# London we have lost and loved



## ska invita (Jul 3, 2010)

A chance to reminisce on those bits of London no longer with us which we still miss. Could be anything - a person, a bench, a building, a tree, whatever.

One that springs to mind for me was The Tavern as was in New X - punked out narked up pub with a truly great sound system in the next room - particularly the ska night on a friday and probably some trance on a saturday. the one pub ive ever been in you could go on your own and get chatting with whoever was around. pool sessions in there were like the crucible too. 

ended sadly under police pressure, but not forgotten






found this if you want a bit more
http://www.fantompowa.net/Three Key Sound/heathcote_goldsmiths.htm



> Perhaps this was the last legal venue in South East London where the local underground culture had any form of free expression. An open door policy which mixed home-counties students (from Goldsmiths College) with local ragamuffins, crusties, burnt-out bohos and various faces from the local cultural underworld.


...and lots of punks and bikers!


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 3, 2010)

club labyrinth. scene of some of the best nights of my life. proper old school rave venue. so much music, so many people, so magical memories 

eta: funny retro piece


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## maldwyn (Jul 3, 2010)

The Gay scene of the 80's


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## Onket (Jul 3, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> club labyrinth.



Used to live just near there. That was after it had closed though. Went to a couple of parties in the squatted building joined on at the front of it, but you couldn't get in to the main building. Probably for the best cos I think the tiles had been taken off the roof so it was probably falling down.

Anyway, this place- The Dungeons, Lea Bridge Road- was a shithole that I went to quite a lot-


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## Maggot (Jul 3, 2010)

The New Picadilly cafe. 

http://www.urban75.org/london/piccadilly.html


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## stethoscope (Jul 3, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


>



I miss that place


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## stethoscope (Jul 3, 2010)

I'm really starting to miss this too now


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## stethoscope (Jul 3, 2010)

Horace @ Camden Market for all my tunes - top bloke


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## uk benzo (Jul 3, 2010)

The rasta guy who used to sell the Big Issue in Covent Garden then moved to Brixton tube station in the early to mid-90s. His selling tactic was to repeat:

Biggy Biggy Biggy
Biggy
Biggy Biggy Biggy


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## Treacle Toes (Jul 3, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> club labyrinth. scene of some of the best nights of my life. proper old school rave venue. so much music, so many people, so magical memories
> 
> eta: funny retro piece



Ditto and good call! Amazing that with all the parties I travelled to in such far flung, lost up the M6 kind of in the middle of nowhere places that the local had it all, night after night after night.


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## Treacle Toes (Jul 3, 2010)

Onket said:


> Anyway, this place- The Dungeons, Lea Bridge Road- was a shithole that I went to quite a lot-



Perhaps I was high  but I don't rememebr the dungeons always being a shit hole and yes, some very good nights happened there...another locl oldie but very goodie!


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## ska invita (Jul 4, 2010)

Onket said:


> Anyway, this place- The Dungeons, Lea Bridge Road- was a shithole that I went to quite a lot-



By the way this is the Nicky Dungeons video he's talking about - brilliantly put together it is too:


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## clicker (Jul 4, 2010)




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## mike desantos (Jul 4, 2010)




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## Maggot (Jul 4, 2010)

uk benzo said:


> The rasta guy who used to sell the Big Issue in Covent Garden then moved to Brixton tube station in the early to mid-90s. His selling tactic was to repeat:
> 
> Biggy Biggy Biggy
> Biggy
> Biggy Biggy Biggy


I remember him, very distinctive chant.


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

mike desantos said:


>



good one. sure beats


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## Orang Utan (Jul 5, 2010)

imperial gardens - only went there once but i liked it as a venue. quite liked adrenalin village and tyssen street (is that still going?) too


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## TitanSound (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> I'm really starting to miss this too now



Another vote from me too.


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## maldwyn (Jul 5, 2010)

mike desantos said:


>



This is now on display (the placard, that is) in the Museum of London.


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

mike desantos said:


>



I remember seeing him! When did he stop, must have been early 90s?


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## Orang Utan (Jul 5, 2010)

how did he survive that long?


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## Onket (Jul 5, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> tyssen street (is that still going?) too



Tyssen Street has been flats for years. I lived there for 4 or 5 months.


