you remember.

I also used to really enjoy going to ‘Saturday Morning Pictures’ with my friends. I loved all the cowboy films starring Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger, and also the cartoons of Tom and Jerry etc. One outstanding memory I have is of going with my parents to see Tarzan films, Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and his chimp sidekick. The queues for the cinema used to be massive, and there used to be a uniformed doorman at the front of the cinema, to allow you in. Interestingly, my Saturday Morning Pictures cinema eventually became a Bingo Hall, with card tables. My eventual wife Ann worked as a croupier on one of the tables, and once even acted as bingo caller there.

Another childhood memory that has always stuck in my mind, is just after the war, when quite a few American Servicemen started visiting Manor Park & the East End – and because I was a skinny, ginger haired kid, they seemed to quite like me, and would give me chewing gum and sweet treats, plus the odd coin or two.

When I was about 7or 8 me and my mates would play marbles in the gutters of Colchester Avenue. Not being essentially health conscious in those days, we used to pick up cigarette dog-ends discarded in the gutters, and then smoke them (nearly everybody smoked in those days). At that time my dad was working night shifts at ‘Ford Motors Co’ in Dagenham, and would often have a smoke before he went to bed in the mornings – so I would often smoke his dog ends when there was nobody else around.

As a young teenager at The Jack Cornwall School, I would rush home – buy 10 cigarettes & then go to the cinema, known locally as the ‘Flea Pit’, that was situated between Grantham Rd and Walton Road. There was a pub next door, which at that time was the local drinking den for my mum, dad, aunts and uncles – so I had to keep my wits about me, to make sure I didn’t get caught out.

My Uncle was the landlord of the “Golden Fleece” pub in Capel Rd, right on the southern edge of the Wanstead Flats common ground.

After the WW2 when I was about 7 or 8, my parents and extended family members, used to often go to my Uncle’s pub for family gatherings and get-togethers – where there would be ‘after hours drinking’ in his large flat upstairs above the pub. During that time, all the players from West Ham United would be there, so it was great for me, meeting all my heroes.

 


Working Years: – I left school at 15 and went to work at ‘Selwyn Press Printers’ in Plashet Grove-E.6

My salary was £2 a week, from which my mum took £1.10 housekeeping, leaving me with only 10 shillings to last me the whole week, from which I had to pay my bus fare and my nights out ‘on the town’.

My job at the Printers was to emboss freshly printed flyers by putting them through a machine, which if you did not put it in straight, the material caught fire. I was so nervous and shy in those days, so there were many times when I did set these flyers on fire. I also had to take all the printed stuff to the Finishing Room before it was sent out to clients. This Finishing Room was staffed by all girls. I’d never really ever had anything to do with girls before, having gone to an all-boys school and having no sisters. So I hated going in there, as I used to blush like mad.  I only lasted about 6 weeks at the Printing firm, when my brother who was 15 years older than me, said there was a vacancy for a post boy where he had worked – the CWS (Co-op Wholesale Society) in Leman Street–Aldgate-London E1.

When I handed in my resignation at the printers, the bosses offered me a rise of 5 shillings a week to stay – but I had decided to join my brother, as the wage at the CWS was about was £3 a week.

As a ‘post-boy’ at the CWS, I had to take internal post to the typing pool, where there were about 30 young girls worked. Again I hated it, as I was still shy and had no confidence in myself. I stayed at the Co-Op for about 18 months, before deciding to leave, as I was always being told I was not up to the standard of my elder brother.

A close friend of mine from school, worked at a stockbroking firm called ‘Osborne-Smith’ based up near the old London Stock Exchange building in the City. One day he was asked by his employers to try and recruit someone who had gone to the same school as him, as the stock broking firm needed a new junior. My friend asked me if I would be interested, and I jumped at the chance, to commute each day to the City, as the wage was a massive £16 a month plus 2 yearly bonuses. I could not believe that after only 6 weeks working there, it was bonus time, and they actually gave me £15 – I was over the moon. This practice of recruiting old school mates, carried on for the next 10 years –  it was a fantastic job and I really loved it there.

However, this all changed when the then Labour won the General Election, and started stinging all the rich people, like pop stars etc, with 90p in the £1 income tax – which then resulted in a mass exodus of skilled people such as doctors, consultants and innovative entrepreneurs leaving the country – which had a massive negative impact of the stockbroking business as a whole.

By this time it was the mid 1960’s and I had 2 small children Carol & Gary, and needed to earn more money to enable me to provide for my growing family.

At that time, my brother-in-law worked at the Ford Motor Co. in Dagenham and he told me that Ford’s needed semi-skilled staff for their production lines. Although it was unsociable night-shift work, that was totally alien to me, it was too good a job to turn down as it was good money. Every other week I was paid time-and-a-half rate, plus 2 hours per day overtime. Saturday overtime and time and a half – Sunday mornings was double time. I was only at my new job with Fords for about 6 weeks, when much to the dismay of men who had been working there for 20 years or so, I was given a cushy, although boring job, that they had all wanted – so I wasn’t the most popular bloke on the production line – but it was good money, which I wasn’t in a position to turn down.

Doing night-shift work at Ford’s was a killer though. When I used to come home from a night-shift, I envied all the people I saw all dressed up going to work, while I was going off to bed – and so I asked my wife Ann to look in the Evening Standard job adverts, and to keep her eye out to see if any Banks were recruiting.

It was now 1967. and after about 16 months at Fords, I answered an advert by Barclays Bank who were looking for new clerks, and so I attended an interview and got accepted.

With my stockbroker experience, I fully expected to be selected for a City branch…….but instead I got 839 High Road-Leytonstone-London E11 – and the rest, as they say, is history, because that’s where I remained until I took voluntary redundancy in 1992.

When I worked at Barclays–Leytonstone, I often used to go to my uncles pub, the Golden Fleece at Wanstead Flats (as mentioned above) for lunch with my work colleagues. I was very much a law unto myself in those days, and it was not uncommon for me to ‘stretch’ my lunch break to 2 hours or more!!!

Social Haunts:
As a teenager – my main recreational venue was the ‘Ilford Palais’ located in Ilford High Road, where heavyweight golden-boy boxer Billy Walker was a bouncer – and Jimmy Saville was the manager.

Monday nights at the Ilford Palais was the main night for records to be played, and dancing to be had – but not by me I’m afraid, as I was far too shy. On Saturday nights at the Palais there was always a band playing and the place was always packed to the rafters.

 

Fights were always breaking out at the Ilford Palais, but I kept out of the way of them – although one of my older brothers always loved a good fight and was often involved in them in one way or another, especially when it came to sorting out the notorious ‘Canning Town Gang’.

Because the Ilford Palais didn’t sell alcohol to the likes of me & my mates, we often used to get a ‘pass’ out of the Palais, and go over the other side of Ilford High Road to the General Haverlock pub, as the bar staff there were far more lenient to us under-aged drinkers.

In Woodgrange Road, off the Romford Road and just down the road from my Colchester Avenue home – there was another nightclub/dance hall, that was only open for one year, but in that short time, the activities that took place there, the bands that played there and the characters who frequented the place, meant the venue has gone down in the archives of history. The ‘Upper Cut’ Club was owned by George Walker, the older brother of British Heavyweight contender ‘Billy Walker’ (who I knew when he was a ‘bouncer’ on the door of the Ilford Palais). George Walker went on to be the head of the massive Brent Walker business empire, prolific throughout London in the 1970’s & 80’s.

In its short life, the Upper Cut Club hosted all the big rock/pop stars of the day (e.g. The Who – Jimi Hendrix – Otis Reading etc) – making the venue a very popular place for not just punters, but also notorious London gangster types such as the Kray Twins and other similar characters, who all wanted to be ‘seen’ out and about at the venue with Billy Walker and other ‘faces’. As a young man I only ventured to the Upper Cut a few times, as it was a place notorious for a bit of trouble, and the atmosphere could at times, be quite intimidating.

 

Another dance hall/club I attended regularly was the Lotus Rooms in Woodgrange Road–Forest Gate – just down the road from my family home in Colchester Ave – but again, there were always too many fights at the ‘Lotus’ for my liking – so I used to try and keep my nose clean and out of the way. Today, the Lotus Club is a Poundland store

Pubs I used to drink in:

The William the Conqueror, on the Romford Road in Manor Park – right close to my Colchester Avenue home.

 

In the same area was the famous Three Rabbits pub, which I frequented regularly – there was no entertainment there in those days-but in later years it went on to become one of East London’s most popular pubs for ‘live’ musical entertainment. In fact at one stage local band ‘Brian Poole & the Tremeloes’ played a residency there. Today, the Three Rabbits pub is a chemists!!

The Two Puddings pub on Stratford Broadway, just a mile or so further west, down the Romford Road– was another well-known East End drinking den that I used to regularly frequent. It was such a rough pub that it used to be know locally as the ‘Butchers Shop’ because blood was often spilled there. When I used to drink at the ‘Puddings’, there were certainly times when it could get very intimidating in there, particularly when the Krays Twins were around.

