Curious Crouch End by Andrew Whitehead from Five Leaves publishers. The latest in the ‘Curious London‘ series.
A mix of guidebook, history and social history, and architectural wonders and oddities, Curious Crouch End (like the author’s previous Curious King’s Cross) takes us round the streets of N8, picking out buildings, objects and people that have stories to tell.
We can read about the Nigerian cathedral and the late-Victorian splendour of the Queen’s pub; Whitehead explains how Crouch End was the birthplace of Lotus Cars and of Camberwick Green, he celebrates the 40 year long career of a street newspaper vendor and the die hards still flogging copies of Socialist Worker each Saturday on the Broadway. There are tales of The Kinks’ Ray Davies and a retelling (and debunking) of the great Bob Dylan/Dave Stewart urban legend, and genuinely true stories of the area’s radical history, including the student occupation of Hornsey Art College in 1968 to protests against Oswald Mosley in the 1930s.
Whether you know N8 or not, this illustrated book will be a great companion on a walk or two through the area. You are sure to discover something new in this “proud and intensely local” district.
