music venue | >Re-PHOTO

Tollington to Holloway – 1990

Tollington to Holloway continues my walk on Sunday February 11th 1990 which began at Kings Cross with the post Kings Cross and Pentonville 1990. The previous post was More from Tollington Park – 1990.

House, Tollington Way, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-56 — *House, 1A, Cornwallis Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-56*

This 3 storey detached house on Cornwallis Road, just a few yards down from Tollington Way, attracted my attention for its unusual decoration above what seemed a very ordinary door and window. According to Streets With a Story the street was developed in three periods as Shadwell Road, Esher Villas and Cornwallis Road in 1863, 1879 and 1885. This house probably dates from the latter part of that development but I’ve found nothing about it on-line

*Royal Northern Hospital, Tollington Way, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-42*

The Royal Northern Hospital was founded in York Rd (York Way) in 1856 at his own expense by a surgeon who had been sacked from University College Hospital for smacking a patient’s bottom. The hospital provided free services for North London’s Poor as well as treating railway workers. But the railway bought the house and they had to move, using several properties in the area. Finally it got is own home and the Great Northern Central Hospital opened on Holloway Road in 1888, changing its name to the Royal Northern Hospital in 1921 and expanding to Tollington Way in the 1930s. It merged with the Whittington Hospital in 1963. The facade of the main building has been retained on Holloway Rd and the building is the Northern Medical Centre

*Holloway Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-43*

This picture was made from Tollington Way looking to the rather grand Italianate terraced villas on the opposite side of Holloway Road, Belgrave Terrace. They were locally listed in 1978. At left is The Cock Tavern at 596 Holloway Road. The pub was built in the 1880s and in the 2000s became a live music venue and bar, now Nambucca. Damaged by fire in December 2008 it reopened in 2010 and was refurbished in 2014 only to close in 2022 but unexpectedly reopen in 2024.

*VICTORY TO THE IRA, Landseer Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-46*

Holloway is one of the more densely populated areas of London with a very multicultural population including many Irish among its residents, and among them a significant number who supported the Irish struggle against the English occupiers in Northern Ireland. In 1990 we were in the middle of active attacks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on targets in London – the following year they attacked Downing Street using mortar shells and in 1992 a powerful bomb at the Baltic Exchange destroyed it and other buildings in the City of London, following this in 1993 with another bomb in Bishopsgate.

The street was named after the animal painter and sculptor Sir Edwin Landseer, best known now for the lions at the base of Nelson’s column. He became a ‘national treasure‘ and his death in 1873 gave rise to mourning across the nation and large crowds lined the streets as his funeral cortège made its way to St Paul’s Cathedral. Probably the street dates from around then.

*W Wooley, Egg & Butter Merchant, 541, Holloway Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-31*

The building is still there on Holloway Road, but sadly is no longer an Egg & Butter Merchant and has a new shopfront – and a bus shelter on the pavement in front of it.

Tollington to Holloway - 1990 — *Lingerie, Stop Smoking, Royal Jelly & Ginseng, Holloway Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2d-32*

As I made my way to the station at the end of my walk I could not resist this shop window with a rather strange mix of products including those listed and some rather strange health supplements. I only stopped long enough to take a picture and wasn’t tempted to buy anything.

My next walk a week later was also in North London and will be the subject of a later post.

Flickr – Facebook – My London Diary – Hull Photos – Lea Valley – Paris
London’s Industrial Heritage – London Photos

All photographs on this page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
Contact me to buy prints or licence to reproduce.

Nags Head to Blackstock Road – 2019

Nags Head to Blackstock Road: Continuing my walk from Sunday 1st October 1989 which had begun at Finsbury Park and then gone along Seven Sisters Road to the Nags Head in Holloway.

*Coleridge Rd, Seven Sisters Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1989 89-10a-12*

I turned around at the Nags Head and walked back towards Finsbury Park, taking a little detour down Hornsey Road, Tollington Road and Medina Road befor returning to Seven Sisters Road and photographing from the opposite side of the road I’d walked along earlier.

These shops at 218-230 Seven Sisters Road are those I had photographed earlier in the walk but had mistaken for some further down the street but the location is clear from this picture. They have been more greatly altered since 1989 than those further down, and those at the right, closer to the camera demolished.

You can also see the ‘Sisters Gowns’ doorway featured in the previous post at the right on Coleridge Rd.

*Shops, 220-224, Seven Sisters Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1989 89-10a-13*

A view of some of the shops in the row. At the centre of the picture you can see the sky through two of the windows. I think these shops were still all open, though closed on the Sunday morning when I took the picture although the buildings are up for sale. There are lights on in HARRY .O. Fashions and FANTIS BUTCHER still has its shop fittings and scales.

