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Patrick Eve
Patrick Eve was born in Hampstead in 1949. He worked as Senior Lecturer in Maths Education in the Tower Building at London Metropolitan University from 1996 until he retired in 2012 and has lived on...
Read Patrick Eve's storyMary Wash
Mary Wash was born in her family home on Dalmeny Road in 1949. In 1992 she moved to Northview on Tufnell Park Road with her parents, where she now lives alone. Mary began work at the age of 16 and...
Read Mary Wash's storyMartin Murray
Martin Murray was born in 1962 near Woolwich. He began working at the University of North London in 1996 teaching English Literature, Philosophy and Media and Cultural Studies. In 2002 the University...
Read Martin Murray's storyLillian Cawkell
Lillian Cawkell was born in the City of London in 1924. She has lived on Mayton Street since the 1940s, first with her parents and later with her husband and three children. She was working nearby...
Read Lillian Cawkell's storyJonathan Selby
Jonathan Selby was born in 1972 in Stoke Newington. He has worked at Autoparts at 84 Holloway Road, a family-run business, since he was 11. “Holloway Road has changed a lot. We’ve been...
Read Jonathan Selby's storyJohn Scott & Charlotte Scott
John Scott was born in 1961 in the Whittington Hospital. He has run a stall at the Grafton School Market since 1998. John’s daughter Charlotte was born in 1991 in the Royal Free Hospital in...
Read John Scott & Charlotte Scott's storyJohn Roe
John Roe was born in 1949 in Hackney. He has worked as a property surveying consultant at Drivers and Norris estate agents, 407-409 Holloway Road, since 2002 and became Vice President of the...
Read John Roe's storyJoei Silvester
Joei Silvester was born at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in 1987 and has lived on Kingsdown Road since he was three years old. He is the Creative Director of The Lovebuzz Project – a...
Read Joei Silvester's storyJeremy Deller
Jeremy Deller was born in 1966 in Southwark and has lived on Holloway Road since 2003. He studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art and won the Turner Prize in 2004 for his installation...
Read Jeremy Deller's storyJan Tucker
Jan Tucker was born in Archway in 1950 and lives in St. John’s Grove. She has been the bookkeeper for Absolute Print at 50 Junction Road since 2008 and also holds a number of different...
Read Jan Tucker's storyFernanda Sumray
Fernanda Sumray was born in 2001 in her house on Horsell Road. She goes to Drayton Park Primary School just off Holloway Road. “I’ve always lived in Holloway. I was literally born in my...
Read Fernanda Sumray's storyStephanie Smith
Stephanie was born in Hammersmith in 1965 and has lived in Archway since 1996. She has been the manager of Archway Market, which runs on Thursdays and Saturdays on the junction between Holloway Road...
Read Stephanie Smith's storyBorn and Bred on BBC Radio London
On 26 September 2012, Born and Bred featured on The Robert Elms Show in a programme focusing on Holloway Road. Listen to a clip with Rowan Arts Director Ruth Robinson and project participant Amy...
Read Born and Bred on BBC Radio London's storySampson Sampson
Barber and martial arts expert Sampson Sampson was born in 1960 in a small village near Larnaca, Cyprus, and came to Islington at the age of 11. He runs Sampson’s Cuts at 56 Holloway Road,...
Read Sampson Sampson's storyJames Gray & Louise Vincent
Louise Vincent was born in the Whittington Hospital in 1951. She grew up on Melgund Road and later in Thane Villas. A former secondary school teacher, she is now retired, and lives on Chambers Road...
Read James Gray & Louise Vincent's storyElizabeth Sullivan
Elizabeth Sullivan was born in Hackney in 1991 and has lived in Penn Road, just off Holloway Road, since 1997. She has worked as a beauty therapist at Beautiful, 639 Holloway Road, since 2010....
Read Elizabeth Sullivan's storyKenneth Howard
Ken Howard was born in 1937 in the Mile End Hospital in East London. He is the owner of Thomas Judd Memorials at 123 Holloway Road, which he bought in 1972. “Since buying Thomas Judd I find I...
Read Kenneth Howard's storyHarry Hare
Harry Hare was born in 1974 in Highbury. He lived in the area for 35 years before moving to Hertfordshire in 2010. Harry has worked as a curator at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art at...