I also used to drink in the famous Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel. In fact, me & my mates were drinking in there the week before Ronnie Kray shot and killed George Cornell in the main bar – again, it could be a very intimidating pub.

Another of my regular drinking den’s was the  Coach & Horses pub near Ilford Broadway, just down the road from Ilford Police Station – My dad used to tell me the tough guys drinking in the pub, would wait for the coppers to come past on their beat, and would rough them up, it was that type of area in those days (& still is now by all accounts). A couple of the Coach & Horses regulars were caught in a sting when trying to do a very large robbery at Heathrow Airport and were jailed for a large number of years.

The Red Lion on Ilford Broadway, was probably my favourite regular ‘drinking hole’. A friend of mine from school used to be the pianist there – and also, it has special memories for me as it was where I held my stag-night there in 1962.

Marriage:
When I first met Ann, she was 15 and still going to Brampton School-East Ham-E.6. I had just turned 18.

A friend of mine had invited me to go on a coach trip to Clacton-on-Sea on the Essex coast, and that’s where we met.

We got married in 1962 at a church in the Barking Road, (now demolished), and had to use a friends address, because Manor Park, where I lived and East Ham where Ann lived, were not in the church’s Parish.

In those days, prior to getting married, you had to attend the church you were getting married at, 3 Sundays on the trot to hear your ‘banns’ being read by the vicar.

Leading up to the marriage you used to have go and see the vicar for 1 evening per week for about 3 weeks, and the purpose of the meeting was so he could explain to you how you made love etc.

Anyway – we had been told by our ‘already married’ friends, that the vicar would always give his talk while sitting on the floor, giving him the opportunity to look up the skirt of the bride-to-be. It turned out to be very true, because that’s exactly what he did throughout our pre-wedding meetings with him – very amusing for us.

We held our wedding reception at the School of Building–Aragon Road–East Ham-E6 where Ann’s dad was the resident caretaker. It was just round the corner to West Ham Utd football ground, so for many years my mates and I would park our cars in the playground, while we went off to watch our beloved Hammers.

To give an example of how the value of things has changed re cost – Ann & I had joint savings of £850, and £500 of that, had been put aside for the deposit for our first house at 17 Sheridan Road-Manor Park.

For our wedding reception we had a sit down 3 course meal for quite a number of relatives, and then in the evening all our friends attended for the evening buffet and free drinks – all of that, plus paying out for a small band to provide musical entertainment – cost us about £150 in total, which was quite a lot of money in those days. On top of all that we also had to fork out the costs of the bridesmaids dresses and the presents for them – the flowers and the wedding cars etc.

The money that was left over was used as deposits for the furniture & beds etc. for our new home.

Ann’s Mum & Dad were very poor, that’s why we paid for everything. Because we had no money for a honeymoon, Ann’s parents hired a caravan for us at a site in Clacton-on-Sea-Essex, costing just £10-so small but was well meant. Again, as with a lot of occurrences in my life, we experienced a funny scenario on our honeymoon. A married couple a few years older than us, latched on to us in the caravan site clubhouse, and we became friendly with them – only to find when they invited us to their house sometime later, it turned out that they were wife swappers – so that was the end of that short friendship.

Homes:
As I mentioned above, I lived at 8 Colchester Ave from my birth in 1939 right up until 1962, when I got married to Ann.

In 1962, immediately after me and Ann got married, we moved into our very first home at no.17 Sheridan Road-E.12 – roughly a 10min walk from my family’s home in Colchester Ave. In 1963 our daughter Carol was born, followed by our son Gary in 1966 – both children started their life in our Sheridan Avenue home.

We lived at our 17 Sheridan Avenue home until 1973, when we finally left the east-end of London and took a big step by moving out to Basildon in Essex, where we have remained happily in the same house ever since.

Meeting Geoff: – In August 1973, this cocky, mouthy little 16 year old by the name of Geoff Clements, started as a junior at Barclays Bank 839 High Road-Leytonstone-London E11, where I was employed as ‘First Cashier’. He clearly thought he was a ‘jack-the-lad’ but I soon put him straight – and today, it is Geoff, via his ‘London Shoes’ who has taken my ‘story’ from my cradle up to that point in time. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it……………..Cheers – ‘Del’.

Footnote to “The real Del-Boy’s East London” – by Geoff Clements

As the above story says, I first met Del back in August 1973, when I started work as a junior at the Barclays Bank branch in Leytonstone-London E11.

I was just 16 years old, and like most young lads that age, I thought I knew it all. I believed that I had already been there, done that and worn the t-shirt, as they say – but I soon found out that I actually knew very little about life. Del was a generation older and had ‘been there & done it’ long before me.

Del grew up in Manor Park, just 10 mins down the road from Ilford where I grew up, and what specifically fascinated me about Del’s ‘story’ was that he had more or less experienced and frequented the same places that I went to in my youth (eg parks, football, pubs & nightclubs etc) but obviously a generation before, when quite frankly, those places appeared to be more interesting and exciting than they probably were when I frequented them.

I originally started this piece of work back at the end of January this year, and it has been put together following a string of many e-mails between Del & myself, and then a number of days with me being out ‘on-the-road’ (pre-lockdown of course) tracking down and photographing all the various ‘landmarks’ relating to Del’s past.

Del is now 81 and its fair to say that he isn’t as fit & healthy as he once was, and doesn’t get out and about as much as he would like to – and with the current situation as it is, he (as with everyone) obviously has to be particularly cautious – and so I hope that this piece of work, brings some joy, not only to Del but also the rest of his family.

Its the first time ‘London Shoes’ has ever created a blog of this kind, and it has been such great fun to do – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience & its been my pleasure…………..Geoff Clements

_____________________

Below is the complete gallery of ‘all’ the photos taken, that relate to this “The Real Del Boy’s East London”

The turning into Colchester Avenue-Manor Park-London E6 – off the Romford Road, just down the road from Ilford Hill in the east.

 

Colchester Avenue-Manor Park-London E6 – where I was born on 4th October 1939

 

No.8 Colchester Avenue – my family home where I where born on 4th October 1939

 

 

Another view of my birth place & family home – No.8 Colchester Avenue-Manor Park-London-E6

 

 

Another view of my birth place & family home – No.8 Colchester Avenue-Manor Park-London-E6

 

 

Me – (the author of this article)– across the road from no.8 Colchester Avenue, where Del-Boy was born & grew up.

 

No. 1 Colchester Avenue, almost directly opposite my family home at no.8. My parents Amy & Walter lived rented a flat within this property when they were first married.

Views of Colchester Avenue

Me – the author, in Colchester Avenue

Down Colchester Ave, on the bend on left hand side there was a gap in the terraced houses, which used to lead to a place called “Knott’s Wood Yard”, where a firm that made furniture operated from. The ‘gap’ is still visible in this photo, and today residential flats are built on the site.

When I was growing up, at the very eastern end of Colchester Avenue, there used to be a massive Milk Depot. All day long there used to be horse & cart deliveries in and out of there (long before electric milk floats were introduced). To earn a few half-pennies, us kids used to shovel up the horse manure off of the road, and try and flog it off to the residents of Colchester Avenue, who used to use it for their gardens (no front drives in those days). The Milk Depot is long gone, and in its place there stand blocks of council flats. This photo shows the area at the end of Colchester Avenue, where the Milk Depot once stood.

 

Halfway down Colchester Avenue, there was a break in the terraced housing, where there was an alley, which was known locally as ‘The-Butts’. This narrow alley & its pathway led you under the main railway line where trains would travel to and from Liverpool Street in the City – this narrow alley pathway would eventually lead you out to the far corner of the massive City of London Cemetery, and then on to Wanstead Flats, a large area of public open land that was a fantastic playground for us east-end kids. This photo is the entrance to the ‘Butts’ alley from Colchester Avenue, as looks today.

 

Walking along ‘The Butts’ alley it heads-off under the main railway line that travels to and from Liverpool Street Station in the City to towns in Essex like Romford – Southend – Colchester & beyond, in the east. In this photo you can just about see a train passing over the railway bridge.

Another view of the narrow alley, known as ‘The Butts’ – that leads from Colchester Avenue right through to the far south-eastern corner of the massive City of London Cemetery & beyond onto Wanstead Flats

 

The end of ‘The Butts’ alley, leads to the far end of the City of London Cemetery, to the left – and the pathway continues on to Wanstead Flats, with Wanstead Golf Course to the right.

 

On the corner of Toronto Road at its junction of the Romford Road, just a couple of streets down from my Colchester Avenue home – there stands St. Michaels Church – which I used to have to attend for Sunday School as a kid, and listen to the sermons of the Reverend Webb. During WW2 my dad Walter Sparrow was an ARP Warden and St. Michaels Church was his look out station. He used to take me with him on many evenings , and I can clearly remember to this very day, one specific time when he had to start the air-raid siren to warn of an imminent air-raid by German aircraft. St. Michaels Church is still there today – but it is a completely new building to the original one that I used to attend.

