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59-550: Born in Islington , Binks' father died when Eddie was only six years old, and he was later brought up by an aunt and uncle. He left school around the age of thirteen and became an office clerk, then when he was sixteen moved to work with the Midland Railway at Walthamstow , acting as a weighbridge clerk. He worked in a variety of jobs for the company, around London, before becoming a checker at St Pancras Goods Station. In 1913,

118-407: A 1,800-seat theatre with 10 bars. The theatre suffered damage in a fire in 1958 and has not reopened. Between 92 and 162 acts were put on each evening and performers who started there included Marie Lloyd , George Robey , Harry Lauder , Harry Tate , George Formby , Vesta Tilley , Tommy Trinder , Gracie Fields , Tommy Handley and Norman Wisdom . The Islington Literary and Scientific Society

177-638: A Grade II listed former church, the Gatehouse Inn , dating from 1670, which houses the theatre Upstairs at the Gatehouse and Berthold Lubetkin 's 1930s Highpoint buildings. Pond Square , behind the High Street , is a registered village green , and is the centre of communal activities which take place in the elegant buildings of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution and Highgate Society facing

236-510: A few years from 1956, after which it stood empty. In 1978 a campaign began with the goal to redevelop the building as a theatre. A public appeal was launched in 1981, and a festival of avant-garde theatre and music was held there and at other Islington venues in 1982. What has become the successful Almeida Theatre was founded. The Royal Agricultural Hall was built in 1862 on the Liverpool Road site of William Dixon's Cattle Layers. The hall

295-438: A long decline; and by the mid-20th century, it was largely run-down and a byword for urban poverty. The aerial bombing of World War II caused much damage to Islington's housing stock, with 3,200 dwellings destroyed. Before the war, a number of 1930s council housing blocks had been added to the stock. After the war, partly as a result of bomb site redevelopment, the council housing boom got into its stride, reaching its peak in

354-635: A mainly residential district of Inner London , extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy High Street, Upper Street , Essex Road (formerly "Lower Street"), and Southgate Road to the east. The manor of Islington was named by the Saxons Giseldone (1005), then Gislandune (1062). The name means "Gīsla's hill" from the Old English personal name Gīsla and dun ("hill", " down "). The name later mutated to Isledon , which remained in use well into

413-453: A public pond were shown lining the street. The Peacock Inn at 11 Islington High Street dates from 1564, although the current façade dates from 1857. It featured in Tom Brown's Schooldays as the inn at which Tom stays prior to travelling to Rugby School . It closed in 1962, although the building still stands. Angel tube station on Islington High Street has the longest escalator on

472-453: A theatre, has remained on the same site, opposite the parish church, since 1543. The founder of the theatre, Dan Crawford, who died in 2005, disagreed with the introduction of decimal coinage. For twenty-plus years after decimalisation (on 15 February 1971), the bar continued to show prices and charge for drinks in pre-decimalisation currency. By the 19th century many music halls and theatres were established around Islington Green . One such

531-466: Is 136 m (446 ft) above sea level at its highest point. The area is divided among three London boroughs : Haringey in the north and east, Camden in the south and west, and Islington in the south and east. The postal district is N6 . The name of the village is commonly / ˈ h aɪ ɡ eɪ t / . The London Underground in announcements at Highgate tube station uses the alternative pronunciation of / ˈ h aɪ ɡ ɪ t / , where

590-421: Is a landmark on London's northern skyline. Inside, the chancel and choir stalls were done by G. E. Street in 1880. The pulpit dates from 1848. The present bench pews date from 1879, replacing box pews . The present organ is by Hill and Davidson, and was installed in 1885, replacing an earlier instrument of 1842. It was overhauled in 1985. There is a monument to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family in

649-577: Is by William Hill and Sons, and installed in 1945 as a memorial to the local victims of the Second World War. On Friday 26 August 1988, Michael Williams, a 43-year-old father from Highgate who worked for the Home Office in Pimlico , disappeared while travelling back home after an employee social. His body was found at Highgate Wood the next day. The case remains unsolved despite being featured heavily in

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708-629: Is in Barnsbury ) and Islington High Street / Upper Street . Other multiply listed streets include Arlington Square (one of the UK's top 10 garden squares) Camden Passage , Compton Terrace, Colebrooke Row, Cross Street, Duncan Terrace, Essex Road , Gibson Square and Milner Square. Other Grade II–listed structures include: Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath , 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (7 kilometres) north-northwest of Charing Cross . Highgate

