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Strangers by the Lock
By Carlo Piovano
I'm out to see Camden through the eyes of
a handful of strangers. I've never stopped people on the street
to ask them random questions, so I'm not sure what to expect.
Are they going to just keep walking, wave a hand at me, and
mumble something like 'sorry, I'm late?'
I pick the entrance to Inverness Street as
a good spot, and without thinking much I call out to the first
passerby.
With a black leather jacket, a dozen earrings,
slim East Asian eyes, and a dishevelled head of black hair,
his name is Jun, and (surprise!) he's more than willing to
take a minute to talk.
Jun isn't from Camden, but from Elephant & Castle, and he's
looking for a job. Well, actually, he adds, he's also shopping
for an earring, a glass horn-shaped earring to be precise
(who comes to Camden without thinking of shopping, anyway?).
His favourite spots to hang out are the Rhythm Records shop
and Blake's Pub, where he used to work and once spotted two
members of the band 'In the Nursery.'
Jun thinks for a long while about a definition of Camden and
eventually says, 'It's somewhere where everyone has a place.'
I thank him and walk on. I'm just past the
bridge when I decide I need to talk to another person.
My next prey is a funky vintage-clad girl called Ruth. She
eyes me with a wary smile but agrees to give me a minute.
Her American accent betrays her San Francisco provenience.
She's on vacation, just wandering, browsing the vintage clothes
shops. She likes Camden from what she can tell from her short
visit, even though she'd probably not like to live near the
crowded markets. She'd prefer a quiet side street.
'What would I call Camden? I'd say it's like Hight Ashbury
in San Francisco, but a little more subtle and more expansive,
with an equal amount of history but of a different sort.'
A little perplexed, I thank her and tell myself I've got to
remember this Haight Ashbury place if I'm ever in San Fran.
I walk down to the Stables Markets, and just
at the entrance I stop a young man dressed all in denim who
jollily introduces himself as Will.
He lives just down the road (finally a local!), but isn't
out shopping. He's a professional musician, and today he's
visiting bars to promote a music event to be held in Camden.
It's called 'Jam by the Lock', and starts 28/02/03 (for more
information: willrutter@hotmail.com). He loves Camden for
the bars and the Dot's Music shop, where he's seen Amy Winehouse
a few times. To him, Camden is like a cross between Edinburgh
and Venice.
I wish him luck on his projects and head back
for the tube, musing at how friendly these strangers have
been, and thinking that the people you find walking around
Camden are just as interesting if not more so than all the
bars and the markets' racks and baskets of stylish clothes.
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