Squatting in Hackney/Stoke Newington/N16, 1980s/90s

[marty21]

The Cricketers aka Jan's Bar Conviviale and now The Axe which is uber-hipster and v expensive (only been in there once).

A friend lives just off Evering Road. When he moved in 30 years ago, his place was the only one that wasn't squatted in his street and because there was a lack of mains plumbing or something, the council used to come and manually empty the waste.

I lived on Evering Road from 94-97 (not far off 30 years tbf) Not in a Squat though, Mrs21 was lucky enough to get a HA place as she was a member of a local Housing Coop.

 

[Doodler]

There was the old Dalston bus garage which Wikipedia states was abandoned by London Transport in 1981. I went there in 1982 by which time it had been taken over by the Peace Convoy and others, all their vehicles parked safely inside. They had a generator but the first time I visited it wasn't working so everywhere you looked there were dozens of lit candles. The magical impression this created was soon intensified by the Little Zippy acid tab I bought off a hippy woman there, my first trip.

Nearby Brougham Road had a lot of squats, some became licensed iirc.

 

[Sue]

There was the old Dalston bus garage which Wikipedia states was abandoned by London Transport in 1981. I went there in 1982 by which time it had been taken over by the Peace Convoy and others, all their vehicles parked safely inside. They had a generator but the first time I visited it wasn't working so everywhere you looked there were dozens of lit candles. The magical impression this created was soon intensified by the Little Zippy acid tab I bought off a hippy woman there, my first trip.

Nearby Brougham Road had a lot of squats, some became licensed iirc.

Where was the old Dalston bus garage, Doodler?

 

[Pickman's model]

Where was the old Dalston bus garage, Doodler?

built on the site of a former cavalry barracks apparently

 

[Doodler]

Where was the old Dalston bus garage, Doodler?

Wikipedia states it was on Shrubland Road and this seems about right. I visited people I knew in Brougham Road quite often and the garage seemed to be 'just round the corner'.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Should have been called the London Fields bus garage really, this lot lived there when they weren't doing the festies:

Tibetan Ukranian Mountain Troupe

, Tibetan Ukrainian Mountain Troupe , First book of the road , Greenham Common, Stour Valley, Fennit , reviews. photos, links, .

www.ukrockfestivals.com

 

[Pickman's model]

Wikipedia states it was on Shrubland Road and this seems about right. I visited people I knew in Brougham Road quite often and the garage seemed to be 'just round the corner'.

a 1916 map doesn't have it on the border

 

[Sue]

So kind of where the corrugated iron church/some HA housing is these days?

 

[BillRiver]

The Cricketers was the best squatters' pub in Stokey like a smaller version of the current day Sov for you newbies although we used to frequent the 3 Crowns, Coach & Horses, the Tanners (Rochester Castle), British Oak, Putlogs & the Golden Lady/Albion at various times, tried to avoid ending up at the Jolly Butchers after they closed though.

Indeed. But there was also one in Lower Clapton, on a corner, which I remember visually but forget the name of. Clientele were a mixture of local, predominantly Black, people and us squatter types.

Anyone help me out?

 

[Doodler]

Should have been called the London Fields bus garage really, this lot lived there when they weren't doing the festies:

Tibetan Ukranian Mountain Troupe

, Tibetan Ukrainian Mountain Troupe , First book of the road , Greenham Common, Stour Valley, Fennit , reviews. photos, links, .

www.ukrockfestivals.com

I remember hearing about the Tibetans, people said differing things about them. Both the garage and Brougham Road were home to all sorts of characters. I remember one named New Zealand Andy who lived in a converted ambulance, beautifully done up inside with carved wood fittings.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Indeed. But there was also one in Lower Clapton, on a corner, which I remember visually but forget the name of. Clientele were a mixture of local, predominantly Black, people and us squatter types.

Anyone help me out?

Lord Cecil where Reknaw put on gigs?

 

[BillRiver]

Lord Cecil where Reknaw put on gigs?

YES!

Ta muchly, that was starting to really annoy me.

 

[Sue]

Lord Cecil where Reknaw put on gigs?

Or what's now The Mermaid? Corner of Cricketfield and Clarence Roads?

 

[BillRiver]

Or what's now The Mermaid? Corner of Cricketfield and Clarence Roads?

No that was The Cricketers, wasn't it?

God I am so bad with names...

 

[Sue]

So The Cricketers I'm talking about was next to the old fire station off Stokey Common and is now The Axe ( I believe -- my friend who's lived round there forever still calls it that anyway...)

The Cricketers, Stoke Newington

www.closedpubs.co.uk

But yeah, looks like The Mermaid was the other Cricketers.

Cricketers Hotel, Clapton, E5

www.closedpubs.co.uk

 

[marty21]

.

YES!

Ta muchly, that was starting to really annoy me.

I was thinking of The Windsor Castle , close by , used to be a locals place , then became gastro-y , then closed. No idea of it will ever re-open as a pub, it's had builders in for a few years (but I've not seen any activity for a while)

 

[Sir Belchalot]

I remember hearing about the Tibetans, people said differing things about them. Both the garage and Brougham Road were home to all sorts of characters. I remember one named New Zealand Andy who lived in a converted ambulance, beautifully done up inside with carved wood fittings.

They seemed fine to me, NZ Andy died a few years back, he had a house on Brougham Rd. Here's a couple of pics nicked from the Tibetans FB page:

 

[Doodler]

There were a few squats in Yoakley Road. iirc one was inhabited by members of a band called Blood and Roses. They had a kind of gothy look, before the term was invented. They"d covered their living room windows with black bin bags and lined the inside of the fireplace with tinfoil. In the hearth glowed a green lightbulb. At the junction of Yoakley Road and Stoke Newington Church Street was a pub called the Yoakley Arms. Buster Bloodvessel from Bad Manners sometimes held court in there.

 

[Doodler]

They seemed fine to me, NZ Andy died a few years back, he had a house on Brougham Rd. Here's a couple of pics nicked from the Tibetans FB page:

View attachment 272324View attachment 272325

Sorry to hear that about Andy, I remember him as a tolerant, decent guy, widely travelled with all kinds of interesting stories.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

So The Cricketers I'm talking about was next to the old fire station off Stokey Common and is now The Axe ( I believe -- my friend who's lived round there forever still calls it that anyway...)

The Cricketers, Stoke Newington

www.closedpubs.co.uk

But yeah, looks like The Mermaid was the other Cricketers.

Cricketers Hotel, Clapton, E5

www.closedpubs.co.uk

We used to drink downstairs at the E5 Cricketers in the early 2000s too, I remember my 14 year old daughter at a party for one of her aunts there telling me that she'd just lost her virginity a few days before . Think Reknaw did some gigs in there as well.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

There were a few squats in Yoakley Road. iirc one was inhabited by members of a band called Blood and Roses.

That was actually an April housing co-op house where the plumbing left a lot to be desired, I remember that their back yard was full of bags of shit at one point. They did have an aversion to daylight!

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Squatted the Nevill Arms pub on Nevill Rd in the early 90s. Put on bars there every Thursday & Sunday nights for 4 months until the old bill raided, don't know why it took them so long as they used to drive past all the time on their way to & from Stokey Police Station. Some French mates squatted the Black Bull pub in Haggerston too.

 

[andysays]

I started my squatting career on the Wyndham Estate in Camberwell in about 1982 or 83, later moving to the Ocean Estate in Mile End and later still the King Edwards Estate off Mare Street.

Probably left there in about 87 or so, and was never really part of any scene.