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> how did he survive that long?



his diet sustained him


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## 19sixtysix (Jul 5, 2010)

maldwyn said:


> The Gay scene of the 80's



And I miss the Gloucester in Greenwich and the London Apprentice (now 333 old street)


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## Orang Utan (Jul 5, 2010)

marty21 said:


> his diet sustained him



he must have secretly been eating protein all along then


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## pinkmonkey (Jul 5, 2010)

marty21 said:


> I remember seeing him! When did he stop, must have been early 90s?



When I worked for Red or Dead we printed a long tube dress with that slogan.

http://everything2.com/user/aneurin/writeups/Stanley+Green


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## laptop (Jul 5, 2010)

maldwyn said:


> This is now on display (the placard, that is) in the Museum of London.



Someone also has his printing press and pamphlets - they were exhibited in the Serpentine Gallery not long after he died...


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## Idaho (Jul 5, 2010)

George Robey - Finsbury Park:


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## vauxhallmum (Jul 5, 2010)

Ah yes. Misspent youth in Club Dog


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## Blagsta (Jul 5, 2010)

Idaho said:


> George Robey - Finsbury Park:



good call


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## Edie (Jul 5, 2010)

back in the early- mid 1990s


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## 100% masahiko (Jul 5, 2010)

Walking pass Borders book shop on Charing Cross.
I use to drink coffee and hung out there with this woman I loved.
Remembered once when I suddenly had a pain (trapped nerve) in my lower back.
I went on the floor in the middle of the shop and got her to stand on me. 
Such a silly memory. Makes me laugh and sad whenever I walk pass that.

Other memories - 

The End nightclub. I was there opening night - shame it shut down 10 years later.

The Dive Bar - on the edge of Chinatown. I loved that Jazz bar. Real good music. Use to stay in there, listening to old records until the early hours. Interesting set of characters from all walks of life. Well pissed when that went - and more pissed when they changed it into another generic chinese restaurant. 


Compendium Book Store in Camden - one of London's landmarks - can't believe they took this away. Great books, friendly, would buy my mags from there and sit in the Oxford Arms (when they use to dish out free food during quiz night on a Monday).

Fuck...I've been in London for too long...too many memories of forgotten places.


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## Dr. Furface (Jul 5, 2010)

Edie said:


> back in the early- mid 1990s


And before that too. Late 80's were great there.


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

Idaho said:


> George Robey - Finsbury Park:



ah yes, pass that on the bus every morning, work seems to have stopped, I remember the sticky carpets  and it seemed the only late night place at the time


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## krtek a houby (Jul 5, 2010)

Ken High St Market
King's Head Chinatown


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## Dr. Furface (Jul 5, 2010)

Now a bloody PC World! 

And two great gig venues - The Rainbow at Finsbury Park, and the National on Kilburn High Road. Both are now occupied by religious organisations.


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## Blagsta (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Compendium Book Store in Camden - one of London's landmarks - can't believe they took this away.



Yeah, I miss this too.


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## Blagsta (Jul 5, 2010)

Dr. Furface said:


> Now a bloody PC World!
> 
> And two great gig venues - The Rainbow at Finsbury Park, and the National on Kilburn High Road. Both are now occupied by religious organisations.



Oh yeah, Ken Market was ace.


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## iROBOT (Jul 5, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> club labyrinth. scene of some of the best nights of my life. proper old school rave venue. so much music, so many people, so magical memories
> 
> eta: funny retro piece



Yes! one of the first (if not the first) to play Jungle, loved it there.

But not the stabbings/shootings and general badbwoy behavior....


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Compendium Book Store in Camden - one of London's landmarks - can't believe they took this away. Great books, friendly, would buy my mags from there and sit in the Oxford Arms (when they use to dish out free food during quiz night on a Monday).
> 
> Fuck...I've been in London for too long...too many memories of forgotten places.



I liked that place, I'd forgotten about it, it's been gone a long time hasn't it?


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## 100% masahiko (Jul 5, 2010)

iROBOT said:


> Yes! one of the first (if not the first) to play Jungle, loved it there.
> 
> But not the stabbings/shootings and general badbwoy behavior....








Ah yes!!! Dalston/ Shoreditch - forgot about those days...


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## 100% masahiko (Jul 5, 2010)

marty21 said:


> I liked that place, I'd forgotten about it, it's been gone a long time hasn't it?






			
				Blagsta said:
			
		

> Yeah, I miss this too.