My first school was known as the ‘Walton Road Primary School’ located in Walton Road-Manor Park – just a few minutes walk from my family home in Colchester Avenue. I had only been attending there a short while when we got bombed out and had to move to another school in Fourth Avenue just up the road.

 

Following the bombing of my ‘Walton Road Primary School’ all us kids were moved across to ‘Fourth Avenue School’ just up the road. I stayed at Fourth Avenue School until moving up to Junior level – at which time I was transferred back to Walton Road School, which had then become the “Jack Cornwall Secondary School” named after a ‘local’ lad who was the youngest person to be posthumously awarded the ‘Victoria Cross’ for bravery in WW2. I attended ‘Jack Cornwall School’ in Walton Rd from the age of 11 until I left school at 15.

Local Manor Park lad ‘Jack Cornwall’ lied about his age to join the Royal Navy in WW2, and was the youngest person to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross medal for manning his ships guns when all was lost. Today there are streets and buildings in Manor Park that are named after him in commemoration.

The A118 ‘Romford Road’ one of east London’s major roads that runs from Stratford right through to Ilford – Manor Park being just one of the districts it passes through.

 

Manor Park Library – on the Romford Road – just a few streets from my Colchester Avenue home and a place I frequented a lot when I was a young lad.  This magnificent Victorian building, was built in the mid 1800’s and pleasingly is still around today – a bit like me, its a ‘survivor’!!

 

The ‘Romford Road’ Manor Park – looking westwards towards Stratford

 

Another view of the ‘Romford Road’ Manor Park – looking eastward towards Ilford Hill – with the old Barclays Bank building to the right of the picture

 

When I was growing up, my Uncle was the landlord of the ‘Golden Fleece’ pub in Capel Road, on the outskirts of the ‘Wanstead Flats’ greenery – a massive playground for us east-end kids.

 

An old photo of my Uncle’s pub the ‘Golden Fleece’ in Capel Road, on the outskirts of ‘Wanstead Flats’ – as it was back in the day.

 

At the edge of ‘Wanstead Flats’ there is still the frame which displayed the old ‘Golden Fleece’ pub sign

 

When I was growing up, my Uncle’s ‘Golden Fleece’ pub was a regular meeting place for our family gatherings and drink-ups. I have clear memories from just after WW2 when I was about 7 or 8 – my parents and other family members used to attend regular ‘after hours’ gatherings in the large flat upstairs. During that time, all the players from West Ham United would be there, so for me, it was fantastic meeting all my heroes. The pub is still there today, but currently going through some major renovation work.

The old ‘Coronation Cinema’ in Manor Park – located just off of the Romford Road – a place that I used to love going to as a kid to watch the like of cowboys Roy Rogers & his horse Trigger and Tarzan films at ‘Saturday Morning Pictures’

Another of Manor Park’s ‘lost’ Cinemas – where as a kid in the 1940’s I use to love going with my mates to watch all the latest films of the day

 

 

I left school aged 15 – and my first job was at the ‘Selwyn Press’ printing works in Plashet Grove-East Ham-London E6, not that far from my family home in Colchester Avenue

 

The site of what was once the Selwyn Press printing works in Plashet Grove, as it looks today. I started work there aged 15. My salary was £2 a week, from which my mum took £1.10 housekeeping, leaving me with a whole 10 shillings to last the whole week, from which I had to pay my bus fare & nights out on the town.

 

Another view of what was the old Selwyn Press printing works building in Plashet Grove where I start work aged just 15. My job at the printers was to emboss freshly printed flyers by putting them through a machine, which if you did not put it in straight it caught fire. I was so nervous and shy in those days. Many times I did set them on fire.

 

Manor Park Station – where I commuted from on my way to & from the City, when working at ‘Osborn-Smith-Stockbrokers’ in Warnford Court-London EC2, right next to the old London Stock Exchange building

 

A view of the train line at Manor Park Station – heading west towards the City of London

 

As a young man in the 1960’s, I sometimes frequented the ‘Upper Cut’ Club in Woodgrange Road-just off the Romford Road. The Club was only open for a year (1966 to 1967) but its existence has become legendary – as a result of all the music legends that played ‘live’ there throughout its short existence.

 

The ‘Upper Cut’ club was on the site of an old skating rink, and was owned by George Walker, the older brother of the very popular east-end British Heavyweight boxer ‘Billy Walker’ who was nicknamed ‘The Blonde Bomber’. Billy would often be present at the Club to meet, greet and mingle with all the tv & pop stars of the day, and also the local gangster characters, such as the Kray Twins – everyone wanted to be seen at the Upper Cut

 

The site of the old ‘Upper Cut’ Club as it looks today. In its short 1 year existence, the ‘Upper Cut’ attracted all the top music acts and bands of the day – and I read somewhere that Jimi Hendrix actually wrote his big hit ‘Purple Haze’ in the club’s dressing room. Personally, I found the atmosphere at the Upper Cut quite intimating whenever I was there, as the place always seemed to be frequented by some dodgy characters and there was often ‘trouble’ in there or outside in the streets when punters were making their way home.

 

Another popular night-club on my ‘manor’ throughout the 1960’s was the ‘Lotus Club’ in Woodgrange Road, just off the Romford Road. The ‘Lotus Club’ was ironically located directly opposite the ‘Uppercut Club’. All the big bands of the time used to play there too, but again, for me, I always found the place a little bit intimidating, and there were often fights and trouble down at the venue, during my time there.

 

The old ‘Lotus Club’ building in Woodgrange Road as it is today – on top of a Poundlamd store. In my day it used to be above a Burtons Gents Outfitters shop – I visited this place a few times in the 60’s, but I found it to always be a bit ‘edgy’ – not the sort of place you want to go to for a ‘quiet’ night out.

 

An old photo of the notorious ‘Two Puddings’ pub in Stratford – known locally as the ‘Butchers Shop’ because blood was regularly spilt in there.

 

The old ‘Two Puddings’ pub building in Stratford-as it is today.

 

The famous ‘Blind Beggar’ pub in Whitechapel-E1 – one of my regular drinking haunts with my mates, in my late teens.

 

Me – the author of this piece – outside the ‘Bling Beggar’ pub in Whitechapel. In the late 1980’s I worked at the Barclays Bank branch directly opposite the ‘Beggar’ – so it was one of my regular drinking den’s in those times.

 

Green Street-London E7 – the long street that used to lead down to the old Boleyn Ground-Upton Park, the long time iconic former home ground of my beloved “West Ham United FC”

 

Green Street-London E7 – that used to lead down to the old Boleyn Ground-Upton Park, the long time former home ground of my beloved “West Ham United FC”

 

A view of West Ham United’s ‘Boleyn Ground-Upton Park – in the 1960’s – with the infamous & notorious ‘Chicken Run’ stand on the left hand side

 

Another view of West Ham‘s Boleyn Ground-Upton Park – from the 1970’s – with the legendary captain, the late great ‘Bobby Moore’ in the foreground

 

The commemorative statue of Bobby Moore-Geoff Hurst-Martin Peters – that stands in the middle of the Barking Road, just opposite the now closed ‘Boleyn’ pub next to West Ham‘s old Upton Park stadium. These 3 legendary ‘Hammers’ who were so influential on England winning the World Cup in 1966

 

The site today of what was, up until recently, the Boleyn Ground – the home ground of my beloved West Ham Utd – a place I spent many happy memorable times with my mates during my childhood and as an adult.

 

The former West Ham Utd-Supporters Club right next door to what was the Club’s Upton Park ground – the place is now sadly boarded up and apparently occupied by squatters – but a place that I have very fond and happy memories of.

 

The famous “Three Rabbits” pub in the Romford Road, just down the road from my Colchester Avenue home – a very popular and legendary east-end pub, and one that I used to regularly frequent in my teenage drinking days. It also became a popular ‘live’ music venue in the 70’s & 80’s.

 

The iconic “Three Rabbits” pub as it is today……a bloody chemists 🙁

 

Me – (the author) – across the road from the “Three Rabbits” pub – a boozer that I also used to frequent in my youth – a decade or so after Del)

 

The “William the Conqueror” pub in the Romford Road, just down the road from my family’s home in Colchester Avenue – another of my family’s popular drinking dens.

 

 

 

The ‘Earl of Essex’ pub in the Romford Road-Manor Park – just a stones throw from my family home in Colchester Avenue, where I grew up. Another one of me & my mates ‘haunts’ when we were in our mid to late teens.

 

Another view of the ‘Earl of Essex’ pub on the Romford Road at Manor Park – one of my regular ‘haunts’ in my youth.

 

Another view of the main Romford Road – taken from the junction of its turn-off into my family home in Colchester Road – & looking east towards Ilford Hill.

 

A photo of the old “Rose & Crown” pub on Ilford Hill – right next door to the old Ilford Police Station – & surprisingly one of the areas most troublesome pubs, and another pub that I used to visit in the early drinking days of my youth.

