Join writers Andrew Humphreys and David Crump as they set sail in search of the strange histories of two of the city's off-shore outposts
[ID: an excerpt from an old, hand-drawn map on yellowed paper, depicting Eel Pie Island in the river Thames at Twickenham.]
Doors: 7pm
Tickets £8 general admission; £7 concessions
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For almost ten years, Salon for the City has convened monthly to bring together authors, historians, artists or cultural commentators, talking on themes ranging across culture, literature, history, and beyond - but there is only ever one subject: London.
In this, the 91st iteration of the salon, writers Andrew Humphreys and David Crump come together dive into the esoteric histories of two of the many islands along the length of the Thames…
Andrew Humphreys leaves shore to explore Eel Pie Island, just off the banks of Twickenham. Eel Pie’s days as a pleasure island date back to the time of Henry VIII. In the 20th century, the tiny islet – accessible only by skiff – harboured boatbuilders, a film studio and an early motor-engine manufacturer.
It also had a hotel that became first a jazz club beloved of beatniks, then an incubator of British R&B where the resident band was The Rolling Stones and Davey ‘David Bowie’ Jones was just part of the audience. A little later, to a soundtrack of Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, the hotel became a frontline outpost of counterculture, a halfway house for San Franciscan hippies and Europe’s biggest doss house.
Meanwhile David Crump rows us over to Taggs Island. Originally it was a site for the growing of willows for basket-making and named after Thomas Tagg, who built a hotel in the 19th century frequented by London's high society including Edward, Prince of Wales. Dave explores the legacy of the island and the extraordinary life of impresario Fred Karno, who discovered Charlie Chaplin, and who purchased it, rebuilt the hotel and a music hall called The Karsino, transforming it into a venue for the rich and famous, describing it modestly as "the hub of the universe for river people".
Andrew Humphreys is an author. He is too young to have experienced the Dionysian spirit of Eel Pie Island, but he is a beneficiary of the spirit of the Sixties, having worked as a guidebook writer for Lonely Planet (a company born on the Overland Route to Afghanistan and beyond) and as a writer and editor for Time Out, a magazine that emerged from the late 60s flowering of alternative press. He is the author of Raving upon Thames, which stakes a claim for the southwest London Thames suburbs as the true launch pad for the Sixties.
David Crump is also a writer. He has worked extensively in the theatre both on and off stage, beginning as a scenic artist, before graduating to acting, directing, producing and writing. He has written over twenty pantomimes, revues and plays. In 2010 he wrote and starred in Khaotic! a musical based on the life of Fred Karno. He has also written a new biography of Karno, a much maligned and under-appreciated comedy pioneer.
This iteration of Salon for the City is the first of a five-month series to be hosted at The Horse Hospital this year between March and July. London Islands will be followed by…
28th April: Down the Kings Road
26th May: London Clay and Mud
30th June: London Horses
28th July: Vanished London