Been gone for 10 years!!!
How time flies. Found this link
http://www.1968andallthat.net/node/81

And here's a snippet from the Guardian (top 10 best book shops). http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/dec/06/top10s.bookshops
And another one - http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/dec/09/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries (good read this)



> the closing of Compendium is one of the sadder moments in the history of my bookstore passions. My English friends had long raved about Compendium, but back in 2000, word spread that it was shutting down. I travelled up to London a few weeks before it closed to get a feel for store. Sadly, it lived up to expectations, which made its demise that much more tragic.


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## scifisam (Jul 5, 2010)

Charlie's Bar, Bethnal Green/Stepney - once an independent gay pub. I had some of the best nights of my life there and, for the first couple of years after it closed, I  genuinely felt a physical pang whenever I walked past it.


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## Dan U (Jul 5, 2010)

iROBOT said:


> Yes! one of the first (if not the first) to play Jungle, loved it there.
> 
> But not the stabbings/shootings and general badbwoy behavior....



they must have been after i stopped going in 1994 or so!

def miss that place and some others posted on this thread


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

vauxhallmum said:


> Ah yes. Misspent youth in Club Dog








Amazing days


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## iROBOT (Jul 5, 2010)

Dan U said:


> they must have been after i stopped going in 1994 or so!
> 
> def miss that place and some others posted on this thread



Yeah, got pretty ugly towards the end (I was going between 1990ish to 1995ish). They bulldozed the place round the turn of the century....


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

Edie said:


> back in the early- mid 1990s



Some amazing nights...


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> Amazing days



so funny you should post that - i only went once to the robey and spannerman was on the bill - could even have been that night. spannerman was some kind of punk jazz act led by a very discordant sax player, who was i believe spannerman - the act sticks in my mind as it included a solo on a metal grinder, ground up on a woman's crotch wearing metal pants! sparks flew!

*more jazz punk in the world would be a good thing!


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

Kilburn National, now a UCKG church!


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> Kilburn National, now a UCKG church!



they nabbed the rainbow in finsbury park as well


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> Amazing days


i originally went to club dog when it was held in wood green somewhere, before it decamped to the sticky glory of the robey. i was ~18/19, fresh in london from cornwall and it blew my mind to see all of the silliness and craziness.


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

Wood Green Labour Club?


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

Yes, that's the one.


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

iROBOT said:


> Yes! one of the first (if not the first) to play Jungle, loved it there.
> 
> But not the stabbings/shootings and general badbwoy behavior....



Talking of which... the Paradise Club in Islington (AWOL's could be the most amazing nights, but also some of the moodiest/ruffneck). I think it's a business centre now?


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> Talking of which... the Paradise Club in Islington (AWOL's could be the most amazing nights, but also some of the moodiest/ruffneck). I think it's a business centre now?



sure is


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## 100% masahiko (Jul 5, 2010)

Queens Head on Turnpike Lane brings back nice memories. 
Shame it turned into an American style bar in 2000.

Coronet cinema too.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> Talking of which... the Paradise Club in Islington (AWOL's could be the most amazing nights, but also some of the moodiest/ruffneck). I think it's a business centre now?


that's where i had my first experience of that new-fangled thing called e, in mid-91 i think it was.


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Coronet cinema too.



at least the one at elephant is a pretty good music venue now...


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## marty21 (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Queens Head on Turnpike Lane brings back nice memories.
> Shame it turned into an American style bar in 2000.
> 
> Coronet cinema too.



I used to go to both - my sister lived around the corner from the pub early 
90s


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## Maggot (Jul 5, 2010)

Edie said:


> back in the early- mid 1990s


We haven't lost that.


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## Onket (Jul 5, 2010)

Maggot said:


> We haven't lost that.



Not if you've got a timemachine.


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## laptop (Jul 5, 2010)

Great venue


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## Dr. Furface (Jul 5, 2010)

Maggot said:


> We haven't lost that.



According to Wiki:

_'The Fridge was sold on the 31st March 2010 to Dominic Madden's Kingdom Entertainment, a live entertainment venue operator. The Fridge has operated intermittently in recent times although the last ever show at The Fridge will be a concert by Keane, on 12 May 2010. Kingdom has confirmed that it intends to close, comprehensively refurbish and relaunch the Fridge as a live music, nightclub and special events venue.'_


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## stethoscope (Jul 5, 2010)

Looks pretty likely that this will be lost also - looking very sad currently


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## the button (Jul 5, 2010)

(Sas posting)


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## Onket (Jul 5, 2010)




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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)




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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


>



was shit






was the dogs...