 

The old “Rose & Crown” pub building on Ilford Hill as it is today

 

Ilford Broadway – just up the road from my family home in Colchester Avenue-Manor Park. Ilford was a place where the local ‘action’ was – especially the Ilford Palais, a popular place to meet and chat up girls.

 

The legendary “Ilford Palais” in Ilford High Road – a place I frequented regularly in my teens. Throughout the 1950’s it was a dance hall where the top dance-bands of the day would play every weekend. The ‘Palais’ was THE place to be and be seen, for an east-end boy – it seemed like the whole of Essex & East-End youth would congregate there to dance and chat-up girls – magical memories of this place. (*Me (the author) also used to be a ‘Palais’ regular – but in the early 1970’s when it was one of London’s most popular disco’s)

 

A photo of a typical Saturday night inside the ‘Ilford Palais’ in the 1950’s – when I was a regular.

 

Even throughout the early 1960’s the ‘Ilford Palais’ was THE place to be seen for a young east-ender like me.

 

Sadly the ‘Ilford Palais’ was eventually demolished in the early 2000’s to make way for luxury apartments – very sad, but I have so many fantastic memories of the old venue.

 

When me & my mates couldn’t get served a beer in the Ilford Palais, because we looked under-age (which we were of course) we used to leg-it over to the other side of Ilford High Road, to the ‘General Haverlock’ pub, whose bar staff were much more lenient in pulling a pint for us lads. (* the General Haverlock was also a regular drinking den for me, the author – in the early 70’s)

 

An old photo of “The Red Lion” pub on Ilford Hill, just up the road from my family Colchester Avenue home. It was the ‘Red Lion’ where I held my stag-do, the night before my wedding in June 1962.

 

The old ‘Red Lion’ pub building on Ilford Hill, as it looks today – the place where I held my stag-night on the eve of my wedding to Ann in June 1962.

 

I lived at 8 Colchester Ave from my birth in 1939 right up until 1962, when I married Ann. We then immediately moved into our very first home together at no.17,Sheridan Road-London-E.12, just a few minutes walk from my family’s Colchester Ave home. We lived in Sheridan Road for the first 11 years of our marriage, and had our 2 children there – then, in 1973 we moved to a house in Basildon-Essex, in which we still live to this very day, some 47 years later!!

 

Our first home at 17 Sheridan Road – as it looks today

 

Another view of our first home at 17 Sheridan Road – as it looks today

 

Del and Ann – with their children Garry & Carol (1970’s)

 

Leytonstone Tube Station-London E11 – where I (the author of this piece) had to commute to from my home in Ilford – when starting work at Barclays Bank 839 High Road Leytonstone-E11, on the 13th August 1973, aged just 16.

 

Barclays Bank-839 High Road-Leytonstone-London E11 – where, on the 13th August 1973, the 16yr old me first met Derek Sparrow (Del), who was then the 1st Cashier at the branch

 

 

Me – the author – outside Barclays Bank-Leytonstone branch – where I first encountered Del back in 1973

 

Del (1980’s)

*The birth of Glam?-“HOLY HOLY” at the 50th Anniversary of David Bowie playing the legendary “Roundhouse” venue-Chalk Farm-London-NW3

Posted on by Posted in Music .

On the evening of Weds 11th March 2020, London Shoes ventured off to what was once one of London’s most iconic music & art venues, particularly throughout the 1960’s and into the 70’s – the legendary ‘Roundhouse’ at Chalk Farm–London NW3.

The Roundhouse building wasn’t always a music venue – when it was first opened in 1847, it was hailed as being one of the finest examples of Victorian civil engineering, as it was a completely circular building 160 ft in diameter, with a cone-shaped roof supported by cast iron girders. Inside it were 24 ‘bays’, and a massive turntable wheel in the centre of it, that Railway engines could be rolled on to, then spun round and rolled out to a bay for either servicing or storage. Its architectural uniqueness was so popular in Victorian times that guided tours were set-up to enable the public to witness this magnificent building.

It was not the first time that my ‘London Shoes’ had been to the Chalk Farm-Roundhouse, as I published a blog on this historic London landmark onto my London Shoes website back in May 2018.

Although I never frequented the Roundhouse at its height of music popularity in the 60’s – I did go there once in the mid 1970’s during the punk era, to see a gig by the brilliant ‘Ramones’.

However – my visit this time was a little bit special – as the Roundhouse was hosting an event to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of a specific time in popular music history.

For this trek out it was a pleasure to be accompanied by Vince, my long-time mate of almost 50 years, who also just so happens to be my bruv-in-law.

In March 1970, ‘David Bowie’ was already an up & coming singer-songwriter -performer, and having scored a reasonably big hit with his single ‘Space Oddity’,  and he was working hard to create his own niche in the music scene.

On 10th March 1970, Bowie’s newly formed band ‘The Hype’ were just one of the bands on the bill of ‘The Atomic Sunrise Festival’ being hosted at the Roundhouse-Chalk Farm.

For that particular gig, David Bowie took a bit of a risk by doing something a little bit different from other bands at that time – he dressed his 4 piece band up in costumes, to the theme of ‘super-heroes’.

David Bowie was ‘Rainbow Man’ – Bass guitarist Tony Visconti was (in a Superman type outfit), was ‘Hyper Man’ – Drummer John Cambridge was ‘Cowboy Man’ & newly acquired guitarist Mick Ronson, dressed in a ‘sharp’ suit, was ‘Gangster Man’.

History has dictated that the gig has subsequently been labelled as the potential birth of a music-genre that was to become widely known as ‘Glam Rock’.

Legend has it that at the front of the stage that particular night, closely watching the band’s performance, was one Marc Bolan, who a year later, became the self-styled king of Glam Rock.

Around that time, Bowie was writing material for his next album which was to be entitled ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ – which was eventually released in Nov 1970.

Playing bass on that album was Tony Visconti, who went on to be one of the most influential record producers on the 70’s & way beyond, and became a life-long collaborator of Bowie’s, right up until his death. Playing drums on that album was a newly recruited drummer from Hull, Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey.

Following its release, the album didn’t really break any records in the way of sales, but it did cause a bit of controversy. Its main cover had a photo of Bowie spread out on chaise-longue, wearing a ‘dress’ (which Bowie always declared was a man’s dress). An alternative ‘cartoon’ type album cover had to designed for the US market.

Because Bowie didn’t really have a ‘working’ band at that time, the ‘album’ material was never really played ‘live’.

Woody Woodmansey went on further to play drums on the next 3 Bowie breakthrough albums – “Hunky Dory” (1971) – “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars” (1972) & “Aladdin Sane”(1973) – along with Mick Ronson (guitar) & Trevor Bolder (bass) – as part of Bowie’s highly acclaimed ‘Spiders from Mars’ band. Sadly, Bowie–Ronson & Bolder are no longer with us – so ‘Woody’ is today, the only surviving ‘Spider’.
So – fast forward 50 years, and last night, to the very day, was the 50th Anniversary of Bowie’s now legendary gig at the Chalk Farm Roundhouse.

A few years ago, prior to David Bowie’s passing – Woody Woodmansey & Tony Visconti (now aged 70 & 75 respectively) put together a touring band called ‘Holy Holy’ (the title of a failed Bowie single, released just prior to his Ziggy breakthrough) – whose set-list comprised of the (never performed live) ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album tracks plus the entire ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album, and a couple of other Bowie crowd favourites on top of that.

For Tony Visconti, the highlight of the Roundhouse gig must be the fact that he was there, 50 years ago, playing bass for Bowie’s The Hype – a fantastic achievement.

For this special Roundhouse  anniversary gig, ‘Holy Holy’ comprised of the following band personnel:-
Glen Gregory (lead vocals)-Woody Woodmansey (drums)-Tony Visconti (bass)-Paul Cuddeford (guitar) –James Stevenson (guitar)-Janette Mason (keyboards)-Jessica-Lee Morgan (acoustic guitar-sax-vocals) – Jessica is Tony Visconti’s daughter, from his marriage to Mary Hopkin, (another famous UK singer/performer).

Despite all the understandable anxiety of the Corona Virus, the Roundhouse gig was a sell-out – and the audience, made up predominantly of the 50+ age group thoroughly lapped it all up and sang their way through every track of ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ & ‘Ziggy Stardust’ albums, plus all the ‘extras’. All time classics such as ‘Width of a Circle’ – ‘All the Madmen’ – ‘Running Gun Blues’ – ‘Supermen’ & ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ title track, then ‘Starman’ – ‘Five Years’ – ‘Lady Stardust’ – ‘Moonage Daydream’ from the Ziggy album, plus many others.

An absolutely brilliant night of musical entertainment that meant so much, not just to the likes of legendary muso survivors Tony Visconti & Woody Woodmansey – but also to all the punters like me, who were around during the early 1970’s when we certainly experienced the best of times in terms of rock & popular music and the artists that created it.

