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Diana Young
Diana Young works at the Archway Herbal Clinic, which is based at the Middlesex University Archway Campus on Highgate Hill. She was born in 1956 in Catterick Camp, an army camp in North Yorkshire,...
Read Diana Young's storyJay Sharma
Jay Sharma was born in 1960 in the Malaysian island of Penang. He came to the UK in 1977, and has lived in Cromartie Road, near Archway, since 1993. “I was born in an island that by chance...
Read Jay Sharma's storyStella Michael
Stella Michael is a business consultant, artist and interfaith minister. She was born in Sydney Australia in 1965, and has lived on Junction Road since 1999. “If you just look around the area...
Read Stella Michael's storyKate Calvert
Kate Calvert was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1957 and grew up in nearby Tynemouth. She has lived on Hargrave Road since 1981 and chairs the Better Archway Forum, a community organisation working...
Read Kate Calvert's storyHasan Tuncbilek
Hasan Tuncbilek was born in 1960 in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus and came to London in 1979. He lives in Waltham Forest and runs Golden Dry Cleaners at 649 Holloway Road. “I know the area well now,...
Read Hasan Tuncbilek's storyKarowei Dorgu
Born in Burutu, Nigeria in 1958, Karowei Dorgu qualified as a doctor before coming to the UK and retraining as an Anglican priest. He has been the parish priest at St John the Evangelist church,...
Read Karowei Dorgu's storyVicken Mouradian
Vicken Mouradian was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1965. He came to North London as a teenager and worked in Holloway for many years in the family carpet business. “The Holloway Road, compared to...
Read Vicken Mouradian's storyAllen Crouch
Allen Crouch was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1956. As a teenager he became interested in tattooing, and he opened Al’s Tattoo and Body Piercing Studio, 543 Holloway Road, in 1995. “At...
Read Allen Crouch's storyDenis Campbell
Journalist Denis Cambell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1963. He has lived in London on and off since 1985 and moved into his current home in Fortnam Road in 2005. “I’ve been...
Read Denis Campbell's storyMary Gibson
Mary Gibson has been head teacher at Yerbury School, Foxham Road, since 1982. Born in Warrington in 1948, she moved to Holloway in 1970 and has lived in the area ever since. “Yerbury School is...
Read Mary Gibson's storyAnna Streiffert Limerick
Anna Streiffert Limerick was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1966. She came to the Holloway Road area when she moved to the UK in 1992, and currently lives with her family on Kiver Road. “One of...
Read Anna Streiffert Limerick's storyDaniela Essart
Daniela Essart was born in Turin, Italy, in 1961. She moved to London in her twenties and has lived on Kingsdown Road since 1999. Daniela and her partner Soren Nielsen established theatre company...
Read Daniela Essart's storySoren Nielsen
Soren Nielsen was born in Denmark in 1962, and arrived in London in 1988, originally to stay for two weeks. He lives on Kingsdown Road and runs theatre company Scarabeus with his partner Daniela....
Read Soren Nielsen's storyGary Butler
Gary Butler was born in 1956 in Reading and has lived in the Holloway area since 1989. He lives on Rickthorne Road and is a practice principal at Butler and Hegarty Architects, based on Marlborough...
Read Gary Butler's storyElisabeth Biela
Elisabeth Biela was born in Switzerland in 1917. She trained as a cook and worked in England from the age of 18, returning to Switzerland during the second world war, where she joined the Swiss army....
Read Elisabeth Biela's storyAndrew Turton
A retired anthropologist, Andrew Turton was born in Bristol in 1938. He has lived in Tavistock Terrace off Holloway Road since 1981. “Tavistock Terrace is a bit of a one-off really. Upper...
Read Andrew Turton's storyJeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire in 1949, and moved to Shropshire at the age of 7. When he was 20 he came to London to study, and was elected MP for Islington North in 1983. “I...
Read Jeremy Corbyn's storyFinbar Holian
Finbar Holian was born in Galway, Ireland in 1968. He moved to London when he was 19 and has owned and run The Quays pub at 471 Holloway Road since 2000. “When people came over from Ireland...
Read Finbar Holian's storyJames Craggs
Police Constable James Craggs was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in 1954. He has been stationed at Holloway Police Station, 284 Hornsey Road, since he joined the force in 1982. “I remember...
Read James Craggs's storyHarry Leckstein
Harry Leckstein was born in Edinburgh in 1969. He has lived in the Beaux Arts Building, Manor Gardens, since 1999. “I was having a beer on the roof of this building and looking down into that...
Read Harry Leckstein's storyPaul Roseby
Paul Roseby is the artistic director of the National Youth Theatre, based at 443-445 Holloway Road. Born in Essex in 1966, he grew up in Norfolk and came to London at the age of 17. “The...
Read Paul Roseby's storyLaila Conteh
Laila Conteh was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1953. She came to London when civil war broke out in Sierra Leone in the early 1990s, and has worked at the Holloway Odeon since 1992. “There...
Read Laila Conteh's storyFrank van der Wens
Frank van der Wens was born in 1961 in the city of Tilburg in the Netherlands. He came to the UK at the age of 20, and in 1985 opened a flower and plant shop, Impulse Flowers, at 415-417 Holloway...