(only kidding - they were the same )


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

i miss the one taco bell that there ever was in london (leicester square)


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## Badgers (Jul 5, 2010)

Club UK


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## Hollis (Jul 5, 2010)

Is this place still going?


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## Treacle Toes (Jul 5, 2010)

Hollis said:


> Is this place still going?



Drinks Chris has moved on to another venue.


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

Rutita1 said:


> Drinks Chris has moved on to another venue.



theres still parties going there on occassion no? a mate was at one what doesn't feel like that long ago (im not verygood at judging time though)

talking of which this one was fun while it lasted (london & brighton, peckham)


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## Farmer Giles (Jul 5, 2010)

The Vox, Brixton.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

Rutita1 said:


> Drinks Chris has moved on to another venue.


you know drinks chris?!  top fella.


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## oryx (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> The Dive Bar - on the edge of Chinatown. I loved that Jazz bar. Real good music. Use to stay in there, listening to old records until the early hours. Interesting set of characters from all walks of life. Well pissed when that went - and more pissed when they changed it into another generic chinese restaurant.



Remember that place well, wasn't it below a pub called The King's Arms?

It had an amazing long tunnel-like bit with seats on either side and a long table.

It was great. 

Also have happy memories of The Bass Clef in Hoxton from round about the same time.


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## sam/phallocrat (Jul 5, 2010)

ska invita said:


> theres still parties going there on occassion no? a mate was at one what doesn't feel like that long ago (im not verygood at judging time though)



there was one there on Friday I understand


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## StanSmith (Jul 5, 2010)

stephj said:


> I'm really starting to miss this too now




Bloody hell I only ever went there during dark hours, I didnt realise it looked that shitty


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## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

StanSmith said:


> Bloody hell I only ever went there during dark hours, I didnt realise it looked that shitty



laff out loud!


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## Treacle Toes (Jul 5, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> you know drinks chris?!  top fella.



Everyone knows Drinks Chris don't they?


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

Rutita1 said:


> Everyone knows Drinks Chris don't they?


maybe i'm more surprised that i haven't properly met you yet ruts?


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## laptop (Jul 5, 2010)

The Scala at King's Cross, as a cinema


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## Treacle Toes (Jul 5, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> maybe i'm more surprised that i haven't properly met you yet ruts?



Well I am sure we have crossed paths on loads of occasions...small world/small Hackney/small party scene etc... I am sure there are numerous connections if we search them out.

Come to the party at the end of the month, I am sure you will enjoy it.


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## Open Sauce (Jul 5, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> The End nightclub. I was there opening night - shame it shut down 10 years later.



Me too and many more messy nights, bouncers did not give a fuck when you we clearly a gibbering idiot completely out of it.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 5, 2010)

what party is dat?


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## Ron Merlin (Jul 6, 2010)

laptop said:


> The Scala at King's Cross, as a cinema



...and its cat 

The Stadium, Southbury Road. Former home of Enfield FC. Now shitty flats.

*sobs*


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## marty21 (Jul 6, 2010)

Paulie Tandoori said:


>



I heard somewhere that there are vague plans to bring racing back there


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## marty21 (Jul 6, 2010)

laptop said:


> The Scala at King's Cross, as a cinema



went to a couple of horror all nighters there , twas a good un


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## grimble (Jul 6, 2010)

Not a venue, but in the spirit of the OP I really miss Concorde flying over twice (?) a day.  It's one of my earliest memories, seeing it go over Blackheath in the 1970s, and I now live in west London, so saw it coming down the Thames all the time.  Not a plane spotter, and grateful I never lived directly under the flightpath given the noise, but I loved it.

Bought the Wolfgang Tillmans "Concorde" book this weekend at the Serpentine Gallery - all shot over London.

Pubwise, I miss The Green Man - on Old Watling Street - now even the street in underneath a huge building, One Poultry in the City.

On the whole though, I am happier with the new stuff that has sprung up than I am sad for the stuff that we've lost.  London gets better and better.