Hope you enjoyed this little article and its accompanying photos.

Below is a gallery of ALL the photographs taken to accompany the ‘Holy Holy’ gig at the legendary Roundhouse-Chalk Farm-London NW3

The ‘Roundhouse’ legendary music & arts venue – in Chalk Farm-London NW3

 

Long before it became a music & arts venue, the Roundhouse was a perfect example of Victorian civil engineering genius – when, back in 1847 it was designed as a ‘turntable’ and storage base, for locomotive steam engines

 

An illustration of what the Roundhouse building looked like inside – back in the mid Victorian era

 

The promo for the ‘Holy Holy’ – The Birth of Glam-50th Anniversary gig at the Roundhouse – 0n 11th March 2020

 

My precious ticket for the Holy Holy gig at the Roundhouse

 

Me – pre-concert – outside the legendary Chalk Farm-Roundhouse venue – on 11th March 2020

 

The queue starts to grow outside the Roundhouse – note the ‘suicide’ statue on the roof

 

Inside the Chalk Farm-Roundhouse, there are many references to the events and plays and performances (many of which were extremely controversial) that have taken place there over the past decades, particularly throughout the 1960’s.

 

My bruv-in-law Vince – in the bar at the Roundhouse – pre-gig

 

For some unknown reason, a somewhat ‘camp’ looking me-alongside a story board inside the Roundhouse that references the many punk gigs that were hosted there in the late 1970’s. I actually went there around 1976 to see the US band ‘The Ramones’ – what a gig that was

 

What the inside of the Roundhouse looks like today – some of the old Victorian structures still remain in situ

 

More of the many references inside the Roundhouse – to the legendary performances that have taken place there throughout the past decades – this one makes specific reference to the extremely controversial play ‘Oh Calcutta’

 

Me – down the front of the Roundhouse stage – pre-gig

 

Me & me bruv-in-law Vince – take our seats before the start of the evenings procedures

 

An old b&w photo of David Bowie’s “Hype” on stage at the Roundhouse exactly 50 years ago to the day of the Holy Holy anniversary gig. In the picture you can see that Bowie is dressed as ‘Rainbow Man’ – Tony Visconti as ‘Hyper Man’ – John Cambridge on drums was ‘Cowboy Man’ and hidden is Mick Ronson on guitar, dressed as ‘Gangster Man’……..was this the birth of Glam Rock?

 

The original cover of Bowie’s 1970  ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album – that caused so much controversy at the time

 

The very same ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album – but with its alternative cover sleeve design – for the US market

 

Tony Visconti & Woody Woodmansey – as they were at the time when they recorded David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” album in 1970.

 

My vinyl version of Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album – which acquired another ‘new’ cover when it was re-released in 1972, on the back of Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ success

 

My vinyl version of Bowie’s brilliant ‘Hunk Dory’ album – that followed his ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album, when it was released in 1971

 

 

David Bowie & the Spiders from Mars band at the very beginning of his ‘Ziggy Stardust’ period – early 1972. From left to right:- David Bowie – Trevor Bolder – Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey & Mick Ronson. Today, Woody Woodmansey is the only survivor of this brilliant little band

 

My well worn vinyl copy of the now Bowie’s classic ‘The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars’ album

David Bowie on stage at the height of his ‘Ziggy’ period – with drummer Woody Woodmansey in the background

 

My vinyl copy of Bowie’s “Aladdin Sane” album – released in 1973 and the follow-up to ‘Ziggy Stardust’. This was to be the last album on which Woody Woodmansey played drums for Bowie

 

Guitarist ‘Keith Christmas’ opened the evenings entertainment with a brief set of his current material. Keith had played guitar on the ‘David Bowie’ album that preceded Bowie’s 1970 ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album

 

Woody Woodmansey & Tony Visconti’s “Holy Holy” band take to the Roundhouse stage

 

Holy Holy – banging out the tracks from Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ & ‘Ziggy Stardust’ albums – on the Roundhouse stage

 

‘Holy Holy’ – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

70 yr old Woody Woodmansey (drums) & 75 yr old Tony Visconti (bass) – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

‘Holy Holy’ – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

Glen Gregory formerly of the band ‘Heaven 17’ – and now lead vocalist with ‘Holy Holy’ – a brilliant singer and superb deliverer of Bowie’s material

 

The legendary Woody Woodmansey (drums) & Tony Visconti (bass) – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

‘Holy Holy’ – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

Woody & Tony on the Roundhouse stage

 

‘Holy Holy’ – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

Woody Woodmansey (drums) & Tony Visconti (bass) – on stage at the Roundhouse

 

Holy Holy rockin the Roundhouse

 

Woody Woodmansey (drums) & Tony Visconti (bass) -& James Stevenson (guitar) on stage at the Roundhouse

 

Tony Visconti taking a bow at the end of the gig

 

Jessica Lee Morgan (acoustic guitar & vocals) – Glen Gregory (vocals) & Janette Mason (keyboards) look on as Tony Visconti & Woody Woodmansey take their thoroughly deserved acclaim from the Roundhouse audience at the end of the gig

 

Following their 2nd encore, the band say goodbye to the extremely satisfied Roundhouse audience 🙂 from l to r:- Paul Cuddeford – Jessica Lee Morgan – Jannette Mason – Glen Gregory – Woody Woodmansey – Tony Visconti – James Stevenson

 

‘Holy Holy’ take their final bow

 

The cover of Woody Woodmansey’s excellent book “My Life with Bowie” – a really good read, even if you’re not a Bowie fan

 

Me – sinking a quick ‘cheeky’ scotch in the Roundhouse bar before setting off back home, following a truly amazing evening of nostalgia & entertainment

*the “Scenes in the Square” sculptures-Leicester Square & the old “Flamingo Club” in Soho

Posted on by Posted in Art, Parks & Public Squares, Quirky Topics .

Friday was the only decent day of weather here in the ‘Smoke’ last week, and so ‘London Shoes’ took advantage of the sunshine and ventured off ‘up-west’ to Leicester Square, to check out a brand new London attraction, which was only introduced a week ago.

Then following that – for the customary ‘cheeky’ beer, ‘Shoes’ went in search of the location of the site that was once the legendary music venue – the ‘Flamingo Club’ in Soho

Now – ‘Shoes’ doesn’t normally do the more popular touristy sites and locations, but made an exception for this particular initiative – simply because it was new, and seemed like a ‘happy’ sort of topic – something much needed in these current times.

So – first off, the main subject of this week’s London Shoes blog is the “Scenes in the Square” exhibit in London’s busy Leicester Square.

‘Leicester Square’ was formed 350 years ago, and today is one of London’s busiest tourist spots with an estimated 96 million visitors per year.

It is also seen as the home of London’s film world, with its first cinema having been opened way back in 1930, with its very first ‘red-carpet’ premiere in taking place in 1937.

Therefore, it is the ideal location for this new “Scenes in the Square” attraction.

“Scenes in the Square” is an exhibition of 8 bronze sculptures that depict some of the best loved film characters from the last century.

The sculptures are on display in and around the ‘Square’ itself – some of them are immediately visible, but there are a few that are not so obviously seen.

The “8” sculptures depict famous film stars and scenes from a selection of all-time great family films – and throughout the Square or in the surrounding buildings, you will find:- ‘Gene Kelly’ – from Singing in the Rain – ‘Mary Poppins’ – ‘Charlie Chaplin’ – ‘Oliver & Hardy’ – ‘Bugs Bunny’ – ‘Paddington Bear’ – ‘Wonder Woman’ – ‘Mr. Bean’ & ‘Batman’. This wonderful sculpture-trail was created by the ‘Heart of London Business Alliance’ in partnership with ‘Westminster City Council’ – and fully supported by the film industry and their studios.

From what I understand, these statues will be on display for at least the next 6 months, and the plan is to add more sculptures to the exhibition.

The display was only launched on 27th February, and its already pulling in the crowds during its first week, even despite of the awful weather – and it’s hoped that it will bring a bit of life and interest back to Leicester Square – which I have no doubt it will.

It’s especially enjoyable for children as they can have a photo taken of them sitting on a bench next to Paddington Bear or Mr. Bean, or standing next to Mary Poppins as she fly’s in on her umbrella – It’s also fun searching for the more obscurely positioned statues. A really great way to spend a couple of hours.

 

So – having sought out and spent time with Bugs Bunny, Mr. Bean, Paddington Bear and the rest of their pals – it was time for a much needed liquid refreshment – and so I wandered off in the direction of the ‘China Town’ quarter of Wardour Street in nearby Soho – an area I know & love very much, having worked for 4 years at Barclays Bank-Wardour Street branch between the years 1974 to 1978, from the age of 17 to 21.

However, my reason for returning there this time was for the specific purpose of tracking down a site that was once one of the most iconic music venues on London’s music scene throughout the late 1950’s and the entire 1960’s……the legendary “Flamingo Club”.