The middle shop was I think a café with a price list at the right, although like many in the area I think was probably more of a social club. When I went past when many of these small cafés were open there were a small group of men drinking coffee around a table and having animated conversations and it would have been rather daunting for an outsider to enter.

*Rainbow Theatre, Seven Sisters Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1989 89-10a-14*

Built as Finsbury Park Astoria in 1930 it became a music venue as The Rainbow Theatre, finally closing in 1982. When built it was an entertainment venue and its interior included bars, cafés and there were concerts and variety shows as well as films on offer. It was Grade II* listed in 1974 largely for its interior which was described as a Hispano-Moresque fantasy.

From 1956-82 it was a music venue, featuring performances by Tommy Steele, Duke Ellington and many others. The Beatles Christmas Show had a short season here in 1963-64 and it was here that Jimmy Hendrix first burnt a guitar. In the 1970s almost every name in pop music played concerts here.

For some years it was then largely unused, with occasional unlicensed boxing matches taking place. Plans to convert it to a bingo hall came to nothing. When I made this picture it seemed to be empty and unused but had been bought by an evangelical church, The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God who are still using the building.

*Man at Telephone Kiosk, Police Box mural, Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, Hackney, 1989 89-10a-15*

One man makes a phone call, while the murals show Dr Who running out from his Police Box and a Hokusai inspired wave. The notes on my contact sheet locate this on Blackstock Road. I think it was the wall in front of a Victorian college which was demolished and replaced by the City And Islington College, Centre for Lifelong Learning which opened in 2005.

*Shops, 56-58, Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1989 89-10a-16*

You can still just make out the sign above 60 Blackstock Road, though it has faded significantly since I made this picture. Then there was no doubt it had once been a CHEMIST and it is now a dentists. But 58 is still a coin operated laundry although it has changed from Launderama to LAUNDERETTE, and the sign between the first and second floor windows has been refreshed to reflect this.

*C Richards & Son, 98, Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1989 89-10b-62*

C Richards & Son, next to the entrance to Blackstock Mews at left, were Typefounders and makers of printing machinery. The house is still there but the entrance at right and the two floors above it have gone, along with the Honda garage, replaced by modern housing and I think the house is now simply residential.

Brentford, Lot’s Ait and the Thames, 1988

*Battles of Brentford, Monument, pillar, Ferry Lane, Brentford, 1988 88-9a-56*

I had to go back to my full-time work as a teacher at the start of September 1988, and the start of a new year always kept me fairly busy. Back then we had large groups of beginners taking photography courses – it was one of the most popular course in the college, partly because many thought it would be an easy option to make up the number of subjects they were required to take.

*Red Lion, pub, Brentford High St, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-32*

We spent a week or two instructing them in the basics – shutter speeds and apertures, and then took them out en masse each with a camera an a 36 exposure film to some local area for a day out to take some pictures so they would then have a film to learn how to develop and print. They would also get a very loose brief suggesting the kind of things they might look for in making pictures.

*Dock, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-41*

In 1988 we chose to take them to Brenford riverside and then on to Chiswick Park and I think we had around 30 students with myself and another member of staff. Things were a lot easier then – no such things as risk assessments and having students who were all over 16 we simply told them a few very basic safety rule and that if they missed the train back home they would have to find their own way.

Boatyard, Lot's Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-21 — ***Boatyard, Lot’s Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-21***

It wasn’t unknown back then for myself and the other member of staff having set the students into action to find a convenient place for a pint or two, though I don’t think we did on this outing.

Boatyard, Lot's Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-24 — *Boatyard, Lot’s Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-24*

I think on this occasion I walked along the riverside with the students, taking a few pictures myself and giving advice to anyone who needed it. It was low tide, and even if they took few photographs many of the students enjoyed walking in the mud, though I tried to keep my own shoes reasonably clean and dry, keeping to the shingle.

Decaying Boat, Lot's Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-13 — *The Good Ship Variety, Decaying Boat, Lot’s Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-13*

The stretch of riverfront we took them down to, by Lot’s Ait, was then lined with largely derelict industrial buildings, but is now lined with luxury flats. On Lot’s Ait itself there was a boatyard, opened in the 1920s by The Thames Lighterage company to build and repair lighters; it was one of the last on the tidal Thames when it closed down in the early seventies. Fortunately it has so far escaped redevelopment and was reopened a few years ago as John’s Boat Works, with the island now linked to Brentford by a footbridge.

Lot's Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-12 — *Brentford Ait, Lot’s Ait, River Thames, Brentford, Hounslow, 1988 88-9a-12*

We came off the river to go along the High St to Kew Bridge station, where we took another train for the second half of our day out in Chiswick Park which you will see in a later post.