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

grimble said:


> Not a venue, but in the spirit of the OP I really miss Concorde flying over twice (?) a day.  It's one of my earliest memories, seeing it go over Blackheath in the 1970s, and I now live in west London, so saw it coming down the Thames all the time.  Not a plane spotter, and grateful I never lived directly under the flightpath given the noise, but I loved it.



it flew pretty much over my house in SE London, and the noise wasnt so bad - cos its concorde its a novelty! 

On another note, ive got a vague memory of Sundays before thatcher allowed sunday trading - you used to be able to go into the centre and it was a ghost town , even in the middle of the day. Anyone else remember that... I liked it, and even though it is very convenient to shop on sundays i would be in favour of a reintroduction of no shopping on sundays.


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## Maggot (Jul 6, 2010)

Farmer Giles said:


> The Vox, Brixton.



Was that the one where you could enter by getting the lift down to the basement? Went on to become Sub Station IIRC.



ska invita said:


> On another note, ive got a vague memory of Sundays before thatcher allowed sunday trading - you used to be able to go into the centre and it was a ghost town , even in the middle of the day. Anyone else remember that... I liked it, and even though it is very convenient to shop on sundays i would be in favour of a reintroduction of no shopping on sundays.


Sunday trading came in under Major in 1994.  

I don't miss the quiet high streets, but the roads used to be quietr on a sunday too - miss that.


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Maggot said:


> Sunday trading came in under Major in 1994.


Thatcher told him to do it! 
Thanks for the clarification...

On this day: 1994: Sunday trading legalised
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/28/newsid_2536000/2536115.stm

(The 1994 law was a compromise which fell short of an attempt by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1986 to do away with all restrictions.)


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

grimble said:


> On the whole though, I am happier with the new stuff that has sprung up than I am sad for the stuff that we've lost.  London gets better and better.



i second that - especially food wise
though housing is way too expensive, as is travel


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## grimble (Jul 6, 2010)

I remember being able to walk down Downing St as a youngster (although I think there were barriers where the press corps now stands so you were kept to the pavement).


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## grimble (Jul 6, 2010)

Oh, and good God - smoking on the London Underground.  Impossible to imagine nowadays.  Dedicated smoking carriages.  Also a guard who would hang out of the side of the train as it headed off down the platform.  And chocolate machines that never worked.


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## Dr. Furface (Jul 6, 2010)

Ok, they're still around on a couple of routes - neither of which I use - but oh how I miss not being able to jump on and off these when stuck in traffic or at lights, without being at the mercy of some prick who won't let you off until the next stop. And the seats were better too.


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Dr. Furface said:


> And the seats were better too.



was talking about the sprung seats on old slam door trains the other day - bouncy!

seats on the new east london line are shit by the way. (its what inspired the conversation)


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## yardbird (Jul 6, 2010)

clicker said:


>



90 Wardour Street

A great loss

It's outside here that my ashes will be scattered in the gutter


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## Blagsta (Jul 6, 2010)

Deptford Free Festival






I had some excellent times at this


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## Cloo (Jul 6, 2010)

Dr. Furface said:


> Ok, they're still around on a couple of routes - neither of which I use - but oh how I miss not being able to jump on and off these when stuck in traffic or at lights, without being at the mercy of some prick who won't let you off until the next stop. And the seats were better too.


 Although I did discover when a rare one came by the other day that they're fuck all use if you have a baby buggy.  

I miss proper access to the Northern Line at Kings X. I basically now can't use the northern line/change from it there if I have my daughter with me and no one to help with the buggy on the stairs.

 gsv seems utterly convinced that they intend to force people to go the extra 3 miles through the new north ticket hall for perpetuity,  although tfl say it's temporary while they build a new lift to the Northern Line and I don't see why they'd decide to permanently block up direct access through the main hall.


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## Dr. Furface (Jul 6, 2010)

Cloo said:


> Although I did discover when a rare one came by the other day that they're fuck all use if you have a baby buggy.


True, but for the vast majority of users they were much better. But I think the new ones will have both an open back for easy jumping on/off as well as acess for buggies and wheelchairs. However they won't be seen until 2012.


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Blagsta said:


> Deptford Free Festival
> 
> 
> 
> ...



is that the fordham park thing in new x?


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## Blagsta (Jul 6, 2010)

ska invita said:


> is that the fordham park thing in new x?