The Flamingo Club was pivotal for the rise in popularity of jazz and rhythm & blues music throughout London and beyond, and it was a favourite ‘haunt’ of all the top musicians such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles & Jimi Hendrix to name just a few – it was THE place to be seen.

The Flamingo Club really came to prominence throughout the ‘Swinging 60’s’ and was renowned for its ‘all-nighters’.

It was responsible for introducing black music and booking black artists across a wide spectrum of musical styles including ska / soul / jazz / blue-beat etc – and as a result drew audiences from many different cultural ethnicities.

It also had a reputation of being a bit of an ‘edgy’ venue, with a ‘lively’ drug scene.

In fact, anyone that may have watched the recent tv drama about Christine Keeler & the Profumo Affair, may recall the scene where there was a violent fight between Keeler’s two lovers ‘Lucky’ Gordon & Johnny Edgecome – well, that fight took place in the Flamingo Club.

From 1962 through to 1965 the Flamingo’s resident band were ‘Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames’ – whose big selling ‘live’ album ‘Rhythm & Blues at the Flamingo’ was recorded at the club.

Throughout the 60’s all the top muso’s played the Flamingo Club – like:- Rod Stewart – Otis Redding – Eric Clapton – the Stones – the Beatles – The Moody Blues – Pink Floyd – Small Faces.

In the mid to late 1960’s the Flamingo Club was the hub of the Mod movement in London, and all-nighters sessions were an extremely popular attraction down there.

The Flamingo Club itself eventually closed down in 1972, but its upstairs then opened up as the ‘Whiskey-a-Go Go’ music venue, which was then re-named as the ‘WAG Club’ in 1981. In fact ‘David Bowie’ filmed the video for his 80’s hit ‘Jazzin for Blue Jean’ at the Wag Club.

In 2001 the entire music venue closed down for good – and eventually became a branch of the O’Neill’s Irish Pub chain, which it still is today.

A blue plaque is displayed on the exterior wall of the O’Neill’s pub, commemorating the importance of the Flamingo Club to the British music scene – and inside the pub itself there are several visible references to the venue’s historic musical past.

Obviously, it was only right that I take advantage of my visit to the site, by knocking back a swift ‘cheeky’ one there, in homage to the old venue – which went down very nicely.

Strolling back down Wardour Street on my way to Tottenham Court Rd tube, and the journey home – I just had to stop for a while & reminisce outside the old Barclays Bank branch where I used to work, over 45 years ago now (blimey, that makes me sound soooo old!!!) I worked there for 4 years, and me going there in 1974 could be described perfectly for me by Charles Dickens as ‘it was the best of times-it was the worst of times’– however, on reflection, the ‘best’ most definitely outweighed the ‘worst’, and I met & worked with a bunch of wonderful people, some of whom I’m blessed to say, I’m still good friends with to this very day .

So – that was my little London Shoes jaunt out this week – in the glorious and much appreciated Soho sunshine.

In my opinion, the ‘Scenes in the Square’ sculptures are well worth seeing for both kids and adults – a fun way to pass away a couple of hours.

Hope you enjoy the accompanying photos to this piece.

see below for a full gallery of all the photos from this “Scenes in the Square’ blog

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The ‘Scenes in the Square’ story-board at the entrance to Leicester Square

 

Paddington Bear – nibbling on his marmalade sandwich

 

Me & old Paddington – with the famous Odeon Leicester Square in the background

 

Beautiful London sunny skies brightening up Leicester Square

 

Bugs Bunny munching on a carrot in Leicester Square

 

Bugs Bunny in Leicester Square

 

Mr. Bean – watching the world go by on a bench in Leicester Square

 

Not sure who is actually the daftest here

 

Charlie Chaplin observing life in Leicester Square

 

A close-up of the great Charlie Chaplin

 

Beautiful London sunny skies brightening up Leicester Square

 

‘Batman’ – looks down on the comings & goings in Leicester Square – from his vantage point on the roof of the iconic Odeon Leicester Square Cinema

 

A close-up of ‘Batman’ on top of the Leicester Square Odeon Cinema

 

‘Batman’ with the sunny London skies above him

 

Beautiful London sunny skies brightening up Leicester Square

 

The great ‘Gene Kelly’ – ‘Singing in the Rain’ inside Leicester Square

 

A close-up of old ‘Gene’ singing in the rain

 

Me & Gene Kelly ‘singing-in-the-rain in Leicester Square – even though it wasn’t raining (for once!!)

 

Another photo of old ‘Gene’ doing his stuff

 

Now – I don’t know if someone is ‘nicking my act’ – but this is a London Shoes promo photo that was taken back in December last year – it begs the question, did the Gene Kelly sculptor get any influence from this?? – (just sayin’)

 

Good old Mary Poppins sails into Leicester Square on her brolly

 

A close-up of the bronze ‘Mary Poppins’ statue

 

Another view of dear old Mary P

 

The ‘William Shakespeare Fountain’ at the centre of Leicester Square

 

 

‘Laurel & Hardy’ up to mischief on top of the Ticket Box Office in Leicester Square

 

A closer-up of the ‘Stan & Ollie’ bronze statue – perched precariously on top of the main Ticket Box-Office in Leicester Square

 

The ‘Wonder Woman’ statue is a bit tricky to find during the daytime -= but at night its a lot easier because it lit up

 

Strolling into Wardour Street’s ‘China Town’ quarter, in search of the site that was once the legendary ‘Flamingo Club’

 

Me – in ‘China Town’-Soho

 

Entering the China Town quarter of Soho’s Wardour Street

 

The O’Neill’s pub in Wardour Street-Soho – once the site of the ‘Flamingo Club’, one of London’s most iconic music venues – a commemorative blue plaque to the Flamingo can be seen to the far right of the photo.

 

A commemorative ‘blue plaque’ displayed on the exterior wall of the O’Neill’s pub – in recognition of the fact that the building was once the famous ‘Flamingo Club’

 

The entrance to the O’Neill’s pub in Wardour Street-Soho – once the site of the ‘Flamingo Club’, one of London’s most iconic music venues

 

An old b&w photo of the entrance to the Flamingo Club in Wardour Street as it was in the “60’s”

 

A billboard poster from the 1960’s – advertising ‘what’s on’ at the Flamingo Club

 

At the entrance to the O’Neill’s pub, a tiled commemoration recognises the history and importance of the Flamingo Club

 

Me – outside the building that was once the iconic ‘Flamingo Club’ music venue

 

Inside the building that was once the legendary ‘Flamingo Club’ – now an O’Neill’s pub

 

Inside the building that was once the legendary ‘Flamingo Club’ – now an O’Neill’s pub

 

Inside the building that was once the legendary ‘Flamingo Club’ – now an O’Neill’s pub

 

Me – outside 183 Wardour Street-Soho-W1 – a building that used to be a Barclays Bank branch & where I worked between the ages of 17 to 21 – from 1974 to 78

 

Now – again – I don’t want to sound paranoid – but I’m getting suspicious – are ‘Transport for London’ nickin’ my act!!! – A public notice on display down in the tube stations – which one could question, is plagiarising my ‘London Shoes’ brand

 

An old promo photo of my ‘London Shoes’ brand…..just sayin

 

Me – sinking a refreshing ‘cheeky’ one in the O’Neill’s bar Wardour Street – once the location of London’s famous ‘Flamingo Club’

*The “London Police & Crime”-Walking Tour – with ‘The Laughing Policemen’

Posted on by Posted in Crime & Punishment, Historic Buildings, Quirky Topics .

Last week was quite a unique one for ‘London Shoes’, when I received an invitation from 2 highly acclaimed ‘London Walking Tour’ guides, asking me if I would like to accompany them on a ‘new’ tour they’ve designed – as they would value my feedback of the tour, its content and its delivery – before letting it fully off the leash for the forthcoming Spring & Summer tourist influx.

David and Francis are both retired ex Metropolitan Police–Sergeants, who are now fully accredited London Walking Tour guides, and now conduct tours that cover-off a whole range of topics and themes of London’s historic past – something they have done for quite some time now.

As it just so happens, and unbeknown to me – they are also avid followers of my London Shoes website and its blog publications – hence the reason as to why they gave me a shout to see if I would accompany them on a ‘dry-run’ of their new walking tour, as they valued and welcomed my opinions.

Anyway – because of their extensive Met Police background these 2 gentlemen now work under the amusing title of “The Laughing Policemen” and as a result a their personal career experiences and first hand knowledge, David & Francis have designed a brand new and totally unique walking tour of their own, that they have entitled the “London Police & Crime–Walking Tour” – and it was the dry-run of this specific tour that I accompanied them on.

Their “London Police & Crime” Tour is crammed full of interesting material and historic facts relating to policing & crime in the Capital – which walks a punter through the crime ridden, gin soaked London prior to the formation and introduction of any organised policing set-up – and it then ‘walks’ on to London’s numerous historic crime locations throughout the past few centuries, and the infamous notorious criminals and characters that were involved in them.