767-949: Is in Holloway . The area is served by numerous bus routes, with a major bus interchange located near the Angel tube station . Red route and residents' parking restrictions apply throughout the area. According to latest figures published by the Department for Education, there are 47 primary and 10 state-funded secondary schools in Islington. Grade II* English Heritage list three Grade II* listed buildings within Central Islington (and many more in surrounding districts): Grade II (selected): The area contains numerous Georgian townhouses, shops and pubs. Many whole terraces are listed including much of Liverpool Road (one side of which

826-757: Is now part of the Hampstead and Highgate (UK Parliament constituency) . Highgate is known for its pubs which line the old high street and surrounding streets. Some notable favourites are the Angel, the Flask , the Duke's Head and the Wrestlers. The 2011 census showed that the Highgate ward of Haringey was 82% white (60% British, 19% Other, 3% Irish). 40.9% of the ward were Christian, 7% Jewish and 3.8% Muslim. The Highgate ward of Camden meanwhile

885-654: Is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has three active conservation organisations: the Highgate Society, the Highgate Neighbourhood Forum and the Highgate Conservation Area Advisory Committee, to protect and enhance its character and amenities. Until late Victorian times, it was a distinct village outside London, sitting astride the main road to the north. The area retains many green expanses, including

944-707: The High Street was part of Hornsey parish and also later the Municipal Borough of Hornsey , and the seat of that borough's governing body for many years. Highgate Hill , the steep street linking Archway (traditionally called part of Upper Holloway) and Highgate village, was the route of the Highgate Hill Cable Tramway , the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909. Like much of London, Highgate suffered damage during World War II by German air raids . The local tube station

1003-644: The London Underground system, at 318 steps. In 2006 a Norwegian man made headlines after skiing down the escalator at the station. Upper Street is Islington's main shopping street. The parish church, St Mary's , is located on Upper Street. The Angel business improvement district (BID), is an area centred on the Angel tube station , and which includes parts of southern Islington and neighbouring Clerkenwell . Islington features extensively in modern English literature and culture: There are over 60 sports and other types of physical activity on offer to

1062-625: The National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) was founded, and Binks was elected as assistant secretary of its Kentish Town branch, the union's largest branch. In 1922, he was elected to the Local Department Committee and the Sectional Council, and in 1925 he became the branch secretary, also winning election to the union's executive. As early as 1933 he was nominated as the union's president, and he served as chair and then secretary of

1121-586: The Railway Executive , where he co-ordinated goods traffic around London. In 1955, he was a founder member of the Southern Area Board, and he also served on its successor, the Southern Railway Board. Islington Islington ( / ˈ ɪ z l ɪ ŋ t ən / IZ -ling-tən ) is an inner-city area of north London , England , within the wider London Borough of Islington . It is

1180-421: The 17th century when the modern form arose. The manor, which was served by the ancient parish of Islington, later sub-divided, with new estates such as Neweton Berewe , Bernersbury , Hey-bury and Canonesbury – names first recorded in the 13th and 14th centuries) co-existing with the rump of the manor of Islington. The ancient parish of Islington continued to serve the rump manor of Islington and also

1239-608: The 1960s: several extensive estates were constructed, by both the Metropolitan Borough of Islington and the London County Council . Clearance of the worst terraced housing was undertaken, but Islington continued to be very densely populated, with a high level of overcrowding. The district has many council blocks, and the local authority has begun to replace some of them. From the 1960s, the remaining Georgian terraces were rediscovered by middle-class families. Many of

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1298-753: The Banshees ' bassist Steven Severin was born and brought up there. In 1817 the poet, aesthetic philosopher and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to live at 3, The Grove, Highgate , the home of Dr James Gillman , in order to rehabilitate from his opium addiction. After Dr Gillman built a special wing for the poet, Coleridge lived there for the rest of his life, becoming known as the sage of Highgate. While here some of his most famous poems, though written years earlier, were first published including " Kubla Khan ". His literary autobiography, Biographia Literaria , appeared in 1817. While living there he became friends with his neighbour Joseph Hardman . His home became

1357-584: The Business Design Centre. Some early development took place to accommodate the popularity of the nearby Sadler's Wells, which became a resort in the 16th century, but the 19th century saw the greatest expansion in housing, soon to cover the whole parish. In 1801, the population was 10,212, but by 1891 this had increased to 319,143. This rapid expansion was partly due to the introduction of horse-drawn omnibuses in 1830. Large well-built houses and fashionable squares drew clerks, artisans and professionals to

