I don't really have cause to come to Kentish Town other than rare visits to the Forum for gigs. It doesn't really have any attractions other than a lot of Victorian pubs. Mary Shelley is quoted as describing Kentish Town as an "odious swamp", which is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the areas charms, although she said that 200 years ago and a lot of water has run under the bridge since then. Indeed the River Fleet on which the village was based has disappeared from the surface altogether. Nevertheless on an overcast summer's day I decided to explore the neighbourhood.
It says something when the welcome you get coming out of the tube station is something looking like graffiti on the side of a semi-derelict lot. The tube station is quite nice though. I am more accustomed to the art deco designs of the Piccadilly Line. This one is Edwardian, dating to 1907.
Now I did mention the area has a lot of Victorian pubs. Essentially there was one on every corner, and most are still standing even if several are now closed.
Kentish Town Road has little to recommend it as a high street (apart from the pubs) although some of the frontages of the largely run down shops hark back to a better time, as below, Blustons clearly being a substantial clothes shop but now the sign is over a charity shop (of which there are many).
One of those neat juxtapositions - the Greek Orthodox cathedral with Abbey Tavern pub across the road. The Greek church is supposed to have colourful mosaics inside, but I found it is closed on Fridays.
The great surprise about Kentish Town however are the incredibly quaint little side streets just off the very underwhelming high street. One of these is Reed's Place which you could all too easily walk right pass as it is down a pedestrianised alley marked by the ghost sign of a long since vanished garden centre.
But to the left of that sign is this little road of Victorian workers cottages, now much sought after. I got chatting to a lady on this road who described it as a unicorn road. Houses don't appear on the market very often but when they do they are much in demand. The lack of cars adds much to the appeal.
Another attractive pub - the Old Eagle. I was doing this walk mid morning so a bit too early to sample their wares. But I admired the musical decor.
Another neat juxtaposition, this time of two sites that have been majorly re-purposed. In front underground toilets, now Creation Studios - music rehearsal space. Behind South Kentish Town tube station, very similar in design to Kentish Town with the blood red tiles, but if you don't recognise the name from a tube map it is because it is long closed and is merely a branch of Cash Convertors.
Then another really attractive street, Kelly Street. Beautifully painted houses. Frankly without the bright colours they would be boring workers cottages dating from the 1850s. Cosmetic changes sometimes make all the difference. To the right below, almost on the corner, is Mario's Cafe, whose claim to fame is being a song title by London band Saint Etienne
Very much dating back to that era of Victorian working class living is the below impressive edifice, formerly the local public baths. It has separate entrances not only for men and women (sorry, "ladies") but also for first and second class men!
Across the road is another good looking pub, the Grafton.
And if you fancy your beer especially "fresh" there is the Camden Hells brewery. Brewed only 0.001 miles away as the sign says
Talacre Gardens are only a little further on. Rather disappointing as there is little in the way of garden. Just a bit of green space with some sport and play facilities attached. Until not to long ago the area was covered in terraced houses but when they were demolished it was decided they needed more green space. There is precious little of that in the area otherwise.
Now if you are wondering why I have included the below rather nondescript photo of apartments, its because it used to be the Imperial Works, a factory making pianos and organs. Pianos used to be a big industry in these parts. Difficult to imagine now, but in days well before TV every middle class home would have wanted to have a piano to be able to get around and sing along to. So you sold a lot of pianos. Now you literally struggle to give away such instruments.
The works from other side
Below is the George IV pub, and if you think the window boxes are a little overgrown, it has long been closed.
Next door the brick building is a school that dates back to just after the Education Act 1870, but the current occupants are a new French school. London has a large French professional community.
 |
| Hope Chapel |
 |
Anglers Lane
|
A slightly odd monument. Presumably to distinguish it from Boris the Prime Minister
Another fie looking pub that is pub no more. The Jolly Anglers is now a Nandos (spit). But nice green tilework on the outside
Been a long time since there was a dairy in these parts
The Bull & Gate fortunately is still a boozer. Apparently Coldplay started out there. Everyone starts somewhere
Nice wooden interior
So this is the only reason I have been to Kentish Town before (as opposed to neighbouring Camden which I visit a lot) - the O2 Forum. A famous music venue but doesn't seem to be fully exploited at the moment. A rather sparse set of gigs coming up when I examined the poster. It was originally and Art Deco cinema dating from the 30s
Nearby is another very large brick block, the Maple Building. Maple & Co were furniture manufacturers, but long gone. Now an apartment block.
Another of those cute little side streets. This is really just an alley - College Lane - with some of the oldest buildings in Kentish Town with little houses from the 1780s (when you didn't need access for cars or carriages)
Between two of the modest terraced houses there is a rather poignant first world war memorial. Normally you see big memorials studded with the names of the fallen in the town. This is just a shield listing ten men who would have lived in about a 100 yard radius of it. Its poignancy is to my mind in its extreme modesty.
And below is Little Green Street, also from late 18th century and a rarity in London - a complete Georgian terrace. Most have some interruptions, often due to bomb damage. But this is, as the name suggests, a very little street
You may rightly wonder why I have included two rather poor photos of a large rusty pipe, the second from a graffiti strewn little bridge over the railway line. Well its significance is that it is carrying what remains of the River Fleet on its way to outflow at the Thames
Kentish Town is not exactly bristling with blue plaques because the rich and famous, for good reason, never exactly flocked to the place. But here is one.
A rather more distinguished gentleman, along the grand terrace on one side of Fortress Road,
...is a plaque to the great pre-Raphaelite artist Ford Maddox Brown
Actually quite a grand house
Below is another piano factory that is now flats
Falkland Road, another brightly coloured street. I wonder if people started out just painting pastel shades and then became bolder and bolder as to what would work.
I will finish on a low note rather than a high one. Near Kentish Town station there is an Iceland store. But if you look just above there are the modest remains of the old cinema into which the frozen food shop has been inserted. This was the Electric Alhambra, dating back to 1911, so back to the very earliest days of the film entertainment industry, before even talking pictures. But really very little left!
