The Blackspots of C19th Holloway, London

Joe Meek Plaque, Holloway Road, London

At the end of the nineteenth century this was a fairly respectable and affluent area,with the odd blackspot which this tour explores,but as the twentieth century wore on most of the populous moved out to the ever expanding suburbs and the area fell into disrepair. 

By the 1940's and 1950's the area had become notoriously rough and crime ridden. Gangs battled each other in the streets and a lot of the grand shops and restaurants closed their doors for good.

Cheap rents attracted struggling artists like Joe Meek and Joe Orton. A lot of the so called slums were demolished in the 1950's and council estates built in their place. Islington was considered to be an area to be avoided by respectable people. 

Seven Sisters Road, N7

The holloway Road area has it all; movie glamour, movie history, rookeries, bank robbery(with a pen as well as a gun), teddy boy gang fights, murdered coppers, musical innovation,writers, cottaging, black radicals, Bob Marley and loads of Charlie, in short something for everyone.

The beauty of London is that there's always something lurking below the apparently dull surface if you scratch hard enough.


Other Holloway related posts:

Music Halls of Holloway RoadMusic & Madness of Holloway

London Guided Walks website

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