1416-608: The Hackney districts of De Beauvoir and Old Street to the north east. Islington is the most densely populated borough in the UK according to the 2011 census, with a population density of 138.7 people per hectare, compared to an average of 52.0 for London. The urbanisation of Islington began with ribbon development along the Great North Road (the modern A1 ). which is known (south to north) as Islington High Street , Upper Street , Holloway Road and Archway Road as it passes through

1475-588: The Square. Highgate is best known for the Victorian Highgate Cemetery , in which the Communist philosopher Karl Marx and the novelist George Eliot are buried, along with many other notable people. Adjoining is Holly Village, the first gated community , built in 1865, which is a Grade II* listed site. The village is at the top of Highgate Hill, which provides views across central London. Highgate

1534-465: The canal system. There is no tow-path in the tunnel so bargees had to walk their barges through, braced against the roof. Commercial use of the canal has declined since the 1960s. In the 17th and 18th centuries the availability of water made Islington a good place for growing vegetables to feed London. The manor became a popular excursion destination for Londoners, attracted to the area by its rural feel. Many public houses were therefore built to serve

1593-414: The conditions for developers to renovate many of the early Victorian and Georgian townhouses. They also built new developments. Islington remains a district with diverse inhabitants, with its private houses and apartments not far from social housing in immediately neighbouring wards such as Finsbury and Clerkenwell to the south, Bloomsbury and King's Cross to the west, and Highbury to the north west, and also

1652-430: The district. However, from the middle of the 19th century the poor were being displaced by clearances in inner London to build the new railway stations and goods yards. Many of the displaced settled in Islington, with the houses becoming occupied by many families. This, combined with the railways pushing into outer Middlesex, reduced Islington's attraction for the "better off" as it became "unfashionable". The area fell into

1711-426: The district. In 1716 the Great North Road came under the control of the newly formed Islington Turnpike Trust. The Trust grew rapidly, and soon had control of most major roads in the area, building a number of major road arteries through the expanding residential areas, including Caledonian Road , Euston Road , City Road and New North Road . Islington High Street runs approximately 500 metres (0.31 mi) from

1770-424: The east of Upper Street, and much of its course is now covered and forms a linear park through the area. The Regent's Canal passes through Islington, for much of which in an 886-metre (2,907 ft) tunnel that runs from Colebrook Row east of the Angel, to emerge at Muriel Street near Caledonian Road. The stretch is marked above with a series of pavement plaques so walkers may find their way from one entrance to

1829-445: The eastern part of Hampstead Heath , three ancient woods, Waterlow Park and the eastern-facing slopes, known as Highgate bowl. At its centre is Highgate village, largely a collection of Georgian shops, pubs, restaurants and residential streets, interspersed with diverse landmarks such as St Michael's Church and steeple, St. Joseph's Church and its green copper dome, Highgate School (1565), Jacksons Lane arts centre, housed in

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1888-573: The employees' side of Council No.4. He eventually won the post of President of the NUR in 1945, serving a three-year term. As president, he led a union delegation to the Soviet Union, represented the union at numerous international conferences, and argued for a single union of railway workers, and the nationalisation of the British railways. His term also saw the election of a Labour Party government, and Binks

1947-454: The final syllable matches the last syllable in "frigate". Historically, Highgate adjoined the Bishop of London 's hunting estate. Highgate gets its name from these hunting grounds, as there was a high, deer-proof hedge surrounding the estate: 'the gate in the hedge'. The bishop kept a toll-house where one of the main northward roads out of London entered his land. A number of pubs sprang up along

2006-567: The form of a slate slab in the middle of the church. The church was damaged in the Second World War by enemy air raids and the present stained glass window at the east end was installed in 1954, replacing a window broken in the Blitz. It is one of the last works by Evie Hone and depicts the Last Supper . Further down Highgate Hill is the town's Roman Catholic parish church, St Joseph's . It

2065-610: The growing population and plans were laid to construct a waterway, the New River , to bring fresh water from the source of the River Lea , in Hertfordshire to New River Head , below Islington in Finsbury . The river was opened on 29 September 1613 by Sir Hugh Myddelton , the constructor of the project. His statue still stands where Upper Street meets Essex Road. The course of the river ran to

