The Fishmongers Arms is a former
public house in
Wood Green in the
London Borough of Haringey. Built in 1855 on the site of the former Wood Green Farm, Its name derived from the adjacent Fishmongers' and Poulterers' Almshouses, which were demolished in 1956 for the construction of the
Haringey Civic Centre
Haringey Civic Centre is a municipal building in High Road, Wood Green, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Haringey London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.
History
The building was commissioned by the Municipal B ...
.
At the rear of the building was Bourne Hall, a dance hall built in the 1920s, which in the 1940s became the venue for the Wood Green Jazz Club. The club was captured in the 1956
BFI-funded documentary film ''
Momma Don't Allow''. In the 1950s, two of the pub's upstairs rooms hosted "The Deb-On-Air Charm School", while a third was used for jazz band practice by musicians including
Humphrey Lyttleton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family.
Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...
and
Wally "Trog" Fawkes.
During the 1960s the pub was a rock music venue, and hosted early performances by musicians and bands including
John Mayall's Blues Breakers,
Cream,
Zoot Money,
Graham Bond,
Brian Auger,
Julie Driscoll,
Long John Baldry,
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
,
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
,
Ten Years After,
The Groundhogs,
The Kinks,
Led Zeppelin,
Jethro Tull, and
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
.
The pub and club later became The Barracuda, and in 1971 Fagans. It was known as O'Rafferty's at the time of its closure in the 2000s. The building was subsequently converted into flats.
On the High Road side is a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
cattle trough and
drinking fountain constructed for the
Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association in 1901.
References
External links
Collection of memories by attendees of the Wood Green Jazz Club
- photographs of Teddy Boys at a rock night in 1971
Census records for landlords and residents at the pub from 1861
Former music venues in London
Former pubs in London
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Haringey
Wood Green
Pubs in the London Borough of Haringey
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