That was it.  Ran from 92 - 95 iirc.  You don't get festies like that anymore.  I went in 93, 94 and 95.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Jul 6, 2010)

Blagsta said:


> Deptford Free Festival
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yes, even us norf londoners travelled down for the urban free festie, cracking times.


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## stethoscope (Jul 6, 2010)

Transpontine has a few vids from Deptford Free Fest:
http://transpont.blogspot.com/2010/01/deptford-urban-free-festival.html


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Blagsta said:


> That was it.  Ran from 92 - 95 iirc.  You don't get festies like that anymore.  I went in 93, 94 and 95.


moved to brockley in 95 - gutted

Ive been reading this 




schnews at 10: a decade of party and protest - written on the 10th anniversary of Schenws (1994-2004 i think). Its a great read and does the whole beanfield to J18 history fantastically. reading the events unfold page by page makes you realise all the more clearly how much we lost with the CJA, and watching it get taken away day by day makes for a pretty depressing read. been intending to start a thread on it, but need to think about it a bit more... surely it cant be gone for ever...


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## chieftain (Jul 6, 2010)

Onket said:


> Used to live just near there. That was after it had closed though. Went to a couple of parties in the squatted building joined on at the front of it, but you couldn't get in to the main building. Probably for the best cos I think the tiles had been taken off the roof so it was probably falling down.
> 
> Anyway, this place- The Dungeons, Lea Bridge Road- was a shithole that I went to quite a lot-



Dungeons was great fun, that video bought back a few hazy memories!


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## Fidel (Jul 6, 2010)

Club dog at the Robey (thanks I had forgotten them)

Happy Jax - Sabres of Paradise era


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## Pickman's model (Jul 6, 2010)

now a fucking starbucks


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## skyscraper101 (Jul 6, 2010)

stephj said:


> Looks pretty likely that this will be lost also - looking very sad currently



Aye, was gonna mention that.



Badgers said:


> Club UK



This too. Although I was only like 14 when it was shut down. I never got the chance to go.


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## skyscraper101 (Jul 6, 2010)




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## Bahnhof Strasse (Jul 6, 2010)

Still got my membership card, just in case...


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## stethoscope (Jul 6, 2010)

skyscraper101 said:


>



Yes 

And the original sound of Kiss.


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Jul 6, 2010)

Oh and never noticed AWOL to be moody, always had a blinding night there.

Lenny Mclean used to work the door, seemed to stop wankers from palying up.


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## Pickman's model (Jul 6, 2010)




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## Blagsta (Jul 6, 2010)

^
That was a great pub.


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## Idaho (Jul 6, 2010)

I didn't realise it had shut. But then I haven't gone out drinking in London for 8 years - so no big surprise.

Never went to the Deptford urban Free Festival - but was a regular at the Brighton Urban Free Festival (1988 - 1991?)


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## mike desantos (Jul 6, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Compendium Book Store in Camden - one of London's landmarks - can't believe they took this away.



Still does my head in when i walk past what has replaced it - what a great shop Compendium was.  And opposite was Rhythm Records , one of my favourite two record stores in the 1980s, great alternative selection and good place to hang out and chat new tunes with the longhaired bearded bloke (forgotten his name).  
An honourable mention has to go to Rock On Records up the road aswell.


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## stethoscope (Jul 6, 2010)

mike desantos said:


> And opposite was Rhythm Records , one of my favourite two record stores in the 1980s, great alternative selection and good place to hang out and chat new tunes with the longhaired bearded bloke (forgotten his name).



Great record shop - infact, so many wonderful record shops over the years (plenty mentioned here too).


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## stethoscope (Jul 6, 2010)

100% masahiko said:


> Compendium Book Store in Camden - one of London's landmarks - can't believe they took this away. Great books, friendly, would buy my mags from there and sit in the Oxford Arms (when they use to dish out free food during quiz night on a Monday).








The first left/alternative/feminist bookshop I discovered during the early 90s.


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## Neil-NewX (Jul 6, 2010)

This thread is pushing lots of buttons for me - fondly remember indie pop nights at Camden Falcon, Deptford Urban Free, Compendium etc..

Have posted elsewhere on The Robey:
http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2010/05/george-robey-lost-london-venue.html

... and on Club UK:
http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2009/02/club-uk-in-wandsworth-love-ecstasy-and.html

Not forgetting 121 Railton Road:
http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2007/09/dead-by-dawn-brixton-1994-96.html

As for the Dive Bar, great place and the only one on this thread to be mentioned in a Pet Shop Boys song (West End Girls)


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## krtek a houby (Jul 6, 2010)

Ooh, that goth club in town; Paramount City.