2124-453: The houses were rehabilitated, and the area became newly fashionable. This displacement of the poor by the aspirational has become known as gentrification . Among the new residents were a number of figures who became central in the New Labour movement, including Tony Blair before his victory in the 1997 general election . According to The Guardian in 2006, "Islington is widely regarded as

2183-432: The intersection of Pentonville Road and City Road at the south end to Islington Green at the north end, where it branches into Upper Street and Essex Road (former Lower Street). The earliest reference to Islington High Street is its appearance on a 1590 map of the area. At this time, nine inns (including the famous Angel , which has subsequently given its name to the area around High Street), as well as housing and

2242-471: The name given to old boys of the school. These include T.S. Eliot , who taught the poet laureate John Betjeman there, Gerard Manley Hopkins the poet, the composers John Taverner and John Rutter , John Venn the inventor of Venn diagrams , actor Geoffrey Palmer , Anthony Crosland MP and Labour reformer, and the cabinet minister Charles Clarke . A blue plaque on a house at the top of North Hill notes that Charles Dickens stayed there in 1832, when he

2301-563: The national press and on the BBC 's TV programme Crimewatch . Highgate Cemetery is the burial place of Communist philosopher Karl Marx , Michael Faraday , Douglas Adams , George Eliot , Jacob Bronowski , Sir Ralph Richardson , Dawn Foster , Christina Rossetti , Sir Sidney Nolan , Alexander Litvinenko , Malcolm McLaren , Radclyffe Hall , Joseph Wolf and singer-songwriter George Michael . Many notable alumni have passed through Highgate School , either Masters or indeed Old Cholmeleians,

2360-459: The needs of both the excursionists and travellers on the turnpike. By 1716, there were 56 ale-house keepers in Upper Street, also offering pleasure and tea gardens, and activities such as archery, skittle alleys and bowling. By the 18th century, music and dancing were offered, together with billiards, firework displays and balloon ascents. The King's Head Tavern , now a Victorian building with

2419-505: The other. The area of the canal east of the tunnel and north of the City Road was once dominated by much warehousing and industry surrounding the large City Road Basin and Wenlock Basin. Those old buildings that survive here are now largely residential or small creative work units. This stretch has an old double-fronted pub The Narrowboat , one side accessed from the towpath. The canal was constructed in 1820 to carry cargo from Limehouse into

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2478-478: The public in Islington, at more than approximately one hundred clubs, leisure centres , parks, community centres , and other venues. The Islington Boxing Club, on Hazellville Road, was founded in January 1974 and was originally based in the community hall of York Way Court, close to King's Cross Station . The borough is home to top-flight professional football club Arsenal , whose sixty-thousand capacity stadium

2537-471: The rich and eminent. The local inns harboured many fugitives and sheltered recusants. The hill on which Islington stands has long supplied the City of London with water, the first projects drawing water through wooden pipes from the many springs that lay at its foot, in Finsbury . These included Sadler's Wells , London Spa and Clerkenwell . By the 17th century these traditional sources were inadequate to supply

2596-433: The route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house. Hampstead Lane and Highgate Hill contain the red brick Victorian buildings of Highgate School and its adjacent Chapel of St Michael. The school has played a paramount role in the life of the village and has existed on its site since its founding was permitted by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I in 1565. The area north of Hampstead Lane and east of

2655-583: The south in order to form an enlarged Holborn and St Pancras constituency from the 2010 general election . Since 1983 the northern half of Highgate village was part of the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency. Until 2023 the southern half of Highgate was in the Holborn & St Pancras Parliamentary constituency whose MP is Keir Starmer of the Labour Party , the party's current leader. The whole of Highgate Village

2714-462: The spiritual home of Britain's left-wing intelligentsia." The Granita Pact between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair is said to have been made at a now defunct restaurant on Upper Street. The African National Congress 's headquarters in exile was based on Penton Street. It was the target of a bomb attack in 1982 . The completion of the Victoria line and redevelopment of Angel tube station created

2773-501: The twelfth century and was replaced in the fifteenth century. Islington lay on the estates of the Bishop of London and the Dean and Chapter of St Pauls . There were substantial medieval moated manor houses in the area, principally at Canonbury and Highbury. In 1548, there were 440 communicants listed and the rural atmosphere, with access to the City and Westminster, made it a popular residence for

2832-400: The various manors that had broken away from it. Some roads on the edge of the area, including Essex Road , were known as streets by the medieval period, possibly indicating a Roman origin, but little physical evidence remains. What is known is that the Great North Road from Aldersgate came into use in the 14th century, connecting with a new turnpike (toll road) up Highgate Hill . This

