If you live within reach of Haringey or Highgate, or even Hampstead or Islington you will most likely know of Jackson’s Lane. If you are interested in circus, cabaret or opera you may well have visited Jackson’s Lane. If you are involved in either youth or elderly outreach projects, you may have volunteered with Jackson’s Lane. And if you are a Strictly fan, you will be intrigued to know that a number of the rehearsals for the show happen in Jackson’s Lane.
An ex Wesleyan Methodist church built in 1902 Jackson’s Lane straddles the borders of Highgate and Haringey on the Archway Road. Since the 1970s, it has been a largely volunteer run arts centre, nurturing dance, circus and theatrical talent (alumni include Eddie Izzard and David Walliams). It also lets itself out for the occasional wedding while running a number of community support programmes including their legendary Christmas lunch – 100 plus guests at Jackson’s Lane itself with Christmas lunch hampers delivered to 150 more in the community.
50th anniversary
This year, 2025, is their 50th anniversary and they intend to celebrate it in style. Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant they have employed a team of five not only to coordinate their wide range of educational projects and their on going programme of circus and other theatrical shows but to set up two heritage projects.
Both of these aim to create a really comprehensive archive of the centre’s activities over the 50 years of its existence. And because they have always covered such a wide range of activities they want to range equally wide in their collection of material. So they want to talk to any and everyone who has worked with, visited or has memories of Jackson’s Lane right back to its earliest days. The assembled printed archive will in due course be housed at Bruce Castle museum up the road in Tottenham.
At the same time as collecting a printed archive they are also hoping to create an oral history of the centre and of the surrounding area. Again, they want to reach back to the centre’s early days in the 1970s – and are conscious that because that was 50 years ago they need to press on with gathering their archive while people are still around who remember it and can talk about it.
As their anniversary year progresses, you will find more details of happenings on their website. Meanwhile, if you have any material or memories which you think they might be interested in, do contact them either by using the form at here or emailing them here.
The Islington Festival – July 2025
The festival itself does not happen until July but to get things well underway for 2025, Peter Tompkins at the amazing St Pancras Clock Tower hosted a festival fundraising evening last Friday.
The view down over King’s Cross station from the clock tower.
The festival is the brainchild of conductor-pianist Martin André an violinist Joana Ly and is now setting off on its fifth year.
Built around relatively large scale chamber performances in St Mary’s in Upper Street and Christ Church in Highbury, the two weeks of the festival include late night recitals in the magical Little Angel Theatre, jazz in the Angel Central piazza, yoga to a live harp, coffee morning concerts complete with delicious chocolate brownies and even a musical walking tour around the Angel!
Joana and Martin are the moving spirits of the festival. Performing in a number of their own concerts they are also organisers, promoters, tickets sellers, website managers – and fund raisers. Despite their own input and a very willing band of volunteers, the festival is not cheap to run. They insist on paying their performers ‘proper’ fees and then there are venues to be hired and royalities and performance fees to be covered aside from all the other expenses which come with running events. Hence the need for a fund raiser.
The fund raiser
And a very fun fund raiser it was too.
To tempt us along there were delightful wines donated by Davy’s Fine Wines in Greenwich, utterly delicious (SO much better than bought!) pastel de nata (those yummy Portugeuese custard tarts) made by Joana and Martin, an excellent raffle and an auction. This included, among other goodies, tickets to a test match at Lords, tickets to an opera at Garsington, some really lovely silver jewellery, a whole course of yoga – and piano lessons with Martin! I am delighted to say that the bidding was brisk, indeed nail biting – and a goodly sum was raised.
And then of course there was the music. They treated us to three pieces – Brahms Violin Sonata no.1 in G major, five delightful ‘madrigal stanzas’ from Bohuslav Martinů and four ‘morceaux’ from Moritz Moszkowski, a late 19th century German Polish pianist and teacher who, despite very considerable success in his day, is now almost completely forgotten. Below is a snippet from Humoresque, the last of the four Morceaux.
And this is the performance space inside the clock tower – although no photograph can really do justice to its 12 metre towering height – the left hand staircase goes right up to the clock itself.
In the more immediate future… Well – March….
Sunday 9th March – Hampstead Lane
A feast of Debussy – with a pinch of Archbold. For his slightly unusual trio of harp, viola and flute, harpist Hugh Webb has put together a delightful programme of Debussy interspersed by short pieces by his good friend, the composer Paul Archbold.
£30 to include buffet supper and wine – book here.
7th March – 10th April – London Handel Festival
Eighteen different events – full blooded Handel operas, lunchtime chamber concerts, celebrity recitals, another exciting production from the Handel Opera Studio – and of course, the world famous Handel Singing competition.
For all details and to book go here.
Sunday 23rd March – Highgate Society Lunchtime Concert
Pianists Viola Lenzi and Isabella Gori will be combining forces on the Highgate Society piano to play us some four-handed jazz and folk inspired music. Think Gershwin, Greig and Dvořák.
£15 to include a glass of Bucks Fizz – book here.
For future happenings in at Hampstead Lane and elsewhere – see our Upcoming Events page.
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