The Grosvenor Road Squat Forum

I first visited Grosvenor Road at Christmas time in 1974. At that time I was training as a psychiactric nurse in Basingstoke (mental). I went to visit the wallys at Stonehenge, I was the only person to turn up for their advertised party (it was on the telly, they even invited the queen) I arrived to the camp on the track by Stonehenge in my mini cooper, bearing gifts on Christmas eve. There were only a few folk there, but later on, Christmes day I met Joe & Rosie in Amesbury squats and ended up driving them to a party at the Golden Seed (the caf) on Boxing day, Brig was cooking and sharing, that day met Dave, Toni, Maggy, Julian then 5 years old, Bill & Angie and probably many more, but got very stoned and its a bit of a blur! From then on I was a frequent visitor....Dropped out from my hospital work, and sofa surfed around different houses, before finding a semi-permanent base at number 16, the residents there being, Roger and his partner Ann and their 2 young children a boy who toddled around (who had a strange name that I can't bring to mind right now) and a little baby girl. Also Nick, and Dick and Carol who lived downstairs. After the festivals at Stonehenge and the Watchfield fiasco, I went off on the overland trip to India in September '75, (which is another epic story! But coincidently I did meet Dick & Carol on Anjuna Beach in Goa) I returned to the UK and 16 Grosvenor Road in April '76. A guy called Jerry was then living in Dick and Carols room, he had long grey hair & beard and was very funny! and there I remained until the end!

Hi' Tess, - Thanks for the memories.

Didn't little Ken live there, before he moved to a van? And it was lb's van he moved into, wasn't it?

I do remember Ken being at number 16 for a while, I also recall looking out of that front window onto the wasteground where Angie & Bills onion dome sat on top of the old cupboard-under-the-stairs that was all that remained from the house that had been there! I wa a free floater, I stayed in number 12 for a bit, Liz was downstairs with Gearge & Maeve, and occasionally Jack! Mad Jim was there quite a lot (whatever became of him?) I was having an on/off thing with a guy from Israel at the time, has was very pretty and into herbs and had run away from the army. He had his guitar stolen from the upstairs room of number 12 the padlock was crowbarred off....That put paid to a good shag that night! I did meet Ron again, in Pakistan, on a bus in the Swat Valley! We ended up crossing the border into India together, and we stayed a few days at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Then I went north & he south. Reacquainted in Goa a few months later. Last I heard of him he was still dressed as a sadu and delivering goodies from Kashmir to Anjuna!

amazingtess wrote:Mad Jim was there quite a lot (whatever became of him?)

Artist Jim died end of April / beginning of May 2006 -- (Jamie Chadwick knows more about it -- he visited Jim in hospital and may even have been with him when he died) -- Jim never moved from the Richmond-Twickenham area -- he'd been drinking very heavily for years, but i don't know whether this was a factor