I did a couple of walks last week along the route of the Mildmay Line, the train line that runs across London from Richmond in the west to Hackney Wick in the east. I covered the stretch between Willesden Junction and Kentish Town West station. From the visible wealth of Harlesden and Kilburn to the sink estates of Hampstead Village and Kensal Rise, all sides of London were on display
My route took me past three modernist masterpieces/ monstrous carbuncles (delete for taste): the former Gaumont State cinema in Kilburn, in its day the largest cinema in the UK; 2 Willow Road in Hampstead, built and lived in by the architect Erno Goldfinger; and the Isokon Flats in Belsize Park. In the 1930s and 1940s residents included: Agatha Christie; Walter Gropius, one of the founders of the Bauhaus movement; and several Soviet spies, including Arnold Deutsch who recruited the Cambridge 5.
And then there is Billy Fury Way, which runs alongside the railway lines between West Hampstead and Finchley Road & Frognal stations. Billy used to live and record nearby. I have no idea why the council felt the best way to honour his memory was with "a footpath lined with used condoms, drug needles and human excrement that has been branded a no-go zone by residents" (to quote the local paper). I braved the zone and encountered one surly youth and lots of rats but nothing untoward.
Here is a selection of tunes inspired by these cultural landmarks. It's yer actual musical psychogeography innit?
"Workers Song (Handful Of Earth)" - Steve Young
"Gaumont State Cinema" - Pocketbooks
"Spy Traitor" - Prince Ras Murray
"Agatha Christie" - Jalla
"Das Mechanische Kind" - Bastard Sons Of Walter Gropius
Love this, Ernie, a great virtual meander for us - I'd expect no less from the king of London walking tours! - perhaps a real one some time too.
ReplyDeleteIt was useful research for possible future tours (although I may leave Billy Fury Way off the itinerary).
DeleteI've probably mentioned this to you before, but do you follow https://www.youtube.com/@JohnRogersWalks/videos ?
ReplyDeleteHe's a psychogeographer who wanders off the beaten track all over London (and occasionally elsewhere). He's based in Leytonstone and has ambled around both my old and your current neck of the woods more than once over the years. He also likes his music and his ale - a top chap.
I have seen a few of them. I can't remember who tipped me off but it may well have been you.
DeleteLove the buildings, the flats and Goldfinger's house especially. Good idea for a series if blogposts.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Adam
Of not if
DeleteSwiss Adam
There is a great little video of its interior here if you haven't seen it before
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSVwDdSKuA&t=202s
I love this post, and the buildings. If well-maintained they still look good in a throw-back kind of way. So many famous residents too, thus the song choices. That's no a Billy Fury I recognise though - looks as if that was from the early '70s by the clothes.
ReplyDeleteI don't know London very well and certainly didn't expect to hear about sink estates in Hampstead but would be keen to venture out on another of Ernie's Walking Tours (avoiding Billy Fury Way of course).
I may have accidentally got Harlesden and Hampstead the wrong way round. And that is Billy in the 1970s, I could not find any decent quality clips of him in his heyday.
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