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## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Neil-NewX said:


> ... and on Club UK:
> http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2009/02/club-uk-in-wandsworth-love-ecstasy-and.html



never went to club uk, but did often meet up on mornings after with friends who did, and this pic just brought back some funny memories


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## Orang Utan (Jul 6, 2010)

'spring water' hah
eau de wandsworth?


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## mike desantos (Jul 7, 2010)

Carnaby Street of the 70s and 80s with the multi-coloured patterned paving.  The flea market had quite an atmosphere on Saturdays -  loads of  mods and skins


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## clicker (Jul 7, 2010)

I miss not being able to party in Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve  without barricades...and real water in the ornamental pools...the euphoric feeling of starting the New Year on top of a fountain, followed by a six mile walk home in mid winter with wet Brutus jeans flapping around your ankles was second to none....the bottle of cinzano in your pocket warded off the cold for the first three miles.....


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## Maggot (Jul 7, 2010)

Idaho said:


> I didn't realise it had shut. But then I haven't gone out drinking in London for 8 years - so no big surprise.
> 
> Never went to the Deptford urban Free Festival - but was a regular at the Brighton Urban Free Festival (1988 - 1991?)


Loved the Deptford Urban Free Festival went twice I think, remember seeing orbital play in a little tent there. The only duff thing about it was it's acronym. The Brighton one has a much better acronym.


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## marty21 (Jul 7, 2010)

jer said:


> Ooh, that goth club in town; Paramount City.



mrs21 used to go to a goth club called the bat cave


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## Divisive Cotton (Jul 7, 2010)

mike desantos said:


> Carnaby Street of the 70s and 80s with the multi-coloured patterned paving.  The flea market had quite an atmosphere on Saturdays -  loads of  mods and skins




I think the worse period for Canarby Street was in the 90s when you had stacks of really cheap tacky tourist shops


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## i'mnotsofast (Jul 7, 2010)

uk benzo said:


> The rasta guy who used to sell the Big Issue in Covent Garden then moved to Brixton tube station in the early to mid-90s. His selling tactic was to repeat:
> 
> Biggy Biggy Biggy
> Biggy
> Biggy Biggy Biggy



Shit, I remember him!


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## ska invita (Jul 7, 2010)

clicker said:


> I miss not being able to party in Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve  without barricades...and real water in the ornamental pools...the euphoric feeling of starting the New Year on top of a fountain, followed by a six mile walk home in mid winter with wet Brutus jeans flapping around your ankles was second to none....the bottle of cinzano in your pocket warded off the cold for the first three miles.....



_so thats _who goes there and jumps in teh fountains on new years! good for you


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## blossie33 (Jul 7, 2010)

Divisive Cotton said:


> I think the worse period for Canarby Street was in the 90s when you had stacks of really cheap tacky tourist shops



Yes, I ended up there once by mistake and couldn't believe how much it had changed but then I remember how it was in the late 60's when it was really  not just a tourist attraction.
Not been for a long time - maybe it's improved now?


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## Blagsta (Jul 7, 2010)

marty21 said:


> mrs21 used to go to a goth club called the bat cave



I used to go to a night called Wraith in 1989, in various squatted locations in central London.  Denmark Alley, opposite the Astoria being one, Southampton Row another and East St near Old St being another.


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## marty21 (Jul 7, 2010)

Blagsta said:


> I used to go to a night called Wraith in 1989, in various squatted locations in central London.  Denmark Alley, opposite the Astoria being one, Southampton Row another and East St near Old St being another.



I think the bat cave was in central london, I'll have to ask her, she claims she wasn't a goth though


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## Blagsta (Jul 7, 2010)

marty21 said:


> I think the bat cave was in central london, I'll have to ask her, she claims she wasn't a goth though



Yeah, we all used to claim that.  

I think the Bat Cave might have been at Soundshaft.  Chuff will know.


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## wemakeyousoundb (Jul 7, 2010)

The old squatted rectory in Osnaburgh street, deptford free, peckham dole house, and too many cool squatted venues over the years.


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## laptop (Jul 7, 2010)

I can't believe no-one's mentioned:


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