Across The Tracks and Through The Looking Glass

Last Saturday 27th June I went along to the Covent Garden writers bench reunion to meet up with some very old friends, put some faces to old tags and drink some beer. The day started well with glorious sun…..

I started hanging out there in 1986, but it had been a meeting point since ‘84. Every Saturday afternoon through the late eighties it was a hive of activity with often over 100 writers signing blackbooks, showing photos and planning missions to get paint and then on to the train yards.

It was one of the first places in London to have proper graffiti art on the street, the work by The Chrome Angels on the hoardings around the Royal Opera House. As a young inexperienced writer it gave me a focal point  to meet up with those with more experienced, make friends and be taken along on various missions.

The sun was however short lived and the day took on a dramatically different turn…..pictures continue….

When we all went off to paint together at Tufnell Hall of Fame that changed very quickly….The heavens opened and what followed was a torrential hail, thunder and rain storm of epic proportions…

This was the size of the hailstones ricocheting around our shelter spot, every now and then over the roar you’d here a surprised ‘Ow!’ or a ‘Eek’ as they found their mark…it was like being pelted with icy stones.

After about half an hour of this the heavens really opened and it turned to torrential rain, before long the trees provided no cover at all and deafening  thunder and lightning broke out directly overhead so by now fearing a direct strike and utterly drenched we made a dash and hid in various bin rooms and people’s porches. It carried on like this for about another half hour.

We emerged from our cover soaked to the skin but laughing to do some tags and take some shots. It was a brilliant day and certainly one to remember and laugh about even more in years to come. After this we all went to the pub and I dried off under the hand drier and carried on. I hope to see more old faces at the next one, but better weather next time please…

Massive, massive respect to Envy, Colt 45, Sham 59, Dj Dexter, Mess, Prime, Coad 5, Reez, Dev 666, Crane, Shoom, Time, Jano, Baps, Mear, Urge, Crime, Keen53, Don One, Fuem, Merc, Fued, Dsia and anyone I missed…Legends All !

I was invited in to paint a small piece of this monster wall by Aks, graffiti artist and the events

co-ordinator. Situated between Shoreditch high street and Brick Lane and opposite the new Chrome and Black shop with the Rarekind Gallery downstairs, this is London’s graffiti central. In the next street is Sclater Street Hall of Fame.

This is now East London’s most visible and longest graffiti wall and is at the heart of the most graffitied area in the country. The wall is a youth project organised by Richmix for young people to learn graffiti with experts and professionals such as the legendary Prime, a face I Iast saw at the Covent Garden ‘writers bench’ in around ‘89.

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