Read Frank van der Wens's storyVeronica Rochester
Veronica Rochester was born in Gloucester in 1964 and moved to London when she was 19. In 1998 she responded to an advert for a receptionist at the Holloway Dental Surgery, 405-407 Holloway Road. She...
Read Veronica Rochester's storyHarry Spiro
Harry Spiro was born in Poland in 1929. He was brought to England at the age of 15 with a group of Jewish children who survived the Nazi concentration camps. He has lived and worked in Holloway Road...
Read Harry Spiro's storyJose de Freitas
Jose de Freitas was born in Madeira in 1967, one of thirteen brothers and sisters. He came to London when he was 13, and he and his wife now run El Molino, a Spanish restaurant situated at 379...
Read Jose de Freitas's storyAndrew Turnock
Andrew Turnock was born in Leicester in 1970. He was deputy headteacher at Grafton Primary School from 2000 until 2009, when he became headteacher at Hugh Myddleton Primary School. “A lot of me...
Read Andrew Turnock's storyDesmond Riley
Desmond Riley was born in St Kitts in the West Indies in 1960 and came to Islington with his family as a young boy. He founded Islington Link Up, a project for the Afro-Caribbean community based on...
Read Desmond Riley's storyBenjamin Jacobs
Benjamin Jacobs was born in 1956 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his family was involved in the anti-apartheid movement. He came to the UK in 1994 and set up his own optometric practice, Eye...
Read Benjamin Jacobs's storyAngela Reith
Musician Angela Reith was born in 1952 in Chilcompton, Somerset and lived in various places during her childhood, including several years in what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She moved...
Read Angela Reith's storyDanny Simani
Danny Simani was born in Babol, Iran in 1947. He came to Islington in 1975 and currently lives on Hilldrop Road. “I had to go into hiding, and eventually I was told to go out of the country, so...
Read Danny Simani's storyCharles Hewitt
Charles Hewitt was born in South Shields in 1934 and came to London to live with his mum when he was 12. He moved to Holloway when he was 23, and now lives in Hillmarton Road. “I used to do a...
Read Charles Hewitt's storyAli Gul Karagoz
Ali Gul Karagoz was born in 1976 in Elbistan, in the Kurdish area of south east Turkey. He has run the Titanic Café, 306 Holloway Road, since 2000. “When I was young, my family was poor....
Read Ali Gul Karagoz's storyLuis Torres
Luis Torres was born in Alausi, Ecuador, in 1950 and arrived in London in 1980. In 1997 he opened his own restaurant, El Rincon Quiteñ o, at 235 Holloway Road. “All the people [in the...
Read Luis Torres's storyPeter Wilson
Peter Wilson is the academic leader for English Literature, Creative and Professional Writing and Journalism at London Metropolitan University. He was born in 1945 in Sedgefield and grew up in...
Read Peter Wilson's storyKevin Molloy
Kevin Molloy was born in Ormskirk, near Liverpool, in 1980. He is the manager of Blackwell University Bookshop at 158 Holloway Road. “I like the diversity of Holloway Road, there are so many...
Read Kevin Molloy's storyPeter Hall
Peter Hall was born in Glyn-Neath, Wales in 1964. Since 2003 he has worked at Freightliners Farm, a two-acre city farm near the Holloway Road. The farm is a community project that provides an...
Read Peter Hall's storyNarendra Mehta
Therapist, masseur and community worker Narendra Mehta was born in Gujarat in 1947 and brought up in Mumbai, India. He opened his clinic, the London Centre of Indian Champissage (head massage), at...
Read Narendra Mehta's storyHadass Armon
Hadass Armon was born in Haifa, Israel in 1967. In 2005 Hadass and her partner established Studio LaDanza, a dance school and venue at 89 Holloway Road. “I can’t remember my first...
Read Hadass Armon's storySampson Sampson
Barber and martial arts expert Sampson Sampson was born in 1960 in a small village near Larnaca, Cyprus, and came to Islington at the age of 11. He runs Sampson’s Cuts at 56 Holloway Road,...
Read Sampson Sampson's story
Illustration: Alison Drewitt
The participants...
Andrew Turton
A retired anthropologist, Andrew Turton was born in Bristol in 1938. He has lived in Tavistock Terrace off Holloway Road since 1981. “Tavistock Terrace is a bit of a one-off really. Upper...
Veronica Rochester
Veronica Rochester was born in Gloucester in 1964 and moved to London when she was 19. In 1998 she responded to an advert for a receptionist at the Holloway Dental Surgery, 405-407 Holloway Road. She...
About Making Inroads
Making Inroads was produced by charity Rowan Arts - click here to Join the Rowan Arts Mailing List
Making Inroads Exhibition now on show at Voluntary Action Islington - click here for More Information
North London’s Holloway Road is a bustling, urban thoroughfare and a major route into the capital. It is also one of the most culturally diverse places in the world.
Through photography and oral history, Making Inroads tells the stories of 40 people from all over the world and the UK who have come to live and work in the area. From a Welsh urban farmer to an Ecuadorian restaurateur, find out how they have put down roots and made it their home.