Read Harry Hare's storyMathew Dickinson
Mathew Dickinson was born in 1967 in Barnet and set up Mathew Dickinson Flowers, based in the Clarendon Buildings in Lower Holloway, in 2002. Mathew’s business has provided flowers for...
Read Mathew Dickinson's storyAmy Smith
Amy Smith was born in 1980 on a sofa in her family home on Caedman Road. She has lived in the area for most of her life and now lives in Finsbury Park with her wife and their dog Dino. Amy’s...
Read Amy Smith's storyEleanor Pearce
Eleanor Pearce was born in University College Hospital in Camden in 1979. She has been the Director of Visual Art at Islington Arts Factory since 2006. She first started going to the centre at the...
Read Eleanor Pearce's storyChris Joseph
Chris Joseph was born in the Whittington Hospital and grew up on Beaumont Rise after her parents came to England from the Caribbean. She attended Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Junior...
Read Chris Joseph's storyChris Coates
Chris Coates was born in Neasden in 1948. She has worked for the Trades Union Congress since 1967 and has been their Librarian since 1971. The TUC Library Collections relocated to the London...
Read Chris Coates's storyTony Sandell
Tony Sandell was born in Holloway in 1939 and grew up on Sussex Way, just off Holloway Road. He has worked at the Arsenal Museum in the Northern Triangle Building at Emirates Stadium since 2006....
Read Tony Sandell's storyGoula Economou
Goula Economou was born in the City of London Maternity Hospital in Hanley Road in 1963. She runs Michael’s Fruiterers at 56-58 Seven Sisters Road with her husband Michael, who set up the shop...
Read Goula Economou's storyTheresa Coyle
Theresa Coyle was born in 1963 on Marlborough Road after her parents moved from Ireland in the late 1950s. She lived on the Six Acres Estate for over 30 years. Theresa was board chairwoman of Homes...
Read Theresa Coyle's storyAlan Bloxham
Alan Bloxham was born in Camden in 1944. He is the Chair of Govenors at Grafton Primary School and has overseen the Grafton School Market (sometimes known as the Holloway Car Boot Sale), which takes...
Read Alan Bloxham's storyEllie Rowsell and Sadie Cleary
Ellie Rowsell was born in July 1992 in the Whittington Hospital and has lived on Tollington Way, near Holloway Road, her whole life. Sadie Cleary was born in November 1992 and grew up just off...
Read Ellie Rowsell and Sadie Cleary's storyVinay Chohan
Vinay Chohan was born in Redbridge in 1983 and is the owner of Vinay’s Shoe Care at 760b Holloway Road, which was bought for him by his father for his 23rd birthday in 2007. “You always...
Read Vinay Chohan's storyDavid Brett
David Brett was born in 1971 in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London. He owns David Andrew Estates Agents, which has offices in Stroud Green, Highbury and at 671 Holloway Road....
Read David Brett's storyHak Husein
Hak Huseyin was born in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital on Euston Road in 1970. He established design and print shop Absolute Print at 50 Junction Road in Archway in 1996. “When we...
Read Hak Husein's storyLaurence Evans
Laurence Evans was born in the Whittington Hospital in 1952. He lived first on Poynings Road and then moved to Caledonian Road where he has lived since 1962. He has volunteered at Second Chance...
Read Laurence Evans's storyClare Furey
Clare Furey was born in 1962 and grew up on St. Mary’s Grove in Canonbury. She is the general manager of Scarabeus, a theatre company based in Hargrave Park Primary School and lives in...
Read Clare Furey's storyIan Bailey
Ian Bailey was born in 1965 in the City of London Maternity Hospital in Islington.He owns Bookbinders of London Ltd. at 11 Ronald’s Road, which was started by his great-grandfather in the...
Read Ian Bailey's storyBeckett Vester
Beckett Vester was born in 1978 in Hammersmith. He moved to Kentish Town when he was four years old. He has worked as a fundraiser for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at 162 Holloway Road since...
Read Beckett Vester's storySamir Singh
Samir Singh was born in 1981 in Highbury to parents who came to the UK from East Africa in the 1970s. Since 2005 he has worked for Arsenal Football Club, where he helped set up the Club museum as...
Read Samir Singh's storyGary Heather
Gary Heather was born in 1953 in Belsize Park and grew up in Grafton Road in Kentish Town. He has lived in Mayton Street since 1979. He worked at British Telecom, which led to him joining a trade...