The tour walks you through the history of how formal policing was created and introduced in London and the lead up to the eventual formation of the Metropolitan Police and the creation of Scotland Yard.

No stone is left unturned in terms of the tour’s content – as it touches on everything – from a poor fella getting arrested for wearing a top-hat – the violent stabbing of one of Britain’s top actors – the introduction of the very first policewoman – the history of the famous Bow Street Magistrates Court – the very first kidnap attempt on a member of the Royal Family – terrorist attacks on London & even the influence of fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes.

For some of the ‘incidents’ in more recent decades, tour guides David & Francis often have first-hand knowledge and experience – and their input and recollections really help bring all these topics to life – offering something a little bit different from the other walking tours.

My ‘London Shoes’ certainly got a lot out of spending the day walking through the new ‘Police’ tour – as I found out loads of historic stuff that I never had a ‘scoobie’ about, which I can now refer to and cover-off in future blogs.

 

For example – summarised below are just a limited few of the interesting facts that I picked-up on throughout the tour:-

>>The term ‘Coppers’ comes from the copper plating that used to be on the tip of the very early designs of Police ‘truncheons’ way back in the early 1800’s.

>>The term ‘Old Bill’ comes from the time of the official formation of the Metropolitan Police back in 1829 when King ‘William’ IV was on the throne and was a big influence on London having its own Police Force.

>>In 1797 a well to do haberdasher by the name of ‘John Hetherington’ was arrested for wearing a ‘top-hat’ (a fashion style that hadn’t yet been introduced). Hetherington was sent ‘up before the beak’ for inciting a mini riot, that caused several women to faint and children to scream and dogs to yelp!!

>>Then there’s the brutal murder of William Terris in 1897 at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre. Terris was the top superstar actor of the day, and was viciously knifed to death outside the stage door at the back of the theatre, by Richard Prince, another actor, but much lower league, who thought that Terris was having an affair with his wife.

Prince was tried and convicted of murder, but was saved from the death sentence, as the authorities declared him insane, and so he was banged up in the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum – a decision that caused uproar in the media and throughout the acting profession.

 

>>In 1974 Ian Ball became the first person ever to attempt to kidnap a member of the Royal Family, when he forced a car carrying Princess Anne down the Mall, to a halt – shooting 3 people in the process. Ball demanded a £3m ransom which he claimed he wanted to give to the NHS to fund mental health care.

Ball was eventually felled by an ex East End boxer ‘Ronnie Russell’, who just happened to be strolling down the Mall at the time.

The victims of the shootings all survived and were awarded gallantry medals, including Ronnie Russell, who received the George Medal and also had his mortgage paid-off by the Queen. Ball was found guilty and jailed for life, but was judged insane and was initially banged-up in Rampton and is still doing porridge in ‘choky’.

There is a rather sad twist to this historic criminal incident, as only this month it was reported in the national press that the ex boxer Ronnie Russell, who is now an elderly man in very poor health, has had to auction off his George Medal to pay for his health care costs.

>>The tour also takes in the famous Bow Street Magistrates Court – the location of hundreds of high profile trials such as those of Oscar Wilde – Dr.Crippen – the Kray Twins – Emily & Christabel Pankhurst – just to name but a few, who have all been ‘up before the beak’ there.

This famous court house closed in 2006 and is currently in the process of being converted into a 99 room luxury boutique hotel.

 

>>Then there’s the fact that there have actually been 4 Scotland Yard’s – the original Met Police HQ building was at no.4 Whitehall Place, just off of Great Scotland Yard and is still there – and then further down the road is another old Met HQ that is now the Great Scotland Yard luxury hotel and further down the street there is another of the old Scotland Yard HQ’s that is now houses one of the stables used the Met’s mounted division – where the horses are stabled up on the 1st Floor !!!

>>The tour even nips into the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ pub in Northumberland Street, for a ‘cheeky’ one. The pub used to be called the Northumberland Arms – but in 1957 the it changed its name to the Sherlock Holmes and filled the place with loads of ‘Holmes’ memorabilia and artefacts rescued from the 1951 Festival of Britain.

On the 1st floor there is an entire replicated room dedicated to a typical scene from the novels of the world famous fictional detective.

The above are only a few snippets of what “The London Police & Crime”-Tour covers-off throughout the 2hr walk – there are loads more interesting criminally related historical facts, landmarks and locations within its content – great value for money-well worth the £20 cost – and I personally would have no hesitation in recommending the tour to anyone who is up for something just a little bit different in content from the other conventional walking tours.

All in all – I was honoured and well chuffed that the services of my London Shoes was called upon by ‘The Laughing Policemen’ and that the guys valued my feedback on this run through of this new tour venture, and I shall definitely be following its future progress with great interest.

Hope you enjoy viewing the photos accompanying this article – I’ve also attached the promo link to the actual tour itself, should anyone be interested in booking a place on it now or in the future.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/experiences/1513309

_________________________________

 

Covent Garden tube station – the starting point for the “Laughing Policemen’s” – “London Police & Crime” Walking Tour

 

 

The tour also takes in the famous Bow Street Magistrates Court – built in 1897 & the location of hundreds of high profile trials such as those of Oscar Wilde – Dr.Crippen – the Kray Twins – Emily & Christabel Pankhurst – just to name but a few, who have all been ‘up before the beak’ there.

The original entrance to the famous Police Station that was attached to Bow Street Magistrates Court – The court closed in 2006 and is now being converted into a 99 room luxury boutique hotel

 

The ‘Scales of Justice’ embossed on the old Bow Street Magistrates Court building

 

A street sculpture of ‘Oscar Wilde’ – one of the many famous trials held at Bow Street Magistrates Court

 

One of the many laminates that the ‘Laughing Policemen’ use and refer to during their ”London Police & Crime” walking Tour. This one is of ‘John Hetherington’ who, in 1797, was arrested for ‘a breach of the peace & inciting a riot’ for simply wearing a ‘top-hat’!!!

 

The site of one of the older established hat-shops down the Strand – probably once owned or frequented by John Hetherington

 

The alley leading to the Nell Gwynn pub – that ten leads to the back of the Adelphi Theatre, where in 1897 superstar actor of the day ‘William Terris’ was brutally murdered outside the stage door.

 

An illustration of the time, depicting the murder of William Terris at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre in 1897

 

Today, a Green Plaque commemorates the spot where William Terris was murdered – in the stage doorway of the Adelphi Theatre in 1897

 

Francis of the ‘Laughing Policemen’ Walking Tours, and co-designer of their “London Police & Crime” tour – standing outside the spot where famous actor William Terris was stabbed to death – outside the back-stage door of the Adelphi Theatre in 1897

 

Another laminate displayed throughout the tour – this one is all about a ‘high end’ book that was published in the late 1700’s, and was a low-down on all the top-end prostitutes that worked the then prestigious Covent Garden

 

Another laminate referred to during the tour, is brought out when the tour reaches the Mall, where in 1974 ‘Ian Ball’ became the first person ever to attempt to kidnap a member of the Royal Family, when he forced a car carrying Princess Anne down the Mall, to a halt – shooting 3 people in the process.

 

A media photo of the aftermath of the attempted kidnap of Princess Anne, by Ian Ball down the Mall in 1974

 

The ‘National Police Memorial’ located at the start of the Mall – The memorial commemorates the 4000 Police Officers killed in the course of their duties in the UK. The Memorial was unveiled in 2005

 

David – one of the ‘Laughing Policemen’ and co-designer of their ‘London Police & Crime’ Walking Tour – takes a closer look at the contents of the ‘National Police Memorial’ that commemorates ex police colleagues who were killed in the course of their duties

 

Me – David & Francis at the National Police Memorial in the Mall

 

Great Scotland Yard (later shortened to just “Scotland Yard”) – just off of Whitehall and where the very first Met Police Headquarters were located

 

There have actually been 4 x Scotland Yard’s – the original Met Police HQ building was at no.4 Whitehall Place, just off of Great Scotland Yard and is still there

 

Further down the road in Whitehall Place, there is another old Met HQ that is now the “Great Scotland Yard Hotel”

 

Various artefacts of Metropolitan Police historic memorabilia, are today respectfully on display inside the “Great Scotland Yard Hotel”

 

Various artefacts of Metropolitan Police memorabilia, are today respectfully on display inside the “Great Scotland Yard Hotel”

 

Another ex Scotland Yard HQ down in Great Scotland Yard, is now used as stables for the Met’s Mounted Division. The horses are actually stabled on the 1st Floor!!

 

A photo of the inside of the Met’s Mounted Division building in Great Scotland Yard – where you can clearly see the ramp that leads the horses up to their stables on the 1st Floor.

 

Another laminate that the ‘Laughing Policemen’ refer to during their Walking Tour. This one is of Edith Smith, who in 1915 was the first Policewoman with the power to arrest

 

The ‘Monument to the Women of WW2’ in Whitehall – on which is displayed the uniform of the WPC.

The ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Pub in Northumberland Street – a stopping off point for a ‘cheeky’ beer during the ‘London Police & Crime-Walking Tour’

The ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Pub in Northumberland Street – a stopping off point for a ‘cheeky’ beer during the ‘London Police & Crime-Walking Tour’

 

Inside the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ pub

 

A portrait of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle on display inside the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ pub

 

A dedicated room on the 1st floor of the Sherlock Holmes Pub is filled with loads of ‘Holmes’ memorabilia and artefacts rescued from the 1951 Festival of Britain – to replicate a typical room from the novels of the world famous fictional detective.

 

‘New Scotland Yard’ on the Victoria Embankment – the home of the Metropolitan Police HQ since November 2016, the fourth such premises since the force’s foundation in 1829.

 

Me – with the ‘Laughing Policemen’ David & Francis – designers of the excellent “London Police & Crime-Walking Tour”

 

* ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ gig – on board the ‘Tereza-Joanne’-King George V Dock-E16

Posted on by Posted in Blog .

Last week on a bitterly cold and windy day, but a beautifully sunny one –‘London Shoes’ took up the opportunity to attend another ‘live’ music event – that was held at an unusual and certainly unique venue – a place that I had never visited or even heard about before…… the ‘Tereza-Joanne’!!!

The gig itself was renowned jazz trumpeter Paul Higgs highly acclaimed “A Brief History of Jazz” set.
However, before commentating on this excellent gig – just a little bit of history about the unique ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue.

The Tereza-Joanne’ is an old Eastern European ‘crane barge’ , that subsequent to WW2, has slowly overtime, made its way to the UK, eventually ending up in London’s Docklands, where it is now permanently moored in King George V Dock at the far eastern end of the old Royal Docks.

Over the past few decades the Tereza-Joanne vessel has been completely refurbished, and since 1997 it has been a floating venue hosting a wide range of events. The venue is regularly used by award winning travel company ‘City & Village Tours’ who host popular and well attended events there every week.

Last week the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ hosted a City & Village Tour Co. promoted gig by renowned trumpeter ‘Paul Higgs’ who performed his highly acclaimed ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ set to 2 coach loads of jazz fans.

Londoner Paul Higgs has played and worked with the very best of them in the music industry, in a career that has seen him employed as a musician, composer, arranger for film, TV, radio and theatre.

For a number of years Paul Higgs was musical director at the National Theatre and also the Royal Shakespeare Company – and his work has seen him perform at many prestigious venues here in the UK and abroad, including the Royal Festival Hall – The Albert Hall – the famous Ronnie Scott’s Club in Soho – the Schubert Theatre in the States and the Berlin Concert Hall, just to name a few.

For his ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ gig on board the Tereza-Joanne, Paul was backed by the excellent trio of musicians:- Chris Ingham (keyboards) – Jerome Davies (double bass) & my good friend ‘Gentleman’ George Double (drums)-my old drum tutor from way back in the 1990’s when I worked at Barclays Bank-Mare Street-Hackney, and ‘young’ George was one of my customers.

 

 

The thoroughly entertaining ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ set, delivers exactly what it says on the tin…..and saw Paul and the band cover-off all the classics from right back to the very origins of jazz music in the 1890’s – comprising of St. Louis Blues – Ragtime – New Orleans styles, and touching on the numerous styles that followed such as Cool – Modal – Latin & Avant Garde jazz – music that was recorded and performed by all-time jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong – Dizzy Gillespie – Miles Davis – Herb Alpert – Chet Baker & Bix Beiderbecke.

Apart from the excellent musicianship, what also made the set really engaging was the detailed commentary provided by Paul Higgs between numbers – highlighting the history behind certain styles and specific tunes – a really nice little touch that the audience on board the Tereza-Joanne clearly found interesting and appreciated.

For me personally, I found being on-board the Tereza-Joanne a rather weird experience, because from its location, at the other end of the King George V Dock, far in the distance – I could see my old workplace, the Barclays HQ at Canary Wharf – where, from my desk on the 24th floor, I often used to watch the planes taking off from the London City Airport, and climbing up through the skies towards the Barclays building and over the top of it.

So it made a pleasant change to be at the other end of the Airport location and to see the arse-end of the planes taking off and flying away from me, as opposed to flying towards me.

I’m always grateful when my old friend ‘Gentleman’ George Double is able to invite me to some of his gigs as part of the band’s entourage – as it enables me to take ‘behind-the-scenes’ photos of sound checks and venues etc – as well as close-up photos of the actual gig performances – all of which I believe help bring a story to life a bit more for a reader.

So a big thank you to George (and the band) & well done to the Tereza-Joanne for hosting such a great gig.

Hope you enjoy the accompanying photos.

Me – down by ‘Albert Island’ on the old Royal Docks – heading towards the unique ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue

 

The floating ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue – permanently moored down in King George V Dock

 

Boarding the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ floating venue – King George V Dock

 

‘Paul Higgs’ – “A brief history of Jazz” set – promoted by City & Village Tours for the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue gig.

 

 

On-board the Tereza-Joanne venue – pre-gig

 

Paul Higgs & his ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ trio – Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double Bass) & George Double (drums) – sound-check aboard the Tereza-Joanne venu

 

Paul Higgs & his ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ trio – Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double Bass) & George Double (drums) – sound-check aboard the Tereza-Joanne venu

 

Paul Higgs & his ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ trio – Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double Bass) & George Double (drums) – sound-check aboard the Tereza-Joanne venu

 

Paul Higgs & his ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ trio – Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double Bass) & George Double (drums) – sound-check aboard the Tereza-Joanne venu

 

Me – on the deck of the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue – King George V Dock

 

A view from the decks of the Tereza-Joanne’ – looking west towards the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf in the far distance

 

A close-up of the buildings of Canary Wharf & its skyline – from the deck of the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ venue. Barclays Bank HQ – my last work place for the final 15yrs of my career – can be seen just in front of the HSBC building

 

Scenes of ‘London City Airport’ – a zoomed in photo taken from on board the ‘Tereza-Joanne’

 

Scenes of ‘London City Airport’ – from on board the ‘Tereza-Joanne’ – with Canary Wharf in the distance

 

A photo taken from on-board the Tereza-Joanne venue – with a plane having just taken off from London City Airport, climbing high towards my old workplace – the Barclays HQ at Canary Wharf

 

London City Airport activity – right next to the Tereza-Joanne’ venue moored in King George V Dock

 

With the soundcheck completed – the Tereza-Joanne stage awaits the commencement of Paul Higgs ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ gig

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

‘A Brief History of Jazz’ – performed by Paul Higgs with trio Chris Ingham (keyboards)-Jerome Davies (double bass)-George Double (drums) – on board the Tereza-Joanne

 

Me – on board the Tereza-Joanne – with the band performing their ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ set in the background

 

A final encore for Paul Higgs & the band

 

Paul Higgs & the band take a final bow – having performed their excellent ‘A Brief History of Jazz’ set – on board the Tereza-Joanne venue

 

Me & ‘Gentleman’ George Double – post-gig, on board the Tereza-Joanne venue – King George V Dock

*Leyton Orient FC – its history & historic landmarks

Posted on by Posted in Quirky Topics, Sporting People .

Last Saturday (8th Feb 2020) saw a ‘first’ for my ‘London Shoes’ – as it was the very first time I had ever undertaken a blog on a football club.

The subject matter was East London’s “Leyton Orient FC”.

Another ‘first’ fore this particular blog, was that I had 3 people accompanying me for the day – Les, James & James’s mate Adam.

Les, James & me worked together at Barclays Bank-Whitechapel branch back in the late 1980’s – and they are both avid followers of my ‘London Shoes’ work – in fact, Les has accompanied me several times on previous ‘Shoes’ exploits.

James & his mate Adam are both bonkers Orient fans, and it was actually James who suggested the idea of me doing a blog on the O’s – and so he acquired tickets for the O’s home game on 8th Feb 2020 v Macclesfield Town – but before the kick-off, the 4 of us spent a good few hours ‘on-the-road’ tracing the history and historic landmarks of this great football club – the 2nd oldest team in London.

The following is my ‘London Shoes’ account of our day out and tribute to the history of the magnificent “Leyton Orient Football Club”:-

The origins of “Leyton Orient Football Club” go right back to the 3rd March 1888, when the ‘Eagle Cricket Club’ (formerly known as the ‘Glyn Cricket Club’) held a meeting at no.36 Dunlace Road-then in Lower Clapton–London E5.

The purpose of this meeting was to pass a resolution to officially form a football club, so that the cricket team had something to do in the winter months, to keep themselves fit.

It was mutually agreed by committee members that this new football section of the cricket club, be called the “Orient Football Club”.

It is believed that the unusual name of ‘Orient’ (for a team based in London), came about as a result of a suggestion by committee member ‘Jack Dearing’, who at that time, worked for the ‘Orient Steam Navigation Company’ (which went on to become the ‘P&O Group’) – the company, 10 years previous, had launched their very first ship the <