On Line

You can e-mail us at
info@n16mag.com

In this issue

Cover image
The Fringe...
...the Festival
Martin Rowson
News in Brief
Readers Letters
Park Life
News in Brief
Dissent
Tapas Time
Back to the Fringe
Straight to the Point
Royal Bengal
Handy Contacts
Summertime Blues
Summery Justice
Up the Junction
Books/Poetry
The Factory
Summer Allergies
Farmers Market
The Arts
Away Days
A Royal Visit
Coffee Corner
Surfing N16
Man in North Bank
XWord
View from the Lane

Advertisers

Page by Page
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
11 - 12 - 13 - 14 -15
16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20
21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25
26 - 27 - 28 - 29 -30
31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35
36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40

N16 Editions

Issue 17
Issue 16
Issue 15
Issue 14
Issue 13
Issue 12
Issue 11
Issue 10
Issue 9
Issue 8
Issue 7
Issue 6
Issue 5
Issue 4
Issue 3
Issue 2
Issue 1

OnLine Edition
Designed by
The N16 WebWorks

A friend of mine was travelling by bus through a desert in Turkey. As she admired the lunar landscape encircled by mountains, a Turkish fellow-traveller asked her where she lived. When she replied he said ‘Dalston Junction! I used to live there.

It’s the most interesting place on earth.’ A few yards north of Dalston Junction, and on the opposite side of Kingsland Road from Ridley Road market, is Gillett Street N16. A huge warehouse called Stamford Works overlooks a car park that is bordered on the south by Bradbury Street. There, a tiny Victorian terrace of shops faces a new building, created by Hackney Co-operative Developments (HCD), sporting a curved front on slim pillars. At the back are two storeys of workshops and studios accessed by open walkways, and below, award-winning trading pods open onto the car park.

The place is becoming known as Gillett Square. Artists, African booksellers, designers, IT businesses and hair-salons are already based in the workshops, and market traders work out of the pods. As part of a private development Stamford Works will offer affordable housing and possibly a new venue for Dalston Library. Adam Hart of HCD is securing funds and final planning permission for a partly derelict building at its side named the Culture House: future home to the Vortex.

The Vortex, N16’s jewel of a jazz club that draws in the world’s finest contemporary musicians to give Church Street an exposure to jazz normally reserved for the residents of Manhattan, could be moving to Dalston. It’s a timing and a philosophy - in short a vibe – made in heaven. David Mossman, creator and manager of the Vortex, believes the club needs to welcome its surrounding communities and their most prolific musicians. As part of a burgeoning streettrading and arts centre in Gillett Square, the Vortex could thrive without losing its postcode. If the latest planning permission is gained and work starts in September, then the Culture House could be finished by the summer of 2004. The lease on the Vortex may run out in April or May next year, allowing a brief breathing space before fitting-out the new building. It is big enough for a performance space, conference facilities, a workshop, as well as an art gallery, and restaurant. The Vortex could become seriously viable, benefiting from controlled rents and far better access to public transport, including the new tube station expected in 2007. According to Adam Hart, the blossoming of Gillett Square is down to the people who already live and work in the area. Local entrepreneurs, artists and streettraders can take root thanks to the opening of new business space at relatively low cost.

These changes have already attracted the support of Ken Livingstone and Richard Rogers. Local groups have formed the Gillett Square partnership and intend to transform the car-park into a town square bringing more vivid life to Dalston’s very own public space for music, trade, and art. What better location for London’s most interesting jazz club?

next page