Read Gary Heather's storyAlexandra Gray
Alexandra Gray, known to many of her friends as Wednesday, was born in 1982 in her parents’ house on Chambers Road, where she grew up. She is a professional singer and yoga instructor in London...
Read Alexandra Gray's storyCaroline Jones
Caroline was born in Hampstead in 1949. She lived in Australia for 20 years prior to moving into the house her father owned on Windsor Road in 1998. She is a theatre, events and carnival designer and...
Read Caroline Jones's storySharon Sliney
Sharon was born on Liverpool Road in 1960, not long after her parents moved to London. She has worked at Manor Gardens Pre-School in Manor Gardens Centre since 1980, which she used to attend as a...
Read Sharon Sliney's storyHarry Hedges
Harry Hedges was born in 1930 on Caledonian Road. He worked for Islington Council as a roofer until he retired in 1995, and lives on Sussex Way. “To have a bath once a week we used to go down...
Read Harry Hedges's storyCaitlin Davies
Caitlin Davies was born in 1964 near Hampstead Heath. She lived in Botswana, southern Africa, for 12 years before returning to London in 2002. She lives in Upper Holloway and works as a writer,...
Read Caitlin Davies's storyPhil Overhead
Phil Overhead was born in Kentish Town in 1951 and first moved to Holloway in 1980 where he lived at 525 Holloway Road. He worked as an electrician before becoming a professional...
Read Phil Overhead's storyMarian Spall
Marian Spall was born in the Whittington Hospital in 1949 and grew up on Hertslet Road. She is an Islington Councillor and also founded the Andover Youth and Community Trust in 1998. “I lived...
Read Marian Spall's storyHelen Saunders
Helen was born in 1958. Her mother was unmarried so although she lived on Bredgar Road, near Holloway Road, she was sent away to Bournemouth to give birth. She returned with Helen a couple of days...
Read Helen Saunders's storyJune Dove
June Dove was born in 1926 in Finsbury Park. She was evacuated at the outbreak of World War II and returned to London at the age of 16. She worked for the Inland Revenue before marrying in 1957 and...
Read June Dove's storyTheresa Kiyota Rahman de Swiet
Theresa Kiyota Rahman de Swiet is half Japanese, half Bangladeshi and was born in Hillingdon in 1971. She came to live near Holloway Road when she moved in with her husband in 2004. They later...
Read Theresa Kiyota Rahman de Swiet's storyEdward Quigley
Edward Quigley was born in 1977 in the Whittington Hospital and has lived on Georges Road in Holloway his whole life. He has worked at Drivers and Norris estate agents and London Metropolitan...
Read Edward Quigley's storyGeorge Bartlett
George Bartlett was born in Dalston in 1946. He was the owner of Bartlett’s Hi-Fi at 175-177 Holloway Road up until his death in June 2012. The shop was opened by his father in 1958 and George...
Read George Bartlett's storyAlexandra Booij
Alexandra Booij was born in Holloway in 1972 and grew up on Sussex Way, just off Seven Sisters Road. She worked at London Metropolitan University from 1997 to 2001 as the Open Language...
Read Alexandra Booij's storyStella Michael
Stella Michael is a business consultant, artist and interfaith minister. She was born in Sydney Australia in 1965, and has lived on Junction Road since 1999. “If you just look around the area...
Read Stella Michael's storyJay Sharma
Jay Sharma was born in 1960 in the Malaysian island of Penang. He came to the UK in 1977, and has lived in Cromartie Road, near Archway, since 1993. “I was born in an island that by chance...
Read Jay Sharma's storyHadass Armon
Hadass Armon was born in Haifa, Israel in 1967. In 2005 Hadass and her partner established Studio LaDanza, a dance school and venue at 89 Holloway Road. “I can’t remember my first...
Read Hadass Armon's storyNarendra Mehta
Therapist, masseur and community worker Narendra Mehta was born in Gujarat in 1947 and brought up in Mumbai, India. He opened his clinic, the London Centre of Indian Champissage (head massage), at...
Read Narendra Mehta's storyPeter Hall
Peter Hall was born in Glyn-Neath, Wales in 1964. Since 2003 he has worked at Freightliners Farm, a two-acre city farm near the Holloway Road. The farm is a community project that provides an...