2891-566: Was Collins's Music Hall , the remains of which are now partly incorporated into a bookshop. The remainder of the Hall has been redeveloped into a new theatre, with its entrance at the bottom of Essex Road . It stood on the site of the Landsdowne Tavern, where the landlord had built an entertainment room for customers who wanted to sing (and later for professional entertainers). It was founded in 1862 by Samuel Thomas Collins Vagg and by 1897 had become

2950-479: Was Lewis Vulliamy , and in 1831 his original drawings for the church were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts . From the late 17th century until 1830 Ashhurst House, the home of former Lord Mayor of London Sir William Ashhurst , stood on the site of the church. The remains of the house's cellar now form part of the church's crypt. The church's spire, built of Bath stone , with a cross of Portland stone ,

3009-678: Was 20 years old. Peter Sellers lived as a boy in a cottage in Muswell Hill Road, where his mother had moved in order to send him to the Catholic St Aloysius Boys' School in Hornsey Lane. In Victorian times St Mary Magdalene House of Charity in Highgate was a refuge for former prostitutes—"fallen women"—where Christina Rossetti was a volunteer from 1859 to 1870. It may have inspired her best-known poem, Goblin Market . Siouxsie and

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3068-676: Was 75 ft high and the arched glass roof spanned 125 ft. It was built for the annual Smithfield Show in December of that year but was popular for other purposes, including recitals and the Royal Tournament . It was the primary exhibition site for London until the 20th century and the largest building of its kind, holding up to 50,000 people. It was requisitioned for use by the Mount Pleasant sorting office during World War II and never re-opened. The main hall has now been incorporated into

3127-577: Was 80% white (61% British, 15% Other, 4% Irish), and 3% Black African. 37.5% of the ward were Christian, 5.1% Muslim. and 4.2% Jewish. Highgate's main Church of England parish church, St Michael's , is situated close to the summit of the hill, and is the highest church in Greater London. It was built as one of the Commissioners' churches in 1831 and consecrated and opened on 8 November 1832. The architect

3186-402: Was along the line of modern Upper Street, with a toll gate at The Angel defining the extent of the village. The Back Road , the modern Liverpool Road , was primarily a drovers' road where cattle would be rested before the final leg of their journey to Smithfield . Pens and sheds were erected along this road to accommodate the animals. The first recorded church, St Mary's , was erected in

3245-412: Was designed by Albert Vickers, and built in 1888, replacing an earlier, smaller church of 1861. Although St Joseph's Church was opened in 1889 by the Bishop of Liverpool , it was not until 1932, when its debts were cleared, that it was officially consecrated. The church has a distinctive copper dome with a green patina, and the interior of the dome was painted by Nathaniel Westlake in 1891. The organ

3304-662: Was established in 1833 and first met in Mr. Edgeworth's Academy on Upper Street. Its goal was to spread knowledge through lectures, discussions, and experiments, politics and theology being forbidden. A building, the Literary and Scientific Institution, was erected in 1837 in Wellington (later Almeida) Street, designed by Roumieu and Gough in a stuccoed Grecian style. It included a library (containing 3,300 volumes in 1839), reading room, museum, laboratory, and lecture theatre seating 500. The subscription

3363-540: Was strongly supportive, winning election to the party's National Executive Committee . At the 1931 London County Council election , Binks stood for the Labour Party in St Pancras South East , but was not elected. However, in 1941 he was appointed to the council as an alderman, serving until 1946. When his term of office ended, Binks found work with the goods section at Broad Street railway station , then with

3422-553: Was two guineas a year. After the library was sold off in 1872, the building was sold or leased in 1874 to the Wellington Club , which occupied it until 1886. In 1885 the hall was used for concerts, balls, and public meetings. The Salvation Army bought the building in 1890, renamed it the Wellington Castle barracks, and remained there until 1955. The building became a factory and showroom for Beck's British Carnival Novelties for

3481-546: Was used as a bomb shelter. Highgate New Town is a post-war estate adjacent to the cemetery, designed by Camden Council with similarities to the Alexandra Road estate . Between 1983 and 2010 Highgate was part of the Hampstead and Highgate constituency. The Boundary Commission report of 2003 recommended removing the Camden part of Highgate from the remainder of that constituency and joining it with Kentish Town and Holborn to

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