North London Garden Designers Pruning Fertilizer | Garden Design Crouch End

In this section of Crouch End Garden Design, we will take a bit of time for some Crouch End triva.

Thanks to: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crouch_End

Arts scene urban legends

• In the 1960s Ray Davies of The Kinks entered Hornsey Art School in Crouch End. The Kinks later had a recording studio in Crouch End [1] and Ray continues his association with Crouch End to this day, regularly performing with the Crouch End Festival Chorus.

• In the 1990s Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics had a recording studio on Crouch Hill. According to legend, he invited Bob Dylan to drop in any time he felt like it. Bob took him up on his offer, but the taxi driver dropped him off on the adjacent Crouch End Hill. Bob knocked on the door of the supposed home of Dave Stewart and asked for Dave. By coincidence, the plumber who lived there was also called Dave. He was told that Dave was out, and would he like to wait and have some tea? Twenty minutes later the plumber returned and asked his wife whether there were any messages. “No”, she said, “but Bob Dylan’s in the living room having a cup of coffee”.^[3]

• Horror writer Stephen King once stayed at a friend’s (Peter Straub) house in Crouch End. The legend goes that after asking for a good place to go for a walk he was directed towards the old railway line, now called The Parkland Walk. While here he was inspired by the strange unsettling surroundings and the sculpture of a spriggan (a pan-like green man), which was pushing its way out of an old arched wall. King wrote the short story Crouch End, based on his visit to Crouch End, which was later adapted as an episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, which included the spriggan in the introduction.

• It is claimed that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy once performed at the music hall that is now Holmes Place/Virgin Gym and that they stayed at the Queen’s Hotel.

• The local comedy club, Downstairs At The King’s Head, is one of London’s longest established comedy rooms. It is said that past performers have included Robin Williams, Al Murray, Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Robbie Coltrane, Rowan Atkinson. There are also music nights and club manager Peter Grahame recalls one occasion when Dave Stewart was playing and Bill Wyman on bass, Harry Dean Stanton on harmonica with Bob Dylan were watching from the audience.

via gardendesigncrouchend.com