Read Peter Hall's storyKevin Molloy
Kevin Molloy was born in Ormskirk, near Liverpool, in 1980. He is the manager of Blackwell University Bookshop at 158 Holloway Road. “I like the diversity of Holloway Road, there are so many...
Read Kevin Molloy's storyPeter Wilson
Peter Wilson is the academic leader for English Literature, Creative and Professional Writing and Journalism at London Metropolitan University. He was born in 1945 in Sedgefield and grew up in...
Read Peter Wilson's storyLuis Torres
Luis Torres was born in Alausi, Ecuador, in 1950 and arrived in London in 1980. In 1997 he opened his own restaurant, El Rincon Quiteñ o, at 235 Holloway Road. “All the people [in the...
Read Luis Torres's storyAli Gul Karagoz
Ali Gul Karagoz was born in 1976 in Elbistan, in the Kurdish area of south east Turkey. He has run the Titanic Café, 306 Holloway Road, since 2000. “When I was young, my family was poor....
Read Ali Gul Karagoz's storyCharles Hewitt
Charles Hewitt was born in South Shields in 1934 and came to London to live with his mum when he was 12. He moved to Holloway when he was 23, and now lives in Hillmarton Road. “I used to do a...
Read Charles Hewitt's storyDanny Simani
Danny Simani was born in Babol, Iran in 1947. He came to Islington in 1975 and currently lives on Hilldrop Road. “I had to go into hiding, and eventually I was told to go out of the country, so...
Read Danny Simani's storyAngela Reith
Musician Angela Reith was born in 1952 in Chilcompton, Somerset and lived in various places during her childhood, including several years in what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She moved...
Read Angela Reith's storyBenjamin Jacobs
Benjamin Jacobs was born in 1956 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his family was involved in the anti-apartheid movement. He came to the UK in 1994 and set up his own optometric practice, Eye...
Read Benjamin Jacobs's storyDesmond Riley
Desmond Riley was born in St Kitts in the West Indies in 1960 and came to Islington with his family as a young boy. He founded Islington Link Up, a project for the Afro-Caribbean community based on...
Read Desmond Riley's storyAndrew Turnock
Andrew Turnock was born in Leicester in 1970. He was deputy headteacher at Grafton Primary School from 2000 until 2009, when he became headteacher at Hugh Myddleton Primary School. “A lot of me...
Read Andrew Turnock's storyJose de Freitas
Jose de Freitas was born in Madeira in 1967, one of thirteen brothers and sisters. He came to London when he was 13, and he and his wife now run El Molino, a Spanish restaurant situated at 379...
Read Jose de Freitas's storyHarry Spiro
Harry Spiro was born in Poland in 1929. He was brought to England at the age of 15 with a group of Jewish children who survived the Nazi concentration camps. He has lived and worked in Holloway Road...
Read Harry Spiro's storyVeronica Rochester
Veronica Rochester was born in Gloucester in 1964 and moved to London when she was 19. In 1998 she responded to an advert for a receptionist at the Holloway Dental Surgery, 405-407 Holloway Road. She...
Read Veronica Rochester's storyFrank van der Wens
Frank van der Wens was born in 1961 in the city of Tilburg in the Netherlands. He came to the UK at the age of 20, and in 1985 opened a flower and plant shop, Impulse Flowers, at 415-417 Holloway...
Read Frank van der Wens's storyLaila Conteh
Laila Conteh was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1953. She came to London when civil war broke out in Sierra Leone in the early 1990s, and has worked at the Holloway Odeon since 1992. “There...
Read Laila Conteh's storyPaul Roseby
Paul Roseby is the artistic director of the National Youth Theatre, based at 443-445 Holloway Road. Born in Essex in 1966, he grew up in Norfolk and came to London at the age of 17. “The...
Read Paul Roseby's storyHarry Leckstein
Harry Leckstein was born in Edinburgh in 1969. He has lived in the Beaux Arts Building, Manor Gardens, since 1999. “I was having a beer on the roof of this building and looking down into that...
Read Harry Leckstein's storyJames Craggs
Police Constable James Craggs was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in 1954. He has been stationed at Holloway Police Station, 284 Hornsey Road, since he joined the force in 1982. “I remember...
Read James Craggs's storyJeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire in 1949, and moved to Shropshire at the age of 7. When he was 20 he came to London to study, and was elected MP for Islington North in 1983. “I...
Read Jeremy Corbyn's storyAndrew Turton
A retired anthropologist, Andrew Turton was born in Bristol in 1938. He has lived in Tavistock Terrace off Holloway Road since 1981. “Tavistock Terrace is a bit of a one-off really. Upper...
Read Andrew Turton's storyElisabeth Biela
Elisabeth Biela was born in Switzerland in 1917. She trained as a cook and worked in England from the age of 18, returning to Switzerland during the second world war, where she joined the Swiss army....
Read Elisabeth Biela's storyGary Butler
Gary Butler was born in 1956 in Reading and has lived in the Holloway area since 1989. He lives on Rickthorne Road and is a practice principal at Butler and Hegarty Architects, based on Marlborough...
Read Gary Butler's storySoren Nielsen
Soren Nielsen was born in Denmark in 1962, and arrived in London in 1988, originally to stay for two weeks. He lives on Kingsdown Road and runs theatre company Scarabeus with his partner Daniela....
Read Soren Nielsen's storyDaniela Essart
Daniela Essart was born in Turin, Italy, in 1961. She moved to London in her twenties and has lived on Kingsdown Road since 1999. Daniela and her partner Soren Nielsen established theatre company...
Read Daniela Essart's storyAnna Streiffert Limerick
Anna Streiffert Limerick was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1966. She came to the Holloway Road area when she moved to the UK in 1992, and currently lives with her family on Kiver Road. “One of...
Read Anna Streiffert Limerick's storyMary Gibson
Mary Gibson has been head teacher at Yerbury School, Foxham Road, since 1982. Born in Warrington in 1948, she moved to Holloway in 1970 and has lived in the area ever since. “Yerbury School is...
Read Mary Gibson's storyDenis Campbell
Journalist Denis Cambell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1963. He has lived in London on and off since 1985 and moved into his current home in Fortnam Road in 2005. “I’ve been...
Read Denis Campbell's storyAllen Crouch
Allen Crouch was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1956. As a teenager he became interested in tattooing, and he opened Al’s Tattoo and Body Piercing Studio, 543 Holloway Road, in 1995. “At...
Read Allen Crouch's storyVicken Mouradian
Vicken Mouradian was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1965. He came to North London as a teenager and worked in Holloway for many years in the family carpet business. “The Holloway Road, compared to...
Read Vicken Mouradian's storyKarowei Dorgu
Born in Burutu, Nigeria in 1958, Karowei Dorgu qualified as a doctor before coming to the UK and retraining as an Anglican priest. He has been the parish priest at St John the Evangelist church,...
Read Karowei Dorgu's storyHasan Tuncbilek
Hasan Tuncbilek was born in 1960 in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus and came to London in 1979. He lives in Waltham Forest and runs Golden Dry Cleaners at 649 Holloway Road. “I know the area well now,...
Read Hasan Tuncbilek's storyKate Calvert
Kate Calvert was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1957 and grew up in nearby Tynemouth. She has lived on Hargrave Road since 1981 and chairs the Better Archway Forum, a community organisation working...
Read Kate Calvert's storyFinbar Holian
Finbar Holian was born in Galway, Ireland in 1968. He moved to London when he was 19 and has owned and run The Quays pub at 471 Holloway Road since 2000. “When people came over from Ireland...
Read Finbar Holian's storyDiana Young
Diana Young works at the Archway Herbal Clinic, which is based at the Middlesex University Archway Campus on Highgate Hill. She was born in 1956 in Catterick Camp, an army camp in North Yorkshire,...
Read Diana Young's story
Illustration: Alison Drewitt
Making Inroads stories
Daniela Essart
Daniela Essart was born in Turin, Italy, in 1961. She moved to London in her twenties and has lived on Kingsdown Road since 1999. Daniela and her partner Soren Nielsen established theatre company...
Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson is the academic leader for English Literature, Creative and Professional Writing and Journalism at London Metropolitan University. He was born in 1945 in Sedgefield and grew up in...
Born and Bred stories
June Dove
June Dove was born in 1926 in Finsbury Park. She was evacuated at the outbreak of World War II and returned to London at the age of 16. She worked for the Inland Revenue before marrying in 1957 and...
Elizabeth Sullivan
Elizabeth Sullivan was born in Hackney in 1991 and has lived in Penn Road, just off Holloway Road, since 1997. She has worked as a beauty therapist at Beautiful, 639 Holloway Road, since 2010....
